Maui Queen and the Maui Weekly Link Up!

The Maui Weekly and MauiQueen.Com are linking up to serve kama’aina and visitors even better.

Okay, so I’ll admit it. I’ll be upfront with you guys…I have ties to both the Maui Weekly and MauiQueen.com. Remember that as you read this, because I am about to present you all with some very exciting news that concerns them both.

Here’s the deal: I’ve been fortunate to have written for the Maui Weekly for a long period of time. I’ve shared hundreds of stories with you guys—from fun stuff (like drag-queen shows at the Iao Theatre), to the very serious (introducing Maui Weekly readers the Upcountry water situation). I’m proud to say that I’ve had the opportunity to write for the “Best Non-Daily Newspaper” on the island.

I am an Editor at MauiQueen.com. MauiQueen.com is an informational website that is geared toward visitors heading to Maui. The goal of MauiQueen.com is to become the most comprehensive guide to Maui on the planet.

It is well on its way toward achieving that goal. Launched in March of 2004, this “baby” site is already getting about 2,000 page views per day, and at press time 158 people have downloaded “Maui Today”—MauiQueen.com’s guide to the island. The numbers keep getting bigger, and it’s exciting.

The publisher of the site, Klaus Bandisch, has a tendency to shoot for the stars, so to speak, and succeed at it. Years of computer engineering for some of the top aerospace companies in the United States has paved the way to put him at the top of the game when it comes to conducting business over the internet. He’s also the founder of ParadiseMaui.com, which is one of Hawaii’s premier visitor websites.

Mr. Bandisch realized that for MauiQueen.com to truly be the most comprehensive informational Maui site, we needed to be blatantly honest with our visitors. Our visitors need to see the “real” Maui along side the “fantasy” Maui. Pretty conscience for someone whose eggs lie in the tourism industry basket, don’t you think? So, we thought, what better way to provide this honesty than to join forces with the Maui Weekly?

So what does this mean to Maui Weekly readers? Well, now you can check out various articles and editorials from the Maui Weekly on MauiQueen.com. Plus, you can download the complete paper in PDF format onto your computer. Not to mention, you can also subscribe to the Maui Weekly online…which means that every week, you’ll find the Maui Weekly in your inbox.

If you live on Maui for part of the year, have relocated and want to stay current with the real people and issues that make up our community, or are just too lazy to walk to your mailbox, an online subscription may be perfect for you.

This is awesome news to businesses that are thinking about advertising in the Maui Weekly. You know all that exposure you got from the paper? Well, it just got better and much, much bigger. The bottom line is that when tourists aren’t in Maui, they’re on the internet planning their trip here…Potential visitors will see ads from Maui businesses in the crucial “planning” stage of their trip.

On the MauiQueen.com side of it all, we’re proud to announce that we’re boldly going where no one else has gone before through iNews. iNews is a live internet broadcast that we’ll be conducting once a week from various spots on the island. We’ll show visitors in real-time just how much Maui has to offer in entertainment, dining, activities and shopping, as well as brief them on “what’s happened on Maui this week”.

This is a great opportunity for Maui businesses to really come to life. Research has shown that the majority of visitors are booking all of their activities etc. before they get on the plane to come here. What better way to showcase your business or service than on an internet site geared toward those planning a trip here...live and in person.

MauiQueen.com is big and getting bigger by the day. If you run a search for “Maui Travel” or “Maui Travel Guide” you’ll see us at the top of the search results. Pretty cool, stuff. Most websites get lost in the shuffle. Right now there are about 2.5 million pages that pop up when you run a search on “Maui travel”—being at the top of the list is quite a feat.

There is strength in numbers, so if you have a website, link to us. It’s free and believe me; you’ll start getting more traffic. Basically, the way that it works is that your site will get “credit” from search engines for linking onto an expert site like MauiQueen.com. The point is to build something strong, together, as a community. Want even more traffic? Become a preferred vendor. When you become a preferred vendor your site will have a visible link going out of MauiQueen.com. To date, more than 23% of our page views per day go to the Preferred Vendors section of the site. This means that your website will potentially be seen by 500 people per day…and the numbers are only going to continue to grow.

If you are a business owner and want us to broadcast from your place, give me a holler. Space is limited as we are only going to be broadcasting live once a week for the time being. It’s a revolutionary step—you don’t want to be left behind on this one.

For more information on linking to MauiQueen.Com visit us at www.MauiQueen.Com, and hit the “referrals” button in the upper left hand corner of the page.

Contact me, Starr Tendo, for more information on broadcasting live from your business, or with any other questions that you have. I’ll be glad to answer them for you. My email is editor@mauiqueen.Com

Have a great week. Check back with the Maui Weekly and MauiQueen.Com for a broadcast schedule.

Posted by Maui Weekly at May 26, 2004 02:18 PM | TrackBack