| Thursday, January 17, 2008 |
| More Politics |
Paul’s grassroots support drives campaign
By John TompkinsThe Facts
Published January 17, 2008
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Wobbling 800 feet over the beaches, hotels and homes of Myrtle Beach is the Ron Paul blimp.
Carried by 235,000 cubic feet of helium and operated by a 21-member crew, the blimp arrives to advertise the presidential hopes of the Lake Jackson congressman.
The blimp was the brainchild of Elijah Lynn, who until a couple of months ago owned an online locksmith business in Littleton, Colo. Lynn found out about Paul’s presidential campaign, left his business to a partner and joined what supporters are calling the Ron Paul Revolution.
Paul is seeking the Republican nomination for president, and his strict constitutionalist positions, including limiting governmental spending as well as eliminating federal agencies such as the IRS and the CIA, resonate with supporters.
He is the only Republican candidate who wants to pull American troops from Iraq.
Paul’s supporters run the gamut of the political and social spectrums, including military veterans, young couples, college students and retirees. Though Paul has a conservative base of support, he also has support from more liberal-minded voters because of his views on the Iraq war. Much more on this article HERE...
##
I am a staunch Hillary supporter. But sadly, if she loses, and Edwards doesn't get the nomination, I'll be forced to pick a Republican. With my liberal views, it will be tough. But I do want to see the war end, and maybe this guy is the lesser of the evils.
Myrtle Beach Web DesignLabels: Hillary Clinton, myrtle beach, Politics, Ron Paul |
posted by Myrtle Beach Web Design @ 2:01 AM  
|
|
|
|
| Saturday, November 17, 2007 |
| Myrtle Beach Golf Season Thrives With Condo Rentals and Entertainment |
With golf being one of its biggest attractions, vacationers are enjoying an endless supply of new and renovated condominiums and resorts that offer Myrtle Beach golf packages. Condolux Vacations of North Myrtle Beach takes the season in stride, with the best choice of vacation condo rentals ever offered along the Strand.
Myrtle Beach, SC (PRWEB) November 17, 2007 -- In spite of cooler weather, Myrtle Beach, and for golfers, North Myrtle Beach, continues to draw thousands of vacationers daily. The two towns are definitely taking strides to encourage and accommodate the more discriminating tourism market that has developed from the recent condo boom. The higher priced restaurants are popping up everywhere, and the days of "all-you-can-eat", all-fried, seafood and cheap country buffets are finding their biggest competitors are the smaller portion gourmet restaurants such as Bonefish Grill and Carrabbas.
Likewise, the resorts are first class, offering fine amenities that rival anything Miami or Tampa, Florida might present. North Myrtle Beach has some of the most luxurious accommodations in the area, from the grand new Prince Resort in Cherry Grove to its traditional upscale condominiums such as Bay Watch Resort, The Ashworth, Avista Resort, and even the new Barefoot Resort ... which is built around its legendary Greg Norman golf courses. Intracoastal Waterway resorts such as Barefoot are in the horizon to become as popular as oceanfront condos as well.
Condolux of North Myrtle Beach, in conjunction with NorthMyrtleBeachGolf.com has become the premiere source of Myrtle Beach golf packages destinations, offering the biggest choice of luxury condos and golf courses anywhere. With over 90 courses available, and reduced prices on golf packages for 2008, golfers can enjoy some of the biggest savings ever offered in vacation and golfing combinations.
Aside from the extravagant Barefoot and Prince Resorts, Condolux golf packages now offer new resorts that include:Malibu Pointe in Crescent Beach, NMB -- a beautiful ocean view mid-rise, with spacious 3 and 4 bedroom villas that are perfect for golfing groups that want to share costs.
Bayview Resort in Myrtle Beach -- one of the most popular new oceanfront resorts for 2007. Bayview's central location at 5th Ave and Ocean Boulevard make it convenient to all of Myrtle Beach's restaurants and shopping ... from Broadway at the Beach to the Carolina Opry.
The Caribbean Resort in Myrtle Beach -- Already one of the biggest and best in Myrtle, the Caribbean has undergone an eight million dollar renovation, and has to be one of the finest resorts around, with unmatched water amenities and its next-door location to the Sea Captain's House, historically one of the absolute favorite seafood restaurants in the entire Grand Strand.
To compliment the finest accommodations anywhere, Condolux has special custom golf packages at the lowest rates to be found -- with golf, room, and maid service starting at $299 per golfer. There are even no surcharges on many of the courses with lower PM rounds.
While most resorts include indoor heated pools, lazy rivers, jacuzzis and fitness rooms, those who like a more private setting can enjoy one of Condolux's large luxury Myrtle Beach beach houses. Larger groups in particular can find tremendous savings and all the convenience of home in any of the beautiful oceanfront and ocean view houses that include golfing packages.
Visit the Condolux website to see photos and view the accommodations, and the all-new North Myrtle Beach Golf.com for package specials and golf course details.
Leave the snow and ice behind and take a Myrtle Beach vacation for your retreat this winter or spring!
Condolux Beach and Golf Vacations of North Myrtle Beach
1610 Hwy 17 North
North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582
Toll Free 1-800-624-6418Labels: Bayview Resort Myrtle Beach, golf course condos, myrtle beach |
posted by Myrtle Beach Web Design @ 3:01 PM
|
|
|
|
| Wednesday, March 14, 2007 |
| Top 10 Tips For Your Most Powerful e-Mail Marketing |
The latest column from my friend Bill Koelzer in San Clemente, CA. Bill is a Web marketing consultant for realty-related corporations. He is co-author, with Barbara Cox, Ph.D., of the Prentice-Hall books, "Internet Marketing in Real Estate" and "Internet Marketing".
He maintains and promotes his wife's Orange County Real Estate website, Debbie Ferrari.com. Debbie was actually quoted in Donald Trump's most recent book. Very impressive, Debbie!
They are good friends, and Bill and I often collaborate on the latest search engine news and what it means to our clients and business associates.
Top 10 Tips For Your Most Powerful e-Mail Marketing
Effective e-mail communications don't just happen. They require some thought about the audience, the purpose of the message, and what the message should include to accomplish that purpose.
Here is a short list of steps and tips for writing clear, unambiguous e-mail messages that will not be misunderstood - and that will help you get the results you want...
Plan. Know your purpose. Are you making a complaint or answering one? Are you trying to stimulate trials of a product? Are you providing some facts and figures in response to an inquiry?
Plan. Know your audience. The amount of background information or detail you provide should be appropriate for the recipient. Be sure each recipient has sufficient information to do what you want him or her to do.
Too much information, on the other hand, will bore some readers. Worse, telling someone a lot of information that they already know can be interpreted as being condescending. Also, knowing your audience will help you use an appropriate tone or level of formality.
Do the buyers of your products or services tend to be rather formal? Do you know them on a first-name basis? The rule of thumb here is: when in doubt, follow the same business correspondence style that you would use for a letter.
Use short sentences. If a sentence gets too long, reword it and make two sentences. Use a simple, active subject-verb-object sentence structure when possible - more like Hemingway than Shakespeare.
Short sentences are easier for most readers to absorb and remember.
Use plain language - clear words that your reader can relate to. Look for terms that could be misunderstood and replace them or give an explanation.
Eliminate fuzzy wording that could be interpreted as sarcastic, egocentric, critical, etc. A sentence that sounds fine when spoken may lose its intended effect when read by a recipient.
Use short paragraphs and skip a line between paragraphs to make the message easier to read and to emphasize main points.
State clearly what you want the recipient to do! Answer a question? Visit a Web site? Give you an opinion? (Don't assume that sending someone a list of facts will lead them to do something about them!
Avoid long, involved descriptions and explanations. If sending this information is critical, send it as an attachment or post it to a Web site and send the link.
Use "you," "your," or the person's name. This produces empathy!
Read what you write! Always check any e-mail addresses or Web site addresses that you have included. Incorrect Web addresses are "unreachable" and will irritate your contacts.
Until you gain experience, read each e-mail message aloud to yourself before you send it. This technique will help you identify statements or phrases that are vague or that could be misinterpreted. Never write and send an email while angry.
Also, Answer Promptly: Fast Follow up says "good service" to customers. When you receive e-mail - or send out your e-mail to a target audience and responses start to come in - what's next? Fast follow up is what helps make a sale, satisfy a customer need, or move your recipient to whatever action you desired of him.
And keep following up. Most sales are not made in the first contact; they are made through follow-up. The importance of following up is made clear in these statistics from the Association of Professional Salesmen and the National Sales Executive Association:
2% of sales are made on the 1st contact
3% of sales are made on the 2nd contact
5% of sales are made on the 3rd contact
10% of sales are made on the 4th contact
80% of sales are made on the 5th-12th contact
You can see from the above data that firms who market online using one-time mass e-mailings might have only limited success. Help prospects reach a decision by presenting a viable, valuable useful possibility that they might not have considered before.
Follow up quickly to inquiries - even if you think you answered a question previously!
Use every reasonable opportunity to provide information or service.
Do that and your e-mails will produce far better results.
###
Excellent advice, Bill.
Bill can be contacted at Bill@Koelzer.com or visit his website at www.koelzer.com
Myrtle Beach Web Design and Real Estate MarketingLabels: internet marketing, myrtle beach, Orange County Real Estate, real estate marketing, San Clemente Real Estate, Web Design, Web Marketing |
posted by Myrtle Beach Web Design @ 3:46 AM
|
|
|
|
| Thursday, February 01, 2007 |
| Real Estate Marketing News |
We've recently launched a couple of new websites for some talented young agents.
One, selling Myrtle Beach Real Estate, is Mike Benton. Formerly selling preconstruction with New Resorts, Mike branched out on his own with a condo conversion in Myrtle Beach out off Hwy 501. Coastal Villas was an inexpensive apartment complex used by many of the students with Carolina Coastal University and Horry Georgetown Tech. Mike and partner James Cole are renovating the apartments from top to bottom, and pre-selling from $109,900. These are some excellent low cost investment condos and are perfect for parents of kids going to the university for several years. Definately worth looking into.
In addition, Mike is selling a fantastic Myrtle Beach Oceanfront Lot in Grande Dunes, and has a friend who wants to sell a condo in Grande Dunes. Mike is also affiliated with a real estate agency out of Charleston.
Justin Chambers is involved with Kingman Arizona Real Estate with his family, and their agency plan is to have one person specializing in each area, from investment real estate, residential homes, and retirement property. I haven't been as closely involved with Justin as my partner Bryan has, but he is very impressed with Justin and plans to promote his projects using the www.condosandresorts.com website, which specializes in condo sales.
We are soon going to be doing some redesign and SEO on a couple of Myrtle Beach vacation sites as well.Labels: conversion condos, grande dunes, investment condos, investment land, myrtle beach, myrtle beach condos, myrtle beach real estate |
posted by Myrtle Beach Web Design @ 10:04 PM
|
|
|
|
| Wednesday, January 17, 2007 |
| North Carolina Real Estate VS Myrtle Beach |
Got a very statistically oriented article in my inbox from a newspaper in the Outer Banks area of North Carolina...Hatteras, Atlantic Beach, etc. Seems like their real estate market is worse than Myrtle Beach. Odd, because I had heard that was a super hot market right now.
It says the cost of living in the upper NC Beach area is higher than us...also surprising. Even to the point that New York and Boston were the only ones higher. I've never heard of that...and can't imagine why that would be.
Houses and condos in Myrtle Beach are slow, but not flat...yet. I have a realtor friend in Charlotte that deals with Lake Norman real estate, and she's going full guns. The last I heard, Brunswick County and the beaches like Holden Beach and Ocean Isle were still strong.
I find this article rather puzzling all the way around....
Economic indicators show downward shift
The Outer Banks Sentinel Wednesday January 17, 2007
The Dare County economic indicators now available through the end of November show a crashing real estate and construction market, a weak retail sector, but a 10.53 percent increase in occupancy taxes for the calendar year. Dare County building permit values fell 64.59 percent for November 2006 when compared to the same month in 2005. For 2006 through the end of November, construction was down 32.29 percent. Land transfers also took a dive with a year-to-date total loss of 42.03 percent compared to 2005. November 2005 showed a dip of 30.87 percent. Retail sales taxes for calendar year 2006 through September showed a gain of just 1.79 percent for the year. September shook out at .79 percent over the same period in 2005.Occupancy taxes through November show a 10.53 percent increase, although it is unclear whether the increase is in visitors or rental prices. Sales taxes on restaurant sales through November 2005 showed a year-to-date decline of .19 percent. The slowest month, based on sales tax collections for restaurants, was October with a 33.05 percent fall from the previous year. Neighboring Currituck County, through October 2006, experienced a 48.66 drop in land transfer receipts and a 29.2 percent drop from the previous year's building permit values. Retail sales in Currituck through September 2006 were up 15.14 percent, although September is reported to have had a 30.08 percent drop from 2005. A cost of living index prepared by the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce indicates that Dare County residents pay more for grocery items, housing, transportation, health care and goods and services than the average U.S. consumer. In a comparison with other cities, including Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Myrtle Beach, Harrisonburg, Va., Richmond, Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Greenville, Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Tampa, only Boston and Philadelphia have higher living costs than Dare. ### Myrtle Beach Web Design Labels: condos, homes, myrtle beach, myrtle beach condos, north carolina real estate, real estate |
posted by Myrtle Beach Web Design @ 6:20 PM
|
|
|
|
| Wednesday, October 18, 2006 |
| Condo Insurance Crisis |
The state of South Carolina, in its short-sightedness has allowed the insurance companies to put everyone that lives along the coast in jeopardy with homeowner's insurance. Nobody really knows right now what is going to happen...it's inconceivable that they will allow the companies to go up on our premiums 400-700%. But unless they can find a way to fix things, that's going to happen.
North Carolina has always had an elected Insurance Commissioner, and he could make the insurance companies jump and do tricks like trained dogs. If you called the commissioner's office with a complaint when you had problems collecting on an accident or something, you'd get a phone call several hours later from the offending company begging your forgiveness. I witnessed this twice myself, and it was amazing.
I was in Miami in June, and overheard CNN down there saying that the insurance companies had put in for a 100% increase on property insurance in Florida, and their insurance commission had granted them a 50% increase instead. That's how much pull they have, and the way it ought to be. South Carolina evidently has no such control, and they'd better get it, otherwise our condo insurance is going to ruin Myrtle Beach and the rest of the coast in South Carolina. Myrtle Beach Condo sales will be in deep trouble.
Here's the latest article about the condo insurance crisis...
Posted on Wed, Oct. 18, 2006
REAL ESTATE
Lawmaker airs plans to lower insurance
JENNY BURNS
State Sen. Dick Elliott, D-North Myrtle Beach, says he's working on legislation to keep insurance rate increases from driving Grand Strand residents from their homes.
As insurance costs continue to skyrocket, homeowners are finding their insurance bills are increasing as much as 600 percent to 700 percent, especially those living in condominiums.
Elliott said his insurance legislation will:
Require companies to operate in all parts of South Carolina, not just "cherry pick" certain areas.
Propose a move of the wind pool line to the Intracoastal Waterway from U.S. 17 Business.
Set up a statewide self-insurance pool where prices would be driven by losses within that pool.
Propose that the state insurance director become an elected position.
"In states where they have an elected insurance commissioner, insurance is cheaper, more available and there's a more stable insurance market," Elliott said.
Eleanor Kitzman, director of the S.C. Department of Insurance, said in late August she would move the wind pool line but no action has been taken, Elliott said.
Kitzman has the authority to move the line in an emergency.
Elliott is working with Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, and Sen. David Thomas, chairman of the Banking and Insurance Committee, on preparing this package.
Elliott said all have agreed it's critical that insurance issues be a "front burner" item in January when the legislative session begins.
While these proposals may not immediately solve the problem, Elliott said they are a start towards a long-term stable insurance market.
Realtors say the insurance crisis is especially hurting the condominium market, forcing owners to sell and making it more difficult for buyers to afford to purchase the condos.
Elliott said the problem will also hurt the lending industry, which requires that a buyer have insurance before it can approve a mortgage loan.
The senator said he's seen "good times and bad times come and go" but he hasn't seen anything that could hurt the coastal economy as much as the current insurance crisis in the past 10 years.
Contact JENNY BURNS at 626-0305 or jeburns@thesunnews.com.
#################
Dick Elliott is the Elliott from Elliott Realty, which is one of the biggest companies that handles Myrtle Beach Condos - Rentals and Sales. He's got a big stake in the problem, so maybe that will make him even more likely to do something about it.
real_estateLabels: beach property, condo insurance, condos, myrtle beach, oceanfront condos |
posted by Myrtle Beach Web Design @ 6:39 PM
|
|
|
|
| Monday, March 21, 2005 |
| The fine art of enjoying 'new' Myrtle Beach |
By BILL HENDRICK-COX NEWS SERVICE
The Palm Beach Post
We headed east, thinking the worst.
We expected kitsch — the same kind of tawdry, tacky, neon-flashing gaudiness that over the years has earned Myrtle Beach a reputation as a Wal-Mart Riviera, a mecca for hopeful teens on the make.
Well, that Myrtle still exists. But city fathers and business leaders have spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade to rejuvenate the place. Turns out, there was more than we could possibly do in three days --- way, way more.
Of course, you can relax on the fine-sand white beaches, where the ocean splashes up to within 40 yards of an endless row of new or renovated high-rise hotels. But the fun has only begun when you tire of the sun.
Sure, there are still rickety roller coasters, sticky-floored honky-tonks, barking carnies, throngs of students and beached denizens distinguishable from pilot whales only by sunglasses.
But now there's more — even fine art — and in a town where art once meant T-shirts emblazoned with images of naked women.
Townies tipped us to the Collectors Cafe & Gallery, just a few miles north of the cheesy Pavilion amusement park, a European-style eatery full of huge paintings ranging in style from realism to impressionism to surrealism. And for the even more serious-minded, there's the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum.
Not that we're saying Myrtle Beach is about to contend with New York as a cultural mecca, or with resorts like Hilton Head for panache. But that if you shortchange the town, you're only shortchanging your potential fun.
After checking into our beachfront hotel, the Four Points Sheraton Resort a couple miles south of the Pavilion, we gazed at the azure, roiling sea a few moments and set out to find the new Myrtle.
It didn't take long. About a mile west of the Pavilion we found a new 350-acre complex called Broadway at the Beach, made up of more than 100 upscale specialty shops, paddle boats plying a huge man-made lake, all kinds of restaurants and nightclubs, and amazing amusements.
We stopped first at the 26-acre NASCAR SpeedPark. It has seven racetracks where kids, and as many adults, zip around challenging courses in everything from go-carts to mini-cars.
I then spotted a rock-climbing wall, where the musclebound operator all but dared me to give it a try. I did, reluctantly, even though my arms look more like Olive Oyl's.
I more or less conquered my Everest, climbing nearly to the top before jumping off — hoping all the while that he wasn't fibbing about the safety harness. "That was fun," I lied, huffing and puffing.
Next: the $40 million Ripley's Aquarium, also located at Broadway. Welcome to what's billed as the world's largest underwater tunnel, with 4-inch acrylic glass holding back 6 million pounds of water. It contains all manner of colorful fish, eels, piranhas, sea horses and the largest display of sharks on the East Coast, some 9 feet long. The glass looks paper thin, and you can stare into the cold black eyes of the sharks from only a few inches away.
The designers were smart enough to install a moving 330-foot gliding sidewalk to keep kids and adults moving at a steady pace, oohing and aahing along the way.
We hadn't even left Broadway at the Beach, and I was already beginning to see what Chamber of Commerce spokesman Stephen Greene meant when he boasted, "Myrtle Beach now is more like an a la carte buffet."
That buffet includes heaping helpings of golf (111 full-size and 47 miniature courses) and country music (11 giant theaters).
Last year, the real Myrtle Beach golf courses tallied half a million tee times. Still, most are nicely kept up, with well-clipped greens and fairways. That was certainly the case at the Augusta National-like Granddaddy Pine Lakes International Country Club, which offers — for those who like stylin' and profilin' on the links — yellow Rolls-Royce golf carts.
Golf's about the only thing that attracts Atlantans, Greene laments, because, "We just can't convince people down there that we've changed."
Alas, some things haven't changed.
There's bumper-to-bumper traffic from about 11 a.m. to after midnight on Ocean Boulevard, the main drag. Near the Pavilion, and another carnival-like park called Family Kingdom, college students and teens in packed cars keep alive the Myrtle Beach tradition of cruising at about 4 mph.
Aggravation soon sets in, but when your goal is to see as much as possible, there's little time to chill. About the only time we spent on our oceanfront deck was when we opened the sliding glass door at night so we could hear the pounding waves.
Pounding waves? Oh, did we forget to mention the beach? That may be because we managed to spend only 45 minutes in three days with our toes touching sand.
Instead, we were exploring spots such as Brookgreen Gardens, 16 miles south, because after a day of hustling, we needed to catch our breath and literally smell the roses.
It's a gorgeous, 9,170-acre green space full of giant Spanish moss-draped oaks. Much more than a park, Brookgreen is loaded with sculpture, boasting 811 stunning bronzes, all by American artists, including Daniel Chester French and Frederic Remington.
On the prowl for more amusements, we passed Coastal Federal Field, home of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, the Atlanta Braves' Class A farm team. Now, who can resist seeing future Braves who are still wet behind the ears? The cheery new $20 million, 5,300-seat stadium is attractive, intimate and exciting.
From a baseball club to a nightclub — our next stop, Crocodile Rock's Dueling Pianos, was right across the street at Broadway at the Beach. Here, in front of a packed house, two piano men faced each other and pounded out oldies (between jokes that had the giddy audience rolling).
Our encore was a stop at Froggy Bottomz nearby, for a little blues and booze. The place was full of aging boomers, as well as college kids, so for the first time in a while we didn't feel as ancient as a Giganotosaurus, the species of giant meat-eating dinosaur headed next month to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History.
We also made it by the House of Blues at Barefoot Landing, sort of a downscale version of Broadway at the Beach, where Fiona Apple recently packed 'em in.
Country music's not our thing, but we could hardly avoid it here: Myrtle is developing a reputation as the Branson, Mo., of the East. Some of the ornate palaces occasionally feature big names, and others, like the Carolina Opry, put on spiffy variety shows.
If you loved Lawrence Welk and "Hee-Haw," you might like the Carolina. Its revue includes a mixture of Broadway show tunes, bluegrass music, patriotic anthems and gags that, well, just might make you gag.
On paper, it wouldn't seem to go together at all. But in ever-changing Myrtle Beach, it worked just dandy — beauty in the mix of a little bit of everything.Labels: myrtle beach, Myrtle Beach Golf |
posted by Myrtle Beach Web Design @ 1:34 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
