Wesley Chapel 2017 Year in Review: Development

Residents who live near the Quail Hollow Golf & Country Club golf course packed the Dade City Courthouse hoping to keep a developer from replacing the golf course with 400 homes.

Connected City, Sports Complex & Quail Hollow Kept The BCC Busy In 2017

We could probably dedicate all 48 pages of our upcoming Wesley Chapel issue to its rapid growth in 2017. It was just that crazy busy.

In fact, one could argue it was the busiest year on record in Wesley Chapel, with massive projects either gaining approval, moving ground or sprouting up in almost every corner of the area.

Let’s focus here, however, on what was approved in 2017 and coming down the road, and save what actually opened its doors for our story on 2017’s best new businesses.

The biggest project, the 7,800-acre “connected city,” was approved by the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) in February by a 5-0 vote, which is expected to help create something no other city in America has — a built-from-the-ground-up gigabit community.

District 2 Pasco commissioner Mike Moore, who represents much of Wesley Chapel, said after the vote, “We actually made history today.”

After nearly two years of studies and planning, the BCC’s green light has already triggered major development in the connected city sector, which includes the area running north from Overpass Rd. in Wesley Chapel to S.R. 52 in San Antonio, and west from I-75 to Curley Rd.

Metro Development owns roughly 35 percent of the land, and has already begun, well…connecting. Metro’s Epperson development has its first residents (as we reported last issue) and the first-ever Crystal Lagoon is already filled (see page 8).

Still to come — another Crystal Lagoon in the nearby Mirada development, more homes, schools and business, alternative transportation along integrated roadways and, potentially, jobs as developers and planners have touted the connected city as a futuristic economic engine.

While Wesley Chapel is jumping into the high-tech community pool headfirst, it also is looking to take a piece of the $15-billion a year pie that is youth sports.

A large sports complex with adjoining hotel was also approved by the BCC in the spring by a 5-0 vote, which later agreed to double the county’s Tourist Development Tax (TDT), or bed tax, in order to help finance it.

The $44-million project will be built on part of a 224-acre parcel located northeast of the Shops of Wiregrass in the Wiregrass Ranch Development of  Regional Impact (DRI). The parcel is owned by the county and has had a history of failed efforts to build something sports-related on it.

While the project is currently only in the planning stages, RADD Sports, which will develop it, says it is shooting for a spring 2019 opening.

In conjunction with Mainsail Development, the sports complex will have one of the first full-service Marriott-branded Residence Inns, a 120-room hotel that will be L-shaped to create a courtyard at the entrance to the sports complex — which also will have an amphitheater for concerts, a trail system, seven soccer fields and a 98,000-sq.ft. indoor facility expected to attract the top youth sports tournaments and athletes from around the country, with thousands of visitors expected to make an economic impact on the area.

And, residents who live near Quail Hollow Country Club lost a long fight with the course’s owners and developers, who received approval in June to replace the golf course with homes.

Andres Carollo and his Pasco Office Park LLC received a zoning change, by a 3-2 vote, which allows him to build 400 single-family homes, 30,000-sq.-ft. of office and retail space and a 10,000-sq.-ft. daycare center on the former golf course property.

Hundreds of Quail Hollow residents attended a handful of BCC and other meetings to make their voices heard, and successfully delayed approval of the project for months.

All around Wesley Chapel, new businesses started construction. A slew of restaurants — including a much-awaited Bahama Breeze on S.R. 56 — and boutique or green grocery stores are planned to begin building on or near S.R.s 54 and 56 in 2018.

Will 2018 be as busy? Wiregrass Ranch’s J.D. Porter recently hinted at some more major developments coming this year, so our guess would be:

Buckle up!

Email Do’s and Don’ts

Did you know that roughly 77-percent of consumers prefer email offers and promotions more than any other channel?

The ease of sending out mass emails with a potentially huge audience makes it very tempting to jump into email marketing for your business. However, before you do, consider some of these quick tips to keep you from immediately ending up in someone’s spam folder.

When it comes to a subject line,

DO:

– Make it strong and keep it simple

– Include your business name and relate it to the content

– Some effective tonalities include mystery, wit and excitement

DON’T:

– USE ALL CAPS

– Use a lot of punctuation!!?!?!

– Include spam words such as Bonus, Free, or Call Now!

 

When it comes to the layout/template,

DO:

– Make sure your brand is visible (logos, colors, etc.)

– Break up your email into a visual hierarchy, making the most important things the most obvious with defined sections

DON’T:

– Use distracting backgrounds

– Use a template that’s too wide, making people scroll around too much

 

When it comes to your content,

DO:

– Send content that people are waiting for and wish to see

– Make your content interesting and engaging

– Include calls-to-action

– Include visuals to catch a reader’s eye (just don’t make the visuals too large)

DON’T:

– Be demanding

– Make too many requests

– Include an entire blog post

 

When it comes to graphics,

DO:

– Make them visually appealing

– Include a caption just in case people have images blocked

DON’T:

– Use GIF files that move or flash

– Use intense images that distract the readers from your content

 

When is comes to your contacts,

DO:

– Segment your contacts into different lists (based on location, demographics, etc.)

– Change your messaging to fit the interests of each list

DON’T:

– Put everyone together on one big list

 

Who’s in Control of the Online Marketing World?

Image courtesy of Google Images
Image courtesy of Google Images

The online world has changed the way we look at and buy products or services. Online marketing is all about capturing the customer and being present at the right time while they’re searching, emailing, watching videos, etc. And now that you have this huge online world on your mobile devices, it’s essentially everywhere, all the time. The bigger shift is the shift in control. Because of how accessible content is, the customer is in charge of the buying process. They can share, ask, post, look up whatever they want, etc.

In order to tackle this huge market, there are different types of online types of media you’ll be using: Paid, Owned, and Earned. Paid media is what it sounds like, you pay for ads like Facebook ads, Google Adwords, or any type of display marketing. Owned media is like your blog, a list of people you email, your website, etc. Earned media is organic media you gain. Social media has changed the way we think of earned media, making organic reach play a huge role in your business.

All three of these types of media encompass online marketing. But even more importantly, you need to think of three different strategies before diving into the digital market. According to Brad Batesole from Online Marketing Fundamentals,

“…Many businesses are in such a rush to take advantage of the opportunity, that they fail to build out a proper strategy. Being digital for the sake of just having a presence in these channels is not the answer. The key is to build out a dedicated strategy that results in a strong return on investment.” You can check out his Twitter here.

The three main strategies to think of are a business strategy, a brand strategy (which we covered in an earlier post), and a market strategy. We’re going to be talking about building a business strategy and a market strategy in future posts so that we can give it the same amount of attention and detail. Stay tuned.

Which Social Platforms Should Your Business be Using?

Many business owners are jumping into social media advertising and marketing without researching which would work best for the product or service they provide. The first thing to keep in mind is figuring out your ideal audience, and how you’ll reach them. Sometimes it comes down to realizing that not all companies can be effective on each social platform, so instead of being mediocre on all of them, be awesome on a few of them.

 

Facebook:

Originally for college students, Facebook formed in 2004 and now has more than 1 billion active users.

Facebook is a good place to start because of the size of the network. It’s safe to assume that a large portion of your target audience is on Facebook, which makes it the best platform for increasing brand awareness. Facebook is flexible because it gives business owners more ways to represent themselves by choosing what to share and what to look at. All businesses should be on Facebook.

The platform is all about building long term relationships, so it can take time to see results. On the other hand, it also allows you to communicate instantly through comments, “likes,” shares, and/or messages, so there is some sense of immediacy. Many businesses use Facebook to sell their products, and while it could potentially work for certain businesses, it usually serves as a short-term gain. People want to see who’s behind the logo, and are more responsive to a person rather than a business. Keeping your page transparent will make people want to follow you (this is true for all platforms).

Something to keep in mind is that your posts on Facebook usually can last a day or two on other people’s newsfeeds. Photos generate 100 percent more engagement than text alone, and videos are even more effective. If you stick with text, keep it short and sweet.

 

Twitter:

A micro-blogging social media giant that also formed in 2004, now with more than 300 million users worldwide.

Twitter isn’t Facebook. It’s more in the moment. Posts have an average lifespan of about 45 minutes. It’s an ongoing conversation, so be ready to reply. Breaking news, updates, questions and opinions all are great ways to utilize Twitter to reach your audience. If you don’t want to constantly monitor a platform or if you don’t have much to say, Twitter isn’t for your business.

Another cool feature about Twitter that differs from Facebook is that users ‘follow’ each other rather than ‘add’ each other. If someone follows you, you can follow them back, but you don’t have to. It’s easier to gain followers this way.

A lot of businesses have both a Facebook and Twitter account and post the similar things on both platforms at the same time. While this works with some content, keep in mind the difference between the two social platforms and use them each to their advantages.

 

YouTube: 

A social media site owned by Google, with more than 48 hours of new video uploaded every minute.

YouTube is powerful because so many successful advertising and marketing strategies are purely visual. Video is taking over visual content. With video, you have the freedom to feature your business, products or services in a more creative way. However, people set the bar high for videos. No one will watch a boring video. Search for videos that are similar to what you want to feature and grab ideas. What do videos with millions of views have in common?

 

LinkedIn:

LinkedIn was launched in 2003 as the top B2B social networking site, now receiving two new members every second and housing more than 135 million users worldwide.

LinkedIn is the social networking media platform where you can grow business connections and utilize them professionally. People connect with you for your service, or if you’re in a similar field as them. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn offers professional groups and discussions, where you can find people with similar interests, ask questions or even answer questions to let your expertise shine. It’s not a super visual platform and usually sticks to professional blogs and articles. LinkedIn is a great place to show off your business a more professional way.

 

Pinterest:

One of the newer platforms, Pinterest was launched in 2009, and is known for connecting visually appealing products with consumer through shared interests and likes.

Pinterest is a content-sharing platform that allows its users to share “pins” in the form of photos or videos to pinboards. The user-base is predominantly female, but it’s still an awesome way for businesses to use visual imagery as a main selling point. Some of the most successful businesses on Pinterest are decorators, food, fashion, travel and wedding planning companies.

Pinterest has a niche market, and you’re doing your business a disservice if you aren’t finding a way to be a part of it. Like LinkedIn, it’s a great way to inspire consumers or other business owners.

 

Google+:

The search engine company originally launched in 1996, and has continually adapted, updated and created new features to its now 1 billion visitors per month. One of its most recent applications is social media site Google+

Google+ should be on the list simply because it’s Google. While Facebook has the most active users for a social media platform, Google is still the number one site visited per month. Being on Google+ gives you the potential to rank higher on search results and the ability to bring in customers by providing key info about your business (location, directions, phone numbers, photos, reviews, etc.).

The main difference between Google+ and all other social networks is that it’s tied to Google, giving it the huge benefit of SEO value. If you combine your Google+ Local Page (map listings) with your Google+ Business Page, you’re more likely to rise to the top of results during location-based searches.

 

Instagram:

Also a newer platform, photo and video sharing site Instagram was founded in 2010 and has over 300 million users worldwide.

 Instagram is a tricky one. It’s primarily a mobile social media site, so you have to download it on a mobile device to create an account. There’s not a way to create a ‘business’ account, but you can create an account for a business the same way you’d create a personal one.

A unique feature about Instagram is that it’s strictly photo- and video-based. Users can post images and short videos, but not simple text updates like on Facebook and Twitter. It’s all about tagging, mentioning, liking and commenting on photos to interact with other users. Like Twitter, if you can’t keep up with constant contact, Instagram might not be for your business. But if your business is very visual or has a lot to say (newspapers, media companies, fashion, cooking, ad agencies, etc.), Instagram is a great way to keep up with the visual-centric social world.

 

How to Craft Successful Print Ads

magGreat print ads captivate a reader and effectively deliver a message. It’s important to recognize that designing a successful print ad involves more than just producing something that looks clean and professional. The ad must also be able to gain the attention of the reader and deliver the message your business is trying to convey. A compelling concept and solid composition are all it takes.

The average print ad has less than a second to grab a reader’s attention. What’s most important should be the most apparent element in the ad, and vice versa. Here are some key things to keep in mind when developing the concept and composition of your ad:

Competition:

Unless you have the back cover or a two-page spread in a magazine, your ad is competing for the reader’s attention with all of the others. There could be a vibrant article with high quality images or a bunch of smaller, busier ads that grab a reader’s focus. No matter what, that page facing your ad wants to win the reader’s attention. This is often hard to gauge because you don’t always know exactly where your ad will be printed in a publication.

Headlines & Subheads:

Nearly 100-percent of the time, your headline will be the most important element in your print ad. Be clear and concise. Don’t be too creative (this one is flexible, a little wit never hurts). It needs to be immediately understood, and where the headline is located can be just as important as what it says. It needs to dominate the other information in the ad. Don’t get lost in crazy fonts, too many colors, graphics or other visual elements. If it gets so busy that the reader can’t tell what the message is, he or she likely will just move on.

Subheads can house secondary information, so don’t forget about these when you’re writing a headline that’s too long. It can explain your headline further. Set it in smaller type than your headline.

Body copy:

This is your selling copy. It’s where you can explain your product, service and/or offer in greater detail. The biggest mistake advertisers make is too much body copy, since the average amount of time people give to text now is 3-5 seconds. Keep it brief, or possibly don’t have any at all.

Interesting, appealing visuals:

Visuals usually call attention to, or complement, the other elements in your ad. Use graphics to make your body copy interesting, and make sure they are relevant to what you’re trying to sell. Also, using an up-to-date logo keeps your business modern and trustworthy to the everyday consumer. Typography really does matter. Just like colors, fonts can give the ad a particular impact. It’s also good to know when to use photos and when graphics will better serve the ad. This depends solely on your message, business and brand as a whole.