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


In This Issue

We’re Moving
Hi,

Nice to see you here in the lounge as always. To start, we’ve got an important announcement: we’ll be moving! Just virtually, that is: our domain (the “http://www” bit) will be changing on October 22nd to better align to our new branding and service model. We’ve been super busy preparing all sorts of new and exciting stuff for you. Along with that change will be the official release of several new products and services, so you’ll want to watch out for that email!

With the new domain comes a new email address – which means our next communication to you could get lost in your spam folder. So be sure to look out for an email from us on the 22nd!

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Lessons from Television: Finding a Partner
We hate to admit pulling one of today’s top tips from a television program, but there – we have confessed. Here in the UK we have a programme called the Dragon’s Den, and it’s broadcast in other countries now too. Essentially it’s show where entrepreneurs go and pitch at a set of investor for money, and the investors (called the dragons) tear the entrepreneurs to shreds on television. You can see why it’s entertaining.

Anyway, this particular episode the dragons were on the road visiting entrepreneurs who had been on the show and didn’t get any money to see how they were doing. One entrepreneur was really struggling with a very lucrative offer made to her by a potential partner. Problem was she wasn’t so sure about partnering with that company.

The dragon’s advice? You shouldn’t wait until you need partners to start looking for them. Know who your ideal partners would be, or at least know the specific skills and personality of who you’re looking for. It’s like many things in life: if you wait until you need them to find them, it might be too late!

If you’re looking for a partner to service your online technology needs – from social media to search engines, from Flickr to Facebook – then why not consider us? We’re a small business to so we know how to use technology to achieve results, not hassle.

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Congrats to Tourism Whistler
A quick kudos and shout out to the Tourism Whistler travel media website for being voted the best in Canada. Check it out – it’s a real beauty. Here’s why I like it (in no particular order):

  • Super-Easy to use Navigation. When I choose something from the top menu, the items I get underneath are what I expect. No surprises is a good thing.
  • Prominent links to a social media presence. Whistler has easy-to-find links to both their Twitter and Facebook profiles. They’re easy to find, but they don’t get in the way, which is a perfect balance.
  • Great photography that complements the destination AND the content. The old saying about a picture and a 1,000 words is true. Whistler is an easy sell with all these amazing shots. But they’re used tastefully to enhance the user experience, not overwhelm it.

Would I change anything? Once you’ve worked your way down into a page in the content, if you click on the logo in the upper left hand corner, you leave the media area. If you want to return to the media homepage, you need to click the orange logo in the upper righthand corner instead. This is slightly confusing and could be easily addressed with some better wording and layout.

Another tiny, but useful tweak, is on the rotating images on the landing page. This site is aimed at travel media – so think about the audience. The photos have no captions, so if I was a journalist and wanted to use one, I’d have to contact you and ask “if I could use the 3rd photo on the rotating list.” Not so helpful. Captions would be such a nice touch, and they could possibly link to information about reusing photos or a photo pack.

Lesson Learned: Have you looked at your own website with a fresh perspective lately? Go and have a look. If you could use an external opinion – we can help. Our website review has a quick turnaround time and includes tips and tweaks that you can implement quickly to make a difference. And now’s the time, as we’re offering newsletter readers a 20% discount on all website audits through the end of October, making our web-only audit just £268 GBP / $444 USD. We’ll give you critical feedback, with suggestions that you can action straight away, at a cost effective price. Just click reply to let us know you’re interested and we’ll confirm all the details.

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Required Perusing: Google Sidewiki
If you haven’t heard, you should check out Google Sidewiki, a new product from the internet giant. In its simplest essence, it allows users to leave a comment about any page of your website! Sot of like a virtual post-it note, although other users need to access Google Sidewiki to see the comment (or leave one).

I’d suggest you have a poke around the website, because it’s an interesting concept. You might also want to leave a comment on Sidewiki yourself – why not be the first to comment on your own site? Otherwise, I wouldn’t panic just yet. It remains to be seen if this will take off – and if it does, a host of competitors will surely follow suit. It’s too early to call this “yet another Internet thingy to worry about” – we’ll keep an eye on this and report back as it develops.

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What’s troubling you?
We’ve had a few questions come in recently and we’d like to feature more of them. So, if you’ve got a burning question that you’d like to discuss in the public light, why not share it with our quick submission form.

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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.

Otherwise, thanks for listening and we’ll see you on the 22nd!!