Businesses You Should Know: MUStudios
December 30th, 2009 | 
Author: As a service to the community, I am going to write about a different local business each week. My goal is to highlight the unique differences of each business and what sets them apart from others in the same industry.
Drum roll please… This week’s spotlight is on MUStudios.com of Valparaiso and Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Richard Orelup of Valparaiso, the owner, has a deep background in web development. In fact, he is the web developer for Valparaiso University. After talking with Richard for a while, I found out that this is different than web design in the aspect that he doesn’t just focus on “pretty” postcard sites, but more of the application development that a business would use to run smoother. His job is to find ways to integrate different components into the backend (the part that you don’t see) of a website to make it work harder and smoother.
For instance, if I would choose to ad this particular post to my website, I would have to copy & paste the contents from one place to another. Using some of the technology he offers through his web development, he could create an application that would automatically do that for me so that I could post to both places almost simultaneously. While this does not seem like a great feat, and for him it is probably pretty simple, to do that on a large scale could save a company a lot of time which translates into dollars. What business would not like to increase productivity and lower costs at the same time? Thus the reason to have a good web developer.
As a business owner, I am always looking for ways to increase my productivity. One way is to be able to capture interested readers, ask them for their email addresses, and then mail them something of value on a regular basis. Through Richard’s web development, he could design a website using either inexpensive or free applications to allow me to do this. Best yet, I could do most of the work just one time and have it working for me 24/7. “Just set it and forget it”, as I once heard on a late night TV show… (except Richard’s products actually work and he does not have swimsuit models as spokespersons).
For instance, a business owner could use his expertise to track his advertising to find out what is working and what is not. Not only that, but a restaurant, for example, could look a little closer to see that they get the most business from families redeeming coupons on Wednesdays between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. and could market to that group accordingly. He could also help them save money by retaining the good customers instead of advertising for new ones.
One interesting tidbit I learned is that many people that are in the market for his web development solutions actually want to meet face-to-face. I mistakenly though that since the internet was so broad that it was easy to find a web designer anywhere in the world, the truth is that people who care about the end product want to work with someone they can interact with in person. This is a good thing for those of you that are local.
If you are looking for web design for your company or business in Valparaiso, Porter County, Fort Wayne, the State of Indiana, or anywhere in the United States, you should look into his web and application development solutions.
To contact Richard Orelup, you can call 219-263-0185 or visit mustudios.com and leave a message.
Scott
PS. If you know of a business that I should feature here, send an email to scott@nwiloanguy.com.
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Scott,
mustudios.com sounds like someone handy to know about. I know I have tons of questions about the workings of websites and how the pages interact. I would save alot of money and time if I just called Richard! As a business owner I appreciate you posting about someone that can help me!
Evelyn,
I suggest you call Richard. Most people think of a website as a pretty postcard that people will look at and will immediately want to do business with them. Richard knows how to set up a website that has the lines of a thoroughbred and the work ethic of a team of mules. And they require a lot less grain!
I think he could help you automate a lot of your work so you have time for the part of the business that you do best.
Scott
Thank you so much, there aren’t enough posts on this… or at least i cant find them. I am turning into such a blog nut, I just cant get enough and this is such an important topic… i’ll be sure to write something about your site
Scott, thanks for this find, I wish more bloggers took the time to write about other great writers adn professionals online.
Scott,
In the times of social media, having a web developer that can tie everything together is extremely handy. It would save small buisiness owners like ourselves a lot of time and energy – that we typically don’t have – and allow us to be more efficient. Thanks for letting us know about mustudios.com!
Scott thanks for the heads up. I took a look at some of the websites mustudios designed and they were pretty impressive.
Richard has showed me some new ways to do things on Twitter and on my site. I cannot think of anyone better to use.
Dave
Scott, good article. I met Richard at the last Northwest Indiana Tweetup and have also been learning Google Wave with him. He has been very generous with his knowledge.
Scott, thanks for the post. I’ve actually been meeting with Richard pretty regularly, and when it comes to web development, this is a guy that knows his stuff. He is constantly learning new things related to his field and finding ways to implement them. On top of that, he’s a great guy and easy to communicate with. I’d highly recommend him for a web dev job to my contacts.
and when you call him, ask him about #aftertweetups!
He’ll give you 6% off