Meet the man behind Developing Lafayette

He’s known in some social media circles simply as “the DL guy.”

Turkey Creek native Ben Powers is the mastermind behind Developing Lafayette, a blog dedicated to reporting new businesses and construction in Lafayette — from car dealerships to the removal of concrete slabs in vacant lots in Carencro.

The graphic designer and his wife, Kelley, are expecting their first child in September. For the past three years, he has been dividing his time between his full-time post at Golfballs.com and his blog, which now has thousands of followers. Powers is also the designer of Developing Lake Charles, which is operated by a volunteer partner.

It began with an idea

The Daily Advertiser: Tell us about you.

Ben Powers: I’m Ben. I’m 29 and I’m just a graphic designer at Golfballs.com. I moved to Lafayette in 2010 for a job in graphic design. I have no connections with real estate other than just a few connections that I’ve made throughout making this page. But before that, I just saw something that I liked and I just took a picture of it and shared it.

Aside from work and family, what interests you?

I have my hand in so many different things that I like, but this has actually become my biggest hobby and I didn’t think it would be. Surfing around and looking for new developments are actually kind of fun for me now.

What is Developing Lafayette, and why did you create it?

It actually started in April 2012. I don’t know the exact day of that month. My family and I were sitting at Olive Garden on the side that is facing what is now Cheddar’s. At that time, Cheddar’s wasn’t there, but they were doing groundwork. We didn’t know what it was at the time. So we had a table of may be about 10 or 15 people and we were like ‘I wonder what this is.’ I thought, ‘There’s got to be someplace to look.’

Once we left the table, nobody talked about it again, but a few weeks later, my girlfriend at the time and I were driving by and we saw a sign that said ‘Cheddar’s coming soon.’ We thought, ‘Man, it would have been nice to have some kind of page or some kind of website that was really up-to-date where you could find out what was going on there.

From small beginnings

Developing Lafayette began as a Facebook page in 2012. The page now has more than 20,000 followers. Powers said social media allowed him to keep up with updates from companies planning or considering building in Lafayette.

“If anything, it’s the idea of the restaurants that are outside of our state or outside of our city that are franchisable,” Powers said. “Will they ever come to Lafayette? To see a new place being built and to not know what it is, that’s the where my interest has piqued. I’m like, ‘OK, I wonder if this is going to be the big restaurant or the next place that we’ve been waiting on. Is this a water park or is it a theme park?’ Stuff like that. Everybody wants to know if their favorite hobby or restaurant is coming. This is kind of where the interest is coming from.”

How has Developing Lafayette been received?

The website is getting a lot of traffic. The Facebook page started first and then in May 2013, a guy I work with who does websites on the side said, ‘Hey man, you really need a website.’ I thought, ‘Why do I need a website? I’ve got a Facebook page that I don’t pay for.’

Since the website launched, DL has made a small profit, but Powers admitted that finding advertisers for the page is not his forte.

“Getting advertising has been the hardest part. I’m not a good sales person at all,” he said. “Through this, I’ve had to learn who to sell to, how to tell it and convince them that the money that they spend is actually going to maybe work.

“Now I have the traffic, but my traffic is very niche. People are only coming here to see something new that’s being built. They aren’t coming here to shop for clothes. They’re not coming here to buy a car. It’s a very non-transactional purpose. It’s side money. It’s not a full-time job, so that little bit of advertising that I have helps pay for the new server and makes it worthwhile. And if I need to put gas in may car to travel around Lafayette a couple of times a day, I can do that.”

What it takes to stay up-to-date

How much time do you spend updating DL?

Per day, I would say probably a good five or six hours. That’s the highest per day.

On a slow day, I’ll probably spend two or three hours per day. We get so busy during golf season I don’t have time for all that. So at about 5:30 p.m. my wife and I will eat then I get on my computer and I’ll research and I’ll dig around on the LCG site. I’ll go on my Facebook feed where I have all these comments and I’ll just scroll endlessly until something catches my eye.

Developing Lafayette has a “wish list” of restaurants and businesses not yet in Lafayette. The list includes everything from Long John Silvers and IKEA to Margaritaville and a Six Flags theme park. How does the wish list work?

It’s kind of user-submitted. Usually someone emails me or they’ll comment on Facebook. I only have a small handful of stuff that’s mine on there. I’ll get a message saying we need a new Urban Outfitters. ‘I’ll say, I don’t even know what is, but I’ll add it.’

Is this your first blog?

I’ve never had a blog before, but I’ve had other Facebook pages that I was trying to start that were Lafayette-based. But I had no idea behind it. I had no reason to post anything. I didn’t know what to post, so it kind of failed. Whenever this one came up, I told my girlfriend at the time and she said, ‘Well, make sure it will work because you have had other ones before that didn’t.’

Luckily, the time I spend with this one has made it actually work.

What are your thoughts on being known as “the DL guy”?

I can’t say that I didn’t have sort of an idea that it might be happening because I kept my identity pretty secret.

I’ve toyed with the idea of putting my author information underneath and my picture. I want to, but don’t want to. I also wanted to put DL sticker on the back of my car but then I’m like, ‘Somebody’s going to key my car.’ Somebody’s going to say: ‘Oh, look. That’s the DL guy; I’m going to hit them from behind.’ I’m afraid of that.

Impending growth

Like it or not, Acadiana is growing and with it comes big business, Powers said.

“There are some people that, for whatever reason, have gotten upset with me because I’ve either ‘stolen their thunder’ or I post about franchises a lot,” he said. “But restaurants and franchises are moving so quick here, and I think people are scared that we are becoming another Houston.

They don’t see that I’m not the one controlling that. They see that I am the one posting about it so I must have some kind of tie to it. I just post what I see.”

What potential business would you like to see come to Lafayette?

I think the first thing that I was really excited about, and I think everyone was really excited and will never stop being excited about, is PF Chang’s. I would like to see a PF Chang’s come, but I’m OK with the fact that it’s probably not going to come any time soon.

I try not to post anything that’s too much of a rumor. One sister restaurant of PF Chang’s was going to move into the area, but it never happened. I have to try to make sure that it’s confirmed, and thankfully, with some of the real estate connections that I have, I’m actually able to contact some of those people that are in the business and have the regulations for those companies and poke around at it.”

For more information about DL visit developinglafayette.com