We have been very busy launching new websites since our last newsletter. Each is a custom-crafted, mobile-friendly, responsive site that is built with the unique challenges of each client in mind. Unlike just about everybody else building websites, there are no drag and drop websites built using WordPress templates that come out of our office. The examples shown below represent a mix of existing clients who have turned to us for the production of new websites to replace older sites that we built as many as 16 or 17 years ago, along with new clients who simply got tired with the lack of customer service and creativity that they were experiencing elsewhere. If you feel that your website is being neglected by another company, this is the perfect time to turn to Pelland Advertising for a refreshing change in attitude! Click on any image to visit that client’s new website, or click here to visit the website portfolio page on the Pelland Advertising website.

Witch Meadow Lake Campground
Salem, Connecticut
Includes a new site map by Pelland Advertising.

MillPoint RV Park
East Peoria, Illinois
Includes a new site map and logo design by Pelland Advertising.

The Classics Vintage RV Park
Roulette, Pennsylvania
A soon-to-be-available camping experience in restored vintage trailers.
Includes a new logo design by Pelland Advertising.

Houston East RV Resort
Baytown, Texas

Whip-O-Will Campsites
Purling, New York

Rose Point Park
New Castle, Pennsylvania
A new website for a long-time client.

Partridge Hollow Camping Area
Monson, Massachusetts
Includes a new site map and logo design by Pelland Advertising.

Lost River Valley Campground
North Woodstock, New Hampshire
A Pelland Advertising client since 1996!

A1 Screw Machine
Chicopee, Massachusetts
That’s right. We don’t only build campground websites!
Includes a new logo design by Pelland Advertising.

Like what you see? Click here to watch our YouTube video to learn more about responsive website development from Pelland Advertising, then contact us for a quote or to be added to our production list. We could have your new site up and running – and generating new business – in as little as a month! We make the process easy, particularly if you need to move from another hosting services provider, offering a long list of incentives.

Deadlines are looming. If you are running display advertising in your state association directory or a national publication such as the Good Sam Directory, there is only value in consistently repeating the same ad from previous years if you are certain that it already perfectly represents your branding image and advances your marketing presence. If there is room for improvement, we can help. Our ad design fees are very affordable, particularly in comparison to the price of the advertising space. A great ad will pay for itself very quickly, but a lesser ad will cost you business throughout the lifespan of the publication.

Here is a new ad that we recently designed for Beaver Dam Campground, in Maine. If it looks familiar, it is because it follows the same design theme as the park’s new postcard that we showcased in our last newsletter, with both of these emulating the design of the park’s companion rack cards that we also produced. In each instance, the marketing tools are capitalizing upon and promoting how Beaver Dam Campground was awarded Small Park of the Year honors at the 2015 National ARVC Outdoor Hospitality Expo. You do not need to be an award-winner for us to develop an equally captivating ad campaign.

The Iowa RV Campground Owners Association (Iowa ARVC) turned to Pelland Advertising to produce a new responsive website to replace the previous site that was built in 2012. This new mobile-friendly site features a robust, custom-designed database that generates dynamic search results based upon user input and integrated Google mapping. It also includes an administrative interface where member parks may update their listing information, upload photos, adjust their map marker locations, post travel advisories, and much more. The new site also incorporates SEO components that should provide a significant boost to each member and also incentivize additional Iowa parks to join the association.

Iowa ARVC President Chip Smith commented, “We are a small association and didn’t have a robust advertising budget, but Pelland Advertising worked with us to provide a first class site that we could afford. They kept on top of things and continually kept me in the loop with updates and recommendations. It wasn’t all about money to Peter; it was putting the best product he could offer, within our budget and saving us thousands of dollars. Not coming from a tech background, he and his staff were more than patient in explaining the site and suggesting things we needed and didn’t need. With all the new technology out there, it’s great to finally have a site that can accommodate all the latest devices and platforms.”

Pelland Advertising was founded back in 1980, when our primary business was producing color brochures for the ski industry in the northeastern United States. Soon embracing the family campground industry, we have been producing four-color collateral advertising longer than any other company in the industry. Today, with the growing dominance of the Internet, printing quantities are lower and press runs are more infrequent. A large percentage of our clients has made the switch from folding brochures to more basic rack cards, where the intention is to send people to full information and the call-to-action – a reservation request form, in most instances – on their websites, of course, built by us!

Rack cards are a much more affordable option to more expensive folding brochures, and they are just as eye-catching and effective. Here is an example of the front panel of a new rack card that we just produced for long-time client Mi-Te-Jo Campground, in New Hampshire. Up until new, we had produced brochures for Mi-Te-Jo since 1999. Yes, our working relationships with our clients are built to last. They know that they can always trust us for sound advice and the absolute best efforts on their behalf, every time and on every project.

Note: The following article appears in Peter Pelland’s Smart Operations column in the August 2016 issue of Woodalls Campground Management. If you find it useful, be sure to watch for his column in every issue, then turn to the Pelland Advertising Blog as a resource for dozens of similar articles with an emphasis on how to better market your small business in today’s digital environment.

One of my company’s ongoing challenges is its attempt at working magic with photos that are supplied to us by clients. Rarely are we fortunate enough to be provided with high quality photos taken by a professional commercial photographer. More often, we find that folks today think that owning a smartphone makes anyone a de-facto professional photographer. Nothing could be further from the truth.

An even greater challenge is when we are asked to begin a project at a time of year when the leaves are off the trees, swimming pools are covered for the season and the snow is on the ground, but suitable photos were not taken back in June, July and August, when the park was full and the sun was shining on a landscape populated by smiling guests.

If you are reading this article in early August, now is the time to get those photos that will make a world of difference in that directory ad, camping show display, pre-season newsletter, website photo gallery, or brochure that you will be wanting in December or January. If at all possible, bite the bullet and hire a local commercial photographer who has a portfolio that proves his or her ability to handle an on-location assignment that primarily involves outdoor settings. If the photographer also happens to understand camping, that is another big plus. In fact, there are companies, such as Florida-based Insider Perks, that routinely tour the country producing both videos and still photos.

Just in case I have not persuaded you to subcontract your photography into the capable hands of a professional, here are a few tips that will make your own attempts more productive and successful.

• If at all possible, use a real camera rather than your phone. If you must use a smartphone, remember that it can be turned sideways … so your photos will be in landscape format rather than portrait format. Vertical images are usually less desirable, except sometimes for front panel photos on printed literature, and cropping them to horizontal usually loses too much essential content.

• Hold the camera steady and make an effort to compose the shot. I recently viewed a series of photos taken by a client, and it took me a while to understand why nearly half of them were all blurry. Eventually I realized that he had taken the photos from the seat of his golf cart, and the blurry images were taken through the windshield of the golf cart, causing the auto-focus on his camera to focus on the windshield rather than the intended scene beyond.

• Take photos of people having fun, not stark photos of empty facilities. Your prospective customers want to go camping to have fun, not to visit what appears to be a camping ghost town.

• Try to avoid thinking that “anything can be fixed in Photoshop” because it will generally take less time to plan your shot more carefully than to “fix” something later. For example, when taking photos of a cabin interior, unplug and hide the cords coming out of kitchen appliances and air conditioning units. Also, with the exception of fluorescents, if there are lights, turn them on to brighten those dark corners.

• Speaking of Photoshop, do not try to “improve” photos yourself using either Photoshop or some lesser image editing software. Usually, those improvements will do more harm than good, sometimes ruining the original image. Leave the enhancements to the pros.

• If there is a fence involved, such as surrounding a swimming pool, tennis court or mini-golf course, take your photos from inside rather than outside the fence. A fence is a visual and psychological barrier that separates your potential guests from the amenities that they would like to enjoy using.

• Wait for a sunny day. There is no substitute for a sunny day with nice puffy white cumulus clouds. Few shots are going to look their best on a cloudy day. Also try to avoid harsh midday light. Your best photos will be taken either earlier or later in the day.

Probably most important of all, get any people who appear in your photos, either individually or in a small group, to sign model waivers. For your convenience, click here for a link to a model waiver template in Microsoft Word format, then edit the file, print them out, and use them. Keep in mind that blanket releases will never hold up in a court of law. In fact, the waivers that I am recommending that you use will also never hold up in a court of law. The idea is for you to formally give people an opportunity to grant you permission to use their photos. If somebody takes the time to thoroughly read the waiver, or asks about compensation, consider that a red flag and do NOT use any photos of that person or his or her family members. Play it safe. Everybody has a brother-in-law who is an attorney!

This is just a timely sampling of tips to improve the quality of the photos that will make a significant difference in your ability to market your campground – and profit from the results of that successful marketing. If you would like to learn much more, plan on attending “Your Photographs: Are the 1,000 Words Good or Bad?”, one of the two marketing seminars that Peter will be presenting at the ARVC Outdoor Hospitality Conference & Expo, in Fort Worth this November. See you there!

That’s it for this edition of the Pelland Advertising newsletter. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy day to read it. Feel free to share our newsletter with your colleagues and to contact us with suggestions for future content. We are always here to listen ... and to be of assistance. Thanks!