Jacob, from Northern Alberta, called me today to inquire about getting his honey business online.

Jacob was calling because he is on a quest. Jacob wants people to find his business online when they search for honey. He has a free website from his telephone company and isn’t sure how to get it to work for his honey business. I think, hmm, a sweet opportunity to gain a new client. The “free” website that came with his internet access was causing him grief, I guess, because he couldn’t figure out how to get his buzzing business online. I guess free isn’t always such a great deal.

The fact that Jacob was entering the word “honey” into the search engines and his business doesn’t show up seemed to be bothering him. We talked at length about professional website development and how search engines work. I predicted that a free website may not help his business to sell honey. Although, I admit that even a free website, in the right hands, might perform for a business.

So driving home with David, my co-worker, we’re chatting about Jocob’s honey business. The conversation quickly switches to bees. Neither David or I know much about bees, other than the fact that they make honey. We guessed that they must hibernate, or something, in the winter time. After all, I said, have you ever had a bee bother you while you have a picnic in the winter? David quickly pointed out that we don’t often picnic in the Winter.

Our conclusion – if Jacob needs a website to sell honey in the dead of winter, the bees must still be out there… somewhere. Do bees make honey in the winter?

An interesting part of our day as web developers is that we don’t really know who our next potential client will bee.

I hope Jacob calls me back to develop his marketing website. We have a few questions. I’m thinking some sort of “buzz marketing” could be the answer for Jacob.

Where is your next client going to bee? Does your website bring you new clients?

Sorry for my stinging attempt at humour.

David A. West

Helen and I were reflecting yesterday that time goes by faster and faster as we get older. I commented that it seemed like just yesterday that we put the Christmas decorations back into the garage. Here we are, December, thinking we had better get the decorations out again. As we prepare to move the eKzact offices to a larger space, and a shorter commute from home, we really haven’t had time to pause.

I stopped putting Christmas lights on the house a decade ago. It was a ritualistic confirmation that I am still nervous on a ladder, so I stopped doing that. I was the guy on the block who still had the Christmas light out until May. I should have just left them on until December.

Today in the office I realized November was still up on the wall… I thought to myself, if I don’t change the page now, it will be January. Then I remembered that we bought one hundred or so 2008 calendars to give to clients. This became one of my objectives for this week, get the calendars in the mail. Maybe I should just put up the 2008 calendar today and not bothered turning to December.

This year, after the holidays, I think I’ll save myself the effort and leave the Christmas decorations out until next December.

Note to self: Mail Calendars this year.

Welcome to DavidAWest.com.

So, who is David A. West? I am the owner of eKzact Solutions Inc. a Calgary website design & development company. I have been planning on starting a blog for some time now. My intention is to use the blog as an opportunity to extend our business website’s content in a more casual manner.

While a traditional business website doesn’t really allow for ramblings or general sharing of ideas – the web 2.0 world of blogging is all about getting “involved” in your website.

I am inspired to start blogging, in part because of Stuart Crawford, who has really become a key mentor and partner for me in business. His near daily blogging has drawn my attention. I really appreciate his manner and style, both personally and in business. He is one of the daily reminders that have brought me to finally start our blog. I consider myself a lucky person for having met Stuart. Stuart is one of the owners of IT Matters, a trusted Calgary information technology service provider.

Please feel free to contact me or reply to any of the entries in my journal.

Cheers.
David A. West