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In the Lounge ~ April 2010
helping small businesses in travel & tourism with online technology

Spring has sprung in the northern hemisphere, while summer is ending in the south.  But still – doesn’t this look like a great place to have a meeting?

In This Issue

A Word from Andy
Hi All,

I find it unreal to think that since we last spoke here in the In the Lounge newsletter, I’ve still been travelling.  It’s been a wonderful trip – the Pacific Northwest in the US/Canada is a fabulous place, and I’ve met some great people and had some unreal tourism experiences.  You’ll be seeing some of the names and faces here at TOP in the future, so stay tuned.

I’m being reminded of a powerful lesson:  to understand tourism products fully, you have to experience them.  That’s why all the waitstaff in a restaurant need to try the food.  That’s why baristas need to taste the coffee.  And that’s why your teams need to experience the tours/destinations/experiences/services your offer.  How can you sell a destination if you’ve never been there?

Another thing I thought you might enjoy – I was interviewed by Breaking the 9 to 5 Jail recently about my views on passion and entrepreneurship.

We’re busy working on our latest DIY resources as well as a recent rush of questions and project requests.  Could you use a hand as your season starts to warm up or slow down?  If so, don’t hesitate to click reply and give us a shout.  We’re here to help!

Onwards and upwards.
Andy
Managing Director, Travel Online Partners

PS – We’ve made some updates to our coaching and consulting packages.  Be sure to take a look.

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Understanding Your Website Performance & ROI
It seems everyone is getting hung up on a scary-but-important topic: website analytics. With all the fancy terms and plethora of charts, numbers, and figures, it’s no wonder people think it’s scary.

But it’s damned important. Statistics on how your website is performing have a direct correlation to return on investment and your overall online revenue.  How can you operate without this data?

Fret no more: we’re de-mistifying Google Analytics in our latest DIY Guide:

Understanding Success with Google Analytics

If you’ve not installed an analytics tracking package, or if you did and aren’t using it, then this guide is for you.  What would you do knowing what:

  • the content  on your website nobody likes
  • the most popular words that people type into Google to find you
  • the marketing campaigns that send you the most (or least) traffic
  • the percentage of visitors that end up making a purchase, and at what points the most people “abandon” their transaction?

If this kind of data would help you out, then we’ve got the tips you need to start taking advantage.  That information is out there, and the Google Analytics tracking tool is free. What’s not to like?

Click here to find out more about the guide and download your copy today!

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Latest TOP Articles
As promised, we’ve been featuring lots of news and thoughts from South by Southwest.  Here’s some of the most popular articles published this month:

Did you know that if you have an RSS reader, you can subscribe to article updates? It’s a great way to get timely updates on articles when they come out.  (If you don’t know what an RSS reader is, click through to the page, where we explain it all.)

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When you’ve finished reading this month’s newsletter, be sure to:

  • whitelist emails from “www.travelonlinepartners.com” so that they don’t end up in your Spam folder!
  • forward a copy to a friend who might enjoy these tips and tricks – there’s always a seat for a new friendly face.
  • click reply and let us know if there is anything we can do to help or if there is a topic you’d like to hear more about.