First "real" muse... kind of....

[nghs22]

Well, I finally got a new mac and decided to put up my first muse....

My parents own a mountain cabin and they told me they would be happy to let me rent it out for them and keep %60 of the profits. So I made a site and we'll see what happens....

Please let me know what you think :)

Obviously I will upload it to a different domain but....

http://web.mac.com/lburrell22/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html

[mfornas]

In short words:
* Very nice and clean design
* Photos too small (I cannot see if I like the house)
* You could put a google maps to indicate location as well
* I could not see your email to contact you
* You could request the user email to send them newsletters (and build a customer database for free)

On average: very good.

Way to go!

Kind regards,
mfornas

[webgal]

I'm from NC. My brother lives in Asheville. It's a great website.

A few nits.

The photos fro the house.html are not getting larger. And in the slide show it's too small as well. But other than nits, it's just dandy. You also say under $200 per night but then it's $200 per night. Maybe make it $190?

The House.html turns into The%20House.html

save the page as:

thehouse.html or blueridgehouse.html

[nghs22]

Thanks for the tip everyone. Please see if I got it right this time. I will add some pictures tomorrow of the rooms and things.

http://web.mac.com/lburrell22/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html

Also, does anyone know how to change the domain name with .mac, maybe to something like www.peaceofparadise.com or the like?

[VitaminD]

Sounds like their muse, not yours. :)

[nghs22]

Just tryin to pass the 4hww forum test :)

[mfornas]

Looking better, only a few details to polish:

The email could be made an hyperlink so when you click on it it fires your mail program

Also the hover effect of the button could be a bit more visible.

For the rest is looking very good.
Well done!

[shawnsue@mac.com]

I think it's a good first job. The new Mac will help you get some experience.

I would suggest adding some photos of the property. You could also create a simple email for contacting local Realtors. The Realtor could use your little "retreat" as a gift weekend for their clients. I worked as a "property finder" in England from 92'-93' for the USAF and good Realtors are always looking for that little something extra to generate Referrals.

Good Luck
Shawn

[nghs22]

Thanks again everyone for the responses. I've added more photos and created the email hyper-link like was suggested. Shawn, I'm not sure what you mean by linking to a local realtor. What does that do for me?

Also, I'm not sure what the "hover effect of the button" is...

Anyways, here is the updated site:

http://web.mac.com/lburrell22/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html

Thanks!!!

Lee

[webgal]

Much better. And I'm not sure what he means by hover but I usually mean an alt tag. It's a tag you can usually add when you put in a photo.

alt="put you tag here"

And when your mouse hovers over it, you see a tooltip. Not in all browsers but you do in most. I'd check on the mac but it's occupied with teenagers uploading you tube videos at the moment.

And I think by a realtor's link, shawn means if you are listed with a rental realtor, you should link back to their site.

By the way, Southern Living Magazine has a classified section in their magazine. They are a good place to put an ad. They would probably give you a listing on their website gratis if you do a classified ad in their pub. Biltmore is a huge draw as are the mountains. And it's COOL in the summer as opposed the rest of NC which is baking hot.

[shawnsue@mac.com]

Lee,

You need referrals.

One way to get them is to network with Realtors within a 75-mile radius of Asheville. Realtors are also looking for referrals. Help them out by offering them a weekend package deal. They buy the package from you at a discount and then give it to their client. Their client now tells all their friends about this fabulous cottage retreat that stayed at free courtesy of their realtor.

You could do the same thing with dentists/orthodontists, ect. All professionals spend money on advertising, with a good % flushed down the toilet.

Here's the pitch: Mr. professional I want to help you save some money on your advertising.

What I mean is, I want to invite you and your spouse to spend a weekend in Asheville on me. I have a fabulous cottage retreat your just going to love.

After the trip, I'd like to come to your office and discuss how you can share this experience with your clients at very little cost. It will help your business by generating positive word of mouth and it will help my little enterprise by allowing more people to enjoy my retreat. Do you have a weekend free to relax ,enjoy the scenery and drink a little wine on me?

Another thing your going to need is a professional brochure showcasing the cottage. You can create it on your new mac for now. But you'll want to hire a good designer as soon as you can afford one. A good copywriter is a must also. Good designers are typically bad copywriters. If you can find some local free-lance talent offer the cottage for the weekend in exchange for these specialized services.

Lee, you need referrals and nothing gets them like samples. Go check out ductapemarketing.com for some great articles on referral selling. John Jantz, The author of Duct Tape Marketing recently interviewed Tim.

Good luck & Good selling,
Shawn

[mandasol]

Also, does anyone know how to change the domain name with .mac, maybe to something like www.peaceofparadise.com or the like?


First you have to see if the domain name you want is available. If it is then you have to register it for between $5-10 per year. Most of the sites that let you register like godaddy.com register.com namesecure.com etc will let you forward all visitors of your registered domain to your actual web server address. Also, most will give you the option for an "URL Gripper" that will keep displaying your preferred URL instead of your actual server address.

[TimW]

Lee,
Go check out ductapemarketing.com for some great articles on referral selling. John Jantz, The author of Duct Tape Marketing recently interviewed Tim.

Good luck & Good selling,
Shawn

The actual URL is:

http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/

yours was missing a "T"