[inQsec News] 5th Anniversary Edition

Folks -

It's been 5 years (19 May, 2015) since I formed "inQsec Solutions, LLC". At the time I expected to be doing more of what I had been doing in my previous corporate life (software project management) but also took this as an opportunity to convert what had been my long-time passion and hobby of helping friends and family with their website and computer challenges into perhaps being a paying part of the inQsec business model.

I had registered my first domain in December, 1999 and put up a simple personal website for our cat breeding hobby using Windows 3.1, Notepad and command-line ftp (if anyone remembers those days). Times and technologies have changed, but friends and family and now business clients continue to need help with their website and computer challenges. So, that has become the main thrust of my inQsec business these days.

Over the last week, while "sheltering-in-place" I took the opportunity and time to finally update the inQsec.com website which I had hastily thrown together using a site-builder (RVsitebuilder) 5 years ago. The new website uses the Joomla! Content Management System (CMS) which I have been using as my primary website deployment platform for business websites since before I started inQsec.

This has also made me ask myself the same questions I ask my clients. So, I thought I would share the process with you for when your thoughts turn to a launching a new website. 

• what do you need from your website?
  • I need people who visit the site to know what I do, like what they see and read and want me to do something similar for them.
  • You may just want someone to buy your stuff online
• what content do you have that can be published?
  • I had material I had written for the old website, material I had written for a printed flyer, plus ideas and words developed over time and culled from proposals and emails.
  • You may have lots of material lying around which could be re-used, re-purposed or refreshed. Or, just provide enough inspiration for the creative juices.
• who is your audience?
  • My audience is primarily smaller, owner-operated businesses without much of an IT team, that need a partner they can trust and rely on for advice.
  • You may want to attract consumers for your products.
• what do you like/dislike seeing on other websites you visit?
  • I like the front page of a website to give me everything I need to decide if I want to look any further. For a site like inQsec, I think that means using a lot of words in relatively short sentences; for some of my other clients, that means using a lot of pictures.
  • I don't like websites with a front page full of white space and stock images of random strangers smiling inanely, or other meaningless elements.
  • You might.
• do you have any graphics/logos/artwork?
  • The original 2015 inQsec name and logo was intended to convey concepts of the internet, security, and digital innovation. I did decide to simplify the original logo for the relaunch, and to creatively reuse a key element of the logo (the spyglass "Q") as a decorative item.
  • Some of the other artwork on the site is still undergoing review with my art consultant, but I want to get the main content launched.
  • You may have some artwork that can be reused also - at least to get started. However, design fashions change as do the technologies used to create the graphics, so some rework may be desirable. Perhaps a logo needs to be recreated in Adobe PhotoShop with greater resolution to replace a lo-res version from a DOS "Build-your-logo" program.

So, if you think you need a new website you may already have a lot of ideas and answers; plus you may have a lot of material that can be re-used, re-purposed or just freshened up. You may not need to start from a blank slate and have endless design meetings; just convey some ideas to me and we will arrive at a solution.

I hope you like the new inQsec.com website, that it answers any questions you may have, and, if you are ready for that new website give me a call, and please tell all your friends!

Note also that this email is being sent from a new mailing-list package (AcyMailing) integrated into the new website. You can find a link to subscribe or unsubscribe at the bottom of every page of the new website as well as links to some of my past newsletters.

Thank you everyone for being part of the last 5 years.

Regards,
Paul Smith
770-355-8924
https://inqsec.com/



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