Meet Us

Hi & thanks for visiting our site!

Let's start with the more interesting stuff we're doing with Site Build It!, like the 2 travel sites we're building :-)

African Wildlife Vacations

Although we now live in Calgary, Alberta, we emigrated from Durban, South Africa several years ago.

As the saying goes "You can leave Africa, but it will never leave you!", so we still have a keen interest in Africa, and the conservation of its unique wildlife and other popular attractions.

So we're using Site Build It!, to build AfricanWildlifeVacations.com (formerly Africa-vacations.com), to encourage people to discover Africa and all that it has to offer!

Here are some photos of Durban:

Vancouver BC

We lived in Vancouver for several years, before moving to sunny Calgary. So our second travel site is about Vancouver BC. It's our favourite city in Canada, and there are many similarities to Cape Town in South Africa, with its attractive natural settings. The Vancouver site is still being developed, so watch for more updates about it, in the near future.

So back to us...

About Lyn

Prior to becoming an active Site Build It! user and SBI! Certified Webmaster, I gained much of my business experience working in International Trade Finance, and foreign exchange, in the banking industry. I worked my way up from a general clerical position, to a supervisory position (Controller) in a busy International Trade Centre branch. Then we immigrated to Canada!

Over the years, I have worked for several major financial institutions, like Nedbank in South Africa, and in Canada -- ABN AMRO Bank N.V., TD Canada Trust, and H.S.B.C. (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation), and a few smaller credit unions.

It was an interesting career in Global Trade Finance, as the importers and exporters we worked closely with, ranged from small local business owners to large multi-national corporate clients, in diverse industries.

We also had to communicate regularly with banks in many different countries, to ensure that our international trade transactions were processed as quickly and efficiently as possible. When dealing with foreign currencies, small delays and oversights can quickly lead to large currency exchange losses, so those transactions could get quite tricky!

Site Build It!

We first discovered Site Build It! (SBI!) several years ago, after moving to Canada, and started using it to build our own sites.

We had tried other web design and marketing services & soon realized that SBI! is a much more versatile and effective business-building tool. SBI! helps people to use the internet to share their business knowledge, experience and skills more effectively, even with limited technical knowledge about building websites & HTML.

We had finally found a web hosting and marketing system that works!, to build our business online.

SBI! Mentoring Experience

In 2004 I was selected to be one of the first Mentors/Trainers in a group mentoring program, offered by a successful internet marketing company based in Dallas, Texas, to help people to build their own SBI! sites.

It was a deeply rewarding experience to be a Mentor, coaching new SBI! owners through their start-up phases, & choosing their site concepts, then watching their sites "blossom before my eyes", after they found a good niche -- their special niche!

However, Derek and I decided to focus on using SBI! to help local business entrepreneurs to market their services online. So, with the deepest regret, I resigned from my role as a Mentor in the program. I said goodbye to my clients... (I had over 25 clients, in 8 countries, at the time).

Some of my former clients' sites are now well-established, successful sites.

In 2005, I was accepted as an SBI! Certified Webmaster.(Note: the Certified Webmaster Program formerly offered by SiteSell has since been replaced by SiteSell Services.)

I still enjoy helping new SBIers to get started with their sites, so I occasionally offer some private mentoring services (mainly for travel-related sites now).

I also volunteer as a moderator in the private forums SiteSell offers for SBI! owners and affiliates. I moderate 3 forums there: Choosing Your Perfect Domain, Image Search HQ, and Local Offline Businesses.

About Derek

My partner, Derek, provides marketing and consulting services for businesses in our local area, plus career and job search counselling for immigrant professionals as a Certified Career Development Professional (CCDP).

He has several professional qualifications in marketing, training/coaching, career development and a post graduate diploma in Industrial Relations (Arbitration and Mediation). Visit his CanadianLabourRelations.com website.

Derek also has many years experience with small business marketing, as an independent consultant for various companies, and with his own businesses.

Contact us if you have questions, suggestions, or comments you would like to share with us. (Please note: For business-related inquiries, please use the special forms on our local business marketing services or SBI! Mentoring pages instead. Thanks!)

We look forward to hearing from you!

**Disclaimer: Sites built by SBI! Certified Webmasters use the SBI! system. SiteSell does not guarantee or have direct influence over the service that is provided.**