Name of your website?Costapages
Your name?
Vanessa St. John-Brown
Your Location (city, etc)
Granada
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Costapages is a Business Directory and service finder for Spain. People can use our comprehensive search facility, to locate businesses and services throughout Spain. Businesses and services may submit a free business listing, or promote their business through affordable advertising, using product and service galleries. Charities and Charitable organisations may are given free premium listings to help them promote their charitable work.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
When we first relocated in Spain we found it very difficult to locate businesses and service provider in the area we had moved to. If we needed to locate a plumber or electrician, we had to rely on neighbours and friends. We thought that a business directory would help other ex pats, locate the businesses and services they required, and also help those who needed to promote their businesses and bring them to a wider audience
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
Many years ago when, I was still living in the UK I launched a website informing people about a local action group who were opposing continued mineral extraction within a rural community. This was my first personal website, and I was very passionate about the campaign, so it was a labour of love.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
We decided to design the website along the lines of the 'yellow pages' which we thought was an understandable and familiar concept for most ex pats. Obviously 'pages' needed to be somewhere in the title, and as we originally relocated on the Costa Blanca, Costapages seemed to be the most suitable name.
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
I think because our design and layout is easy to understand, and because we have been visible for some time now, people realise we are here to stay.
We offer a good service, our name is easy to remember, and we offer businesses an affordable and effective advertising method.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
We would like Costapages to continue to grow and develop, and our eventual goal is to produce Costapages in book form, something similar to the 'Yellow Pages'.
We would like to see Costapages in book form, in every business, and available for anyone who needs it.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
I think that the success we have had with Costapages has been worth the investment of time and money. We never expected to be an overnight success, and realised that growth would initially be slow.
Our growth has been likened to the 'snowball effect' as time goes by Costapages has grown and gathered momentum. We have never employed hard marketing techniques, and on the whole have preferred to have referrals by word of mouth, and recommendations.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I do not think we would change the site at all. Our policy is "if it is not broken, do not fix it" The only one thing that might enhance the site is added information. However we do have a forum linked to the website, where a great deal of information is provided, as well as topical discussion.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Costapages is a family run business, with a background in IT, Sales and Marketing. I think between the four active family members we would cope. We do not currently employ anyone, however if the need arose we would have no hesitation taking on more staff to ensure that there was no decline in service or the quality of the services we provide.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
I would honestly say that the hosting for the site has been troublesome over the years. We have now got the site hosting where we want it, and we are in control of it.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Moving house and not being able to get a phone line. This has, without a doubt been the biggest challenge for the business. We moved from the Costa Blanca to Murcia and could not get the phone line connected for over 7 months, it was a total nightmare. It is virtually impossible to run an on line business without an internet connection in the home. Whilst I do work from an office it is home based because I care for my elderly mother who lives with us. During the 7 months period I had to rely on friends who had an internet connection and our local community centre who offered free internet access certain days of the week.
I never want to be in that position again. Strangely when we moved into our cave house in Andalucia, we had the telephone and internet installed the day we signed for the house at the notary, so it was all up and running before we moved in.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Initially we told the world and his wife what we were doing. Many local people were very supportive, liked the concept and continued to tell people about our website. We have continued to make our presence known through gentle marketing, but on the whole Costapages became a bit of a buzz word and promoted itself.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It has been much harder than I initially expected. Trying to ensure things are current has been one of the hardest tasks. I think I have it down to a fine art now, but that is largely due to having a routine and sticking to it.
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?
I think we went live in 2001. I believe that Costapages will continue to grow and develop. I do not expect Costapages to make me a .com millionaire, those halcyon days are long gone, I do expect Costapages to continue even when I reach retirement, which is ever closer.
Certainly Costapages will continue up until I do retire, and after that the younger family members may take the reins. I have not made any specific plans for the future, I just hope we can continue.
If you could turn back time, would you consider this sort of business again?
Yes in a heartbeat. I get to talk to so many interesting people, and often have people with strong business plans asking for my opinion, and asking my advice. Starting a business in Spain is always going to be a challenge, there are so many hoops to jump through and the Spanish paper trail is legendary. It is not surprising so many fall at the first hurdle. I hope, that we as a company have been able to help some of these businesses along the way, and given them the confidence to pursue their dreams
What is your website address?
Costapages
