Triage Hospitality

If you control the cloud on the horizon ... is it still a cloud?

2012-01-07T16:26:00.000Z

Photo by: Photograph by Arco Images/Alamy;

In a recent article for Business First Online, Howard Hastings, MD of Hastings Hotels, identified 3 clouds onthe horizon in 2012 for the NI hospitality industry. The first two - energy and food costs - are broadly outside the control of a hospitality business, no matter how sustainable and self sufficient they try to be. The third, however, was “the increasing dominance of commission hungry Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), which extract a significant proportion of room rates that have already been trimmed in the face of weak demand.” This strikes me as rather an odd complaint. The hotel has complete control of where and for how much it sells its rooms so why let these OTA’s be a cloud?

Is it because they have greater distribution than your business? They may have; however, guests do shop around and visit various websites in their buying process, frequently including the hotels own. There is an argument that you use 3rd party sites for what is termed the “Billboard Effect” that is to let potential guests know you are there, however, rates and availability should be carefully managed. You also need to have a strategy to convert the guests likely to return to booking through your own website in the future.
See Cornell Center for Hospitality Research report for more info on the billboard effect-
http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/abstract-15540.html

Is it because customers always go for the cheapest price? Well most hotels operate Best Price Guarantee on their own site. After all you are better off being equal or slightly lower on your own site rather than loose 10-30% in commission.

Is it because the OTAs offer a better shopping experience on their site? Better bundling with other travel goods? More local information? Honest reviews – the good, the bad and the ugly? Genuine user photos rather than airbrushed promo shots? Better confirmation, pre and post stay communication? It has to be said that this is more likely (though Hastings are generally excellent at all this stuff due to the input of Niall McKeown and theteam at ION Online Marketing)

The question is; if businesses spent a fraction of what they lose to Online Travel Agents on creating a compelling brand proposition aimed at a market willing to pay for that proposition; then invested in creating an integrated on and offline marketing campaign communicating that brand proposition utilising relevant social media; and finally their website, online booking process, pre visit, visit and post visit experiences reflect the proposition ... there would be one less cloud on the horizon.

The problem is that to do so you need upfront spend whereas the money lost on commission is either taken off room rates or paid at a later date. Saving on marketing and losing on room rate and commissions may look attractive in a budget but looks less attractive in operation.

Invest in your brand proposition and its online experience. If you want to take control of your own weather it is an investment worth making.

Reputation Management; How to deal with Tripadvisor, Yelp et al.

2011-11-20T16:51:00.000Z

I have deliberately not used Online as part of the title. Your business reputation is never an online only matter. My theory is that if you handled complaints well offline you will handle them well online.

A prime example of offline affecting online is Ballymascanlon Hotel, where they are in the process of suing Google due to the auto-complete function suggesting “Ballymascanlon Hotel Receivership” as a search term. The issue is that if people were not searching for that term already due to offline gossip and rumours then Google would never suggest it as a term. http://mashable.com/2011/06/15/google-autocomplete-lawsuit/

With regards to online review sites ... you should handle them exactly the same way you would handle the same situation offline. Translating the online to an offline scenario just requires a little thought.

Scene 1: Direct Complaint

An immediate review complaining about a perceived failing = guest standing at counter complaining loudly.

In the offline example you would address the customer professionally apologising that they feel that way and asking them to a quiet part of the premise to go over their issues. Online you do the same, deal with it professionally and get them on e-mail or even back to the premises to discuss. You would not get into a shouting match at the counter so why would you online?

Scene 2: Hearsay

A Review appearing days later alleging anything from slow service to food poisoning = someone telling you at a networking event, or coming in to the business and saying “A friend of mine was in last week and he says he had a really bad experience.”

Offline you would have said something along the lines of “I am sorry to hear that, do you know if he let us know at the time? Either way would you like to get your friend to contact me and we can discuss it with him and see what we can do to solve the problem.” Do the same. “I am sorry you/they did not let us know at time. Please contact us at your convenience so that we can discuss the circumstances

The golden rule is that as long as you handle the complaint professionally if the reviewer then keeps on going on about it, they look foolish and the business gains the kudos.

The important point is to handle the complaint well. My personal preference is always to get the guest back and make sure they have a great experience. Again if they refuse this then it is them that look unreasonable. I would never (read very, very rarely) give money off. If you do that they go away and say I had a bad experience and got my money back. Whereas if you get them back then they say I had a great experience but they got me back and it was great. Please do not do what some people do and invite them back with so many restrictions and caveats that you end up souring the invite.

Scenario 3 – The False Review

The situation where a competitor (or disgruntled member of staff) posts a review about your business alleging a bad experience or about their own business reciting a glowing experience. = Competitors or ex staff bad mouthing your business in the pub.

Despite the fact it is easier to hide your identity online, I am convinced that these will come out eventually and online as offline it is the person spreading the rumours that looks foolish. Most of these sort of reviews can be handled by the procedures above. With the added response of ... “I am very sorry; however, we do not appear to have a record of your visit? Please accept our apologies and contact us directly so that we can address your concerns.” This would be an obvious indication to most readers that the review is dubious.

Scenario 4 – The Positive Negative Review!

A family complain about the provision for children in a predominantly couples and business focused hotel. This situation could apply online or offline, however, in this case it can re-enforce your brand.

The key here is that the family is not your target market. As long as the complaint is about the children’s facilities and you handle it professionally, this will actually re-enforce to business people and couples that you are the right place for them to go to and you really do not cater for children.

The main question you have to ask yourself is how did the family come to stay with you in the first place? If it turns out to be because of necessity, e.g. you were last room available and they had to travel those dates, that is fine. If there is something in your marketing material that could be construed the wrong way then change it.

Conclusion

Businesses get far too hung up on the perceived secrecy of online reviews, the fact that they are visible to so many people and in seeing all negative reviews as bad. The truth is that if you keep site of your core markets and handle complaints well offline ... you will handle them well online (and vice versa). Just because it is the web the rules do not change.

Sun Tzu: Art of Hospitality - Earth

2011-11-11T14:12:00.000Z

The third of Sun Tzu's factors affecting hospitality (sorry warfare) that needs to be "evaluated comparatively" and it's "true nature" sought out is earth ...

"Earth encompasses far or near, difficult or easy, expansive or confined, fatal or tenable terrain."

This is really about how you market your services. The main issue with tourism, hospitality and leisure is that it is very difficult to communicate the whole experience that you offer (product, service, ambiance, atmosphere, feeling) at a distance so you have to be creative in your communication and the decisions around where you communicate and who you communicate to. The old 'place' of the marketing p's.

Far or Near: Domestic or International? Or even the difference between marketing (off property) and merchandising (on property)?

Difficult or Easy: Be unique and different or latch on to others doing similar things? Go it alone or be part of a brand? Just look at the "money" side of "value for money" or try and create real "value" in a cost effective manner?

Expansive or Confined: Focus on a niche or go after a wide market? An inch wide and a mile deep or a mile wide and an inch deep? High volume / low margin v Low volume / high margin?

Fatal or Tenable Terrain: I would argue that getting into a price war is fatal terrain. However, more importantly I think that a business can move into fatal terrain without noticing. This brings into play another favourite quote of mine.

"Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open."

Alexander Graham Bell

Business are so invested in a dying market that they do not see opportunities to move into a more tenable market. The prime example of this at the minute is pubs throughout the UK and Ireland.

These decisions all need to made by looking at the company, its market, its history, the aims and objectives of the owner and a number of other factors ~ often with the help of an outside set of eyes.

Sun Tzu: Art of Hospitality - Heaven

2011-11-06T21:18:00.001Z

The second of five factors that need to be "evaluated comparatively and through estimations" is Heaven. This concept is familiar to anybody in the hospitality, tourism and leisure industries.

"Heaven encompasses yin and yang, cold and heat, and the constraints of the seasons."

There are two areas of hospitality we can relate to 'Heaven' and the 'constraints of the seasons'.

Business Patterns
Most sectors of the industry have their patterns, daily, weekly monthly and yearly, that could be described as "the constraints of the seasons". However at the current time, most people I talk to are saying that these patterns are harder to predict. Enquiry/Booking/Consumption windows are all much shorter. Quite often it appears that the patterns, and the reasons behind them were taken for granted. As patterns change every effort should be made to understand why. Records should be kept from previous years so that you can compare notes and ideally weather comments as well as any events taking place in the local area. As you begin to understand the reasons for the patterns in your business you can respond quicker when you see things happening that you know effect you.

Seasonal Purchasing
The other application of this factor is in menu planning, and other areas of resource utilisation. The more you can keep it local, keep it seasonally appropriate, use natural energy, the more you harness the seasons as a way of reducing costs the more you will actually contribute to the local environment and economy and the better your end product will be!

Sun Tzu: Art of Hospitality - The Tao

2011-11-04T13:27:00.000Z

Sun Tzu separates warfare into 5 factors: The Tao, Heaven, Earth, Generals, Laws

"The tao causes the people to be fully in accord with the ruler. Thus they will die with him, they will live with him and not fear danger."

In the current economic climate there are many who fear danger to the businesses they are employed in and how do the owners and managers react? Cursing and swearing, railing against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune? Will that encourage staff to rise and fall with them? Succeed or fail together? As you look at your staff ... will they stay with you through thick and thin?

I like quotes and my website has many examples of them in the Hospitality Resources section. The following is on of my favourites though:

"Give to us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for ... because unless we stand for something we shall fall for anything."

Peter Marshall

The first port of call with your vision, your plans, your strategy, must be your staff - from top to bottom they must know what you are trying to achieve, why and how. Then you WILL have people who stay with you through thick and thin and are striving for the same goals you are.

"The people who shape our lives and our cultures have the ability to communicate a vision or a quest or a joy or a mission"

Anthony Robbins

Sun Tzu: Art of Hospitality - Seek its True Nature

2011-11-01T17:42:00.000Z

The introduction to Art of War is called "Initial Estimations"

"Therefore, structure warfare according to the following five factors, evaluate it comparatively through estimations, and seek out its true nature"

This seemed appropriate, especially today, as I had spent the morning talking to a client about what analysis he wanted for his business. At the minute he uses no sales or cost figures at all other than those required quarterly for VAT.

When it comes to measuring and analysing as a basis for decision making there are a pair of phrases that I hold in mind.

"Paralysis by Analysis"

versus

"Extinction by Instinct"

People either spend so long looking at information and research that they do nothing and are a sitting duck, or they try everything based on hunches and get run over when they forget to look the right way down the road.

There is, of course, a balance to be struck between the two extremes. There are standard measure that an industry use as well as banks, accountants and financiers. These allow bench-marking, decisions made from factual knowledge and the ability to back up hunches. All helping to make decisions, improve the business performance and control costs.

The key is to know what is going in in your industry, look to the trend setting places and countries and see what is coming down the line. Look at your key percentages and watch for fluctuations, understand them. Look for patterns emerging and comparing them to what you know about your market, the market generally and your competition.

BUT

Don't be led by the numbers and the analysis - make them work for you. Use them to help shape and mold your vision not control and change it.

Above all take time out regularly to think about your business.

The client above? We decided to start with:

Sales: Broken down into key product areas (Food - Platters + Menu Items, Retail food, Coffee, Drinks) and by eat-in v. take-away
Direct Costs: (Food, Retail Food, Coffee, Drinks) broken down by supplier
Consumables: (packaging directly used in takeaway items)
Wages: (Basic, PAYE, NI)
(for all the above a basic analysis weekly, detailed analysis monthly (backed up by stocktake)
Other Costs: broken down by key line items and supplier

~~~~~~~~~

Some great resources for trends include:
http://www.springwise.com/
http://www.qsrmagazine.com/
http://www.trendhunter.com/

A great list of some key measures (But if you won't use them don't collect them!)
http://www.profitablehospitality.com/public/88.cfm

Sun Tzu: Art of Hospitality?

2011-10-31T11:17:00.000Z

It is hard to know whether the fascination with Sun Tzu's Art of War and its application into modern conflict, business, war, understanding the Chinese economic miracle or any of the other theories it has been pummelled, squeezed and mistranslated to represent are of any worth?

However, I was recently given a pocket copy of his work translated by Ralph Sawyer and published by www.runningpress.com. So I thought I would go through it and see if there was any wisdom that could be gleaned for the hospitality, tourism and leisure industries.

The book is promoted with the usual hyperbole surrounding those who promote Sun Tzu (usually publishers!!) Sun Tzu: art of War

The ancient Chinese general Sun Tzu is universally recognized as the greatest military strategist in history, a master of warfare interpretation. This condensed version of his influential classic imparts the knowledge and skills to overcome every adversary in war, at the office, or in everyday life!

Despite my cynicism the book does start with the declaration that:

"Warfare is the greatest affair of state, ... It must be thoroughly pondered and analyzed"

This got me thinking, if your business is not amongst the greatest affairs in your life there is a problem. It need not be the greatest (family would be for me) but it should be up there!

There is also no doubt that it deserves to be "pondered and analyzed". Too many people just react to their industry and its whims and fortunes without actually thinking about it.

So why not use Sun Tzu and his Art of War as a starting point and see where it takes us? You never know until you try. I welcome any comments on either what Sun Tzu says or what I say. It takes more than one opinion to really "ponder and analyze"!

Who do we Trust?

2010-10-14T11:59:00.000+01:00

An interesting article was recently published on the blog at www.petergreenberg.com. This article on How To Decipher Online Hotel Reviews is actually pretty good as far as it goes.

However, it asks the question at the start that really defines the growth in socialnomics...

"When did we start trusting strangers over experts? Before we booked a trip, we consulted “experts” like travel agents and AAA. Now, we log in to look at the unfiltered views of the computer-literate masses, and we often trust what they say as the truth."

This portrays pretty much exactly hoteliers and others confusion, and almost their sense of betrayal by their customers.

There are two key concepts of social media that are misunderstood in the above.

Strangers - Really?

The first is "trusting strangers" often times they are not strangers they are people whose opinion you have come to trust, who through their interests and posts, which they share with you, have shown they like similair things to you and think in similair ways. It is akin to Harper's Hideaway Report and Gallivanters Guide but just a lot more spread out. The internet has been called "Word of mouth on steroids" and that is just what it is.

Experts - Really?

The problem with the experts is they stopped deserving our trust. Now this is tarring a lot of people with a broad brush but that is what the public tends to do...

Priests, politicians, teachers, lawyers, doctors ... we can all think of scandals around these professions. Individuals within these professions, which were once held up as trustworthy, individuals abused that trust and tarred the whole profession. We can all think of examples. This led us to much more individual approach to decision making and to value our opinion and those of others like us more and more. This is almost the definition of the world of post modernism but that is a whole other debate.

The travel industry was not immune, kick backs for guide entries, retainers, over-riders, hospitality for reviews etc. all tarred our industry in the eyes of the consumer. Why do you think Conde Nast Traveller makes so much of its independence!

This is Not New!

This is not a case of the social media driving the change but enabling a change in society. The desire for pressure groups to challenge perceived wisdom was getting going in the early 90s with cases like:

The Brent Spar Shell v Greenpeace debate galvanising public support

The famous McLibel case around the "What is Wrong with McDonalds" leaflet

The Nike Sweatshops campaign

When businesses accept the reasons why people trust the crowd more and understand how the dynamics of the crowd work and combine that with an acceptance of the poor business practices and tactics that have driven people to trust the crowd more ... then they will truly be able to use social media to help promote their business.

With thanks to Stuart Honey and Dunbrody on Twitter for bringing this article to my attention.

Time for .SLH, .LHW or .Hilton?

2009-01-06T10:15:00.000Z

You're hotel brand has a well established brand name so you have long since snapped up all the variations of .com; .org, .info., .biz and maybe even .travel if you thought it would help.

Those extenders (.com, .org, etc.) are called generic top level domains, or gTLDs. They exist and are administered by ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. (ICANN basically rules the internet and, in that respect, rather resembles the Starfleet Federation.)

In its 10-year existence, ICANN has approved 21 gTLDs. Shortly, that number will increase from 21 to...infinity.

ICANN is developing a system that will permit individual applicants to obtain customized gTLDs. Currently, all gTLDs are in Roman characters that resemble English; ICANN notes that "non-English speakers will have the opportunity to express the whole of a domain name in characters that look like their language."

ICANN estimates that applying for one's own gTLD will cost approximately $185,000.

You can see the benefit for many brands where now they can have the hotel name.brand name instead of subdomains or other convaluted addresses. This will be particularly helpful for the soft brands where there is always a conflict between the hotels name and the brands name.
www.slh.com/langshott could become http://www.langshott.slh/.

It also makes e-mail easier. You no longer need to remember which Hilton that guy who is just an e-mail address in your contact bookworks at.
john.smith@hilton.com could become john.smith@belfast.hilton

The only question remains about who can afford the hefty price tag! The big brands certainly but can the smaller players?

A world with unlimited gTLDs will have enormously complex implications for trademark owners and small businesses. ICANN has just finished its first round of comments on the proposal, however, I am sure there will be more.

Difficulties of Management Contracts

2008-12-16T13:09:00.000Z

Looks like Jim Murphy of the Prem Group agrees with some of the difficulties with management contracts in Ireland. An old posting but relevant!

D4 Hotels
I was saddened to read the reports in the media over the weekend of the falling out between Developer Sean Dunne and Hotelier John Brennan. Business is tough enough without having to deal with problems under the gaze of the national media. Mr Dunne had recruited John Brennan to reopen and manage the three former Jurys Doyle Hotels in Ballsbridge. Some newspapers claimed that the split was “extremely acrimonious”.

PREM Group operate a number of Hotels under management contract and are all too aware of the challenges that such contracts can bring. It is essential that both parties fully understand the concept of a management contract from the outset. Certainly if the relationship is not managed from the outset difficulties can arise very quickly. Good communication is essential especially in the early months while both sides are getting to know each other. Once the business settles down (usually after over a year), relationships between the owners and managers become more relaxed. These relationships take a lot of time and effort from both parties, good communication is critical in developing the trust between both parties.

Whatever happened in Ballsbridge it would be great if the detail could be kept out of the media and whatever differences the parties have could be sorted behind closed doors. The problem the rest of us Hoteliers in Dublin have is that these Hotels are dumping hotel stock onto the market at very low rates. The Burlington Hotel is about to reopen in the near future and already they have stolen some Tour Group business from one of our Hotels. The problem in Dublin is that room rates have hardly grown since 2000 while costs have risen substantially over the same period. These hotels are not in the business for the long haul and they could potentially inflict serious damage on hotels in the Dublin market who are trying to meet their commitments in a market that is sluggish to say the least.

ORIGINAL http://www.premgroup.com/blog/2008/02/25/d4-hotels/

Who Manages Expectations?

2008-12-05T14:46:00.000Z

Ireland has been a strange place for luxury hotels in the last year. With a very poor summer in '07 and a weak dollar and a credit crunch in '08 rates have been nowhere near forecast.

However, the question should be asked ... Where did the forecasts come from?

Once developers got their hands on the capital grants for hotels that the Irish Government were giving out in the early 2000s it seemed the only thing they were interest in was luxury hotels - even in locations that did not justify them.

They brought in international management companies to run them or indeed often created their own and somewhere along the line they got the idea their average rates would be €400 plus ... and nobody told them otherwise.

Did the consultants get it wrong? Did they use the right consultants? Did the hotel management companies not carry out due diligence? Was everybody blinded by the money available in Ireland at the turn of the century and felt they could get their share? Did the management companies not talk to local consultants?

Who knows, but we are seeing the fall out now.

The Shelbourne and Marriott are going at it hammer and tongs displaying their dirty linen in public as it is all widely reported.

"Marriott claims the owners have demonstrated "a lack of understanding" of the realities of returns on investment in the luxury hotel industry. On the basis of the investment, the Shelbourne would have to have an average room rate of more than EUR 300 when the average room rate for luxury hotels in Ireland is some EUR 170, Marriott claims."

Surely the room rate was discussed as part of the negotiations for the management contract? Is Marriott not responsible for their clients lack of understanding?

Meanwhile the Capella Castlemartyr opened with great fanfare as Horst Schulze's Westpaces new brand has also closed with much less fanfare and thankfully less animosity. The new management company there should be ready to give a lot of bad news.

For more problems see this article in the Irish Times - "Chill winds of recession close some hotel doors"

The scary thing for me is that I was recently approached by another developer in the UK this time who was looking for a management company to run his proposed 5 star hotel. The 'consultancy firm' they had used suggested that an average rate of £150 with a 50% occupancy was achievable in year one. I won't tell you what the profit margin they suggested was! Even in the bast of recent times that would have been a struggle, especially given the location of this project. The problem was that the 'consultancy firm' was a estate agent/realtor/property agent/commercial property consultant they were not a hotel consultancy. Their main interest is in selling property!

So the answer?

Developers should employ a hotel consultant/specialist to sit between themselves and the management company and translate each others speak make sure that the project is viable and that misunderstandings do not happen.

Management Companies without experience in a country should employ consultants who do to make sure that what the developer is telling them is realistic.

Developers can make good hotel owners but they need expert eyes and ears to review what they are being told as indeed do management companies.

Keynesian Economic Theory Applied to Hotels.

2008-11-05T08:54:00.000Z

As Sir Winston Churchill once said: “If you put two economists in a room, you get two opinions, unless one of them is Lord (John Maynard) Keynes, in which case you get three opinions.” It seems Sir Winston was not a great admirer of the economist who championed increased government expenditure to stimulate an economy faced with falling demand, rising unemployment and a drop in national income. But his approach is once again being talked of as crucial to recovery.

But what’s it all mean for hoteliers? Apart from the obvious to anyone looking to pick up government business (time to dust off those GOV GDS rates!), it does pose the question that, credit lines permitting, should firms feeling the pinch follow Keynes and spend their way out of the mire?

If we learn our lessons from the downturn post 9/11 it would seem the answer is yes. Hotels that kept up their spend on marketing and training benefited more when business started to return. This was especially true of Terry Holmes at the Stafford (now with Red Carnation). Who spent a great deal of time travelling in and around America and who benefited greatly when the started travelling again.

Certainly don’t think about laying off staff – especially the skilled ones. The story still goes round about the New York Hotel that got rid of its concierge team post 9/11 and is still struggling to repair its damaged reputation. The smart firms will still foot the wage bill as you’ll need those skills to be competitive once the markets pick up again.

The key is to make sure your spend is effective whether it is in marketing or staff. This is where outside specialists can help maximise the 'bang for your buck'. With experience from many sectors and up-to-the-minute knowledge of the most effective online tools a marketing consultancy can help you increase your Share of Voice (SOV) and thus you share of market. They will also help you identify and target the most profitable market segments. A training consultant will help your team to be more efficient thus saving money and also better salespeople thus generating more revenue.

It is advisable to spend your way out of troubled times ... just make sure the spend is effective!

US & Canada PR Opportunity

2008-10-15T20:29:00.000+01:00

Came across the following on LinkedIn recently.

In need of travel articles and photos

I am looking for well-written travel articles, with photos, to be distributed to travel writers and editors in Canada and the US. Troy Media supplies free editorial content to our media subscribers and we've been asked if we will be supplying travel content. There is no charge for distributing articles we select, which must include hi-res photos. We are testing the market to see how deep the need is. If you are interested, please contact me. To view our market penetration, please visit our web site. Hopefully you will see this as an opportunity to raise your destination's profile. Gary Slywchuk

http://www.troymedia.com/

Marketing 101

2008-09-29T20:36:00.000+01:00

Came across the following on Freelance UK.

Given that the recent Hotel eMarketing Conference empahasised that we have to get Web 1.0 sorted out before we move on to Web 2.0, the article below looks like we have to get Marketing 1.0 sorted out before we even consider eMarketing!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marketing? Beats us, say small firms

We’re not sure how to use it, or where it fits into our business - so don’t expect us to implement it online. Such is the message coming from two surveys that quizzed new start-up companies about their feelings on marketing.

Marketing experts selling themselves to these small firms will no doubt be upbeat, as the first survey found almost one in three firms don’t know what marketing is. Forty-per cent had no marketing plan, and almost half launched without any budget for advertising or marketing, says the survey of 3,000 firms by Project Word.

Obtained by FreelanceUK, the headline findings show one-third of new firms are clueless as to what role marketing should play in a start-up business. Of the nearly 50% of start-ups who had no form of marketing at their launch, 36% said they would make a success of their firm solely through word of mouth.

“These statistics establish the downfall of many new companies that just assume consumers will have heard of their website,” said Jamie Delo, Project Word’s founder.

His comments tally with the second survey, which found company owners are missing out on sales by failing to market their business effectively on the internet.

The poll of 225 companies, reported by the Financial Times, by SuccessTrack found that only 11 per cent of owners felt their marketing skills were good or very good. Not being able to get their message across was the biggest barrier to firms getting more sales online, though the pollster admitted “there was no magic formula.”

“You just have to pay attention to the basics,” the firm advised, “and do everything 1 per cent better than your competition.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Given the theory discussed below I do not think "1 per cent better than your competition" cuts it any more!

Singapore Grand Prix > Game Theory > Hotel Marketing

2008-09-29T13:20:00.000+01:00

What I Learnt from Watching the Grand Prix in Singapore Yesterday.

"Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose

and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace,

the slaves of the ordinary."

Cecil Beaton

Pat Symonds of the Renault F1 Team subscribes to something called Game Theory.

Definition: A mathematical method of decision-making in which a competitive situation is analyzed to determine the optimal course of action for an interested party, often used in political, economic, and military planning. Also called theory of games. Answers.com

This in a very simple form was explained as follows.

In Grand Prix terms the theory says that if you are in the pack on the grid and you want to get to the front do something completely different and completely unexpected.

Because ...

If you only do the same as the others around, but with a bit more quality or a bit more efficiency then all that can happen is that you will only be a bit better - and still in the mid pack at the end of the race.

Do the different thing and you could end up first by a country mile as Alonso did!

Having looked up Game Theory on the Web (Google 10,500,00o results in 0.26 seconds!) I cannot find anywhere that says the above, however, it does propose a lot of interesting counter intuitive approaches to situations.

The main thing for me is that it encourages the different after all as Einstein said

"Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Whether it is in creating the brand, Search Engine Optimisation Strategies, Web 2.0 Strategies, Rate Distribution or Yield Management, we all need to look to alternative ways of doing things.

Hotel eMarketing 2008

2008-09-14T19:17:00.000+01:00

As promised during my recent talk at Hotel eMarketing 2008 in London below are a few places you can find tools to help you optimise (or optimize for our American friends) your website.

You will probably see a few of the themes from my talk developed here over the next few weeks as well as the latest ideas in website optmisation. So add this blog to your news feed by clicking one of the links at the bottom of the page.

Remember the search bot/spider needs to be able to technically find your site and then work its way round.

Set up a google alert for your hotels name: http://www.google.com/alerts. This will e-mail you whenever Goggle see new content featuring your name.

The first priority in tools is the Google Webmaster suite. Thats you s webmastern not the designer! Google Webmaster Tools - www.google.com/webmasters/tools. If you haven't already set up an account. You'll find it of great value.

1) Check your source code. From Internet Explorer click on "view" and then "source"

Use find to check your key tags. Title, Description, Keyword, H1 and alt.

Copy it into word and run spell check!

2) Check who owns & controls your domain name in the "who is" section of http://www.selfseo.com/

3) Check your Google Cache type - cache:yourdomainname.com - into a Google search box

4) How many of your websites pages are cached at http://www.checkmypr.com/

5) What is your hotels Alexa rank? What is the trend? http://www.alexa.com/

6) How many links do you have? www.searchengineoptimising.com/link-popularity-check

Another tool is http://tools.seobook.com/backlink-analyzer

7) Where is your server located? http://www.81solutions.com/server-location.html

8) Do you have the correct re-directs? http://www.ragepank.com/redirect-check

9) What speed is your site loading at? http://www.selfseo.com/website_speed_test.php

10) Keyword research https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

For geographic information see www.google.com/insights/search

HOW NOT TO DO SEO

THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTENT

YU9A1757 - hmm appetising

2008-09-14T17:30:00.001+01:00

YU9A1757, originally uploaded by ciollileach.

Google Alerts did their job and told me there was something new on the web about an old client of mine, Stapleford Park, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. Photographs posted on Flickr!

Obviously created by the photographer and with no real marketing info attached (what does that title code mean!), it did get me thinking, however!

If the album had been created in the name of, or indeed by, the Chef - not the company ;-) If the title was appropriate, there was a description of the wonderful fresh ingredients used and the tags were carefully thought through, then this would have been a perfect bit of low cost Web 2.0 SEO activity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are a couple of other pictures below.

I really want to know what the descriptions of these dishes are!

Asian Domain Name Spam

2008-09-11T10:29:00.000+01:00

A client of mine recently received the e-mail below.

*******************************************************
Dear Principal / CEO,

Hello!Sorry to trouble you!
We are a domain name registration service company in HongKong, which mainly deal with international company's domain name registration and disputing
in Asia.On the Sep 10,2008, Our auditing dept received an application formally from "Daredi international ltd",they claimed as your agent in Asia and consigned
by you to register following internet trademark :
domainname (clients domain name)

and the domain names:
domainname.asia
domainname.cn
domainname.com.cn
domainname.hk
domainname.in
domainname.net
domainname.tw etc...

Through our company.
According to our procedures and in order to protect your intellectual property rights, we need to send this email to the original company for confirming the
actual relationship with this company.If you do not know this company, we doubt that they have other motivation to register these domain names and probably
want to do some cybersquatting. Now we have postponed this issue and have not proceeded their registration,In order not to confuse registering these domain
names,Please contact us Asap.

PS:If you are not in charge of this matter,please transfer this email to appropriate dept.

Best Regards
Sophia
Auditing Director

West Technology Limited
Tel: 00852 9566 0205
Fax: 00852 8226 1055
E-mail: sophia@westtechnology.org
Website: http://www.west-technology.net/

********************************************************
This appears to be at the very least a spam e-mail praying on fears of cyber squatting.

For the website that clued me in to it see http://www.kenkai.com/seo-blog-article-142.htm

If you want an Asian domain name seek the advice of your website deigner or SEO specialist and get them to look at a variety of the domain name providers to find the cheapest price and most flexible service.