This post is part important marketing information and part shameless self promotion, both of my genius at web design, copy-writing and marketing and to get your eyeballs on my projects new website.
I have struggled over the years with getting websites built in a timely and cost effective fashion. I have great guys with talent to do the work, but I still have to provide the content which is a very time consuming job in itself. I then have to contact them for every little change I want to make and it takes them time to get to it and additional costs. I have tried different programs to let me build a website myself, but all were too complicated and the end product never looked very good. Besides, I am usually too busy as a project developer to spend time learning web design.
So, the other day my hosting service sent me an email about a new program that would allow me to Drag and Drop all the elements onto a page while online and publish it with a press of a button, very similar to how I post this blog. I did not have to know HTML or FTP, SWF or anything more than I do when blogging. It really is web site design for dummies. I built the site in about 12 hours, start to publish! Now, I don't have a dog in this hunt and won't make a dime if you end up using this program, but it is so cool that I wanted to share it with you and get some publicity at the same time.
Now for some helpful info if you have a development project you want to promote.
If you will take the time to look over the site there is a marketing theme that I have used throughout the site that development promoters may want to take notice of. In my first page I am trying to connect with my potential client by conveying specific information about the quality of the project, its amenities and access to THINGS. Access to THINGS is extremely important to WOMEN who plan on living any length of time in the property. And guess what, it is women that you must convince to buy in your project. After over 175 sales I know for a fact that it is usually the men who have done the research and want to move to Panama, but it is the women who makes the final decision on where they will settle. As a side note, there are a number of single or widowed women living in Valle Escondido which greatly surprised and pleased me. For a women to pick up stakes and move to a foreign land tells you something about her and the project. She is extremely independent and the project makes her secure and happy enough to go it alone.
I go on to tell about the people who inhabit our piece of paradise so they can connect and feel that they could fit in. I provide some information on the activities and amenities beyond our gates so they can see that there is more to do than just be in this project. There is a residents testimonial page which is extremely important. Just as TravelAdvisor testimonials can make or break your lodging business, great testimonials can really help people connect with your project.
The second page goes into my story of why I selected and built Valle Escondido. I call it the "safe haven" story. Just about every MAN who comes through our sales doors say they connect with it, because they too are looking for a safe haven. Think of it like this. Men are always seeking safety for their ass and their assets and women are thinking more about comfort and knowing there are others like them to connect with. Nothing new here, so if you apply that line of thinking into your marketing you may have similar success.
Then there are details on all aspects of the projects amenities such as HEALTH AND BEAUTY SPA, fitness center etc.. Most things catering to women. And then there are lots of photos. Of course I have the benefit of the project being nearly completed and do not have to resort to computer renderings, but also the handicap of little else to sell. But, I don't really care because I want to retire and enjoy the fruits of my labor and my wife wants to work and run the business as she has for the past 5 years. A happy wife is a busy wife I always say. I will hopefully live my life as do the other 350 or so folks that live in Valle Escondido, enjoying the third age as they now call it.
The site really was built in 12 hours, which I think is very fast when you consider I am the copywriter and had to hunt down all the photos out of the many thousands in my files. Not to mention my first time using the program. You can go here to view my site and here to find out more about the program. They let you use it free to a certain level and then it is $10 a month. Cheap IMO. Please feel free to comment on my work as I can surely use some feedback. Don't worry about hurting my feelings, after cancer treatment I am impervious to pain!
