I recently started a business named Eastern Shore Adventure Sports, Inc. (ESAS). Under the umbrella of ESAS I envision several unique businesses. In order of development the businesses will be the Eastern Shore Hang Gliding Center, Eastern Shore Skydiving and Eastern Shore Challenge Courses.

The startup, ESAS, is located at Campbell Field Airport in Weirwood, centrally located on the Eastern Shore (see campbellfieldairport.com). Campbell Field Airport is a public use, privately owned general aviation airport. It is unique in that it is the sole remaining turf only public use airport in the Commonwealth. However, the rural character of the Eastern Shore means that Campbell Field is a low use airport and makes it a prime location to add other aviation related businesses.

The Hang Gliding component of ESAS has already begun. In a partnership with local resident Bill McCarter we have purchased the necessary equipment to offer tandem introductory flights to individuals. Most people, when they think of hang gliding, think of people jumping off of mountains. With no mountains on the Eastern Shore we must use a process called “aerotowing”. We purchased an Australian built aircraft designed specifically for towing hang gliders to altitude. Aerotowing is actually a much more efficient way to hang glide. Multiple flights can be made in one day and not having to break down equipment after every flight makes it much safer. Of course, an introductory flight is made with an instructor. We use a tandem hang glider, a little bigger than a normal hang glider and it also has wheels for smooth takeoffs and landings. The student and instructor are in separate harnesses and both can control the glider. The introductory flights will be just that, a chance to show people how fun and easy hang gliding is. Our goal will be to convert those taking introductory flights into students working to achieve their solo rating so they can fly by themselves at any time.

Once the Eastern Shore Hang Glider Center is up and running smoothly we will work on adding the sky diving component and finally a challenge course. Our goal is to provide a visitor to the Eastern Shore all the adventures they need.

A website will be the backbone to our marketing effort and will usually be the first point of contact between our business and the customer.

First, the website is crucial from a customer service standpoint. Hang gliding is a niche sport and the public often does not know how its done, where its done or how fun it is to do. We need a website to explain the nuts and bolts from our location to safety concerns. We also need multiple avenues for a potential customer to contact us, including web forms and email addresses.

Second, we need a website for public relations purposes. Photos and videos will help introduce and explain the sport and with both ground based and aerial photos/videos the potential customer will have a good immediate understanding of what the sport is about. We hope that immediate excitement when viewing the website will drive sales. We also need to project a favorable image and send the right message about the safety of the sport as well as the freedom and beauty of “soaring the shore”. Updating weather conditions and daily soaring reports as well as news of our frequent events is only possible through a website. If a customer loves the time they had soaring over the ESVA, and we know they will, a customer testimonial page will be a strong marketing tool.

Lastly, we can't be confined to our local market. As our business grows the website will be our marketplace for merchandise sales, not just in our market area but nationwide. Also, hang gliders love to find new locations to fly. We know the Eastern Shore is a great place but the website will need to convince them to make that cross country trip here for a visit. Our marketing plan is going to be a challenge. Hang gliding does not discriminate, the customer base is varied. It is an easy sport and open to people of almost all ages and you don't need to be an athlete to participate. While we hope that many of our customers are from the Eastern Shore, we realize that the customer base is not large enough in the local area to to sustain our business.

Our primary marketing area for the hang gliding business will be the Hampton Roads area with an emphasis on Virginia Beach and visitors to the Cape Charles and Chincoteague areas. Our primary marketing tool will be a website, email campaigns and selective media advertising in our marketing area. As the business progresses we will be able to track our customers and invest more in targeted media advertising. Our closest competitors are over two hours away so little or no advertising of this sport has been ever been done in our market area.

Our target soft launch date for the Eastern Shore Hang Gliding Center is this coming May 16th. Word of mouth and local advertising will give us the necessary capacity during the first few months, however a broader marketing plan needs to be put in place quickly.

Gull Hummock Gourmet Market is a specialty food store providing unique and quality products chosen to help promote a finer and healthier life for its customers. The Market will carry boutique wines, imported artisan cheeses, gourmet and organic foods, Polyface Farm meats, as well as kitchen wares and gifts.

Gull Hummock is scheduled to open this summer at 213 Mason Avenue in Cape Charles.

A website and marketing plan of this caliber would put me on the cutting edge of reaching some of my objectives for Gull Hummock. I want a website that not only promotes my products but one which will educate and help people to learn how to get on the road of a healthy lifestyle.

Three years ago I left my job as a Social Worker at Hermitage on the Eastern Shore due to health problems. I began a quest at the age of 55 to "figure out" a way to outlive my parents who died at 52 and 56. That "quest" led me to see the importance of good quality food as well as lifestyle in one's life. The outgrowth of this has become Gull Hummock Gourmet Market.

Now, besides providing wonderful products and services, I want a way to give back and help others by promoting "healthy living". I have had several professionals from the community who have offered their expertise through newsletter articles and time teaching and promoting.

The Eastern Shore of Virginia has one of the highest cancer rates in the state as well as a high rate of heart disease and diabetes. I feel there is a need to be proactive in the fight against these as well as other health problems.

I strongly feel that what and how we eat can be a part of the first line of defense to many diseases. Gull Hummock is going to be a place....as well as a website....where one can visit and leave with much more than expected.

I want my customers and visitors to my website to leave saying, "Wow! I learned something new today."

I want Gull Hummock to have something for everyone. I want to be able to reach out to all socioeconomic groups in our area and have chefs teach how to turn good, basic foods
(many grown right here on the Shore) into healthy culinary delights. A website is key to reaching a population who might not shop at a gourmet market but once connected will share this link with their friends.

I see Gull Hummock being able to take orders online for boaters and vacationers.

I see the Gull Hummock website getting the news out on weekly wine and cheese specials as well as wine tastings.

I see the Gull Hummock website providing articles of interest on wine and cheese, oils and vinegars.

I see Gull Hummock providing fresh, new, recipes as well as frozen, ready to eat meals from local chefs.

I need help!

I'd love for you to work with me!

Sincerely,

Honey Moore
Owner
Gull Hummock Gourmet Market
Cape Charles, VA

Eastern Shore Staffing Service is a temporary and permanent employment agency located in the mid-section of the Shore in Nassawadox. It is in it's third year of business. We relocated to Nassawadox in October 2008.

We serve the businesses on the Shore by supplying them with skilled and qualified employees for their temporarily vacant positions, or for special projects. We also place applicants in jobs on a permanent basis. We skill test our applicants prior to their interviews with our clients. We also perform a national criminal background check and drug screen.

We serve the citizens of the Shore by finding them employment in different organizations. We also offer counseling in interview preparation and provide the applicants with tutorials for computer skills which they can access in the comfort of their home.

Our goal is to match the best applicant with the best position for them. Therefore, the employer and the employee both are winners.

In addition to a website providing basic information on our service. We would like to develope a website which would allow our applicants to apply on-line, and review on-line job opportunities.

We would like to develop a marketing plan to reach the businesses on the Shore. A temporary service which places administrative type skilled workers in organizations is a new concept on the Shore and I believe a website and marketing plan would help us to educate the businesses and citizens of the Shore in regard to better utilizing this service.

We are here to serve the area businesses and the citizens and therefore providing a better work force for the Shore.

We are the owners of Kelly's Gingernut Pub located at 133 Mason Ave. in Cape Charles, VA.We are an Irish Pub/ Restaurant that has been serving our community and The Shore since July of 2006. We are open for lunch and dinner 363 days a year serving Pub specialties, steaks , local seafood and pasta in addition to our full - service bar. We have renovated the 102 year old Mumphord Bank building in accordance with historic guidelines and in our opinion the finished product blends in well with our surroundings.

Business has been steady and encouraging overall as we enter our fourth year of operation. Advertising dollars are hard to come by however when we crunch our budget. Our initial plan called for an active internet website along with print ads and other spot marketing. The restaurant business is at best an unpredictable venture and several times when we were prepared to bite the bullet and invest dollars in a website, we were sidetracked by unexpected expenses.

An air conditioning do-over set us back over $20,000, roof repairs, purchase of additional kitchen equipment, plumbing difficulties, you name it! Just when we could see light at the end of the tunnel we realized that it might be a locomotive heading our way! Not to sound so dramatic, but in this business which is so hard to forecast we are still without a website. We have our domain name, which we have renewed each year, and we know that now in these uncertain times, a site would benefit our business greatly!

A fine tuning of our marketing plan would be a bonus as well. We all like to think that we have analyzed our market and have the answers, but sometimes a fresh viewpoint is just what is needed to maximize one's efforts! We will succeed, of that we are confidant! We have chosen The Eastern Shore to live and raise our two children. Getting our website up and going this season may insure our future and spread awareness of Kelly's Gingernut Pub to even more Eastern Shore residents and visitors. Thank you so much for your consideration!

My name is Robin Cochran. I am an artist [yes, YET another one!]. My business is called Eclectic Wonders, Artistic Designs for the 21st Century, specializing in faux painting and murals. I was fairly successful working my business on a part-time basis in Ashland, VA. via word-of-mouth. However, after moving to the Eastern Shore I'm a bit of a fish-out-of-water. As an American I am trying to find that entrepreneurial spirit that those that migrate to our great country seem to poses in abundance. With this application I hope to gain help by those with the "know-how" to get things accomplished.

I have had a vision for sometime now to develop a business based on a totally new concept for the art industry. I have gone to the Richmond SBA for guidance, but the retiree's who were assigned to mentor me did not know how to guide me. It seems if there's not already a business model in place to review they are a bit unwilling to "guess" on how to proceed. My idea is this: I want to create a database of artist, all types, furniture painters, muralist's, stenciler's, photographer, portrait artist's, etc ~ a one-stop-shop of artist's if you will. As it stands most people do not know how to find an artist. It's usually via word-of-mouth, and many times that particular artists' style may not fit the clients taste. My idea is loosely based on the "temp for hire" concept. Eclectic Wonders would act as the initial contact point for the client. We would ascertain the clients need and then contact the artist who fit that need and set up the initial consultation. The company shall set guidelines for payment, and all payments would be dispersed through the company to the artist, with the company taking a small commission. Most artist don't want to be business people they just want to create art and I think there is a real possibility of making this work.

The biggest expense for this venture, as with all businesses, is capital for advertising. I could really use the expert advice being offered through this contest on how to create a strategy and make it happen. If this model could work on the Eastern Shore, it could most definitely work in a major metropolis.

I thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Robin Cochran
Eclectic Wonders
Artistic Designs for the 21st Century

A website for a business such as the one described above would be multi-functional. First as a tool to entice artist's to become members. And second, as a way for potential clients to be able to research sample portfolio's of the artist's in our database to find a suitable match for their taste and style. I also plan to work out price-line platforms so that people have a general idea of what the pricing range will be for what they want. This is something that has never been done before. Although it is next to impossible to set a rigid price for an art project, we will be able to quote a "range" depending on scope of work involved and will guarantee work performed would not be charged over the maximum bid.

Thinking long-term, if phase one becomes successful the database could be expanded to include interior decorators, custom drapery specialists, and perhaps even handyman services, etc...

Personally, I need the advice of experienced community members to advise me in this endeavor. That's what I am hoping the team of Behrman, Schwab & Barefoot will be able to do.