Look Who's Marketing Now!

First off, this is not a rant. I love what I do, and what I do is website development. The creativity and detail of my job make me happy, and I'm happy to help my clients.

But I've got to talk to more clients about their commitment to the internet.

Some think that once they've got a website their troubles are over. The website does all the work, the great Google god shines his blessing, and customers flock to them by the thousands.

But here's the reality: Your website just doesn't do everything automatically. You have to be paying attention and do some things that help your web presence grow.

As a developer, it's my responsibility to go through the Search Engine Optimization process with you by researching keywords, optimizing the meta tags, submitting to search engines, consulting with you on the best online directories for your business, and other technical stuff.

You, on the other hand, should be using social media like Twitter, Facebook, and any others that you have time for, to make your business shine. Sign up with business-related directories so that you can log on when you like, making changes when needed to be sure that everything is accurate.

Write a blog.

Your developer may be great at designing and SEO, but you're the one who sees your business day in and day out. Blogging about interesting customers, strange requests, a new sales tactic you tried, or even a troublesome problem you've come across can be a really good marketing tact.

Here's an example: A good friend and client who owns a bed and breakfast bragged a bit about the quality of the breakfast he served. When I checked his reviews on TripAdvisor, sure enough people were praising his food as some of the very best they'd ever had at a B&B. Now that's bragging rights! How much more could he have gained by blogging about it and linking right back to his site so folks could make reservations and taste for themselves?

It doesn't have to be bragging, it just has to be interesting enough for people to want to click the link. Another visitor and potential customer added.

And my web developing skills had nothing to do with it.

He could have done the same on Twitter or Facebook, having his followers and friends see what great hospitality he offers with just a few sentences.

My point is, a website by itself just isn't enough. It's an extremely important tool that offers information, pictures, and a sales pitch, but you are the one who makes your business shine.

If your business is important enough to have a website, then it's certainly important enough to spend a few minutes a day or a few times a week making it shine.

And if you'd like some help learning how to do that, call me and I'll offer my fabulous consulting services for a nominal fee.

What, you thought I'd do that for free? Silly earthling.

By the way, if you want to know who makes the fabulous breakfast, email travel@natchezms.com and I'll tell you.

Now for the cheap plug.

Go immediately to www.natchezms.com, see what a great getaway a visit to Natchez, MS would be, and tell the folks you make reservations with who sent you.

Ghosts in Natchez? Plenty and How!

Do you believe in ghosts? Soon it will be the season for them whether you believe or not, what with Halloween and all, and Natchez certainly has its share.
For instance, there's an article about the ghosts of Historic Jefferson College in the local paper today. It seems they're inviting "ghost hunters" to bring their paranormal-seeking equipment to look for evidence of the spirits seen and heard in the buildings and on the grounds around the old school. Here's a link to the article: http://tinyurl.com/ljubbh. I've seen the photo of the 9-year old boy and it's pretty convincing.
Natchez has a lot of antebellum homes (for you yankees, that's homes built before the Civil War) and you can bet nearly every one has a few stories about the doors shutting when no one's around, ghostly figures walking the halls, and other fairly domestic stuff. Haller Nutt is seen wandering the gardens of Longwood and his wife, Julia, climbs the unfinished stairs. The man with the top hat floats through the guest rooms of Linden, and Madeline plays tricks on the guests of King's Tavern. It's said that the woman was murdered and bricked into an old fireplace. They found her skeleton and the bones of two men. We don't know who the guys were, but you can bet there's lots of speculation about how they died. Ooh scary, very scary.
Walt Grayson of "Mississippi Roads" made a video of the walking ghost tour that existed a few years ago, but only caught a few globes of light on film.
Now the ghost tour is aboard a bus, with some stops along the way to see if you can scare up a spirit or two.
Ghost Tales Around the Campfire takes place at Jefferson College the 29th of October. Bring your blanket and/or lawn chair and sit around the bonfire while story-tellers try to scare the bejeesus out of you. Now that's fun, especially if you're the scarer not the scaree.
Intentionally made un-scary, is Angels on the Bluff. This event, held at the City Cemetery the first weekend of November, has local actors portraying the folks who reside in the graves. We've got Revolutionary War soldiers, Confederate generals, gypsies, artists, and every other kind of interesting folk, all with their own stories to tell. See more here: http://tinyurl.com/mguy7y.
So if you're a ghost hunter or just a curious visitor with a hankering to meet someone from the great beyond, come on down. Whether you see spirits or not, you're bound to have some fun trying. Visit www.natchezms.com to see lists of the hotels, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, attractions, and lots more!

I Wanna Sleep All Day and F(ish) All Night

Lend me a few bucks?
A friend of mine has some property for sale that I would dearly love to own. It's a little more than 1800 acres bordering the Mississippi River up in the Delta around Addie, MS. It's got its own oxbow lake as well as having easy access to the river, so you just pick the kind of fish you want to set out for and choose your spot. I do love to fish, and this place has got to be like fishing in Heaven. Rick shared some of his experiences fishing the lake, and described slab crappie bigger than his construction worker-sized hand. Now, every fisherman has his tall tales, but judging by the gleam in his eye I think he wanted to be there right then, catching some more.
The property has plenty of beautiful timber land as well, and everyone knows how big the Whitetail get in these parts. Now, I'm not a hunter anymore, but I would love to roam that countryside just to get a peek at the big bucks that roam that neck of Mississippi woods.
Speaking of peek, I've seen a few pictures of the duck and geese that come into the area. The property is right on the Mississippi flyway. My friend took some pictures of the geese coming in and showed them to me. The earth was literally white with them. It looked like it had snowed geese.
I was impressed.
"Rick, when are we gonna go up there so I can see it in person?" I asked excitedly.
"Nope, I don't have time to go up there just to show it off. Besides, if I spend too much more time up there I might not have the heart to sell it." 

Rick was serious, especially about the last part. There are a few areas in Mississippi and Louisiana that are still pristine and full of wildlife, and when you're in one of those places, well, the sights, sounds and even smells are inviting, invigorating - they bring out the country boy in all of us.  It's adventure, peace, and some primitive longing to just be simple again and part of nature instead of staring at pictures and computer screens.

Now, the purpose of his showing me all this was so I could help him sell it, but I couldn't help but daydream a bit about owning it myself.  Truly, I've not often thought about leaving the Natchez/Vidalia area, with its own beauty and the people I've come to know as friends, but this was tempting.

So I'm not in the market myself, but in case you are - or if you're just curious enough to want to see some of it, go to www.deltahuntingland.com and take a peek. 

And if you end up buying the land, maybe you'll take pity on us poor folks and invite me up for some fishing?  I'll cook!

Cool Down During Southern Summer

The temperature quickly warms here in the South, but we-all have lots of ways to cool down. If you're thinking about sitting on the porch, watching life go by while fanning yourself with one of those "church fans," well, that's one way. Another way is to have a large glass filled with ice and your favorite libation. We like a tall glass of iced tea, sweet of course, but there are other favorites as well. That brings me to the source of my post.
"Jeff" emailed me asking about some Mint Julep mix that he had purchased somewhere in Natchez. Could they ship more to him, and how much would it cost, he asked. While I was happy to ask the local merchant about this, I also gave Jeff a recipe - one of many I know of - so he could make his own. It's not particularly difficult, but depending on your geographical area you may not have a ready supply of mint leaves. If you can get those, here's the recipe as I told it to him:

-Take a few leaves of mint (it grows like crazy here) and put them in the bottom of a tall glass. A really good julep goes in a pewter cup to keep it cold.
-Muddle the leaves with some simple syrup. Simple syrup is just sugar water cooked down a bit to make it concentrated - syrupy.
-FILL the glass with crushed, or better yet - shaved, ice.
-Pour at least 2 ounces of good whiskey over the ice.
-Stir gently so you mix the ingredients without melting too much ice.
-Sip like a gentleman (or a lady).
Of course, you can play with the amounts of the different ingredients to suit your own taste. Some like more mint, some like more sugar. I like more whiskey.
In the way of background, allow me to offer a few explanations of the procedure:

• "Muddling" is just kind of crushing the leaves and mixing them so the flavor comes out without leaving too many tiny green specks all in your drink.


• Before the days of refrigerators, you can imagine that ice was precious. The pewter cup kept your drink cold and let the ice slowly dilute the drink.


• Some have made the julep with Southern Comfort. I prefer the taste of good whiskey instead.


• Some cheat and make their julep with Creme de Menthe. I suppose that in a pinch I'd understand that, but my first response would be "Yechhhhh!"

Be aware that some folks take such a liking to mint juleps that they find themselves spending a lot of time sipping one under the oak tree, watching other people work, making their womenfolk wear big hats and dresses, and calling their dog "Beauregard."

You've been warned.

Cabins, The Other Accommodation

I'm finding that one of the best sources of topics for my blog comes from emails sent to my travel guide, NatchezMS.com. These emails contain the many questions from folks who are planning trips to Natchez.

Recently, Keith asked about cabins in the area. He wants to do some fishing, but he wants to be close enough to tour Natchez' attractions as well.

The Natchez State Park was the first place I mentioned. The lake is a great place to fish. Mississippi's record largemouth bass was caught here several years ago - more than 18 pounds! The MS Wildlife & Fisheries site is being worked on apparently - not very informative and with some misleading photos on the Natchez page. I sent him to the ReserveAmerica page instead.

Giles Island is the premier spot to hunt and fish in the Miss-Lou. The advantages to this sportsman's paradise are too numerous to mention in this blog. Go see the website!

Sportsman's Lodge is located on Lake Concordia, about 12 miles northwest of Natchez in Louisiana. Concordia is chock full of largemouth, crappie, bream, catfish, and even some stripers or striper hybrid. The Lodge has numerous cabins, a great pier with boat slots, outdoor grills, and a store with gas, bait and snacks.

Lakeview Lodge, on the southern tip of Lake Concordia, is one I don't know a lot about yet, but looks good from the site, and appears to be a good place for groups of fishermen.

If you're looking for something more upscale, try Cypress Shore. It's a two-story house on Lake St. John, just one lake up from Concordia, with a multi-faceted private pier, full kitchen and nice living area. Great for family vacations in the Great Outdoors!

Keith had one caveat; he wants to bring his dog. This isn't always a problem, but it's a good idea to check with the proprietor before bringing a pet to any accommodations.

I hope this proves helpful to those planning vacations in our area. Hotels here can be convenient, comfortable places to stay, but sometimes you want something just a little different.
If I've missed anybody I apologize and I welcome your reply to tell me about your place or your favorite place to stay and fish!

Spring in Natchez

Spring is such a beautiful time of year here on the Mississippi River, and not necessarily for the reasons you're thinking!
Yes, we have gardens exploding in a fantastic display of color. Dogwoods and Redbud Trees, Tulips, Daffodils, Irises, and that grand Southern favorite, the Azalea bushes. All the antebellum homes in town have detailed their gardens and interiors, and are welcoming tourists with open arms. If you'd like to see more, go see www.natchezpilgrimage.com, the official website of Natchez Pilgrimage Tours.

It is a gorgeous time of year because of those things, but some folks here find other things catch their eye in Spring.

It's Turkey season, and the turkey hunters "flock" in from everywhere. That big bearded gobbler, spreading his fan of multicolored feathers to attract a mate is an irresistible sight to a hunter. Nature lovers of all kinds enjoy that kind of treat.

Spawning season is also upon us, and with that some great fishing. Natchez is surrounded by a multitude of lakes and ponds as well as having the Mighty Mississippi in her back yard. As the weather warms, "slabs" of crappie - we call 'em white perch - bream, striped bass, catfish, and lunker largemouth bass come into the shallows to lay their eggs. Those bass especially become an aggressive bunch that will bite at just about anything that disturbs this process.

I mentioned a multitude of lakes and ponds, well two of those are record bass lakes. Just north of Natchez is the Natchez State Park, the lake of which scored the biggest bass recorded in Mississippi. Just across the river in Louisiana lies Lake Concordia, a record-breaking bass lake in it's own right.

Back to turkey hunting just a moment; Giles Island (www.gilesisland.com) is just a few moments' drive and a short boat ride away from Natchez. If you're a hunter, it's an incredible opportunity to get that trophy - or come back for deer season and see what good deer hunting is all about.

I guarantee a beautiful sight.

"A Stalker Just Grunted on My Twitter!"

Twitter Frenzy

You just gotta see this Daily Show video if you are a Twitter fan!

From Social Media to Fart Molecules in One Easy Step

Like so many others, I've started working with Social Media to promote my business (website development) as well as Natchez. At first thinking I was wasting my time, I stuck to it. After all, lots of other people are having success. My patience is now being rewarded.
After putting up profiles on TripAdvisor, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others, I worked my way to Twitter. This one seemed like a gigantic waste of time, but so many people were touting the benefits I had to give it a try.
It works.
Suddenly, all these people were "following" me. Reading any and every little item I wrote (and you can't write much at a time like you can on a blog). It's amazing.
Plus, I'm learning things and seeing great articles written by or referred to by people in the know.
"francophile" let me know that Google is making changes to the way it grades your site and turned me on to an article called "15 Applications No Online Business Can Live Without.
"rhys_isterix" links an article about Social Media for Businesses.
Of course, you still have to watch out for what "problogger" calls a Social Media Sleestack - people who use social media for scamming, cheap self-promotion, and even bullying. (see the article on Twitip.com)
Hey, I'm not above showing off NatchezMS.com every chance I get, but at the same time I'm meeting people who are experts at marketing, media, travel, and lots more.
Plus, it's fun. How else would I have found out that a Fart Molecule Could Be The Next Viagra?