Travel Plan Information

14 Serious mistakes of your tourism brochure marketing strategy.

This is a long article with many parts of interesting skills and
knowledge and up to now is the best article about brochure
marketing in the world; In fact, it’s the first chapter of
Advanced Tourism Brochure Marketing Package published by
T-IM.com (

http://www.tourism-internetmarketing.com/ebook/tourism_brochure_m

arketing_ebook.htm); therefor, its content is also great for any
businesses which have a marketing brochure.

This article is so comprehensive and has 2 parts:

Part 1: The first 7 serious brochure marketing mistakes

Part 2: The second 7 mistakes more to be revealed.

Due to the length of the whole article make difficult to read
and remember for reader , I just supply the part 1. At the end
of this article, there will have a link to the part 2 and
Friendly print version of the whole article. Keep reading.

Part 1: The first 7 serious brochure marketing mistakes

A well- planed and carefully-designed tourism brochure will
indeed increase the services business; especially it is the
business of tourism. But many tourism marketers don’t make
effective use of their brochure and leave out important
elements. That is a cost, a real damage for your business. If
you have a marketing tool to use, you must ultimately exploit
its profit; if you can not take advantage of the promotional
tool, the money and time of publishing the tool is one of the
biggest costs. The second cost is the lost prospects caught by
your competitors who use this same tool at its most power. And
the third created by the weakness of your integrated marketing
plan – you do not know how to use one among many of your
marketing tools effectively, how can you use the rest to get the
most benefit of your marketing mix.

Mistake 1: Brochure is created as a sole fighter in the battle
field of marketing. It is use lonely, separately with no support
from other tool of marketing. There is no marketing plan as a
base for your brochure. We create the brochure because the other
has it, even a lot of it. And second reason is if we do a travel
and hospitality business without having a brochure, it seems not
to be a tourism business.

- In fact: Any advertising, including brochure, should be a part
of the total marketing plan for a business. If your marketing
strategy determines that tourism brochure are an effective
method for reaching your target audience, then carefully design
the best brochure possible.

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Mistake 2: The most expensive misconception is that brochure
sell- that a prospect will read the entire of the brochure with
glowing adjectives, and sign a contract as a result of it.

- In fact: A brochure, in this context, is a pamphlet or booklet
that describes an organization and its function, or a hotel with
its services… it maybe used to explain all or a segment of an
organization or a services supplier. For example: we can design
a brochure about our travel company, includes company’s mission,
portfolio and all kinds of services …we supply.

We can also design a brochure about one of its favorite
services, such as a special tour-to promote it only!

A good tourism marketing brochure should finish its duty as a
good overview of an origination, a destination, a hotel or
travel company, inspires the reader to the next step if he (she)
is interested in the supplier’s services.

If a brochure catch the eyes of a random visitor or traveler who
has no exact determination of buying or using, get him reading
and put a good impression on the services supplier’s image,
often is the feeling about a professional, it can be perceived
as a good marketing brochure, although the reader do not take
the next step then- just because he has no demand at that time.

That is the situation when a brochure does its responsibility of
branding in the mind of a future client. It is a good job for a
normal brochure.

Mistake 3: Another familiar trap in the mind of a brochure
publisher is the concept that people read brochure thoroughly
and carefully.

-In fact: A brochure, no matter how attractive or thorough, is
usually simply glanced at. It maybe read in conjunction with
other materials, to get an overall impression of a company. But
it rarely devoured like a novel.

Mistake 4: The brochure doesn’t contain all the elements of a
competent marketing message.

-In fact: Bit and pieces of information aren’t enough. Your
brochure should take your prospects through your message from
the beginning to the end. It should provide all the facts and
persuasion necessary to get your prospects to take whatever
action you want him to take.

Mistake 5: The brochure doesn’t contain a detailed list of
services you offer.

-In fact: A prospect often looks at your services list to sees
if you provide what they need. It they don’t see what they want,
they may assume you don’t provide that services and call another
one. Make sure you list all the services your visitor looks for.

Mistake 6: The brochure doesn’t explain how you differ from
other competitors. There is no advantage of unique selling
position for you. You look like the rest, and the rest is same
you.

-In fact: If your prospects don’t know your competitive
advantages, they often don’t have a clear reason to use or buy
your services than another supplier’s.

(Here I tell you more about your competitive advantage:

A competitive advantage, in nature, is your unique selling
position which is the foundation of your marketing strategy. All
the marketing tools are used interactively in a period along a
strategic plan of marketing your services. This marketing plan
originates from many factors, such as the holidays season, the
target visitors, the marketing budget, the stander of our
services, the market trend, the competitors’ marketing
strategy…but the most important is your target group.

You can discuss about this useful marketing topic in Tourism
Internet Marketing Forum to enhance your internet sale as well
as receive the great forum benefits.

http://www.tourism-internetmarketing.com/parent_page/Frequently_A
sked_Question.htm#benefit

Therefore, if you can figure out exactly what your target group
of a marketing plan is, focus tourism attract them by a target
brochure, you will know how to create the competitive advantages
for your brochure marketing campaign.)

Read the part 2:

Part 2: The second 7 mistakes more to be revealed.

http://www.tourism-internetmarketing.com/brochure_marketing/touri
sm%20_brochure_marketing_index.htm

…………………………………..

All articles of David Kan published in this website can be
reprinted or posted on other website as well as the author ‘s
biography keep intact.

Adventure Travel Destination marketing

There are several sites that offer great opportunities for travel. Each person in this world likes to go on vacation. It is very important to choose the kind of place as a holiday destination. Before choosing your destination is very important that you discuss with your family.

When you connect to the Internet and search for travel companies that have many websites. The marketing of an adventure holiday has become very popular these days. Destination.com adventure tourism is one of the websites that provide adequate information on suppliers of adventure travel.

This site has a lot of things like information on car rental companies that are local activities, adventure, variety, information on various types of hotels and resorts. There are many tourism service providers around the world today. These providers can access the pages of this site Direct Marketing.

find many opportunities for them in those sites. In addition to the suppliers of passengers also have several advantages over the site. So if you are interested in marketing the destination or an adventure holiday adventure to expect from this site /> As a traveler can visit many specials and deals they offer. There are many travelers who like to go on an adventure trip, once a year. There are some travelers who prefer to deal directly with the owners of the hotel and local tour operators.

They want to deal directly with them, because it see prices and deals on package holidays. Apart from that, there are many privileges that are offered by operators and hotel owners.

When you enter this site the different types of information and blogs written on this subject. Also mixed with many other travelers who can share their experiences and criticisms.

This site also has a special page called the festival and this page provides a list of travel experts. These experts can also provide knowledge of special offers and packages. Apart from that, you also have the guide pages.

expert advice travel. Destinations.com adventure travel is the site that has become very popular these days. This site is actually part of the Axis network marketing for tourism.

If you choose local hotel owners and contact them directly, so you can enjoy the local activities better. You can contact the owners of hotels and local operators to market destinations using this site. There are many adventure travel destinations in the world.

You will receive information on all the websites of destination marketing. Online booking options are also available on this site. Apart from that, there are many other services that are available to the marketing of adventure. So the best right now.

Blogs – Communication for the Masses. Internet Marketing

Blogs (web-logs) like most everything else on the internet started humbly and exploded in popularity. Blog sites now offer amateur and professional bloggers alike a means of mass communication. The degree of separation between you and a blogger is probably less than six; between you and a blog that number reduces quickly. When is the last time you visited a blog? Chances are if you’re any kind of internet user at all, you have landed on one at least once during a search session. That’s how prevalent they have become.

What is a blog? It’s is a chronological record of entries with the most current entry being the first displayed. They are used to rant, rave, promote and sell. There are political blogs, travel blogs, fashion blogs, business blogs and personal blogs. It’s basically a form of participatory journalism where the subject matter can be about anything. The biggest differentiator in the blog arena today is the quality and correctness of content.

How well is this blog connected to the source of information they purport to know about? Is this a reliable source of information or is a watered down version of facts derived from other watered down sites. With the ability of most anybody to blog these days, it is very easy for someone to simply log onto a site and begin a tirade that may be rooted in fiction or fantasy. How will you know which is which? Using some common sense when interacting with a blog can avoid getting taken in by some bad information.

Be subjective in using a blog. Start with determining what the blogs specialty is and compare that to what you want to find. Simply put, don’t go to an entertainment blog for information other than entertainment. Once you choose one, a simple search of the history can give you some insight into their credibility. If you can, check into who subscribes to it and what other media outlets use the blog for information content. It’s safe to say that if a main stream media outlet is using a blog as a content provider, that it will suffice for information in that field. When considering blogs, like considering anything else on the internet, taking face value comes with associated risk. It’s always best to do some research yourself.

So now you’re ready to create your first post. If you haven’t done a lot of writing, this may prove to be the most difficult part. If you don’t have a lot of experience, keep your posts short. Develop momentum. Get the hang of it. Stick to what you know. You probably take for granted the fact that you have a great deal of specialized information that others will find helpful-possibly even fascinating.

So now that you have gained experience and confidence blogging, are you ready to start your own blog? Don’t be put off because it sounds difficult. It really isn’t. You won’t need to become a geek. However, you will have to make some decisions about how you want your blog to look. You’ll have to decide on a “theme” meaning the colors, number of columns, and the overall look and feel of your blog. You may want to include your picture. If so, you’ll need a digital copy. Regardless, this is something you can tweak as you go.

Finally, I would suggest that you be patient with yourself. Writing is like anything else. The more you do it, the better you get. If you have a little talent, and stick with it, you’ll eventually get into the rhythm and joy of it.

Hotel Marketing 2.0 – Guest Care And Psychological Tactics To Find Your Way On Tripadvisor

The growing weight of Internet in the hospitality industry has led some hoteliers of little independent hotels to the misleading impression that they can easily “do business on tourism with more concerns for the web that for the hotel property.”

The problem is that “good advertising never sold a bad product.” The rules to be successful in hospitality are always the same, and, for the joy of the “good product hotels”, Internet is the most cost-effective, powerful distribution and advertising medium. But we know “the beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, and the new beholder we all know it’s TripAdvisor.

I would therefore tell you how, in the modern so called “Web 2.0″ tourism market, past and present meet together; as the “simple” and ancient art of “hospitality” saved a Barcelona Hotel from a very bad review on Expedia’s most powerful child.

THE “PABLO HOTEL” AND ITS RICHER BROTHER

In a recent trip to Spain I stayed in a 3 star hotel, I’ll call it the “Pablo hotel” just to be sure to not escape the commonplaces…let’s say it was “picturesque”: dark, noisy, small rooms with broken air conditioning. A few steps from the “Pablo” there was another 3 star hotel that, for the same rate, offered spacious and better furnished rooms, bathrooms with marble baths and a modern lounge bar.

I returned home to write my first review on TripAdvisor…with a very soft and ironic tone, I just wanted to warn other travelers that, for the same price, they could lodge in a “better” hotel, but…

THE HOTEL WAS PROVIDING HOSPITALITY AND NOT JUST “RENTING ROOMS”

The Pablo Hotel was managed by a family that, dealing everyday with many problems due to lack of staff and resources, tried in any way to pay attention to its guests and to do anything possible to cater them with a personal, caring service.

Obviously this management could not spend a substantial budget on the hotel structure and services as the competitor, but this not means it had forgotten the basic foundations of the job.

During my stay I have known people who, with questionable results, worked hard day and night to accommodate guests in the best way possible. I felt like home, surrounded by friendly and forthcoming hosts.

The result? I didn’t have “the guts” to publish my negative review.

GIVE YOUR GUESTS SOMETHING “PERSONAL” TO WRITE FOR

Whether you like it or not, there is always something “personal” that impels us to write a review, a subtle interests of “rewarding” or “punishing” the hotel staff.

When the “guest care” is successful, customers will want to return in some way “the favor”, to make a “small gift” to a friend that housed us with heat and attention.

This is a critical point, because TripAdvisor’s rankings are based not only on the

1. quality of votes

but also on the

2. time-frequency of reviews

Satisfaction for the attention received and the friendly relationship that develops between client and staff of the hotel leads to positive reviews and also pushes many more travelers to write on TripAdvisor (as on the other infinite forums and travel blogs on the web).

The same people perhaps wouldn’t write a positive review just in case the hotel rooms were simply elegant and equipped with large plasma TV or Jacuzzi.

We mustn’t forget that Web 2.0 is founded on interactive social relationships – kindness has still a great effect. And if your guests “like you”, you’re creating a small army of advertisers that will serve your marketing:

1. for free
2. in a viral way
3. in the most effective way – since their “marketing campaigns” are perceived as unbiased and caring only for the good of the readers.

THERE IS NO SUCH A THING LIKE A “OBJECTIVE” OR “UNBIASED” TRIPADVISOR’S REVIEW

Many hoteliers complain that the negative reviews of their hotel are not “objective”, forgetting that the positive ones are not different; the personal impression that a hotelier/staff gives its guests affects all the rest and is the first and most important factor that is evaluated, so important to influence the perception of the hotel itself…

Excluding the cleanliness of the room, all the rest it’s widely varying according to the impression that the human relationship within the hotel has left; the rooms may seem small and bare, or not too large and neat depending on this kind of relationship and the mood you’re able to create. We’ll never read this kind of psychotic review:

”The staff was so welcoming and friendly, I felt like home. The Hotel sucks.”

If you leave a good impression on your guests, they will watch the hotel with the same eyes, more undemanding and less inclined to the criticism.

APPROACH TO WEB 2.0 BASED ON THE INTERNET VS APPROACH BASED ON THE “CUSTOMER”

TripAdvisor is just one of the infinite international web sites that world travelers use to exchange opinions and suggestions on hotel structures.

There are 2 approaches to address the challenge of Web 2.0 (read “the Customer-centric Web”).

A. Find the latest technology to monitor any Blog, forum and social network existing site on the planet, spend a lot of money and time and just be sad of negative reviews;

B. Prevent the problem, offering the best experience possible for its guests not on the Internet but inside the hotel.

A negative review is always possible, but if it’s surrounded by 30 positive reviews the problem probably belongs to the guest, and TripAdvisor’s readers know it well. In the same way, hotelier’s replies are important, but useless when found in the middle of 30 negative reviews.

Besides that TripAdvisor most of the time doesn’t publish hotelier’s replies nor care about them, since its final client is the traveler (not too strange, if you think it’s the same final client of Expedia).

IT’S NOT (ONLY) ABOUT MONEY

In a recent conference about Search Engine Marketing in the Travel Industry I heard a conversation between 2 hoteliers: “Travelocity can invest too much money on Paid Advertising, we cannot compete, we have not the resources to do the same marketing on the Internet.”

Travelocity is currently using sophisticated analytic tools to extract, from its reviews, important indications on common problems of travelers. This is simply to give a better customer service.

Very often we don’t considers that bigger Hotel Chains or well developed OTAs that have great financial assets also have the knowledge necessary to:

A. Develop a strategy of differentiation from the competition = provide a single value to their guests;

B. Devote themselves to guest care, to match travelers’ desires and expectations = they give customers what they want, and customers do not want “a room”, but something more difficult to offer.

Money is only the bright face of the medal, but the real difference is the greater emphasis on the wishes and needs of customers, that is all Web 2.0 is about. Not about Blogs, Java, Widgets, Platforms…

Small hotels can customize guest experiences and create a warmer and more personal atmosphere, and they don’t have to miss this chance.

GOOD ADVERTISING NEVER SOLD A BAD PRODUCT

Internet is not the goal, is merely a means. A means that you can use at your own good or bad, and this makes a huge difference: is difficult to imagine hotels’ offline brochures lacking as many hotel web sites.

This said, no good web site can promote a bad product. And hotels designed to rent rooms instead of host of people with “special” and “personal” attentions, are definitively a bad product.

Ytb Marketing Tips-from an Expert

You can find all kinds of well meaning people giving advice on YTB marketing tips, including items as attraction marketing and many other potions and pills.

As an Internet marketing and SEO (search engine optimization) expert, I will share some of the obvious and not so obvious methods of YTB marketing tips.

First you must understand that YTB has 2 products, the marketing side and the travel side. I feel that if you concentrate on building your travel business first, then the marketing side will come automatically as people begin to see that you are making it as a home based travel agent, not a MLM marketer.

It will take time to build your travel business, there are no short cuts here and NO BUSINESS, HOME BASED OR OTHERWISE is easy and can be cost prohibitive. You must invest time and money into ANY business to make it work.

I have friends tell me all the time, “man if I had your job, I would take Fridays off”. Well, if you are a serious business owner, you do not take time off, while you are building a business, you do this when your business is established and can run on autopilot.

To get your travel business going in the right direction, you need to choose and niche market or a market you are already knowledgeable about and position yourself as the expert for let’s say “Florida Keys vacations”.

All your marketing activities will be centered around positioning yourself as the expert to turn to for “Florida Keys vacations”.

You should start a blog and start blogging 2-3 times a day about attractions in the “Florida Keys”, vacations rentals, hotels, restaurants, car rentals, restaurants, museums, night clubs, festivals, local news and weather, be intunewith the business community, etc. This will make you an expert in your field.

Another item that you should do to set yourself apart from the others to position yourself as an expert is to write articles about your field of expertise and submit these to FREE travel article directories. The other benefit of this is that it will create back links to your travel website and/or travel blog to increase your search engine rankings. The higher your rankings, the more deals you will close.

Tap into undeveloped markets to increase your chances of selling more travel. This item also falls under the marketing side of YTB, but if you do this you will sell more by having more travel options in your particular area of expertise, “Florida Keys vacation expert”.

When people come to the “Florida Keys” they will be searching for activities to do while on vacation. This is where you tap into the undeveloped markets and offer golf vacations and tee times, scuba diving trips, dolphin watching and sport fishing opportunities.

What is you do not have these certain trips available to you through YTB Travel or YTB Outdoors? You approach the local golf courses and have them join YTB Golf, this can be done through Golf Switch.

GolfSwitch is the largest online golf reservation provider in the golf industry. Since 1998, GolfSwitch has helped hundreds of golf courses leverage the Internet to increase exposure, drive rounds and revenue, and maximize tee time yields. Through a suite of marketing and distribution services, we help golf courses connect with customers around the corner and around the world.

You will not make any money signing up any golf courses, but when they join, you will have more golf vacation packages for you to sell in your expert market, “Florida Keys vacations”.

How about the local dive shops, dolphin watching expeditions, sport fishing charters, boat cruise providers, kayaking and other water sport providers? This is where you can make money in two ways, the marketing side and travel side.

When you approach these adventure travel providers and get them to come on board with YTB Outdoors and make their services available to your customers, you will benefit from them becoming a YTB Outdoors Outfitter in two ways. You will have a new member of your team and a whole new set of services that you can sell to your clients.

By getting the local adventure travel providers to join your business model, you have now positioned yourself as the “Florida Keys” adventure travel expert.

How many people in the “Florida Keys” get married each year? How many vacation in the “Florida Keys” each year.? Can you see where I am going here? You will also market yourself as the “Florida Keys” honeymoon expert by offering honeymoon vacations and the FREE YTB Honeymoon Bridal Registry.

While on the subject of honeymoons, how about romantic vacations? With the help of YTB Flowers, you can position yourself as the “Florida Keys” expert of romantic vacations by offering to have flowers delivered or many other personalized gifts or offer to shop for special gifts, recommend romantic restaurants, order limo service, etc.

You can see that by simply marketing yourself as an expert in a small geographic area, your chances of building a successful business is much easier and less expensive Once you build a successful business using this model, people around you will want to become involved in the YTB Opportunity because they can SEE how successful you became.

You can not sell the idea of success, unless your are successful yourseelf. YTB Travel is a business and you must treat it as a business to make ot work.

YTB (Your Travel Biz) is also a business, a marketing business. You can make alot of money with Your Travel Biz, but if you want to have a professional business and have the marketing side customers come to you, you must become successful selling travel yourself, then sell the marketing side of YTB.

 

New Niche Cruise Marketing Alliance Website Helps Travelers Discover Unique Cruises

Travelers interested in taking a niche cruise can now learn about the variety of such products available and also locate a travel agent who specializes in niche cruises through a comprehensive website.

The Niche Cruise Marketing Alliance has unveiled a new, user friendly website at www.nichecruise.com that not only provides information about the unique cruise products offered by the organizations 14 member lines but assists consumers in locating a travel agent that specializes in niche cruises.

Niche cruises provide more intimate experiences than the mass market cruise lines. These products sail to many remote destinations that are inaccessible to larger vessels and feature unique learning experiences and ambience. They sail to locales where ones traveling companions may be exotic wildlife or breathtaking scenery. Niche cruise ships may be anchored next to sea lions or iguanas, at the base of a tidewater glacier, in the historic center of the great cities of the world or place the guest sailing the blue waters of the yachtsmans Caribbean.

MORE…

The new website directs consumers to certified Niche Cruise Specialists so they can be served by a travel agent who is knowledgeable in exploring these unique vacation options.

On the website, each member line is supported with a brief description of the type of product they offer, but also contains contact information and links to the websites for each of the 14 individual lines.

Visitors to the website can enter their zip code and find Niche Cruise Specialists (travel agents who have completed the NCMA training seminar) close to their home. Niche Cruise Specialists can also be located by entering the agent or agency name or the name of city where the agency is located.

Using the Destination Map feature on the site, visitors can click on the part of the world that they would like to explore and the site will show them what cruise lines offer experiences to that location.

While most travelers think of cruising as sun and fun experiences with thousands of fellow passengers, NCMA includes a myriad of cruise lines that meet the diverse needs and interests of the increasingly sophisticated traveler.

Personal enrichment and environmental preservation are high on the agendas of niche cruise lines. Therefore, NCMA lines are heavily destination-focused with unique itineraries and shore excursions.

The organization is a collection of cruise lines that provide some of the finest travel experiences available today, with the common thread of offering an exciting alternative to traditional cruising. The diverse sailings offer the discriminating traveler alternatives to the standard Caribbean cruise or the typical mass-market cruise, providing a plethora of unique adventures on waterways around the world.

NCMA member lines include American Cruise Lines, American West Steamboat Company, Antarctic Dream Expeditions, Cruise West, Discovery World Cruises, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, Galapagos Explorer II (Canodros), Imperial Majesty Cruises, Imperial River Cruise Lines, Norwegian Coastal Voyage, Orion Expedition Cruises, Peter Deilmann Cruises, RiverBarge Excursion Lines and Star Clippers.

The NCMA office is in Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. Executive Director Lawrence Dessler can be reached by telephone at 425.867.0399, fax at 425.867.0589 or e-mail at NicheCruise@msn.com For more information, visit www.nichecruise.com

For more information grouptravelblog

Marketing is indispensable part of any substantive tourism enterprise. As the market is expanding, the role of marketing as a driving force in a business endeavor is also being recognized. With growing competition, organisations in tourism business have no option but to do organised and targeted marketing. An organised approach to marketing always helps, whether it is on the tour operator end or at destinations. Guides, escorts, restaurants, hotels, transporters, shops etc compete one another to stay ahead. A proper tourism marketing strategy calls for close cooperation between the government, tourism industry and the local population. Evolution of MarketingMarketing as a concept has evolved in the last 30 years. Development of marketing has three distinct stages: Production Era, Sales Era and Marketing Era. Marketing era arrived when organizations began producing what they could sell rather than trying to sell what they manufactured. While planning and designing a product, customers’needs, tastes and satisfaction were considered. Growth of competition prompted organisations to frame marketing techniques. Change in traveling trends also made it necessary to adopt new approach. The emergence of long haul traveler prompted the need for marketing research which studied market trends, consumer behavior and ascertained procedure to make products which satisfied the users of tourism products. Gradual social and economic development culminated in segmentation of mass market into specialized target markets. Tackling these markets needed an approach which was in tune with new times. Selling and MarketingSelling and Marketing are different concepts. Selling focuses on the needs of the seller while marketing concentrates on buyers’ needs. A marketing oriented organisation focuses on customer needs and earns profits through customer satisfaction. Several organizations in tourism field are product oriented. They emphasise on the available services of products but ignore consumers’ requirements. A marketing oriented tourist organisation has a completely different approach. They offer services around the tourists’ needs.

Scuba diving in Malaysia in something few interested in it miss.

Travel agents, or anyone involved in associated businesses, have recently been handed a gift on a golden platter: online social networking. The travel business has long been driven by good word of mouth and similar forms of personal interaction. Facebook, Twitter, and the many other new venues raise those methods – and their benefits – to new heights.

In days past, travel agencies relied chiefly on newspaper ads and the recommendations of a relatively small network of existing customers. The old “she tells two people, and they tell two people, making four, sixteen. . . ” and so forth, could really only go so far. The problem is that the threads of the ‘people web’ got broken in too many places, crippling the spread.

Today, that amplification effect is, well, amplified many times over. There are millions of people on MySpace, Facebook, and the rest. That ups the odds quite a bit that word of mouth will continue in one direction, even if it stops in another.

Facebook is an excellent example. Create a Facebook Business Page that perform multiple tasks for you and you’ll soon see. You have an opportunity to “soft sell” your travel business in myriad ways. Here are just a few. . .

The travel business frequently offers advice on places to go, things to do. But it’s easy for travelers to get information overload. It’s like drinking from a firehose. The travel agent provides a service by sifting through that gold mine, panning for the gold and discarding the stones.

Using Facebook, it’s possible to become the go-to guru in your niche. Announce a series of online seminars. Think about using sites like BlogTalkRadio to do a weekly travel show and post your upcoming topics on your Wall. Create some audios and direct your potential customers to a place they can learn how to get the most out of travel at the least cost or hassle. Use your ‘Wall’ in your Page to post great photos, newsfeeds, and links to articles from a variety of travel experts (including you, of course).

You could let them in on the secrets experienced travelers know about how to find the cleanest, safest hotels. You can direct them to helpful information on relatively quiet hostels. Fill them in on places that offer the best opportunities for getting to know an international crowd.

Twitter offers still more chances to target your audience and create a unique brand in double-quick time.

Since the travel business is filled with exciting one-time events, you have a golden opportunity to pass them on to your followers in real-time. That gets the buzz going in your direction. No need to pump it with a hard sell. This is one place where “build it and they’ll come” really works.

You can provide wary travelers with lots of advice on places to avoid in otherwise exciting and desirable countries like Mexico or Egypt. Such places sometimes get an undeserved bad reputation as countries to skip, when there are really only a few easy-to-bypass cities or regions that are risky.

The travel business is, maybe not quite unique, but certainly distinctive in depending so strongly on trust. You gain your customer’s trust by providing reliable information on places to go and how to get there. The casual, friendly nature of the travel business syncs perfectly with Twitter for building that trust.

Extend that genial atmosphere as you share your personal passion for travel. All kinds of people travel with all kinds of interests. Share some of your other passions besides travel and you’ll find they’ll become inclined to come to you first for all things travel related, too. Let them get to know you in multiple ways.

Lucky for you, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, and all the rest make it simple to expand “them” to include millions. Both Facebook Pages and Twitter are where you can –

 

Andrea Kalli Virtual Trainer and Assistant, LLC offers a wide variety of business services. As a Certified Internet Marketing Virtual Assistant, she specializes in social media optimization to increase organic search rankings through brand awareness and community building strategies. Edit audio/video for podcasts, teleseminars, audio books. Create products to sell & teasers for marketing. She supports your internet marketing needs such as Website Analysis, Search Engine Marketing, Email Marketing, and Article Marketing.

With a background in corporate productivity and team training for Outlook and SharePoint users, she offers video training tutorials through her e-learning site.

Outlook / SharePo

 

Now Pay Close Attention –Using your Facebook Fan Page to increase your business exposure and revenue is simpler than you’ve been told. Everyone with a facebook fan page faces the same two problems:

[Problem #1] How To Find Interested Facebook Users

[Problem #2] How To Bring Them To Become Your Fans

Facebook Fan Supply has been solving these two problems for hundreds of satisfied customers. The Facebook Fan Supply has been tried and tested and known to produce excellent results. First: Click Here To Visit Facebook Fan SupplyFacebook Fan Supply always supplies REAL FANS targeted to your specific: Age Group, Keyword and Location. Second: Order Your Facebook Fan Supply Package of 1,000; 2,000 or 5,000 Guaranteed Facebook FansYour new fans will arrive in 3 – 4 weeks and all fans are REAL FANS guaranteed to stick to your fanpage. Buy Facebook Fans today and boost your businesses online presence overnight.

 

By using hotel search engine marketing (SEM) strategies, hospitality organisations across the globe can boost sales, add revenue, and enhance their visibility in the online world. Yes, it is easier said than done but it can be done. In fact, SEM is one of the highest revenue generating models for the hotel industry. It delivers the highest returns on investments (ROI), takes a little bit of skill and understanding on how it works, and can be put into effect quite easily. In today’s multi-connected world where travel plans and hotel bookings are made via phones, websites, chat platforms, social media engagements, etc. – SEM is perhaps the least expensive and most under-utilised tool of promotion.

 

Some basics about hotel search engine marketing that you should know about are that SEM uses various strategies to enhance page rankings on search engines. Making the hotel website search engine optimised (SEO friendly) is one aspect of it. Other aspects include paid advertising, contextual advertising, and paid inclusions.

 

Making a search engine optimised website means populating the website with online content that uses specific keywords that the customers would use when they search for a hotel. Using meta-tags is another aspect of SEO. The idea being that every website should be both search and user friendly to generate maximum impact.

 

Hotel search engine marketing also uses paid search as a tool to draw in customers. From sponsored ads that can be seen on any search engine results page, to banner placements on the web pages of a major newspaper’s travel section and travel blogs – it is all a part of the SEM action plan. Making a landing page where the customer “lands” after clicking on any ad is another key aspect of the process. This is where a consumer can opt-in through email to receive the best promotions and updates.

 

On smart phones today, internet and mobile browsers allow users to search for and look at content. Contextual advertising makes it easy for marketers to place promotions that are relevant to the content being displayed on the screens. As one of the many tools available in the hotel search engine marketing portfolio, contextual advertising continues to deliver the results. This is because contextual advertisements are usually more targeted and therefore are more likely to be clicked.

 

Paid inclusions are a product that search engines companies sell to their clients. These are basically promotions of websites that are included in the search index (as opposed to paid advertisements which are listed separately and not in the search index). Using this tool can be a great search engine marketing strategy for hotels especially because most hotel websites feature dynamic content that is frequently changed. With paid inclusions, website owners can specify the schedule for crawling the page.

 

All those considering entrepeneuralism need to see this movie. actual stories of two exceptionally unwavering women. One is a pre-internet successful entrepeneur. A free internet marketing strategy is used by woman number two to reach her goal. That is why I brand this movie as an Internet Marketing Training curriculum. Meryl Streep is perfect in her role as she is every time. This picture could be a teaching tool in addition to winning academy awards. It was motivating and instructive. There are many people around the globe that may not feel they have much to offer society and with any luck this motion picture will be evidence for them that they are mistaken. Both women located there business in dissimilar ways. Both looking for a way to add value to their individual lives and society. The first with her love of food and the other by making a long term commitment. Neither woman acheived this by creating someting new, but by building on existing successes and expanding on them. The hardest part of dictating this article is doing my best to tell you enough to make you want to see the picture, devoid of spoiling it including telling more than you need to know. Being a man that shys away from “chick flicks”, like to be known as “Rambo” sort of guy, at first glance my wife could not have gotten me to this performance Fortunately with an open mind, Mike Koenig was doing a video marketing teleseminar originator as well as owner of Traffic Geyser who, as the fantastic speaker he is, made me want to go to see it. Hopefully I will be able to achieve the identical on behalf of you. The reason this could be thought of as an entrepreneurs success or internet marketing training course are the traits that each of these ladies displayed and took action on are fundamentalto the achievement of those looking to take the entrepreneurial path. Julie took it a step farther for internet marketing training; using one of the better known free strategies we all have access too, blogging. . Julia Childs, gave up a government career to marry and travel with her spouse for his occupation, she was looking for a way to be productive. The question her husband asked is one all successful entrepreneurs need to ask themselves,,”What do you love to do?” In her case it was eating and the rest is history. next there was Julie a young married female childless, existing within New York, making her way to a job everday. In a career serving others but not sincerely feeling she was accomplishing enough. thus she makes a decision to prepare all of the meals in Julia Childs Cookbook in one year (500+). At the same time blogging each experience from start to finish, including how it turned out Did she complete the task, not going to tell. That’s right, got to see the movie. sincerely, I am not receiving a kick back for anyone that goes, just a little network marketing. We have learned what qualities these entrepeneurs needed to succed an undying commitment to the target and a passion for what you are doing to get there. SUPPORT is not esential but definitely makes life easier as an etrepeneur. They both had great cooperation via their spouses. A mastermind group can substitute, but since you are probably doing it for you family, their endorsement would be better. Never considered myself a movie critic, but it was kind of fun, if it helps you decide on your next film, that’s even better An Entrepeneur video starter course and prerequsite for those in or beginning an internet marketing business. To look at a trailer of “Julie Julia” click on the link in the signature of this critique. Also a special link to a free video by an internet marketing millionaire trainer for persons looking to undergo the entrepeneur trail, secrets exposed enjoy.

Hi,

My name is Lorin Chasar and I first want to thank you for visiting my blog.   I would first like to share with you a quote that inspires broadening one’s vision as it has mine…. “A person can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm. “  Charles Schwab

I share nine different online businesses with my mom, Jennifer Patton, and my brother, Justin (Caulon) Chasar, as well as work as a tutor and am raising two lovely little boys.   Together, our businesses comprise a total of 15 years in social media and networking, coaching, web design, and SEO (search engine optimization).

With the added masterminds of my mother and my brother, I feel almost invincible with regards to crashing in any of my business pursuits. I am not one to tell you that you will never fail, but I can share with you the multifaceted experiences I have had that can help you minimize failure. I feel there are no limitations in life except for wherever one may fail to implement the necessary steps to maintain passion to endeavor.

Now down to the nuts-and-bolts…. Here’s a way to streamline your dreams to travel and I am excited about this new business of mine that I must share it with the world.   As a card holder you can access use of condos, hotel and car rental, spas, gyms, and much more.   You can visit http://bonvoyage1000. com/livenow  to learn more about how you can also streamline you travel experiences for a one-time membership payment that will help you keep  more money in your pocket than going out.  

If you are searching for a home business that can help you travel with ease as well as help you keep more money in your pockets than going out, then I would like to help you generate a healthy income and healthier lifestyle.   So if you fill out the contact form on this page you can learn more about me and about how I can help you implement your own online travel business online.  I am confident that my great support team can help you, not only implement your own business(s), but also help you gain the robust lifestyle you may have dreamed of.  

Thank you for taking time to learn more, and feel free to e-mail me if you have questions.

Sincerely,

Lorin Chasar

livenow@peoplestring. com

My philosophy is “that if I listen carefully, I will hear everything the universe utters to me which is all positive and all good!”

Stop by and check out a brand new social site http://dillydip. com where you can join for FREE and dip in-and-out of some incredible links to get the scope on the latest attractive marketing systems in the world, as well as invite others to chat, connect to other social sites, post your own business, make comments, get feedback, news, and much more.  

 

One way of promoting your Coastal Vacations website or blog and any other products and services you might also be selling can be done for free to very inexpensive it with article marketing. Plus as an additional bonus, this type of marketing strategy can also help boost your leads and sales, making your more money for your efforts.
Article marketing is pretty simple. Here are the basics steps:
1) Write articles about your website’s main focus or hire someone to ghostwrite them for you. You can find help through industry forums and online bidding sites like Elance(dot)com.
Basics to include in your articles are:
a) Good content that your readers will want to read when they visit your site. Don’t make these ads or hype or no one will want to publish them. In fact, you could be banished from directories if you start submitting junk pieces like that.
b) A catchy heading and opening lead into your piece that attracts and captures the interest of your website visitors.
c) A short piece on one web page that’s eye-catching, maybe with a short bullet list of items within the body.
d) A summary or conclusion with a place for your readers to turn for more info, for a free report or something.
2) Add a resource box also known as a byline to your articles. Include a link to your site in this area plus a nice call to action for some type of free information, like to sign up for a free ezine, voucher or other cool gift.
3) When your articles are completed, submit them to free article directories and submission sites online where webmasters, publishers and others are actively seeking content for their sites, ezines and other publications. Then, after website visitors read your articles, they may decide to click on the link and pay your website a visit to learn more about you and to grab your freebies.
To locate article directories, simply search the term “free article directory” and hundreds show up like GoArticles(dot)com, IdeaMarketers(dot)com, EzineArticles(dot)com and many, many more.
Submit to a couple of the top ones and become a regular communist there. Then people will know where to turn to find more of your articles for their publications. Note these columns on your website or blog, too, in case media contacts or your regular website visitors would like more information.

The internet is China’s most important medium for product promotion. The statistics surrounding internet usage show a continuous growth now estimated at 253 million users.
The power of the internet is such that it has replaced the television set at home with more Chinese spending more time on the internet. Chinese internet users are going online in search of information.
If you wish to promote your product online, you should be able to adopt a strategy that is responsive to the internet habits and culture of the Chinese netizen.
* Don’t underestimate the power of the word of mouth. News travels faster via the Internet with the aid of the 80 million active blogs in China. It is said that an advertiser pulled Sharon Stone out of its ad campaign after her remarks about China generated a loud negative buzz in the blogging world. Conversely, positive product reviews and anecdotes involving your product will definitely create trust in the minds of readers. This is because Chinese internet users tend to believe most of what they read on the internet. Because of the internet’s potential to influence the population, the Chinese government and authorities have kept a close eye, and governance, on content and accessibility.
* Begin to join social networks. Chinese internet users turn to social networks to create virtual friendships. They hang out at any of these websites regularly to catch up with friends or to find more friends. You may position yourself in these sites but take care not to do this by online advertising. Your product may still gain some exposure if it appears by mere reference in an informative guide. Social network subscribers are quick to detect advertising pitches, and once detected, will block or ignore your posts.
* Gather relevant data about your site’s effectiveness. You should be able to go beyond measuring the number of clicks your site generates. You will be able to measure your site’s “stickiness” by counting the number of visitors it receives daily and the amount of time each visitor spends online. Your visitor count is irrelevant if these users only spend a few seconds on your site. You should aim at having a good number of visitors who stay for several minutes. If your site is not “sticky” enough, you should be quick to make the appropriate changes before your site becomes stagnant.
* Internet is about content. Much of your website’s success will depend on the quality, creativity and relevance of its content. Don’t presume that the standards of Chinese internet users are low. You’ll be surprised at how picky they can be.
Indeed, internet promotion, just like online sales, is not a walk in the park. And while you may succeed in calling the attention of Chinese netizens, you need to keep those creative juices flowing or your viewers will get bored.

If you’re keeping up with internet marketing techniques, you are probably familiar with the concepts of online article submissions, blogging and email marketing. These don’t necessarily have to be performed as independent tasks. There is a way to combine these three concepts that will no doubt save you some of your precious time.

 For each of the marketing strategies mentioned above, you need an article, letter or form of written presentation. A good place to start is by writing something that would be appropriate for each. Using a word processor that allows you to save your work in plain text format usually works the best.

 Once you have your text written, formatted and proof read, you are ready for the first step. It doesn’t really matter what order you go in, but if you keep it consistent you will establish a routine and the process will become completely natural in a short period of time.

 For example, let’s say the first step in your routine is to take your article or text and submit it to an ezine such as ezinearticles. com. You copy the text from your plain text document into the article submission form. Now you can copy and paste the same plain text document into your blog. You may want to preview it before posting to check for paragraph spacing and other formatting issues. Finally, you can copy and paste your document one more time into your email newsletter template. Using this routine, you can ensure that your information is exposed to as large an audience as possible with a minimal amount of effort.

 If you really want to expose your literary creations however, there are a couple of other steps that you can take it to increase your audience awareness.

 Once you’ve posted to your blog, you can submit your specific blog url to different bookmarking sites such as Propeller, Delicious and Stumbleupon. The final step of your marketing routine is to go to Pingomatic and ping your blog submissions to multiple internet services simultaneously.

 Those are the five steps to establishing a basic marketing plan. Notice that the entire process should not cost you one dime out of pocket! Once you’ve written your document, the actual marketing process should take no more than half an hour. This means you have more time to spend generating leads for your business and following up with those leads.

 I hope that you find this information useful in marketing your business, whatever industry you are in.

 Cheers to your success!

 

Laura Sorensen

http://www. mlm-travel-ventures-business. com

The astute and very pleasant Direct Sales Consultant, known by the handle The Traveling SalesWoman, asked the following question of me? You were the person who encouraged me to join Twitter, and I’m so grateful for that!  Can you share some further thoughts about Twitter and why home party business owners should join in that conversation?Are you are brothers and sisters fan?  If so you have not missed the obvious connection between Sarah Walkers’ Greenotopia company and its’ many references to social networks and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter!And if you don’t know by now, you are no-one if you are not on twitter.   I was amused to find that my vocabulary  has changed considerably over the past year!I am  Youtubing, plurking, Facebooking, tweeting, blogging, linking, MySpacing, texting and a host of other things too!  All these are some of the most popular social media sites and as you can see things can get pretty hairy, so I definitely recommend that you have a social media system. Direct Sales Home Party Marketing Tip: Any task you do more than once NEEDS a procedure, system or checklist!Before Bill Gates, no one had a personal computer!   One man single handedly revolutionized the world with a dream. . . his dream was that every home would have a computer!  His dream was to provide value to every single household in the world!Even after Bill Gates created such an incredible tool, that gave rise to the Internet, Easy Online access & E-Commerce; it STILL amazes me just how many people refuse, are afraid and/or have not taken advantage of the power of the computer and the Internet! Computers as far as I am concerned are the best social media tools (of course for the obvious reason without one you cannot access social media ?, yep)!I told the travelling saleswoman that social media and social networks are all about relational capital.   And like any thing social media marketing is an art form. The question I often get asked by home party consultants and direct sales reps. Is why don’t they buy my product.   The answer is simple, you have written a check, which came back with the red stamp mark, insufficient funds! (thanks Martin Luther King Jr. for that one). You see people buy because:i)    they know you,ii)    they trust you iii)   they believe that you have the solution the problem which the face andiv)   for statusPeople don’t buy a product, nor do they buy a feature and the benefits are as they are decided upon by the story they tell themselves.    Your juice drink mwy help me loose weight.   But the story I am telling myself is that I am going to look sexy, finally that size 0 pair of jeans that I have seen on display for a year will be mine.   I am going to get hit on by men…. you get the picture?  So if your pitch is not in line with my story…How does all this fit into social media and social marketing?  Simple, you are building relational capital, by depositing in the bank of getting to know you, getting to know all about you!  And you are not only doing it with one person, no you are reaching out to many in one shot!There are people on these sites that follow you, there are those that interact with you and those that want to see what you are about.   The cool thing about social outlets is that you are King and Queen of your own little internet real estate  King/Queendom!Social media and social marketing is all about building that relational capital that gives you the all access pass to make your direct sales pitches to those who are ready, able and willing to hear what you have to say, and have the money to spend on what you have to sell.   Do not under-estimate the power of relational capital!  How else do you think Pres. Barack Obama did it?  I will be holding a special in a week or so about “the Pres. Obama Social Media Effect : How You Too Can Go From Zero To Hero!For more on social media, and how to use it effectively, just google “social media blog!”

Social marketing is an often misunderstood form of marketing that is reaping huge rewards for website owners who use it. Most webmasters who understand it, even while being very new to social marketing, are seeing results like:

1. Higher search engine rankings for their top keywords

2. More rankings of additional keywords or “long tail” keyword phrases

3. More link popularity from sites linking on their own accord

4. More link popularity from social media sites

5. More activity on their blogs, such as more commenting and interaction

6. Direct traffic from incoming links on social media sites (One good StumbleUpon. com submission can net thousands of visitors alone. )

7. Fast traffic increases and steady growth in unique visitors month after month

8. An increase in subscribers and sales. Social traffic, properly acquired, is very warm to your message and products.

The problem for most people when thinking about social marketing, after getting a taste of all the hundreds of sites there are to interact with, is becoming overwhelmed and paralyzed into inaction.

They assume established social marketers gained their “social authority” in a short period of time. This is simply not true. Although the opportunities for driving serious traffic and rankings from hundreds of social sites exists, it is an embarrassment of riches.

And it cannot be conquered over night. It is a gradual process you manage with all your other responsibilities and grow as time allows.

What I encourage my clients to do is set aside enough time each day to get one more link, participate in one more conversation, or sign up for one more account on a social site.

A little goes a long way and social marketing is not an “all or nothing” situation. After some time you will become established on the social sites you need to have a presence on. And you will have a schedule that allows you to keep up with your other work while adding this extremely powerful marketing method to the mix.

10 Steps For Starting a Social Marketing Campaign

1. Schedule a bit of time each day to do some new things. Don’t just say you are going to do them. Write the time into your day and follow through.

2. Sign up for the major social news sites: Digg. com, Propeller. com, Mixx. com. Don’t submit anything to these sites until you have filled out your profile completely and submitted news from elsewhere on the web to generate a real presence and avoid being labeled as a spammer.

In fact, BE a real presence and don’t try to push your own content onto the networks you belong to. It should feel and be natural and you will know what “natural is on each network by participating, commenting, voting and getting a general sense of what members think is good and bad content. Watch their comments and votes and you will know how to proceed with your own site’s content from there.

3. If you don’t have a blog, you must install one immediately. This is not an option. It is an absolute necessity on today’s web. Our company uses WordPress and recommends it over any other blogging platform, and it can be installed easily by you or your webmaster. WordPress download: http://wordpress. org/download/

Option #2: Check with your web host to see if they have Fantastico available to you and, if so, that it installs the latest version of WordPress. If so you are very lucky because the software can be installed by you very easily in just a few steps with Fantastico.

4. Once you have your blog set up, join the following networks. (These are blog communities that will help you generate visitors, authority, and links and most bloggers belong to them. ) MyBlogLog. com (install the widget on your WordPress blog), and BlogCatalog. com. (they also have a widget to install)

5. Join groups, interact with other publishers, and make friends with the easy networking tools these sites provide. Especially the people who would be most likely to link to your blog and send you traffic who write about similar things or have an audience similar to yours who’d benefit by knowing you. You can even start your own group, promote it in the network, and send “shouts” to the group when you have announcements or need attention to a new post.

6. As soon as you establish yourself on the sites mentioned above, move on to other sites like them that might be more targeted directly to your niche and the market you work in. There are a lot of new “vertical” social sites popping up that focus on much more narrow markets and their membership is far warmer to your kind of information than on the bigger, more general networks above.

Add a new site to the mix as often as you can and repeat the steps for becoming established there as mentioned in Step 2 above.

7. Join a group dedicated to social marketing to pick up tips from other social marketers and find new places you can sign up with to continue building your social authority. New sites pop up every single day. Follow places like Go2Web20. net to find new opportunities to connect with your market.

8. Remote blog. Join blogger. com and put content there that is good, just not good enough to go on your main blog. This serves two purposes: 1) you get to use more of the great content you find as you travel through all the social news sites and 2) it gives you another place to link back to your main site and pass on traffic and link popularity over time.

9. Track your progress diligently. If something you are trying on a social network isn’t working, you need to know that in order to save time and move on to something more fruitful. MyBlogLog. com (above) has a tracking system which will show you where your traffic is coming from so you can avoid time wasting efforts and focus more on the sites that are really pulling in good traffic for you.

10. Don’t freak out! This is only overwhelming if you act like someone at an all-you-can-eat buffet with no self control. You have other things to do and this needs to fit into, not dominate, your current business and marketing.

Social marketing can partially or completely replace other methods you are using to promote your site including paid advertising. Many people completely drop their paid advertising or PPC campaigns once they see the organic, natural traffic and search engine rankings pile up from social marketing.

Until then, just take it one step at a time and do some social marketing. A little goes a long way and before you know it, you will reach a point where a lot of traffic and lots of search engine rankings are piling up because you simply started doing something each day.

There’s a lot you can learn about social marketing. And not all of it can be found on free blogs.

Today’s economy has turned a lot of valuable employees into consultants. You have oodles of specific knowledge, you know there are companies that can use it, and you want to launch your own consulting business. Trouble is, you are an engineer, an operations manager, an financial analyst, a technical writer … not a marketer.

By now you’ve figured out that marketing yourself as a consultant requires specific action – it’s definitely not a case of, “If you build it, they will come. ” Never fear, I have some ideas to help you establish your reputation as an expert, get your name out there, and begin building your consulting business by the end of the week!

Day #1 – Your Marketing Plan

You don’t have to spend weeks putting together your business or marketing plan, and you don’t have to pay someone to do it for you. The real value of putting together a solid plan is the way it makes you think through different scenarios, the competition, and the product you will be offering. A really great plan will also keep you on track as you build your business and it should be considered a working document – edit and change it as frequently as necessary.

Answer each of the following questions in writing and please don’t take more than 15 minutes per.

Who is your ideal client? Consider size of company, industry, for profit or not. This is your absolute ideal, not a listing of any type of company that might be able to use your services. Describe who you want to work for. Focused marketing will pay off far greater than a shotgun approach.

What work do you want to do? Similar to the first question, describe your ideal work. If you would like, you can create a separate description for secondary work.

How do you want to work? Telecommute, onsite, or a combination? Do you want to travel?

Why does your ideal client want you? Describe your core competencies and how you are different from the average consultant.

Now you need to flip it over – What type of client business do you not want to work for? What work do you not want to do? How do you not want to work?

Day #2 – Your Resume

You do need to put some time in to presenting your experience and core competencies in a couple of different ways. First, start with your standard resume. There is much material available on creating a great resume so I’ll not spend time on that topic. Once your resume is complete, create the following three complimentary items:

A One Sheet is marketing collateral about your consulting business, designed to pique the interest of the reader. Where your resume is a professional, legal document that describes in detail where you have been, your One Sheet summarizes where you are going. Use present tense, bullets, lots of white space. Your One Sheet should be able to be read or scanned in a very short amount of time and provide a brief overview of your talents.

Next, continue to distill your marketing message down to a 30-second statement that speaks to your value proposition. Your elevator speech is not your job title. When someone asks you what you do and you answer, “I am a consultant,” you’ve just missed an opportunity to market yourself to an interested party. Your elevator speech should tell a story about who you are and what drives you.

I am on a mission to assist microbusiness owners in using the Internet to grow their business, interact with customers and clients, and level the playing field against much larger competition. The term “small business” is a misnomer — there is a vast difference in resources between a small-business with as many as 500 employees, and the entrepreneur who is going it alone. I have first-hand knowledge of the challenges that face these solopreneurs and I help them use Web 2. 0 technologies to reach huge audiences with nothing but a great product, a laptop, and a pile of creativity.

Finally, create an awesome online bio to be used primarily on LinkedIn and your blog.

Judi Young is a writer and entrepreneur on a mission to assist small and micro businesses worldwide in joining the online conversation. Follow her blog at . . . , where you can also link to her on Facebook and Twitter.

Day # 3 – Social Networking

How successful would you be at a live business networking event if you came in like a politician 10 minutes late to a campaign stop — in a mad hurry to shake every hand and pass out brochures and free pens, spieling off your top three campaign promises, not interested in chatting with and getting to know people, only in talking about yourself, your services, your consulting business. Believe it or not, there are people right now treating social networking as a campaign stop. It’s the biggest mistake you can make.

Instead, treat your online socializing and networking connections as you treat real live people at networking events:

If you connect with someone who likes and respects you, and has a need for your services, they will seek you out.

You may already have a personal Facebook page. It is acceptable, even encouraged, to provide your professional contacts a glimpse into your personal life—to a degree. If you use Facebook regularly to keep up with friends and family, post pictures, and make political statements, you may want to consider whether your Facebook activity puts you in the best possible light with your clients. Maintaining a Facebook page is not critical to your success as a consultant, so you may wish to continue using Facebook as your personal site and rely on LinkedIn to socialize professionally. Tip: Farmville, MafiaWars, and other Facebook applications are generally considered to be in bad form in a professional environment.

LinkedIn is the most important site for a consultant to be active on. How did we connect with past colleagues, current business contacts, and other professionals prior to LinkedIn? Once you have your resume and marketing plan completed, sign up for a LinkedIn personal account (free) and start connecting. The initial LinkedIn process will walk you through connecting to colleagues already in their database. You cannot have too many connections on LinkedIn, so reach out to everyone you have worked with no matter how long ago. Next, connect to everyone you currently do business with—your real estate agent, your insurance agent, your lawyer, baker, and your children’s teacher.

Now comes the tough part: You must get recommendations in order to build Social Proof. Ask for 20 recommendations via LinkedIn today. Right now. LinkedIn makes it very easy. Just locate the Recommendations selection under Profile and select as many as 200 of your contacts. You can use the standard LinkedIn text in your request or customize it with your own words. LinkedIn sends out an individual message to each of the contacts you specified with your request for a recommendation. Now return the favor. Without being prompted, write recommendations for people you’ve worked with. View a few recommendations first and simply follow the format.

LinkedIn groups are an excellent way to begin to establish yourself as an expert in your field and to provide assistance to your new connections worldwide. Search out and join all groups that are interesting. You can find groups based on your industry, hobbies, geographic location, alma mater (don’t forget high school), and so on. For the purposes of networking for your consulting business, select groups with more than 1,000 members. LinkedIn limits the number of groups to which you can belong to 50, and some groups require approval by a group manager so there may be a bit of a wait before you can join.

Once you join groups that are interesting to you, spend a bit of time perusing active discussions for the group before you dive in and begin answering questions.

Finally, status updates—it is important for you to begin posting your status at least three times per day. You can reference a good article you read online (use bit. ly/ to shorten URLs), tell everyone what you are working on, or talk about what you had for breakfast. The important thing is that you provide some insight to your day, show that you are being productive, and stay connected.

Unless you want to consult in social media, it is not necessary that you become a twitterer. Tweeting regularly could help you up your social cred and increase contacts, however it is something you can undertake on day five and beyond.

Day #4 – Article Marketing and Your Blog

LinkedIn and Article Marketing are the one-two punch of your marketing strategy. You will begin writing industry-specific articles that establish you as a thought-leader and a subject-matter expert and you will publish them to your blog. You will also blast them out to Article Marketing sites and to Digg.

Article Marketing simply means publishing  your original article to the Internet via sites that are dedicated to distributing such articles. Effective Article Marketing increases your overall exposure and establishes you as an expert in your field.

Your blog primarily exists as a landing place to hold your articles and allow your community to connect with you. Yahoo, Google, and Posterous are very quick and easy blogs to set up. I use and love WordPress. com, but will admit that there was a learning curve in understanding the interface, setting up widgets and so on. I recommend you set up a very easy blog to begin and roll that in to a more advanced platform down the road.

Writing and publishing articles for mass consumption is a bit daunting, so I’ve come up with this quick exercise to help. Find a kitchen timer and set it for 2 hours.

Whew. You did it. Ok, so I rushed you and this first one probably won’t get picked up, but the publishing process should no longer be scary. Pretty soon you will be jotting down article ideas on gum wrappers while stuck in traffic.

There are many other Article Marketing distribution sites that you can use; a quick google search will produce many hits. Try businessknowhow. com and buzzle. com, and then find more on your own.

Each time you write a new article, spend a few minutes searching discussion forums for appropriate conversations. Quote your article as an answer to a question and be sure to provide a link to your blog.

Day #5 and Ongoing– Use Your Resources

Just as you will be giving away some of your key knowledge in order to establish credibility, so are others. There is much free, valuable information on the Internet. Check out my blog for a sampling of sites aimed at small and micro business owners.

Copyright (c) 2009 Kathleen Tremblay

If you haven’t been down this road yourself before, and you are part of an internet marketing busienss opportunity or the best affiliate marketing program you’ve ever seen, you have more than likely seen this scenario with someone else. You have been introduced to a home based business opportunity with a great pay plan, excellent training, and outstanding leadership. You have a great sponsor. You join, and you are ready to get to work.

It’s fine for the first week, after all, you are pretty excited about the home based business opportunity you just joined, right? Or, if it is an internet marketing business opportunity, you’ve watched all the tutorials, joined the forums, and placed some ads.

So, you begin to work whatever system you have been taught, but by week number 2 or 3, for some reason, you seem to have lost some steam.

Then, after the end of your first month, it’s all you can do to pick up the sales literature or log into your affiliate marketing system. You cringe when you see your credit card bill for your monthly investment in the business or your products. You have stuffed your contact file into a drawer. You have shoved all the product samples into the closet where at least they won’t collect too much dust. You have stopped working. You haven’t placed any ads, and you have been avoiding your sponsor.

Why? What happened?

To answer that, let’s take a quick look at why you joined to begin with. Let’s say you joined a home based business opportunity where you attended a business presentation meeting: Did you get excited by the hype and thrill where all the leaders and top-10 money earners smiled down from the stage and told you that YOU could do this too?

Or, if it was an internet marketing business opportunity, did you get excited by the video testimonials of the others who made a bunch of sales and had some big paychecks to show for it, and picture yourself as the next testimonial?

Why DID you join?

Let’s say you joined a food or nutrition business opportunity. Do you enjoy eating those types of products? Do you even enjoy the field of nutrition?

What if you joined a financial services opportunity. Are the services offered of value to you? Do you use them? Do you need them? Are you interested in whatever financial services are offered to begin with?

Look around at the most successful and happiest people you know – in and out of internet and home based business opportunities. What do you notice about them? I know an engineer who absolutely loves his job, and when he’s not helping design industrial structures for his employer, he enjoys reading Architectural Digest and planning home and landscape renovations.

You will notice that people who are successful marketing a travel opportunity tend to love travel, and use their product to take their own vacations. You will notice that the most successful representatives selling candles or cosmetics always use the products themselves.

Have you ever noticed that writers are also avid readers? Or that most musicians who play instruments or sing also enjoy listening to music? In my case, I enjoy writing about internet marketing and home based business opportunities. When I’m at a restaurant or on a plane, you will typically see me bent over a Success or Entrepreneur Magazine.

This is really the key observation: Notice when someone’s business and way of making a living has actually become a lifestyle. More often than not, these individuals are doing what they love; which means that they have played to their strengths, skills, talents, and interests which helped them determine their field, or in the case of the home based business or internet marketing based business industry, which affiliate program or opportunity to join.

So, it is important to examine the things you enjoy to begin with. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

If you enjoy travel, find at an opportunity that includes marketing travel. If you enjoy cosmetics, align yourself with an opportunity marketing make up or perfumes. You get the idea. I don’t wear jewelry as a rule, so trying to recruit me to sell jewelry is a waste of time. It could be the best jewelry opportunity on Earth, but I will not be able to muster up the interest or energy to make a successful go at it.

It is also important to consider the structure of the opportunity. If you prefer working online and reaching a global audience, choose an opportunity that doesn’t rely on face-to-face business presentations in your neighborhood. Do you enjoy blogging? Do you love writing? Then, join an internet marketing business opportunity that promotes the use of these activities to market.

If you align yourself with an internet marketing business opportunity or other home based business opportunity that reflects the type of person you are: your interests, your passions, and your personal marketing style and strengths, you will find that you are more likely to enjoy working the business.

You might discover that you look forward to the work! You will be more likely to stick with it, and ultimately succeed, and thus getting to the point where there is little difference between your business and your lifestyle.

And that, my friend, is a great place to be!

User interaction is very important in online marketing; it cannot be ignored, no matter what industry you are working in. User interaction can allow a business to be improved, to gain a stronger presence in the community. Gaining customer feedback is one of the first steps to a good market research plan, which will lead to effective online marketing. There are different ways of gaining that feedback and generating consumer interaction such as social media, e-mails and blogs. Social media is the new trend. Everybody knows about it and uses it. It is everywhere, so why not make the best of it and use it as a tool to create consumer interaction? Social media is all about creating a community; people join Twitter and Facebook in an attempt to find people that are interested in the same things as them, to create interaction with like-minded individuals. The ultimate goal is to create User Generated Content. A passive attitude will not get any results, but by having a strong presence and getting involved in blogs and forums, you have a much better chance to find out what is expected from consumers and from the public.   For example, a local butcher located in New York could use a site like YouTube to launch a contest; the public would be invited to post a video of them preparing and cooking a certain piece of meat and the winner could win products from the said butcher. E-mails are a great way to directly get in touch with your existing customer base and to eventually reach a new audience. People tend to enjoy doing business with companies that are interested in what they have to say and are attentive to their needs and concerns. Staying in touch with consumers via e-mails can include sending out regular newsletters, for example. A business could also reach out and connect with its audience to gain feedback – pass on surveys, ask for the public’s opinions. An SEO Consulting firm can make very good use of that concept for your company; the firm will help you determine the e-mail strategy to adopt and how to present it in an efficient manner. Blogs are also a great way of gaining exposure and getting consumers’ input. Everyone has a blog, so why not jump aboard and start a blog for your business or company? Our New York butcher could use a blog to keep consumers up to date with products, recipes, the techniques used in local farms to grow and raise the stock, etc. Blogs give the advantage of natural search, if optimized correctly through an SEO Consulting team, your blog can shop up at high rankings in Google and Yahoo – this will then lead new consumers to travel to your blog page. Blogs are great because users can post comments following your own blog posts, thus creating user interaction. Consumer interaction is very important for any business trying to strengthen their online presence and reach out to its audience. Customer feedback can be used to your own advantage, to improve your business and target the needs and concerns of your customer base. Social media, e-mails and blogs can help you gain essential information through consumer interaction and are considered to be three important aspects of online marketing. To find out more, visit seo5consulting.

This is a long article with many parts of interesting skills and
knowledge and up to now is the best article about brochure
marketing in the world; In fact, it’s the first chapter of
Advanced Tourism Brochure Marketing Package published by
T-IM. com (
http://www. tourism-internetmarketing. com/ebook/tourism_brochure_m
arketing_ebook. htm); therefor, its content is also great for any
businesses which have a marketing brochure.

This article is so comprehensive and has 2 parts:

Part 1: The first 7 serious brochure marketing mistakes

Part 2: The second 7 mistakes more to be revealed.

Due to the length of the whole article make difficult to read
and remember for reader , I just supply the part 1. At the end
of this article, there will have a link to the part 2 and
Friendly print version of the whole article. Keep reading.

Part 1: The first 7 serious brochure marketing mistakes

A well- planed and carefully-designed tourism brochure will
indeed increase the services business; especially it is the
business of tourism. But many tourism marketers don’t make
effective use of their brochure and leave out important
elements. That is a cost, a real damage for your business. If
you have a marketing tool to use, you must ultimately exploit
its profit; if you can not take advantage of the promotional
tool, the money and time of publishing the tool is one of the
biggest costs. The second cost is the lost prospects caught by
your competitors who use this same tool at its most power. And
the third created by the weakness of your integrated marketing
plan – you do not know how to use one among many of your
marketing tools effectively, how can you use the rest to get the
most benefit of your marketing mix.

Mistake 1: Brochure is created as a sole fighter in the battle
field of marketing. It is use lonely, separately with no support
from other tool of marketing. There is no marketing plan as a
base for your brochure. We create the brochure because the other
has it, even a lot of it. And second reason is if we do a travel
and hospitality business without having a brochure, it seems not
to be a tourism business.

- In fact: Any advertising, including brochure, should be a part
of the total marketing plan for a business. If your marketing
strategy determines that tourism brochure are an effective
method for reaching your target audience, then carefully design
the best brochure possible.

Mistake 2: The most expensive misconception is that brochure
sell- that a prospect will read the entire of the brochure with
glowing adjectives, and sign a contract as a result of it.

- In fact: A brochure, in this context, is a pamphlet or booklet
that describes an organization and its function, or a hotel with
its services. . . it maybe used to explain all or a segment of an
organization or a services supplier. For example: we can design
a brochure about our travel company, includes company’s mission,
portfolio and all kinds of services . . . we supply.

We can also design a brochure about one of its favorite
services, such as a special tour-to promote it only!

A good tourism marketing brochure should finish its duty as a
good overview of an origination, a destination, a hotel or
travel company, inspires the reader to the next step if he (she)
is interested in the supplier’s services.

If a brochure catch the eyes of a random visitor or traveler who
has no exact determination of buying or using, get him reading
and put a good impression on the services supplier’s image,
often is the feeling about a professional, it can be perceived
as a good marketing brochure, although the reader do not take
the next step then- just because he has no demand at that time.

That is the situation when a brochure does its responsibility of
branding in the mind of a future client. It is a good job for a
normal brochure.

Mistake 3: Another familiar trap in the mind of a brochure
publisher is the concept that people read brochure thoroughly
and carefully.

-In fact: A brochure, no matter how attractive or thorough, is
usually simply glanced at. It maybe read in conjunction with
other materials, to get an overall impression of a company. But
it rarely devoured like a novel.

Mistake 4: The brochure doesn’t contain all the elements of a
competent marketing message.

-In fact: Bit and pieces of information aren’t enough. Your
brochure should take your prospects through your message from
the beginning to the end. It should provide all the facts and
persuasion necessary to get your prospects to take whatever
action you want him to take.

Mistake 5: The brochure doesn’t contain a detailed list of
services you offer.

-In fact: A prospect often looks at your services list to sees
if you provide what they need. It they don’t see what they want,
they may assume you don’t provide that services and call another
one. Make sure you list all the services your visitor looks for.

Mistake 6: The brochure doesn’t explain how you differ from
other competitors. There is no advantage of unique selling
position for you. You look like the rest, and the rest is same
you.

-In fact: If your prospects don’t know your competitive
advantages, they often don’t have a clear reason to use or buy
your services than another supplier’s.

(Here I tell you more about your competitive advantage:

A competitive advantage, in nature, is your unique selling
position which is the foundation of your marketing strategy. All
the marketing tools are used interactively in a period along a
strategic plan of marketing your services. This marketing plan
originates from many factors, such as the holidays season, the
target visitors, the marketing budget, the stander of our
services, the market trend, the competitors’ marketing
strategy. . . but the most important is your target group.

You can discuss about this useful marketing topic in Tourism
Internet Marketing Forum to enhance your internet sale as well
as receive the great forum benefits.

http://www. tourism-internetmarketing. com/parent_page/Frequently_A
sked_Question. htm#benefit

Therefore, if you can figure out exactly what your target group
of a marketing plan is, focus tourism attract them by a target
brochure, you will know how to create the competitive advantages
for your brochure marketing campaign. )

Read the part 2:

Part 2: The second 7 mistakes more to be revealed.

http://www. tourism-internetmarketing. com/brochure_marketing/touri
sm%20_brochure_marketing_index. htm

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

All articles of David Kan published in this website can be
reprinted or posted on other website as well as the author ‘s
biography keep intact.

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom ruled by five cool kings who reigned in peace and harmony. The kings, whose names are Salutation, Presentation, Consummation, Perseverance, and Enticement, live in a wilderness filled with wanderers, each one seeking the proverbial pot of gold.

The role of the kings is to guide these wanderers in their quest, because as the visitors get rich, so does the kingdom. The twist is that these monarchs do not live in a fairy-tale, but in a fact-based new book that shows current and would-be information marketers how to launch lucrative businesses on the Internet. So what’s the deal?

The kings’ story, says Robert Skrob, co-author with Bob Regnerus of “The Official Get Rich Guide to Information Marketing on the Internet,” is a parable. “The kingdom is actually a website, and the surrounding wilderness is the cyberspace,” Skrob says. “Every wanderer who passes by is a potential customer, and the kings represent the five steps of the marketing process. Just as they have to work together without getting in each other’s way, an info-marketer has to include all five steps in the marketing campaign, and follow these steps in proper order. ”

Thus, King Salutation is the first to greet and welcome visitors to the kingdom. His job description, Skrob explains, is “to make people feel comfortable, and not frighten them away by asking too many questions. And, he doesn’t force the visitors to listen to the kingdom’s entire history, but, rather, describes it with a few choice words. ”

Once the visitors ascertain that they have entered the kingdom that is right for them, Salutation helps them over the border and leaves them in the capable hands of his co-king, Presentation, the kingdom’s official tour guide. “He is a masterful speaker, capturing the imagination of his visitors,” Skrob explains.

“He also knows how to point uncertain visitors in the right direction, convincing them they can achieve all their get-rich goals right there in the kingdom. And, he can even motivate the visitors to remain in the kingdom with small gifts and other incentives. ” The visitor is then passed on to Consummation, who shows them how to exchange their gold for the objects they seek. He keeps the eager travelers – those who went through two previous kings, as well as those who impatiently scaled the wall to get directly to him – on the right track. “His job is to provide all the information the visitors need to successfully complete their journeys,”

Skrob notes. Perseverance’s job is more laid-back, but very important nonetheless: to follow the visitors who depart from the kingdom without leaving any of their gold behind, making sure they know they’re always welcome back. He keeps in touch with them with frequent messages and “knows how to be persistent without being a nuisance,” Skrob says. The fifth king, Enticement, has the most difficult job of all: he roams the wilderness looking for the specific kind of visitors who are most likely to be lured into the kingdom.

“These people may not know of the kingdom’s existence, so they wander aimlessly looking for someone to show them the way,” Skrob says. “So Enticement hires agents who search for wanderers the king wouldn’t be able to find by himself. These agents send the lost visitors back to the realm of five kings. ” This parable, which highlights the importance of a well-structured and focused website that attracts, rather than repels, visitors is featured in the book, released in September 2008 as a sequel to last year’s

“The Official Get Rich Guide to Information Marketing. ” “Both books feature profiles of people who became extraordinarily successful on the Internet,” says Skrob, president of the Tallahassee, FL-based Information Marketing Association. “When you use a website to market your product, you can make sales anywhere, at any time, without lifting a finger. There’s no question that, for any info-marketer, Internet is a great way to make lots of money. ” And, once info-marketers follow the five kings, they will all live happily ever after.