The site Fiverr is asking the internet masses one question: What would you do for $5?

Hundreds of people are answering with an array of creative services and ideas. The site has grown into a bizarre and oddly useful online store. It’s a place to go for jewelry, language and music lessons, and professional video rants. But while you’re having fun browsing through strange offers, you’ll notice that many offer very practical services catering toward helping small businesses online. Fiverr offers a chance to explore creative and fun ideas for making your site pop. For hotels and travel sites looking to freshen up their online presence, just a few simple changes (and a few five dollar bills) will get a lot of attention.

Think it’s time for a some changes?  Here are some ideas of what you should be looking for.

Don’t Say it, Display it

There are a series of options for images with your company’s name for a logo. This fall season, one increasingly popular image is a logo carved in a pumpkin. For attracting customers to island or coastal destinations you could get your company name written in the sand or, for skiing resorts, the snow. Maybe you’re looking for more of a “just cuz it’s cool” theme. You can display your brand name written with glow sticks or in space. The options are nearly endless and if you can think of it, odds are you’ll find it on Fiverr.

Perhaps you wanna put on a show for your customers and make something that will keep eyes on your site.  The simplest solution is to create a video. Thankfully, on Fiverr, there’s a plethora of innovative and unique videos and video makers available to add an interactive element to your website. For travel companies hoping to add a worldly vacation feel you can show off your brand in a video featuring a talented desi drummer or send out a message to customers from inside a luxury airplane.  Or if you’re looking something that will entertain there are animals, puppets, or claymation. Maybe you have your own ideas in mind or even a ready script. Fiverr offers editors, voiceover artists, and even actors. You can be as involved or uninvolved in the process as you want but the premium quality and low cost stays the same.

Make some changes

Let’s say you’re coming up with new features for your site or the ones you have aren’t taking off. Maybe your website has looked the same way for longer than you’d like to admit. Giving your site a makeover can be expensive and intimidating. But selecting a few of the right people on Fiverr means you can amp up your presence and test what works/what doesn’t without spending a fortune.

Professionals on the site offer help naming (or renaming) new features or newsletters for your site. Others offer to create slogans that will get and keep potential customers’ attention. Many popular and well-reviewed people are willing to create new banners and headers for your site. If you want to add a little life to your site you could always add a little animation and interactive displays. Or if a change of scenery is all you need, you can get advice on changing color schemes or get a custom made background for twitter or YouTube. These small changes can completely change your website from stagnate to fun.

Make something to hold onto

There’s always the idea of stepping out of the web and taking your brand to the streets. Perhaps you just want to make something to give to loyal/potential customers and clients. There are a lot of offers on Fiverr to design business cards which are both useful and professional.  Time to try a new design?

For something a little more fun, there’s buttons, stickers, coffee mugs and anything else you can think off. Others on Fiverr offer to create or customize QR codes, a system that is now widely popular, for your site to put them on anything of your choice. These items make for a fun gift and take your brand off the screen and into the world without the expensive street team campaign.

Need some Strategic Help?

If you’re not sure whether you need to spend five bucks or five hundred on your marketing this season, take our free small business assessment.  While we can’t vouch for everybody on Fiverr, we certainly know good marketing when we see it.

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City Hall at the Farewell Party

This past week I’ve been in San Francisco enjoying sunny weather and hours of discussion about tourism at the US Travel Association’s International Pow Wow 2011.  I attended as a journalist, which is by invitation only, so I’m very grateful for US Travel’s extension of an invite to what is a fantastic event!

Pow Wow is where the buyers and sellers of travel come together to discuss itineraries, trip ideas, group tours, and at the end of the day, ink business deals.  Millions (or perhaps billions?) of dollars of business is made, mostly encouraging international travelers to visit the United States.

Journalists are invited to look for story ideas and again to encourage international coverage of the states.  I attended press conferences as well as had a number of one-on-one meetings with companies, from boutique hoteliers to CVBs and destination management companies, and wanted to share with you the top two trends I spotted at this year’s Pow Wow.

Farm to Table, Local Food

I’ve talked about this trend before – sometimes it’s called the “100 mile movement” or the “source local” movement, but the Pow Wow’ers are calling it the “farm to table” movement.   It is just the fact that the food and drink being served is sourced locally whenever possible.  This has some great marketing opportunities:

• Hoteliers and B&B owners, could you consider starting a garden?  Or at least serve with foods from local suppliers – this gives you a huge marketing opportunity.  Hate gardening?  Offer guests the opportunity to do some tending; you may find more take you up on it than you think.  The Authentic Seacoast does a great job of embracing local food.
• Tour guides, you should be partnering with locals to offer chocolates, wine, coffee, or whatever makes sense on your tour.  It gives you a great local flair and is a cross-promotion and upsell opportunity.  You can allow guests to buy the chocolates (for example), and the chocolate company can promote your tours in their own work.  Win-win.  Evergreen Escapes does a lot with local food (and wine) suppliers and it’s part of what makes them stand out in a tough market.
• Travel agents, what if you used this local moment to get yourself some great visibility and PR?  Offer a great “farm to table local dining guide for your expert destination here” with every booking made, even if it’s just a one off hotel or tour booked.  If you know your destination that well, it should be easy-peasy to put together, format, and send with confirmed reservations.

Embrace the Quirky

Quirky Ice Cream in San Fran

Another really encouraging trend I’m seeing more of this year is what I call “embrace the quirky.”  No longer do we have to stick to those tired old cliches, but destinations (and their small business counterparts) are amping up the quirky tours, quirk accommodation, and quirky foods even.

I love quirky marketing because it is an opportunity to let your hair down and have some fun.  Last time I checked, the people who you are working with in travel and hospitality are, uhm, on their vacation.  Don’t you owe it to them to have some fun?

I could go on all day about quirky tourism, like the bourbon and cornflakes ice cream at Humphry Slocombe in San Francisco.  Other examples that come to mind:

• Dead Apple Tours – drive around Manhattan in a hearse.
• Kimpton Hotels – their boutique hotels have either a goldfish or a rubber duck as a mascot. (And some hotels have other animals as persuasive marketing tools.)
• North Carolina has a Quirky Pirate’s Trail downloadable itinerary.  The eye patch is a nominal charge extra, I’m afraid.

How could you throw something quirky into your marketing mix?  I am not saying you need to quirkify your entire business, but having 1 package or service that is TOTALLY OMFG WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING, gets people talking, and draws attention to your other packages as well.  And you may be surprised that the weird thing is what people end up buying, because at the end of the day, travelers are just dead curious.  (Pun intended if you’re on the Dead Apple Tour.)

And did you hear…?

You heard about our TOP Three for Free, right?  There are a lot of opportunities mentioned here, but where to focus your time (and money)?  What events, like Pow Wow, should you be attending?  Talk to us – we’ll give you our advice on where to put your top three priorities – for free!

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South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive is one of my absolute favourite conferences – it’s a deep dive full of fun, networking, and education, all in Austin Texas, one of America’s most livable cities.

Last year we featured four “lessons learned” from conversations and talks heard in the hallways, convention rooms, and cafes of Austin.  Here’s a quick rundown of last year’s list – they’re still all very relevant, so if you missed them, they’re all worth a few minutes of your attention:

• Marketing is About Math & Creativity
• 3 Lessons Learned About Building a Community
• In Life & Business, the First Guy Takes All of the Risk
• Can travel communities be sustainable?

My experience this year at “south by” was just as kick-ass awesome, but slightly different.  I wasn’t consuming quite as much content, but spending a lot of time deepening my relationships with some important business partners.  So instead of a series of updates this year, I’m just going to riff about tourism topics in general all here on one page.  Got a pencil?  You might want to take notes.

The Online Travel Sphere Continues to Evolve

My friends Becky and Sheila from Tourism Currents managed to put together a couple of travel/tourism related networking events, but on the whole, travel isn’t a huge topic at SXSW.  (Considering though that this year fashion was a new track, one could easily envision tourism coming to SXSW 2012.  You heard it here first. Though that could overlap with the topics covered at Phocuswright, so…. time will tell.)

However, I am hearing more and more conversations that seem to indicate that the wobbly world of online travel seems to slowly be evolving into a more cohesive space.

Travel bloggers/online publishers seem to be making smarter sponsorship deals with big brands.

Tourism boards are hanging out a bit more with tech startups – including the startups in their own region, imagine that!

Social media seems to be dripping is way into every aspect of the travel planning process.  I mean, come on – now you can even see who else is on your flight and wants to talk.  And finally destination marketers and travel suppliers are starting to get it.   Have you stopped for a second and looked past tweets and Facebook updates and thought about how you could work differently and more profitably with the World Wide Social Web?

Mobile is STILL hot.  Get with the program.

We’ve talked at length about mobile around these parts.  If you aren’t on the mobile bandwagon, then what the hell are you working on?  NOW is the time to check your website on a smartphone (soon to be known as “a phone”).  NOW is the time to double check your Google Places listing, as well as the Bing and Yahoo equivalents.  (Need help?  Our expert Sara has written up a post on how to double check your Google local setup.)

Should You go to SXSW 2012?

Just to wrap this up, I’m going to answer the question that I seem to get all the time: should you go to SXSW next year? I love it, but wouldn’t say this is for everyone.  The conference IS HUGE and you need some stamina to make it though, plus it can be expensive – hotels and travel get pricey because of the high demand.

I evaluate most conferences on three levels:

• Fun: SXSW is almost too much fun.  It’s almost like a mini holiday, so while you may be here for work, there’s plenty to see and do as well.
• Education: Unfortunately, SXSW doesn’t have the best content in the business. Often it feels like panels are picked because “they knew somebody,” or worse, the content doesn’t match up with the subject.  Common advice you’ll get at SXSW is that the “real content is found in the hallways,” and it’s true.  Now, having said that, there are thousands of panels, so there is bound to be some good stuff if you’re willing to sift for it.
• Networking:  Tourism isn’t here in full force, but what may be of interest to you are the other niches around travel that could provide some great partners and joint ventures for your business.  Writers/content publishers/published authors, advertising networks, videographers, and software vendors are just a handful of the people you’ll be able mix and mingle with, often good for some fresh perspectives on what you’re doing.

Regardless, I’ll be in Austin in March 2012.  Will I see you there?

P.S.  - Did you hear about our new consulting packages?

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Whew.  2010 has been one hell of a year.  Facebook rose to prominence, Google kept tweaking its algorithm, and the tourism industry continued to shift and adjust to the changing attitude of consumers.   It’s certainly made for a lot of food of thought, so what I thought would be a nice way to end the year would be a quick recap of some of our most popular articles of the year.

January: Remarkable is the New Tourism

We started the year out talking about remarkable is the new tourism, and we featured the Authentic Seacoast who is killing it in terms of remarkable destination marketing.  They have more Twitter friends than people who live in their tiny village.  Powerful indeed.

February: Email can be Powerful, or Annoying

I talked through some powerful examples of how companies were getting email wrong (and screwing up their signup forms too).  Anyone who has tried to use an email list as a marketing tool knows that it works, but if you screw it up, you can become a total pain in the rear to your customer.  Perhaps that explains why our email newsletter clinic is so popular.

March: Lessons Learned from Tech Geeks

I love tech geeks – they have so much knowledge and love to share it.  In March, I attended my first South By Southwest (SXSW), a terrific tech conference down in the fashionable Austin Texas.  We highlighted several rounds of lessons learned here, including suggestions on building an online community, marketing with math AND creativity, and an interesting thought about risk.

April:  The Reciprocity Effect

One of our most popular articles of all time was this nugget about tourism and the reciprocity effect.  It’s a simple-yet-profound thought.

May: “New” Media Myths and Misconceptions

Perhaps one of our most fun podcasts of the year, but also one of the most valuable, was the one hour chat with Sheila Scarborough and Becky McCray on new media myths and misconceptions.   You’ll need a pencil and pad of paper for this one.

June: The Bloggers Dip

I think a lot of people resonated with this article because the “dip” (where you lose energy, focus, and stamina) happens not just with blogging but with many types of small business activities.

July:  Email Marketing Jargon

Email comes up again as another hot feature – this time, the email marketing jargon seen in many newsletter programs gets debunked and explained.

August:  How To Get More Online Reviews

Let’s face it, we all want more online reviews for our business on places like Yelp or Tripadvisor.  We featured a super simple suggestion by a friend of the TOP family which seems to be working like a charm.

September: Why Your Website Sucks

Whew.  It took almost 6 months, but our biggest and baddest launch ever was our snazzy new guide, Why Your Website Sucks.  It has gotten some fantastic reviews in the press and blogosphere, and for that, my coauthor Kelly Erickson and I are very thankful.

October: Online Tourism Trends at Blogworld

Another hot conference, Blogworld rocked my world – and it rocked tourism with lots of news you can use. Experiences, mobile, and talking to our non-travel friends were all themes.

November:  From Fun to Hell

November was pretty interesting, as started the month in hellish business experiences and ended in fun tourism marketing.  Guess we’ll call this one even.

December: Ending Assumptions

Perhaps it is wishful thinking to hope that some will incorporate this into their 2011 New Year’s resolutions, but it certainly was an interesting time to talk about not working with assumptions.

Happy Holidays, dear TOP Readers!  From myself and the team, we thank you for hopping aboard for the journey and look forward to next year’s new and exciting destinations.

Photo by sun_dazed

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Last week I attended #SoMeT, the Social Media Tourism Symposium. This is the first year for the event, but it really got my attention for a one huge reason:  The location was “open sourced.” Hotels and destinations pitched themselves to host the event, and then potential attendees voted on those pitches.  That’s a very unique approach, but so open and such a great way to gather interest and investment from the meeting attendees, I’m sure we’ll see this becoming more common.

The SoMeT team has done a fantastic job of promoting involvement with the exhibitors and attendees before the event itself.  Any meeting planner would be wise to use this event as a case study for online promotion. Let’s put it this way: the event doesn’t really have a website, yet every attendee is raving about it. Got social?

So anyway, what were the geeks at SoMeT talking about?  Here are some of the real gem takeaways.

What Exactly Is Social Media For?

I kept hearing things during this event that made me stop and ask: what exactly is social media for?

Tom Martin cited a campaign that started with a TV ad that didn’t get them any new followers. (It was only subsequent online pieces that worked.) Problem is, you don’t know if it was just a bad ad or not a good medium. He also spoke of using social media to change impressions, which is an interesting thing to think about. Do you have impressions that need changed?

Facebook. It’s BIG.

SoMeT finally changed my mind about the potential of Facebook. I still think it’s a crappy platform that’s a poorly managed business. But they’re slowly (ever, ever so slowly) moving in a very interesting direction, and this is the first time since I did the talk about Facebook with Mari Smith that I am really jazzed about FB. Sparkloft was also a sponsor and featured presenter, and they spoke about the concept that “Facebook knows what you ‘might like” – sort of like how Google is trying to guess what you are looking for.

The big moment for me was when the example of Delta building a booking engine onto their Facebook page. Yes, they are building on a platform they don’t have strong control over (and which has terrible support), but the trade off is that incredible insight into customer interest and likes. Airlines have always been good at data mining (in some cases), so it should be interesting to see how tourism destinations and smaller businesses are able to harness this data.

Other developments: Facebook is trying to fix up and rework their Facebook credits program, which could be possibly good for small outfits for online payment processing and a nice alternative to those of you using Paypal as your payment gateway.

There was also lots of talk at the conference about Facebook Ads – a few more tips were to link to your facebook page, and then have lots of great content there, versus pushing traffic out of Facebook – many folks reporting good conversion rates with this method, so get to work on those custom Fan Page tabs!

Also, this was the first time I’d heard from someone who was out of compliance for Facebook contests rules and got called out. So just follow the rules and you’ll be fine.

Innovation

There are many in the tourism world rocking it with some innovative ways to promote online. AJ Bombers, a restaurant who’s found massive social success, said: “The more social media innovation we created, the more traditional press we got.”

That’s good stuff. And AJ is smart – he’s always tying his promotions back to the bottom line. For him it’s easy – are there butts in the seats in his restaurant. It might be harder for you if your customers are coming from a little farther away. But as I said in last month’s newsletter, just because it’s hard doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.

SoMeT 2011

There were lots of other interesting topics – location based social media, Flickr, Youtube were just a few of the nuggets, but these were the trends I just couldn’t ignore.

If you’re looking at learning what’s hot and get some tips for your online presence, I suggest you consider SoMeT 2011. Also if you’re a DMO/CVB or destination, I’d encourage you to participate in the RFP pitch to have your location as the host. This is such a successful shift in event planning and I think even if you think you have no chance to win, you should throw your name into the hat for the experience alone.

Thanks to the organisers – see you next year!

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This year was my first year at Blogworld & New Media Expo, a popular new media conference held every year in Las Vegas.  I know many of the attendees as well as the conference director, so I was looking forward to it, and the event exceeded my expectations in every way possible.  The networking was superb, the session content fantastic, and the organization and delivery flawless.

I’ve had several people ask me my thoughts about Blogworld, so I’m going to review a few highlights of the session and attempt to do two things:

• Help those of you who didn’t attend decide if next year’s event will add value for you
• Share some takeaway business lessons and inspiration for those of you not interested in the conference, but curious what went on behind closed doors

Watch What Others are Doing

One interesting aspect of Blogworld was the tracks.  There were several – tourism, real estate, small business, music and entertainment.  But here’s what I thought was interesting – even if you weren’t a part of a track,  you could go anywhere, and some of the best tips I took away were from panels that weren’t anything to do with tourism.

I’ve always said that great business lessons can be found by seeing what’s happening in different verticals – as we all know, the travel industry is not always the frontrunner when it comes to technology – so at BWE, it was easy to snoop around and see what others are doing, and to copy it (or avoid it, in the case of mistakes).

Attending other tracks is also a great way to meet people.

Mobile.  Get on Board or Get Out of the Way.

I mentioned mobile in my trending topics from World Travel Market 2009.  In May, I said that mobile was a top post-recession travel trend.  Here, let me make this more clear:  READY OR NOT, HERE MOBILE COMES!!!

Sorry to shout, but just wanted to make sure you saw that.

The uniequivocal evidence is that your online presence must be mobile friendly.  That does not mean you need an app  - for many businesses this means a heavy investment in multiple handset platforms (no, not everyone has an iPhone.)

Have you loaded your website on a phone?  How did it look?  If it looks bad, fix it. Now.

My Panel – Creating a Great Reader Experience

As I may have mentioned earlier, I spoke at Blogworld, about creating a great experience for your web visitors, featuring some content from our Why Your Website Sucks guide.  We had a great session, some questions that came in via the streaming on Twitter.   I just wanted to thank everyone who joined the group for all the great feedback, including Mary Rarick, whose Tweet totally made my day:

As promised to the attendees, as well as those who asked for them, here’s a copy of my slides. (If you’re reading via email subscription or RSS, you might have to click through to see them.)

Scott Straton was the BWE keynote, and it was the best keynote ever.  LOVED it.  Totally set a great tone for the event, and was worth the admission fee.   Two great takeaways:

• Stop worrying about what the next big thing is.  Be GOOD at NOW.  (Couldn’t agree more – if you can’t get the basics right, bells and whistles will not help.)
• “When you are your authentic self there is no competition”

The Travel Track

I didn’t spend a lot of time in the travel track itself, mostly because a) I had appointments booked with joint venture partners and friends I wanted to see, and b) the topics weren’t the things I was wanting to focus on.

That’s not to say there wasn’t some killer information out there in travel.  Becky and Sheila from Tourism Currents (who you might remember from our new media myths podcast) sponsored an entire day of panel sessions, which I dipped in and out of.  There was a full house and lots of great stuff, including such juicy tips:

• Make friends with bloggers.  (Couldn’t agree more here!)
• You have to listen to what people are staying.  There are tools to filter out the noise.  ”You’re too busy” is not an excuse.
• One size fits all fam trips are over.  Custom trips where you setup the right experience for each media visitor is in. (I say, why wouldn’t you treat a journalist like any other customer?)
• Video is in.  Get some.

Travel Exhibitors – All About the Middleman?

I walked the floor at the conference to see who was exhibiting in the world of travel.  It was an interesting mix of people, and I had a nice chat with several companies who were exhibiting, including the nice folks at Kodak (who gave me a new gadget to try out – more on that coming soon.)

But one thing I couldn’t help but notice was how many “middlemen” there were on the floor.  There were people who would sell ads for you, people who would help publish your content elsewhere, people who would help you sell subscriptions, people who would help you find content.

I’m not saying anything about the quality of these businesses – I’m sure for the busy small business owner, some of these services can be helpful.  But I did not see any innovative services that would help those of us in tourism – only middlemen.   (Perhaps a nod to Scott’s comment on get better at now?)

It’s About People

My closing thought on Blogworld:  It’s all about people.  But you knew that already, right?  Two things I’d like to say about people.

People & Networking

One good friend of mine at Blogworld said to me, “Is it just me or do you know everyone here?”  I couldn’t help but agree – but my job is a connector and so when I go to conferences, that is what I do.  It comes back to me ten-fold, in terms of friendships, paying clients and joint venture projects.

On Twitter, someone said to me “you seem to go to all the conferences.”  That’s not true, because there’s a conference every week it seems.  I go to the ones where I all-but-guarantee myself a return on value.  Blogworld is definitely return on value.

People & Marketing

People are also at the heart of great tourism marketing.  I heard two people specifically talk about this at Blogworld, and in totally different circumstances.

• Mari Smith, my good Scottish friend (whom you heard me talk with about Facebook marketing for Travel – and she’s the one who put some bling into my namebadge above!) spoke about the “brand of you.”  It was a strong reminder that people like to do business with people, so don’t hide behind your brand.  Get out there and tell YOUR story.  Travel agents need to say why they’re right person to book your travel.  Tour guides need to say why they’re the right person to drive you or walk you around a place.  Hoteliers need to tell the story of how they are the right person to take care of you in a foreign place.
• Clay Collins has always been someone I respect and look up to.  I was talking about him at a drinks event thing I went to, and next thing I know he’s standing in front of me.  Very cool!  He also mentioned something about the personal brand, and said that going forward the strongest brands are brands that are about a person or a specific product.  (Translation: stop futzing with the logo, and figure out your story or your awesome product.)

Whew.  As you can see, I learned a lot at Blogworld, and I’m already working on my proposal for a session next year.  See you in Vegas

Lead Photo by nodomain1, other photos by Author

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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 just the transition of the seasons – our antipodean friends are winding down while things heat up in Europe and North America.

Or perhaps we’re all just sick and tired of this social media junk: Tweeting, Facebooking, Foursquaring, Search Optimising, Email Newslettering, Blogging, PR’ing… it is enough to drive one mad, right?

Recently I had a customer who bought our small business dashboard (it’s nifty – if you haven’t, check it out) say they just couldn’t get their to do list down to a manageable size. I understand: when everything you stop doing has a consequence, the only option is to work yourself into the ground, and hope for the best.

Or not.

First Things First

My opinion is unequivocal on this point: your first, and only, number one priority is to deliver a REMARKABLE product or service to your customer.  You simply must not lose focus on this – if you need to drop something to pick up the creative energy to deliver that hospitality, do it.  If you are cutting corners in order to make room for some new media thing, stop.  The heart and soul of a tourism business is you and what you offer – loose that and the rest is no longer important.  You can’t undo bad reviews or bad customer experiences, so you can’t let them happen.

Your special thing.  Your wow factor.  (Old school marketing jargon: USP – unique selling proposition).  That is number one – always, always, always. If that is failing you right now, please stop reading this and go fix it, right now.

Then What

After your key priority, your customers, are taken care of, then you need to prioritise the rest.  And, well, I am not you so it is hard to tell you what is important and what isn’t.  When I started out, someone gave me a piece of advice that said something like do whatever is the next step closer to an invoice.  There’s something to be said for that – after all, the reason most small businesses fail is because of a lack of cashflow, not because their idea was bad.  So, is there something you could do that would be a long term cash flow generator – finally writing up that new tour offering you have, or actually using that email list you’ve been building but afraid to use.  I like to take a long term view here – unless you actually do have a serious cashflow problem – and ask yourself what can you be doing that is building a good foundation for the long term.

After that, you just need to do some hard thinking.  But the most common problem here, as the customer I mentioned above has, is wanting to put everything on the list.  You are human (unless you’re an alien – *waves hi* – aliens please stop reading here.) You cannot do everything.  So stop trying.

The best advice I have here are the two things we mentioned in last month’s new media myths and misconceptions podcast:

• Tips from the world of yoga:  Do what you can do, and leave the rest behind.
• Tip from Theodore Roosevelt:  Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

To Learn More

If you need help managing your priorities, our TOP Travel Business Toolkit can help – it is filled with fresh perspectives, realistic tips, and suggestions on how to do more with less.  Click the banner to find out more and download a copy today.

Photo by shermee

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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 imagine having thousands of iPhone-carrying digital media folk makes for a very vivid experience of with location-based social media would be like should it become ‘mainstream.’

What Is It?

So, what is location-based social media?  It is essential taking a platform like Facebook – where you have friends you can share information and tips with – and takes it down to a very localised level, e.g. specific businesses and establishments.  Here’s the typical experience for a new location-based social media user:

• User creates an account, then adds friends who are also on the network.
• Next time user visits a cafe, museum, coffeeshop, airport… (s)he “checks-in.”
  • The app shows tips on what’s good and what’s not.
  • The app shows you your other friends who are there (or are nearby).
  • Advertisers can potentially send you special offers [we'll cover that in a minute].
• Your friends can see where you are and come join you.
• As you check-in more often, you can accumulate points and badges (“Jetsetter,” “Adventurer,” and “Explorer” are some of mine).
• The person who is the most regular visitor to an establishment can be crowned ‘Mayor’ – which many places are rewarding this virtual crown with real-world benefits.

As for the applications themselves, the two leaders in this space right now are Gowalla and Foursquare.

What Does it Mean for Small Business?

The reason this is important for small businesses is two-fold:

Location-based services allow customers to self-identify themselves as a patron of your establishment – and allow you to target them correspondingly.

Translation:  You can reward people for good social media behaviour.  Here are a few examples:

• Users can receive a free __________ on their 5th/6th/10th check-in.
• Foursquare Mayors get ______________ on every visit.
• Check in on your first Foursquare visit and get __% off your meal.

The application allows you to verify this kind of information – the user just shows you their phone – so it’s easy to track. Lots of businesses are offering this service to drive repeat business, and I think if you choose your offering properly, it can be a very cost effective marketing tool.

Location-based services are exactly that – location based – which offer a new paradigm of advertising that is targeted with laser focus.

Translation: You can serve someone an advertisement right when they are looking for it.  Here are a few examples:

• User checks-in to popular restaurant in town.  Cupcake van across the street highlights a special for you to stop by and sample if the restaurant doesn’t have dessert you like.
• The walking tour operator highlights last minute deals for those who have checked-in to the cafe nearby, politely mentioning the staff will put your coffee in a takeaway cup if you want.
• Patrons to the hotel bar are offered coupons for stopping into the restaurant for a meal. (I almost said something about offering them a room for the night.  Ooops – I guess it depends on what kind of hotel you run.)

Here’s an example of one of the special offers that was served to me when I checked in to one of my favourite coffee shops in Austin:

The chocolate place is just around the corner – who wouldn’t want a nice chocolate to go with the freshly brewed coffee they just ordered?  This is damn smart advertising.  Wow.

Where’s This All Headed?

I often have an open mind on such things, but for location-based social media, I’m pretty clear:  the only way this will work mainstream is if there is a dominant player.  Consider if there were three or four Tripadvisors in the world, or five Yelps – very different scenario than what we have now, right?

So for Gowalla and Foursquare, I think it’s a race to gain market share.  I’m not sure if they can make it, because more than likely either Facebook or Google will do one of two things:  build a competitive product, or buy them.  These  networks just don’t offer any value without big numbers.  As I sit here in Edinburgh writing this, these tools offer me as a consumer no value. There aren’t that many people, there aren’t any special offers, and few establishments have any reviews or tips….

If you’ve been scanning this whole time, read this part…

For now, small businesses should spend some time right now doing the following:

• Claim your profile listing on the networks so you can make sure the details are correct.  VERY IMPORTANT!
• Monitor what is said about you.  Yes, I’m afraid that the whole problem of everyone is a reviewer just got larger – and more personal.
• Investigate how large of a portion of their target market is using these apps. (Easiest way to find out is ask.)  Big enough portion to start doing some promotional efforts?

For many of you, the answer will be “nobody is on there, but I’m keeping an eye on it.”  For some, it will be “ooh – look at all these new potential customers.”  And for those of you in places like Austin, it will be “Oh my – this is where the party is!”

To Learn More

Need help crafting your ideal travel online marketing strategy or tweaking what you’ve got, location-based or otherwise?  We can help!  Be sure to have a look at all of the online marketing strategy resources we have – including DIY guides, simple but effective worksheets, and coaching.

Photo by William Hook

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I’ve just spent a few weeks in America’s Pacific Northwest.  Specifically, I’d like to reflect on the bustling city of Seattle – birthplace of Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft and other amazing brand names.  It’s also the home to the iconic coffee brand, Starbucks, who brought luxury coffee and the high-end café experience to countries throughout the world.

Starbucks has blanketed the Pacific Northwest with retail outlets.  It is rare to walk more than two or three blocks without seeing another Starbucks.  While the region has a plethora of other chain coffee chains, Starbucks remains visible and top of mind, without question.

But what does expensive coffee have to do with small businesses and tourism/hospitality?  A great deal.

Meet Monorail Espresso

If you’re in Seattle, opening a coffee house seems like a totally stupid idea.  How on earth could you survive?  But that didn’t stop the owners of Monorail coffee, a small coffee chain on Pike and 6^th avenue in downtown Seattle.    Keep in mind:

• There’s no iconic signage pointing you towards their establishment.  A neon sign says caffeine.   Persuasive, perhaps, but not outlandish or terribly visible. (it’s not on a skyscraper, folks)
• There’s no indoor seating, let alone free Wifi.  It’s a drive-through window on a sidewalk pavement.
• There’s no case full of different sandwiches, cakes, and pastries, only a few select options.  And by few, I mean 2 or 3 things.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right?  A tiny business about to be demolished by goliath for their lack of choice and ambience or experience, right?

How Monorail, the Underdog, Wins

Monorail coffee has queues as long as the block, and is doing bustling trade.  What’s the secret? They don’t need all the tourist trade or the traffic.  Monorail coffee isn’t something for everybody.  It’s really amazing coffee for somebody who appreciates excellent coffee without the bells and whistles. It’s a small business with little overhead, so the services they offer and the revenue they bring in are plenty (I assume – I didn’t ask).

But what makes them a winner?

• Their baristas pour some of the best coffee in Seattle.  The people who appreciate coffee talk, and those that respect them listen.  How do you think I found out?
• Their pastries are handmade the night before.  My chocolate chip cookie tasted of creamy butter, salt, fresh chocolate…as if someone’s grandmother made it fresh that morning.  People talk.
• Monorail dominates online media like Foursquare, Yelp, and other review sites – WITHOUT lifting a finger.  Looking for the best coffee in downtown Seattle?  Yelp says Monorail, not Starbucks.  So does him, and him, and him, and her, and her, and him, and her.  People like to do business with people they know, and before I even went I knew a great deal about the people at Monorail.  If you didn’t know anyone in Seattle but went online to find good coffee downtown, you wouldn’t find Starbucks, you’d find Monorail. Proof that having great products and services works.
• Monorail knows what their product and service is and who their customer is: coffee lovers.  It isn’t a café experience.  It isn’t a food and dining establishment.  They make the best coffee in downtown Seattle, no fluff and no hassle.  There’s nothing else in the way of their vision.
• Their service is next to none.  From the friendly smiles to the top-notch latte art, every staff member at Monorail knows what their ideal customer, the coffee lover, loves.  They overdeliver.  As a coffee fiend (come on, people, I’m an entrepreneur what did you expect?), I was blown away.

Ask Yourself

If a tiny coffeehouse can survive in the shadow of the almighty Starbucks, than surely you can do your special thing wherever you are.

• Do you know what your special offer is?
• Do you know who your special offer is for?
• Are you focused resolutely on improving and mastering your game, instead of worrying about what everyone else thinks or what the big guys are doing?
• Are you focused on a mind-blowing experience for your ideal customer?

Big doesn’t mean a winner.  Offering a quality product in line what consumers want is what is a big win.

Learn More

Need help understanding what it is that makes you special?  And how to find your ideal customers and explain that to them?  No problem: we can help.  Why not take our free assessment (be sure to tell us what’s bothering or worrying you), and we’ll make you the talk of the town, wherever  you are.

Photos by ChrisDag, Laura604

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I really can’t have predicted that today I would be writing about a volcano disrupting the travel sector.  But I suppose stranger things have happened, and the economic impacts of this event are just starting to surface.  The media are already talking about the death of many large businesses, such as airlines, but what about the small folk?  What should you do when disaster strikes?

It is an unfortunate reality that sometimes things will not go your way, whether on a large scale like the recent volcanic disturbance, or on a smaller localised scale.  But here are some tips you should implement, either right now or in the future:

• Operate in Crisis Mode NOT Panic Mode.  This is not the time to panic but a time to act with a cool head.  You should be operating according to a crisis plan – you have one, right?  If not you need to make sure you know how your business would operate should drastic conditions occur.  ”That could never happen” isn’t good enough.  Your crisis plan should include things like:
  • Contact names and a plan to reach out to your local tourism board, insurance provider, and of course your staff.
  • Will you need extra staff to come in to help manage contact with customers?
  • Trusted news sources – where will you be getting information?
  • Alternative arrangements for everything – plan before the crisis, not during!
• Distribute Frequent, Open Communications. Be sure customers know how to get updates from you – a special place on your website is easiest.  Make sure this is all setup so you can just turn it on when required.  Every communication you send out should state when it was updated, and include when your next planned update will be.
• Don’t be a jerk. I’m hearing stories about hotels doubling their rates for stranded passengers here in Europe.  Ugh.  Don’t be a jerk.  You don’t have to open the door for a free-for-all, but come on – do the right thing.  This is about hospitality, not making a fast buck.  If you were the one stuck, how would you want to be treated?
• Keep people busy.  If you have staff on salary who are kind of, well, sitting around your office, be sure to get them into something productive.  Could they be working on reservations, or heck even writing up those blog posts they’ve been meaning to do?  Cover the important tasks firsts, but there’s never an excuse to just sit around.
• Reach out and help a friend.  Pick up the phone and call all of your key suppliers and fellow businesses.  Check in and make sure they’re ok.  They say there is survival in numbers, and they might be right.  If nothing else it is good to talk to other businesses who are affected to share information.

This isn’t about PR.  This isn’t about covering your ass.  This is about doing the right thing – the right thing to ensure the health of your business and the safety and security of your customers.

If You Need Help

If we can do anything to help regarding the current crisis, do not hesitate to ask – we’re here to help.

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