It’s business as usual for a techno-savvy web designer who has exchanged corporate city life for a simple existence in his isolated childhood home.

Words by Yvonne Van Dongen. Photographs by Daniel Allen.

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I’ll be back intouch with you again then!

baby-e sponsors a number of non-profit businesses, events and community groups.

The Blue Penguin Trust
The West Coast Blue Penguin Trust was established in 2006. It’s aim is to conserve the South Island West Coast Blue Penguins and their habitat. The trust raises funds for further research on the penguins and works with the community to raise awareness by education and advocacy. Blue Penguins are a near threatened species in slow decline and need our protection from coastal development, predators, traps and road kill.

Coppermine Mountain Bike Race
The Coppermine mountain bike event offers a chance for you to ride some of Nelsons best trails and traverses the spectacular Coppermine mineral belt. There are two courses to cater for different riding abilities.

Particularly in the last year, as smart-phones introduce the concept of web-services to people who would not normally have exposure to an internet connected computer. This changes typical user expectations and influences how clients want to market on the web. Websites need to be even clearer, better structured and more eye-catching. So there are a couple of factors influencing change in modern web design. Web consumption habits are evolving and new technologies emerging.

We are seeing JavaScript pushing out its boundaries, new design philosophies like grid systems becoming commonplace, bigger bolder headings and banners and more and more iconification of websites”.

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“As designers we know there will always be the cousin or ‘local lad’ who can build their website for £40 or $50, what surprises me is the fact that perfectly professional and legitimate businesses think this is good value! It’s unfortunate that the power of design is currently so misunderstood and undervalued by many businesses.

Design essentially provides an external ‘face’ for your customers (of your business). So why have a website that is such a poor representation of your business to potential customers?

The cost of web design also applies to logo design, which Jacob has superbly laid out in his article, which also inspired me to write about my recent experience.”

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1 April 2010

“Quite frankly, we’ve had a gutsful,” Nelson Director Leon Dalziel said Monday. Reports since late December 2009 reveal that two rogue West Coast directors have not been achieving the unusually high deadline-focused customer service expected from the firm. He went on to say, “I read on Twitter that they were generally larking about down there: climbing, surfing, hunting, diving and treating work hours like one big blimmin’ holiday. I’ve had to come in, rark them up and sort things out”.

baby-e, a New Zealand web design and e-commerce firm with offices in Nelson and the West Coast, provides internet services ranging from small-business websites through to fully-fledged e-commerce online shop solutions.

Sacked West Coast Director Leon Dalziel rebuffed comments from the Nelson Head Office: “Yeah nah, those suits up there in Nelson take things way too seriously, man. To be fair, its been a wicked summer. You should of seen the size of this crayfish I caught a couple weeks ago. She was a bloody beauty. I dunno what all the fuss is about”.

Nelson Director Leon Dalziel has stepped in to oversee day-to-day management and the West Coast office workflow. “They’ve left a hell of a mess. No wonder nothing was getting done down there. We turned up at the bach and sprung them pretty much doing bugger all”. He went on to say that valued clients in both regions could now expect quality personalised service again, “Moving forward, this holiday is over… things should be sweet again now”.

The disgraced West Coast directors are currently negotiating re-employment elsewhere in the firm.

“I’ve been spending a lot more time on the Coast recently, and I quite like it”. Dalziel regularly commutes between Nelson and the West Coast and says he’s found being mobile works perfectly. “Sometimes clients will ring and ask where I am. I divert the office phones to wherever I happen to be, so nobody really knows if I’m here or there. Half the time I don’t know either”.

Dalziel heads baby-e, a New Zealand web design and e-commerce firm, and is able to efficiently run his business from either Nelson or the West Coast, enjoying the luxury of what both regions offer. “I took a couple days off last time I was on the Coast, and caught a decent feed of whitebait. When I’m in Nelson, I can hit the beach and work on my tan”. Dalziel is able to enjoy the best of both worlds and uses email, phone, online chat, video conferencing and internet file transfers to stay in touch with clients and cluster business partners.

Dalziel says his trips to the Coast have become more regular and last longer, and hasn’t had any real issues transitioning to being more mobile. “Now and then I’m not able to sit down and have a physical meeting, but it’s nothing a decent phonecall or video chat can’t fix”, he says. baby-e can now dedicate more resources and time to looking after West Coast clients and seeking new ones. He has even had Nelson clients and cluster business partners call in and “have a spell at the bach”, while they pass through. “Anyone’s welcome as long as they’ve got a good bottle of red or three, and they can shoot straight”.

He says it’s a great balance to be able to split time between the two areas. “When I’m at the bach I still put in a full day’s work, but I can head out when I’m done and cut a track, head down the beach, or get out and have a hunt. It’s nearly a full-time job keeping the bloody treebears [possums] in check!”, he laughs.

“It was time to get serious,” Director and Chief, Leon Dalziel said Friday. “My status as a sole trader has changed considerably over the last couple years, and becoming incorporated has reflected this”.

baby-e, a New Zealand web design and e-commerce firm, has been operating since 1999 covering Nelson and the West Coast.  The company has forged strong working relationships with other specialist businesses with complementary services and skills in the form of cluster partnerships.

Dalziel said the baby-e business structure has changed to serve the firm’s cluster partnerships more effectively. “I can now pull in specialised talent whenever I need to. Being a ‘sole trader’ didn’t really communicate this”, he said Friday. “It also expresses my ongoing commitment to clients”.

baby-e’s business services remain fundamentally the same, with the only notable change being a new GST number. The company will continue to evolve as its business increases and the market shifts into new areas.

With this in mind, baby-e is currently drafting an Environmental Policy which will explain its green business practices. It will be announcing some new cluster partnerships, and also launching more dedicated resources for West Coast clients.

Because of it’s size and location, New Zealand companies have suffered from lack of specialist international experience. Dalziel says one of the main strengths of his firm are the partnerships he’s developed. “I call them clusters ~ trusted relationships with other specialists in the industry”.

Dalziel says he’s seen many companies become resistant to collaboration with other businesses, particularly when they get bigger. “We’re all trying to protect the patch we have, but I don’t believe it’s the right way to do business today”. “Everyone talks about networking, but very few actually do it properly”. Dalziel believes networking isn’t only about picking up new clients, but strengthening existing, and creating new business relationships to help service those clients.

baby-e announced three new partnerships, adding to an already extensive list of affiliations.

Bounce Marketing specialises in online promotion and web marketing. “Bounce steps in when the developers and I are finished”, says Dalziel. “Online promotion is something not many people understand”. He says search engine optimisation is becoming so much more competitive that it shouldn’t be a businesses only focus. “There are so many other avenues you can use to promote your product online”. Bounce Marketing covers a broad range of services including pay per click and banner advertising, measurement & analysis of statistics, using other online channels like discussion groups, YouTube and social networks, email newsletters, email and viral marketing, public relations, and mail order marketing. It’s this activity that drives new business and sales for clients.

Winning recognition, respect and more business relies on the ability to communicate important information clearly and professionally. Convincing audiences to take a specific action, or teaching people to use products, systems and processes effectively, is a specialist skill. CharlieHorse Technical Communications draws upon broad business, technical and communication skills in providing tailored solutions to meet clients’ objectives ~ from practical advice on how to improve existing communications to producing instructions, proposals, reports, copywriting and visual presentations.

Incite Creative Media is the home of Nelson based independent graphic designer James English. Offering graphic design services such as brochure design, corporate stationery, company reports, catalogues, forms, posters, magazine advertising and packaging design. And handling all forms of print products, from creative and concept development through to print production and print finishing. Incite utilises partnerships with a variety of commercial printing companies in order to secure good prices for a particular project. Dalziel adds, “Usually the first impression someone has of a business, is through it’s printed material or advertising, and first impressions count”.

Dalziel exclaims, “With the new and existing clusters, baby-e is actually a medium sized New Zealand business!”.
He chuckles, “It also means more people at the Christmas party this year”.

November 2007

baby-e Chief, Leon Dalziel announced this week more new business partnerships. “It’s an exciting time and means more services for clients”, Dalziel said Monday. baby-e, a New Zealand web design and e-commerce firm, has been operating since 1999 covering Nelson and the West Coast.

Because of it’s size and location, New Zealand companies have suffered from lack of specialist experience. Dalziel says one of the main strengths of his firm are the partnerships he’s developed. “I call them clusters – trusted relationships with other specialists in the industry”.

Dalziel says he’s seen many companies become resistant to collaboration with other businesses, particularly when they get bigger. “We’re all trying to protect the patch we have, but I don’t believe it’s the right way to do business today”. “Everyone talks about networking, but very few actually do it properly”. Dalziel believes networking isn’t only about picking up new clients, but strengthening existing, and creating new business relationships to help service those clients.

baby-e announced three new partnerships, adding to an already extensive list of affiliations.

Bounce Marketing specialises in online promotion and web marketing. “Bounce steps in when the developers and I are finished”, says Dalziel. “Online promotion is something not many people understand”. He says search engine optimisation is becoming so much more competitive that it shouldn’t be a businesses only focus. “There are so many other avenues you can use to promote your product online”. Bounce Marketing covers a broad range of services including pay per click and banner advertising, measurement & analysis of statistics, using other online channels like discussion groups, YouTube and social networks, email newsletters, email and viral marketing, public relations, and mail order marketing. It’s this activity that drives new business and sales for clients.

Winning recognition, respect and more business relies on the ability to communicate important information clearly and professionally. Convincing audiences to take a specific action, or teaching people to use products, systems and processes effectively, is a specialist skill. CharlieHorse Technical Communications draws upon broad business, technical and communication skills in providing tailored solutions to meet clients’ objectives ~ from practical advice on how to improve existing communications to producing instructions, proposals, reports, copywriting and visual presentations.

Incite Creative Media is the home of Nelson based independent graphic designer James English. Offering graphic design services such as brochure design, corporate stationery, company reports, catalogues, forms, posters, magazine advertising and packaging design. And handling all forms of print products, from creative and concept development through to print production and print finishing. Incite utilises partnerships with a variety of commercial printing companies in order to secure good prices for a particular project. Dalziel adds, “Usually the first impression someone has of a business, is through it’s printed material or advertising, and first impressions count”.

Dalziel exclaims, “With the new and existing clusters, baby-e actually has the resources of a medium sized New Zealand business!”.
He chuckles, “It also means more people at the Christmas party this year”.