The Keeper of the Springs

Byte to Byte with Steve Johnsen

The mundane tasks of routine maintenance may seem unimportant in the short term, but in the long run it's those little things that will really propel you forward.

Hi, I'm Steve Johnsen and I want to share a little story today about “The Keeper of the Springs.”

The late Peter Marshall was an eloquent speaker and for several years served as the chaplain of the US Senate. He used to love to tell the story of the “Keeper of the Springs,” a quiet forest dweller who lived high above an Austrian village along the eastern slope of the Alps.

The old gentleman had been hired many years earlier by a young town councilman to clear away the debris from the pools of water up in the mountain crevices that fed the lovely spring flowing through their town. With faithful, silent regularity, he patrolled the hills, removed the leaves and branches, and wiped away the silt that would otherwise have choked and contaminated the fresh flow of water.

The village soon became a popular attraction for vacationers. Graceful swans floated along the crystal clear spring, the mill wheels of various businesses located near the water turned day and night, farmlands were naturally irrigated, and the view from restaurants was picturesque beyond description.

Years passed. One evening the town council met for its semiannual meeting. As they reviewed the budget, one man's eye caught the salary figure being paid to the obscure keeper of the spring. Said the keeper of the purse, “Who is the old man? Why do we keep him on year after year? No one ever sees him. For all we know, the strange ranger of the hills is doing us no good. He isn't necessary any longer.” By a unanimous vote, they dispensed with the old man's services.

For several weeks, nothing changed.

By early autumn, the trees began to shed their leaves. Small branches snapped off and fell into the pools, hindering the rushing flow of sparkling water. One afternoon someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown tint in the spring. A few days later, the water was much darker. Within another week, a slimy film covered sections of the water along the banks, and a foul odor was soon detected. The mill wheels moved more slowly; some finally ground to a halt. Swans left, as did the tourists. Clammy fingers of disease and sickness reached deeply into the village.

Quickly, the embarrassed council called a special meeting. Realizing their gross error in judgment, they rehired the old keeper of the spring, and within a few weeks, the veritable river of life began to clear up. The wheels started to turn, and new life returned to the hamlet in the Alps.

In my business, which is turning people's websites into their number 1 employee, the “keeper of the springs” is the webmaster who keeps the site up to date. Without regular care, over time your website will become stagnant and

lose its value and effectiveness, both with the search engines and with the people visiting. That's why we can offer huge value for clients simply by providing a professional webmaster service.

Take a moment to review your website right now. Make sure that your site is up to date, with accurate information, no broken links, and all the software up to date. Then, if you're not doing it already, go one step further and put in place a plan to keep adding fresh, relevant content to your website on a regular basis.