A career in backpacking – that has to be more fun than a hotel
The other day I did a talk to a group of tourism college students on Marketing and communications. This is something we are getting more involved with in Wellington, our Auckland manager Renée has been doing this for a while. The students had been to several hotels and we were thrown in to provide a bit of variety since our target market is different. The impression I got from the lectures afterwoods... [Read more]
Dig deep with fresh eyes and make sure your business is running okay
Image by Ian Hampton via Flickr I have had a very busy last week or two. Aside from my usual daily things one of the bars in our group has hit a bumpy road and has performed quite poorly all of a sudden. Ultimately this has been caused by a drop in standards. Standards in service, in cleanliness and in marketing. Now it’s not to say that I have not been keeping an eye on things. I wander... [Read more]
Is your hostel going to burn to the ground? – Fire safety in your hostel
“Is your hostel going to burn to the ground?”… scary title hey! But a recent fire in an Auckland hostel has brought the topic of fire safety to light. After all who wants to have a Childers in their property? This is just a quick post to get you thinking. Are your fire exits and stairs clear of obstructions which will prevent people getting out? Aside from being stupid it is likely... [Read more]
Best twitter client for business – Review of twitter clients
So which is the best twitter client for business? When googling around it seem hootsuite always comes out on top in the search results for the best twitter client but there are a few others on the market which have their advantages depending on your business needs. Let’s review my top three. Hootsuite Hootsuite is our preferred twitter client for Nomads at the moment simply because it can... [Read more]
Wordpress SEO plugin – Review Scribe SEO plugin for wordpress
Recently we installed the new wordpress SEO plugin - Scribe SEO and I must say it is one of the best search engine optimization and copy writing tools for wordpress I have come across. When the Scribe SEO plugin is combined with tools like Zemanta you end up with a very powerful and optimized wordpress platform. Some of the features of this new tool include Analysis of keywords... [Read more]
Even the boss can engage with customers. Look at Marriott Hotels
Image via Wikipedia This morning I have been checking out the Marriott Hotel chains new website and I love it. The new site is such a break from the traditional hotel website and has integrated their social media efforts to help further engage their customers (they are tweeting, youtubing, and blogging among other things) It’s actually the blog that I wanted to talk about. The primary... [Read more]
Innovate or Die – Jack Collis – Book Review
Innovate or Die – by Jack Collis is a great read if you need fresh thought. I love reading books on innovation and thinking outside the square. The way I figure it is if i pick up one useful thing out of the book which can give me a leg up over the competition then that has to be a good thing. Jack Collis is an international speaker with a sales and marketing background from AMP. A big part of... [Read more]
Making your blogs a little more interesting using Zemanta
Adding an image and useful links to you blog can help making them more interesting. Here is a short (slightly informal internal) screencast of a demo on how to use a publish tool called Zemanta. Enjoy. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Making your blogs a little more interesting using Zemanta", url: "http://nomadshostels.com/biz/making-your-blogs-a-little-more-interesting-using-zemanta/" }); Read More →
5 ways to get some interesting content for your hostel and travel website
Image via Wikipedia Everyone by now should have heard phrases like “content is king” when it comes to web marketing. Loads of content on your website helps keep your customers interested. An interested customer will stay longer on your site and if they are getting useful or interesting information then there is a higher chance they will book. If the content on your website answers... [Read more]
The role your hostel or tourism business can play in destination marketing
I am inspired today to write this article after watching the progress of “Go All The Way To” campaign (http://goalltheway.to). For some time most hostels and tourism businesses have been very focused on themselves. This is not to say that minding your own business interest is not important, but there are massive benefits for yourself and everyone concerned when people work together. Getting... [Read more]