Medellin Real Estate Blog Interview Name of your website?Medellin Real Estate Blog Your name? Justin Isham Your Location (city, etc) Medellin Please give us a short summary of your website? The Medellin Real Estate Blog was designed to give readers a realistic look at the real estate situation on the ground in Medellin. The blog is also an excellent resource for those interested in reading what it is like to live everyday in Medellin.~~ What inspired you to launch your own website? I saw alot of website, promoting Medellin as the next big retirement destination. Unfortunately, most of these sites only promoted real estate listings and didn't really give their visitors a feel of what it is like to live in Medellin. This is why I launched my Blog. When did you launch your first website, and what was it? I launched my first website back in college in 1996, but became distracted and didn't really follow through. I wish I would have though because the website was based on search engine optimization. How did you decide on a name for your website? The name of my site was relatively easy to create. ColombiaMedellin describes exactly what the site is about, and that is important. What makes your website different from other, similar offerings? As I said, there are many websites dedicated to the promotion of real estate in Medellin. None of these post regular updates on what it is actually like to live here in Medellin. I think that is very important to anyone considering making the move to or investing in Colombia. What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?) My eventual goal is to become the main source for information on living and investing in Medellin. How does your investment of time and money balance against your success? I have invested alot of time and energy into the research that goes into every one of my posts. I am in the process of building a beautiful website, and that has been a big investment. But, like any new business, both time and money have to be invested in order to be successful. If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site? I wouldn't do many things differently. My plan has always been to build this business from the ground up. I am living in Medellin everyday and I am documenting my daily experiences to share with others. I believe that all the money in the world can't buy valuable experiences. If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand? I don't see my site getting really big, really quickly. I think the number of foreigners considering living and investing in Colombia is still rather small. I do see this number growing daily however, and if it gets to the point where I need to expand, I would do so. What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with? The process of getting a visa in Colombia is quite daunting. This has been my main obstacle. What has been your biggest challenge? I would say my biggest challenge again, would have to be the process of obtaining a visa here in Colombia. What method has been most successful for promoting your website? I use daily posts and fresh content as a way to organically gain readership to my blog. Valuable sources like this website have helped as well. How has running your website differed from your expectations? It has been easier than I expected to get readers to my blog. Usually it takes months of effort before a true following can be realized. I have done that in a few short weeks. 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? My blog has only been up and running for a few weeks and I plan to keep it going until I leave Colombia (and I don't see that happening anytime soon). Why would I suggest living in Medellin, Colombia? To me, Medellin offers the best of both worlds. It's amazing spring-like climate is a big plus and it has many things that other popular retirement destinations lack. I also really enjoy being a part of transforming a city and country that once had a terrible imagine into a country seen for what it is, beautiful, safe and a great place to live. What is your website address? Medellin Real Estate Blog | 
