Name of your website?Wild Africa Safari Co
Your name?
Marcelle Trethewey
Your Location (city, etc)
Wartburg, Kwa-Zulu Natal
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I was thinking about changing my career and doing something I love, and that is being outdoors and enjoying wildlife. Camping under the stars, cooking over an open fire and listening to the night sounds of animals. So I launched a safari company and began building a site that was really nice looking and easy to use.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
January 2007. Its a safari website with a stunning photo gallery and information about african wildlife, such as interesting behaviour, adaptations, group names and name origins. I mean, how many people know what a group of hippo are called. A pod? A bloat? So in addition to offering safaris I write articles about wildlife.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
That was really difficult. I finally settled on Wild Africa Safari Co, because the "Wild" refers to the wildlife and the wildness of certain areas. Africa because we go to various countries, and the rest speaks for itself.
Please give us a short summary of your website?
The home page tells a little about us and what we offer and why. Safaris carries a range of safaris in different countries. Photo Gallery has over a hundred lovely photos of wild animals from lion to leopard to aardvark to hippo. Wild News is the page where I post articles I write about wildlife.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
I am absolutely crazy about wildlife and the vast outdoors. Its not a business for me, but a passion, and a place where I can offer something of value, something special, not just a whole host of arbitrary offerings. There are safaris, and then there are real safaris where you are out in the bush, amongst the wildlife, no fences and not sleeping out of the game area in some hotel.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
My goal is to grow the site into one of the leaders in african safaris, but with offerings of the more exotic places, off the beaten track but rewarding like Gabon. Maybe one day I will consider selling or taking on a partner so I can spend more time out in the wilds exploring and just enjoying nature.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
At this point I am spending more than I am making as this is a new venture and I want everything to be just right. The rewards will come with time as my reputation builds. I also dont need to make huge amounts of money to rate myself successfull. I prefer travelling in my land rover and sleeping in my roof top tent, cooking my own food over a fire so I dont need a big holiday budget!
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would employ a full time SEO magician to boost my rankings, and concentrate on finding even more wonderful places for my clients to visit. Of course, having personally visited them all first!
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Absolutely, one of my greatest skills is organising, managing and working 12 hour days.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
The biggest cost and headache has been optimising my website and paying for advertising while I grow my page rank.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Learning search engine optimising and the million little tricks that go with it! Its a whole new set of skills to learn and then keeping up to date with changing strategies.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
At this new point when I am still submitting to directories and publishing articles, paying for adwords is my only option to get visitors.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I never expected to have to learn so much. Its like having to learn a new foreign language.
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 have run the site for about 2 months and expect to be doing it for a couple of years.
Do you enjoy the work?
I find running the website and optimising very challenging and fulfilling. The great thing is the more effort you put in, the more results you see.
What is your website address?
Wild Africa Safari Co
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