2005 webtorial

As 2005 draws to a close I would like to briefly review how it has affected @lmiyachts.com, the visitors to the site, what worked well and what didn't. Also to preview what you can expect from the site in the months to come.
 
What made me "proud"
 
Undoubtedly the traffic on the site. Thousands of people in the yachting community have chosen our site to get the information on line related to yachting issues. As a result of all this traffic @almiyachts.com is the Number One Most Visited Site in the world - in yachting matters.
 
This is some achievement and I thank you all for that. I promise I will continue to offer you the same valuable information, and keep us on top of the pile.
 
We managed 50 reviews of the most popular charter boats - 17 boating related articles - free holidays to the tune of over 7000 euros were offered to our Newsletter Subscribers - and our latest discount coupons project. All this from @almiyachts.com in 2005.
 
What didn't work quite so well
Or, at least, not as well as expected.
 
The "Bidding" Section
 
Believe it, or believe it not, fewer than ten people told us what they were prepared for a yacht charter. This I do not understand. Here was a heaven-sent opportunity for you to get into contact with agents/owners and negotiate a charter rate to suit your pocket - but you chose not to do so !! The problem now is that agents/owners will not waste their time looking at the site to see what enquiries there are !!!
 
However, I am not going to give up yet and this will continue into 2006. SO - our advice is to get your bid on line without further delay and see what reaction you get from owners prepared to provide boats for you at your price. What have you got to lose ?? It costs you nothing. Third parties will not see your bid - it will only be passed on to interested owners.  You could be well and truly surprised what sort of bids the owners are prepared to accept. You are not TIED to that bid - you can accept or reject it.
 
Place your bid now - and I promise you I will make sure hundreds of agents/owners will see it.
 
Our blog
 
I deliberately erased purely commercial utterings which were nothing but straight advertising, but basically nobody simply told us their views on anything !!!
 
This I don't understand. Don't you have any opinions on anything ??!! Are there no contentious issues where you would like to voice your opinion. What about the thorny subject of Security Deposits ?? Is it only me who has anything to say ??
 
We will persist with the blog, so that at any time you can get anything you like off your chest, and start an on-line debate.

What you can expect from @almiyachts.com in the near future
 
In addition to the usual sailing issues which are being continually updated e.g. new charter boats, itineraries, articles, new agencies. etc. The site will become more interactive. We want you to be a part of it, so you can expect to see:
  • A "search" facility: This is a project I have been working on since August and I hope you will see the outcome in January or February, 2006. As most of the offerings of @lmiyachts.com it will be unique. When you have decided upon your holiday parameters i.e. price, number of cabins, size, etc. and cruising area we will show you which agents/owners are in that market and give you a link to their site so that you can start your final negotiation with them. This will save YOU scouring the net to achieve the same end.
  • Yacht charter auctions:  The yacht owners and agents will be able to POST their special offers, one-way trips, late bookings, etc in these auction fields and you will be able to "bid" in real time to get those bookings at highly discounted rates.
  • Your "vote" for the charter boat you rate as the highest:  Those of you who receive our Newsletter will know that we review many charter boats over the course of the year - and give you our opinions as to the pros and cons of each one.  We want to hear your views now - how you see the many varied boats in the charter market, YOUR opinion counts !!
  • Miss Yottie - 2006:  Watch out for details,  shortly to be released, of our 2006 Miss Yottie Photo Competition.  Get out your cameras - clean them up - make sure you take them on your yachting holiday with you - don't miss the chance of winning one of the three excellent prizes which will be on offer. The competition will run throughout the 2006 May - October season. If you don't actually compete - make sure you vote!!
The above "interactive" features - plus many more - will soon appear on the "@lmiyachts.com pages. I believe they will contribute to my efforts to be informative, independent, and freely accessible - and all dedicated to the boating community.
 
For those of you who have not yet requested receipt of our Newsletter there is no better time to do so than NOW. It is FREE and will bring you bang up to date with all the important news, special offers and charter related issues. It is not our intention to bombard you with marketing "blurb" - have a look at what we sent in our 2005 Newsletters, in the following list.