Non Profits and Social Media

The Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University has been doing a biannual survey of nonprofit technology benchmarks for its regional nonprofits for the past ten years.

A few highlights related to social media:

23% use social networking sites, but 68% of those use them "rarely"

20% use blogs, but 64% of those use them "rarely"

11% use RSS feeds

11% use podcasting

My personal feeling on Social Media is it is not just for larger national organizations. Smaller non profits can have a web presence with the big boys if they implement an active social media optimization plan... and all the tools are free.

Read complete report>

How to Get Started On Twitter

Don't understand what all the Twitter fuss is about or why you might want to use this social networking tool? You're not alone, but you may be missing out on useful information and professional connections. Check out our quick and easy guide on how and why to get started with Twitter.

Twitter remains a very nascent social network, so if you don't know how it works or what it does (or you haven't even heard of it), don't feel bad. In fact, you're still in the majority. But we're here to help you reap the benefits of Twitter with this quick get-started guide.

Jeremiah Owyang (@jowyang), a senior Forrester analyst who researches social media and who pens a blog on Web Strategy, says that while Twitter doesn't release exact numbers, he estimates that three to six million people use Twitter, compared to 150 million for Facebook.

Here is an (appropriately) short explanation of Twitter: Twitter is a free service that allows users to publish short messages of 140 characters or less. These messages are read by "followers" — people who make a conscious decision to subscribe to your messages and have them delivered to their own Twitter home pages.
Each message you post is known as a "Tweet." In the social media and social networking industry, Twitter facilitates a process known as microblogging or microsharing. Every user is identified by putting an "@" sign in front of their name (for instance: @cglynch).

Joining Twitter has value for many people, but it can also be a waste of time if you don't understand how the medium works and how best to utilize it. We take a look at suggestions from social networking gurus to help you determine if adding Twitter to your daily tech diet is in your best interest.

Do You Belong on Twitter?

The Wild West view of social networks proposes that you should just try them out and see whether or not you like them. But in a world where most people already belong to existing social networks (such as Facebook or LinkedIn), on top of using long-established technology like e-mail and text messaging, allocating time for another outlet should be considered carefully.

"Think about why do you want to do it," Owyang says. "Do you want to join because there's buzz about it [in the media] or because President Obama is on it? Especially now, you need to spend your resources and your time well."

Twitter should be place where you want to share common interests and ask insightful questions, and, ideally, read the interesting answers you get back, says Laura Fitton (@pistachio), who runs Pistachio Consulting, which advices people and companies on how best to utilize Twitter.

Though some people use Twitter to keep people in their personal life updated, Twitter has developed a business following. People in a particular industry (say engineering, software development, or public relations) often use Twitter to keep up with news, opinion and happenings in their field, for example. Once you get going with Twitter, this information will come to you. More on that in a minute.

What You Can Gain and Share With Twitter

If many Twitter evangelists looking to broaden the service's demographic had it their way, they might want to change the site's official branding a bit. When you go to Twitter to sign up, it says, "Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"

"The best way to make the most use of it is not just answer what are you doing now," says Owyang. "Instead, answer: 'What's important to me?' That changes the conversation and makes value. It takes away some of the minutia and shows you want to talk about something that's more useful and interesting."

In other words, the "I'm running to the store" messages might not be as compelling amidst the noise of Twitter messages as "I just read a book on [insert some topic that's interest to you]." If you have room in the 140 characters, state an opinion or analysis of it.

It's about "what has my attention right now?" Fitton says. "The point of Twitter is what do we have in common or having some kind of shared experience."

HOW TO SIGN UP FOR TWITTER

1. Twitter.com Click on the "Join the Conversation" button in middle of the page.

2. Fill out basic information. This will include your full name, preferred user name, password and e-mail address. Remember that the user name is what people will see with an "@" symbol in front of it.

3. See if your friends are on Twitter. After you fill out basic info, you'll be prompted to look for friends in your Gmail, Yahoo, MSN, Hotmail or AOL accounts so you can begin following them if they're already on the service.

4. Twitter's suggestions. Twitter will suggest some people for you to follow as well. Check to see if anyone of them are relevant.

5. Setting up your profile. Click on "settings" in the upper right hand corner of your Twitter home page. You'll be brought to a tab-based menu that helps you build your profile and adjust settings.

6. Fill in the fields. Of particular importance is the "one line bio" under the "Account" tab. You have 160 characters to present yourself to the Twitter community. Many people choose to state their profession, and then maybe something outside of work that interests them as well. CIO's C.G. Lynch (@cglynch), for instance, has the following: "Staff Writer at CIO, New England Sports Fan."
7. Start looking for followers Regardless of how many people you found through e-mail search and Twitter's suggestions, start looking around for people you might find interesting. Use search.twitter.com.

Who to Follow on Twitter?

The early users of Twitter have turned the issue of followers into a bit of popularity contest, and the PR and marketing professionals follow thousands of people in some cases to help tout their brands over the service.
But following a lot of people can create unnecessary noise that will render the service useless to you.

"The people you choose to follow should bring something compelling to your life," says Fitton. "I feel sad people think that's important to follow a ton of random people or have people with a lot of followers to be important or get value from Twitter."

Owyang suggests starting with people you know. When you sign up for Twitter, you will be promoted to search for friends from your Gmail or Yahoo Mail accounts and show if you are on the service. Also, he says, you can use Twitter's search tool to look for people that might be twittering in your field.

You don't need to know people personally, but they should relate to your interests. You also might want to look for luminaries in your industry who often publish links to things they're reading with short comments on it. If you're into biking, you might follow Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong). If you're into politics, maybe you follow party operatives like democrat Joe Trippi (@JoeTrippi) or republican Karl Rove (@KarlRove).

Not long after you join, people will begin following you. Before you follow back, make sure you're going to get something substantive out of their tweets, Owyang says.

Other experts advise you think more broadly, at least to start. Stowe Boyd (@stoweboyd), a social media consultant who writes the /message blog, suggests following at least 100 people right away. He agrees with Owyang and Fitton that you should look for quality people, but believes it's important to throw yourself into the Twitter environment and see how information moves differently.

With Twitter, information flows to you, in contrast to more traditional mediums such as a news website, where you must click around and seek out information on your own. On Twitter, after you select followers, the information just comes to you.

"The point is getting in the flow, and having it wash over you," Boyd says.
Remember, You're Publishing: Google Will Find Your Tweets.

It's important to remember that Twitter is a publishing medium. In many cases, Tweets can be picked up by Google. So remember what you say, especially if you tend to talk business over Twitter (as many people do).

An executive from a PR agency that works with FedEx published a tweet where he spoke ill of the shipping company's hometown of Memphis, Tennessee..

The tweet went: "True confession but I'm in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say 'I would die if I had to live here!'"

FedEx responded to him with an e-mail expressing its disappointment in the post.
"What you say can affect your blog or business. Your boss, competitors, wife or future wife," Owyang says. "You need to remember, it's publishing."

Another caution: because a Tweet is so short, it's even harder than with say e-mail for people to pick up context or tell when you're being sarcastic versus serious, Fitton says.

"You need to think carefully about how you put it and how it sounds," she says. "Think about not only your immediate followers but your potential audience, which is the whole Web. Tweets get googled pretty prominently."

By C.G. Lynch

Seven Words That Will Make Your Web Site Worth Viewing

Seven. A number like any other. But it does seem to come up on a fairly regular basis: the Seven Wonders of the World, the Seven Deadly Sins, and the Seven Dwarfs: Happy, Sneezy, Sleepy, Bashful, Doc, Dopey, and (my favorite) Grumpy.
Phone numbers have seven digits. And may say the optimum brand name should be no more than seven letters long. Seven, it seems, is a magical number, because the human brain can grasp only seven things at a time (on average).
So I've been thinking, What are the seven most important words associated with Web-marketing? I'll give you a hint: Search, engine, and optimization don't make the cut.

So what words do make the list? What are the seven words that will make your Web site worth viewing?


Words Can Move You

By someone's count there are 171,476 entries in the Oxford English Dictionary, plus another 47,156 words that have fallen out of favor, but not counting the 9,500 additional permutations that don't deserve their own special attention.

Half of these words are nouns, one-fourth are adjectives, and 14.285% are verbs; the rest consist of all those other things the purpose of which most of us long ago forgot.

Others may find fault with these numbers, but no matter what the total, it's a lot of words.

Of the tens of thousands of words to choose from, most people recognize less than ten percent, while teenagers seem to only be able to handle about half that amount; of course, that doesn't count slang, instant-messaging jargon, or the ever-popular four-letter variety.

Why the heck are there so many words if we all refuse to use them? I mean, why waste all those perfectly good words on English teachers and college professors?

Here's the thing: Words have meaning and impact, and they provide the emotional context of our communications; and we add subtlety and nuance by how we deliver them, using tone, cadence, and gesture.

That is, as important as words are... the way they are delivered is even more important.

What Web Site Design Is Really About

The other day I was listening to a local all-news radio station. It is mostly rip-and-read wire-service stuff that they repeat over and over like some kind of psychological torture, but they do provide traffic reports on a nauseatingly regular basis. You have to wait only 10 minutes until they repeat everything. So if you want to hear what traffic snafus to avoid, just wait a few minutes. But here's the problem: The announcers talk so fast that no matter how hard you concentrate, you can never quite get the particular information you need; and if you're driving, you have other things to consider, like the idiot in the Hummer who just cut you off.
None of these guys ever uses a period, let alone a semicolon or comma. Either they have very small bladders and are under pressure to finish quickly, or they're late for their afternoon pilates class. They seem so intent on rushing to the commercials that they never deliver the content in an appropriate manner.
Your Web site just might have the same problem.

Too much information is as bad as not enough. Information overkill leads to information anxiety, buyer's remorse, reduced satisfaction, unattainable expectations, and purchase-decision paralysis.

Web site owners have been told that visitors won't wait for anything, that they are impatient, and you've got to get to the point fast, make the pitch, and close the deal. Well, that approach just isn't going to work with any sophisticated product or service.

Your Web site presentation needs to slow people down so they hear what you have to say, and you have to say something worth hearing.
Web site design is about more than layout, markup language, and technical wizardry. Web site design is about communication; it's about turning advertising into content, and content into an experience that viewers will remember.
Seven Words to Remember

1. Communication

People are always asking us what's wrong with their Web sites, and the answer in the vast majority of cases can be summed-up in a quote from the movie Cool Hand Luke (1967): "What we have here is a failure to communicate." Communication is the key to success, and that doesn't just apply to your Web site—it applies to almost everything you do both inside and outside your business life.
If your Web site isn't communicating on both a rational and an emotional level, if it doesn't provide the psychological and emotional context of your marketing message, then exactly what is it doing?

2. Audience

I can't think of too many people who actually like being sold to. In fact, sometimes customers get so irritated by sales tactics that they end up not buying the thing they came specifically to your Web site to buy.
Solving the problem is merely a question of altering your perspective. The average buyer is predisposed to dismiss and ignore high-pressure tactics and meaningless sales pitches. So instead of treating customers like customers, try treating them like an audience. Audiences want to be engaged, enlightened, and entertained. And that is the most effective way to make a sales impact.

3. Focus

All too often, Web sites inundate their Web audiences with facts, figures, statistics, and an endless list of features, benefits, options, and whatever else the sales department can think of throwing in. But all that stuff just confuses people.

Focus your message on the most important elements of what you have to say. If your Web site can embed that single idea in an audience's mind, then it has done its job.

4. Language

The words used, and how they are put together, provide meaning; they inform personality; they provide mental sound bites; and they turn whatever you are saying into something worth remembering.
Language is one of the critical elements of "voice," the ability to convey personality. Writing that doesn't have "voice" is instantly forgettable.

5. Performance

Even the most articulate prose can be lost in befuddled delivery. Communication is more than words; it's a combination of language, style, personality, and performance.

Things are rarely what they seem. Even our memories are a stylized versions of what we've actually experienced. Creating a memorable impression is about managing the viewer experience and providing the right verbal and non-verbal cues that make what is being said memorable.

6. Personality

Every business has a personality. The first problem is that few midsize companies ever attempt to manage that persona, and as a consequence the buying public forms its own opinion. And that opinion is often not the way you want to be regarded.
The second problem is that companies either don't have a firm grasp of who they really are or, if they know, they are afraid to promote it. If your company's identity isn't worth promoting, it is time to think why that is... and change it.
The bottom line is that a company without a personality is a company without an image, and that makes you instantly forgettable.

7. Psychology
The most important feature you can offer your audience is psychological fulfillment, not deep discounts, fast service, or more bells and whistles.
The real reason people buy stuff is that it makes them feel something. Cosmetics make women feel attractive or sexy, while cars make men feel they've achieved some level of status. Even services make people feel important, as in "I've got a guy who does that for me."

Finding the psychological hotspot in your marketing, and promoting the hell out of it consistently and continually, should be your primary marketing goal. All those features and benefits are merely the excuse for a purchase, not the reason.

The Web Is Fast Becoming a Video Environment

Web sites are not just marketing collateral; they are not just digital brochures. They are a new presentation medium that requires specialized communication skills, and knowledge of how best to use the medium.

You may be a great salesperson and nobody knows your business like you do... and you may even be skilled at delivering speeches at conventions and seminars... but performing effectively in front of a camera is a whole different ball game. And for most people it's way out of their comfort zone, let alone their skill level.
The same old methods that used to work won't work any more. You're no longer competing with just the company down the street; you're competing with the entire world.

Web-based businesses may never actually meet their customers face to face or even talk to them on the phone, so it is imperative that they use marketing presentation methods that deliver an experience worth remembering.


by Jerry Bader
Published on February 10, 2009

I Just Want Someone To Listen To Me

From CancerRecovery.org

That’s all I want …
someone to listen to me.
Just listen.
Merely listen.
No advice.
No fixing it.
No judgment.
No telling me not to feel this way.
All that can come later
if it needs to.
But first,
I need to say it.
I just need to let it out
and let it go.
I need the burden to be lifted.
I’m not looking for pity or even complete understanding,
because I know no one can really, totally,
understand
what I am going through.
But I just need an ear,
an ear,
attached to a heart,
filled with a little patience and a lot of
love.
It’s rare,
frustratingly rare,
to find someone who is
strong enough,
open enough,
to hearing me out.
I need someone who
can plunge into the depths with me
and
who won’t blanche
at my rawest emotions.
When I need to speak of
anger,
pain,
fear,
disappointment,
resentment
or
heartbreak.
I need someone who
will just let me say it.
It is in saying it
that much of the
anger,
pain,
fear,
disappointment,
resentment
and
heartbreak
begin to melt away.
It is when someone else
gets it,
gets that I need them
merely to listen,
that I begin to heal.
And then,
yes, then,
I begin to hope.
Again.

Visit CancerRecovery.Org for great resources for cancer patents, family members, care givers and medical professionals >

25 Signs You Have Bad Client

Great article>

What Not to Say on Twitter

What Not to Say On Twitter

Six Hotel Internet Marketing Experts Share Best Practices

By Jitendra Jain

2009: This year may well go down for some as the year that the worst recession since World War II hit the world economy …and threw travel off-balance. Others may remember this year for the exciting challenges posed, opportunities seized and progress made towards a brighter, more profitable and tech-savvy future. Whichever way you chose to remember it, there’s no denying the fact that as travel and hospitality professionals, we’ll all have to break some moulds, get creative, optimize use of resources and collaborate like we’re never done before!

This document was inspired by a similar effort in the field of Online Social Media, initiated by Peter Kim, where prominent bloggers and authors collaborated to share their thoughts on the future developments they saw in 2009. My natural reaction was… collaboration should be a natural fit for the hospitality industry right? After all, we’re all about people! Thus this initiative was born…and I set out to seek the knowledge, thoughts and advice of prominent industry leaders and bloggers, on what they saw as important developments and tips in the field of online hospitality marketing this year. Of the 18 or so people contacted, 5-6 were kind enough to respond and share their remarkable thoughts.

* Professor Dimitrios Buhalisis, Deputy Director at the International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research (ICTHR), School of Services Management at Bournemouth University.
* Todd Lucier, creator of Tourism Keys Internet Marketing for Tourism blog, podcast and learning materials
* Patrick Landman, Hotel Revenue Management, Online Distribution and Internet Marketing Guru and the Founder of Xotels
* Jan Tissera, President, TravelCLICK International (Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa regions)
* Guillaume Thevenot, French Londoner based at Amadeus and founder + editor of Hotel-Blogs.com
* Jitendra Jain (JJ), Online Marketer at Starwood Hotels and founder of The Talent Jungle Network, YoungHotelier.com and HoteleMarketer.com

Common themes that seem to emerge include:

1. It’s time to get back to basics and cover these well
2. There will be an increasing reliance on online technology in the year ahead
3. We’ll have to work together, both offline and online, for the best results
4. Utilization of mobile and on-the-go marketing will increase moving forward
5. There will be a renewed focus on internationalization and destination marketing
6. ROI measurement and analytics will become keystones to online success
7. A better understanding of our customer needs, niches and experiences will be required
8. There will be an increasing use of rich media and online PR in hospitality
9. The Hospitality industry will start experimenting with social media in earnest
10. Creativity and common sense will reign supreme (or so it ought to!)

A big Thank You to those who’ve taken the time to share their thoughts, ideas and insights in this document. This just wouldn’t have been possible without you.

THOUGHTS on 2009

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis

Hotel Online Marketing Predictions 2009: What do you think are the 3 key internet developments and online opportunities the hotel industry is likely to encounter & benefit from this year?

1. Technology to assist cutting costs
2. Location-based services and geography mash-ups increasing
3. Tour operators investing more in bedbanks and repackaging the package further

Leveraging technology to bear the recession: What are your Top tips to Hotels hoping to leverage Internet tech to beat the recession?

Many friends and colleagues have been asking me what to do in their tourism business during these difficult economic times. Here is the advice I gave to a hotelier friend recently:

* look after your customers better - engage with real CRM and work with you client base
* look after your domestic markets and people who can visit you within 90 minutes drive/train/ferry
* identify markets that are less affected or their perception is not affected as others
* create events and work on your value added propositions
* enhance your PR footprint
* work closely with your intermediaries and do not always believe that demand will be at the level they would have hopped
* expand the number of intermediaries available
* work closely with your staff to go reduce costs and to save through operational management
* work closely with your local suppliers to bring local products and reduce transportation, logistics and storage costs
* open your distribution channels as much as possible
* use technology and the internet to be in front of both your individual and trade customers as often as possible
* address you cost base and cut any unnecessary costs throughout
* reduce fixed cost - even if you pay higher variable costs for production
* work with local associations and clubs to organise events, conferences, charity gatherings etc
* be prepared but be cheerful - we have seen it all before !

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis is the Deputy Director at the International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research (ICTHR), School of Services Management at Bournemouth University. Email: dbuhalis@bournemouth.ac.uk Blog: http://buhalis.blogspot.com

Todd Lucier

Hotel Online Marketing Predictions 2009: What do you think are the 3 key internet developments and online opportunities the hotel industry is likely to encounter & benefit from this year?

* Blogsites will replace Websites as the principle marketing tool
* Handheld devices will start to play a significant role in the travel choices of travelers – i.e. en route planning for meals and accommodations will be much easier.
* Travelers will expect free wifi, but handhelds and 3G access will be more important to the digital traveller.
* Consumer influences on one another will be much more pronounced with wider acceptance of social media and giving and receiving advice on tools like Twitter, Tripadvisor and Facebook.
* Tourism businesses better be good and have ways of encouraging good word of mouth and monitoring the attitudes of visiting guests.

Leveraging technology to bear the recession: What are your Top tips to Hotels hoping to leverage Internet tech to beat the recession?

Partner, Partner, Partner: Collaboration will be the single most effective way to counter global economic upheaval. We're all in this together. The stronger presence your community has - via partnerships, co-marketing and raising word of mouth marketing, the better positioned your community will be to compete.

This requires significant trust and care for those we normally compete with. It might sound counterintuitive to the idea of seeking as much business as possible, but it is what is required to succeed in tough times.

Todd Lucier is the creator of Tourism Keys Internet Marketing for Tourism blog, podcast and learning materials. Since 1999, he’s been showing tourism businesses and communities how to make the most of the Web in seminars, hands-on workshops and with keynote presentations that inspire, motivate and transform thinking about the Internet. http://www.tourismkeys.ca/blog

Patrick Landman

Hotel Online Marketing Predictions 2009: What do you think are the key internet developments and online opportunities the hotel industry is likely to encounter & benefit from this year?

I have but one advice for most hoteliers during challenging times. And that is going back to basics. Lets not try to move forward with websites, implementing so much new technology.

More important before doing so is making sure the bare necessities are taken care of. Unfortunately too many hotel websites are still in too poor of a shape in terms of relevant content, site structure, meta-tags etc.

Lets go back and look at the hotel websites from a guests perspective. What does he want, how will he be able to find your hotel website. Stop thinking as a hotelier and become more of a destination marketer...

In the end they are most likely not coming or looking for your hotel. You are merely a consequence of the trip.

So lets sell what they are coming for, target the motive of the trip. We have to speak to consumers from each individual micro-segment!

Patrick Landman, a Hotel Revenue Management, Online Distribution and Internet Marketing Guru is the Founder of Xotels. http://www.xotels.com/

Jan Tissera

Hotel Online Marketing Predictions 2009: What do you think are the key internet developments and online opportunities the hotel industry is likely to encounter & benefit from this year?

2009 will be an important year for Online Internet Marketing strategy. As marketing budgets tighten and are increasingly placed under the microscope, more emphasis than ever will be placed on tracking the return on spend. Online Marketing offers hotels the most trackable and cost effective means of marketing their rooms direct to the consumer.

The three major areas that I see developing in 2009 are as follows:

1. Social Media Optimization and Online PR - The Search Engines are not the only channels used now to find information via internet. Channels such as YouTube account to 10% of total internet traffic. Social websites such as Facebook are increasingly popular, highly visited and used to find information and links. The search landscape in Google has also changed to include maps, blogs, news, images, videos etc all provided by Web 2.0 and social media websites. With all these developments, it will be essential for the hotelier to implement a professional strategy to embrace such developments and maximize the benefits given by exposure to such channels.

2. International Approach to Paid Search - Many hotels are now successfully running Paid Search campaigns but are ignoring a huge potential market. Running campaigns internationally does not only mean checking a box to show ads across the globe. To attract visitors and tourists from other countries requires a specific strategy and game plan. Once you have outlined your likely feeder markets, research needs to be conducted to ascertain which keywords they will use to find your type of hotels. Also, Translated landing pages and keyword creative’s need to be produced and of course, if possible the hotel booking engine should feature the appropriate languages to encourage conversion. Making the effort to reach travelers in their own language can seriously improve conversion of paid search campaigns and attract a whole new market to your hotel. Most importantly increase hotel occupancy using a direct, cost effective and measurable channel.

3. Search Engine Optimization & Geo Search - One of the most cost effective methods of driving traffic and reservations online is a robust and effective SEO strategy. There is no charge per click, once an initial investment has been made, the sky is the limit for the benefits achieved through SEO. It's wise to work with a company that knows the marketplace and will support, edit and amend keywords and strategy through the year for optimal impact and quality traffic. As with Paid Search, it's also important to consider a multilingual strategy for SEO not only considering language nuances but also the variety of Search Engines used to find information. Integral to a successful SEO strategy would be a consideration of the Geo Search, i.e the increased usage of mapping tools to locate businesses. Hotels need to make sure that they are registered as a minimum with Google local and Google maps and all of the correct information is present within their listing. Hotels that have successfully optimized a map listing were able to jump to top position in Google for broad keywords like "Hotel in [Insert City]".

Leveraging technology to bear the recession: What are your Top 3 tips to Hotels hoping to leverage Internet tech to beat the recession?

1. Make sure that Hotel Websites are current and optimized for conversion. This involves making sure that your Hotel website is based on a CMS system that allows internal staff to update the website content, news, offers and images with ease. The visitor should arrive at the website and find reassurance immediately that they have arrived at the right place. Information such a prices, photos, offers, room types and booking should be easy to navigate to and above the page fold. It's important to keep the website current and create offers that will attract users convert online. Also of high importance is the ability to offer visitors a "Best Price Guarantee". When users arrive at your website, they should know that they don't need to go anywhere else to shop for prices. Most users will prefer to book direct with hotels when assured that they are getting the best deal. Higher conversion generally leads to higher ROI and happier website owners!

2. SEO - Work with a professional company to optimize your website for increased performance within the Search Engines. This is a cost effective means of driving increased traffic to you website. A good SEO company will work with you to make sure that a professional and effective revenue driving strategy is in place and you are getting good return for your initial outlay. Regular reporting and campaign analysis should be conducted to achieve optimal performance and benefit tracking both ranking and more importantly traffic gained from the Search Engines. Don't ignore the opportunity to create individual SEO strategies for countries that could potentially produce a good stream of bookings to your hotel. Working with a company that has experience performing SEO across countries and continents can be of great benefit when expanding your Search Engine reach.

3. Use the Data from Web Analytics - Whatever web analytics package you are using, make sure it is set-up correctly to record numerous conversion metrics. Regularly review and more importantly act on the data and information that you receive from the reports to increase conversion, quality traffic and customer experience. Doing this will increase the effectiveness of you website to maximize the potential for conversion that each visitor to the website has. Learn to understand what the reports mean for you and your hotel and what actions should be taken as a result of the information gleamed. Using such data can also allow you to evaluate the success of various internet marketing efforts that you are carrying out. Proactive analysis and action based on your web analytics can offer a real edge over your competitors.

Jan Tissera is President, TravelCLICK International and directs TravelCLICK's sales activities in the Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa regions. An experienced international hotelier and hotel industry consultant, Jan advises clients on how to maximize their performance in electronic distribution channels. www.travelclick.net

Guillaume Thevenot

Hotel Online Marketing Predictions 2009: What do you think are the key internet developments and online opportunities the hotel industry is likely to encounter & benefit from this year?

Online Marketing gets better ROI
In 2009, the hotel industry has better control about the ROI on their online advertising than offline, it’s a fact not a myth anymore. Online analytics tools are becoming cheaper if not free, and they should be used to understand where your traffic comes from and how your visitors behave on your hotel site. Also hoteliers can target better the audience they want to reach. For example, there is a community of bloggers who share a lot of travel tips on their site that becoming a more important voice to the consumer’s eyes, so why not sharing with them what your hotel is about. But this needs to be done with a personal touch, forget the traditional press release.

Engage with your customers
Today, you have to be stubborn to avoid all the online hotel reviews available to the consumer and the social communities built into travel. You have to engage with your customers by responding to their hotel reviews when something wrong happened at your hotel. Also don’t hesitate to share with them your blog where you can feature the latest events happening at your property. Finally, only embrace social networking sites if you are comfortable with this and try to find somebody in your team who understands these sites and can be the ambassador of your hotel. It could be your receptionist or a housekeeper. But remember you need to allocate some time in the week to engage with these sites.

Understand how search engines behave
There have been some dramatic changes in the way search engines behave recently. No more you have the results page with only paid listing and organic results. Today, you can find in the results page links, videos, pictures or local business results. You need to be there, hence why you should use sites like YouTube or Flickr to feature your hotel in all these media portals.

Leveraging technology to bear the recession: What are your Top 3 tips to Hotels hoping to leverage Internet tech to beat the recession?

#1 Be clever with who you work online
Make sure your contract gives you the flexibility to close down inventory if you believe you can sell direct. Also look carefully which online travel agent or hotel booking agent can bring you guaranteed business for the year. Don’t hesitate to ask them how many bookings they could deliver you this year. Finally, ensure that the commissions you pay to your online distribution partners don’t affect your targeted margins.
#2 Choose the right booking engine on your site
There are many players in the online tech industry who say they have a fantastic booking engine for you. Be careful about what you choose. Customers like simplicity when booking online. So if they are ready to book on your own website, it has to be clear, fast and efficient. If you are unsure about which booking engine to choose from, ask a trial phase for 2 weeks and run another one for another 2 weeks and compare how your visitors behave on your site. The look to book ratio is still very important to measure.
#3 Be honest with you customers
Whether it is on your website or with your online distribution partners, please be truthful with what your hotel can offer to consumers. Upload recent pictures with all room types and not necessarily the most beautiful one. Make sure your customers have a more positive surprise than a negative one. If you have a camcorder, make little films about your hotel and conduct interviews with your team and share this on your website and online video portals. Consumers will feel the atmosphere of your property more than just reading a formatted text description.

Guillaume Thevenot is a French Londoner working in the Online Hospitality Industry. After graduating from ESSEC/IMHI with a MBA in International Hospitality Management in 2000, Guillaume decided to live in London with his wife and work for online travel companies such as Priceline and Active Hotels. Besides being the founder and editor of Hotel-Blogs.com, a leading blog for the hospitality trade, Guillaume also works for Amadeus - a great European travel technology company. His passion towards the Internet and the hotel world has helped him to discover different ways of doing business with hotels and the travel industry in general.

Jitendra Jain (JJ)

Hotel Online Marketing Predictions 2009: What do you think are the key internet developments and online opportunities the hotel industry is likely to encounter & benefit from this year?

I think the time is right for the following radical shifts to occur this year…hopefully we’ll see moves in this direction as far as the hospitality & travel industry is concerned:

1. The emergence and adoption of Experience Engines: Hotels, destinations and OTA’s break down the units of guest experience and start building superior experience engines that allow for total revenue management as well as maximum personalization.

2. Utilizing hotel guests as a distinct and structured distribution channel: CRM and the world of electronic social networking collide to provide hotels with a first look at monetizing and rewarding guest referrals.

3. Stepping beyond the boundaries of traditional interaction: Hotels step up from behind the curtain and start interacting with their guests in earnest, both offline and online. Corporate and brand hesitation is no match for the voice of the customer…and the hotelier that wants to hear it and respond to it.

Leveraging technology to bear the recession: What are your Top 3 tips to Hotels hoping to leverage Internet tech to beat the recession?

1. Get back to basics and get these right – There are plenty of hotels who still haven’t got their feet wet with the online revolution. These hotels will have to make haste to capture the benefits they’re missing out on (all possible at low costs too!). Those that are at the top of their game will need to go through their ‘basics’ checklist and ensure everything is ticked off and super-optimized.

2. Measure everything – The year of ROI. Every penny will be spent wisely, measured to go the distance and the whole exercise analyzed for future improvement. Invest in good analytics and more importantly USE the results!

3. Get out of your comfort zone – Hoteliers will need to cross the barriers of ePhobia and embrace the ‘e’ revolution. Luckily, like swimming, once you’ve made that jump and floundered a little…the rest to follow is easy and quite enjoyable!

At work, Jitendra Jain (JJ) is employed with Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Dubai as an E-Commerce Manager and handles hotel online marketing & distribution. At play, he is the founder of various online initiatives like www.hotelemarketer.com, www.thetalentjungle.com and www.younghotelier.com (among others) that dream, connect, educate and share all that is glorious about hospitality, technology and most importantly...the people that define our times.

Source> hotel-online.com

Better Than Free

The internet is a copy machine. At its most foundational level, it copies every action, every character, every thought we make while we ride upon it. In order to send a message from one corner of the internet to another, the protocols of communication demand that the whole message be copied along the way several times. IT companies make a lot of money selling equipment that facilitates this ceaseless copying. Every bit of data ever produced on any computer is copied somewhere. The digital economy is thus run on a river of copies. Unlike the mass-produced reproductions of the machine age, these copies are not just cheap, they are free.

Our digital communication network has been engineered so that copies flow with as little friction as possible. Indeed, copies flow so freely we could think of the internet as a super-distribution system, where once a copy is introduced it will continue to flow through the network forever, much like electricity in a superconductive wire. We see evidence of this in real life. Once anything that can be copied is brought into contact with internet, it will be copied, and those copies never leave. Even a dog knows you can't erase something once it's flowed on the internet.

Copy-Transmission

This super-distribution system has become the foundation of our economy and wealth. The instant reduplication of data, ideas, and media underpins all the major economic sectors in our economy, particularly those involved with exports -- that is, those industries where the US has a competitive advantage. Our wealth sits upon a very large device that copies promiscuously and constantly.

Yet the previous round of wealth in this economy was built on selling precious copies, so the free flow of free copies tends to undermine the established order. If reproductions of our best efforts are free, how can we keep going? To put it simply, how does one make money selling free copies?

I have an answer. The simplest way I can put it is thus:

When copies are super abundant, they become worthless.
When copies are super abundant, stuff which can't be copied becomes scarce and valuable.

When copies are free, you need to sell things which can not be copied.

Well, what can't be copied?

There are a number of qualities that can't be copied. Consider "trust." Trust cannot be copied. You can't purchase it. Trust must be earned, over time. It cannot be downloaded. Or faked. Or counterfeited (at least for long). If everything else is equal, you'll always prefer to deal with someone you can trust. So trust is an intangible that has increasing value in a copy saturated world.

There are a number of other qualities similar to trust that are difficult to copy, and thus become valuable in this network economy. I think the best way to examine them is not from the eye of the producer, manufacturer, or creator, but from the eye of the user. We can start with a simple user question: why would we ever pay for anything that we could get for free? When anyone buys a version of something they could get for free, what are they purchasing?

From my study of the network economy I see roughly eight categories of intangible value that we buy when we pay for something that could be free.

In a real sense, these are eight things that are better than free. Eight uncopyable values. I call them "generatives." A generative value is a quality or attribute that must be generated, grown, cultivated, nurtured. A generative thing can not be copied, cloned, faked, replicated, counterfeited, or reproduced. It is generated uniquely, in place, over time. In the digital arena, generative qualities add value to free copies, and therefore are something that can be sold.

Eight Generatives Better Than Free

Immediacy -- Sooner or later you can find a free copy of whatever you want, but getting a copy delivered to your inbox the moment it is released -- or even better, produced -- by its creators is a generative asset. Many people go to movie theaters to see films on the opening night, where they will pay a hefty price to see a film that later will be available for free, or almost free, via rental or download. Hardcover books command a premium for their immediacy, disguised as a harder cover. First in line often commands an extra price for the same good. As a sellable quality, immediacy has many levels, including access to beta versions. Fans are brought into the generative process itself. Beta versions are often de-valued because they are incomplete, but they also possess generative qualities that can be sold. Immediacy is a relative term, which is why it is generative. It has to fit with the product and the audience. A blog has a different sense of time than a movie, or a car. But immediacy can be found in any media.

Personalization -- A generic version of a concert recording may be free, but if you want a copy that has been tweaked to sound perfect in your particular living room -- as if it were preformed in your room -- you may be willing to pay a lot. The free copy of a book can be custom edited by the publishers to reflect your own previous reading background. A free movie you buy may be cut to reflect the rating you desire (no violence, dirty language okay). Aspirin is free, but aspirin tailored to your DNA is very expensive. As many have noted, personalization requires an ongoing conversation between the creator and consumer, artist and fan, producer and user. It is deeply generative because it is iterative and time consuming. You can't copy the personalization that a relationship represents. Marketers call that "stickiness" because it means both sides of the relationship are stuck (invested) in this generative asset, and will be reluctant to switch and start over.

Interpretation -- As the old joke goes: software, free. The manual, $10,000. But it's no joke. A couple of high profile companies, like Red Hat, Apache, and others make their living doing exactly that. They provide paid support for free software. The copy of code, being mere bits, is free -- and becomes valuable to you only through the support and guidance. I suspect a lot of genetic information will go this route. Right now getting your copy of your DNA is very expensive, but soon it won't be. In fact, soon pharmaceutical companies will PAY you to get your genes sequence. So the copy of your sequence will be free, but the interpretation of what it means, what you can do about it, and how to use it -- the manual for your genes so to speak -- will be expensive.

Authenticity -- You might be able to grab a key software application for free, but even if you don't need a manual, you might like to be sure it is bug free, reliable, and warranted. You'll pay for authenticity. There are nearly an infinite number of variations of the Grateful Dead jams around; buying an authentic version from the band itself will ensure you get the one you wanted. Or that it was indeed actually performed by the Dead. Artists have dealt with this problem for a long time. Graphic reproductions such as photographs and lithographs often come with the artist's stamp of authenticity -- a signature -- to raise the price of the copy. Digital watermarks and other signature technology will not work as copy-protection schemes (copies are super-conducting liquids, remember?) but they can serve up the generative quality of authenticity for those who care.

Accessibility -- Ownership often sucks. You have to keep your things tidy, up-to-date, and in the case of digital material, backed up. And in this mobile world, you have to carry it along with you. Many people, me included, will be happy to have others tend our "possessions" by subscribing to them. We'll pay Acme Digital Warehouse to serve us any musical tune in the world, when and where we want it, as well as any movie, photo (ours or other photographers). Ditto for books and blogs. Acme backs everything up, pays the creators, and delivers us our desires. We can sip it from our phones, PDAs, laptops, big screens from where-ever. The fact that most of this material will be available free, if we want to tend it, back it up, keep adding to it, and organize it, will be less and less appealing as time goes on.

Embodiment -- At its core the digital copy is without a body. You can take a free copy of a work and throw it on a screen. But perhaps you'd like to see it in hi-res on a huge screen? Maybe in 3D? PDFs are fine, but sometimes it is delicious to have the same words printed on bright white cottony paper, bound in leather. Feels so good. What about dwelling in your favorite (free) game with 35 others in the same room? There is no end to greater embodiment. Sure, the hi-res of today -- which may draw ticket holders to a big theater -- may migrate to your home theater tomorrow, but there will always be new insanely great display technology that consumers won't have. Laser projection, holographic display, the holodeck itself! And nothing gets embodied as much as music in a live performance, with real bodies. The music is free; the bodily performance expensive. This formula is quickly becoming a common one for not only musicians, but even authors. The book is free; the bodily talk is expensive.

Patronage -- It is my belief that audiences WANT to pay creators. Fans like to reward artists, musicians, authors and the like with the tokens of their appreciation, because it allows them to connect. But they will only pay if it is very easy to do, a reasonable amount, and they feel certain the money will directly benefit the creators. Radiohead's recent high-profile experiment in letting fans pay them whatever they wished for a free copy is an excellent illustration of the power of patronage. The elusive, intangible connection that flows between appreciative fans and the artist is worth something. In Radiohead's case it was about $5 per download. There are many other examples of the audience paying simply because it feels good.

Findability -- Where as the previous generative qualities reside within creative digital works, findability is an asset that occurs at a higher level in the aggregate of many works. A zero price does not help direct attention to a work, and in fact may sometimes hinder it. But no matter what its price, a work has no value unless it is seen; unfound masterpieces are worthless. When there are millions of books, millions of songs, millions of films, millions of applications, millions of everything requesting our attention -- and most of it free -- being found is valuable.

The giant aggregators such as Amazon and Netflix make their living in part by helping the audience find works they love. They bring out the good news of the "long tail" phenomenon, which we all know, connects niche audiences with niche productions. But sadly, the long tail is only good news for the giant aggregators, and larger mid-level aggregators such as publishers, studios, and labels. The "long tail" is only lukewarm news to creators themselves. But since findability can really only happen at the systems level, creators need aggregators. This is why publishers, studios, and labels (PSL)will never disappear. They are not needed for distribution of the copies (the internet machine does that). Rather the PSL are needed for the distribution of the users' attention back to the works. From an ocean of possibilities the PSL find, nurture and refine the work of creators that they believe fans will connect with. Other intermediates such as critics and reviewers also channel attention. Fans rely on this multi-level apparatus of findability to discover the works of worth out of the zillions produced. There is money to be made (indirectly for the creatives) by finding talent. For many years the paper publication TV Guide made more money than all of the 3 major TV networks it "guided" combined. The magazine guided and pointed viewers to the good stuff on the tube that week. Stuff, it is worth noting, that was free to the viewers. There is little doubt that besides the mega-aggregators, in the world of the free many PDLs will make money selling findability -- in addition to the other generative qualities.

These eight qualities require a new skill set. Success in the free-copy world is not derived from the skills of distribution since the Great Copy Machine in the Sky takes care of that. Nor are legal skills surrounding Intellectual Property and Copyright very useful anymore. Nor are the skills of hoarding and scarcity. Rather, these new eight generatives demand an understanding of how abundance breeds a sharing mindset, how generosity is a business model, how vital it has become to cultivate and nurture qualities that can't be replicated with a click of the mouse.

In short, the money in this networked economy does not follow the path of the copies. Rather it follows the path of attention, and attention has its own circuits.

Careful readers will note one conspicuous absence so far. I have said nothing about advertising. Ads are widely regarded as the solution, almost the ONLY solution, to the paradox of the free. Most of the suggested solutions I've seen for overcoming the free involve some measure of advertising. I think ads are only one of the paths that attention takes, and in the long-run, they will only be part of the new ways money is made selling the free.

But that's another story.

Beneath the frothy layer of advertising, these eight generatives will supply the value to ubiquitous free copies, and make them worth advertising for. These generatives apply to all digital copies, but also to any kind of copy where the marginal cost of that copy approaches zero. (See my essay on Technology Wants to Be Free.) Even material industries are finding that the costs of duplication near zero, so they too will behave like digital copies. Maps just crossed that threshold. Genetics is about to. Gadgets and small appliances (like cell phones) are sliding that way. Pharmaceuticals are already there, but they don't want anyone to know. It costs nothing to make a pill. We pay for Authenticity and Immediacy in drugs. Someday we'll pay for Personalization.

Maintaining generatives is a lot harder than duplicating copies in a factory. There is still a lot to learn. A lot to figure out. Write to me if you do.

Source > Kevin Kelly