Lateral Systems - Content Management Solutions

It’s in the Stars founder Elizabeth Ball produces personal astrology reports  designed to help people achieve better harmony and understanding of themselves, their relationships and children.

Initially, Elizabeth handled report production and sales offline, but in an effort to expand and streamline her business, she wanted to move these aspects online.

Lateral Systems was engaged to build www.itsinthestarsonline.com , which has enabled Elizabeth to sell her reports online, and build and engage a loyal customer base.

The implementation of the Verve® email marketing and e-commerce functions allowed It’s in the Stars to build a database of customers and to sell reports online. It’s in the Stars e-newsletters are created within Verve® and allow content contributors to author newsletter content just as they would create website content. It’s in the Stars e-newsletters can be cast through Verve® and the CMS provides critical post-campaign reporting and statistics.

The website, www.itsinthestarsonline.com is intuitive, scalable and has been a valuable online tool for brand building.

The regular emails created through Verve^® have provided customers with added value before and after purchase of the astrology reports, at the same time as providing Elizabeth with a better understanding of her customer base. An online presence has also allowed Elizabeth to expand into overseas markets and help provide momentum for her products.

Testimonial

It took me a surprisingly long time to locate a good web developer! There were many who could build a pretty front end for a very extravagant price – but very few, until my designer introduced me to Lateral Systems, who had the capability to build and handle the back end, basing it on software I had licensed from an American developer.

Before I met Lateral Systems I had created a flow chart of the buying and production process and a four-stage development plan to brief them on what I wanted.  They achieved all of Stage 1 by the launch in December 2006 (within two months of us starting to work together), bar the birthday email programming which was completed in May.

They are quick, honest and great at letting me know the best way to achieve things and as a result, what I thought I’d roll out in order on the website changed a little so that we completed one element of Stage 3 (coded gift voucher programming) in March and am about to start working on the emailed future forecasts of Stage 2.

I find the team at Lateral – in particular, Rowan Cooke and Todd Baker – to be very collaborative, co-operative and lovely to deal with. Verve is a very handy content management system for me to update simple written material on the website and to produce the newsletter, whose membership is growing all the time.

Elizabeth Ball
It's in the Stars