<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" media="screen" href="/~d/styles/rss2full.xsl"?><?xml-stylesheet type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~d/styles/itemcontent.css"?><rss xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:feedburner="http://rssnamespace.org/feedburner/ext/1.0" version="2.0">

<channel>
	<title>Travel Online Partners (TOP)</title>
	
	<link>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com</link>
	<description>helping small businesses in travel and tourism with online technology</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:09:04 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4</generator>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
			<atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/travelonlinepartners" /><feedburner:info uri="travelonlinepartners" /><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="hub" href="http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/" /><item>
		<title>Avoiding Price: The Difference Between Hospitality and Transportation</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/MZJ6aipbVAI/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/avoiding-price-the-difference-between-hospitality-and-transportation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:09:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[TOP Radio]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=5486</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
This month&#8217;s TOP Radio tourism marketing podcast is two very good friends:

Doug Anweiler, a long time tourism marketing expert from the Authentic Seacoast.  Doug is no stranger to TOP, as he was here before talking with me about remarkable tourism marketing.
Tony Champion, from Positively Travel.  Tony&#8217;s had over 20 years of experience in the tourism [...]<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>This month&#8217;s TOP Radio tourism marketing podcast is two very good friends:</p>
<ul>
<li>Doug Anweiler, a long time tourism marketing expert from the <a href="http://www.authenticseacoast.com/">Authentic Seacoast</a>.  Doug is no stranger to TOP, as he was here before talking with me about <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/remarkable-tourism-makes-world-better-place/">remarkable tourism marketing</a>.</li>
<li>Tony Champion, from <a href="http://www.positivelytravel.com">Positively Travel</a>.  Tony&#8217;s had over 20 years of experience in the tourism industry.</li>
</ul>
<p>The Authentic Seacoast has six times as many Twitter followers as people who live in their tiny seacoast village!</p>
<p><strong>Listen Now</strong></p>
<p>To listen to the call, you can listen right from your web browser by pressing play on the widget below.</p>
<p align="center"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" id="LastFramePlayer" align="top" height="60" width="173">
<param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always">
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="false">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.talkshoe.com/resources/talkshoe/images/swf/lastEpisodePlayer.swf?fileUrl=http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-72917/TS-386089.mp3">
<param name="quality" value="high">
<param name="bgcolor" value="#EEF9C1">
<param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.talkshoe.com/resources/talkshoe/images/swf/lastEpisodePlayer.swf?fileUrl=http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-72917/TS-386089.mp3" quality="high" bgcolor="#EEF9C1" play="true" loop="true" scale="exactfit" name="LastFramePlayer" salign="lt" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" align="top" height="60" width="173"></object></p>
<p>If you have problems with the widget or would rather download the MP3 file to listen on your iPod or other music player, right click <a href="http://travelonlinepartners.com/files/TopRadio-TransportationVsHospitality.mp3">here </a>and choose &#8220;Save As&#8221; to download the file.  Warning, it&#8217;s a fairly large file!</p>
<h2>Call Highlights</h2>
<p>Some highlights and quotes from the call &#8211; be sure to listen in to the whole call for the details.</p>
<h3>Price</h3>
<ul>
<li>Focusing on price isn&#8217;t a great way to build a customer base &#8211; you&#8217;ll &#8220;only be as good as your latest price.&#8221;  No loyalty.</li>
<li>People are willing to pay for experiences.  This is what small travel businesses thrive at!</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>What&#8217;s the big problem with price online, anyway?</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Price isn&#8217;t a new issue.  Businesses have always been distracted/worried/distraught about price.  The world of online hasn&#8217;t made that any better, or worse.</li>
<li>What are you good at?  That is where you should have your focus.<em> If you&#8217;re reading this, more than likely the thing that you&#8217;re good at isn&#8217;t that you&#8217;re cheap.</em></li>
<li>It&#8217;s easy to get distracted by price when online.  All of the major travel portals scream PRICE, PRICE PRICE.  When you do advertising keywords or <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/resources/by-product-line/mastery-guides/do-it-yourself-search-engine-optimisation/">SEO</a>, you see price, price, price.  Leave that where it is and focus on more important.</li>
<li>When marketing online, it is easy to forget what it is that makes you special.  For example, the Authentic Seacoast it&#8217;s about the people and the exceptional hospitality.</li>
<li>Customers who are listening to your story and understand what you are are about most likely aren&#8217;t buying on price.</li>
<li>If you aren&#8217;t worried about things like the experience, your reviews and ratings will suffer &#8211; that is more important than price.</li>
<li>&#8220;It&#8217;s better to get the right people on board the bus and the worry about the direction, rather than over plan and then drive around in circles looking for the people.&#8221;</li>
<li>Being the best used to be the trend, but now just being different works too.</li>
<li>People are more interested in &#8220;life behind the scenes&#8221; thank you think &#8211; and this is a great way to focus on something other than price.</li>
<li>Lose the brand and step into the relationship.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Transportation Versus Hospitality</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Don&#8217;t follow suit with the airlines with their fees and their &#8220;faux&#8221; pricing.  They&#8217;re in transportation.  Travel agents, tour guides, and hoteliers are in hospitality.</li>
<li>Real hospitality isn&#8217;t something you do &#8211; it&#8217;s just the things built into the experience that make it so good you can&#8217;t help but tell other people about it.</li>
<li>This is a difficult area because you&#8217;re competing with attention for the same travelers, not that you are offering the same experience.</li>
<li>Remind yourself about YOUR value, YOUR story, and YOUR importance.  There are people out there who want what you&#8217;re offering and are willing to pay for it.</li>
<li>It isn&#8217;t about price &#8211; it&#8217;s about <em>value</em>.  And it keeps coming back to <em>trust</em>.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Closing Thoughts</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Work with passion.</li>
<li>Do what it is that makes you remarkable.</li>
</ul>
<ul></ul>
<h2>Connect with Doug or Tony</h2>
<p>You can connect with Doug on Twitter, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/authenticcoast">@AuthenticCoast</a>, or visit their website,<a href="http://www.authenticseacoast.com"> www.authenticseacoast.com</a>.</p>
<p>You can connect Tony on Twitter, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tonyjchampion">@TonyJChampion</a>, or visit his website, <a href="http://www.positivelytravel.com">www.positivelytravel.com</a>.<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/guerilla-marketing-for-tourism/" title="Guerilla Marketing for Tourism">Guerilla Marketing for Tourism</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/steal-this-travel-marketing-idea-malta-podcasts/" title="Steal This Travel Marketing Idea:  Malta Podcasts">Steal This Travel Marketing Idea:  Malta Podcasts</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/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/marketing-is-about-math-and-creativity/" title="Marketing is About Math AND Creativity ">Marketing is About Math AND Creativity </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>



Enjoyed this?  Share it with a friend or colleague.


	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="mailto:?subject=Avoiding%20Price%3A%20The%20Difference%20Between%20Hospitality%20and%20Transportation&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Favoiding-price-the-difference-between-hospitality-and-transportation%2F" title="E-mail this story to a friend!"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/email.png" title="E-mail this story to a friend!" alt="E-mail this story to a friend!" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />email</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Favoiding-price-the-difference-between-hospitality-and-transportation%2F&amp;t=Avoiding%20Price%3A%20The%20Difference%20Between%20Hospitality%20and%20Transportation" title="Facebook"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/facebook.png" title="Facebook" alt="Facebook" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />facebook</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Favoiding-price-the-difference-between-hospitality-and-transportation%2F" title="TwitThis"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/twitter.png" title="TwitThis" alt="TwitThis" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />twitter</a>


<br/><br/><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~4/MZJ6aipbVAI" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/avoiding-price-the-difference-between-hospitality-and-transportation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/avoiding-price-the-difference-between-hospitality-and-transportation/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>Great Tourism Businesses Know What They’re Good At</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/eiU3POlqK0U/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/great-tourism-businesses-know-what-theyre-good-at/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:00:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Online Marketing Strategy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=5473</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
What are you really good at? Is that where you&#8217;re putting your focus, online and offline?

Getting Your Online Focus
I see this time and time again.  Small businesses can&#8217;t be &#8220;something for everybody&#8221; &#8211; you&#8217;re too small and don&#8217;t have the marketing budget of Coke or Pepsi to do that.  So, you have to be something [...]<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;">
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>What are you <em>really good </em>at?</strong> Is that where you&#8217;re putting your focus, online and offline?</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone" title="focus" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/4848880460_c61861296b.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="320" /></p>
<h2>Getting Your Online Focus</h2>
<p>I see this time and time again.  Small businesses can&#8217;t be &#8220;something for everybody&#8221; &#8211; you&#8217;re too small and don&#8217;t have the marketing budget of Coke or Pepsi to do that.  So, you have to be something special for somebody specific.  The easiest way to do that is to <em>know what you&#8217;re good at</em>.</p>
<p>Businesses that know what they&#8217;re good at:</p>
<ul>
<li>have no problem coming up with blog posts because they know exactly the topics they&#8217;re experts in, and that&#8217;s what they write about.</li>
<li>know what social networks are productive for them, because they know their topic inside and out.</li>
<li>are able to write amazing content and build real relationships because they are truly in-the-know and it shows</li>
</ul>
<p>We&#8217;ve talked about the Ideal Customer before and how you need to know who is your Ideal Customer.  The other side of the coin is <strong>what problem you solve for that Ideal Customer</strong> &#8211; what&#8217;s your offer and why should they be interested?  The easiest way to explain that is by highlighting what you&#8217;re good at.  Here are some examples:</p>
<ul>
<li>our travel agency is the number one experts in <em>jungle travel in the Amazon</em></li>
<li>our tour guides are the <em>only guides to take you to Edinburgh&#8217;s scariest dungeon</em></li>
<li>our bed and breakfast is <em>the quietest and most tranquil place in the New York valley</em></li>
</ul>
<p>Yes, that specific.  Yes, these should be on your website &#8211; very prominent, every page.  Grab my attention with the fact &#8211; people want to know, what are you good at?  Pick one thing and <strong>do it.</strong></p>
<p>By the way, in case you missed or recent TOP Radio Podcast, the <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/running-a-travel-business-in-a-world-of-free-and-diy/">thing that you&#8217;re good at better not be price</a>.</p>
<p><em>Special thanks to </em><em><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/remarkable-tourism-makes-world-better-place/">Doug from the Authentic Seacoast</a></em> for inspiration on today&#8217;s article.</p>
<h2><strong>To Learn More</strong></h2>
<p>If you need help managing your priorities and focusing on what you&#8217;re good at, our <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/resources/by-product-line/just-what-works/top-business-toolkit/">TOP Travel Business Toolkit</a> can help. <strong><em>Do More with Less Time, Less Effort, and Better Results.</em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/resources/by-product-line/just-what-works/top-business-toolkit/">Click here</a> to leapfrog your competition, starting today.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/resources/by-product-line/just-what-works/top-business-toolkit/"><img class="aligncenter" title="small business dashboard" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/TOPBizToolkitcover.jpg" alt="" width="461" height="346" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span style="color: #ff0000;">Guaranteed </span>to improve you strategy and organization or your money back!</em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
<p style="text-align: left;">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/21560098@N06/">Nina Matthews</a></p>
<h3 class="related">Other people who liked this article liked these too:</h3>
<ul class="related_post">
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/how-tourismhospitality-underdogs-can-fight-win/" title="How Tourism/Hospitality Underdogs Can Fight &#038; Win">How Tourism/Hospitality Underdogs Can Fight &#038; Win</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/affiliate-marketing-for-tourism-and-travel/" title="Affiliate Marketing for Tourism and Travel">Affiliate Marketing for Tourism and Travel</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/is-your-google-listing-better-than-your-website/" title="Is Your Google Listing Better Than Your Website? ">Is Your Google Listing Better Than Your Website? </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/google-wave-immature-and-overhyped/" title="Google Wave:  Immature and Overhyped ">Google Wave:  Immature and Overhyped </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/what-matters-now/" title="What Matters Now">What Matters Now</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>



Enjoyed this?  Share it with a friend or colleague.


	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="mailto:?subject=Great%20Tourism%20Businesses%20Know%20What%20They%27re%20Good%20At&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fgreat-tourism-businesses-know-what-theyre-good-at%2F" title="E-mail this story to a friend!"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/email.png" title="E-mail this story to a friend!" alt="E-mail this story to a friend!" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />email</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fgreat-tourism-businesses-know-what-theyre-good-at%2F&amp;t=Great%20Tourism%20Businesses%20Know%20What%20They%27re%20Good%20At" title="Facebook"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/facebook.png" title="Facebook" alt="Facebook" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />facebook</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fgreat-tourism-businesses-know-what-theyre-good-at%2F" title="TwitThis"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/twitter.png" title="TwitThis" alt="TwitThis" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />twitter</a>


<br/><br/><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~4/eiU3POlqK0U" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/great-tourism-businesses-know-what-theyre-good-at/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/great-tourism-businesses-know-what-theyre-good-at/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>More Proof Travel Brochures Aren’t Dead, Just Different</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/daYfxYz_4N4/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/more-proof-travel-brochures-arent-dead-just-different/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:00:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Steal This Marketing Idea]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=5465</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m a listener, and sometimes I hear trending snippets of conversation.  In online circles I keep hearing people talking about the death of the travel brochure.  Unfortunately, I have to inform them time and time again, travel brochures aren&#8217;t going anywhere anytime soon.  Travel brochures aren&#8217;t dead, but they are changing.
Why aren&#8217;t they dead?
Travel brochures [...]<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;m a listener, and sometimes I hear trending snippets of conversation.  In online circles I keep hearing people talking about the <em>death of the travel brochure</em>.  Unfortunately, I have to inform them time and time again, travel brochures aren&#8217;t going anywhere anytime soon.  <strong>Travel brochures aren&#8217;t dead, but they are changing</strong>.</p>
<h2>Why aren&#8217;t they dead?</h2>
<p>Travel brochures aren&#8217;t dead, because we don&#8217;t live in an entire digital world &#8211; yet.  Small, rural tourism office (and large, urban ones for that matter) don&#8217;t have the money to outfit the entire place with digital brochure machines.  Nor does everyone have a smartphone, where that digital information can be transferred so the person can take that information with them.  We might be approaching the world of The Matrix, but we&#8217;re not there yet.</p>
<p>Until digital information is <em>totally ubiquitous and transferable to your Ideal Customer</em>, I&#8217;d keep those brochures.   They&#8217;re perfect for people right there, right now, looking for something to do, a place to eat, or a place to stay.</p>
<p>Having said that&#8230;You&#8217;re measuring their impact, their success, and tweaking them, right?</p>
<h2>Why are they changing?</h2>
<p>Travel brochures need to evolve, for several reasons:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Environmental Sensitivity</strong>:  This big bulky brochures are falling out of fashion because a lot of consumers don&#8217;t like the environmental aspects.  In some markets, though (luxury) that isn&#8217;t the case.</li>
<li><strong>Dwindling Attention Spans</strong>:  In our world of RIGHT NOW immediate satisfaction, a lengthy brochure that doesn&#8217;t get to the point, doesn&#8217;t get read.</li>
<li><strong>Rise of the Digital Age</strong>:  As the Internet becomes number one for more and more market segments, it&#8217;s where people go for their information first, not tourist boards.</li>
<li><strong>They were awful in the first place</strong>:  A lot of travel brochures were awful in the first place.  Now that information is so readily available online, there is a suitable alternative.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Here&#8217;s an Awesome Travel Brochure</h2>
<p>During my travels, I spent some time in the Finger Lakes Region, a beautiful part of the world.  I had a fantastic time, and loved chatting tourism with these folks, who have a number of different types of visitors they are courting.</p>
<p>One thing that struck me was their biking/hiking brochures &#8211; there&#8217;s a whole series of them, featuring hikes and biking trails.  Here&#8217;s a sample:</p>
<p><em>Front</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5466" title="Front Travel brochure" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Front.jpg" alt="Front Travel brochure" width="246" height="266" /></em></p>
<p><em>Inside</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5467" title="inside travel brochure" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/IMG_0001.jpg" alt="inside travel brochure" width="233" height="503" /></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><br />
</em></p>
<h2>Why This Brochure Rocks</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Understands the Ideal Customer</strong>:  These brochures are made for their ideal customers: bikers and walkers.  They&#8217;re small and easy to slip into a pocket, but they&#8217;ve also got a small hole to hook them on a chain to make sure they don&#8217;t fly out of that cute basket on the front of your bike!</li>
<li><strong>Simple, Digestible</strong>:  You don&#8217;t need to take the whole cake &#8211; you just take the slices that you want.  And each one has lots of information, but not too much &#8211; it&#8217;s very well done.</li>
<li><strong>Is Online Too</strong>:  You can go to the website (<a href="http://letsgohikeandbike.com">letsgohikeandbike.com</a> &#8211; which was a short domain name cleverly setup to forward people to the guide pages on the site) and download anything you want.  Maybe you have one of the brochures but want another?  Or don&#8217;t want the paper at all?</li>
</ul>
<h2>To Learn More</h2>
<p>Need more ideas to get the word out about <em>your</em> tourism business? We&#8217;ve got more <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/">tourism marketing ideas</a> for you: check out our do-it-yourself guide, 33 Fun and Effective ways to Promote Your Business Online.  It&#8217;s only $17 &#8211; it will pay for itself time and time again.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span style="color: #000080;">Inspiration guaranteed or your money back</span></strong></em>.  <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/">Click the banner</a> for more information.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><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/"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5231" title="33 Fun and Effective Ways to Promote Your Business Online" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/JWW-33-Fun-and-Effective-Ways-to-Promote.png" alt="33 Fun and Effective Ways to Promote Your Business Online" width="486" height="60" /></a></p>
<h3 class="related">Other people who liked this article liked these too:</h3>
<ul class="related_post">
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/an-idea-for-getting-more-reviews-of-your-tourism-business/" title="An Idea for Getting More Reviews of your Tourism Business">An Idea for Getting More Reviews of your Tourism Business</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/how-tourismhospitality-underdogs-can-fight-win/" title="How Tourism/Hospitality Underdogs Can Fight &#038; Win">How Tourism/Hospitality Underdogs Can Fight &#038; Win</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/the-most-important-part-of-your-online-strategy/" title="The Most Important Part of Your Online Strategy ">The Most Important Part of Your Online Strategy </a></li>
<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>
</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>



Enjoyed this?  Share it with a friend or colleague.


	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="mailto:?subject=More%20Proof%20Travel%20Brochures%20Aren%27t%20Dead%2C%20Just%20Different&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fmore-proof-travel-brochures-arent-dead-just-different%2F" title="E-mail this story to a friend!"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/email.png" title="E-mail this story to a friend!" alt="E-mail this story to a friend!" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />email</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fmore-proof-travel-brochures-arent-dead-just-different%2F&amp;t=More%20Proof%20Travel%20Brochures%20Aren%27t%20Dead%2C%20Just%20Different" title="Facebook"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/facebook.png" title="Facebook" alt="Facebook" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />facebook</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fmore-proof-travel-brochures-arent-dead-just-different%2F" title="TwitThis"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/twitter.png" title="TwitThis" alt="TwitThis" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />twitter</a>


<br/><br/><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~4/daYfxYz_4N4" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/more-proof-travel-brochures-arent-dead-just-different/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/more-proof-travel-brochures-arent-dead-just-different/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>An Idea for Getting More Reviews of your Tourism Business</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/FUP4j9924dE/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/an-idea-for-getting-more-reviews-of-your-tourism-business/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:00:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Steal This Marketing Idea]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=5450</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently, as part of my travels throughout upstate New York, I stayed for a few evenings at the lovely Abner Adams House near Canandaigua.  It has to be one of the nicests B&#38;B experiences in NY state, and I ended up spending a few minutes chatting with owners Bob and Lynda about their marketing.
One idea [...]<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>Recently, as part of my travels throughout upstate New York, I stayed for a few evenings at the lovely <a href="http://www.abneradamshouse.com/">Abner Adams House</a> near Canandaigua.  It has to be one of the nicests B&amp;B experiences in NY state, and I ended up spending a few minutes chatting with owners Bob and Lynda about their marketing.</p>
<p>One idea they&#8217;ve been using to a fair degree of success are these little postcards, which encourages guests to review the B&amp;B<em>.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-5451  aligncenter" title="Front" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/IMG_0002.jpg" alt="Front" width="492" height="375" /><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5453" title="Back" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/IMG_00031.jpg" alt="Back" width="481" height="375" /></p>
<h2>Why These are Great</h2>
<p>The reason why I like Lynda and Bob&#8217;s postcards so much is for two reasons:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Simple<span style="font-weight: normal;">:  These guys have enough to do, so handing one of these out with a punchy &#8220;if you enjoyed it, please do tell us here&#8221; is all they need to do.  Nothing expensive, pushy, or otherwise untoward.</span></strong></li>
<li><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span>Call to Action</strong>:  It is a concrete call to action to ask someone to do something.  Not everyone will, but if you ask people to do something, that is far more effective than not doing so.</li>
<li><strong>It is specific</strong>:  Notice how it says specific sites for you to go to.  Obviously some thought has went into where business comes from and what sites are important in their target market.  Bravo.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Results and Tweaks</h2>
<p>I asked Lynda and Bob how many people give them a review, and the response was &#8220;some but not everyone.&#8221;  That is to be expected.  Having said that, as of this writing, the Abner Adams has twice or three times as many reviews as some of their competitors, so I&#8217;d say this strategy is working very well.  (And, also no surprise, the reviews are very positive &#8211; something that has to come <em>first</em> before the reviews.)</p>
<p>Lynda and I talked briefly about changing the format of these cards so they could actually send them out after a guest has left.  I think this might bring an uptick in reviews, so it depends on whether the cost can be justified.  It&#8217;s not a bad idea though.</p>
<p>Thanks, Lynda &amp; Bob, for sharing your great idea for getting more reviews!</p>
<h2>To Learn More</h2>
<p>Need more ideas to get the word out about <em>your</em> tourism business? We&#8217;ve got more <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/">tourism marketing ideas</a> for you: check out our do-it-yourself guide, 33 Fun and Effective ways to Promote Your Business Online.  It&#8217;s only $17 &#8211; it will pay for itself time and time again.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span style="color: #000080;">Inspiration guaranteed or your money back</span></strong></em>.  <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/">Click the banner</a> for more information.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><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/"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5231" title="33 Fun and Effective Ways to Promote Your Business Online" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/JWW-33-Fun-and-Effective-Ways-to-Promote.png" alt="33 Fun and Effective Ways to Promote Your Business Online" width="486" height="60" /></a></p>
<h3 class="related">Other people who liked this article liked these too:</h3>
<ul class="related_post">
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/steal-this-travel-marketing-idea-the-urban-oasis/" title="Steal this Travel Marketing Idea: The Urban Oasis">Steal this Travel Marketing Idea: The Urban Oasis</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/three-lessons-learned-about-building-a-community/" title="Three Lessons Learned about Building a Community">Three Lessons Learned about Building a Community</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/steal-this-travel-marketing-idea-malta-podcasts/" title="Steal This Travel Marketing Idea:  Malta Podcasts">Steal This Travel Marketing Idea:  Malta Podcasts</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/hospitality-tourism-and-the-reciprocity-effect/" title="Hospitality, Tourism, and the Reciprocity Effect">Hospitality, Tourism, and the Reciprocity Effect</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>



Enjoyed this?  Share it with a friend or colleague.


	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="mailto:?subject=An%20Idea%20for%20Getting%20More%20Reviews%20of%20your%20Tourism%20Business&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fan-idea-for-getting-more-reviews-of-your-tourism-business%2F" title="E-mail this story to a friend!"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/email.png" title="E-mail this story to a friend!" alt="E-mail this story to a friend!" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />email</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fan-idea-for-getting-more-reviews-of-your-tourism-business%2F&amp;t=An%20Idea%20for%20Getting%20More%20Reviews%20of%20your%20Tourism%20Business" title="Facebook"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/facebook.png" title="Facebook" alt="Facebook" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />facebook</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fan-idea-for-getting-more-reviews-of-your-tourism-business%2F" title="TwitThis"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/twitter.png" title="TwitThis" alt="TwitThis" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />twitter</a>


<br/><br/><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~4/FUP4j9924dE" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/an-idea-for-getting-more-reviews-of-your-tourism-business/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/an-idea-for-getting-more-reviews-of-your-tourism-business/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>Affiliate Marketing for Tourism and Travel</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/P_a3xV46-no/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/affiliate-marketing-for-tourism-and-travel/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:00:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Online Marketing Strategy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=5459</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;re a tourism business that does any sort of lead generation from online channels &#8211; whether that be Google Ads, private ad sales, directory sites or larger travel booking portals &#8211; you no doubt know that it&#8217;s a good idea not to put all of your eggs in a single basket.
But if you&#8217;re doing [...]<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&#8217;re a tourism business that does any sort of lead generation from online channels &#8211; whether that be Google Ads, private ad sales, directory sites or larger travel booking portals &#8211; you no doubt know that it&#8217;s a good idea <strong><em>not</em> to put all of your eggs in a single basket.</strong></p>
<p>But if you&#8217;re doing well with conversions &#8211; that is, a healthy portion of your leads do convert to sales &#8211; then I&#8217;d like to suggest to you another area you can focus your efforts on: <strong>affiliate marketing</strong></p>
<h2>What is Affiliate Marketing?</h2>
<p>It&#8217;s a scary sounding term and often associated with under-the-table marketing practices &#8211; but it couldn&#8217;t be further from the case.  The concept is simple:  people refer customers to you, and if they make a booking, you give them a cut. A commission &#8211; it&#8217;s nothing new or radical, it&#8217;s just that online, it is a whole lot easier.</p>
<p>If you want to learn the soup-to-nuts story about how affiliate marketing can help boost the bottom line of your tourism business, then I&#8217;d suggest you have a look at Corbett Barr&#8217;s latest project, <a href="http://bit.ly/9066JS">Affiliate Marketing for Beginners</a>.  Or as I like to call it, Affiliate Marketing for Dummies &#8211; because there is <em>so</em> much course material, and you&#8217;re gently walked through everything you need to know.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/9066JS"><img class="size-full wp-image-5460 aligncenter" title="affiliate marketing for tourism and travel" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/affiliatemarketing.jpg" alt="affiliate marketing for tourism and travel" width="543" height="72" /></a></strong></p>
<p>I&#8217;m an affiliate of this product, and I know the course author, Corbett, personally.  If you have any problems or worries, I can say with all faith that you will be in very good hands.</p>
<h2 style="font-size: 1.5em;">Why Tourism Business Should Consider Affiliate Marketing</h2>
<p>So, that&#8217;s a loaded question &#8211; but it has crossed my Inbox more times than I can count, so I&#8217;m glad to have a minute to discuss it.  Here is the big reason why affiliate marketing is so great:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Exposure of Your Product to Niche Audiences at Low Cost: </strong>With affiliate marketing, you can give publishers and other sites the opportunity to promote your services on a commission basis.  That means you only pay for the sales they make.  It&#8217;s a lot lower risk, and it means you can work with different publishers try experiment without breaking the bank.</li>
</ul>
<p>Not everyone you&#8217;re going to want to work with will be up for an affiliate model.  And not all of your products might be suitable for affiliate marketing.  But given that it is low cost and low risk &#8211; the biggest investment is your time to do a little planning and setup &#8211; I think it is a worthwhile adventure.</p>
<p>Corbett&#8217;s course spends a lot of time talking about other tips and tricks for taking full advantage of what I call &#8220;virtual real estate&#8221; - which in my mind,  a very good investment.  Better than the real world real estate, anyway.</p>
<h2>Do Not Buy This Course If&#8230;</h2>
<p>I have seen people fall face forward on this stuff, so please do not buy Corbett&#8217;s course if you:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Have a Terrible Conversion Rate</strong>:  If only a smidgeon of a percentage of people who come to your site buy your products or services, do not setup affiliate relationships.  This only will make your life worse.  You&#8217;ll want to read our upcoming eBook, <em>Why Your Website Sucks</em>, instead.</li>
<li><strong>Have Plans to Promote Other People&#8217;s Stuff Over Your Own</strong>:  I&#8217;ve seen tour operator websites plastered with affiliate ads &#8211; so many you couldn&#8217;t work out what was what.  Travel bloggers also have this problem too sometimes.  If you make a profit of $500 for every travel itinerary that your travel agency books, then why would promote someone else&#8217;s digital travel guide where you make $25 every sale?  Do the math before you become an affiliate.</li>
</ul>
<p>The best affiliate marketers understand that affiliate promotions are part of a bigger scheme &#8211; and they only setup and establish affiliate relationships that <strong>enhance </strong>the bottom line and the products/services offered.</p>
<h2>Enroll Today</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, I&#8217;ve been travelling so I&#8217;ve just now had a moment to share with you my thoughts on affiliate marketing. The worry is that the course is only available at a discounted launch price for a limited time &#8211; ending <em>today</em> -  so if you&#8217;re interested at all, time is of the essence.  <a href="http://bit.ly/9066JS">Click here</a> to find out more and decide if <a href="http://bit.ly/9066JS">Affiliate Marketing for Beginners</a> is right for you.<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/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>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/more-proof-travel-brochures-arent-dead-just-different/" title="More Proof Travel Brochures Aren&#8217;t Dead, Just Different">More Proof Travel Brochures Aren&#8217;t Dead, Just Different</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/fun-twitter-tips-and-tweaks/" title="Fun Twitter Tips and Tweaks ">Fun Twitter Tips and Tweaks </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/why-having-a-blog-is-like-being-married/" title="Why Having a Blog is Like Being Married">Why Having a Blog is Like Being Married</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/more-reasons-why-you-need-an-email-newsletter/" title="More Reasons Why You Need An Email Newsletter ">More Reasons Why You Need An Email Newsletter </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>



Enjoyed this?  Share it with a friend or colleague.


	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="mailto:?subject=Affiliate%20Marketing%20for%20Tourism%20and%20Travel&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Faffiliate-marketing-for-tourism-and-travel%2F" title="E-mail this story to a friend!"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/email.png" title="E-mail this story to a friend!" alt="E-mail this story to a friend!" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />email</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Faffiliate-marketing-for-tourism-and-travel%2F&amp;t=Affiliate%20Marketing%20for%20Tourism%20and%20Travel" title="Facebook"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/facebook.png" title="Facebook" alt="Facebook" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />facebook</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Faffiliate-marketing-for-tourism-and-travel%2F" title="TwitThis"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/twitter.png" title="TwitThis" alt="TwitThis" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />twitter</a>


<br/><br/><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~4/P_a3xV46-no" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/affiliate-marketing-for-tourism-and-travel/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/affiliate-marketing-for-tourism-and-travel/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>Running a Travel Business in a World of Free and DIY</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/3_-G1TW-iys/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/running-a-travel-business-in-a-world-of-free-and-diy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:00:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[TOP Radio]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=5416</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
This month&#8217;s TOP Radio tourism marketing podcast is with Trisha from Travel Writer&#8217;s Exchange.  Trisha is very well known in this industry and has a wealth of knowledge and experience in running several tourism businesses, including a travel agency as well as her current online ventures.  Welcome Trisha!
Listen Now
To listen to the call, [...]<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>This month&#8217;s TOP Radio tourism marketing podcast is with Trisha from <a href="http://www.travel-writers-exchange.com/">Travel Writer&#8217;s Exchange</a>.  Trisha is very well known in this industry and has a wealth of knowledge and experience in running several tourism businesses, including a travel agency as well as her current online ventures.  Welcome Trisha!</p>
<h2>Listen Now</h2>
<p>To listen to the call, you can listen right from your web browser by pressing play on the widget below.</p>
<p align=center>
<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" id="LastFramePlayer" align="top" height="60" width="173">
<param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always">
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="false">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.talkshoe.com/resources/talkshoe/images/swf/lastEpisodePlayer.swf?fileUrl=http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-72917/TS-384145.mp3">
<param name="quality" value="high">
<param name="bgcolor" value="#EEF9C1">
<param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.talkshoe.com/resources/talkshoe/images/swf/lastEpisodePlayer.swf?fileUrl=http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-72917/TS-384145.mp3" quality="high" bgcolor="#EEF9C1" play="true" loop="true" scale="exactfit" name="LastFramePlayer" salign="lt" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" align="top" height="60" width="173"></object>
</p>
<p>If you have problems with the widget or would rather download the MP3 file to listen on your iPod or other music player, right click <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/files/TOPRadio-FreeDIY.mp3">here</a> and choose &#8220;Save As&#8221; to download the file.  Warning, it&#8217;s a fairly large file!</p>
<h2>Call Highlights</h2>
<p>Some highlights and quotes from the call &#8211; be sure to listen in to the whole call for the details.</p>
<h3>Why DIY and Free?</h3>
<ul>
<li>These two terms really sum up some of the big issues that some tourism business have with being online.</li>
<li><em><em>Free</em>: </em>Travellers not as willing to pay for quality information and products/services.  Always wanting a deal.</li>
<li><em>DIY</em>:  Don&#8217;t feel they want the services of a travel agent or a tour guide, and don&#8217;t take any ancillary products from hoteliers or other tour attractions.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Thoughts on Free</h3>
<ul>
<li>The &#8220;free&#8221; movement isn&#8217;t a concept limited to the travel and tourism industry.  It&#8217;s a train that can&#8217;t be stopped, so we have to understand how it works and how to get around it to prove our value.</li>
<li>The biggest way to get around free is to work together as a team.  That means travel agents teaming up with travel writers, tour guides partnering up with agents, hoteliers with tour guides, etc.  One big happy family!</li>
<li>Another big mistake businesses make is to try and do it all.  Don&#8217;t try to do it all &#8211; partner with someone who can help and you can both help each other.</li>
<li>Don&#8217;t be afraid to put out a lot of detail about your tour offerings, about your destination, and other pertinent information &#8211; because this highlights that <strong>you are the expert</strong>.  For most of you, it is your expertise that makes you a viable business, so don&#8217;t hide it.</li>
<li>If you hold back all of your information, the online consumer will decide either a) you don&#8217;t know what you&#8217;re talking about, or b) you just aren&#8217;t that interested in making the sale.  Unfortunately, in the world of the back button, that means you&#8217;re dead in the water.</li>
<li>Focus on the people who are your <em>Ideal Customers</em> who are interested in making a booking.  NOT the people who are just searching for free content.  Ignore the free people.</li>
<li>What&#8217;s your niche?  If you want to be the expert and attract the Ideal Customer, find your niche.</li>
</ul>
<h3>DIY</h3>
<ul>
<li>Ways to pull in a DIY traveller? It all goes back to <em>niche and expertise</em>.</li>
<li>The bigger sites also don&#8217;t offer much in the way of service or experience &#8211; can you cater to the people who want that style?</li>
<li>Understand what the typical objections of your Ideal Customer will be and address those.</li>
<li>Again, it&#8217;s all about focus: focus on the right people, and ignore everyone else.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Other Online Marketing Tips from Trisha</h3>
<ul>
<li>Facebook Fan page is a must.  Facebook is a great place to satisfy a web users primary needs: <em> information and deals. </em>Don&#8217;t miss out on our <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/resources/by-topic/facebook/">Facebook for Tourism</a> resources.</li>
<li>Monitor your approach on Twitter cautiously (time-management wise)</li>
<li>Investments are best spent on a great, effective website and <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/products-and-services/guides/mastery-guides/do-it-yourself-search-engine-optimisation/">do it yourself search engine optimization</a></li>
<li>Video is HUGE and really important for a couple of reasons &#8211; one is that consumers are demanding it (so they are better informed before making a purchasing decision), and second is that Google is rewarding sites with content (SEO benefit).  Cailin O&#8217;Neil&#8217;s <a href="http://www.travelyourself.ca">Travel Yourself</a> is a great example of how to do simple, short yet effective travel videos.</li>
<li>The More that you Share, the More Likely you will get the Sale.</li>
<li>Worry more about getting stuff done that&#8217;s real, authentic and worry less about things being slick and professional.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Connect with Trisha</h2>
<p>To connect further with trisha, visit her website,  <a href="http://www.travel-writers-exchange.com/">Travel Writer&#8217;s Exchange</a>, or give her a shout out on writter, <a href="http://twitter.com/TravelWriting">@TravelWriting</a>.<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/fun-twitter-tips-and-tweaks/" title="Fun Twitter Tips and Tweaks ">Fun Twitter Tips and Tweaks </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/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>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/guerilla-marketing-for-tourism/" title="Guerilla Marketing for Tourism">Guerilla Marketing for Tourism</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>
</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>



Enjoyed this?  Share it with a friend or colleague.


	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="mailto:?subject=Running%20a%20Travel%20Business%20in%20a%20World%20of%20Free%20and%20DIY&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Frunning-a-travel-business-in-a-world-of-free-and-diy%2F" title="E-mail this story to a friend!"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/email.png" title="E-mail this story to a friend!" alt="E-mail this story to a friend!" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />email</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Frunning-a-travel-business-in-a-world-of-free-and-diy%2F&amp;t=Running%20a%20Travel%20Business%20in%20a%20World%20of%20Free%20and%20DIY" title="Facebook"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/facebook.png" title="Facebook" alt="Facebook" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />facebook</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Frunning-a-travel-business-in-a-world-of-free-and-diy%2F" title="TwitThis"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/twitter.png" title="TwitThis" alt="TwitThis" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />twitter</a>


<br/><br/><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~4/3_-G1TW-iys" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/running-a-travel-business-in-a-world-of-free-and-diy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/running-a-travel-business-in-a-world-of-free-and-diy/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>Why You Need Mailing List Software</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/lKZ_BepqxeY/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/why-you-need-mailing-list-software/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Email Newsletters]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=5347</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Last week, we talked about email marketing jargon.  I wanted to delve into one more further topic, which is a question I get asked a lot:

Does my small business really need one of these &#8220;expensive&#8221; email marketing programs, like Aweber?

The answer, my dear small business friends, is YES.  Here&#8217;s why.
Why You Can&#8217;t Have an Email [...]<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="alignnone" title="email" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4659650997_7004b72ff2.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="224" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Last week, we talked about <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/email-marketing-jargon-explained/">email marketing jargon</a>.  I wanted to delve into one more further topic, which is a question I get asked a lot:</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: left;">Does my small business really need one of these &#8220;expensive&#8221; email marketing programs, like <a href="http://aweber.com/?330383">Aweber</a>?</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: left;">The answer, my dear small business friends, is <strong>YES</strong>.  Here&#8217;s why.</p>
<h2>Why You Can&#8217;t Have an Email List without Software</h2>
<p>We recommend <a href="http://aweber.com/?330383">Aweber</a> as mailing software because of their high deliverability rates and that we used them, not because we&#8217;re an affiliate.  It doesn&#8217;t matter who you use &#8211; Mailchimp, Constant Contact, or otherwise.  But you need to use one of them.</p>
<ol>
<li>Sending out major amounts of bulk email from your personal email account could get you blacklisted by your ISP.  In other words, your ISP can and has a precedent for shutting off suspect spam accounts.</li>
<li>Sending out bulk email from your ISP&#8217;s email could get you domain/IP address marked on spam lists.  Programs like Gmail subscribe to these lists and will put your email directly into the spam folder.</li>
<li>Your email program doesn&#8217;t have statistics (none that I know of).  In the jargon article, I lamented on how inaccurate the statistics are, but I&#8217;d rather have them than go without.</li>
<li>This is <strong>no longer about saving money &#8211; it&#8217;s the law</strong>.  The CAN-SPAM law means you need to treat email addresses like personal data, with consequences.  Email software programs can help you stay within the rules, and give you proof of opt-ins and what not should you run into trouble.</li>
<li>It&#8217;s just easier.  Once you get the hang of the software of your choice, man is it a lot easier to setup sign-up forms, send out welcome emails and newsletters.  It&#8217;s just worth the money.  I can&#8217;t imagine maintaining my list in a spreadsheet or address book or any of the (mediocre) widgets my personal mailing software provides.</li>
</ol>
<p>Depending on your list size, email software is around $20/month, give or take.  You&#8217;ve got plenty of things to worry about, and running afoul with the law isn&#8217;t one of them!  If you have an email list, get some proper management software for it.</p>
<h2><strong>To Learn More</strong></h2>
<p><strong>Do you have low open rates or just a crappy list</strong>?  Need some help freshing up that email newsletter?  No problem – why don’t you check out our <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/consulting/#Email">email newsletter jumpstart and newsletter clinic</a>?  We can help, regardless if you have an existing list or if you need to get started in this new marketing medium.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Photo by <a class="slink" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmgimages/">Ramburg</a></p>
<h3 class="related">Other people who liked this article liked these too:</h3>
<ul class="related_post">
<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/running-a-travel-business-in-a-world-of-free-and-diy/" title="Running a Travel Business in a World of Free and DIY">Running a Travel Business in a World of Free and DIY</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/a-simple-way-to-improve-your-seo-keyword-knowledge/" title="A Simple Way to Improve Your SEO Keyword Knowledge ">A Simple Way to Improve Your SEO Keyword Knowledge </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/post-recession-online-travel-trends/" title="Post-Recession Online Travel Trends">Post-Recession Online Travel Trends</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>
</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>



Enjoyed this?  Share it with a friend or colleague.


	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="mailto:?subject=Why%20You%20Need%20Mailing%20List%20Software&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fwhy-you-need-mailing-list-software%2F" title="E-mail this story to a friend!"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/email.png" title="E-mail this story to a friend!" alt="E-mail this story to a friend!" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />email</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fwhy-you-need-mailing-list-software%2F&amp;t=Why%20You%20Need%20Mailing%20List%20Software" title="Facebook"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/facebook.png" title="Facebook" alt="Facebook" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />facebook</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fwhy-you-need-mailing-list-software%2F" title="TwitThis"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/twitter.png" title="TwitThis" alt="TwitThis" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />twitter</a>


<br/><br/><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~4/lKZ_BepqxeY" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/why-you-need-mailing-list-software/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/why-you-need-mailing-list-software/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>Email Marketing Jargon Explained</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/OPJj-tCuvf8/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/email-marketing-jargon-explained/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:00:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Email Newsletters]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=5344</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[At popular request (*waves hi to requesters*), I&#8217;m briefly going to walk through some of the jargon that you&#8217;ll hear in the email marketing world.   Then, I&#8217;m going to explain to what is important about each piece of jargon.  I hate jargon as much as the next person, but I&#8217;m afraid if you&#8217;re going to [...]<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>At popular request (*waves hi to requesters*), I&#8217;m briefly going to walk through some of the jargon that you&#8217;ll hear in the email marketing world.   Then, I&#8217;m going to explain to what is important about each piece of jargon.  I hate jargon as much as the next person, but I&#8217;m afraid if you&#8217;re going to use standard email tools you&#8217;ll want to know about a few of these.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone" title="email jargon" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2128/1609874001_8c19b62060.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">In alphabetical order&#8230;</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Autoresponder</strong>:  This is where you automatically send new subscribers a series of emails spaced over a number of days, weeks, or months.  While this can be used effectively, its often overused.  Go sparingly on the email bombardment please <img src='http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Bounce</strong>:  This is when your mailer sends an email to a subscriber and the email address bounces back.  This is inevitable so don&#8217;t worry much about it &#8211; sometimes I scan through them to see if there is something obvious, like someone made a typo, but I only do this on the welcome email bounces.  Otherwise, I just ignore it &#8211; it&#8217;s usually low.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Click Through Rate</strong>:  This is the number of times someone clicks on a link in your email.  I&#8217;m assuming most of you will have links that click through to a blog post or a sales page, so I prefer just to check analytics the following days after a campaign to see traffic levels.  The problem is that people can click your link more than once, or forward to a friend who then clicks, driving this figure up higher.  Or &#8211; someone clicks the &#8220;read this edition online&#8221; email, and then uses the links online thereafter.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Double Opt In</strong>:  This is where someone signs up to your list (that is the opt-in part) and then the system sends them an email where they have to click in order to confirm they wanted to be on the list (that&#8217;s the double part).  We use this on the TOP newsletter.  The reason you would use this is to avoid any complains or problems down the road with your list, plus it also reinforces with people the relationship on subscribing (and makes them go and unmark you as spam if that happens).  Contrary to popular belief, I know of <em>no one </em>who has had problems with people clicking on the confirmation email.  And just so you also know, people will still complain and mark you as spam after double opt-in.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Forward to a Friend</strong>:  Pretty self explanatory; some email programs have a widget or button that allows one of your listeners to click and send the newsletter to a friend.  They can, oddly enough, also hit the forward button. <img src='http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Open Rate</strong>:  This is the percentage of people on your list who actually opened your email.  This is the holy grail of figures for some people, but the problem with it is that it is hard to judge; most programs use a hidden JPG image to count this, or other complicated mechanisms, but often email programs like Gmail or Thunderbird don&#8217;t render these items because they think they&#8217;re spam.  And other readers might have opened it then promptly hit delete. So, read these with a heft of caution.  Industry standard for open rates is low, around 20%, though if you have a high quality list (like we do) you can get around 60%.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Personalization</strong>: With this technique, any information the new subscribers give when signing up can be used in the email.  We use this on the TOP mailing list for your first name &#8211; so you give that upon signup, and then in the emails we can say &#8220;Hi Joe&#8221; &#8211; it&#8217;s just a little more personable and friendly.  The more fields you require for signup, the less signups you&#8217;ll have &#8211; and crazy personalization doesn&#8217;t get you much, so less is more here.  Skip it if you&#8217;re not ready.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Split Test</strong>:  In some programs, once you have enough subscribers, you can do a split test, which is to send two different emails to two halves of the list, and compare which one does better.  This is usually done to test email subject lines (and subsequently, open rates) but you can also do it for content too.  I wouldn&#8217;t advise getting into this level of testing unless you have well over a couple of thousand subscribers, and are ready to do the dirty work.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Subscriber</strong>:  A name and email address who has signed up to your list.  So, the total number of subscribers is the size of your list.  Bigger is better, naturally, but <em>never</em> sacrifice quality for quantity.  It&#8217;s always better to have a few people who are interested than a bunch of people not really interested.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Welcome Email</strong>:  This is the email that confirms someone&#8217;s subscription.  I highly recommend this &#8211; customise it with a special offer perhaps, or a preview of what&#8217;s coming, just to get your new subscriber trained that you think they are special and they should open all your future emails.</p>
<h2>Closing Thought</h2>
<p>Whew.  There are more, but those are the ones that are most important.  If you hadn&#8217;t noticed, I prefaced nearly every one of these email marketing jargon words with a comment about accuracy (or the lack thereof).  Email does not have good statistics, so I find two other pieces of objective measurement work well:</p>
<ul>
<li>Ask someone after they buy, how they found out about the offer.  Was it from an email?</li>
<li>Periodically ask random people from your list for feedback.  What do they say?  Does your email kind of suck?</li>
</ul>
<p>Otherwise, to be honest, you can forget the rest of this stuff.  But everyone tends to focus on it, and in a general sense, it does give you a feeling for how you&#8217;re doing.  Just don&#8217;t obsess over numbers that aren&#8217;t entirely accurate.</p>
<h2>To Learn More</h2>
<p><strong>Do you have low open rates or just a crappy list</strong>?  Need some help freshing up that email newsletter?  No problem &#8211; why don&#8217;t you check out our <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/consulting/#Email">email newsletter jumpstart and newsletter clinic</a>?  We can help, regardless if you have an existing list or if you need to get started in this new marketing medium.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Photo by <a class="slink" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/esparta/">esparta</a></p>
<h3 class="related">Other people who liked this article liked these too:</h3>
<ul class="related_post">
<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/whats-a-small-business-to-do-when-disaster-strikes/" title="What&#8217;s a small business to do when disaster strikes? ">What&#8217;s a small business to do when disaster strikes? </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/better-targeting-for-your-facebook-fan-page/" title="Better Targeting for your Facebook Fan Page ">Better Targeting for your Facebook Fan Page </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>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/five-myths-about-great-websites/" title="Five Myths About Great Websites ">Five Myths About Great Websites </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>



Enjoyed this?  Share it with a friend or colleague.


	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="mailto:?subject=Email%20Marketing%20Jargon%20Explained&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Femail-marketing-jargon-explained%2F" title="E-mail this story to a friend!"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/email.png" title="E-mail this story to a friend!" alt="E-mail this story to a friend!" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />email</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Femail-marketing-jargon-explained%2F&amp;t=Email%20Marketing%20Jargon%20Explained" title="Facebook"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/facebook.png" title="Facebook" alt="Facebook" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />facebook</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Femail-marketing-jargon-explained%2F" title="TwitThis"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/twitter.png" title="TwitThis" alt="TwitThis" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />twitter</a>


<br/><br/><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~4/OPJj-tCuvf8" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/email-marketing-jargon-explained/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/email-marketing-jargon-explained/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>Steal this Travel Marketing Idea: The Urban Oasis</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/lCbGkoWkymM/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/steal-this-travel-marketing-idea-the-urban-oasis/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:00:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Steal This Marketing Idea]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=5340</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hooray!  Another small travel business owner has been a fresh, fun, and friendly website to promote their special offering.  This week we&#8217;re featuring The Urban Oasis:

Why I Love Their Site
Go and have a look at their site.  Here&#8217;s what I love about it:

They have priorities.  The things that take primary position on the website are [...]<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>Hooray!  Another small travel business owner has been a fresh, fun, and friendly website to promote their special offering.  This week we&#8217;re featuring <a href="http://www.urbanoasisbandb.com/">The Urban Oasis</a>:</p>
<p style="text-align: center; "><img class="size-full wp-image-5341 aligncenter" title="urban oasis" src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/oasis.jpg" alt="urban oasis" width="574" height="130" /></p>
<h2>Why I Love Their Site</h2>
<p>Go and have a look at their site.  Here&#8217;s what I love about it:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>They have priorities</strong>.  The things that take primary position on the website are contact details (of course!), events (whooohoo &#8211; profits), reviews (all positive), and of course practical information.</li>
<li><strong>Simple, Fun, Fresh</strong>.  When I look at the photos of this establishment and I look at the website, I feel like they belong to the same person.  The website isn&#8217;t this cold, harsh place where dirty money is exchanged under the table.  It&#8217;s a fun and funky cafe &#8211; pull up a chair, there&#8217;s an empty one right there in the header graphic. <img src='http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </li>
<li><strong>It has personality</strong>.  My favourite feature is the &#8216;house recipes&#8217; &#8211; what better way to get to know a venue than by looking at what they cook?  It&#8217;s totally transparency that is effortless.</li>
<li><strong>There are pictures of the people who own it.</strong> How refreshing to actually see the people you are staying with, versus a blank webpage.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Tips and Tweaks</h2>
<p>This site is built with TOP&#8217;s content management system of choice, Wordpress.  It&#8217;s also built on the Thesis theme, which is a fantastic theme for anyone considering Wordpress for their website.  But I do, as always, have a few tweaks <img src='http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Jargon Alert!</strong>:  Get rid of the word &#8216;blogroll&#8217; in the sidebar.  Most people don&#8217;t know what that is, and those of us who do have no idea why we called it that anyway.</li>
<li><strong>Jumping Alert!</strong>:  There are lots of links that take me to <em>another</em> website unexpectedly.  Flickr is one example, and I had a few others as well.  Be sure to warn me if I&#8217;m going somewhere unexpected.</li>
<li><strong>Bigger Photos</strong>:  The photos of the rooms are tiny &#8211; which makes no sense, considering the Flickr images of the same thing are huge.  Show us what you got &#8211; because it looks good!</li>
<li><strong>Drop Down Alert!</strong>:  I don&#8217;t mind drop-down menus, but some users completely miss them (in other words, do not see them).  Thesis unfortunately doesn&#8217;t have fold-out menus, which would make this a lot nicer.  (Like here, on TOP, see how you can see the menu you&#8217;re on under &#8216;Articles&#8217;.)  This isn&#8217;t a huge problem, just make sure that you link <em>on the page</em> to any important subpages, or nobody will find them.</li>
</ul>
<h2>To Learn More</h2>
<p>Do you want a more effective website?  Why not consider our <a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/resources/by-topic/website-content-usability/">website review service</a>?  It could transform your website from a cold, empty cafe to a buzzing marketing channel where all the action is at.<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/an-idea-for-getting-more-reviews-of-your-tourism-business/" title="An Idea for Getting More Reviews of your Tourism Business">An Idea for Getting More Reviews of your Tourism Business</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/whats-so-bad-about-travel-bloggers/" title="What&#8217;s So Bad about Travel Bloggers?">What&#8217;s So Bad about Travel Bloggers?</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/in-life-and-businessthe-first-guy-takes-all-the-risk/" title="In Life and Business,The First Guy Takes All The Risk ">In Life and Business,The First Guy Takes All The Risk </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/discussing-the-issues-raised-at-adventure-travel-world-summit-09/" title="Discussing the Issues Raised at Adventure Travel World Summit &#8216;09">Discussing the Issues Raised at Adventure Travel World Summit &#8216;09</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/tracking-website-performance-its-not-as-hard-as-you-think/" title="Tracking Website Performance: It&#8217;s Not as Hard As You Think ">Tracking Website Performance: It&#8217;s Not as Hard As You Think </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>



Enjoyed this?  Share it with a friend or colleague.


	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="mailto:?subject=Steal%20this%20Travel%20Marketing%20Idea%3A%20The%20Urban%20Oasis&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fsteal-this-travel-marketing-idea-the-urban-oasis%2F" title="E-mail this story to a friend!"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/email.png" title="E-mail this story to a friend!" alt="E-mail this story to a friend!" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />email</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fsteal-this-travel-marketing-idea-the-urban-oasis%2F&amp;t=Steal%20this%20Travel%20Marketing%20Idea%3A%20The%20Urban%20Oasis" title="Facebook"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/facebook.png" title="Facebook" alt="Facebook" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />facebook</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fsteal-this-travel-marketing-idea-the-urban-oasis%2F" title="TwitThis"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/twitter.png" title="TwitThis" alt="TwitThis" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />twitter</a>


<br/><br/><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~4/lCbGkoWkymM" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/steal-this-travel-marketing-idea-the-urban-oasis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/steal-this-travel-marketing-idea-the-urban-oasis/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>The Reason Most Small Businesses Fail to Succeed Online</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~3/qsIfzVEUeNI/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/the-reason-most-small-businesses-fail-to-succeed-online/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:00:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andy Hayes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Online Marketing Strategy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/?p=5336</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I feel like I&#8217;m repeating myself here, but I&#8217;m ok with that because people still aren&#8217;t getting it.  Do you know what is the number one reason that most small tourism businesses fail to find success with their online marketing strategy (apart from the fact that most don&#8217;t have a strategy &#8211; do you)?
A Failure [...]<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 feel like I&#8217;m repeating myself here, but I&#8217;m ok with that because people still aren&#8217;t getting it.  Do you know what is the number one reason that most small tourism businesses fail to find success with their online marketing strategy (apart from the fact that most don&#8217;t have a strategy &#8211; do you)?</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>A Failure to Act.  Often enough.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><img class="aligncenter" title="marathon" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3131/2616483594_c65769eb5e.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="300" /></strong></p>
<h2>A Failure To Act&#8230;</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px;">It feels like one of those things that is so simple, it is profound &#8211; and it is.  Many businesses struggle with their online activities because they don&#8217;t start.</span></p>
<ul>
<li>Nobody is going to hear about you from Twitter unless you put yourself out there.</li>
<li>Nobody is going to understand your side of the story if you don&#8217;t respond to those Tripadvisor reviews.</li>
<li>Nobody is going to find you in Google unless you some optimization work.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Often Enough</strong></p>
<p>Unfortunately, in the world of small business, <strong>there are no awards for just showing up</strong>.  That applies to pretty much everything.</p>
<ul>
<li>You don&#8217;t get a massive following after your first tweet, nor your second or third.</li>
<li>You don&#8217;t get hundreds of comments on your first blog post.  Nobody might even read it.</li>
<li>You don&#8217;t optimize a page and expect thousands of Google searches to come swooping in.  Not even close.</li>
</ul>
<p>To be successful online, you have to decide <strong>what are you going to do</strong>, then <strong>you have to do it and do it well.  And keep doing it</strong>.</p>
<p>The hard part is deciding whether a) you haven&#8217;t done it often enough, b) you haven&#8217;t done it right, or c) you&#8217;re doing the wrong thing.  Unfortunately, the only way to find out is to keep doing.  Doing, doing, doing.</p>
<p>So, what are you doing right now to help promote your business online?</p>
<p>Photo by <a class="slink" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/24258698@N04/">andronicusmax</a><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/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/why-tourabout-new-gds-is-perfect-for-small-business/" title="Why Tourabout&#8217;s New GDS is Perfect for Small Business">Why Tourabout&#8217;s New GDS is Perfect for Small Business</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/great-tourism-businesses-know-what-theyre-good-at/" title="Great Tourism Businesses Know What They&#8217;re Good At">Great Tourism Businesses Know What They&#8217;re Good At</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/whats-so-bad-about-travel-bloggers/" title="What&#8217;s So Bad about Travel Bloggers?">What&#8217;s So Bad about Travel Bloggers?</a></li>
<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>
</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>



Enjoyed this?  Share it with a friend or colleague.


	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="mailto:?subject=The%20Reason%20Most%20Small%20Businesses%20Fail%20to%20Succeed%20Online&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fthe-reason-most-small-businesses-fail-to-succeed-online%2F" title="E-mail this story to a friend!"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/email.png" title="E-mail this story to a friend!" alt="E-mail this story to a friend!" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />email</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fthe-reason-most-small-businesses-fail-to-succeed-online%2F&amp;t=The%20Reason%20Most%20Small%20Businesses%20Fail%20to%20Succeed%20Online" title="Facebook"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/facebook.png" title="Facebook" alt="Facebook" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />facebook</a>
	<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelonlinepartners.com%2Fthe-reason-most-small-businesses-fail-to-succeed-online%2F" title="TwitThis"><img src="http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/wp-content/plugins/sociable/images/twitter.png" title="TwitThis" alt="TwitThis" width="24" height="24" class="ah_sociable" style="border:0" />twitter</a>


<br/><br/><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/travelonlinepartners/~4/qsIfzVEUeNI" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/the-reason-most-small-businesses-fail-to-succeed-online/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.travelonlinepartners.com/the-reason-most-small-businesses-fail-to-succeed-online/</feedburner:origLink></item>
	</channel>
</rss>
