Lutho® News

Mailing list functionality added - Allow visitors to your website to subscribe to your mailing list

Lutho.com is pleased to announce that we have completed integration with YourMailingListProvider (YMLP) to allow our clients to integrate mailing list subscriptions into their Lutho websites at no additional charge.

After activating the functionality, an additional link will be displayed on the Contact Us page to allow visitors to a client's website to subscribe to their mailing list. The client can then send out newsletters or other communication to their subscribers using YMLP's facilities.

To implement mailing list subscriptions, all you need to do is create a free account with YMLP, activate their API functionality and provide us with your API key in the Lutho Control Panel. Registering with YMLP does not cost anything and you will be able to change your account type to a free account shortly after registering, which will allow you to send 1000 free emails per month to a contact list that does not exceed 1000 people. If you need to send more mails, YMLP offers very reasonable monthly subscription rates. Lutho will not charge any additional fees for this added feature that will be available to all our website subscription clients.

For more information, please click on the Mailing List icon in the Lutho Control Panel or visit YMLP's website. You are also welcome to contact us directly with any enquiries or request.

Note: YMLP is an independent service provider and is not associated with Lutho.com. You will be entering into a seperate business relationship with them when you register for an account.

Improved product listings - You can now provide more product details and sell your items online

We're pleased to announce that we've made a number of improvements and additions to the product listing functionality for the benefit of all our clients with Lutho.com websites.

Your Lutho.com website automatically displays the products that you loaded through the Control Panel on the Products page of your site. Your visitors will now be able to click on any of these items to see further details on the product that they are interested in. These details include a larger photo of the item, a link to a photo gallery, a link to a document with more information (eg a product brochure), a link to an external web page (eg the page of the manufacturer) as well as a free text area at the bottom of the page.

Whereas the sort description of the product is limited to 256 characters, you are now able to load (via the Control Panel) an unlimited amount of information in the free text description area. This field even allows HTML tags, so that you have unlimited freedom to customise this area of the product listing.

Another new feature on the products page of your website is the addition of an RSS feed. Your visitors will now be able to subscribe to your site's RSS product feed to immediately know when the products listed on your site has changed.

Some of our clients have asked us if it would be possible to remove the "Filter by" categories that appear to the side of the main product listings - either because they only use one category or because they prefer to just list all their items at once. It is now possible to do disable this section of the products page by going to the Control Panel and unchecking the tickbox at the bottom of the products management page. We've also added the ability to sort your product categories and/or your products under those categories by using the new "Display order" field when you edit a product or category.

Last, but certainly not least, we've recently launched a full e-commerce integration. If you have a South African bank account, it is now possible for you to almost immediately start selling the products listed on your Lutho website by taking Instant EFT, credit card or Ukash payments. More information on selling your products via your Lutho site will be posted shortly in a news release, but you can find out more about this new feature in the interim by visiting the Lutho team blog at blog.lutho.com.

We hope that you will find all these enhancements helpful! If you would like to request any further specific functionality for your site or if you have any other comments or queries, please feel free to contact us.

New control panel available - Makes updating content on your website even easier

Good news!

We have completed the development of our new control panel that will make posting news, photos, testimonials, accreditations or product information on your website even easier!

The new user interface makes use of icons and popup dialogue boxes in stead of the current menu system to make things even more intuitive. It utilises cutting-edge technologies such like AJAX and the latest version of Microsoft's .NET framework.

We will be keeping both the current and new backoffice systems available over the next few months, so it is up to you to decide which you prefer to use to manage the changes on your website, but we are sure that you will agree that the new interface is the way forward!

To access the new control panel, visit https://cp.lutho.com (in stead of https://mysite.lutho.com) and log in with your current domain name and password. If you have any questions relating to the new control panel or experience any difficulties whilst using it, please do let us know.

We are always striving to make our functionality easier to use and more useful for you, our customer, so we always welcome feedback on how we can improve further. Please feel free to contact us with any suggestions.

New call centre launched - Staff at 086 123 3210 at your service!

In order to maintain the best possible level of support for our customers, we have recently upgraded our call centre to an enhanced facility in Midrand, South Africa.

Our call centre operators will be on standby to take your calls during SA office hours between 08:00 and 17:00 CAT, Monday to Friday. In addition, we have introduced an interactive voice response system to provide common information to new and existing customers. Outside office hours, callers will be able to leave a voice mail message to receive a callback from one of our consultants the following morning. Email support via support@lutho.com also remains available.

Together with the new call centre, we are also launching our new maxi-call number. South African customers can now dial the easy-to-remember 086 123 3210 to reach our support staff. The number for international callers is +27 12 685 0494.

We hope that the enhanced support centre will contribute to an even more rewarding experience for you, our client, in your dealings with Lutho.com. As always, we would appreciate your honest feedback in this regard.

Web tool built for SMEs - Lutho.com provides Business Websites Fast

Lutho’s specialised product is adding value to the lives of SME owners, with their unique website tool that allows any business to get a professional looking website and personalised email address set up quickly and easily.

“Our focus is on startup, small and medium sized (SME) businesses. We understand that they need to build credibility and know that their business needs a site that can compete with the best and an email address that shows they are serious about business” says Lutho CEO Hanru Nienaber.

Lutho.com has made it possible for any business, large or small to now have a presence on the internet in less than two hours. It is important to have a website because customers and suppliers want to be able to quickly access your products and services . A website can be used to build strong relationships with customers, cutting down on client support queries and enhancing a company’s status as a thought leader in its industry. As most people these days use the web as their primary source of information when considering a purchase, the internet is also one of the best mediums to use as a platform to promote products and services to the world.

“The Web has opened a tremendous opportunity to reach niche buyers directly with targeted messages that cost a fraction of what big-budget advertising costs,” says David Meerman Scott in his book The New Rules of Marketing and PR.

The World Wide Web has changed the rules and ways of marketing. Many of the old ways to market are ineffective in the new online world. Times are changing and every small or medium sized business owner needs to leave his/her fear behind and cease the opportunity.

With Lutho’s web tool there certainly is no need to fear, as the system does all the hard work for you. The Lutho system makes it easy for users to get a quality website and a professional-looking email address set up at their own domain name and provides for content (such as news, product listings and photos) to be easily self-managed. The Lutho system uses an easy 5-step wizard to collect business information such as the SME’s contact details and welcome message and aesthetic information such as a chosen template and colour scheme. The system is extremely user friendly and it requires no technical or design skills. All the technical aspects are taken care of in real-time so that the SME can start using your new email address and website immediately.

Every small business owner knows the importance of limiting expenses and cash outflows to the minimum. It is therefore good to know that the Lutho system costs only R145 per month, which includes everything you need to have your professional website and email address up and running. Since there are no minimum contract terms, users are free to cancel at any time.

Lutho.com also gives users the option to sit back and let the Lutho Team handle the process of building their website and provide expert advice, training and design work. The services of expert consultants are offered at an additional once-off fee.

A Lutho.com monthly website subscription includes access to the Lutho® Builder to quickly and easily build a website at a chosen domain (www.yourname.com). It also gives you access to the Lutho® Control Panel that allows you to add dynamic content such as photos, news articles and products to your website. Lutho will automatically register and renew the domain as necessary and the website and content generated is hosted on secure and reliable servers with a top-class connection to the Internet. Users get instant access to a branded email address (like info@yourname.com) with email forwarding and webmail facilities. It should be noted that the subscription does not include access to the Internet itself.

Lutho.com also offers full customer support to all users. “Providing excellent customer service to build long-term customer relationships is a very high priority for us” says Gratia Botes, Lutho’s client support and public relations manager. Lutho has a dedicated support centre that is not shared with any other company. Their support staff takes customer calls and partake in live online chat during working hours between 09:00 and 18:00 (GMT +02:00) on Monday to Friday. Email support is also available after hours. In addition to Lutho’s email, chat and telephonic support, they also have a wealth of information available in their knowledge base section and have prepared video tutorials and manuals to address every aspect of using the Lutho system.

The Lutho system was built with SME owners in mind. “We are confident that you will find our website builder quick and easy to use and your website subscription to be invaluable to your small business. If you are not completely satisfied with your online purchase, simply let us know within 21 days and we'll gladly issue you with a full refund. No catch. No 'admin fees'. No nonsense. 100% of your money back, period” says Nienaber.

About Lutho.com

Lutho provides business websites, fast. More information on the company and its products can be found on the company's website at http://www.lutho.com/

Quick website solution for SMEs - Hassle-free websites for busy entrepreneurs

SME owners can now get an online presence on the internet that is quick, easy and cost effective. Lutho.com, the South African based online marketing company, has a exclusive website package that is affordable to small and medium sized business owners.

Lutho.com has developed specialized software that allows any small business owner to get a quality website and a professional looking email address set up at their own domain name in only two hours. The Lutho system provides for the content (such as news, product listings, photos and documents for download) to be easily self-managed by the clients without the frustration of waiting for a web developer to make the changes for you.

Any business immediately puts themselves and their company on a different level when they can include a website address like www.yourname.com and an email address like info@ yourname.com on their business card. It is critically important that their business convinces their clients and investors alike that they can trust the company and that their company means business. SME owners should not settle for a freemail account or a webpage under someone else’s website. Small business owners need to instill credibility from the start.

Consumers and the public expect any credible business to have a website. Suppliers and consumers want to be able to access information on your business and products fast. SME owners must understand that a website can be used for much more. Savvy entrepreneurs are using their websites to build strong and solid relationships with their customers, to cut down on client support queries and to enhance their status as thought leaders in their industry by frequently publishing content such as news articles, frequently asked questions and documents for download on their website.

The Lutho System enables SMEs to update their own website easily, quickly and as frequently as they want to keep the information relevant. A website must change and grow as the business does. The internet is the best medium to showcase your products and services to the world and can be used very effectively to reach new customers and markets through a company website.

“We understand that entrepreneurs want to focus on their businesses. Who wants to choose between different technologies, capacities or platforms for their website or struggle with domain name registrations and hosting setups?” asks Hanru Nienaber, CEO of Lutho.com. Having a website built using a traditional website developer take a lot of time. Lutho.com understands that their clients want results fast and cannot afford to wait for weeks on end for a developer to build their site or to make even the smallest of changes.

With the Lutho System you simply follow a 5-step wizard that collects business information such as your contact details and welcome message and aesthetic information such as your chosen template and color scheme. The software is extremely easy to use and requires no technical or design skills. The Lutho system automatically takes care of all the technical aspects in real-time so that you can start using your new email address and website immediately.

SME owners don’t need to dig deep into their pockets to be able to afford a Lutho website. Every small business owner knows the importance of limiting expenses and cash outflows to the minimum. SME owners will be able to avoid the upfront outlay (often R10 000) that developers charge to build a website. Lutho charges a low monthly subscription fee of R145 which includes everything you need to have a professional website and email address up and running and since there are no minimum contract terms, clients are free to cancel their subscription at any time.

SME owners can also decide, at an additional once-off cost, to have Lutho.com’s personnel handle the process of building their website for them using the Lutho system or if they decide they need expert advice, training or design work done, Lutho offers the service of expert consultants.

This Lutho System will transform the way SMEs find their way onto the Internet and contribute to their success. SME owners that would like to learn more about Lutho’s solution are welcome to contact the company’s call centre at +27 11 021 4353 or visit the company’s website.

About Lutho.com

Lutho provides business websites, fast. More information on the company and its products can be found on the company's website at http://www.lutho.com/

Lutho makes payments easy and convenient - Lutho.com accepts a variety of additional payment methods

The South African online marketing company Lutho.com today announced that it now accepts a variety of additional payment methods.

“We needed to accommodate both our South African and our international clients’ payment needs and recognised that many potential clients do not have credit cards. Our new payment methods provide ways for most people from around the world to purchase our products. They are safe and allow clients to start enjoying the benefits of their website subscription immediately,” says Lutho.com CEO Hanru Nienaber.

Consumers can now decide between a number of ways to process their payment, such as credit card payments, “Instant EFTs”, Paypal, Ukash vouchers, direct deposits and debit orders.

For South African clients that do not have a credit card, the most beneficial payment method is the option of “Instant EFTs”. This payment method is available to any consumer that has a bank account at ABSA, Standard Bank, FNB or Nedbank. With “instant EFT”, SA consumers no longer have to wait for two days before the payment clears - it is instantaneous and hassle free.

PayPal is another instant payment method that consumers use widely for online purchases in many countries. Lutho will soon also accept PayPal deposits from international clients. Unfortunately South African consumers are not able to make payments in Rand yet, but we hope that PayPal will support ZAR payments soon.

An interesting new method of payment is Ukash vouchers. Ukash is an international group that sells vouchers through retail outlets. They have a distribution network in South Africa and internationally in a number of countries. With Ukash, consumers don’t need to have a bank account or credit card because vouchers can be bought in retail stores and redeemed online.

With these three instant payment methods, Lutho has made sure that its customers will be able to purchase and pay for a website subscription quickly and easily, allowing them to start building their websites immediately.

The Financial Centre in Lutho’s Control Panel allows Lutho clients to view their current subscription expiry dates as well as their account balances with Lutho.com. Clients can also choose their payment preference to renew their subscriptions. Recurring payments via debit order (for South African clients only) or recurring credit card debits are supported. For clients that prefer to manually settle their subscription dues, Lutho supports ad-hoc payments via credit card, EFT (SA clients), Paypal (International clients) or Ukash vouchers.

All bank account and credit card details are safe. Access to Lutho’s clients’ bank account or credit card details in the Lutho® Control Panel is secured by their login information (provided over a secure connection) as well as a pass code that is sent via SMS and is needed to gain access to the financial centre. Once provided, financial information is stored in an encrypted format to ensure that the information is protected even in the unlikely event that Lutho’s database is compromised.

“We ensure that any communication of financially sensitive information between our client’s computer and our server is encrypted at all times” says Nienaber.

About Lutho.com

Lutho provides business websites, fast. More information on the company and its products can be found on the company's website at http://www.lutho.com/

New Templates are available - Brand new, high quality templates

Lutho.com clients will be delighted to know that we have just launched new templates that are available in the Lutho® Builder for them to use at no extra cost.

The new templates are high quality with an easy to use interface. They are sleek designs and will reach a wide range of customers and markets. Lutho clients have the flexibility and freedom to add to or change their website as they please with no time restriction to wait for a web developer to do all the changes for them. We advise you to let loose and explore the web developer within you!

Lutho’s new templates have interesting colour schemes and layouts; they are modern but still maintain a consistent flow and sense of professionalism.

You can be sure to know that Lutho.com is always on the move, busy with new and exciting things to make sure that our clients’ websites can compete with the best. There are more templates in the pipeline and you will be the first to know once they have been released.

About Lutho.com

Lutho provides business websites, fast. More information on the company and its products can be found on the company's website at http://www.lutho.com/

Lutho.com now has a Facebook Profile - Lutho is taking part in the social media boom

Social media is growing at a rapid pace; no one can deny its growth. According to ComScore, from 2006 to 2007 Facebook’s growth rate was 270% compared to My Space at 72%.

The figures speak for themselves. Lutho has decided to get in on the action and be a part of the booming media. There is no better and easier way to get in touch with old friends and get connected with and learn more about clients as well as other business associates in the same market.

A big part of Lutho’s target market is already on Facebook and will benefit from our new profile. We will now be able to reach a broader sector of the market through Facebook and also be able to assist more SME owners and other users who are interested in building a credible online presence quickly, effectively and with no financial risk. Facebook also provides an opportunity to us to find consumers that we may not have otherwise discovered.

One of the outstanding features on our new Facebook profile is the application of its News Feed page. We get informed when a client or friend adds a new friend, or joins a new group, post links or updates his/her profile. Because of nifty features like these, Lutho is much more connected with clients and friends, keeping the relationship professional but allowing a personal touch.

Lutho having a Facebook page definitely adds to our brand. It is a great way for SME owners to learn how to improve their own brand and how to build a good, cost effective website with no fuss or hassle. Strong relationships with our consumers and prospects are being formed.

Lutho will also use our Facebook profile to communicate promotions, contest, and events, keeping our fans updated with the latest news and bringing them exclusive offers.

Apart from being closer to our client base and being able to communicate more easily, we will also be able to use our new profile page to learn what our users say about us and the Lutho brand.We also believe that this new profile will drive traffic to our main website at http://www.lutho.com.

Lutho.com partakes in many forms of social media and it is one of the many tools we use to stay on top of things and in the forefront of the latest trends. SMEs must know that Lutho.com is “hip and happening” and will break the barrier and open the door for other small business owners to step out and build their own online presence. Let’s be honest. Facebook has the “cool” factor attached to it. You never know who is browsing your product or doing research on your company. Good posts about us and our brand will be read and critics’ voices will be heard. All this can change potential SME owners’ opinion of us and our product and end up being one of many reasons why they choose Lutho.com over other competitors.

As Lutho’s Facebook profile is but a few days old, we are still building up our fan base. We invite all our clients and stakeholders to join our group and stay in touch. If you do not yet have a Facebook profile, it’s easy to sing up and participate.

About Lutho.com

Lutho provides business websites, fast. More information on the company and its products can be found on the company's website at http://www.lutho.com/

21 Day Money-Back Guarantee - No financial risk with Lutho.com

Lutho.com, the South African based online marketing company now has a 21 day money-back guarantee on their website subscription product.

Lutho will pay back 100% of the website subscription purchase price within the first 21 days if its clients are not completely satisfied with the product. This gives anyone the opportunity to test Lutho’s website builder with freedom and without any financial risk.

During the 21 days users will have full access to all the functions and features of the Lutho system including email, a website at the client’s own chosen domain, content management, uploading photos, publishing news articles, managing products and more.

“Users will have full customer and technical support from our Lutho Support Team via online chat, email and phone during the 21 days. We aim to build good relationships with our new clients and help them get the best value possible from the product” says Lutho’s CEO, Hanru Nienaber.

As Lutho.com has full confidence in their product and the advantages it will add to small and medium sized businesses, they encourage any SME owner or other user to test out the website builder and build their own website with full customer assistance and no risk. Lutho.com is certain that users will find their website builder quick, easy to use and their website subscription to be invaluable to their small business.
Should users decide to become long term users and continue their website subscriptions, they will also have peace of mind knowing that they don’t have to sign any long-term contracts or commit to high upfront development costs. Lutho’s clients pay only a low monthly subscription fee of R145 and they can cancel their subscription at any time.

About Lutho.com

Lutho provides business websites, fast. More information on the company and its products can be found on the company's website at http://www.lutho.com/

End of the year - Festive Greetings from Lutho.com

Lutho.com would like to wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
May it bring you gifts of love, joy and a prosperous 2009.

Lutho’s offices will be closed from Monday 22 December to the 5th of January 2009.

Should you need to contact us during the festive season or have any queries you can call us on 083 6345744, feel free to browse our website (www.lutho.com), it will answer a lot of questions you might have or for further guidance on specific issues relating to the use of the Lutho® system you can access our knowledge base.

All the best for the new year,
The Lutho.com Team

Chat online with Lutho.com - Lutho.com is now more interactive with their SME clients

The South African based online marketing company Lutho.com is now more interactive with their SME clients and visitors who visit their site.

With Lutho’s new online chat feature anyone who has a query about the Lutho system, their services, or need advice on websites, hosting, SEO or CMS etc. can now make use of this quick and easy medium to communicate with the Lutho.com Support Team and receive expert advice live.

Instant messaging (IM) allows effective and efficient communication between clients, users, friends and work colleagues. This form of media breaks the corporate jargon that most companies use when they talk to their clients. Instant messaging brings back the personal touch to business.

“Most people prefer to communicate with online chat for a couple of reasons, its quick and easy; its informal, you can respond instantaneously without the interruptions of a telephone that rings. People tend to be more open about how they feel and think about certain topics. That is why Lutho.com decided to have this feature on our site, to encourage SMEs and visitors to chat to us if they have any questions. It helps us to execute customer service fast and effectively, we also get the opportunity to build a personal relationship with our customers and give them the expert advice they need in an instant. I personally believe our online chat makes us more hands on in our work. Quick customer service is what we strive for” says Gratia Botes, Lutho’s Support and Public Relations Manager.

Some of the practical reasons for using instant messaging are that most organizations are becoming more information based and the need for effective knowledge sharing, team work amongst employees has become vital and with instant messaging you can respond and share information quicker amongst each other, you can also co-ordinate meetings. You have the freedom to chat from anywhere in the world without the expensive costs of phone calls and roaming. Lutho.com took all these factors into consideration and wants to be a company that is available to anyone anywhere who need assistance in website design, the Lutho system, or have general queries about the services that they offer.

One of the biggest advantages for small and medium businesses and other users is that Lutho’s online chat is online from nine o’clock in the morning till 6pm in the evening. All Lutho’s support departments; customer support, technical support, sales support and their accounts department are available throughout the course of the day to assist clients.

IM also has a couple of negatives. There is a big security risk; computers can be infected with spyware and viruses. The biggest disadvantage of IM is that a lot of people in organizations abuse it. Companies of all types must protect themselves from the liability of their employees’ inappropriate use of IM. The informal, immediate and anonymous nature of instant messaging makes it a candidate for abuse and intellectual leakage of important and confidential information.

Keeping all this in mind you can embrace the technology of instant messaging as Lutho.com did and improve your business to give the best customer service as possible, quick and effectively with instant messaging.

About Lutho.com

Lutho provides business websites, fast. More information on the company and its products can be found on the company's website at http://www.lutho.com/

New Lutho.com branch in Cape Town - One-on-one consulting service for SMEs in Cape Town

The South African based online marketing company Lutho.com has extended their creative arm to Cape Town.

Lutho.com is a company that focuses on the needs of SMEs and help small businesses to grow and expand their brand through the opportunity to build an online presence quickly and without the significant costs that usually go with it.

Lutho is making their mark in the Mother City to cover a broader sector of the market. Aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners in Cape Town will now be able to benefit and make use of Lutho’s one-on-one consulting services in addition to utilising the Lutho system, which is already globally available.

Bouwer van Niekerk heads up Lutho.com in Cape Town. He is already bringing together a dynamic consultancy team to be a part of the Lutho family. Lutho allows small business owners to be represented through their own website on the internet. If you do not have a website on the internet, you do not exist in the eyes of most of the world.

“With the new branch in Cape Town, we will be able to assist more SMEs to publish and promote their own websites and bring them closer to their target audience. Our consultants provide sound advice to SMEs on marketing their businesses online, managing their brand and the importance of regular content development,” says Van Niekerk.

Lutho compliments its online website builder, which allows SMEs to quickly set up a site and email address at their own domain name, with the services of consultants that visit clients’ premises and advise small businesses on their online marketing strategy.

About Lutho.com

Lutho provides business websites, fast. More information on the company and its products can be found on the company's website at www.lutho.com.

Lutho helps to optimize SME websites - CMS tools allow easy management of content and automatically alerts search engines of changes

What makes a website more credible and more useful than the rest? What enhances a website’s listing on Google, Yahoo and the other search engines? The answer is to build a content rich website.

Content is the major reason why users visit a site. Google places a lot of importance on key words and in fact most of the search engines do as well; that is why more and more people want optimized, key word rich content on their pages. But it is much more important to provide useful information on a frequent basis than to try and “outsmart” the search engines.

Although you should inform Google and other search engines that your pages have relevant content centered around specific keywords by listing those words in the meta tags, you should focus your energy on making sure that the pages contain useful, informative, educational and entertaining information that will attract and retain your target audience.

The Lutho system operates as a content management system (CMS) that provides small and medium businesses (SMEs) with an interactive way to easily create, access, edit, manage and distribute content on their products and their company in a clean cut organized fashion. It contains two built-in tools, the Lutho® Builder and the Lutho® Control Panel. These two CMS tools enable their clients to optimize their web presence with the search engines whilst at the same time creating an information hub on their site that will inform, educate and intrigue their visitors.

“We do not want our clients to have to pay for a third party to optimize their website or to submit it to search engines such as Yahoo, MSN or Google. The Lutho system allows our clients to optimize their sites themselves. All content changes, be it news articles that are published via the Lutho® Control Panel or new products that are being made available are reflected immediately on the client’s site. As soon as changes are saved, a ping is sent to the search engines that automatically tells them that something new has been done to the site. We have seen that frequent updates of relevant information using these tools clearly improve our clients’ search engine rankings,” says Lutho’s CEO, Hanru Nienaber.

The Lutho system is for aspiring entrepreneurs, small and medium sized business (SME) owners. This CMS is for non-technical users; a person is not required to have any prior knowledge of web designing, HTML or graphic design. The Lutho system gives users complete flexibility to build a web presence themselves. “Although this system is template based, you are sure to get more than what you pay for. Lutho is constantly changing and adding new features, templates and other functionalities that automatically become available to our clients at no extra costs,” says Nienaber.

At the end of the day is it not necessarily about having lots of content on your site but to have relevant content. Lutho has made provision for this in the Lutho® Builder and the Lutho® Control Panel and have also set up a consulting division that provides training to clients to make the most of their websites. “Our consultants know how important it is for their clients to have relevant content and spend a significant amount of time with them to generate and build good credible content for their sites” says Bouwer van Niekerk, who heads up Lutho Consulting.

SME owners that would like to learn more about Lutho’s solution are welcome to contact the company’s call centre or visit the company’s website.

About Lutho.com

Lutho provides business websites, fast. More information on the company and its products can be found on the company's website at http://www.lutho.com/

Free fax to email - Save with Lutho

Lutho now offers a free fax to email number to all our clients and anyone else that might be interested, may it be for business or personal use.

Fax to email is cost effective and saves you time. Small business owners will be able to reduce and eliminate fax expenses such as costs on paper, toner and can eliminate fixed fax line rentals. All inbound faxes are free of charge.

Lutho customers will receive faxes securely on their own email account and will have the freedom to share faxes with their colleagues via email in just a few seconds.

This solution provides our users with all the benefits of conventional email without losing the advantages of recognized fax services. Lutho users can digitally store and archive faxes without the scanning process. Their fax connection will be equal to the speed of their internet connectivity and when their email server is down, the faxes will queue so no faxes will ever be lost. Fax to email is definitely the way forward.

To sign up for a free fax to email number, contact the Lutho call centre on 087 808 3192 between 09:00 and 18:00 or email them at support@lutho.com.

About Lutho.com

Lutho provides business websites, fast. More information on the company and its products can be found on the company's website at http://www.lutho.com/

Rent a website - Web tool goes easy on SME cashflows

Lutho has taken SMEs unique financial circumstances into account by providing a service that will give them the freedom to “hire” a website without stretching their budget.

The biggest advantage to this is that no long term contract needs to be signed and customers are allowed to cancel their subscription at anytime. All the developing costs are spread over the whole base of Lutho’s “subscribers”.

With the self help tool that the Lutho system provides, their clients do not need to pay a big lump sum of money which often ranges between R3000 and R10 000 for a website developer. Instead, the company has decided to make the website development tool available free of charge and keep their monthly subscription fees to a low R145.

The “rent” of Lutho’s website tool is based on the built-in templates, so the only disadvantage is that customers won’t necessarily have a 100% customized website. Lutho believes, however, that more than 80 percent of all their clients’ needs will be fully met in this way but the group also has custom development services available for clients that demand a more specialised website solution.

SME owners are now able to showcase their brand and product on the World Wide Web with financial freedom and ease. Not only is Lutho’s “rent” solution cost effective but their website tool also has a well designed interface that is easy to use - no technical or design skills are needed.

What makes this extremely beneficial is that business owners can update their own content and news articles quick and easy free of charge with Lutho’s tool. The days of waiting for a website developer to update your site are gone: SMEs now have the power in their own hands.

About Lutho.com

Lutho provides business websites, fast. More information on the company and its products can be found on the company's website at www.lutho.com.

Open for discussion - Brand new “community forum”

Lutho, the South African based online marketing company has just made themselves “Open for discussion” to their clients and the public by recently establishing a brand new “community forum” which is available at http://forum.lutho.com.

“The intention of this forum is to give Lutho’s clients and potential clients an opportunity to discuss the new Lutho system and general small business topics with other users“ says Hanru Nienaber, Lutho’s CEO.

According to Nienaber, you can raise any questions on the company, the Lutho system or the services that they offer. The company has also made room in the forum for clients to post threads in various general business sections in addition to the Sales Support and Technical support sections.

In Sales Support, Lutho’s clients and other users can ask questions about the workings and features of the Lutho system to make sure that it will cater for their needs, in addition to making sure that the costs, refund policies and contract terms will meet their criteria. The Technical support section will cater for all questions or suggestions relating to the Lutho® Builder, the Lutho® Control Panel and the setting up of an email account. There is also scope to discuss the content that will feature on the website.

In the general business section you can post tips or ask advice on general business services of interest to small and medium sized businesses (SMEs). Gratia Botes, Lutho’s Support and Public Relations Manager, revealed that the company intends to approach industry experts to contribute to the forum and to stimulate discussion for the benefit of the SMEs. “At some future stage we will also be looking at working with other SME forums to share contributions,” she says.

The main purpose why Lutho launched this forum is to be interactive with their current clients, potential clients and the public in general. This is the best opportunity for Lutho to see and monitor what is being said about their company, the Lutho system and the services that they offer.

Nienaber says, “Lutho takes pride in what we offer and believe that we can help small and medium sized businesses to obtain a quality website that is professional and help them instill credibility with a professional email address at their own domain name that shows that they are serious about their business. We care about the people who spend money with our company and value their input and want to give them the best service and advice we possibly can. One of the ways we hope we can achieve this is through the new forum.”

In addition to the new forum being a sounding board for Lutho to see where there is room for improvement, it will also help the SMEs to help each other and will improve their Customer Support Centre to be more beneficial to their clients.

“There are many benefits that go with having a forum and taking part in them,” says Botes. “Forums are one of the best ways to keep in touch with what is being said on the web, may it be about your company or products or general business issues that are of importance to your clientele. Forums increase traffic on sites and they spark new growth and life in a company, but that all depends if you take what is being said seriously and use it to cultivate your product and service to be the best it can be. There is always room for improvement.”

People want to voice their ideas, comments and even their frustrations. This is where forums come in and lay down that platform for clients and the public to speak. The Lutho forum will enable customers to build strong bonds with other clients and with Lutho’s support centre.

“We encourage our clients and other users to post any questions or comments that they may have and hope that this forum will, over time, develop into a useful resource for our SME business community,” concludes Nienaber.

About Lutho.com

Lutho provides business websites, fast. More information on the company and its products can be found on the company's website at http://www.lutho.com/

Outstanding PBX tool - Lutho is now part of the VOX community

Lutho is happy to announce that our brand new VOX Telecom PBX system has arrived and has been successfully installed this week.

Vox offers an outstanding PBX tool which offers voice over IP (VoIP) and data services. One of the biggest benefits of the Vox system is that calls between Vox numbers are free of charge. Vox gives back to the community, and with the petrol prices going up all the time and the markets looking the way they do it is a wise decision to save money were possible - especially for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs).

Our new fully programmable PBX will help Lutho to support our clients and other callers more effectively and with great ease. Vox telecom allows us to handle multiple calls at a time providing a range of external lines that service incoming and out coming calls over our traditional Telkom line and our VoIP lines and allows us to switch calls between our staff members, as appropriate.

The Vox PBX package consists of a wireless ADSL modem/router and VoIP Digitally Enhanced Cordless Telephone (DECT) that allows us to make calls and also acts as a router for our office to access the internet from anywhere in our business.

Lutho has not just received a first grade PBX system this week, but has also become an authorised Vox dealer. We believe in the service that we offer to small and medium sized businesses and will now be able to further their growth by providing them with a cost effective PBX system that will save them money and equip them to operate more professionally.

If you are interested in installing a PBX system for your SME or would like more information about the Vox PBX system or Lutho, feel free to contact us on 087 808 3192 or email us at support@lutho.com

SMEs looking smart online - Web tool makes getting a branded email address and website easy

Lutho, the South African based online marketing company today officially launched a unique website wizard that will make it possible for aspiring entrepreneurs and small and medium sized business (SME) owners to get their own professional-looking website and a company-branded email address in less than two hours.

Says Hanru Nienaber, the developer of the system, “Many of the SMEs that have approached us over the years to develop websites say they feel lost and overwhelmed in the hi-tech space of website design and hosting. Not only is it difficult to find the right developer to build a quality website at a price that a startup or small business can afford, but deciding on specifications for a websites could also be a daunting task. How is a small business owner, for example, supposed to know if they need Windows or Linux hosting and how many megabytes of space they will require? The Lutho Builder takes away the complexities surrounding the process of getting a website and makes it easy, quick and fun.”

Business owners are not required to have any technical knowledge and are guided through five steps to provide the system with all the information that it needs to build a website and set up all the technical components in the background. “You can choose between a number of templates and banner images, colour schemes and other aspects to create a website that is unique and suitable for your business,” says Nienaber.

Based on the information provided, the Lutho® Builder generates a website that includes a home page, information about the company and contact details. According to him, “You also have access to a backoffice website where you can add news articles, photos, products and more to keep content on your website fresh. The best part is that you can update the articles or the website itself at any time without calling your web developer, meaning no more delays. Apart from the website, a professional-looking email address like info@yourcompany.com is also included. Using your own name in your email address on your business card gives your company so much more credibility that using a free mail or ISP-branded address.”

Small businesses will be glad to hear that the company’s website offer was designed to also take SMEs’ unique financial circumstances into account. “Cashflow is scarce for many startup, small and even medium sized businesses that often find it difficult to fork out the upfront website design fees of between R3 000 and R10 000 that many developers charge for even a basic website, not to mention being bound to a long-term website hosting contract. We have therefore decided to make the website development tool available free of charge and to keep our monthly subscription fees to a minimum. Customers are allowed to cancel their subscription at any time as the idea is to build customer loyalty so that we are successful when our clients are successful. “

Clients subscribe for the website and email service at R145 per month. The first step is to purchase a voucher number that is used to activate the website after which the subscription is renewed on a month-to-month basis. The vouchers are available online from the company’s website at http://www.lutho.com/ or from their offices in Randburg.

Nienaber concludes, “We believe that this product will revolutionise the way that small businesses find their way onto the Internet and we hope that we can contribute to their and our own success by making the process of getting a quality branded website easier and more affordable."

About Lutho

More information on the company and its products can be found in the News Room on the company's website at http://www.lutho.com/.