"Both new blogsites still have to mature", says Yvonne de Wit, co-owner of Soekershof Walkabout. "From especially customers of our nursery we are experiencing quite a few enquiries about cultivation of succulents. This is not always as easy as it seems. Most of the succulents sold to people in the Cape Town area, for example, die within months or struggle for the rest of their shortened life. Creating a good local environment for these plants is of utmost importance. It's also the reason that we, against all commercial logical thinking, sometimes refuse to sell certain plants to visitors if there are any doubts about the conditions in which plants have to grow".
Providing customers with verbal cultivation info is rather time consuming. "And sometimes they forget a few things and contact us. After sales service is very important and has to be done adequately but is also time consuming. Nowadays we can direct our customers to our blog and if there are still specific questions they are welcome to contact us or leave a comment in the blog."
Most visitors of Soekershof Walkabout indicated on questionaires that they like to be updated with the latest developments in and around Soekershof Walkabout. "In the past few years we e-mailed periodical newsletters around the globe. Some people change their e-mail adresses now and than we experienced negative time consuming implications for maintaining the database. With the new general blog we were able to generate one final newsletter with the announcement of both blogsites and erase the complete database. Nowadays we provide interested visitors with the Internet adresses of web- and blogsites. This saves us a lot of work and our guests can look into the blogs at any time they like", says De Wit.
The general blogsite also includes info about the local surroundings of Soekershof including other activities and so on.Both blogs seem to fill a gap in the market. In the first few weeks after the launch each attracted up to 50 hits daily. An extensive marketing campaign will commence during June/July of this year.
Contact Details:
Soekershof WalkaboutMazes & Botanical Gardens Primary Unusual DestinationCertified by Fair Trade in Tourism in South Africa Klaas Voogds West, P.O. Box 291, Robertson 6705, South AfricaTel: +27 (0)23 626 4134Skype: soekershofE-mail: soekershof@lando.co.zaWebsite: http://www.soekershof.comBlogsite: http://soekershofwalkabout.blogspot.com/ Soekershof Science: http://soekershof.wordpress.comMission statement:Soekershof Walkabout is a sacred enterprise, based on an appreciation of nature, humor, play, creation, expression and respect for the land, and the growth and development of the people and plants who participate -employees and visitors alike.