Some of the more astute followers of Forest Knights over the years may have noticed that I have had a love hate relationship with our web site, In the early days I was terribly proud of our shop window to the world and lavished time and money on it.
We then had a series of set backs with the site being hacked and our google ranking taking serious hit when I was leading an expedition in Canada. The software we were using at the time was not as simple to up date as I would have liked. Each process took a long time to achieve and the results were not always as I would have wished them. Therefore things didn't get done and our ranking slid further.
This was not a huge concern as SEO is still pretty much a dark art that I do not understand and we have a good reputation within the industry and Forest Knights provides a great product so we get repeat business.
That said I should spend a lot more time and effort on marketing it is no good being a really great instructor if no one knows you exist. After years of ridicule from my instructor team and my ever patient website guru Chris I have been making an effort to keep the web site up to date and looking fresh. Also I am trying to keep the blog moving forward.
Small business always has the dilemma of chasing new business or servicing the work they have now to the best of their ability. Its a challenge when coming home from 7 nights in the woods to fire up the laptop and up load pictures etc.
I have been asked to write more articles and tutorials for publication and my book is still in its infancy. The Bushcraft Gourmet Guide will eventually be finished but I cannot promise when. Despite the distractions of the woods calling me and the beauty of the Sussex Downs a stones throw a way I shall endeavour to spend more time working inside writing reviews and keeping the website up to date. When I was training in Japan I was chatting to one of the Japanese instructors about business and the martial arts, He believes that to be a truly great warrior, Budo should include every sphere of one's life and should not be confined to the dojo or combat and it was not enough to be a great fighter if you could not support your family financially. To put it into context with the great outdoors there is little point in investing hundreds of hours in a skill such as flint knapping and primitive skills only to discover that you have to work 2 shifts so never the time or the money to enjoy those hard won skills.
Bushcraft and survival practice teaches us that the mastery of time is so important. The knowledge and wisdom of knowing when to slow down and move with natures cycles and when the move fast and act quickly and decisively are equally important to ones continued survival.
So the next time I hear the canoe calling I will stop and check if I have done all I can to be as balanced as possible.
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