Name of your website?The Goffstown New Hampshire Business Directory
Your name?
Bill Wynne
Your Location (city, etc)
Goffstown
Please give us a short summary of your website?
The Goffstown Business Directory, which also covers New Boston, Weare, and Dunbarton New Hampshire locals, provides services to Business owners to showcase their business 24/7/365. Presently there are over 600 business listing pages on the directory. All business's have a FREE page with their business name on a PIN MAP. For a reasonable fee (6 or 12 month agreement)a merchant can list their business. Almost All Classified Ads are FREE which helps drive more traffic to the web pages on the site.~
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I retired from the largest Automotive Finance Company in the world in March of 2007, also involved with several boards in the Town of Goffstown relative to Economic Development and to include the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The Business Directory available the Town offers is simply a page with lines on it. Yest it's free, however, it shows nothing more about the business. Because I've been involved in filming youth sports (http://backyardproductionsnh.com), I decided to launch a website to not only help promote business's but home occupation business's gain some exposure. Often these business will pay a fair amount of money for print-ads for a few days. On the GBD their listing is for 6 or 12 months, comes with images or video and is available to the public every day, 24 hours a day.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
August 2005 - Backyard Productions - a youth sports film company specifically geared toward games. Productions generally shown on local cable television. I continue to do film projects in Town such as the Pumpkin Regatta (10 minute video clip is available on the website) along with other non for profit opportunities. It's fun!
How did you decide on a name for your website?
Pretty simple in that it is what it is! A business Directory
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
The GBD is not just a website that offers the name, address, and telephone number of a business. It is so much more, with images and video.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
Keep for income; however primarily because it is fun, I have time for it, and I've met more people since starting the business than I would have ever imagined. There are some really great people who own business's locally.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
It is fair considering a new start-up. The rewards come when business's sign-on for that continued service 6-12 months down the road, and business grows.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
More signs and advertising in print to drive traffic to my website.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
I would think so. Time is available to maintain the site, yet at times it is really busy, and I'm up late doing updates and page modifications.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Though my market is all within 15 miles, fuel is the cost which is most expensive. I am presently having signs designed and that will result in an large expense.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Getting the word out to the general public about the website. Keep the website fresh looking. I don't want people to come back and see the same old, same old....
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Personal contact and selling the business to merchants and people I speak with to shop the directory. Perhaps something they want to buy can be found on the GBD without even having to leave home.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It is what I've expected. I invested in research for a good year prior to launching the site.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
The site has been up since March 2007 and continues to grow, although with effort. What you put into a project will result in the outcome of a project. I am dedicated to my clients and the public to come to the GBD for their business and shopping needs.
Replace this with a question of your own
How can I increase my email campaign for my weekly updates to subscribers to the GBD? How can I get email address for local people? Is this possible?
What is your website address?
The Goffstown New Hampshire Business Directory
