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Welcome to 2009 and the brand new Anchorage Cottages website!

We have had a long and rewarding relationship with the Anchorage Cottages.  We’ve had the pleasure of working with several managers over the years, designing business cards, brochures, rate cards, postcards, and their original website.   That site was rockin’ back in 1998 when we built it!

In 2008, however, it was clear that the site’s time had passed.  Manager Lynette Dowty, who has an outstanding eye for design and a keen mind for business, committed to the process of starting from scratch with the outfit’s online presence.

Many of our clients come to us thinking they can throw money at us and *poof* they’ll have a website.  They’re right, but we’ll fight them tooth and nail about it.  Anyone can put up a web page with some text and a photo or three.  But it takes strong collaboration between the owners, managers, marketers and designers to build a good website that has a strong return on investment.

For small businesses, the owner, manager, marketer, designer, chief cook and bottle washer are all the same person.  Trying to find time to develop effective site content, carefully crafted text and photos, while also running the business and working in it…is daunting.  And so, despite the best of intentions, the site build took longer than any of us anticipated.  Wisely, Lynette made a commitment to quality over speed and we restructured the production schedule accordingly.

Keleigh was designer on the project, with Sabrina doing most of the build, with a little help from Karl and Kathy heading up search engine optimization.  Lynette provided the writing and photos.  We used a flash-based slideshow tool to run the cottage slideshows as well as the photo changing throughout the site.  Google’s inline maps make it easy for visitors to find the motel.  A full-service email newsletter rounds out the technical aspects of the build.

Here’s a little-known secret:  Anchorage Cottages are one of the most-booked vacation properties on the Peninsula.  In our business, we always meet information like that with a big “why?”.   The cottages have a vintage charm, while being updated, crisply clean and with all the amenities you’d expect to find at a flag motel.  Each is unique and a little funky, which is true of most “beach construction” of the era.  But the thing that really sets them apart from other properties is the FEEL of the place.  It’s akin to walking onto the set of Dirty Dancing; there’s a feeling of having arrived at the summer resorts some of us remember and most of us wish we had known.

There is a ball court, tennis, volleyball, lawn and dunes, a path to the beach.  They’re close to downtown activities, but far enough out of town that the quiet is blissful.  The staff is friendly and genuinely cares whether  you have a good time while staying with them.  They’re attentive, yet stay out of your way.  Dogs and kids are welcome; family reunions are common and the rates are downright reasonable.  It’s a place to gather.  It’s a place for a retreat of solace.  Kitchens, fireplaces, books, games–the R&R of the vacations of our childhoods.  All these things combine to make the occupancy rates of the Anchorage Cottages incredibly strong.   What that means to visitors is:  BOOK EARLY!

Check out the site.  We’re proud of it and welcome your feedback!

Are you a member of the Visitors Bureau?
Our annual overhaul of business information on funbeach.com is going live on New Year’s Eve.  Be sure to click on over to double-check all your information is correct!

Expecting out-of-town guests in 2009?
The Beach Vacation Planner shipment was delayed due to snow but is due to arrive at the Visitors Bureau on December 30th.  Stop by and pick up a copy.  We’re really proud of this year’s Planner!

Do you recognize that young clammer on the cover?
That’s the Peninsula’s own Laurel Kirsch, somewhere near Ocean Park in 1947!  Click the image for a closer look, then close that window to return here.

If not, now is a great time to join.  Individual memberships start at just $20 per year and go directly into the Shelter’s general operating fund.  Why now? The Shelter’s annual business meeting is January 14th, 5:30 pm at the Breakers in Long Beach.

All members are invited for some nibbles and to cast their vote in the Board election.  There will be a State of the Shelter address (by President Keleigh), so it’s a good time to find out what’s going on at the Humane Society.

Join us!

The Espy Foundation just completed a move from an html- to a blog-based site. Not only will this make their site content more “search engine friendly,” it will allow them to easily make updates in-house, saving them from paying (and waiting) for updates. We just love it when clients make moves like these; by taking control of the site themselves, they’re taking a huge step in the direction of keeping it current.  That can only lead them closer to their goals for the site.

Karl was able to move all of the content into the blog software, keeping the same look and feel. Despite having been essentially rebuilt from the ground up, if you didn’t know any better, you might not have even noticed the changes. Smooth transitions are so incredibly important!  Carrie is now able to easily update 90% of the site herself.  Go, Carrie!

The Espy Foundation is a non-profit organization in Oysterville dedicated to encouraging literary and visual arts.  Take a click around to learn about their programs and to meet the artist and writer residents the group has been able to bring to Oysterville.

One of our favorite bloggers, Karen Snyder (myquiltvillage.com,  annalenaland.com), sent us a link to an excellent article on business blogging.  It’s brief, but meaty.  If you’re considering blogging for business purposes, check it out!

While you’re at it, head over to www.google.com/alerts and sign up to receive an alert whenever your name, or your business name, are mentioned online.  It’s a small, effective thing you can do to manage your online reputation.

Woof.

I just love living here in teeny tiny town.  It is literally and figuratively the beach of my childhood.  I’ve talked with people about this 30 years older and 30 years younger than myself and all seem to agree that the spirit of the place hasn’t changed over time.  Okay, so those pre-teens 30 years younger don’t really know what they’re talking about yet, but still!

This weekend offers up a slice of that magic for locals and visitors alike.  Holidays at the Beach is a weekend of family fun co-sponsored by the City of Long Beach and the Long Beach Merchants Association and we’re blessed to work with both organizations.  The rack card we did for this year’s event is shown to the left.

Organizers Ragan Andrew and Steven Linhart took over the reins a few years ago and have really injected new energy into a 3-day series of events. I love their “ticket” idea; we perforated the rack card to include a tear-off ticket to the Friday night event.  Kids get to keep the weekend’s schedule (to which they attach ribbons, bells and the like) and the theater gets a ticket so they can track participation.  Well done, team!

Keith and I going to meet the two newest members of our family in California over Thanksgiving, so we’ll miss my favorite part of the holiday season here in Long Beach: the tree lighting and caroling.  The good news is that we’ll be back in time for Ilwaco’s “World’s Largest Crab Pot Christmas Tree” lighting and Boat Parade and also for Ocean Park’s tree lighting and cookie decorating party.  There’s also the Peninsula Player’s Christmas Play, PAPA’s Fiddler on the Roof, the Boys & Girls Club’s Holiday Home Tour, the B&B Association’s Open House and Tuba Christmas.  Staff parties!  Friend Gatherings!  Cookie Baking!  Present Wrapping! Whee!  I LOVE this place and this time of year!

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you.  May your holiday, and your year, be blessed.  :: Keleigh

Of course we’re biased.  Keleigh’s on the Board of the Long Beach Merchants Association (LBMA) this year.  But our affection for the organization goes back to early exposure to their good works.  This small but mighty group of volunteers pays dues annually for the privilege of pushing up their sleeves to produce some of the best-known events in the state of Washington.

Ruth Ann Hocking has been producing music festivals longer than some LBMA members have been walking.  Her newest effort, the Long Beach Bluegrass Festival, went from zero to sixty in a short number of years and is already a top event in the Bluegrass world.  Way to go, Ruth Ann!

Jane Holeman and the rest of the mighty gang producing the Washington State International Kite Festival for nearly three decades, deserve platinum honors for putting on a week of colorful fun that really must be experienced to fully appreciate.

SandSations, the annual sand sculpture competition held in July, has a huge fan following, as does one of the newest events (for one of our oldest residents), Jake the Alligator Man’s Birthday Party.  We posted about Holidays at the Beach the other day and could ramble endlessly about the Beach to Chowder Run, Doggie Olympic Games, SummerFest… there are so many!

It was a pleasure to redesign their membership brochure as a pro-bono project this fall.  If you’re a merchant in the region, or just want to support their good works, click over to their site and send them some love.  ….or some dues!

A testament to both home schooling and the Boy Scouts (and some mighty fine parenting and mentoring along the way, no doubt), David Craft is a young man of which our community can be proud.

We had the pleasure of meeting David while he was working on his Eagle Scout project, a wonderful booklet for children of all ages visiting the Peninsula.  David designed and developed the booklet, as well as created the activities found within.  He worked with local artist Don Nisbett to create cover and interior illustrations AND raised funds to print 1000 copies for distribution by our local Visitors Bureau.  You can download your own copy here.

Thanks, David, for becoming the kind of young man we like to see in our community!

We had so much fun recently, working with Cheri and Charlie Diehl as they launched their new real estate brokerage, Discovery Coast Real Estate.  Charlie came up with the logo concept and did all the prelminary design work.  We started by digitizing Charlie’s design and converting it to a few different formats.  This allows them to take their logo artwork to any advertising or print vendor and have the vendor use high-quality logo artwork.  This will keep their look consistent and crisp.

Cheri has always done a great job with her own real estate blog, so we made the new brokerage site blog-based.  This allows Cheri to edit the site herself, adding regular blog posts and keeping her page content current.  Google loves that!  Check out their new website, www.discoverycoastrealestate.com.

We gave Cheri a quick tutorial in her new online tools and she was off and running.  She had updated posts in the blog before it had officially launched to the public.  Way to go, Cheri!

Once the logo and site design were firmed up, the next projects were updating their broadcast email template, business cards and letterhead so that all used the same look and feel.  We did a couple of different sizes of web and advertising banners, again keeping the visual identity of the new brokerage consistent in the eye of their customers.

We love our cards, our signs, our blog, just  …everything!  Thanks to you guys….

Charlie and Cheri have done a great job of keeping their brand consistent and we’ve really enjoyed working with them to make it happen.  Congratulations on your new venture, Diehls!

Blogs (web logs, or online diaries) are a great way to stay connected with friends & family, or customers.  Besides the fact that they are super-easy to update, and because most allow your visitors to comment on what you write, the super-cool thing is RSS feeds.  RSS, or “really simply syndication” essentially delivers what you write to your subscribers email box or RSS feed software.  Whoosh!

On the right is a blog that grew out of a family reunion.  Interested family members are able to upload photos and each has their own login for posting updates from their corner of the world.  On the left is a blog that allows friends and family to keep track of a hospitalized loved one’s progress.  It replaced phone and email trees and allows everyone to stay in touch at the time of day that is most convenient to them, all without further burdening the family.

For businesses, we like to set up domain-based, customized blogs.  Both of the samples shown here are nearly “out of the box” templates.  Using templates makes it super easy and inexpensive to get started on your own.  Blogger is a great way for anyone to get started blogging.  WordPress is our favorite.  Both are free!