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

Read this October special edition online.

A Tale of Two Audiences
As promised, we’ve moved! As you may have noticed from the name of this email address, our new website is live and as promised we wanted to drop you an email and let you know, given all the great new resources you have available. The new link or URL matches our new brand name:

http://www.travelonlinepartners.com

With Travel Online Partners (TOP), you’ll find a wealth of resources for small businesses, including news and articles, do-it-yourself guides, and new one-on-one consulting packages. Go and have a look – I think you’ll be pleased. I’ll wait.

Ok, now that you’ve had a look around – a little bit of background I call “The Tale of Two Audiences…”

The old domain was launched several years ago as a web portal for a photography business. That business eventually went by the wayside and the site took on more of a travel feel, officially launching the blog in December and the services shortly thereafter. Unfortunately the services were aimed at a market different to the travelling audience. There was some overlap but not a lot.

I made a mistake. I’d forgotten to think about my website from my audience’s perspective.

The new website you see now is the result of several months of thinking hard, working harder, and collecting a lot of feedback on the real issues facing the online travel community. So, what are the lessons I learned from this little experiment?

  • Never ever forget about your audience. Do what works for them, not for you.
  • Sometimes doing the right thing is hard. Hard work, hard decisions. But it’s the right thing.
  • Don’t be afraid to change what isn’t working. But be damn sure you know the reasons why you’re changing, or you’ll just end up with something else that doesn’t work.

If your website needs a fresh perspective, have a look at this TOP article: 10 Things That Should Be on Every Small Business Website. And then consider a TOP website audit to check in and make sure things are on track.


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New Resources for You at a Discount
If you’re on this list then you’ve already received a copy of our first guide, the 7 Common Mistakes Business Make When Going Online. Hopefully you’ve gotten some value out of it and you’ve put to work some of the tips, exercises, and suggestions in those materials.

If you loved the 7 Common Mistakes, you’re gonna LOVE the new guides from Travel Online Partners. These do-it-yourself guides tackle all the nuts and bolts of the web in simple language with easy-to-implement tips and tricks. Our free guides, like the 7 Common Mistakes, have been rebranded as our TOP Secrets. Our first intermediate guide has been released and we’ll have a further expert guide out on November 10th. But first – check out: Just What Works – Write Right Online.

I was always frustrated with the lack of simple, easy-to-implement writing and copywriting techniques for small business owners. Everything is aimed at technical folk; the other option is to hire an expensive writer or agency who will charge you a fortune. And to be honest you don’t need it. A few simple tweaks is probably all you need. Hence why TOP has launched this guide.

I think Nate Damm, a small business entrepreneur himself, says it best:

To me, this guide seems perfect for the person/business owner who is just getting started in the area of marketing their business, or themself online. The book is very easy to follow, it’s basically like a step-by-step guide. The copywriting tips are extremely useful. Those are all good general rules to follow for anyone publishing their writing online. GREAT.

You’ll find all the details here on the website.

But Wait!

There’s a special offer for newsletter subscribers! The guide is £17, and there’s an option for a guided tour giving you one-on-one coaching of your writing techniques and style. This option is £77, but we’re offering the guided itself for FREE if you purchase the guided tour. That means you get the guide plus two hours of email-based writing coaching for only £60 (that’s just shy of $100 USD.) To take advantage of this offer, DON’T click on the “buy now” on the sales page. After you’ve reviewed the content on the website, use the link below that is only available to newsletter subscribers:

Yes I’d like the Write Right Online with Guided Tour – Special Offer for Newsletter Subscribers. This offer has expired.


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

  • whitelist emails from "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 at the regular time next month.
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