We invite you to visit our totally new Superb.net! Nearly seven months after kick-off, the site is finally ready to see the light of day. Instead of performing a cosmetic refacing, our professional in-house team built the new site from the ground up. We are eager to show you our latest products, services, people, and facilities from an original, contemporary perspective.
Since Superb Internet is a business built to meet your needs—and you are our invaluable partners in this on-going venture—we decided it was time to clarify some outstanding questions, open up more avenues of communication, and streamline the presentation of the multiplicity of options we offer. Sometimes it is a challenge to keep the friendly, personal, flexible approach of a small business when truly our business is a large corporation, but we keep trying. We want you to take advantage of all the many ways you can customize your IT infrastructure, get higher quality hardware at lower prices, and benefit from the expertise of our superior Support Staff...just for a start.
So now, simply by checking Superb.net on a regular basis, you will be fully informed of the latest offers, promotions, developments, news, awards, and more. Our Knowledge Base wiki, archived press releases, and blog are accessible directly from the site. Take a virtual tour of our data centers. Our new "Superbly Magical Domain Name Generator" will give you ideas for domain names if your imagination ever runs dry. (You can still get "redhot-imagination.net," "Dr-imagination.net," and "imagination-overboard.net," in case you're interested!) Learn more about our staff and the many creative avocations that keep them motivated. Discover ways to profit by referring your friends and family to Superb hosting services. Find great unexpected bargains available for a limited time. Read "Our Story," the interesting history of how Superb Internet came to be...established by a visionary teenager who couldn't find quality web hosting for his interactive online computer game.
We've tried to anticipate every need and concern you might have. Of course, this is just the early version. We expect to have corrections, observations, comments, and more come pouring in! Please feel free to e-mail marketing@superb.net to share your thoughts or offer your insights. Thanks for your feedback—and enjoy!
Readers have been asking what happened to the February issue of The Spearhead? Well, it's a long story...but the short answer is, it's right here, merged with the March issue. Since February was a short month, and everyone at Superb was immersed in the launch of new enterprises (see "The Power of GridIron" and "For 15 Years..."), we decided to pool forces and topics and put out a powerhouse double issue.
In this issue, you'll discover the first winner of our Superb Website Design Contest, learn about the development of a brand new shared hosting product, hear the story of our new corporate website, learn how non-profit websites stay alive in uncertain economic times, and much more!
We encourage your letters, questions, and comments at all times—plus we're eager to see more entries for next month's Superb Website Design Contest. The same team that created the new Superb.net will be helping you with your design and construction questions...so if you like what you see, we hope you'll enter for a chance for a FREE consultation. Send contest entries and letters to the Editor to ldavidson@superb.net. All submissions will be acknowledged.
Thanks for your patience, and here's looking forward to a rewarding Spring!
Lisa Davidson,
Editor
Many shared hosting solutions "promise" full redundancy, but as they are not built or maintained with precision, they will ultimately fail—meaning downtime for your websites. Thanks to its original design, Superb's GridIron Platform offers full redundancy, maximum availability, and impressive performance. As Matthew Putegnat, Superb's Director of Development notes, "GridIron is built for expandability...application packages will all be added as one-click installs, continually growing as we go."
The secret to failover is parallel redundancy. The clustered servers were architected with security in mind from day one. From the ground up, at the apps level, systems level, and networking level, everything from the Toolbox to the database servers is cross-connected. The large-scale clusters are fully load-balanced. Matthew explains that with GridIron, "you can have a failure at any layer, in fact multiple failures at every single layer, and the platform will still be up and running."
The development team built the platform with three main objectives in mind: "Security. Performance. Availability." The result? There is no single point of failure, anywhere, from edge networks to the components of each individual server. Many failures are detected automatically, and backup systems will take over in seconds. Everything else is monitored 24/7 by highly trained technicians with the know-how and experience to solve problems fast.
And now, nearly two years from its inception, the platform is ready to go, with an unprecedented guarantee of 99.99% Uptime! Jesse Barros, another developer on Matthew's team, remarked that "GridIron is the most thoroughly tested service Superb has ever offered."
Jesse added, "Customers who are new to clustered hosting may have some concerns about compatibility, since most people will be used to working with websites that run on a single server. We've tried to make working with GridIron as easy as working with a traditional single-server solution." Another advantage to GridIron is that many pages in myCP have been redesigned to make managing accounts easier, "so customers can focus more on their business and less on fiddling with knobs and levers."
In future, as the number of subscribers grows, the number of apps will expand, adding new capacity to the service. During busy times, all sites will continue to perform well. At off-peak times, the excess capacity will be used automatically to serve unusually busy sites. The hardware is all high-end, and the software has all been upgraded to enable technical staff to add new functionality and improvements more quickly than before.
So you get performance very close to that of a dedicated server, at shared hosting prices. Check out www.suberb.net/web-hosting/ to compare GridLite, GridPro, and GridMax, and pick the package that works for your business.
Victor Sandoval and his wife were Los Angeles-area school district administrators when they came up with a ground-breaking idea for a niche marketing website: all about Prom Night! The dresses, the hairstyles, the shoes, the corsages (Victor mentioned that "some students didn't know what a corsage was!")...the limos, the banquets, and more.
Both Victor and his wife had years of experience serving as Prom Advisors, so they knew all the ins and outs of preparation, the critical security issues, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of various locations in the San Gabriel Valley area. With 16 years of experience as Activities Advisor, Victor certainly "knew what kids needed or wanted." So in January of 1997, he set up the first version of Prom-Night.com.
The site has always been strictly informational, surviving on advertising alone. For over a decade one of their more prominent advertisers was Anderson's Prom and Party. Seeing the success of Prom-Night.com, Anderson's ultimately decided to establish their own prom website! Many companies have begun to copy the model, but Victor's was first out of the gate. Most companies focus on dresses alone, while Prom-Night has the advantage of plentiful fresh content and a variety of products and services.
Advertisers purchase anything from a text link to a banner...once even an entire page. A local hair salon also featured a styling video clip. One of the hottest categories presently is alternative prom locations. Why stick with hotels, when you can get better security and more interesting activities at large open spaces like bowling alleys and art museums? As Victor laughed, "It's hard to crash a prom in a bowling alley!"
During the height of the season, March through June, the site gets 1200 to 1500 unique visitors daily. Other times of the year, Victor has diversified the site with Senior Graduation Tips, Homecoming Tips, and After-School Dances. Over 80% of his audience is 13 to 18-year-old females. Interestingly, there is an additional small subset of women aged 30 - 35, probably seeking the latest fashion and make-up tips. Victor's wife is the author of "Patty's Blog," which she updates with fresh content every weekday, keeping an eye on the fashions introduced at well publicized events such as the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes.
Another advantage of the prom business is that every year, there is a fresh crop of visitors. The supply is virtually endless. And fortunately, "proms don't change that much ... it's where to get a tux, how to hire a limo." Prices have been rising over the years, but the organizational issues remain the same.
Victor wrote asking Superb's website team for help with two problems: After converting to WordPress, which he loves, he was having trouble coming up with friendly dynamic page URLs. He would rather have "prom-night.com/pattys_blog" than "http://prom-night.com/?page_id=72" but was having trouble making those work. Also, he was having trouble aligning Google adsense ads in the body of a static page—although sidebars are OK.
Our website team met with Victor to solve these problems, and provided him with a free design and content assessment and consultation. Check out his site makeover at http://prom-night.com/ and see how he created a more streamlined, contemporary look with better focal points and spatial balance.
Meanwhile, keep those contest entries coming! No problem is too large or small to write about—just send an e-mail to ldavidson@superb.net with the details of your difficulty, the link to your site, and a daytime phone number. You might be the next featured winner of Superb's Website Design Contest. Remember, you get a free design consultation from a professional website design team. Send us "Before," and we'll help you create a happy ever "After."
Uninspired by your desktop? Here are a few fun Yahoo! Widgets that can spice up your screen.
TenPlusTwo: Procrastinating? Finding it difficult to focus and get your work done? This simple widget will kick you into "work mode" for sure. The method is simple: work for ten minutes, relax for two minutes. Repeat as needed.
ShootIt: We've all had stressful days, but now you can make them a little bit better by downloading this widget. Select your choice of ammo and start blasting away at your screen. Feeling better? Clear the screen by clicking on the reset button.
SystemDashboard: This widget keeps track of your user, system, and total CPU usage, while looking like a fancy car dashboard. Beauty and brains... you can't ask for a better widget than that.
Want your server to run faster, be more consistent, and use less energy? Great news! We are now offering Solid-State Drives (SSD) as an upgrade for our dedicated servers. Compared with traditional hard disk drives, SSD's have faster access times and are much more consistent. They also have lower power consumption, so they generate less heat. Other benefits include their ability to endure extreme shock, high altitudes, and vibration. Prices range from $25 to $100 a month. Check out a quick video demonstration, "NEW Upgrade for Dedicated Servers," on the Superb Internet blog.
We had a number of queries about .ca domains during the Winter Olympics! Does registering a .ca domain confuse you? This month's article will answer some common questions about registering a .ca domain, and common solutions to your top questions.
Q: I want to transfer my .ca domain to Superb, but I do not have a EPP/Authorization code. What is my next step?
A: This is a very common question for domain owners who want to consolidate domains into one hosting company, but find the lack of an EPP/Authorization code a challenge. .CA domain transfers do NOT require an EPP/Authorization code to proceed with the transfer to Superb. Simply log into your myCP account, initiate the transfer and we contact your previous registrant, notifying them of your intentions to transfer your domain. You will receive an e-mail authorizing the transfer of the domain, and once you reply to this e-mail, the transfer of your domain typically takes 5-7 business days to complete.
Q: I purchased my .ca domain; why does it take so long show up?
A: .Ca domains go through a rigorous registration process with CIRA (Canadian Internet Registration Authority), requiring each domain registrant and administrative contact information be verified prior to approval of the domain. Once this process is complete we add your domain to your Superb myCP.
Q: How many years can I register a .ca domain?
A: 1-10 years at $19.99 per year.
Q: When I search for my domain in a Whois search, my information does not show up?
A: .ca domain information is protected automatically from the public by our registrar Enom as a CIRA requirement.
Q: What happens if my .ca domain expired?
A: You will receive notification from Superb 30, 60, and 90 days prior to the expiration of your .ca domain. However, in the rare case it does expire, you do have 30 days to renew your domain before a $200 reinstate fee is added.
Send your questions and comments to hostmaster@superb.net
In this combo issue of The Spearhead, we invite you to learn a little more about Giovanni Hale, who helps us uphold The Superb Standard.® Many of you have experienced Gio's pleasant and efficient approach when you call our Honolulu Headquarters with questions. He brings amazing versatility and a unique skill set to his position with the Superb Support Team, and was instrumental in the launch of the new SuperbCare® via Twitter.
Gio lives by his conviction that what makes Superb really special is that "we bring a human side to what we do ... we never forget that these are real people behind their computers. A single mom trying to make it from paycheck to paycheck, a father who wants to download the photos of his kid... We are real, everyday people."
As Customer Service Representative and Lead Hostmaster (you'll see his column, "Notes from the Hostmaster" in each issue of The Spearhead), Gio mentors new staff and helps people transition to newly designed positions, with customized training sessions. He will soon head the new Training Division
within the Support Department.
Training is an art that Gio refined during his decade in the Navy. His positive attitude and belief system help him to convince others that "You always have a choice. You can influence the direction of your life. It's not 'if,' just 'when.'" Gio's creativity has directed his life choices, and he encourages creativity in every action and decision, no matter how small.
His creative expression started early—he was involved in drama in grade school, and continued on with high school dramatics in his Chicago school district. He also sang first tenor in the school choir, and played on the school's volleyball team. His practical side convinced him that he needed deeper and broader opportunities if he were to find a way to express his creativity in his daily life, so at only 18 he joined the Navy, with the intent of seeing much more of the world and other cultures. There he acquired an impressive background in health care.
While not stationed near the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, he provided medical support on his extensive overseas deployments: working under fire in Iraq (three deployments), Bahrain (four deployments), Italy, Japan, Dubai, Florida, California, South Canada, Chicago, New York, Nevada, and Washington D.C., as well as stints on the ships USS Kennedy and USS Kittyhawk. During these assignments he took care of conditions ranging from gunshot wounds to fungal infections. In one terrible instance, he watched his lead supervisor lose his right arm during a grenade explosion—and Gio was the person who ran to the rescue, sewed the arm back on for transport, and took care of his supervisor's comfort while rushing him to the hospital base in time to save his arm. For this act of courage Gio received a Letter of Commendation for bravery "above and beyond"
the duties of a corps man.
Yet that is Gio—he will always go above and beyond. In every assignment, he finds ways to enhance and improve the current situation.
Gio thoroughly loved his travel experiences—especially meeting other men of mixed color, and embracing the people, music, and cuisines of so many diverse cultures. Reflecting back, he considers Dubai to be his favorite place. So how did this military medical man who was in the habit of giving physical exams, inspecting facilities for food safety, evaluating the drinking water for his corps, and residing at Dubai's only 8-star hotel (with the services of a private helicopter pilot) during the course of his duties, come to the small island chain of Hawai'i? And how did this small island chain in the middle of the Pacific draw him in?
Actually the context was again, more training. To gain another set of skills, this time as a Preventive Medicine Technician, he was assigned to one of only three training programs in the world for Naval Environmental and Preventive Medicine...in Honolulu, Hawai'i. (The other two are in San Diego and Korea.) During this period of his life, Gio began once again to feel the need for greater creative expression. He felt the urge "to plant other seeds, to make a forest." He began to see that his current path was not going to provide "a lot of room for creativity."
Thus on October 10, 2008, Gio accepted a full scholarship at Full Sail University for online studies, declaring a major of "Marketing with a focus on Social Media." He was the first student from Hawai'i ever given a full scholarship to this institution. His new world was about to unfold.
Gio was excited to explore user functionality, learning to think from the customer's viewpoint, and studying the techniques of graphic design, web design, and more. While his primary focus was on school, he also needed to earn some money to cover living expenses, so he worked for Blue Hawaiian Helicopters in customer service and for Pflueger Honda as their Internet Manager.
One day, casually perusing Craig's List, he happened to notice a help wanted listing for customer service representatives at a downtown company "near Jamba Juice." Something about the description caught his interest, so he actually applied online twice, initially surprised at having to answer a series of questions about his concept of customer service, including, "What is your idea of great customer service?" and "How would you
handle Problem X?"
Of course, Gio got the job. At that point, just over a year ago, there were less than ten support staff at Superb's new Honolulu headquarters. The Superb philosophy is to add staff with caution, ensuring a perfect fit, and to hire people for the long-term. Individuals seeking less than a three-year engagement are politely requested to seek a more suitable position elsewhere. But Gio could feel that this position would allow him to grow creatively, as well as to add value in defining the nature of the growing team.
When asked for an example of a problem he is most proud of solving, Gio mentioned his modifications to the Cancellation Report, a critical data collection for future decision-making. In the past, it was just a list. He updated it to a more user-friendly form, with drop-down selections, a better layout and design, a color scheme. His ideal was ease-of-use for the end user—and he accomplished his vision.
Customers who deal with Gio are continually commending him on his courtesy, his efficiency, and his ability to delegate or escalate as needed. Here's a person you can count on, through any kind of emergency! So the next time you call Superb's Honolulu office, be sure to say "Hi" to Gio—he'll always find a creative way to
improve your day.
Part One of Two
When you sell products or services online, you know the perils of economic downturns...when consumers start spending less and tightening the purse strings, you have to find more creative ways to make them see the need for what you sell. But what if your website was founded as a charity, a foundation, or an educational resource? If you can't count on commercial sales to keep you afloat, how do you float your boat when the sailing isn't smooth for anyone?
At The Spearhead we've been considering the plight of non-profits during this era of ever-increasing global disasters, ruined economies, and reduced budgets for even the American upper middle-class. Legitimate non-profits may find tips to stimulate their donor base here. We've compiled ways to increase the leverage of your social networking, improve sharing and collaboration, set better goals for your fundraising efforts, and improve the design of your website to give you an edge.
Astonishing but true: according to CharityNavigator.org, an invaluable rating resource for the multitude of charitable giving funds currently collecting donations, "Few people realize how large charities have become, how many vital services they provide, and how much funding flows through them each year. Without charities and non-profits, America would simply not be able to operate. Their operations are so big that during 2008, in the midst of a recession, total giving was still more than $300 billion ... This is a decrease of 2% from 2007." CharityNavigator.org evaluates all 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organizations who file Form 990 with the IRS.
Whose heart didn't hurt seeing photos of hungry Haitian children, or the massive destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina? Regrettably, criminals try to capitalize on the empathy factor during each disaster by setting up website and e-mail scams. Even before Hurricane Katrina hit the coast, the FBI reports that criminals were setting up websites that included the keyword "Katrina," such as www.katrinahelp.com and www.katrinarelief.com, intending to profit by collecting the donations and personal information of charitable givers. In fact, in the weeks following the storm, the agency identified over 4,000 bogus websites trying to capitalize on people's goodwill.
So not only do you have to find more and better ways to survive, you also have to find convincing ways to establish your legitimacy and longevity. Be sure you've submitted your site to non-profit directories such as CharityNavigator, Yahoo Health, idealist.org, and fundsnetservices, as well as general directories including Business.com, Best of the Web, DMOZ, and Aviva. Not only will this show that you are transparent in revealing the allocation of your donations, it will also improve your website's search rankings.
Also make sure that your top-level domain is .org, rather than .com or a series of numbers (people associate these with commercial and/or bogus sites). Do not send unsolicited e-mails with attached pictures, even if you want to portray the tragic side of your particular cause, because these will almost inevitably be deleted as spam, and possibly be targeted as dangerous virus carriers. If you get phone calls enquiring about your site's purpose, be helpful and forthcoming...if you decline to provide information, people will most likely question the validity of your non-profit status or even your entire existence.
The organization "Third Sector, New England," a website offering "best practices for nonprofits"—www.tsne.org—offers three pieces of valuable advice ... 1) "The escalating number of nonprofits and demand for restricted resources calls for a bold refashioning of the donor-organization relationship based upon clarity about an organization's role, its potential reach and its sustainability. The road to stability and viability requires far more than communicating the need for money." What is your mission?
2) Perform an honest analysis of your business model, and answer the following questions: "Are we keeping up with changing needs and demographics? What data do we collect to demonstrate that we are making a difference, which we can share with the public? In what areas do we 'invest' the donor dollars that are critical to the issue that we are committed to? How much of donors' money is spent on direct services rather than administration?"
3) How do you position your non-profit? And what do you do better than any other organization? Just like a for-profit endeavor, you need a unique selling proposition, or in this case a unique positioning stance.
There are multiple ways to go about raising money for a good cause. One type of non-profit site is the private foundation. An example of a private memorial foundation, with an original water color anchoring the home page, is http://www.belvederepoets.com. This site is privately run and privately funded as a memorial. "The Belvedere Room is a place where poets, and those who enjoy poetry, can relax and share in the ambience of a calm, safe, fun, and often insightful, respite from the cares of the day. The Belvedere Room was opened in April 2002 to provide an environment for poets to enjoy and discuss poetry and present their own poems."
Belvedere Room has become a close community, with a strict privacy policy. In its early days, it won both The Golden Web Awards 2003 - 2004, as well as FTP planet's Site of the Week for March 8, 2004. But now founder Darren Murray and his wife could use more volunteers to help keep the site updated. Since his mother-in-law passed away, there is no one available to select and update the "Poem of the Day" feature. Darren adds, "The Belvedere Anthology works, but has not been updated since early 2006, for similar reasons. It has long been our intention to spend the time to go through the forums and pull out the poems, thus updating the Anthology but, at this point, that would be a Herculean task for which neither of us has the time." The site also posts a Word of the Day (from Merriam-Webster OnLine).
Another type of non-profit is the scholarship/educational fundraiser. The James Lewis Tennis Scholarship Foundation, Inc. is based in Birmingham, Alabama (see http://www.jltsfi.com/index.htm). This site was founded in 1995 in honor of James Lewis, who wanted to build a foundation to aid young people in Jefferson County. Qualified students win tennis scholarships each year. Since 1996 over $16,000 in scholarships has been awarded. The webmaster, Rudy Lewis (no relation to James, surprisingly!), who designed and maintains the site as a volunteer, informed The Spearhead that students use the scholarships for tennis coaching, equipment, travel to tournaments, and other tennis-related expenses.
A review board reviews and interviews scholarship applicants, who must provide three references, show a well-rounded range of activities in addition to tennis, and maintain a GPA of 2.8 or above. Though they've yet to produce a pro, one student who earned the James Lewis Tennis Scholarship went on to earn a full tennis scholarship at a community college, and later returned home to share his skills.
The foundation maintains its funds through ongoing fundraisers, and soliciting an ever-growing database of sponsors and contributors. In January of 2008, the United States Tennis Association Southern Section (9 State area) awarded the James Lewis Tennis Scholarship Foundation Inc. the 2009 and 2010 Southern Sectional Championship Tournament. This means the World's Largest Tennis Tournament is coming to Birmingham in July and August of both years. The city of Birmingham is understandably very excited about this prospect; there will be at least 2,000 tennis players coming to Birmingham for each tournament, and the revenue impact will be over $5 million per year. This inspired the city of Birmingham to make over $500,000 of tennis center improvements—a true non-profit success story. It all started with an idea, some hope, and lots of commitment to the Foundation.
Rudy keeps their website updated with photographs, schedules, and activities. Recently the Foundation was awarded a $25,000 grant from Walmart for a health, wellness, and fitness program. The program takes place every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the George Ward Tennis Center, and participation for both children and adults is free.
"Looking at the future, the foundation intends to do more league play (adults) and get more young people interested in tennis," Rudy commented recently. Coming up at the end of April is the Fed Cup Tournament (USA vs. Russia). The week prior to this competition, the Pros will take time to meet with some of Birmingham's young tennis players to encourage them to continue playing tennis and to give back to their community.
Next month: more tips for website success, budget how-to's, fundraising ideas, understanding web analytics... all in Part Two.
