management – Chanters Lodge Livingstone

Start Ups And Management Tips!

Get this advice from Inc Magazine if you’re thinking of starting a company on your own. It’s pretty good advice for business management anyway. All the quotes are from successful entrepreneurs and you can see the details from this link.

Stick With It
“Start-ups don’t die, they commit suicide. In other words, 90 percent of start-ups fail because the founders get bored, discouraged, or something else, and they move on to other things, not because of some catastrophe. No matter how dark it is today, things will always better tomorrow.”

Simplify Your Mission
“I would encourage other entrepreneurs to spend a lot of time boiling down what their business is, what it does, and what it represents. If you nail down a 60- to 90-second synopsis, that will pay a lot of dividends throughout the life of your business.”

Ditch Your Safety Net
“As a senior at Babson, I lined up a job at Goldman Sachs. I thought I was pretty smart since this would give me a backup if IdeaPaint wasn’t working out. Looking back now, I realized that having that in hand was a reason not to push harder and higher. The day before the job started, I told them I wanted to pursue IdeaPaint. They thought I was crazy, but I think it has worked out pretty well.”

Exceed Expectations
“We knew we only had one shot at this, so there was nothing throughout our start-up that we didn’t purposely over-deliver on — from the way we pitched our distributors and investors to the way we rolled out in the market. If you always over-deliver, it is going to draw attention and you will likely be successful.”

Do More With Less
“That is something we’ve definitely exemplified. When you have limited resources, you constantly have to be really creative about the way you can make things work.”

Don’t Go It Alone
“Surround yourself with an awesome team because you’re going to need them to overcome all the obstacles that come with starting a company. Lots of people have great ideas that they try to tackle by themselves, but I think it’s almost impossible to do everything by yourself.”

Be Nimble
“The landscape no longer changes every two, three, four years like it did in 2002. If you’re not quick on your toes, you will miss opportunities.”

Have A Plan For Actually Making Money
“We are no longer in an era where potential investors or acquirers go after companies who focus on their user count.”

Do Your Homework
“Be really clear about the assumptions you’re making about the business you’re going into, and check those assumptions as quickly as you can — whether it’s building a prototype and testing it with people, or just talking to other people in the industry.

Be Prepared
“Educate yourself on whatever you’re going into. If you don’t know what you’re doing, people will take advantage of you. Exercise your right to negotiate, especially as a woman; don’t be afraid to walk away from an opportunity that you don’t think is right for you; and be realistic about your budget. Figure out how much you need to save and then try to keep yourself on a strict budget.”

Stay Genuine
“Do what you know… and love! It will resonate with your customers, employees, and potential investors. And make all the hard work worthwhile.”

Send In The Geeks
“Starting with a highly technical founding team is the key to being a flexible web technology company.”

Don’t Manage Angry
“Be as stern as you need to be, but nothing good comes from you bringing your lack of emotional control into the work.”

Don’t Be Afraid
“If you have an idea, do it. When you’re in your 20s or 30s, that’s the time where you can be aggressive and be a risk-taker. That’s the beauty of youth.”

You Can’t Mask Mediocrity
“Steve Martin said it best. Be undeniably good. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for that.”

Do What You Love
“It’s a common saying, but vitally important. The more you enjoy your job, the easier it is to work, and that’s important, especially when starting up your own company. You will be amazed at the amount of time and energy it will take to make your company successful.”

The picture – Chanters Lodge Livingstone when we were a start up in 1997!

12
OCT

Chanters, management

Human Relations At Work

A famous athlete was being inducted to his sports’ hall of fame earlier this year and in his remarks, he commented on the need and value for team work. He quoted the often used phrase “there is no I in team” but he added there is an I in “win”. An online search for the author of the following short piece does not bring a definite answer – there are slight variations but the message is fundamentally the same:

The 6 most important words:
“I admit I make a mistake”

The 5 most important words:
“You did a good job”

The 4 most important words:
“What is your opinion?”

The 3 most important words:
“If you please”

The 2 most important words:
“Thank you!”

The 1 most important word:
“WE”
The least most important word:
“I”

Tom Peters in many of his writings states “Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.”

11
OCT

management

Blogging Mistakes

I first started blogging from Chanters Lodge in June 2006 and have found it challenging but rewarding. I loved this excellent article in Mashable which really says it all! The photo? The fabulous Victoria Falls, just 10 kms from Chanters Lodge.

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Business blogging can be exceptionally rewarding. When done correctly, a successful blog can bring attention to your business, can attract new customers, and can turn your current customer base into the type of fans that companies like Apple, Netflix, and Ben and Jerry’s have: people who will not only buy your product or service, but evangelize it to their peers. Of course, like anything, there is a right way to go about starting a business blog and a wrong way.
Creating a blog for your small business isn’t easy; it requires hard work and the ability to think creatively about your work. But if you avoid the five big mistakes laid out in this post, your chances of building a successful business blog will be much better.

Mistake #1: Treating Your Blog Like a Press Center

The number one mistake that business bloggers make is to treat their blog as an extension of their current press center. Blogging is a conversation and it offers a way for your customers to connect with your business on a completely new level. If you use your blog to republish press releases your customers will have no reason to keep reading and they’ll also likely not trust your content. Don’t ever put out a press release on your blog. You can use your blog to make product or other business announcements, but do so with original writing and in a more casual voice. Use your blog to write about things other than your core business. Share your thoughts on your industry, share insights into the day-to-day work life and processes at your company, and provide tips and tricks you have learned during your time in business.

Mistake #2: Not Blogging Regularly

Think about the blogs you read on a regular basis — how many of them publish only sporadically? Most successful blogs put out new content at least a couple of times per week and try to stick to a regular schedule. Consistently putting out quality content will keep readers returning and over time it will help you build a community and turn your customers into fans.
Remember that anything can provide fodder for a good blog post, so pay attention to the things you read or see on other blogs, newspapers, magazines, or television. Have blogs prepared ahead of time.

Mistake #3: Not Enabling Conversation

As I already said, blogging is a conversation, and not allowing it to occur on your blog is a mistake. It’s true that blog comments can open you up to criticism, but blogging is an unparalleled opportunity to connect with your customers. You’ll get a lot more out of blogging if you enable — and even encourage — your customers to respond to what you write.

Mistake #4: Making New Content Hard to Discover

Your blog won’t be very helpful to readers if they aren’t able to easily find new content. You need to make your blog discoverable and you need to make sure that when you add new content, your regular readers will be able to find it. Make your blog easy to find by linking to it prominently from your company’s web site and including your blog’s URL in your email signature, on your business cards, and in sales and marketing collateral. Use a full RSS feed (because the goal with most business blogs should be to get read, not boost page views) and make it easy for your readers to find and subscribe to. Embrace social media technologies like Twitter and Facebook as a way to notify your fans and followers of new blog content, and make it easy for your readers to share content with each other through social media channels and via email.

Mistake #5: Expecting Too Much, Too Soon

Blogging isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. Your blog won’t be an overnight success, and for the first few months it might feel like you’re writing for no one. It can take time to build up your readership and have a regular community of people who participate on your blog. Don’t expect immediate returns from your blog and do expect to put in a lot of hard work. Set attainable goals and realize that you’re in it for the long haul. Don’t cancel your blogging efforts after three months — give it at least a year of regularly putting out quality, original content. And make sure that your blog is easy to find, and that your readers are able to easily comment and share posts with others.

There you are then – get blogging!

27
SEP

Africa, blog, Chanters, livingstone, management, victoriafalls, Zambia

Hotel Reviews – What’s Your Policy

This from HotelMarketing.com – I’m interested in things to do with hotel reviews:

By Jonathan Barsky and Cindi Frame

Although the hospitality industry is still in the beginning stages of figuring out how to master the exciting potential of social media, it is clear that the role of user-generated reviews is exploding and that consumers are wielding more power. The pace of this change has certainly caught many hotels off guard. A recent survey conducted by Market Metrix and TripAdvisor found that 85% of hotels have no guidelines for monitoring, responding to or acting on guest reviews. Perhaps this lack of direction explains why, according to TripAdvisor, only 4% of negative reviews are responded to!

It’s critical for hotels to regain control and take the appropriate action. Consumers say when a company responds to a review, it puts the company in a favorable light (Compete Inc., 2007). Our own research shows that responding to customer issues can improve a guest’s likelihood to recommend and return by 20% or more. This leads to word-of-mouth referrals which can represent 40% or more of a hotel’s customer mix. If hotels don’t respond, the dynamic of negative feedback can build into a huge wave of consumer defection.

To assist hotels in developing their own approach to handling online reviews, Market Metrix has assembled the following guidelines based on industry “best practices”:

Monitor
Hotels need to establish a process for tracking new reviews. This begins with assigning one person at your property to monitor online review sites and have accountability to follow up on all reviews. This person should:

– Sign up for emails, alerts and RSS feeds to know when new reviews and scores have changed.
– Monitor the review sites frequently, depending on how often your hotel receives reviews.
– Make sure your hotel is listed on these sites and that your photos, videos and descriptions are up-to-date, accurate and complementary.

Respond
Management must clearly establish the hotel’s response policy. Ideally, hotels should respond to all reviews within 24 hours in a personal and professional manner. This demonstrates a hotel’s commitment to listening and acting on guest feedback. If a response is not possible within 24 hours, respond to all negative reviews first.

– If needed, forward negative comments to the appropriate person for assistance in responding and to let them know there is an issue in their department. Determine if and when the GM should be alerted.
– If a review is suspected to be fraudulent, immediately contact the review site to dispute it. If justified, the review will be removed.

In responding to guest reviews, always start by thanking the guest for writing a review. For positive reviews reinforce hotel strengths and invite the guest to return.
Forward positive comments to the appropriate person who can share the feedback with deserving employees. In responding to negative reviews, apologize for their experience, inform them what you will do to address the problem, invite the guest to contact hotel management for resolution and describe (or even post a picture) how the problem was resolved. Make sure to track which reviews have received a response.

Analyze / Improve
User reviews expose the truth of a hotel’s brand. Hotels are now challenged with maintaining high standards and meeting the expectations of customers who have done a significant amount of research before they travel. Guest reviews not only offer hotels a chance for service recovery, they also can uncover opportunities for improvement, driving satisfaction and loyalty, and even reduce operating costs.

Each review should be thoroughly evaluated. Ideally, results from all reviews should be stored in a database with a reporting package available for analysis. Analyze guest reviews to understand trends versus prior periods, identify performance gaps versus relevant competitors, uncover scoring differences among key customer groups, and provide an input for investment decisions. Review site feedback should be combined with your regular guest feedback program to get a full 360.

Based on this analysis, action plans, preferably done at the department level, should be created to address issues, gaps and unfavorable trends. We would also recommend that you:

– Share issues, gaps and trends with appropriate managers.
– Set goals that are measurable.
– Consider tying employee compensation to appropriate guest feedback measures, as long as they are fair and unbiased.

In addition, display positive reviews on your site to show off positive experiences of other guests and to prevent travelers from searching for reviews on other sites. Encourage guests to write reviews – fewer reviews imply a less popular hotel. Encourage guests verbally at check out, on receipts and in communications or emails sent to guests.

More people than ever before are reading hotel reviews prior to booking. Hotels that embrace online reviews and take actions can increase their business. Online reviews can help you connect with your customers, find out what they really want and promote your hotel. This will lead to higher levels of service and confidence in your brand.

Hoteliers please note!

The photo? Samoa – dream on Richard!

3
SEP

guests, hotels, management, reviews, TripAdvisor

Staff Morale

I was interested in a piece from Caryn Eve Murray writing in HotelInteractive about staff morale, I’ve extracted just a small part of what she wrote:

“Inside every luxury property within the vast global luxury brand of Ritz Carlton, workers begin their daily shifts in a kind of competitive huddle, participating in what is known as a line-up. “The goal is for everyone to review everything at the start of their shift. It can be as short as 10 minutes or as long as 30 minutes,” said Rachel Hastert, sales and marketing coordinator for the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey in California. “A story is shared from any property around the world, on any practices that have worked for them. We gather round and review the companywide information and then we review our own information, with our local teams.”

Hastert said the daily gatherings add up to time well spent – and these days, that’s not just true because the tradition keeps everyone in the loop on the day-to-day details of doing business. “It definitely helps morale,” she said. “It keeps everyone informed and creates cohesiveness. We do small things every day, but with this you realize you are part of a large organization and it helps you learn and grow.” At a time when workplace morale can be challenged by a slowdown in business, industry layoffs and individuals’ added responsibilities, particularly in the luxury tier, this longstanding Ritz-Carlton practice is now providing workers with an emotional anchor.

Chanters Lodge is a very small operation in a different part of the world but staff morale is equally vital. What do we do to try and maintain staff morale? Here’s a few ideas:

– We share results. Staff receive 10% Service Charge so they share in good times. We try to cushion them through the bad months. We’re open about the income. We also share food cost results and bar surplus/deficit results as well.

– On our weekly Sunday night radio show we make a point of greeting each worker by name and often use this medium to thank them for their contribution. They love the show and are proud of the lodge for hosting it – never mind rocking to the music back at the lodge when I’m on air – or so I’m told!

– Scratch cards for mobile phones. Give a Chanters Girl a K10,000 note (About US$2) and she’ll say thanks. Give the same girl a scratch card for her phone worth the same K10,000 and her face will light up with a huge smile and you’ll get a big thanks too!

– We try to let the staff feel they’re learning and developing. As far we can, we give every worker experience in both the kitchen and restaurant before moving them forward, as and when there’s space, to reception, stores etc.

– Tips from Guests on top of the service charge are shared out equally at the month end and a breakdown of amounts given and by whom is attached. Guest reviews on TripAdvisor are shared with the staff – good and not so good.

– Nice uniforms, a good lunch and transport when needed are other things that help motivate the staff. We try to make sure they never miss their day off and that they have one month’s annual leave. We also help them through family illness and if necessary family bereavements.

– We try to teach staff the basic rules of hotel keeping and public relations and tell them when Guests have said ‘they’re great!’ We have our own way of telling them when things are not how we want them!

– Spring surprise rewards. An unexpected reward for something good has a magic effect on morale!

– Make sure the rules, such as they are, are understood and discipline, where necessary, fairly implemented with consideration.

– Last but not least, pay salaries and service charge on time, on the day – this doesn’t always happen in this part of the world! There’s nothing more down in the mouth and moody than a Chanters Girl feeling broke!

The picture – Chanters staff some time back

29
JUL

Chanters, livingstone, management, staff, Zambia

Matthew Robson

Matthew Robson was lucky enough to get a two week internship at Morgan Stanley (or maybe Morgan Stanley were lucky enough?) and was asked to write about teenage media consumption for the bank. What he wrote has generated massive response in the banking sector and elsewhere. Check TimesOnline for the whole story. It fascinated me:

The world according to Matthew Robson aged 15 and a half:

“Teenagers do not listen to the radio, he wrote, preferring online streaming sites, nor do they ever buy music. Games consoles “now… connect to the internet, voice chat is possible between users… one can speak for free over the console so a teenager would be unwilling to use a phone,” he wrote.

He told The Times that at home he usually communicates with his male friends while blowing up terrorists on the action game Call of Duty. “You use a mobile phone if you want to talk to girls,” he said, as “only about one in fifty girls plays computer games.”

Girls are a lot more prone to spend their time on social networking sites. Matthew uses Facebook but his accounts with Piczo and Bebo have lapsed and Twitter is strictly for the elderly. “It’s aimed at adults,” he said. “Stephen Fry is not particularly cool. Also, for the cost of one tweet you could send quite a few text messages.” As no teenagers followed each other’s profiles, tweeting was “pointless”.

He believes cost is a critical factor in the teenage market as “no one has any money”. “Eight out of ten teenagers don’t buy music,” he said. “It comes from limewire, blogs or torrents.” Meanwhile, pirated DVDs generally cost £2 and go on sale even as the films are in the cinema.

Radio
With online sites streaming music for free they do not bother, as services such as last.fm do this advert free and users can choose the songs they want instead of listening to what the radio presenter/DJ chooses

Newspapers
No teenager that I know of regularly reads a newspaper, as most do not have the time and cannot be bothered to read pages and pages of text while they could watch the news summarised on the internet or on TV

Internet
Facebook is the most common, with nearly everyone with an internet connection registered. On the other hand, teenagers do not use Twitter

Music
They are very reluctant to pay for it (most having never bought a CD) Teenagers from higher income families use iPods and those from lower income families use mobile phones

Directories
Real directories contain listings for builders and florists, which are services teenagers do not require. They can get the information free on the internet
Viral/Outdoor Marketing
“Most teenagers enjoy and support viral marketing… Teenagers see adverts on websites (pop-ups, banner ads) as extremely annoying and pointless…they are portrayed in such a negative light that no one follows them.”

Cinema
Teenagers visit the cinema more often when they are in the lower end of teendom but as they approach 15 they go to the cinema a lot less. This is because of the pricing; at 15 they have to pay the adult price. Also it is possible to buy a pirated DVD of the film at the time of release, and these cost much less than a cinema ticket
Mobile phones
The general view is that Sony Ericsson phones are superior, because of their long list of features, built-in Walkman capacity and value.

So there you are!

How do I (not quite a teenager) stack up!
– I have a Sony Ericsson phone!
– I hate paying for music!
– Don’t watch many movies
– Need a new radio which I enjoy at night
– I’m active on Facebook and Twitter
– I hate pop up and pop under ads
– Generally don’t like phone calls and prefer sms
– I’d never heard of Limewire – I just downloaded it
– I’d been trying to sort out Torrent for some days when I read this!
– Only glance at newspaper headlines these days.

And you!

17
JUL

innovation, management, music, trends

Why Small Businesses Fail…

I liked this from CNNMoney.com by Jay Goltz and I’m sure the solution to the problem he sites is right. In Zambia we see many small businesses fail because their owners don’t plough enough profit back in the business, and either fail to maintain their standards as a result, or end up running out of stock, or money or both. Credit and loans are really hard to get in this part of the world. We’ve also seen plenty of small businesses in Zambia fail because the families of the owner feel it’s their right to ‘get a share’ of the business either in cash or kind, and Zambian tradition makes it hard for owners to refuse to help members of their family. Anyway here’s Jay’s piece:

“Last month I wrote about Debbie Dusenberry, owner of Curious Sofa, a home-furnishings boutique in Kansas City, Kans. The store has a reputation for great products and imaginative display, and its revenue had been growing nicely for eight years. But when Dusenberry sent me her financials, she included this plaintive note: “Our January was down 20%, and for the first time I am a little worried. If I had any reserve, I wouldn’t be nearly as concerned. We’re cutting back anywhere we can by freezing spending, and I laid off my first employee in eight years.”

Dusenberry’s financials explained clearly why her business has potential – and why she’s in trouble. The store’s annual revenue has grown to more than $800,000. Her labor costs as a percentage of revenue are a little high, and she probably needs to lay off another employee. The rent isn’t terrible, although I think she can get her landlord, who clearly doesn’t want to lose a tenant in this economy, to cut her a break. But here’s the thing: Her statements show that she’s lost money eight years in a row.

Every year, Dusenberry said, she told herself that she was going to work harder and sell more stuff, but working harder doesn’t fix a broken business model. It just prolongs the agony. This kind of delusional thinking, I believe, explains why some 70% of small businesses go broke before their 10th anniversary, according to the Small Business Administration. Entrepreneurs tend to concentrate on what they love, whether it’s the artist who paints but doesn’t spend any time marketing or the chef who lives in the kitchen and ignores her financials. Every business owner needs to be his or her own CFO. Delegating that task to a book-keeper or an outside accounting firm means putting your life into their hands. They generally don’t know the ins and outs of your business well enough to make critical decisions.

Dusenberry’s accountant told her to cut expenses, which is fine but insufficient. The truth is that she’s on the road to insolvency and her only hope is to come up with a 2009 budget that shows a profit. She has no more credit and must pay down some of her loans. The obvious question, of course, is how she’s going to turn a profit if she can’t cut more expenses. It won’t help to sell more stuff because her cost of goods sold is too high. Believe it or not, Dusenberry needs to raise her prices. Yes, even in this economy. If that sounds ridiculous, you need to do the math. Here’s a simplified example: Let’s say Dusenberry has been buying sofas for $1,000 and selling them for $2,000. If she sells 10, her sales are $20,000 and her cost of goods sold is $10,000, leaving her a gross profit of $10,000.

Now suppose she raises the price to $2,200. That’s a 10% hike, but let’s also assume that the price increase means she sells 20% fewer sofas, or a total of eight. This takes her sales to $17,600, her cost of goods sold to $8,000 and her gross profit to $9,600. While it looks as if she’s falling short, she’s actually going to come out about even in this scenario because she’ll save some variable costs – delivery, credit-card fees and freight – by selling two fewer sofas. But here’s my real argument: Dusenberry runs a niche business with a loyal following. Her customers aren’t going to revolt if she starts charging market prices. I think she’ll sell nine sofas at the new price, making her profitable.

Could I be wrong? Sure. But the laws of price elasticity suggest otherwise. And if Dusenberry keeps doing things the way she’s been doing them, she’ll go out of business anyway. At least the price adjustment gives her a shot.

Geddit?

10
JUL

management, Zambia

Zambia Tourism Awards 2009

I originally heard about these awards from Best of Zambia, rapidly becoming my source of all worthwhile information about the tourism business in this country via Twitter. But this post is from John Chola:

“An initiative designed to promote and reward excellence in tourism operations has been launched in Zambia. The initiative was also aimed at being recognised as a prestigious event hence attracting both public and industry-wide support and extensive media coverage.

Launching the initiative on Tuesday at Lusaka’s Southern Sun Ridgeway, the hotel’s general manager Adrian Penny said the initiative presented a high profile opportunity to showcase the best tourism operators in Zambia. Mr Penny said the Zambia Tourism Awards would motivate stakeholders to continue upgrading services in order to become globally competitive, inspire stakeholders to contribute to the development of the tourism industry in Zambia and help promote Zambian tourism to domestic and international markets.

He said that the initiative would recognise and ward categories such as best safari accommodation, best hotel, best guesthouse, best lodge and best back packer facilities. Operators offering camping site and Caravan Park, heritage and culture tourism sports, clean and green as well as community tourism would be awarded accordingly. “Other award categories included the best travel and tour operator, the best restaurant or catering service, the best tourism transport award, the best in tourism promotion and the guide of the year Award,” said Penny adding: “we also have awards for the best in adventure tourism, best entrepreneur award, tourism facilitation and the Zambia tourism special”.

The awards would be open to all Zambia-based tourism operators and application had been restricted to online participants. Mr Penny encouraged businesses and the public to take part through a website www.thebestofzambia.com. “Just visit www.thebestofzambia.com and click the Tourism Awards button on the top of the page between 1st July 2009 and 15th August 2009 to participate,” Mr Penny said.

There would be site visits commence in September and October 2009 while winners would be announced at the high profile awards night slated for November 2009 in Livingstone. Mr Penny said that the 2009 Zambia Tourism Awards were a public-private sector partnership initiated by the public sector through the SEED Project under the Ministry of Tourism, Environment & Natural Resources and co-organised with the Tourism Council of Zambia.

He said that the initiative was also supported by private sector agencies such as The Best of Zambia, Capacity Building for Private Sector Development, Southern Sun Ridgeway and Radio Phoenix. The initiators of the Zambia Tourism Awards encouraged more support from the private sector towards sponsorship of different awards, marketing and promotion of the event.

Meanwhile, one of the initiators Joseph Brown said that in order to encourage Zambians to sample the country’s tourism most operators had introduced special rates. Mr Brown said Zambians visiting tourist resorts around the country would be charged a special rate different from those paid by foreign tourists.”

And would I have a strong objection if you went straight from reading this to nominating Chanters Lodge in the best Guest House category? Um, no! No objection at all!

Nice to see my old hotel The Ridgeway in Lusaka right up there as a sponsor too! The picture? Victoria Falls, an automatic winner in every category!

4
JUL

bestofzambia, blog, Chanters, hotels, management, tourism, Zambia

‘Monkey Business’ at Bristol Zoo!

From the Bristol Evening Post:

Outside Bristol Zoo in the west of England, is the car park, with spaces for 150 cars and 8 coaches. It has been manned 6 days a week for 23 years by the same charming and very polite car park attendant with the ticket machine. The charges are £1 per car and £5 per coach.

On Monday 1 June, he did not turn up for work. Bristol Zoo management phoned Bristol City Council to ask them to send a replacement parking attendant. The Council said “That car park is your responsibility.” The Zoo said “The attendant was employed by the City Council… wasn’t he?” The Council said “What attendant?”

Gone missing from his home is a man who has been taking daily the car park fees amounting to about £400 per day for the last 23 years…!

Total sum just short £2.9 million.

Don’t you just love their slogan – ‘see it, sense it, save it’. The money, of course!

29
JUN

management, uk

Blogs For Hotels

I’ve been blogging from Chanters Lodge for more than 3 years, but have only recently discovered the marketing possibilities of sites like Twitter and Facebook. This piece from Caryn Eve Murray on HotelInteractive interested me as it seems opposite from the way I’ve been going! Anyway, this is what she says:

“It is no longer sufficient for hotels to have a presence on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, three popular but somewhat different means of social networking. Now some hospitality scribes have begun making dutiful entries online, “Dear Diary” style. But in this case their diary is not just an open book but – in keeping with the computer age – an open blog.

Formerly viewed largely as a vehicle for individuals’ indulgent self-absorption or revelations, blogs are now maturing as the next big marketing tool in the social networking portfolio.The call to blog was so strong, in fact, for Embassy Suites that earlier this year the Hilton brand took its pre-existing Web site, businessbalance.com, and gave it a makeover. Businessbalance.com debuted in blog format this past spring, harnessing the talents of freelance bloggers who, each in their own way, address work-life issues that often challenge Embassy Suites’ business travelers: fitness and health, food, family life, managing stress and travel strategies.

“The perception has been in the past, and rightly so, 20 percent of the people on blogs account for 80 percent of the content”, said John Lee, vice president of marketing for Embassy Suites. “They were always talking about themselves and there wasn’t much real content folks could really use. We see that changing. And if it is managed correctly, we can see a lot of benefit.” Having third-party experts “gives the brand a little credibility, some third-party endorsement. It is not that Embassy Suites is saying you should be doing this. It is people like Jane and Michael Stern [the authors of ‘Roadfood’] who are updating the content for us.”

Most importantly, said Lee, “we don’t try to sell anyone anything. They are smarter than that. If they have a relationship with the brand because of this cool Web site, the bookings will take care of themselves. If we can grow share of heart, share of wallet will follow.” Blogs are, for the most part, still uncharted territory in the hospitality industry, even though they predate the now-well-trod other social media now crammed with hotels and motels among their ranks. Unlike the realtime interactivity of Twitter, blogs can offer shelf (or screen) life, with the posts archiving for reference again later.

“There are more or less only a handful of blogs from hotels,” said Kent Lewis, whose Anvil Media is the marketing consultant for the Provenance group of boutique hotels. Marriott International’s chairman and CEO Bill Marriott was something of a pioneer when he launched his interactive blog about two years ago, said Lewis, “and then only the big guys were the ones doing it.” But Provenance was already getting its blog act together offline with the goal of establishing a blog foothold for three of the brand’s five properties.

In Nashville, the Hotel Preston has been blogging its heart out since the autumn of 2007. “The Sounding Board” is a music-centric collection of posts. “It is what is unique to the vibe of the Preston,” said Lewis. The blog embraces the Grand Ole Opry, the CMA Music Festival and the Country Music Hall of Fame, and mixes its posts with specifics about the Preston, a hotel in the center of that music mix. “You’re talking about adding value to the community,” said Lewis. “We treat it like a publication, somewhere between news stories and anecdotes, fun things, interesting things.”

Good writing has a particularly long history at the Newagen Seaside Inn near Maine’s Boothbay Harbor. Jason Schlosser, innkeeper, is quick to point out that writer and ecologist Rachel Carson was a summer guest there in the 1960s, and wrote portions of her landmark works, “Silent Spring” and “The Edge of the Sea”, while seeking respite and inspiration on the Maine coast. “We are committed to this process,” said Schlosser, who said the blog went online 18 months ago. It now boasts videos and photos (some sent in by guests) and lots of tips about vacation-planning, wedding-planning and sightseeing, in Maine and in general.

The inn, then, is a starting point for the blog, rather than an endpoint. “And it is continuing to evolve. I don’t know if we have arrived yet.”

Here here! The picture? Nashville, Tennessee

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blog, Chanters, hotels, livingstone, management

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