Micro — Bealers.com

Coolify on a 10.x LAN

Sun, 04 Jan 2026 19:37:00 +0000

Coolify's installer clashes with a 10.x LAN. Create the Docker network yourself first, then install. Check it again after every update. (How.)

Agency in a box

Tue, 24 Dec 2024 10:29:00 +0000

Idea for 2025: agency in a box. Time tracking, chat, git and docs, self-hosted, with AI doing the boring bits.

Agencies that don't make AI their own thing, in their tools, their data and how they work, stop being relevant. We have to own it.

Tutorials rot

Mon, 04 Jan 2021 21:48:00 +0000

Started my first NFT contract tonight with Truffle, Ganache and OpenZeppelin. Halfway through, the npm page said Truffle was out of date, use Hardhat.

Tutorials rot in a week.

Nobody searches for it

Tue, 15 Jan 2019 12:06:00 +0000

People don't search for what I sell. They don't know they need me until we're talking. That's why AdWords is slow.

A retainer, not hours

Tue, 05 Dec 2017 15:34:00 +0000

A retainer of 10 hours at a discount tells the client to do the sums and pay you ad hoc. Sell a monthly product with a clear list instead.

Your app needs an MOT

Thu, 26 Oct 2017 22:41:00 +0100

Web app maintenance isn't a thing, but it should be. Nobody knows their app is withering until it breaks. It needs an MOT every year. (More.)

Back from DYFconf

Fri, 23 Jun 2017 20:27:00 +0100

Back from DYFConf outside Stockholm. The gap between that and MicroConf was stark. Huge confidence boost.

What did you type?

Fri, 24 Feb 2017 11:41:00 +0000

Every web enquiry gets the same first question: how did you find us, and what did you type into Google? Tells you more than the form does.

Track before you spend

Mon, 05 Dec 2016 09:15:00 +0000

Lesson of the month: don't spend a penny on ads until you can track them. Lead magnet first, follow-up emails written before the traffic arrives.

Who has the backups?

Tue, 10 May 2016 18:22:00 +0100

Talking at Reading Geek Night tonight: things to consider when taking over an existing web application. (The checklist.)

Harsh feedback

Fri, 26 Feb 2016 21:12:00 +0000

Asked for harsh feedback on my inherited web app talk and got it. Slides all titles, and I got quieter reading my notes.

Next time: a crib sheet, and learn the notes.

Idea debt

Fri, 26 Feb 2016 13:05:00 +0000

Recorded a rough podcast pilot 12 hours after reading about "idea debt". A rough episode out beats a perfect one in my head.

Two hundred agencies

Thu, 20 Aug 2015 14:49:00 +0100

Contacted 200 web agencies. Half said good idea, not buying. Three in ten said no. A fifth wanted details.

That's the market talking.

As big as it needs to be

Mon, 15 Jun 2015 21:03:00 +0100

Summer camp in a field in West Wales. Wrote down "Siftware is as big as it needs to be". Still working out what that means.

Backendy is dead

Tue, 24 Mar 2015 10:37:00 +0000

Backendy is dead. I'm not motivated to run it and it doesn't match who we sell to. A good start though. (2014 in review saw it coming.)

One problem, one person

Sat, 14 Feb 2015 15:12:00 +0000

We don't make PHP apps for anyone who asks any more. We solve one problem for one type of person. (How we picked it.)

It's just sales

Tue, 28 Oct 2014 19:55:00 +0000

Back from MicroConf in Prague. Went to find a SaaS idea. Came home knowing I already have a product, I've just been selling it wrong.

It's just sales. (Make life a side project, and three years on.)

New dev rules

Fri, 05 Sep 2014 08:44:00 +0100

New dev rules. No production deploys after 3pm or any time on a Friday. Devs push to test, never master. Thirty days free bug fixing on anything we ship.

The full list.

The business of web design

Fri, 18 Jul 2014 17:26:00 +0100

The Business of Web Design in Cardiff. Geeking out about web business instead of web tech for a change.

Stop worrying, start winning

Thu, 12 Jun 2014 22:31:00 +0100

First non-technical talk tonight, Stop worrying start winning. Cashflow sheet, time tracking, goals.

Tracking properly found me four extra billable days this month.