New Sugarbush Directory

Continuing on from This Thread , I'm now at the next stage of questions and once again looking for feedback and suggestions from MapleTraders. :D

I will be listing suppliers, associations, resources, and the like but the main focus will be on collecting links to sugarbush / maple production web sites. Given the large area where maple syrup is produced and that most visitors are local day-trip customers I need to carefully think out how to organize the categories to make it useful for the end user - our customer. The obvious is to start with Canada / US and then break it down again by State or Province but that's where I get stuck. Smaller States would be fine to list all sugarbushes in together but most are too large to pick up sales from the other side of the State and Ontario / Quebec are almost 2 day drive to cross. I need a way to further break down the larger States & Provinces with many listing so customers can find what's reasonably close to them.

Looking at most of the Maple Producer Association web sites I see they group by region but the person submitting the link would have determined what region they wish to be included in. As a webmaster in Eastern Ontario trying to add links for sugarbushes in PA, NY, or WI I have no idea on the regional names or where exactly lines may be drawn. For that matter, I couldn't tell you where "the line is drawn" to divide Eastern and Central Ontario and I live here.

I was thinking maybe telephone area codes would work. They clearly divide regions and are identifiable by customers as to what's local to them but I see that Maine, Vermont, & New Hampshire only have one code each and Ontario & Quebec have just divided existing ones into new area codes.

Do we need to divide up the listings in each State or Province category? How can we make it as easy as possible for someone 20 minutes away to find out about your sugarbush and come visit? :confused:

how hard would it be to do a zip code search, like other busnesses do?

Excellent suggestion vtmaplemaker. It wouldn't be hard to add in... just a matter of money. I would need to purchase both the Canadian postal code and US zip code databases along with programming to do the calculations. Unfortunately I don't have any of that in my collection of web stuff so far and a quick search online seems to indicate most packages are running between $130 & $150 to buy. I'm going to do some research into it to find out which package will best suit my needs and what's well rated by users. Maybe Santa will bring me some new software this Christmas for my "free" site. ;)

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Originally Posted by vtmaplemaker

how hard would it be to do a zip code search, like other busnesses do?

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Alrighty... been researching this issue and it seems it will be a little larger task than I had anticipated due to having to have every single US zip code AND Canadian postal code in a database along with latitude and longitude for each AND programming to figure out distances AND still integrate it into the rest of the link list database. Total cost will be anywhere between $200 and $600 to pull it off but I'm still going ahead with it because I believe in this idea but I don't think I will have that part finished until the end of January (don't quote me on that because it depends on my household budget).

Another question... I want to have simple check boxes available for when a sugarmaker submits a new link so they can just check off their facility attractions to display in their listing automatically. What are the common "selling points" to customers? So far I have the following;

• Restaurant
• Gift shop
• Sleigh rides
• Event hosting

What else should be added to that list of options that is common at sugarbushes?

Rest rooms
Handicapped accessible
Groups welcome
Syrup - candy - cream for sale
Times open (dates/hrs, year-round, seasonal)

Thanks for the great suggestions Dr. Tim.

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Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins

Rest rooms

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I would think that this one would be understood but I may be wrong. In my jurisdiction any business with public access or employees must provide rest room facilities.

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Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins

Handicapped accessible

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This one is excellent but from the 200+ sugarbush web sites I've collected so far I don't recall a single one marketing this benefit. To be honest, even my own little web site fails to mention it even though we've built temporary wheel chair access to a half dozen trees, my wife is fluent in sign language and has a degree in various brain disorders, and we even have sound beacons available for sap buckets.

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Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins

Groups welcome

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Perfect! I missed this one but I can see many sugar operations able to handle people stopping by anytime but be swamped by a tour bus showing up.

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Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins

Syrup - candy - cream for sale

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Kind of falls under the "gift shop" option but has me re-thinking the actual wording. Farm gate syrup sales is very different than a full store with deco bottles and all confections. I need a better wording for "we sell stuff" yet leave it open to how & what they actually sell.

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Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins

Times open (dates/hrs, year-round, seasonal)

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I can understand that suggestion as well but it isn't really necessary. The concept for www.sugarbush.info will be to basically round up Internet traffic and send it to the actual sugarbush web site. Hours would be good if I was looking at "captive" traffic but I'm going more in the direction of a maple syrup portal which just collects and then immediately disperses web surfers to web sites of interest. Hours and exact features of each maple business should already be listed on each web site.

I'm just looking for a few key features offered by many sugar operations so customers can easy come up with a listing of pancake houses, sleigh rides, tours or exhibits, in their area.

I've been able to find maple syrup web sites in all of the following States so far;

Connecticut
Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin

Delaware should be in there too but all my searches keep turning up Delaware, New York or Ohio (kind of why I'm building the web site in the first place). Anyone have a link for a maple producer in Delaware? Any other States that should be on the list?

Maple Trader exclusive sneak-peek @ www.Sugabush.Info !

I'm planning on officially launching the site January 1st, 2011 but members here can check it out early by using this link;

http://www.sugarbush.info/links/

If you own your own domain name and have a maple site online feel free to go ahead and list it in the directory. Just go to the right category and then click on "Submit Link" in the silver menu bar near the top. There's still work to be done on the site but most of it is writing, rewriting, and graphic design issues so not all sections are complete. Please try things out, poke buttons, click on links, watch for typos, etc and let me know what you think.

vtmaplemaker - I plan on adding the location search you suggested but decided to wait until the site gets going to see if the response and number of listings warrants the time and expense. It will end up costing me more than I figured and a bunch of time but if the idea is well received I'll certainly add it in.

DrTimPerkins - after all that and when I had 80% of the programming completed I realized there wasn't really a need to get fancy with listing categories. Each producer's web site represents how they want to present and/or promote their business so it seemed silly for me to duplicate it all and only create more problems by trying to sort things even further. As the saying goes... "KISS". :rolleyes:

Anyone - still looking for an online producer in Delaware.

I could use some help. I was looking at the Quebec listings and it seems most are in French only. I am not bilingual so I'm asking for help imputing the Quebec links so they make sense. It will be a little tedious, a little boring, only temporary, but very much appreciated.

State maple producer associations... I have found the following States;

• New York
• Minnesota
• Pennsylvania
• Maine
• Ohio
• Massachusetts
• Connecticut
• New Hampshire
• Vermont

Are there any other State associations online that I've missed? I'm kind of wondering about some of the more Southern or Central States. On that note, congrats to the Maine Association for such an excellent web site! By far the best design and content I saw from any of the producer associations.

Any how... check out my progress so far, add your own site if you have one, and let me know what you think of the design and/or idea.

Thanks to everyone for their input and interest!

~Bryan

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Originally Posted by BryanEx

I have found the following States;

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Found Wisconsin, Indiana, & Michigan to add to that list. Michigan's site is excellent as well BTW.

May search sights use a radius search. Such as within 20, or 30, or 40 miles of the searchers location. Can you set up your search criteria that way, even across borders? If possible I would think that would be the best way.

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Originally Posted by maple flats

May search sights use a radius search. Such as within 20, or 30, or 40 miles of the searchers location. Can you set up your search criteria that way, even across borders? If possible I would think that would be the best way.

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That was vtmaplemaker's suggestion too and a good one. It will be done but not in time for my January 1 launch date given the work and expenses involved. Once I have the directory filled with links I'll start work on that section alone beause it means working with HUGE databases. It will easily work across State borders but Canada / US will be a little trickier due to the postal / zip formats being different. I'll get the site working... then make it better.

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Originally Posted by BryanEx

Alrighty... been researching this issue and it seems it will be a little larger task than I had anticipated due to having to have every single US zip code AND Canadian postal code in a database along with latitude and longitude for each AND programming to figure out distances AND still integrate it into the rest of the link list database. Total cost will be anywhere between $200 and $600 to pull it off but I'm still going ahead with it because I believe in this idea but I don't think I will have that part finished until the end of January (don't quote me on that because it depends on my household budget).

Another question... I want to have simple check boxes available for when a sugarmaker submits a new link so they can just check off their facility attractions to display in their listing automatically. What are the common "selling points" to customers? So far I have the following;

• Restaurant
• Gift shop
• Sleigh rides
• Event hosting

What else should be added to that list of options that is common at sugarbushes?

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Wood fired, Oil or Gas Some people love to see that fire.

Go on mass maple produces associations website. It has a list of different things like wood or oil fired, if they sell wholesale, and many other things. Take a look at it.

I decided to drop everything except the maple business name, web site address, web site description, and a preview of the main page. I had forgotten that last time I developed a directory like this the more I tried to categorize things the more often things would not fit into my formatted categories and often the information simply isn't available from the web site. I decided instead to "Keep It Simple Stupid" and let each individual web site do it's own selling. I'm just looking at gathering and dispersing Internet traffic to each site of interest to the consumer or maple producer. I will be adding a distance search in the future but I have pages and pages of links to add first to make it a true directory. On that note, I'm really surprised that not a single person has added their own site. So far the only listings are the ones I've added and I could use some testing of the Submit Link process to make sure everything works correctly.

I have bookmarked every single maple-related homepage listed on profile pages here on Maple Trader so I can add them into the directory but I really encourage people to write their own listing. Please see the "Webmaster" and "Maple News" sections on www.Sugarbush.Info for more information.

Once again, thanks for everyone's feedback and the supportive email I've been getting!

good work!!! I love it. I can do a little bit with computers but that looks like alot of work into it so far. I usually learn on stuff as I go. I did my website my self. it just takes me a little longer to get things done. once I figure out how to do them and the web masters at godaddy have been a big help too.

BryanEX,
Looks very nice! I will have to get you some words to go with the web link.
Thanks for your efforts.
Should be a nice site for folks to find maple products and events related to maple.
Regards,
Chris

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Originally Posted by red maples

good work!!! I love it. I can do a little bit with computers but that looks like alot of work into it so far.

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Once I had the brainstorming done, which Maple Traders helped out with in another thread, I've got about three full weekends worth of work into it so far. Now comes the tedious process of adding links. My goal is to have 500+ links before the start of the maple season so that Sugarbush.Info truly is an North American directory

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Originally Posted by Sugarmaker

BryanEX,
Looks very nice! I will have to get you some words to go with the web link.

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Thank you Chris and I welcome you (and everyone else) to send me your own description for your web site. Adding each link is pretty quick and easy for me but writing the descriptions for each is a huge challenge and very time consuming. The best I can do is to use some text from each site but many sites don't include much I can use from their home or about us pages. Right now I'm getting through about 20 new links each week night and a few hundred over a weekend.

Congratulations and thank you to Double Diamond Sugar House! I'm not sure what the user name is here on Maple Trader but Double Diamond is the first and only sugar maker to submit their own web site. Much appreciated!

Thanks for adding my website to your page. How do I add a picture next to it?

Keep up all your hard work it looks great

J

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Originally Posted by jcb

Thanks for adding my website to your page. How do I add a picture next to it?

Keep up all your hard work it looks great

J

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Thanks very much jcb and it's my pleasure to contribute in some way to all maple producers.

The picture you are asking about is actually a small screen shot of each web site's main (home) page. It's automatically provided by a company called thumbshots.org. They offer various packages ranging from free to $1000.00/month to provide the service to any web site that wants it. Right now while Sugarbush.Info is not officially open and I'm still adding links I'm running on the free service. Once the site is up and running in January, I will subscribe to the $20/month plan but only during the sugarin season. During the off-season I will revert back to the free service.

The main difference between the free service and paid is how fast they add new sites to their database. With the free service it may take a month or longer if you are not already in their database but with the paid service it's less than 48 hours. My plan is to get as many links added by January 1 (500+) , then upgrade to the paid service for the season. Once the sap has stopped running everywhere I will downgrade back to the free service. By then everyone's site will be included in the screen captures. If you want you can pay 99 cents and have your web site screen capture done within an hour regardless of what service Sugarbush.Info is using but I can't say as I'd recommend bothering with it. Just hang tight until the first week of January to see how it goes. Right now Maple Trader is the only place people can view the site by using the link in my signature line below.

I hope that makes sense and if you plan on making changes to your web site now is the time to do it.

thanks for adding Pleasant Valley Maples.........

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Originally Posted by maplefrank

thanks for adding Pleasant Valley Maples.........

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My pleasure maplefrank and as posted above, a photo for your main page will be coming soon... likely the beginning of January when I up grade to the paid service.

Test reply per request

Thanks very much Dr. Tim. Seems it's specific to the text I'm attempting to post. I do love mySQL databases.

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Originally Posted by BryanEx

Thanks very much Dr. Tim. Seems it's specific to the text I'm attempting to post. I do love mySQL databases.

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My pleasure. I've had a few server errors during attempts to post, particularly with long messages. Not sure exactly why.

All Maple Traders that own their own domain name should now be included in the Sugarbush Directory. Approaching 200 links with a goal of 500+ for January 1, 2011. If you have a maple web site and own your own domain name but have not received an email from me, check Sugarbush Info in my sig line below to see if you are listed. The web site will be going "live" January 1st!

To whomever posted a link to www.Sugarbush.Info on facebook... thanks very much! 26 visitors so far looking for maple syrup info.

Be sure to let me know if you add a link to Sugarbush.Info on your maple site because I will add you to the "Featured Sites" listings and you will always be listed first in your category.

Speaking of categories, I have not been able to find online maple producers in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Manitoba and may have to drop those categories before the January 1 launch date. I have found producers in those States or Province... just none that had a web site.

Bryan,
In process of adding the www.Sugarbush.info link to our web site. Should be up by the weekend.
Merry Christmas,
Chris

Awesome... thanks very much Chris. I'll explain why exchanging links is important in an upcoming post but in the mean time here is my own personal example;

http://www.stonebriarfarm.com/contactus.html

Check out the discrete link at the bottom of the page above the footer and just below the logo.

Bryan,

Nice site. Should be a valuable tool to all of us.

Our website is ToadHillMaple.com and we are in NY.

Thanks,

Randy Galusha

Toad Hill has been added Randy... ready nicely designed web site btw! Be sure to review the description and just email or PM me any changes you'd like made.

I have a new question for those of you following this discussion. I just received a link submission from a company that sells maple syrup online. As far as I can tell they are not a producer and do not have a store location... it's strictly online sales. They submitted their link to the "Distributors" category which I think best fits their business model but I had also pictured distributors as being equipment and supplies. So far I have only seen two web sites that are strictly based on Internet sales. Is two web sites enough to set up a "buy maple syrup online" type category and if so, what should it be called? Should it be a sub-category of Canada / US or a main category available right from the main page? The other issue is that would open up a whole new can of worms because many sugarbushes also offer online sales or shopping carts. I can cross-link listings so they are included in more than one category but so far that has been limited to those that produce and supply equipment and/or supplies to others.

As always, share your wisdom and common sense Maple Traders. ;)

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Originally Posted by Sugarmaker

In process of adding the www.Sugarbush.info link to our web site. Should be up by the weekend.

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Chris... thanks for the link back to Sugarbush.Info. I've just upgraded the listing for www.mapleandhoney.com to be a "featured link". That means that your web site will always be listed first in the PA, USA category (along with anyone else from PA that links back) regardless of which sort order a customer chooses. It also includes your site at random in the "featured Links" box that displays just above each directory.

Exchanging links isn't all that important for Internet users as much as it is for Google. The more maple producers that Sugarbush.Info links to that also link back the better off we are at getting on the first page of results with a Google search on the word "sugarbush". Right now it's dominated by sugarbush ski resort and a few long running large commercial producers so I have my work cut out for me.

I will also be upgrading to the paid service for providing a preview of each web site listed on Sugarbush.Info this week so that anyone that does not have one displayed will be included for January 1st.

Not sure what to do with this one but definitely want to include it in the directory;

American Maple Museum


Two best choices are either "resources" which has mostly maple information web sites or "organizations" which is for groups involved in the maple industry. I suppose "festivals & events" might work but the museum isn't quite what I had in mind for that directory.

I'm thinking organizations because of the following info on their web site;

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The American Maple Museum is a non-profit organization chartered (Absolute Charter) by the NY State Board of Regents and is recognized by the North American Maple Syrup Council and the International Maple Syrup Institute.

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Please include this!!!!!!! its in my backyard.........this is one of the reasons i'm a maple producer......

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Originally Posted by maplefrank

Please include this!!!!!!! its in my backyard.........this is one of the reasons i'm a maple producer......

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It's included, along with the one in Vermont. I just wasn't sure which category was most appropriate.

I just received a suggestion that made me go... hmmm. :confused:

The suggestion was to add a category to Sugarbush.Info for Facebook maple pages. I've seen several members that have web sites in addition to Facebook while others are on Facebook exclusively. Now, I don't do Facebook, Twitter, or any of those other social engineering sites... um... I mean social networking sites, so I don't know enough about them. I can understand the interest in having everything a maple producer has online listed in the directory but will a listing of maple Facebook pages help and/or interest the end consumer? I dunno...

Thoughts & opinions?

I don't think so. once you go onto a maple website there is usually a link to their facebook page. SO I think it would be kinda redundant.

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Originally Posted by BryanEx

I just received a suggestion that made me go... hmmm. :confused:

The suggestion was to add a category to Sugarbush.Info for Facebook maple pages. I've seen several members that have web sites in addition to Facebook while others are on Facebook exclusively. Now, I don't do Facebook, Twitter, or any of those other social engineering sites... um... I mean social networking sites, so I don't know enough about them. I can understand the interest in having everything a maple producer has online listed in the directory but will a listing of maple Facebook pages help and/or interest the end consumer? I dunno...

Thoughts & opinions?

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I am not a big face book fan but I know a restrant owner that post her daily specials on face book, so maybe you could could post if you were boiling. I would think that would be something each sugar house would do on thier own. I cant see a need for Sugarbush.info to be on there.

Unless you want to look up some old friends

I tend to agree with you both. The roll of Sugarbush Info should be to collect customers from the Internet and feed them directly into each of your own web sites. If a producer wants to send them off to Facebook from there it's their own decision. From a management stand point it would be next to impossible to keep the Facebook listings accurate and up to date. I would have no way of telling if a Facebook page has been abandoned or if maple is only occasionally mentioned between family or friend chatter. I think I'll pass on this idea but it was a good suggestion.

Thanks - Bryan

H2O Innovation has just added Sugarbush.Info to their main page and has become the first major manufacturer to link to our directory which really helps with Google. This past weekend I also sent out an email to all 25 maple producer associations that are online asking for links but so far most have not responded with a few that said "we'll think about it". Oh well... you don't get the support unless you ask for it I suppose but at least H2O Innovation is on-board.

At this point I'm running pretty thin on adding new links so I will start focusing on Google placement and content. I want www.Sugarbush.Info to be in good shape before the sugaring season starts to try and send you all new business this year.

- Bryan

Found this one:
Atelier Pruno.com , tubing installation tools maker
site in french, pdf catalog under "Produits" have a lot of information