Globi's Newsletter :: Volume 3, Number 10 - November 2003 ::

Welcome to the Globi Web Solutions Newsletter. This electronic newsletter is published monthly and distributed to small and medium sized business owners, Internet marketers, and webmasters who have asked to receive it. Thanks for joining us! Please let us know if you would prefer to receive this in a text only format by sending us a blank email to textnews@globi.ca.

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Editor's Remarks
2. Feature Article - Globi gets praised in PROFIT magazine!
3. Important Announcement!
4. Web Site Tip - Law of Comparative Advantage!
5. Marketing Tip - A.S.K.!
6. Web Site Faux Pas - Fun with Fonts!
7. Feedback
8. Globi Special - Important! Important! Important!


1. Editor's Remarks

In the spirit of gratitude, I want to take a moment to thank all our wonderful clients and affiliates who have supported Globi Web Solutions over the years.

We have learned from you, grown with you, and bridged this world with you - not just through the Internet, but in such a way that when you reached out with your challenges, we were grateful that it was Globi that you sought help from.

All sappy stuff aside, what I'm really trying to say is that we so enjoy the relationships that are developing between us and that each time we have an opportunity to work together, we gain an even greater understanding of your unique corporate goals and desires.

Thank you for making Globi a part of your business model!



2. Feature Article

Globi gets praised in PROFIT magazine!
Globi Web Solutions was recently interviewed and featured in November's issue of PROFIT: Your Guide To Business Success.

>>>>>>
CASE STUDY: SPIN YOUR OWN WEB
Simple, affordable software gives you the power of an HTML wizard

By David Zimmer
October/November 2003


CHALLENGE:
Heritage Inn Hotels, a chain of seven properties in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C., needed an updated Web presence and the ability to take bookings via the Internet. A standard revamp for most firms, but owing to the specifics of the hotel business, Heritage also needed to be able to react quickly to marketplace changes and update its new site without the aid of an expensive Web developer or having to train staff in the black art of HTML protocols. "In our business we change rates, we change special packages, we change a number of things on an ongoing basis, and we didn't want to rely on a third party to do it for us," explains Nikolaus Wyslouzil, director of sales and marketing for Heritage.

Wyslouzil's previous experience with website maintenance left him wary of the back-end costs. When changes were needed, the contracted Web wizard might be unavailable or away on holidays (or grounded by his parents). Even with an immediate response, Wyslouzil found the process numbingly slow. "You'd send the information in and eventually get an e-mail back saying, 'We've changed your information, it's now live.' Then you'd go look and it would be wrong or need changes," he says. "That process could take days." And it was expensive: predetermined site development fees only allowed for a few hours of update time per year. Anything more was billed at an hourly rate.

SOLUTION:
Heritage invested in a content management system (CMS) that allows non-nerds to update Web content without the use of programmers-for-hire. There are literally dozens of CMSs out there that allow users to update their websites themselves, so choosing the right one can be a challenge. Wyslouzil wanted to keep it simple and close to home, so he settled on a system offered by Calgary-based Globi Web Solutions. "Of all the options I looked at," says Wyslouzil, "this was the most affordable, straightforward system."

HOW IT WORKS:
The Globi CMS can be installed on in-house or outsourced Web-hosting servers, and is easily integrated with your existing website. You pay a one-time licensing agreement based on the number of users you need to access the site — a single-user licence is $199 — and then approximately $50 a page to install the CMS on the pages you have selected. (Of the 70-odd pages on the Heritage Inn Hotels site, just 18 needed to be updatable, for a one-time investment of approximately $1,100.) With the CMS in place, the client uses a password to gain access, then selects an edit function to change text, swap graphics or add rich text format (RTF) content to the site. The changes go live on the Internet at the push of a button.

Wyslouzil also likes the password control over content updates: "My concern was if that authority got in the wrong hands it could do some damage." For added security, whenever the CMS is used to change the content, an automatic e-mail notifies both Wyslouzil and Globi of the update. "It alerts me that something has been changed," says Wyslouzil, "so I can go in there and see what happened and make sure the information is correct."

ROI:
While it's difficult to set a dollar figure on savings from this type of investment, "We were spending about $5,000 a year just for minor updates to the site, so we're saving at least that much annually. But there's also the invaluable fact that the program gives me control and a lot of flexibility," says Wyslouzil. "Let's say a competitor in one of our locations launches a rate special. We can change ours in 30 seconds. There's a peace of mind that comes with that."
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3. globi Announcements

Globi's Moved Up!
After patiently sitting out our existence in our, shall we say, 'quaint' office, an opportunity has opened up for a larger office on the top floor of our funky three-story historic office building.

With the new flexibility that this space now provides, everyone here just couldn't be happier! More room to think, to create, to meet. So if you haven't stopped by to visit us yet, we invite you to do so!



4. Web Site Tip

Law of Comparative Advantage
Assign, delegate, or outsource any job that can be done better and in less time than it takes yourself, particularly if it can be done at a wage or cost less than you earn.

Bask in your own brilliance, admit where your weaknesses lie, and surround yourself with talented people that care about your best interests.



5. Marketing Tip

A.S.K.!
Even as children, for some ridiculous reason, we are taught not to ask for what we want because as our parents would say, "Don't be rude! Wait until someone offers". That's a real shame because here we are today as adults in business politely standing by, watching wonderful opportunities pass us by.


Well you would have loved one of the seminars I had the pleasure of sitting in on the other day; Tracy Lyn Moland of The Gift of Time (http://www.tracylynmoland.com) was the guest speaker and pointed out that interestingly even the bible used acronyms. So whether or not you've picked up the bible lately, I think you'll appreciate this one:

Ask, and it shall be given you;
Seek, and ye shall find;
Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Cool huh!
So my point is this: know who your customer is or who you want your customer to be. Then A.S.K. for that customer. Everyone we know has at least 25 people that they know within their own contact sphere so be sure that you are talking to the people around you about that great client you're looking for. You may even consider joining a business networking organization as a way to build your business and get good at asking!


Also, (and this should go without saying) but make sure that your website is targeting the clients that you're looking for. (We will discuss this further in Globi's next issue.)




6. Web Site Faux Pas

From time to time, we still come across websites that work against their visitors' surfing enjoyment so each month we share these faux pas with you.


Oh, what fun with Fonts!

Oh please!
If you're going for the "tacky" look, the quickest way that you can achieve this is to play with your fonts until you can count at least four different font changes on one Page alone. Even two different fonts can be pushing it and in the end displays a very do-it-yourself kind of look.

Here, in this small example, you will note that even the font within the Website's Navigation changes (indicated by #4). Does this indicate to me that I will go to a different website completely if I click there?


You can find the example at:
/images/newsletter/fonts.jpg



7. Feedback

"Thanks! Since Globi took over hosting my website and making whatever adjustments they made to the structure of my web site, I've landed at least 3 large contracts that found me through my website. Like when Walt Disney Stores said that they did a web search for a handyman in Calgary and mine was the first site that showed up in the search!

I don't know what you guys did, but I never got that kind of action from my site before! Now, I've got another offer from a company in Michigan to do a bunch of work for them here in Calgary."

- Gord Denny, Handy-man



Wow! That's some positive results. Thank you!

Have a question or comment?

email: feedback@globi.ca

We're always happy to hear from you!



8. Globi Special

(Did we mention that this is important?)

Christmas Electronic eCards!
Christmas is almost upon us! Have you thought about how you will say "Season's Greetings" to all your wonderful clients and colleagues who have supported you throughout 2003?

Corporate eCards are the perfect way of staying in touch with your clients! Show them that you're thinking of them, give them something they'll remember, and keep your company logo in the forefront of your customer's mind.

Less than 33 Days 'til Christmas!!
Call Globi now to help send your Christmas message.
Not feeling very festive yet? Check this out: http://globi.ca/personalized_ecards.php

Hey - share the Wealth!

People you care about could be benefiting from the wealth of information on new and solutions on the Web. So help them by forwarding this issue of Globi Web Solutions Newsletter!

Privacy

As our subscribers, we respect your privacy and will never make our mailing list publicly accessible.

Until next month, we remain your humble messenger to the internet.

Globi Web Solutions
1023 - 12th Ave SW
Calgary, Alberta, T2R 0J5
Phone: (403) 229-3800
E-mail: admin@globi.ca
Web Site: http://www.globi.ca

Copyright © 2010 Globi Web Solutions. All Rights Reserved. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced in whole or in part without the inclusion of Globi Web Solutions' Reprint Permission below.

Reprint Permission

Although this material is subject to copyright, please feel free to reprint this publication, in whole or in part, in your company publication, in training, presentations, or wherever you feel this would be of benefit. This also holds true for members of the media. All we ask (actually, we insist) is that you use the following credit line:

Reprinted with permission from Globi Web Solutions, a leading Website Design and Development Company based in Calgary. For further resources and information, go to globi.ca. Copyright © 2010 Globi Web Solutions.