The Hello Bar is a simple notification bar that engages users and communicates a call to action.

What To Do When Your Best Is Just Not Enough

June 14, 2010 HOT TOPics

Is there something in the air lately?  I’ve noticed a lot of small business owners feeling a bit stressed out, overstretched, and in general feeling in a bit of a funk. Perhaps we can  point to the economic situation, which some claim isn’t recovering in the way it should. Perhaps we can say that this is [...]

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Do You Need Pretty Pictures to Sell a Travel Product?

June 7, 2010 Website Content & Usability

I’ve just spent the best part of an hour wanderlusting at all the gorgeous websites in this roundup of inspirational travel website designs.  They are beautiful websites.  Some are more effective and usable than others, but all definitely easy on the eyes. I couldn’t help but notice the comment “Frederica” left: I noted that these [...]

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Online Buyers Beware: How to Restore the Trust Factor

June 1, 2010 Online Marketing Strategy

I’ve had many tour operators (and hoteliers for that matter) tell me something over and over again: People who buy online buy less, and often less expensive, products and services than offline customers do.

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Post-Recession Online Travel Trends

May 28, 2010 Online Marketing Strategy

Quick Note: Our big spring blog clean ends TODAY! If you missed it, click here for details. I’ve been reviewing a recent article about post-recession trends in travel with a great deal of interest; it was written by eMarkter, a company that does a LOT of great market research across a number of sectors.  The article [...]

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Does your blog need a spring clean?

May 24, 2010 Blogging

Summer is just around the corner (or, well, winter for our antipodean friends!), so is it time to start thinking about some spring cleaning on that blog of yours?  We say yes – just in time for our limited-offer Big Spring Blog Clean!

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What Reality TV Can Teach You about Social Media

May 19, 2010 Online Marketing Strategy

I’ve really been enjoying a television “reality TV” programme that has been featured here on Channel 4 recently: Three in a Bed.  They take three small B&B owners and each takes a turn staying in the others’ properties.  After each stay, the couple then gets to decide how much they think the property is worth [...]

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New Media Myths and Misconceptions

May 17, 2010 TOP Radio Podcast
TOP Radio

I’m really excited to share with you this month’s TOP radio podcast, for two reasons. The first is that this month we’re addressing new media myths and misconceptions – tackling a lot of the issues that I hear about every day.  The second is that joining me is two very good friends:  Sheila Scarborough and [...]

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Making Your Website Easy from the Start

May 12, 2010 Website Content & Usability
whats on

One of the biggest battles of building a great travel website is getting your new visitors comfortable enough to take their first step.  I don’t know of any buying lifecycle that’s completed in only one step, so no doubt you’ll require a few pages to educate your readers on your offering and then entice them [...]

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Is Location-Based Social Media Good for Your Business?

May 10, 2010 HOT TOPics

So, everyone’s been gagging to know my thoughts on location-based social media – it seems to come up in conversation on a regular basis.  To be honest, I really didn’t see the value until my recent trip to Austin for South by Southwest.  Austin is very Wifi and digital-orientated to begin with, so you can [...]

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What’s Your Pink Spoon?

May 5, 2010 Online Marketing Strategy

Tina Forsyth & Andrea J. Lee have a great marketing program called Pink Spoon Marketing.  The premise is that the best marketing you can do is to replicate what ice cream shops do:  give people a sample, and you’ll swing more buyers into making a purchase.  It’s a fantastic idea and very powerful – lots [...]

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