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	<title>Travel Online Partners (TOP)</title>
	
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	<description>helping small businesses in travel and tourism with online technology</description>
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		<title>A Reminder that Twitter is Not About Number of Followers</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/1SuBvQhGEeA/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/a-reminder-that-twitter-is-not-about-number-of-followers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:26:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=4923</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;ve ready our guide, Twitter is Just a Personality Contest, then you&#8217;ll know that the numbers that count on Twitter aren&#8217;t the ones listed on your profile.  People keep forgetting that, so as a friendly reminder, we&#8217;ve got a new example:  Anil Dash.

You see, Anil was added to Twitter&#8217;s &#8220;suggested user&#8221; list &#8211; which [...]<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
</p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: left; ">If you&#8217;ve ready our guide, <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/products-and-services/guides/top-secrets/twitter-personality-contest/">Twitter is Just a Personality Contest</a>, then you&#8217;ll know that the numbers that count on Twitter <strong>aren&#8217;t the ones listed on your profile</strong>.  People keep forgetting that, so as a friendly reminder, we&#8217;ve got a new example:  <a href="http://dashes.com/anil/2009/12/life-on-the-list.html">Anil Dash</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center; "><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4568" title="Twitter" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Twitterbird.jpg" alt="Twitter" width="367" height="245" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left; ">You see, Anil was added to Twitter&#8217;s &#8220;suggested user&#8221; list &#8211; which means when new users join Twitter, he&#8217;s one of the guys the system suggests you follow.  Pretty cool huh?</p>
<h2>No, Not Really</h2>
<p>As Anil states on the article linked to above:</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;Being on Twitter&#8217;s suggested user list makes no appreciable difference in the amount of retweets, replies, or clicks that I get&#8230;.for the most part [new followers] don&#8217;t interact with me <em>at all</em>.&#8221;</strong></p>
<p>And then comes the punchline.  Wait for it&#8230;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;Being on the list just adds followers, not real connections.&#8221;</strong></p>
<p>Bingo!</p>
<h2>What are you building on Twitter?</h2>
<p>Are you trying to work on increasing that meaningless number on the upper right hand side of your profile?</p>
<p><strong><em>Or</em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, are you trying to reach out and make real connections with people who:</span></strong></p>
<ul>
<li>are existing customers you can get feedback from</li>
<li>are potentially new customers to meet and greet</li>
<li>are media and PR folk who are great to know and network with</li>
<li>are other small businesses in your niche or geography that can provide support and guidance</li>
</ul>
<p>I&#8217;m not sure about you, but to me it&#8217;s pretty clear which strategy is going to be more effective for the long term.</p>
<h2>To Learn More</h2>
<p>Feeling like Twitter is the next big step for you?  Or already there and not feeling effective in making real connections?  No worries &#8211; have a look at any of <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/resources/by-topic/twitter">our Twitter resources</a> to see if something might be just what you&#8217;re looking for.<br />
<h3 class="related">Other people who liked this article liked these too:</h3>
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<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/what-pop-music-can-teach-you-about-social-media/" title="What Pop Music Can Teach You About Social Media ">What Pop Music Can Teach You About Social Media </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/does-your-travel-website-need-online-reservations/" title="Does your travel website need online reservations?">Does your travel website need online reservations?</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/words-of-wisdom-from-a-digital-pr-professional/" title="Words of Wisdom from a Digital PR Professional ">Words of Wisdom from a Digital PR Professional </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/what-old-school-marketing-can-teach-you-about-social-media/" title="What Old School Marketing Can Teach You about Social Media ">What Old School Marketing Can Teach You about Social Media </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/remarkable-tourism-makes-world-better-place/" title="Remarkable Tourism Makes the World A Better Place ">Remarkable Tourism Makes the World A Better Place </a></li>
</ul>
<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
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		<title>The Thing About Marketing That Nobody Tells You</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/18haWYf75s4/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/the-thing-about-marketing-that-nobody-tells-you/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:00:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Online Marketing Strategy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=4915</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As you may know, I&#8217;m all about old school marketing tricks &#8211; some little nuggets of wisdom are timeless.  And there&#8217;s a little something about building trust and credibility that is very true online, although not as much as offline.  Tim Sanders calls it the Likeability Factor, which is is a nice way to describe [...]<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
</p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As you may know, I&#8217;m all about <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/what-old-school-marketing-can-teach-you-about-social-media/">old school marketing tricks</a> &#8211; some little nuggets of wisdom are timeless.  And there&#8217;s a little something about building trust and credibility that is very true online, although not as much as offline.  <a href="http://www.timsanders.com/">Tim Sanders</a> calls it the Likeability Factor, which is is a nice way to describe it.  It goes something like this:</p>
<ul>
<li>All things being equal, consumers will give their business to a friend or a friend of a friend.</li>
<li>All things being not-so-equal, consumers will give their business to a friend or a friend of a friend.</li>
</ul>
<p>See the catch?  <strong>People like doing business with people they know.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><img class="size-full wp-image-4916 aligncenter" title="friends" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/T2603-med.jpeg" alt="friends" width="500" height="273" /></strong></p>
<h2><strong>So what does this have to do with online stuff?</strong></h2>
<p>A lot actually &#8211; just because we&#8217;re all hiding behind our computer screens now doesn&#8217;t mean that Tim&#8217;s <em>likeability factor</em> as changed at all.  Consider:</p>
<ul>
<li>Social media gives you an opportunity to build a connection with your customers.  That means top of mind.  That means you get to be more like a friend.  And people like doing business with friends!</li>
<li>Social media gives you transparency.  When people can see who is running the ship and understand what your values are and see things from your perspective, you increase trust and visibility.  You become more likeable.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>The thing about marketing that nobody tells you is that a lot of it has to do with <del datetime="2010-03-11T03:53:36+00:00">getting people to like you</del> being likeable. </strong></p>
<p>It seems pretty obvious when you think about it:</p>
<ul>
<li>Businesses who aren&#8217;t friendly have to deal with the onslaught of bad reviews.</li>
<li>Businesses who don&#8217;t have <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/remarkable-is-the-new-tourism-marketing/">remarkable products and services</a> get left behind for those who do.</li>
<li>In a world full of too much choice, why pick anyone that isn&#8217;t&#8230;likeable?</li>
</ul>
<h2>What does it mean to be likeable?</h2>
<p>That&#8217;s kind of asking what a delicious entrée tastes like &#8211; it depends on your individual business.  But consider:</p>
<ul>
<li>Are you putting <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/remarkable-tourism-makes-world-better-place/">hospitality at the top of your menu</a>? (apologies for the terrible pun)</li>
<li>Are you meeting then exceeding customer demands?</li>
<li>Are you giving it 100%, all the while the while <strong>being you</strong>?</li>
</ul>
<p>Be true to yourself.  What kind of tourism business do you want to be?  Make sure that, whatever it might be, it is easy for people to see.  If it&#8217;s exactly the kind of business you want it to be, what&#8217;s not to like?</p>
<h2><strong>To Learn More</strong></h2>
<p>If you&#8217;re struggling with your likeability (or building trust and credibility), we can help.  Why not take our <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/consulting/self-assessment/">free business assessment</a> and get back on track.</p>
<p>Photo courtesy of the Library of Duke University<br />
<h3 class="related">Other people who liked this article liked these too:</h3>
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<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/automating-your-tweets-and-an-update-on-twitter-lists/" title="Automating Your Tweets and An Update on Twitter Lists">Automating Your Tweets and An Update on Twitter Lists</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/what-are-you-afaid-of-uncertainty-or-losing/" title="What are you afraid of: Uncertainty or Losing? ">What are you afraid of: Uncertainty or Losing? </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/top-radio-state-tourism-technology-2010/" title="TOP Radio: State of Tourism and Technology in 2010">TOP Radio: State of Tourism and Technology in 2010</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/2010-a-big-year-for-travel-and-search-engines/" title="2010 a Big Year for Travel and Search Engines ">2010 a Big Year for Travel and Search Engines </a></li>
</ul>
<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
</p>



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		<title>Why Having a Blog is Like Being Married</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/5F5PS50XqyU/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/why-having-a-blog-is-like-being-married/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:00:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=4911</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you stop to think about it, having a blog is kind of like being married.  If you&#8217;re not married (disclosure: I&#8217;m not), you can ask your married friends or just watch any number of the dating and relationship orientated programs on television to find out what it&#8217;s like.  So, what exactly are the similarities?



It [...]<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
</p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you stop to think about it, having a blog is kind of like being married.  If you&#8217;re not married (<em>disclosure: I&#8217;m not</em>), you can ask your married friends or just watch any number of the dating and relationship orientated programs on television to find out what it&#8217;s like.  So, what exactly are the similarities?</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone" title="Blogging Tips" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/135/341429556_4ad8824eec.jpg" alt="" width="333" height="500" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span id="more-4911"></span></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>It might be fun, but it&#8217;s also a lot of hard work</strong>.  A blog requires regular care and attention.  Leave it lifeless for a long period of time, and it might not recognise you when you come back.</li>
<li><strong>If you say something you regret, it&#8217;s hard to take it back</strong>.  You might say something that didn&#8217;t mean or you might be misunderstood.  You can recover, but it will take awhile.</li>
<li><strong>It&#8217;s a long haul thing. </strong>In other words, its a marathon, not a sprint.</li>
<li><strong>You have to give it everything you&#8217;ve got, but make sure you don&#8217;t overextend yourself</strong>.  You are important too, and so you need to give it 100% but keep it balanced.  So, if you need some time for yourself, take it.</li>
<li><strong>Sometimes you will lose your sense of purpose</strong>.  You&#8217;ll question why you&#8217;re doing it in the first place.  That&#8217;s to be expected.  Know it&#8217;s coming and be prepared to deal with those feelings fairly and rationally.</li>
<li><strong>There will be good times and bad</strong>.  Sometimes, you won&#8217;t know what to say.  Sometimes your emotions will get in the way.  It&#8217;s all part of the ebb and flow.</li>
</ul>
<h2><strong>To Learn More</strong></h2>
<p>If you need <del datetime="2010-03-02T19:30:41+00:00">marriage counseling</del> blog coaching, we can help.  <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/consulting/#Blog">Click here</a> to find out about our popular <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/consulting/#Blog">blog coaching</a> package.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andypiper/">andyp_uk</a></p>
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<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/what-are-you-afaid-of-uncertainty-or-losing/" title="What are you afraid of: Uncertainty or Losing? ">What are you afraid of: Uncertainty or Losing? </a></li>
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<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/the-thing-about-marketing-that-nobody-tells-you/" title="The Thing About Marketing That Nobody Tells You ">The Thing About Marketing That Nobody Tells You </a></li>
</ul>
<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
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		<title>Press Releases Don’t Have to Be Boring</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/bCs8Fefq0fA/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/press-releases-dont-have-to-be-boring/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:00:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Online PR]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=4908</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Are you struggling with getting press releases together or finding a newsworthy topic?  Well, don&#8217;t make what be one of the most common mistakes small businesses make when trying to craft a good press release:  don&#8217;t make it boring.
     

The Keys to a Good Press Release
I don&#8217;t want to spend a [...]<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
</p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Are you struggling with getting press releases together or finding a newsworthy topic?  Well, don&#8217;t make what be one of the most common mistakes small businesses make when trying to craft a good press release:  don&#8217;t make it boring.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a id="fs_1" title="letter B" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/49968232@N00/4081942157"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/2723/4081942157_ee6a510369_t.jpg" border="0" alt="letter B" /></a> <a id="fs_2" title="&quot;letter O&quot;" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/49968232@N00/4021972830"><img title="letter O" src="http://static.flickr.com/2636/4021972830_77f435f405_t.jpg" border="0" alt="letter O" /></a> <a id="fs_3" title="IMG_5566_2" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/18203311@N08/4331265426"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/4061/4331265426_9393e0f1a5_t.jpg" border="0" alt="IMG_5566_2" /></a> <a id="fs_4" title="I" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/92745470@N00/3761119751"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/3462/3761119751_15b538c8e7_t.jpg" border="0" alt="I" /></a> <a id="fs_5" title="&quot;letter N&quot;" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/49968232@N00/4169429541"><img title="letter N" src="http://static.flickr.com/2635/4169429541_529dfe6d92_t.jpg" border="0" alt="letter N" /></a> <a id="fs_6" title="&quot;letter G&quot;" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/49968232@N00/4160697630"><img title="letter G" src="http://static.flickr.com/2613/4160697630_fc2f8ebeb1_t.jpg" border="0" alt="letter G" /></a></p>
<p><span id="more-4908"></span></p>
<h2>The Keys to a Good Press Release</h2>
<p>I don&#8217;t want to spend a day explaining all the nuances of a good press release, but I do want to point out the two main keys to writing a good press release:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Less is More</strong>:  The typical press release length is shortening and shortening.  I read recently that the average length is somewhere around 200-400 words!  That is not much.   But it means taking out the fluff and getting to your point.  <em>Your press release does have a point, right?</em></li>
<li><strong>Don&#8217;t Be Boring</strong>:  I am on both ends of the spectrum here, sending and receiving releases.  And there&#8217;s nothing worse than writing or reading a boring release.  Have a little fun with it &#8211; a release that makes somebody laugh isn&#8217;t going to kill you.  And it might be the thing you need to stand out from the crowd of all those other <em>boring </em>new clips.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Examples of Not-So-Boring Press Releases</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.nowfly.co.uk">Nowfly</a> is one of my favourites for press releases.  Why?  Because I always notice them.  They have catchy, clever headlines and there&#8217;s always a bit of a funny story involved.  I&#8217;ve never needed them or used them in an article or editorial piece, but you know what, if I did, they would be top of mind. [The cynic would point out that I'm using them in an editorial piece right now.]  And that&#8217;s the whole idea, staying top of mind, right?  Here are a few snippets from previous releases; compare them to your releases and see what you think.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Don&#8217;t Lose Your Shirt</strong>:  &#8221;There is nothing more terrifying than arriving at your chosen destination, only to find that your luggage has strayed off-message. “Get with the programme!” you will want to shout, but the luggage isn’t listening. It’s busy jetting off somewhere else. And secretly you fear that your suitcase is already semi-conscious on a sun-lounger, soaking up the warm sun while you are pacing the airport, wondering if you will ever see that favourite stripy jumper again.&#8221;</li>
<li><strong>In Flight Food and Drink Up in the Air</strong>:  &#8221;Remember the days when everyone looked forward to being handed their plastic airline food tray on a charter flight to somewhere hot that did a great line in congas?  Compartmentalised into three or four delightful courses, the starter was usually a bullet-hard bread roll with a limp lettuce leaf. The main course would be a variable hot meat stew, topped with a slab of pastry and accompanied by a cocktail of tinned vegetables.  Dessert was a pink dollop of something you could grout the bathroom with, followed by a nervous-looking slab of cheese which had been sweating profusely. All washed down with a gin and tonic (no ice of course) and coffee so hot it could melt the table. Ah yes. Those were the heady days of fine dining in economy.&#8221;</li>
<li><strong>The Little Fish with Big Ideas:  &#8221;<span style="font-weight: normal;">Funny word, “now.” Feels rather immediate. Almost urgent. “The fierce urgency of now”, some American bloke said recently. And this sense of hurrying is commonplace nowadays. Rush here, absorb a little more information or advertising there, until your feet hurt and your brain is saying “remember that hammock on Koh Pha Ngan?” Clever things, brains.  And so we get used to big brands, sometimes even like them and feel comfortable with who they are and how they make us feel. Until we discover they sell guns or eat polar bears. Big isn’t always beautiful. So what if there was a new company that people didn’t know about? The new kid in the class who is looking at his shoes but knows he can knock the socks off the competition? Here at www.nowfly.co.uk we think it’s worth telling people about.  That’s why we are sending you this press release about our newly re-launched and very fast travel search engine. But what makes us different? If you want the version with technological whistles and bells on, just ask and we will shimmy it over to you.&#8221;</span></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>If you haven&#8217;t noticed, these guys aren&#8217;t writing press releases.  <strong><em>They&#8217;re telling stories</em><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></strong> They are writing to one person, not to the masses.</p>
<h2>To Learn More</h2>
<p>Are you interested in learning more about making your online PR efforts (a.k.a &#8220;storytelling&#8221;) more successful?  Then be sure you&#8217;re on <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/newsletter/subscribe">our mailing list</a>, as we have a DIY guide coming up you&#8217;ll probably want to check out.<br />
<h3 class="related">Other people who liked this article liked these too:</h3>
<ul class="related_post">
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/have-you-seen-our-free-small-business-assessment/" title="Have you seen our free small business assessment? ">Have you seen our free small business assessment? </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/getting-buzzed-with-google-buzz/" title="Getting Buzzed with Google Buzz">Getting Buzzed with Google Buzz</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/is-your-website-a-to-do-list-item-or-a-strategic-business-tool/" title="Is your Website a To Do List Item or a Strategic Business Tool">Is your Website a To Do List Item or a Strategic Business Tool</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/steal-this-travel-marketing-idea-club-med-insider/" title="Steal This Travel Marketing Idea:  Club Med Insider ">Steal This Travel Marketing Idea:  Club Med Insider </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/a-reminder-that-twitter-is-not-about-number-of-followers/" title="A Reminder that Twitter is Not About Number of Followers ">A Reminder that Twitter is Not About Number of Followers </a></li>
</ul>
<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
</p>



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		<title>Does your travel website need online reservations?</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/G7_HOiKTD4c/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/does-your-travel-website-need-online-reservations/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[TOP Radio]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=4902</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
It&#8217;s time for this month&#8217;s episode of TOP Radio, our monthly travel and technology podcast.  This month we&#8217;re talking with Alex Bainbridge from TourCMS about a question that seems to come up over and over again:  does your travel website need online reservations?
Listen Now
You can listen to call now by using the widget available below; [...]<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
</p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-4728 aligncenter" title="TOP Radio" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/TOPRadioLogo.jpg" alt="TOP Radio" width="197" height="123" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">It&#8217;s time for this month&#8217;s episode of TOP Radio, our monthly travel and technology podcast.  This month we&#8217;re talking with <a href="http://twitter.com/alexbainbridge">Alex Bainbridge</a> from <a href="http://www.tourcms.com/mp/">TourCMS</a> about a question that seems to come up over and over again:  <strong>does your travel website need online reservations</strong>?</p>
<h2>Listen Now</h2>
<p>You can listen to call now by using the widget available below; the call is just under an hour.</p>
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If you&#8217;d like to download the call as an MP3 to listen on your iPhone or iPod later, you can get the MP3 <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/files/TOPRadio-OnlineAvail.mp3">here</a> (be sure to right click and choose <em>Save As</em> in your browser as it&#8217;s a fairly large file).</p>
<h2>Notes from the Call</h2>
<p>Here are a few key takeaways from today&#8217;s session.  Note that this is not a transcript and has been heavily edited for brevity, so be sure to listen to the call so you don&#8217;t miss anything.</p>
<p><strong>Introductory Comment</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>The concepts and suggestions in today&#8217;s call are generics.  That means they are suggestions, ideas, and examples of how things have or haven&#8217;t worked for other people.  But your business is special, so you can&#8217;t take any of this advice for face value.  You should consider the content and align it to your own business goals.</li>
<li>Things to know before even considering this topic for your business:
<ul>
<li>Online Reservations are not a panacea for poor conversions.  In fact they might make them worse.</li>
<li>Online Reservations are not a &#8220;set it and forget it&#8221; technology.</li>
<li>You cannot put in online reservations and then remove all other ways for the customer to access you. You must have a way for people get in touch with you.  What if the booking tool is broken?</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>What &#8216;Online Reservations&#8217; Is and What It Isn&#8217;t</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>A booking system is not a replace for removing other ways to take bookings.</li>
<li>A booking system is not a way to remove all contact with the customer.  You need to make sure that the booking engine you use still has a human in the booking process.</li>
<li>The booking engine is there to make your business <em>more efficient</em><strong>, not </strong>to make your business <em>more automated</em>.</li>
<li>Depending on the tool and how you&#8217;re using analytics, you can glean useful information about where a customer has come from and how they found you.</li>
<li>Don&#8217;t worry too much about booking engines.  If you have a terrible booking engine, but still have a high quality product, then customers will just book with you via phone or email.  (Note how this is very different than major hotel websites, for example, where there are other websites where a customer can book.).</li>
<li>You don&#8217;t have to have a &#8220;booking engine&#8221; &#8212; a transaction or contact for a specific product on a specific day or specific time.  You can just have a &#8220;quote request system&#8221; or &#8220;inquiry system&#8221; where the customer is just making contact to express an interest in your product or service.</li>
<li>Payment processing:  there are multiple options, from taking payment up front to holding the credit card details and then charging the customer only when agreeing to a contract.</li>
<li>Remove complexity but remember: <strong>consider the customer.</strong></li>
<li>Suggestion is to start with an off the shelf system, as you aren&#8217;t having to rebuild the wheel.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Reasons Why Online Availability is Bad (or, Things To Keep In Mind)</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>We&#8217;re not saying online reservations are bad, just remember a few key things.</li>
<li>Online booking tools add a cost of doing business; it&#8217;s normally not expensive but it is something to remember, depending on what tool a choose.</li>
<li>A tool changes the adds steps or changes steps or removes steps &#8211; remember the customer and make sure you know what you need to be doing.</li>
<li>If you have a very small booking pool (e.g. very small hotel, or a solo walking tour leader), a booking &#8220;wall&#8221; might prevent customers from getting to you who others you might be able to satisfy with alternative options that you can&#8217;t easily display in your booking tool.  So be mindful of this if you&#8217;re very small but nimble.</li>
<li>If you offer a seasonal offering, make sure that customers know when you&#8217;re available.  Don&#8217;t let them get all the way into your booking tool to realise you are only open in the summer!</li>
<li>You need to make sure that the reservation tool is the &#8216;master&#8217; source of availability information.</li>
<li>Remember the information required to market a product (what is it, why do you want it) is not the same as what is needed to sell (exact details, timings, rates, etc).  Ask yourself:  what is your website for, marketing or sales or both?</li>
<li>With a booking tool there is a tendency to act like a &#8220;factory&#8221; &#8211; don&#8217;t remove all human interaction!  Keep it positive, simple and understandable.</li>
<li>Consider your customers arriving to your tool in three states:
<ul>
<li>the busy, harried buyer who just needs to know right now who you are and what you offer</li>
<li>the information lover, who wants to know all the details and will linger over everythign</li>
<li>and of course, the person who already knows they&#8217;re buying with you and are just coming to make the final arrangements</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>If you&#8217;re sort of a &#8220;commodity tour&#8221; provider where you just process high volume products with a similar setup every day, then you probably want  a very robust tool.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>What is the Value of Having a Suitable Booking Tool or Online Reservations</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>For people who have a high volume of bookings, especially when you get lots of bookings that you can&#8217;t even service, a tool does provide a way to filter these out.</li>
<li>A tool can provide a way to remove friction from the process; when they&#8217;ve made a decision they&#8217;re ready to book, they can!</li>
<li>You want to aim for 50%+ of bookings taken online; keeps your staff focussed on more value-added activities.  Software can help you double or triple bookings without massive increases in staff.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>How To Choose?</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Always start off small, near the simple end of functionality (e.g. &#8216;enquiry form&#8217;).  Get in and get trading.</li>
<li>Phases of implementation:
<ul>
<li>Just using the tool to manage bookings once you&#8217;ve received them</li>
<li>Integrate a tool into your contact form or enquiry form so a customer record is created when they get in touch</li>
<li>Taking online bookings but only &#8220;quote requests&#8221;</li>
<li>Lastly, fully functional system with transaction requests taken online</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>If you sell a lot of different types of tours, you probably need a more complex support tool.  If you just have one or two options, you don&#8217;t need all the bells and whistles.</li>
<li>It&#8217;s not usually about turnover, nor about staff &#8211; it&#8217;s mostly about the number of bookings where you fall in the complexity scale.</li>
<li>Buy a system that permits you to continue to work with your agents and partners and suppliers, and make sure your system allows you to just make quotes.</li>
<li>Again, it all comes back <strong>to your customer:  who are they and what are their needs</strong>?  Be sure your online presence meets that.</li>
</ul>
<p>Parting thought:  If you build it, they won&#8217;t come.  Regardless of whether you do or don&#8217;t take online reservations, if you don&#8217;t have enough sales, it isn&#8217;t because of our website, it&#8217;s because of your marketing.</p>
<p>Thanks to Alex for joining us!  Learn more about Alex by visiting the <a href="http://www.tourcms.com">TourCMS website</a> or their free online forum, <a href="http://smallfishbigocean.com/">Small Fish Big Ocean</a>.</p>
<ul></ul>
<h3 class="related">Other people who liked this article liked these too:</h3>
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<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/pictures-still-say-a-thousand-words-at-flickr/" title="Pictures Still Say A Thousand Words at Flickr">Pictures Still Say A Thousand Words at Flickr</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/remarkable-is-the-new-tourism-marketing/" title="Remarkable is the new Tourism Marketing ">Remarkable is the new Tourism Marketing </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/five-ways-combat-everyone-is-a-reviewer/" title="Five Ways to Combat the Fact That Everyone is a Reviewer">Five Ways to Combat the Fact That Everyone is a Reviewer</a></li>
</ul>
<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
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		<title>Getting Buzzed with Google Buzz</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/tuxmtgFVzYo/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/getting-buzzed-with-google-buzz/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[HOT TOPics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=4894</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Google Buzz &#8211; a new social networking product integrated into Google&#8217;s GMail email software &#8211; was released to the general public a couple of weeks ago.  My GMail has only recently been &#8216;buzzed&#8217; so I&#8217;ve sort of been watching to see what others have had to say.  After the major disappointment of Google wave, it [...]<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
</p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Google Buzz &#8211; a new social networking product integrated into Google&#8217;s GMail email software &#8211; was released to the general public a couple of weeks ago.  My GMail has only recently been &#8216;buzzed&#8217; so I&#8217;ve sort of been watching to see what others have had to say.  After the <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/google-wave-immature-and-overhyped/">major disappointment of Google wave</a>, it seems Google has tried a little harder this time.  But maybe not hard enough.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-4895 aligncenter" title="buzz" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/buzz.jpg" alt="buzz" width="456" height="155" /></p>
<h2><span id="more-4894"></span>Launch Video</h2>
<p>If you haven&#8217;t seen it, Google&#8217;s launch videos are always well worth watching &#8211; go on, it&#8217;s just two minutes:</p>
<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="344" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0">
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" />
<param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" />
<param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yi50KlsCBio&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;hl=en_US&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1" />
<param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yi50KlsCBio&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;hl=en_US&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<h2>Off to a Bad Start</h2>
<p>It seems Buzz got off to a bit of a bad start, as it automatically adds everyone who is one of your Google contacts as a Buzz &#8216;follower&#8217; &#8211; to the outrage of those who found that a violation of privacy rights.  Indeed, it did expose your contacts to anyone else who was following you on Buzz.  You can control all that now, though I find it very odd how it chose only two people out of my contacts to follow (even though there are three images, including one strangely anonymous face).</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-4896 aligncenter" title="buzz" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/buzz1.jpg" alt="buzz" width="466" height="222" /></p>
<h2>What Google Buzz Means for You</h2>
<p>Well, it certainly seems like a good idea on the surface.  I like the easy and simple integration with other Google tools and services, as well as an understandable interface (which was my biggest complaint about Wave).</p>
<p>The problem is if you don&#8217;t use GMail, then you need to start to in order to use Buzz.  If you love Gmail, then check out Buzz &#8211; it might be the solution you were looking for to pull together your social networking activities.</p>
<p><strong>But</strong>, if you are a hardcore Gmail user and use any of the advanced filing and organisation functionality in Gmail to process your workflow, Buzz will probably become quite annoying quite fast.  Don&#8217;t be afraid to turn it off if it&#8217;s breaking your flow.</p>
<p>Also, if you&#8217;re a hardcore Facebook fan, you&#8217;ll be disappointed to note that <strong>Facebook integration is not included</strong>, nor do I suspect it will be anytime soon:   Google is trying to challenge Facebook&#8217;s marketplace dominance, so these guys probably aren&#8217;t playing nice together.  I could be wrong.</p>
<h2>Isn&#8217;t This a Marketer&#8217;s Dream?</h2>
<p>If you noticed, the tool allows you to actually send a status update into someone&#8217;s Gmail Inbox, &#8220;so they don&#8217;t miss it.&#8221; I can see the sleazy internet marketers salivating at the opportunity to send their &#8216;must have&#8217; special offers this way, using the tool to spam everyone they can with their unwanted newsflashes and updates.</p>
<p>It might sound like a marketing dream on the surface, to me it just sounds like spam.</p>
<h2><strong>Why I Won&#8217;t Be Using It</strong></h2>
<p>I&#8217;ve had a good look around Buzz, and tried a few things out, but it&#8217;s not for me.  For one, GMail is not my primary email client.  I&#8217;ve wanted to transition to it, but it hasn&#8217;t gotten high enough on my priority list.  Someday.</p>
<p>Also, I have my social networking profiles setup the way I want, so that certain notifications do reach my Inbox and others don&#8217;t.  I get an <em>inordinate</em> amount of email, and to have everyone I&#8217;ve ever followed the ability to shove recent update or message into my mailbox is totally unwelcome.  Sometimes filters are there for a reason.</p>
<h3>If You&#8217;re Scanning This and Just Want the Bottom Line, Read Here:</h3>
<p>Bottom Line:  Buzz seems kind of cool, but you&#8217;ll either love it or hate it.  A lot of it depends on how you use GMail (or don&#8217;t).  Check it out and decide for yourself.  But don&#8217;t use it to spam people.</p>
<h2>To Learn More</h2>
<p>For more resources to make your small business efficient online, be sure to visit our <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/resources/by-topic/">resources by topic pages</a>.  They&#8217;re both popular and useful &#8211; you never know what you might find, such as our <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/resources/by-product-line/just-what-works/top-business-toolkit/">TOP Travel Business Toolkit</a>: it can tame any unwieldy business situation, even if your GMail has been buzz&#8217;ed.<br />
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<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/what-pop-music-can-teach-you-about-social-media/" title="What Pop Music Can Teach You About Social Media ">What Pop Music Can Teach You About Social Media </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/get-social-with-social-bookmarking/" title="Get Social with Social Bookmarking">Get Social with Social Bookmarking</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/is-your-website-a-to-do-list-item-or-a-strategic-business-tool/" title="Is your Website a To Do List Item or a Strategic Business Tool">Is your Website a To Do List Item or a Strategic Business Tool</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/remarkable-tourism-makes-world-better-place/" title="Remarkable Tourism Makes the World A Better Place ">Remarkable Tourism Makes the World A Better Place </a></li>
</ul>
<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
</p>



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		<title>The One Thing Missing from Most Email Newsletter Signup Forms</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/xJRV8aXETHo/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/the-one-thing-missing-from-most-email-newsletter-signup-forms/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:00:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Email Newsletters]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=4890</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve looked at a lot of email newsletter signup forms in my lifetime &#8211; and oh my, I&#8217;ve seen way too many this month with our recent Stop Annoying Your Customers newsletter check-in promotion. (By the way, you do know that ends this week, right?  Click here if you missed it and want to give [...]<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
</p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve looked at a lot of email newsletter signup forms in my lifetime &#8211; and oh my, I&#8217;ve seen way too many this month with our recent <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/3-ways-to-annoy-your-customers-via-email/">Stop Annoying Your Customers</a> newsletter check-in promotion. (<strong>By the way</strong>, you do know that ends <strong>this week</strong>, right?  <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/3-ways-to-annoy-your-customers-via-email/">Click here</a> if you missed it and want to give your newsletter a bit of a tune up.)</p>
<p>So, I&#8217;ve noticed a common thread with most email newsletter signup forms.  There&#8217;s one piece of information that 90% (or more) of them lack.  Are you making this common mistake that&#8217;s putting a barrier between you and your potential readers?</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone" title="Why" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/47/187640227_8af7ee6376.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></p>
<h2><span id="more-4890"></span>Why?  What&#8217;s In It For Me?</h2>
<p><strong>Why</strong> should I signup for your newsletter?</p>
<p><strong>What&#8217;s In It for Me</strong>?<strong> </strong>(literally!)</p>
<p>In this case, this is quite a literal question:  what actually is <em>in</em> your newsletter?  How often do you send it?  And why the heck do I need another newsletter bombarding me with stuff?</p>
<p>Hardly anyone bothers to take 2 minutes to explain to the customers what they&#8217;re signing up for.  Hence why nobody signs up &#8211; people hate surprises, especially in their Inbox.  What are you hiding?  Besides, if you&#8217;re newsletter is any good, you want to show it off &#8211; make it so people are tripping over themselves to get on the list.  That&#8217;s remarkable.</p>
<h2>To Learn More</h2>
<p>Our <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/3-ways-to-annoy-your-customers-via-email/">Stop Annoying Your Customers</a> newsletter check-in promotion ends this week, for those of you with failing newsletters and poor subscriber rates.  If you haven&#8217;t started using email promotions yet but want to, our <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/consulting/#Email">Email Marketing Jumpstart</a> might just be the thing you&#8217;ve been looking for.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbot45/187640227/">USB</a></p>
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<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/steal-this-travel-marketing-idea-24-nola/" title="Steal this Travel Marketing Idea:  24 NOLA ">Steal this Travel Marketing Idea:  24 NOLA </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/online-presence-amateur-versus-amateurish/" title="Online Presence:  Amateur versus Amateurish ">Online Presence:  Amateur versus Amateurish </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/the-thing-about-marketing-that-nobody-tells-you/" title="The Thing About Marketing That Nobody Tells You ">The Thing About Marketing That Nobody Tells You </a></li>
</ul>
<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
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		<title>A Simple Way to Improve Your SEO Keyword Knowledge</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/LVk08eq3SDQ/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/a-simple-way-to-improve-your-seo-keyword-knowledge/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:00:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=4884</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You can never have enough data about your small businesses&#8217; keywords &#8211; the phrases that people type into a search engine to find you.  As you probably know already, either through experience or reading through our resources like the bestseller DIY SEO guide, you can get a lot of this knowledge for free with a [...]<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
</p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You can never have enough data about your small businesses&#8217; keywords &#8211; the phrases that people type into a search engine to find you.  As you probably know already, either through experience or reading through our resources like the bestseller <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/resources/by-product-line/mastery-guides/do-it-yourself-search-engine-optimisation/">DIY SEO</a> guide, you can get a lot of this knowledge for free with a little sleuthing and hard work.</p>
<p>But many companies overlook one key way to find their perfect keywords&#8230;</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" title="ask" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3488/3240697880_9ff3343c68.jpg" alt="" width="375" height="500" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span id="more-4884"></span></p>
<h2>Ask Your Customers</h2>
<p>Change your feedback form to include the question &#8220;<em>How would you find us in Google?</em>&#8221;  Play around with the wording, but I chose the word &#8220;would&#8221; intentionally &#8211; you don&#8217;t really care what keyword eventually worked, as you can find that in Analytics.  You want to know what was the <strong>first</strong> thing they tried, because that&#8217;s the keyword you want to be on.</p>
<p>You also want to make sure they understand you&#8217;re asking them about keywords &#8211; you might just have to spell it out for them: &#8220;what words would you type into Google to find us?&#8221;  In my experience, more often than not, when consumers answer one of these referral questions like &#8216;who told you about us,&#8217; they just say <em>the Internet</em>, which is a charming answer but doesn&#8217;t give you anything helpful.</p>
<p>You will also need to play around with where/when you ask this question.  For you, it might be better to ask at the time of taking a booking.  For others it might be useful to do so with a follow-up feedback form.  (You do ask for feedback, right?)</p>
<p>This information only works in aggregate, so don&#8217;t start spending time or money for one goofy answer.  Look for trends and commonalities.</p>
<h2>To Learn More&#8230;</h2>
<p>Take advantage of everything you need to know about the world of search in our popular do-it-yourself guide, <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/resources/by-product-line/mastery-guides/do-it-yourself-search-engine-optimisation/">DIY SEO &#8211; Do It Yourself Search Optimization</a>.  It&#8217;s an ethical, practical guide to all-things-search and full of other expert tips.</p>
<p>Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tmab2003/">TMAB2003</a><br />
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<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/seth-godin-the-good-stuff/" title="Seth Godin: The Good Stuff ">Seth Godin: The Good Stuff </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/are-you-really-managing-your-small-business/" title="Are you REALLY managing your small business?">Are you REALLY managing your small business?</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/how-to-use-the-jedi-force-for-search-engine-optimization/" title="How to Use the Jedi Force for Search Engine Optimization ">How to Use the Jedi Force for Search Engine Optimization </a></li>
</ul>
<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
</p>



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		<title>Are you REALLY managing your small business?</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/xPQ0nkW4grs/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/are-you-really-managing-your-small-business/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:00:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Small Business]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=4830</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;d like to ask you what might be a difficult question:  are you really managing your small business?

Managing Your Business
Life can be pretty hectic as a small business owner, right?  You spend all day out with your clients and &#8220;doing your thing&#8221; and then only have a few hours in the evenings to catch [...]<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
</p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;d like to ask you what might be a difficult question:  are you <strong><em>really</em></strong><em> </em>managing your small business?</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" title="Stress" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3653/3345896050_8e2d8cbe51.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="334" /></p>
<h2>Managing Your Business</h2>
<p>Life can be pretty hectic as a small business owner, right?  You spend all day out with your clients and &#8220;doing your thing&#8221; and then only have a few hours in the evenings to catch up on emails, do a little marketing, and check in on your accounts.  Maybe you work an extra day here and there to do special projects.  The process repeats itself each week, so there just isn’t a way to squeeze in much more, or to evaluate and change course where appropriate.</p>
<div style="float: left; width: 46%;"><strong>Smart Businesses</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Thrive based on knowledge, instinct, <em>and</em> luck
<li>Make decisions made on facts and solid information
<li>Keep one eye on the horizon and one eye on the road ahead
</ul>
</div>
<div style="float: right; width: 46%;"><strong>Not-so-Smart Business</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Survive based on luck and hope that &#8220;it will all work out in the end&#8221;
<li>Make decisions based on adrenaline and &#8220;winging it&#8221;
<li>Manage things day-to-day
</ul>
</div>
<div style="clear: both;"></div>
<p>Only about 40% of small businesses manage to be profitable in the long term; most fail with in the first 2-3 years.  What will your statistics be?</p>
<h2>Manage Your Business Better</h2>
<p><strong><span style="font-weight: normal; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Making your business more effective isn’t about spending hours and hours in meetings or paying by-the-hour rates to consultants for months to come up with your latest business strategy. All you need is here in our <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/resources/by-product-line/just-what-works/top-business-toolkit/">TOP Travel Business Toolkit</a>:</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/resources/by-product-line/just-what-works/top-business-toolkit/"><img class="size-medium wp-image-4808  aligncenter" title="TOP Travel Business Toolkit" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/TOPBizToolkitcover-400x300.jpg" alt="TOP Travel Business Toolkit" width="400" height="300" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: left; ">Inside you&#8217;ll find both our <strong>TOP Business Guide, </strong>a short guide to help you understand the principles of a forward thinking, holistic approach to your business.  Alongside that, there&#8217;s the <strong>TOP Business Dashboard</strong>: an organised set of worksheets you can use to make effective business decisions.</p>
<p>Entrepreneur Rachael Acklin said <em>&#8220;It’s kind of a no-brainer – I believe your long-term business perspective, as well as your explanation of SWOT and how to create a SWOT analysis, was DEFINITELY worth the price and more. Seriously.&#8221;</em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/resources/by-product-line/just-what-works/top-business-toolkit/">Click here</a> to check out the details and download your copy today.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuartpilbrow/">stuartpilbrow</a></p>
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<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/five-ways-combat-everyone-is-a-reviewer/" title="Five Ways to Combat the Fact That Everyone is a Reviewer">Five Ways to Combat the Fact That Everyone is a Reviewer</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/what-pop-music-can-teach-you-about-social-media/" title="What Pop Music Can Teach You About Social Media ">What Pop Music Can Teach You About Social Media </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/steal-this-travel-marketing-idea-mountain-threads/" title="Steal This Travel Marketing Idea: Mountain Threads">Steal This Travel Marketing Idea: Mountain Threads</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/steal-this-travel-marketing-idea-snow-at-first-sight/" title="Steal This Travel Marketing Idea:  Snow at First Sight ">Steal This Travel Marketing Idea:  Snow at First Sight </a></li>
</ul>
<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
</p>



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		<title>Steal This Travel Marketing Idea: Mountain Threads</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/CVNnKbILmus/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/steal-this-travel-marketing-idea-mountain-threads/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Steal This Marketing Idea]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=4836</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So, let&#8217;s talk about remarkable travel marketing again.  The new tourism is about offering products and services that are so amazing customers can&#8217;t get enough.  Solving problems in ways your consumer couldn&#8217;t even imagine.  If you&#8217;re struggling to find out how to do that, here&#8217;s a fantastic example:  Mountain Threads.

Why Mountain Threads is Remarkable
Mountain Threads [...]<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
</p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So, let&#8217;s talk about <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/remarkable-is-the-new-tourism-marketing/">remarkable travel marketing</a> again.  The new tourism is about offering products and services that <strong>are so amazing customers can&#8217;t get enough</strong>.  Solving problems in ways your consumer couldn&#8217;t even imagine.  If you&#8217;re struggling to find out how to do that, here&#8217;s a fantastic example:  <a href="http://mountainthreads.com">Mountain Threads</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-4837 aligncenter" title="Mountain Threads" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Untitled.jpg" alt="Mountain Threads" width="449" height="68" /></p>
<h2><span id="more-4836"></span>Why Mountain Threads is Remarkable</h2>
<p>Mountain Threads is offering up rentable skiwear.  It might sound kind of boring, but consider the difference:</p>
<h3>The Typical Ski Rental Experience</h3>
<ul>
<li>You fly, then drive, to your ski resort and arrive tired, possibly jetlagged, hungry and cranky</li>
<li>You go to the rental shop to get your equipment.  You have to wait an hour to get what you need, your children get restless, you&#8217;re losing valuable time on the slopes (that you&#8217;re paying for anyway as you already bought your lift tickets).</li>
</ul>
<h3>The Mountain Threads Experience</h3>
<ul>
<li>Before you arrive you order all the equipment you need.</li>
<li>You arrive and everything you need, all the right sizes and styles, is waiting for you.</li>
<li>You hit the slopes stress free and glad you didn&#8217;t waste all that time!</li>
</ul>
<p>This is so awesome because they&#8217;ve managed to fix what was a major problem in the skiing experience.  It&#8217;s a product so good it almost sells itself!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>So &#8211; what problem are you fixing?</strong></p>
<h2>Why I Love Their Website Too</h2>
<p>Mountain Threads is proof that you can have a gorgeous, snazzy website that is still simple and functions.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Big Font, Easy to Read.</strong> There&#8217;s no squinting here.</li>
<li><strong>Simple Menu Options</strong>.  I know what I&#8217;ll get when I click.</li>
<li><strong>Standard Layout</strong>.  I never felt jarred during the entire experience; everything was just where I&#8217;d expected it to be as I navigated through the buying process</li>
<li><strong>Plain, Clear Language</strong>.  Their typical buying customer is a frazzled parent trying to wrap up loose ends on a skiing break.  So Mountain Threads cuts to chase with what they do, what&#8217;s in it for you, and how to get it.</li>
</ul>
<p>My only tweak (hey &#8211; I&#8217;m allowed &#8211; this is my job!) is that they should include the text from their title tag, High Performance Ski Wear For Rent, underneath their logo.  Saves people getting confused if they arrive on a page that isn&#8217;t the homepage.  And I&#8217;m not sure why there are options on the bottom menu that aren&#8217;t on the top menu .</p>
<h2 style="font-size: 1.5em;">To Learn More</h2>
<p>Want some inspiration for your own travel marketing campaigns?  Then check out our do-it-yourself guide, <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/products-and-services/guides/just-what-works/just-what-works-33-fun-and-effective-ways-to-promote-your-business-online/">33 Fun and Effective Ways to Promote Your Travel Business Online</a>.  From the characteristics of a good campaign, to ideas and inspiration for your own plans as well as a helpful planning worksheet, it&#8217;s all you need to get started with great online promotions.<br />
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<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/is-your-website-a-to-do-list-item-or-a-strategic-business-tool/" title="Is your Website a To Do List Item or a Strategic Business Tool">Is your Website a To Do List Item or a Strategic Business Tool</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/steal-this-travel-marketing-idea-snow-at-first-sight/" title="Steal This Travel Marketing Idea:  Snow at First Sight ">Steal This Travel Marketing Idea:  Snow at First Sight </a></li>
</ul>
<p>How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com
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