Name of your website?Echo Investment Group: Real Estate and Condo Sales in Playas del Coco and Ocotal
Your name?
James Aubertin
Your Location (city, etc)
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste Costa Rica
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Echo Investment Group strives to offer the most complete listing of properties for sale and rent in the Playas del Coco, and Ocotal Areas. Our web page includes the most complete listing of both rentals and properties for sale as well as virtual tours, city and event information, local news, and links to other resources.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
We were inspired to create our website before moving to Costa Rica, when we ourselves felt as though the existing pages were missing really basic and relevant information. We wanted extensive information on the area, not only what properties where available for sale but also what the cost of a gallon of milk was. Our website is a continual effort to answer those and any other questions we can think off.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
Our first website was launched in 1999 and was actually for a small web development company. The website by today's standards was of course ridiculous, but we still have a copy of the first effort.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
Echo Investment Group was chosen because we wanted a name that would not limit our focus, as our company grew we wanted an "Umbrella" that could eventually encompass everything from Sales, to Rentals, Tours and Guided Adventures.
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
Our website stands out due to our attention to detail and continued effort. It was not something placed on a to do list at our inception and then chalked off. There are improvements made to it on a weekly basis, and the focus remains the same. We want to provide our existing and potential clients a resource that will stand up to every thing they encounter.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
The goal for the website is to continue to improve and grow, our eventual hope is that it becomes the primary resource for all of those who wish to live, relocate or visit the Playas del Coco Guanacaste Area.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Our marketing campaigns and budget are definitely what would be referred to as "shoe string" we find creative ways to promote our company and grow that often times have no hard cost. Often times our most successful campaigns are those which were merely creative as opposed to costly.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
An unlimited budget would allow us to offer the Magazine that has been sitting at the back of our idea book, coupled with the same detailed information our website offers. Virtual tours and live webcams would be throughout our sleepy fishing village, in an effort to share the daily happenings of the community we are so proud of.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Well this is actually the situation we are facing now. Luckily employees here in Costa Rica cost about a 1/4 of that of a comparable employee in the United States. The work force is educated and dedicated making it possible to grow at a rate that wont break the bank.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Unexpectated costs havent been so much a factor as headaches. The headaches of doing business here in Costa Rica is the same as some of the cons. The population really knows how to live, and if something can be put off, it normally is. This is the root for our love and hatred for the word "manana" comes from. This word literally means tomorrow but here is an unspecified period of time, that is definitely not right now.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Our largest challenge has been that of the legal setup of both the company and the employees. The process is as bureaucratic as it was back home, but coupled with the manana syndrome can be quite difficult. The urgency in this country is little to none, this is a challenge coming from the faster paced United States. But it is also one of the factors why residents of Costa Rica tend to live longer, fuller lives.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Our most effective method of promoting our website has been through Organic Search Engine Positioning. Where content is king, our goal has been to create an extensive offering of exactly that. We don't design content for search engines we design it for the users, and our efforts have not gone unnoticed by MSN, GOOGLE, and YAHOO.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
My expectations luckily were defined some time ago, so there really hasn't been any major surprises. It is work without a finish line, but is rewarded in the form of new visitors every month.
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?
Our current website which has the focus of real estate in the Guanacaste and more specifically Playas del Coco and Ocotal regions has been online since 2005. The website will stay online for as long as our company is active in this region. We are making long term investments in the area, so there is no plan to take the site down anytime in the near future.
What is your website address?
Echo Investment Group: Real Estate and Condo Sales in Playas del Coco and Ocotal
