Big beasts like Google and Amazon aside, a lot of digital content businesses don't employ large teams of people (sometimes they don't employ any outside of the company founders) or have high-profile offices (sometimes they work from home or the nearest cafe) or even do business locally (sometimes they're 100% export driven).

That's not to say however, that they aren't exciting, growing businesses - it's just that we don't know about them. But we should. So from time to time, I'll be taking the opportunity to profile a local 'hidden gem'. This week we're starting with DonegalCottageHolidays.com, a site that's built, and sustained, an impressive customer base despite the travel industry's woes.


Hidden Gem: Brian Deeney and DonegalCottageHolidays.com

Local man Brian Deeny started advertising online over a decade ago and since then has built his listings site, DonegalCottageHolidays.com, into a thriving business with somewhere in the region of 500 paying advertisers. In 1999 social networks didn't exist, YouTube was more than 5 years away and even Google had yet to really take off - but through consistent effort Brian has managed to keep pace with the rapidly changing online world and continue to attract visitors - and advertisers - to his site.

DJ: Tell us a little about your background and why you started DonegalCottageHolidays.com?
BD: My family ran a small seaside hotel in Rathmullan and I grew up in an environment of meeting and greeting visitors to our area. Eventually the hotel was sold and we moved into self catering in 1999 and began advertising on the Internet. Other owners in the area joined the site and soon this grew to include all areas of Donegal. The site focuses exclusively on Donegal and as well as promoting self catering properties we promote the county as a good place to visit for a family holiday.

DJ: There are over 500 properties listed on your site, how have you gone about attracting such a large number of paying advertisers?
BD: The site grew slowly in the initial few years and most new owners joined through word of mouth referrals. The focus has been kept on Donegal with photo galleries and videos helping potential customers get a flavour of the village they intend visiting. Transparency is a key factor of the site - customers should know exactly what a holiday home looks both inside and out, what its availability and pricing are and have the ability to view comments from people who've stayed previously.

DJ: You've done a great job at getting listed highly in the search engines, what's been your secret?
BD: The site is prominent in Google making it easy to find and because content is continually being updated, the site stays fresh and is regularly indexed by the search engines. I adhere to the 2 golden rules of Google - relevancy of content and plenty of new articles added frequently. I also exchange links with other holiday rental sites. Recently we have added video to the site making it prominent in YouTube and have launched a Facebook group for holiday rentals in Donegal.

DJ: You've recently launched HolidayHomeIreland.com - what's the thinking behind that?
BD: HolidayHomeIreland.com is a natural extension of DonegalCottageHolidays.com and I intend delivering the same high quality content on this site. To this end, I've included a blog to pass on useful information for both owners and visitors. I also commissioned a guide, "Marketing your Irish Holiday Home", which is available for download in PDF format from the site or at www.bit.ly/hhireland

The site was launched last year and the first 9 months were spent adding relevant articles for each county in Ireland. As a result of this background work, the site is now no.1 on google.co.uk for the important search term "holiday home Ireland". This makes it an ideal platform for individual owners to advertise their holiday home in the knowledge that they can be easily found via a web search.

DJ: What would your advice be to anyone thinking of starting a similar business?
BD: There is a lot of competition in the holiday rental advertising sector and I would advise anyone starting out to pick a niche and focus on a specific geographic area or holiday rental type. A lot of work needs to be done to establish yourself on Google and it can be quite a while before you see any return on the investment of your time - perseverance and belief in your idea are key to long term success.

For more about Brian and the site, visit www.donegalcottageholidays.com


For Your Diary
The Imagineering Quarter: Wednesday, March 31st, University of Ulster, Magee Campus

At the end of March the University of Ulster's Office of Innovation are hosting a one-day workshop at Magee entitled, "The Imagineering Quarter: Desperately Seeking Digital Creativity".

The workshop will include presentations and panel sessions on strategies for developing digital media and creativity in education, technology transfer and industry. Of particular interest will be panel sessions on `Monetizing imagineering industry' and `Genesis of the Imagineering Quarter' as well as software demonstrations and exhibits from local companies. Registration for this free event is open, you can contact Prof. Paul Mc Kevitt at p.mckevitt@ulster.ac.uk to register.

OpenCoffee Derry: Thursday, April 1st, Tower Hotel

The next OpenCoffee networking event will take place on Thursday, April 1st at the Tower Hotel. As always, it's free, informal and everyone's invited. More info is available at www.opencoffeederry.com

BarCamp Belfast - April 17th, 2010, Belfast

A free one-day conference for anyone interested in the web, digital media and new technologies.. Registration opens soon (it's free) so check out twitter.com/barcampbelfast for more info.

Funconf - April 24th, starting in Dublin

Funconf is a conference on a bus. Whilst embarking on a bus-tour of the Irish countryside, funconf attendees will listen to stories from some of the brightest folks of the online world. The emphasis is on getting up close and personal with the speakers. Not free but the quality speakers and intimate setting might make it worth the investment. Check out www.funconf.com for more.

If you're holding an event with a digital angle, please get in touch.


Mark Nagurski is a Derry-based web content writer and publisher. You can find him online at www.ownbrandmedia.com, on Twitter at twitter.com/iddictive or blogging about new business ideas and 'unconventional entrepreneurship' at www.iddictive.com