Thank you Seth.

One of my big pet peeves is the incredibly low quality of the websites for theatre companies that are currently on the net. Most of them are ugly, most of them are out of date, and many of them are useless. (What company has the best website? Post your ideas in the comments, please.)

There are a lot of reasons for that, firstly the fact that most theatre artists don't have the time, resources, or expertise to put into building a website that's attractive and keeping it up to date. I know a lot of theatre folks who outsource the work to someone willing to work cheap, but then can't get their site updated to save their life. (I learned that lesson the hard way.)

So, what to do? Well, as far I'm concerned, your first priority with a website should be that it's useful. Enter Seth Godin, with another brilliant post about blogging.

He begins:

Step one: head on over to Typepad and sign up for their cheapest service. It's about $5 a month. Pick a 'quiet' and professional blog layout. Your first post should include the name of your business, your address, your specialty and your hours and phone number. Click the button that says "Feature this post." From now on, this post will be at the top of your blog (which is really your 'website', so first time visitors will see it front and center. When you go on vacation or stock a new line of products or have a story to tell, just blog it.

Read the whole thing here.