BLOGGER: Dana Freeman
FEATURED BLOG(S): Find and Go Seek
FEATURED WEBSITE: Find and Go Seek
TWITTER: @MissMagpieFGS
FACEBOOK: Find and Go Seek on Facebook
FINDANDGOSEEK.NET & FINDANDGOSEEK.BLOGSPOT.COM
“It was a born-out-of-frustration thing,” says Dana Freeman, when I ask her what prompted her to start her website, FindandGoSeek.net and its corresponding blog, blog.findandgoseek.net.
“My kids were 5 and 8 and there was no great way to search online and find great things to do with your kids in northern Vermont. My husband, Andy, came home one day to find me at the dining room table researching summer camps. There I was, with newspapers spread out all around me, circling things, calling my friends for their advice—you know, word-of-mouth marketing. But we’ve always been in the computer industry, both of us, and we knew there had to be a better way. ‘We can build that,’ my husband said, and that’s sort of how the idea was born.”
And build it they did. In March 2008, after spending a year and a half on site design and planning, FindandGoSeek.net launched, with the blog component following afterward.
The Freeman Family - Dana, Andy, Callahan (8) and Flynn (11) - Trapp Family Lodge, March 2010
Freeman warns business-minded bloggers and wannabe web entrepreneurs not to forget about design and the user experience on their website or blog. “It pays to look around and see what’s out there on other websites in your industry or others in a similar industry,” she says. “I really researched, and I’ll tell you we had 10 iterations of our homepage before we launched. There’s no sense in building something that people are going to come to once and never come to again. If it’s not quality, then you’re never going to retain anybody.”
The website itself is a directory of family-friendly businesses, events and attractions in northern Vermont, organized by category and searchable by keyword. Calling itself “Vermont’s Insider Guide to Kid-Friendly Fun,” FindandGoSeek boasts a plethora of user-generated reviews, all curated by Freeman.
“I’m really passionate about Vermont, and I’m really passionate about family things to do in Vermont,” Freeman says. “I feel like I want Vermonters to get the most out of the things to do out here. There are some people who need a little bit of guidance. I tell them: ‘just go! Experience Vermont!’”
While the FindandGoSeek website is a more comprehensive resource than the blog, the blog offers Freeman a chance to expand her editorial coverage. Freeman is also investing in a “blogover,” as she calls it, to be completed in the near future, which will better integrate the blog and the website. (03/29/10: UPDATE: The blogover has been completed and it looks great!)
PARENTS LOVE HYPERLOCAL
As Freeman says, FindandGoSeek is ”about as local and skimmed down as it gets— hyperlocal— and that’s why it works really well.”
We couldn’t agree more – FindandGoSeek does what it does successfully, in large part because the site and blog are so focused in their scope. Of her audience, the overwhelming majority are moms and dads in Burlington, a demographic that speaks well to local advertisers. Freeman says that advertisers will come to her after realizing that their advertising dollars will go much further in a targeted, local campaign.
“[A local advertiser will first] put an ad in the local newspaper and then [when that fails,] they come to me and say, ‘I can’t track it. There’s no point! [The newspaper] put [my advertisement] next to an ad for a car wash!’ So I help them reach the audience they’re targeting: Burlington parents,” Freeman says.
FOLLOW YOUR BLISS
Though FindandGoSeek boasts a dedicated readership and satisfied advertisers, its biggest fan is undoubtedly Freeman herself— her passion and enthusiasm are contagious.
“The other day, I turned to my husband and said, ‘I love my job.’ And I do. I wake up every day and I LOVE my job. Burlington is an incredible community to do business in, and I feel like I’m doing a public service for my community,” Freeman says.
Freeman’s passion for her work translates into an incredibly fun, visually appealing site, as the Freemans chose to create custom avatars as part of FindandGoSeek’s branding strategy. They considered using cartoon people but found that animals are more universally appealing to both parents and children – and that, while some people like dogs and hate cats (or vice versa) – “everybody likes birds!”
With that in mind, Freeman’s alter-ego and avatar on the website is Miss Magpie, a cartoon bird, which the Freemans chose because, as Freeman puts it, “A magpie is, by definition, a chatty little bird – I definitely have a lot to say, and that’s what I’m doing – I have my finger on the pulse [of Burlington, VT] and I’m sharing it.”
SOCIAL MEDIA IS KID-FRIENDLY
Freeman not only shares the pulse of Burlington via her website and blog, but also on Twitter and Facebook.
“Twitter and Facebook have been absolutely terrific. Social media has grown our business immensely. I find, separately, that Facebook connects me really closely with the local parents here [in Burlington],” Freeman says.
For instance, Freeman recently ran a contest on her Facebook page in which she gave away tickets to ‘When Elmo Grows Up,’ a Vee Corporation production, presented at Burlington’s Flynn Theater. To enter the contest, locals had to submit reviews of area businesses.
“We got 86 reviews in 4.5 days,” Freeman says. “That contest completely engaged a ton of feedback. It was terrific.”
“Twitter, on the other hand, has cemented me with the Burlington business community. They’ve become aware of who FindandGoSeek is, as have other family travel businesses. I’ve met a lot of potential advertisers on Twitter and made a lot of contacts.”
Freeman says her foray into social media has led to other opportunities, such as guest blogging. She’s done guest posts for several family travel resources, for instance WeJustGotBack.com (‘Travel Advice You Can Trust, From Families Who Have Been There’) and CiaoBambino.com (‘Inspiring Families to Explore the World’). She’s also recently started reviewing local Vermont travel properties.
Still, Freeman cautions business-owners against using social media tools before they’re really ready. “Don’t just fly out there blind; it pays to listen,” she says. “I watched Twitter for a really long time before I jumped in— I was really an observer. I like to make sure I know what I’m doing first, especially since [social media is] so public. I learned that for FindandGoSeek, social media is really about quality, and not quantity. I don’t really care about how many followers or fans we have, I want the right ones: I want parents, I want caregivers of children.”
IT’S NOT ALL FUN AND GAMES… OR IS IT?
Like each of the other bloggers we’ve spoken to thus far, time management remains a challenge for Freeman. In addition to raising two kids, she works on the site full time. Much to their chagrin, Freeman also works weekends.
“Oh my God, there are not enough hours in the day,” Freeman says. “I wish there were 48 hours in the day. I try to do as much as I can before the weekend, but people are always looking for things to do with their families on the weekend, and I like to make sure that I’m there.”
The lesson? If you’re looking to start a hyperlocal venture of your own, be prepared to work long and hard. This local business takes dedication: “Anything hyperlocal really needs to be updated daily,” Freeman says. “People don’t want anything that’s out of date. They’re looking for you to be their source. They want you to work for them – fresh is best. That probably sounds like a grocery store slogan, but it’s the truth.”
It may be a tough job, but if you’ve got the right concept, it can also be rewarding— so the next time you find yourself drowning in a sea of newspapers, frustrated with the difficulty of finding quality local information, it may be time to embark upon your own hyperlocal adventure because, as Freeman says, “it’s challenging, but I’m pleasantly surprised at how much I like working for myself.”
P.S.: If you’d like to be featured in our ‘Bloggers We Love’ series (or you’d like to nominate your favorite local blogger(s) for inclusion), we’d love to hear from you! Simply send an email to esther[at]outside[dot]in.
P.P.S. The Freemans have designed their site with the ability to license their technology anywhere. If you’re interested in learning more, Freeman encourages you to contact her.
