Be Outdoors Arizona (www.beoutdoorsarizona.org) is an AZ-based nonprofit organization dedicated to getting kids outside, and educating those who care for and about kids to understand the benefits of getting outside. As an avid lifelong outdoors enthusiast myself, I was extremely excited to get involved with this group.

BOA has been struggling for a couple years to get itself on firm footing. The biggest struggle has been to get a website up. Lack of funds meant no site, but no site meant it was nearly impossible to raise money. Chicken, egg, I'm sure we've all seen this story before.

What I proposed very early on was a staged rollout. Stage one, online as of mid-October, is largely informational. I also set up some Paypal links so they could start taking money online. We had to do this in a very affordable way, squeezing as much functionality and good plumbing out of a non-existent budget as possible. The result is a nice template site filled with great images, good words, and a very strong first start for their group.

This is an edited version of an email I sent to a client today who asked about subject line guidelines for mass email:

I've begun a mass-email campaign using a client's opt-in list and they've gotten terrific results. We're getting increased click-throughs, we're getting more traffic, and most important, we're getting conversions.
 

We emailed this special offer to our current client base but are offering it to anyone with an existing website. Read on...

Okay, now that we're up and running and fully Drupal-ized around here, it's high time Z-Com Creative's own site got some better art direction. It's next on the list...right after my half-dozen sites get built and I have time to breathe. It might be a while. Judge my work by the work, not by my homepage.

Finally, after beginning work a year ago on content development, we're launching the sexy new Swing Real Estate website today! This one's new for me not only because we implemented Drupal in lots of interesting new ways, but because we integrated a very attractive MLS search thing into the site. Highest praises for Diversified Solutions, whose Google Maps-based IDX frame made this site possible.

This is the third version of www.universityvet.com I've lauched. They're the biggest vet in the east valley and an excellent client. This is my second major commercial Drupal launch, and I've done a lot more fancy stuff at universityvet.com than the first time. Good site, gets the job done. I'm looking forward to seeing how their viewership reacts to all the cool new stuff we've got going on.

Now that I've spent the past three months really exploring the possibilities and limitations of Drupal, I feel confident in offering this solution to my clients. Website clients going forward who need a complete content management system will be receiving a Drupal build. Past clients will be upgraded as needed. If you're one of our clients and want to talk about the benefits and costs of this upgrade, contact me.

So I successfully and very quickly updated Z-Com and all my testbed sites to Drupal 6.10 today, and it was pretty painless. Combined with the various and somewhat constant little module upgrades, it all goes very smoothly now. I wish I could fully automate it, but I suppose it's good that there's still a hands-on component to site management.