December Newsletter 2012

Seasons greetings to you all! My name is Anthony Reardon and I'm the new General Manager here at Web Widgets Ltd, the company who provides the Website Builder service. A little about me - I have a background in marketing, communications and design and have had a career with SME's and large corporates, here and in London, in these industries. No stranger to the online market I have also worked with software marketing (legal), web scoping & design/project management of small and very large builds. Learn more about me here.

Web Widgets and Website Builder has grown considerably over the last few years and I am tasked with the day to day management of the company, the support systems in place and making sure everyone keeps smiling. Reuben is going to improve his work-life balance - after several years building the technology and the business he needs time to refocus on product development and direction. Don't worry - Reuben will still be very much involved but he'll be a little less front line. 

I hope I can assist you with any enquiry you may have and I will endeavour to do so - I'm a fast learner and the rest of the team here are still just as good as they always have been so you will always get the support you need. 

Christmas is fast approaching, and like last year we have made a very special donation of $10,000 to Oxfam Unwrapped in the form of ducks, poo, donkeys and the like. Learn more about our Christmas Gift to you. 

Open all hours

This year we won't be closed over the holiday season -  Mike will be in the office (all alone) during the ordinary working days of the holiday period. Please understand if your call is not answered immediately and it is best if you initiate contact via our support email address - support@websitebuilder.co.nz - so Mike can ensure everyone gets dealt with in a timely fashion.

In this issue of Website Builder News, December 2012.

  1. New features
    • Product option level pricing and availability
    • Fastway courier integration complete
    • Unleashed integration on the way
    • Alternative hosting options - alternative opensource CMS 
    • Expiry notifications on paid subscriptions
    • Email campaign management rules
  2. Training options
    • Training videos
  3. Quick professional touch ups
  4. Tips and tricks
    • Web statistics
    • Google analytics
    • Cool links
    • System links
  5. Free sites for charity
  6. Start your own Website Business
  7. Help promote Website Builder
  8. Websites of the month

New features

Product option level pricing and availability.

For a long time our custmers have been requesting control of pricing and stock availability at the product option level. This is particularly important for the apparel industry who like to present colours, sizes and styles on a single page, but do not always have stock available in every combination. You will be happy to know that this feature is now live, although in beta testing. 

Find out more about product options. 

If you have a feature you want us to add to our shopping cart or CMS, then please use our Trello page to tell us. You can also vote on suggestions from other users there and see what functionality is most wanted. 

Fastway Courier integration

We are now integrated with Fastway Couriers allowing you to streamline you business even further. This includes automatic pricing of Fastway freight, so you can sell the best freight price to the unique destinations of your customers without the complexity of replicating pricing in our calculator.

Learn more about Fastway Courier integration

If you want us to integrate with other courier companies, 3rd party CRM's or inventory systems, please go to our Trello page to make the suggestion.

Unleashed integration on the way

Work on Unleashed integration had been postponed due to API changes earlier in the year -  now the project is back on track. Expect Unleashed integration to be available in the new year, similar to the existing VendHQ integration. This work will take place immediately after the Product option level pricing is completed.

http://www.unleashedsoftware.com/

If you want us to integrate with other 3rd party inventory systems, please go to our Trello page to make the suggestion.

Alternative hosting options & alternative CMS products

Did you know we also host simple FTP sites and PHP/MySQL sites too?

Some opensource systems to consider include:

  • OsCommerce Shopping Cart
  • Joomla CMS
  • Wordpress CMS
  • Drupal  CMS
  • OS Ticket (Support Ticketing System)
  • phpMyAdmin
 

Expiry notification on paid membership subscriptions

A better way to notify customers of subscription renewals is now available. If you sell 'paid membership subscriptions' via the shopping cart look out for the new 'membership expiry' notifications.

We've also added a widget called 'membership subscriptions paid' which will help streamline the learning process.

Paid subscriptions help link

Email campaign management - automated rules

Auto email campaign management rules are now enabled - but be careful.... the potential to send a lot of emails to a lot of people is relatively easy! 

Automated email campaigns allow you to send a series of newsletters to recipients in sequential order, allowing you to tell a story over time.

http://help.cms-tool.net/email-campaigns.html

Need help? Email us: support@websitebuilder.co.nz

Training options

Videos

Our training videos are currently being updated with our new CMS layout plus we will be videos for recently added features. We will let you know as soon as they are made live.

Our original videos are still available to help you setup your website, or shopping cart, or payment options. Please note these videos show the old look and feel CMS and we are slowely upgrading the videos.

/video-tutorials.html

We also have a collection of excellent tutorials on our  FAQ 

Personalised one-on-one training or website review

If you require personalised training, we can provide this training to you over the phone, or in person at our offices in Grey Lynn, Auckland. Training costs $100 per hour by either method. Minimum time is 30 minutes.

We would encourage all customers to get at least one hour of training at the early stages of builing their website, and one more review just prior to going live, just to give your website that professional critique, and quick tidy up of the rough bits.

Training topics include:

  • How to use website builder and shopping cart
  • How to design websites
  • How to crop and tidy up photos
  • How to optimise to get your website higher on google and other search engines
  • How to setup a facebook page, or other social media account
  • How to send newsletters
  • How to use any other feature we offer.

Book personalised training here

Quick professional touch-up

Want one of our pro web designers to give your website a quick 'once-over' and clean up the rough edges? Contact us for a quote, our professional designers can do plenty of magic in just 1 hour (100+gst per hour),

Discount Tip: If you purchase 6 or more hours, you will only be charged $90 per hour! Saving 10%.

Go on - give your sites a treat for Christmas! 

Web Design Options

Tips and tricks

Web statistics

Use our Web Stats to monitor your traffic and search engine optimisation success. See which other websites are giving hits to your website, which search engines are working, and which keywords people have used to find you. Web Stats come free with every domain you register and host with us.

More information in web statistics

 

Google analytics

Google has the most popular search engine in the world which means they collect very thorough statistics on your websites. You can gain access to this information by using Google's Analytics. Monitor your site traffic and sources, and monitor how changes effect your sites traffic.

Google Analytics provides many educational resources. Whether you're new to analytics or an experienced user you'll find videos and articles to help you get the most out of Google Analytics.

To take full advantage of Googles vast knowledge you need to create an account with Google Analytics and insert a tracking code into your site. For information on using Analytics with your site please read our Analytics help files or refer to the mainGoogle Analytics Site

If you require assistance with Analytics and implementing the code then please contact our staff.

 

Cool links

System links and recent help updates

Trello - CMS and our system development suggestions board

HELP/FAQ - Content Management System online help

Embedding Web Fonts - Resource file on using Google web fonts

CLIP ART - Web graphics and CSS stylesheets ideas for your sites

Free websites for charity

There are two new hosting plans, FREE for very charitable websites serving the greater good and helping those less fortunate, or $150/year for other community groups, church groups and sports teams. Existing customers may retrospectively request these plans.

All charities must comply with our special terms and conditions, primarily that they must not have any paid staff nor income apart from donations. Free websites will include an advert promoting website builder services. The discounted plan option does not include adverts. 

Learn More: - Learn more about free websites here 

New revamped reseller offer

We have completely reworked our reseller offer. Features of the new reseller offering:

  • No setup fees
  • One free website hosting
  • Domain name renewals and registrations only $19+gst per year
  • Discounts on all web hosting plans, at least 33% cheaper than retail
  • White labelled (rebranded) version of our CMS
  • You have full control of all your customers websites, content, shopping carts, mailing lists, domains and email accounts from a single login
  • Simple monthly invoicing for all websites on one account
  • Manage and host all your CMS and open source/PHP websites with one provider

              Conditions of the offer

              • Our reseller agreement is for web designers, graphics designers, content writers, SEO experts, social media experts, or anyone who wants to really get involved in providing our services as their own. 
              • The key obligation for resellers is a committment to make at least 1 new website live every 3 months.

              General Information

              Our reseller program enables you to sell CMS powered websites under your own brand. We provide you with all the tools and services you need to do this. We remain invisible to your customers. They pay you - you pay us. Alternatively consider our affiliate scheme if you want to remain out of the billing arrangement, but get a commission on referrals.

              Learn more about reseller program

               

              Help us promote our Website Builder - earn 20% commission ongoing

              Anyone who refers friends to our service, or sets up a 2nd or subsequent website gets a 20% discount off their web hosting fees. Refer 5 friends and you pay nothing for your website hosting. Refer more than 5 friends, and we start paying you. 

              Terms - live websites only, based on equivalent hosting plans, payouts subject to minimums.

              How to promote:

              • Ask your friends to include your login email address on the form when they signup
              • Create a trial for your friends, using their email address, but put your login email in the referred by area.
              • Contact us to tell us who you have referred (after they have created their trial)
              • Create an affiliate link, refer top right within the CMS, then copy and paste into your page
              • Add a page, on the right under tooltips, see 'website creation affiliate link'

              More information about affiliates and reselling here

              Websites of the month

              Here's a selection of some of our recent DIY Go Lives.  

               And a few of our recent professionally designed/upgraded sites, or websites that received some professional help.

              Do you want a more professional look and feel for your website? A more professional look will instill greater trust in your customers and encourage them to stay longer on your website or make a purchase. Please use our online quote or contact us.

              Do you have any feedback on our newsletter, CMS, products or on any other area of how we do business?

              I want to hear about it! Please get in touch.

              Have a great day!
              Tony and the WW Crew
              Web Widgets Ltd - Free Website Builder

              www.websitebuilder.co.nz

              Posted: Thu 13 Dec 2012

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