We re-launched obuweb today, have a look.
Whats all the Hoopla About?
I just quietly launched dailyhoopla.com. The premise is Big News from Small Agencies. By aggregating news/press in one location for locally based web firms, the local newspaper guy covering the tech beat only needs to go to one place to find the latest, coolest stuff in his own backyard.
The Phoenix Skullz
Are you a Skull?
If you were, you couldn’t say cause we would dip you in hot oil. Seriously, I put together a little monthly lunch roundtable for Phoenix Web/Tech industry CEO’s called the Phoenix Skulls.
There is so much work out there, and we all benefit by helping each other..
Ritz, design a logo already.
703 days of Flare9.com
703 is a made up number, but about a 2.5 years ago my wife and I thought it would be a good idea to create a low-cost website solution for small businesses that could not afford the high end services of ObuWeb. Not a new concept.
About a year ago my firm started using wordpress to power the majority of our brochure sites. If you have used wordpress you know how slick it is. A perfect fit for our goal of letting you (the small business client) create your own website.
About 4 months ago we finally started working on it. With the efforts of the super tenth-level ninja programmer Joshua Eichorn, we began building flare9.com
Problem we are attempting to solve: New and Small businesses need a website, yet rarely have the capital to spend on a custom site by a web design agency. We (obuweb) kept turning clients away simply because we could not serve them, and be profitable doing it. 
Our Solution: Flare9.com is website builder powered by wordpress2.1. We have attempted to craft a solution that delivers an easy to use DIY website builder, yet limits the amount of control the user has in regards to design. (No blinking text or color/font mis-matches). The client focuses on content and message, not design.
We tapped a few API’s to:
- Register a domain name
- Set up the client hosting/email in Plesk
- Recurring Billing
- Site creation via wordpress
Therefore the entire signup and site creation process is hands free from our end. Server side scripting takes care of everything. If you have ever used WordPress you know how nice it is, and that they have solved many problems already. By using wordpress as our core, and writing custom plugins to extend app, we managed to create the entire solution and only change about 2 lines of wordpress code: read upgrade proof.
How it works:
Client Side: The client picks a theme from our gallery > creates an account > registers a domain if needed > purchases > logs in and uses wordpress (with our enhancements) to manage thier website.
Server Side: API Call to payment gateway and establishes recurring billing profile > API call to register domain > API creates client/domain profiles in plesk 8 > Site files checkout from subversion to new client account > SQL script populates database
From client registration process start to new site login with domain purchase < 3 minutes.
Go to Market: We are targeting other web design agencies, whom have the same problem we do at obuweb. Lots of leads, yet few people that can afford the services. Our affiliate program pays a handsome referral fee to these agencies that send their prospects over. WIN-WIN-WIN: Affiliate gets paid, we get paid, client gets a great website.
So now it is Late on a Tuesday March 6th. We have finished our private beta testing and are set to launch live tomorrow. Just in time for my trip to sxsw where I will be promoting it to no end.
Learning’s:in 703 days I have learned quite a bit. Here are some highlights:
- A good idea will always be a good idea
- Finding the people to help you execute the idea is key
- Timing has a lot to do with everything
- It always takes longer than you think
- Test, Test and Test some more
- You stop craving sleep after the first few weeks
- Shear dogged determination will make anything materialize
- Running/Launching more that one business at a time is tricky
- Seeing an idea realized is ecstasy
- WordPress appears 9 times in this post.
Refresh Phoenix quattro de April’o
Last night James Archer held a moderated Q&A on business start-ups or what i cal:Entrepreneur’isms.
While most of the discussion focused on the nuts and bolts of a business, taxes, health insurance, employee management etc.. very little was discussed about the psychology of a successful enterpreneur. I did pipe in shortly about it. The bottom line is that one needs to “get money right” in their own head and move beyond the “job mentality” if they wish to succeed as a small business owner.
Whoring your skillset for a higher dollar wage as a one person shop is a start, but essentially still a job. Only so many hours in a day to earn cash. Internal motivation by pleasure, and learning to leverage your time are keys to starting up a real business. It took me a while to figure these things out.
I was that guy that paid money to attend a seminar taught by a wealth guru. I was also that guy that took what I learned, APPLIED it and quintupled (thats 5x) the earnings of my business, and expanded from as staff of 2 people to 6, in about 1 year.
None of that was the result of Nut and Bolts business stuff, ALL of it was because i got out of my own way. I am still getting out of my own way, Everyday I get further out of my own way the better I do. Curious what I mean by that, “getting out of your own way”? Ask me, I’ll tell you.
Be Famous – Spreadfirefox.com
Win fabulous prizes and be the envy of your friends by promoting Firefox, the web broswer that doesnt suck.
Spreadfirefox.com was launched as a community marketing channel to help get the word out about firefox, the internet explore killer. Sign-up, spread the word, be famous.
The truth in marketing (a website)
Sean Alsobrooks has written a nice post in regards to marketing a website. He makes the same point we do to our customers that it is vital to market a website after creation if one ever hope to regain the investment.
Sounds simple, but so many clients are still in the “build it, they will come” modality of the late 90′s.
