The Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service recognize the achievements of contact center, customer service, business development, and sales professionals worldwide.

In a gala ceremony on April 12, 2024, held in Las Vegas, Nevada, DreamHost’s Technical Support department won “Best Customer Satisfaction Strategy” for its strategic initiatives focusing on reducing customer wait times and enhancing first-contact support resolutions. It also won “Best Return on Customer Service Investment” for investing in new tools and dedicated team members to align tactics and goals with its “Wait Time Zero” initiative and increased first-contact resolutions, demonstrating its commitment to customer success, satisfaction, and exceptional experiences.

The department’s two nominations were rated among the top 35% of more than 2,300 considered in this year’s Sales & Customer Service Awards program that were recognized as finalists!

“Our metrics and unsolicited testimonials already show that our customers appreciate the way we support them, but I wanted to make this success even more visible and public,” said Andrea Silas, Vice President of Tech Support. “I’m proud to be leading a group of amazing team members and happy to see them both internally and externally recognized.”

DreamHost’s Technical Support team looks forward to delivering exceptional services to its customers for the remainder of 2024 and in the years to come.

The post DreamHost Technical Support Team Wins Two Bronze Awards in 2024 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service appeared first on DreamHost.

“I had an interest in writing from a very early age. I loved to read as a little kid, even in elementary school,” Owen said. “I was always fascinated: ‘Where do these stories come from?'”

Among those stories was the lore of Middle Earth.

“I first read ‘The Lord of the Rings’ by Tolkien and that just floored me. I’d never read anything like it, and I just knew at that point I wanted to make up stories like that,” he said. Despite his initial attempts at writing, which he humbly dismisses as “terrible,” these early experiences sowed the seeds for his future in writing.

He’d caught the writing fever and gladly kept it burning into his later school years. In high school, he took an elective creative writing class that he said was beneficial, thanks to an inspiring teacher who provided a nurturing environment that gave him the confidence to pursue his passion. When he entered university, he majored in English.

“I don’t know if that was good or bad for a writer, but it got me closer to where I was going,” he said. “I loved English. It was fun to study, and it’s a useful degree for no matter what you do.”

But it was when he got engaged to be married that he realized that making up stories might not pay the bills. He knew he had to earn a secure living.

A New Career Takes Flight

That living turned out to come from a fairly unlikely direction for a university English major. Then, the course Owen was charting turned skyward.

“I got sidetracked in a career completely different from writing,” he said. “I became an air traffic controller because a friend of mine got into it, and it just kind of fell into my lap, too. I figured I’d do it for a few years, and I ended up doing it for 25.”

During his more than two decades of monitoring and managing the movement of aircraft, he invested little forward movement in his writing ambitions. Other than periodically jotting down ideas, a future as a writer wasn’t at the forefront of his plans.

However, his years as an air traffic controller afforded him the opportunity to travel the world, which gave him experiences that motivated him to keep a spark alive for writing.

“When I retired, I said, ‘Well, if I’m ever going to write, I’d better do it now.’ So I started pursuing it seriously  — writing short stories — because that was the conventional wisdom back in the day,” Owen said.

Fulfilling a Destiny

As he delved more deeply into his stories — mainly science fiction and fantasy — Owen experienced the publisher rejections that many writers often run into.

“You break into writing with short stories and sell them to the magazines,” he said. “My first few rejections were crushing, but I realized I needed to learn more about the craft of fiction writing.”

He discovered the Odyssey Writing Workshop, an intensive six-week program geared toward writers of fantasy fiction. Odyssey — located at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire — is one of two, along with Clarion West, major science fiction and fantasy writing workshops in the United States.

Owen enrolled in the Odyssey workshop with 15 other aspiring writers. The workshop’s instructor took students through the paces of all things writing, and Owen said it changed his world.

At about the same time, Owen received what he’d been pining for ever since embarking on his writing journey: an acceptance letter for one of his short stories. His thrill at the honor motivated him to keep going.

“I would say this was around 2010. So, until about 2013, I was writing short stories — just cranking them out and sending them off,” he said. “I ended up getting about 40 published out of probably several hundred that I submitted. And some of them, I submitted multiple times.”

Inspired by his success with short stories, Owen wanted to take the logical next step.

“I decided I wanted to take a crack at writing a novel. I’d taken a crack at it back when I was in college. I wrote sort of a Tolkien fantasy knockoff. I got about halfway through it, thought it was terrible, and abandoned it,” he said. “But then I started working on some ideas for novels that I’d had over the years, and eventually those morphed into some completed works.”

Branching Out from the Fantastic

So, how does he approach writing in such disparate genres while maintaining richness and integrity in the quality of his prose?

“The way I work and the way my mind thinks, I almost don’t have any other choice,” he said. “I got my feet wet in science fiction and fantasy because that’s what I grew up reading. But when I got into college and started studying English and reading writers like Faulkner and Hemingway and Toni Morrison, I started to love literary writing. I started to love mainstream writing, even genres like the thriller and Michael Crichton.”

Owen sees the value in a writer having the ability to traverse genres, so he’s not content to pigeonhole himself. He relishes the literary forays he’s made into science fiction, relationships, and thrillers and admits that he’d “get bored after that and want to move on to something else.”

“That’s kind of to my detriment because most writers — if you write a science fiction book and people buy it, you write more science fiction because that’s what [readers] are expecting from that person whose book they read,” he said. “You develop a following in a particular genre.”

Owen points to the “Harry Potter” and “Game of Thrones” novels series as examples of those with characters that are carried through multiple books by a single author each. He’s quick to point out that he doesn’t work that way, and he said that ethos keeps him from being bored. He also said such a decision to stay diverse hasn’t been an obstacle in his creative process because he reads a wide variety of genres.

“A lot of writing instructors and authors will tell you even if you write science fiction, don’t just read science fiction. Read stuff in every genre. Read some Westerns, read some romance,” he said. “So I do that, and it makes me want to write in those genres.”

The Creative Process

For Owen, effective world-building involves just enough detail to make the setting believable, without overwhelming the reader with unnecessary information. He avoids what readers call “info dumps,” striving instead to integrate details naturally into the narrative. 

In his latest novel, the futuristic and dystopian “Behavior,” Owen tackles the intricate and ethically charged concept of controlling antisocial and even criminal behavior through microchips implanted in the brain. This premise allowed him to explore not only futuristic technology but also deeper philosophical and moral questions. He strives to balance these heavy themes with compelling storytelling. 

“The main goal is to compel the reader to keep turning pages,” Owen explained. By integrating intense scenarios that prompt readers to think critically about societal norms and personal autonomy, he keeps his narratives engaging and thought-provoking.

“The idea for ‘Behavior’ is over 20 years old. I used to have a little Moleskine notebook where I wrote ideas down as they would come to me.”

His approach to world-building is story-centric. “It all starts with the story,” Owen asserted.

His writing process is dynamic; he may work on a novel for a while, set it aside, and then return to it with fresh eyes. This method allows his ideas to mature, and his narratives to develop depth and coherence over time, allowing him to introduce complex ideas gradually, avoiding overwhelming the reader, while still enriching the story with depth and intrigue.

Integrating Life Into Fiction

Owen’s novels often draw directly from his tapestry of life experiences. For instance, “Euro Spree” is inspired by his youthful adventures across Europe, distilled into what he calls a “beachery” — a lighthearted, engaging novel perfect for leisure reading on the beach. 

Unlike “Euro Spree,” another one of his novels, “Faith,” took a decade to refine. The novel’s premise sprouted from an overheard conversation and evolved into a story exploring the dynamics between an atheist filmmaker and a Christian singer, capturing the complex interplay of belief systems in personal relationships.

Owen’s personal journey from a religious upbringing to a more secular adulthood provided a nuanced backdrop for the characters in “Faith,” reflecting his deep understanding of both perspectives. This personal authenticity brings a compelling realism to his work, making his characters relatable and their conflicts resonant. 

Leveraging Technology To Connect With Readers

When Owen decided to transition from a personal blog to a professional website, he sought a reliable web hosting service that could meet his needs without compromising performance. Dissatisfied with his first hosting provider, Owen switched to DreamHost on a fellow writer’s recommendation. The move proved pivotal, offering him the speedy, seamless, efficient, and supportive environment he needed to manage his online presence effectively. 

“Tech support, on the rare occasions I need it, it has been flawless,” he said.

Christopherowenwriter.com is more than just a platform for promoting his books; it’s a gateway for engaging with his readers worldwide. By utilizing DreamHost’s robust features, including suggested WordPress plugins and a responsive customer support team, he created a website that not only showcases his work but also facilitates meaningful interactions with his audience. The contact form on his site, for instance, has enabled readers from as far away as the Netherlands to reach out with feedback, which Owen values greatly. 

For Owen, DreamHost has not just been a service provider, but a partner in his storytelling journey. The ease of updating content, the reliability of the hosting service, and the access to effective communication tools through his website have allowed him to focus more on what he loves — writing and interacting with his readers — without worrying about the technical aspects of managing an online presence. 

Owen’s experience highlights the importance of accessible technology in supporting independent creators in their professional ventures. By leveraging open-source solutions he has been able to focus on his writing and reader engagement without being bogged down by technical difficulties or limitations.

At DreamHost, flexibility is one of our core values and it’s a trait that many of our customers, like Owen, greatly appreciate. He needed a web host that could accommodate his creative vision, despite having little prior website design experience.

“I learned the hard way that flexibility in a host is imperative,” he said.

Owen was pleasantly surprised to find that DreamHost offered a variety of tools to facilitate website design and layout. The intuitive interface and the plethora of help files and tutorials enabled him to design a professional website that he’s proud of.

“Almost every aspect of DreamHost’s user interface has help files and tutorials that allowed me to design a professional website that I’m quite proud of,” he said.

What’s more, DreamHost’s passion for our work is reflected in our engagements with our customers, and Owen experienced that firsthand when he needed additional help with his website construction.

“DreamHost’s helpful staff was merely a click away to answer my questions or to fix whatever issue I couldn’t on my own,” he said. He added that he was impressed by the quick response times and the friendly and courteous service, which signaled to him that the staff was passionate about their work.

The post Christopher Owen’s Journey from Air Traffic Controller to Celebrated Author appeared first on DreamHost.

What’s in store?

DreamPress: Your Dream Solution for Hassle-Free WordPress Hosting

Imagine having your own team of experts, 24/7, taking care of your WordPress site while you sit back and relax. That’s exactly what you get with DreamPress! It’s our managed WordPress hosting solution that makes running your website a breeze. It offers fast, reliable performance with its own isolated resources, automatic updates, and daily backups, so you don’t have to worry about the technical stuff. Plus, our award-winning in-house support is always there to help. With DreamPress, you get more time to focus on what really matters: growing your online presence and reaching your goals. Enjoy the peace of mind knowing that your site is in good hands.

Our holiday special offer includes discounted prices on DreamPress, DreamPress Plus, and DreamPress Pro!

Complimentary Domains

A website domain is like the address of a house, but for a website on the internet. This unique name helps people find your website easily. Having a good domain name is important because it’s the first thing people see about your website. It’s like the front door to your online home or business, making it a key part of your presence and your branding on the internet.

This holiday, DreamHost is excited to offer complimentary registrations on two of our most popular domains! With each of these domain offers, the first year of registration is complimentary, with renewals at their then-current rates.

.CLUB

The .CLUB domain is a versatile top-level domain perfect for any group, organization, team, or business that identifies as a club. It fosters connection, engagement, and unity among like-minded individuals, serving as a virtual gathering place for various interests, industries, and causes. From hobby or fan clubs to businesses aiming to build a community around their products or services, a .CLUB domain can make your website instantly recognizable. It’s an excellent choice for subscription-based e-commerce businesses, adding a sense of exclusivity to regular product deliveries. Even established businesses can utilize a .CLUB domain to highlight loyalty, reward, or points programs, making it memorable and easy for customers to find. In essence, a .CLUB domain is about togetherness, loyalty, and membership that matters.

.STORE

The .STORE domain is a powerful tool designed specifically for those passionate about their online business, be it a budding entrepreneur or an established business owner. It not only helps in establishing a unique brand identity that appeals to your audience but also contributes to attracting attention in search engine results, acting as a prime location for your virtual retail store, which saves you marketing costs and enhances visibility. This domain is versatile, catering to a variety of merchants from fashion, beauty, food industry, packaging, sports, home decor, and more. With over 1.3 million registrations worldwide, the .STORE domain has become the chosen online home for numerous successful businesses. So, jump on the bandwagon and let your business thrive with a .STORE domain!

.COM: The Gold Standard for Global Recognition and Credibility

The power of the .COM domain cannot be overstated. It’s the original, the trailblazer, the gold standard of the digital world. With a .COM, your website instantly gains legitimacy and recognition, whether you’re just starting out or already presiding over an established empire. It’s the most sought-after domain globally, a testament to its influence and reach. Over 100 million sites, from towering businesses to fledgling blogs, impressive portfolios to personal pages, have all trusted and registered their .COM. It’s more than just a domain – it’s a badge of honor in the digital realm, a statement that says, “I’m here and I mean business.” So, why not join the esteemed ranks of .COM holders? After all, the best way to tell your story online starts with a .COM.

This holiday season, DreamHost is m`aking it easy for you to stake your spot on that world stage with a 60%-off deal on .COM registrations!

Save the Date for Deals!

Our DreamHost Holiday Sale runs from December 8, 2023, through January 12, 2024, so you won’t want to miss out on ending your year on a high note with these merry, magical, exclusive discounts on DreamPress and domains, perfect for transforming your ordinary digital landscape into a festive web wonderland. Let’s make your online presence shine brighter this holiday season!

The post Tech the Halls! Jingle All the Way to DreamHost’s Holiday Sale on December 8. appeared first on DreamHost.

Let’s take a look!

Pro Services: Professional Expertise at Unbeatable Prices

With DreamHost’s Pro Services, we’ve got the right tools and the perfect team to help you skyrocket your online presence. Our holiday sale will make it even more affordable for you to tap into our expertise. Whether you’re running a business or want to share your blog with the world, our Pro Services team can help you attract, captivate, and grow your online audience. It can assist in ensuring your website is running optimally, is secure, and is fully optimized for your needs. Get ready to take your personal or business site to the next level with DreamHost Pro Services at a fraction of the regular price!

Domains: Your Digital Identity Awaits

Your domain name is your unique digital identity on the web. It speaks volumes about who you are and what you do. It can even make or break your personal or business brand with people when they find you online. At DreamHost, we offer a wide variety of top-level domains. This Black Friday/Cyber Monday, we’re bringing you fantastic rates on domains. So, get ready to claim your piece of the internet real estate at an unbeatable deal!

DreamPress: Experience the Power of Optimized WordPress Hosting

For all you WordPress enthusiasts out there, our DreamPress packages are custom-tailored to ensure you get the most out of your WordPress websites. DreamPress is our managed WordPress hosting solution designed to make your site faster, safer, and better supported than anywhere else. If you’re a WordPress user seeking an upgrade and an optimized experience, stay tuned for our holiday DreamPress deals!

Shared Hosting: Sharing is Caring (and Saving!)

DreamHost’s Shared Hosting service is designed to cater to all your website needs. If you’re looking to start a blog, launch a business website, or even establish an online store, our Shared Hosting deals this Black Friday/Cyber Monday are just what you need. Shared Hosting plan is a budget-friendly solution that doesn’t compromise on performance or security. Whether you’re a blogger, a small business, or you’re just starting, our holiday sale is designed to help you get online without breaking the bank. Get ready to share the joy (and the savings) and enjoy reliable, affordable, and simply the best hosting solution on the market!

Mark Your Calendars!

Our Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals will be available from November 13 through November 30, 2023. Although we’re keeping the surprises under wraps for now, rest assured they’ll be well worth the wait! We can’t wait for you to take advantage of these exciting deals and continue your journey to owning and elevating your digital presence with DreamHost. If you’re already a member of the DreamHost family, keep an eye on your email inbox for more details coming soon. But if you haven’t joined us yet, keep an eye on social media over the next few weeks.

Either way, get ready to experience the DreamHost difference at holiday prices you won’t believe!

The post ‘Tis the Season! DreamHost’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday Deals Kick Off on November 13. appeared first on DreamHost.

It’s a super-easy-to-use tool that can help entrepreneurs, startups, makers, and small business owners in their journey to stand out and secure their online presence. This AI-powered tool generates business name ideas in real-time based on keywords and industry direction provided by the user.

Not only that, it also checks the availability of domain names related to the generated business names. This way, users can easily and quickly secure a domain name that matches their business name, ensuring a seamless online presence.

What’s In a Name?

It has often been said that a first impression is the last impression, and for a business, its name is often that first impression. A well-chosen name reflects the identity, values, and nature of the business. It’s like a nice firm handshake introducing the company to the world.

A business name and domain name are essential branding elements, making the company memorable and setting it apart from the competition. It can convey professionalism, creativity, value, and relevance in the industry. 

Put simply, it’s the cornerstone of the company’s overall branding strategy — influencing logos, taglines, marketing, and even company culture.

Why a Business Name Generator from DreamHost?

The Business Name Generator was developed by DreamHost as part of our mission to provide personalized guidance to businesses and help them attract, captivate, and grow customers online.

For our customers, the Business Name Generator is an invaluable tool. It simplifies the process of finding a unique and catchy business name which can be a challenging and time-consuming task. With it, users can easily utilize the power of AI language models to generate a list of potential names in seconds, allowing them to focus more on other aspects of their business. Plus, it’s just plain fun to see what the generator comes up with!

Once customers have chosen a name, they can quickly check the availability of the corresponding domain name and secure it instantly. This ensures that their business name and online presence are cohesive and easily identifiable.

How It Works

Enter Your Keywords

It all begins with that spark of creativity. Brainstorm two to five keywords that best describe your business. These could be anything — the services you offer, the values you uphold, or something small and special that makes you unique.

Enter Your Industry

Next, enter your industry — we’ve got suggestions for everything, from Accounting to Zoo-keeping! If you can’t find what you’re looking for, simply enter what you think makes the most sense. We’ll take it from there.

Generate Your Options

With a single click on the “Generate” button, our AI-powered business name generator will analyze your keywords and industry. Then, it whips up a list of potential business names that are unique, meaningful, and industry-appropriate.

Register Your Domain

Found a name that you love? Great! The next step is to check domain availability. As soon as you click your favorite name, our generator will check domain options in real-time. If the chosen name is available, you can register it on the spot!

After Finding the Perfect Name

Once a business name has been chosen and domain names have been secured, DreamHost then provides a checklist of additional steps and recommendations for small business owners to get their businesses off the ground.

DreamHost’s Business Name Generator is the first in a planned suite of tools created to help small business owners find success online.

For more information, visit https://www.dreamhost.com/tools/business-name-generator/.

The post Announcing DreamHost’s New Business Name Generator appeared first on DreamHost.

Glenn McDaniel was born and raised in Southern California. As a child, he was attracted to art and spent much of his free time drawing and painting. He later attended the California College of the Arts, where he honed his skills and developed a unique style that combines traditional painting techniques with modern digital tools.

After college, McDaniel began working as a freelance artist, creating artwork for a variety of clients, including book publishers, game developers, and advertising agencies. He quickly gained a reputation for his creativity and attention to detail, and his work began to appear in a variety of publications and media outlets.

In 2016, McDaniel launched YourArtDude.com as a way to showcase his artwork and sell it directly to consumers. He created the site himself after educating himself on the most-used site design methods of the time. After feeling like he was falling “behind the curve” in keeping pace with the ever-advanced technical aspects of site management, however, he no longer had time to maintain it.

When he won a site redesign by DreamHost’s Pro Services team in the first-ever Extreme Website Makeover .SHOP Edition giveaway in October 2022, he savored the opportunity for a zesty rebuild of his online home.

“I was really excited because I have been handling my website design for years, and I was eager to have a website that is professionally created,” he said.

McDaniel’s expectations throughout the redesign process were met in spades.

“I found the Pro Team to be exceptional,” he said. “They listened carefully to what I wanted my website to become, and they were very patient because some of the text I sent was copied from the [original Adobe Express] webpage I created and the formatting wasn’t ideal. The Pro Team blew my mind with the product [that] was delivered.”

He added that his site redesign instructions and ideas submitted to Pro Services were conveyed via email, a process he said allowed for clarity of intention.

“I never had the impression my instructions were not understood, and the resulting design was spot-on,” he said.

He also hopes the redesigned site will increase his sales and grow his audience.

“I consider traffic to be the best measure of a website’s success. I am confident that future visitors will feel they are dealing with a reputable and professional company,” he said.

The eye-popping artwork showcased on the redesigned YourArtDude.com is diverse and ranges from traditional oil paintings to digital illustrations. His artwork often features intricate patterns and designs, which are carefully crafted to create a sense of movement and depth.

Whether you’re an art lover, a collector, or just looking for a piece to hang on your wall that’s sure to become a conversation starter, YourArtDude.com is definitely worth checking out.

Based on McDaniel’s experience working with DreamHost’s Pro Services team on his new site, he encourages other business owners who are considering whether to update their sites to go for it.

“In my opinion, a modern website design is critical considering the competition,” he said. “My experience working with DreamHost Pros has been a great experience, and the team truly delivered a high-quality product. I would tell anyone considering a website redesign to get on with it.”

But when it comes to keeping his new site’s design and functionality up-to-date and fresh? What then?

“Well, it will be a challenge. I am a one-person operation with limited capital, but I know I will reach out to the DreamHost Pros first!”

For more about Glenn McDaniel Arts, view its DreamHost-redesigned site here.

The post Glenn McDaniel Arts Wins Extreme Website Makeover .SHOP Edition Giveaway from DreamHost appeared first on DreamHost.

Alphabet Publishing’s materials are designed to help teachers create engaging and effective lesson plans, and they cover proficiency levels from beginner to advanced. The materials are also well-organized and easy to use, with clear instructions and plentiful examples and exercises to help students practice their language skills. Alphabet Publishing’s books are also designed to be flexible, so they can be adapted to different students’ specific needs and interests.

Another thing that sets Alphabet Publishing apart from other English-language teaching companies are the credentials behind its materials. The books available for purchase on its site are written by experienced English-language teachers who are working in classrooms now and who have a direct, deep understanding of the challenges that students face when learning.

Alphabet Publishing’s site also features a blog, which is a crucial asset to nearly any type of business site. The blog posts cover a variety of topics, from tips for teaching online to ideas for incorporating technology into the classroom. The teaching tips provide practical advice on everything from lesson planning to classroom management.

Alphabet Publishing was founded by teacher/writer/editor Walton Burns, who said he was excited to win a site redesign by DreamHost’s Pro Services team in its recent Extreme Website Makeover .SHOP Edition giveaway.

“It’s difficult to run a small business by yourself and wear all the hats. I don’t have time to update my website and keep up with the latest code standards and design best practices,” he said.

Burns had been hoping for a while to have professional designers update his site to improve its overall look and speed up its performance. When he won the redesign from DreamHost and began consulting with his designer, he suggested sample websites that he liked and discussed his goals for his site. He said his designer was receptive to his input and put forth terrific ideas.

Burns said that his site is much faster as a result of the makeover. Its ecommerce element has also improved significantly.

“I’ve… never been a big fan of the built-in WooCommerce themes, and the plugin [the Pro Services designers] installed, Shop Lentor, let me create a really nice-looking product page,” he said. “I look forward to learning more about it and tweaking things some more.”

Overall, Burns has been grateful for the opportunity to have new life breathed into Alphabet Publishing’s website, and he looks forward to reaping the benefits.

“I hope the faster speeds will draw more people to the site and the new look will convey that I have a serious business,” he said.

For more about Alphabet Publishing, visit its DreamHost-redesigned site here.

The post Alphabet Publishing Wins Extreme Website Makeover .SHOP Edition Giveaway from DreamHost appeared first on DreamHost.