Alberta Business Marketing

Here is the mantra every tourism business should deliver on in the age of internet marketing and social and mobile media:

We provide benefits that meet or exceed your needs and provide value for money, you can count on it.

Understanding the pieces:
“Benefits” – can you anchor the services you provide as benefits that your ideal client is seeking?
“Meeting or exceeding needs” – Do you know what matters to your ideal guest. Are you primed on delivering the goods every day.
“Value” – good economy, bad economy, luxury item, commodity…. whatever you sell, your purchaser is going to use price as a determining factor in determining whether or not to purchase from you. Your competitors may have a role to play in providing an option for your ideal client.
“You can count on it” – credibility, it’s measured every day, not by what you say, but by what your clients say about you. Are you listening? Are your clients engaged? If not, it’s almost as bad as having them say negative things about you. The majority of people will look for what others are saying about you. If no one is reviewing your business, your prospect may be concerned that your business has no track record of success.

I think about getting bums in beds a lot.
After all, I’m in the business of satisfying customers just like hoteliers, attractions and restaurants….. at Northern Edge Algonquin, we’re a bit of all of these. When I think about the role of video, social media, facebook and other Internet Marketing avenues I use the mantra above to check that the content we produce is focused on the right outcome.

Then we do everything we can on the ground, to make sure we are delivering on the promise.

What mantra drives your business?

Tags: mantra, public relations, reputation management, tourism marketing
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Last weekend I tried to dance like Matt for a special guest in explaining how this internet phenomenon spanned the globe, igniting in others a passion for place and shared travel experiences.  Like Matt, there are guests who become truly excited about  experiences we share with them.  Part of our job is encouraging these guests to take social actions that help make it easier for others to choose to have a similar experience and book a stay with us.

The kernel is that these passionate “Fans” want your business to succeed.  They want others to know about your undiscovered treasures.

We touch base with guests and encourage them to share their photos, join our Facebook Fan page and post reviews of their stay.

How do you encourage your guests to take action that is good for your bottom line?

WheretheHellisMatt.com

Tags: reputation management
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I loved this article on how some accommodation providers are giving twittering guests attention…. particularly when things go awry.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB0977161348 . . .

How should hotels respond to travelers who go public with unsavoury comments? Instant upgrade? Direct Messages?

How should hotels respond to travelers who go public with praise? Apparently it’s against the rules on TripAdvisor to incentivize positive reviews, but is it OK to recognize fans in some way?

Are you using the keyword search capacities of Twitter clients to keep your attention on your guests social commentary?

Tags: reputation management, Twitter
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Being a small business owner and working in our vibrant Calgary market is truly exciting.  I can’t think of any other market that I would want to own a business in.  My friends at SOHO came through Calgary on June 2nd for their annual trade show and conference.  The Small Office, Home Office event is one of the must attends for Calgary and area small business.  Ulistic had the pleasure of sponsoring this year’s event, sharing our story as an exhibitor and also being the closing speaker.

It was great to be the closing speaker. jokingly we said that Ulistic was the headliner for the 2010 SOHO event.   I spoke on “The New CRM – Managing Your Reputation Online Is CRUCIAL“.  It was a talk on what small business can do to monitor their reputation online.  Reputation Management is very important for business especially when it is so easy for business to fall victim to a malicious person or an upset customer who turns to the web to voice their frustration or seek their attention they crave.  For a great example, see what happened to a friend of mine recently on LinkedIn.

There are a number of key reputation management tips that small business in Calgary must do in aiding to help keep on top of their reputation online.  During my presentation I really only scratched the surface simply because online reputation management can be such a deep subject.  Only so much a guy can cover in 40 minutes!   Here are a few immediate things your small business can do to watch what is being said about your business and many of them are FREE!

1. Check Yelp.com or Yelp.ca daily. Yelp is a service that allows reviews to be posted online about your business.  It is very easy for a customer to offer their praise about your business on Yelp.  I would check Yelp daily and engage when required.
2. Take ownership of your business on the Google Local Business Directory.  Google’s business directory is an online directory of businesses across the world.  Check to ensure you own your listing and when you do take ownership ensure you fill it out completely.
3. Setup alerts on Google Alerts and Social Oomph and monitor your company name, trademarks, brand names, key employees, competitors and anything else you wish to monitor.

It is too late if a prospect informs you about some negative talk online about your business.

Now is the time you take ownership on your online presence.

One of the folks in my session sent me this email…

Aside from gold medalist Carla Macleod you were the best public speaker of the bunch!

About SOHO

SOHO is an organization that empowers small business owners from all across Canada.   Moe and his crew come to Calgary annually to share their message to small business owners.  They are truly unique in what they do.  I can’t really think of any other organizations who have national coverage and also approach our vibrant community with integrity and service.  Kudos Moe…great job.  To learn more about SOHO visit their website at http://www.soho.ca.

Tags: Business, Business/Finance, Calgary, canada, closing speaker, Home Office, Immediate Records, LinkedIn Ltd, online presence, Online reputation management, reputation, reputation management, Small Office, Small office/home office, Soho, World Wide Web
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I sometimes feel like I am drinking from a firehouse or hearing the guy next to me shout with his megaphone (that isn’t you Dave) when it comes to social media and the importance of having an effective social media strategy in business.

Before I start with strategy I need to figure out the social landscape. Has it really changed?  I want to say it hasn’t but my gut keeps telling me it has.  What are we trying to achieve with our business in the online, digital connected, everyone googles and searches for information world that we live in.

I think Chris Brogan is right, trust is the cornerstone

Trust has to plays  crucial role in all business interactions including the online world plus when we meet at the Chamber of Commerce, our networking clubs or in the lineup at Calgary CO-OP.  Trust in an amazing thing win your grant a trusted relationship, from you guys reading this blog to the folks that are calling your business after reading a blog post you have crafted.

Is it social media?  Or is this plain ole business acumen?  What has spurred the flurry of interest in social media in the past 6 to 18 months?  Is it the availability and the free tools which is driving?  Would we have this amount of interest if you had to pay $10 each month for a Twitter account?  Kinda goes against our “free mindset” in today’s world.

Over the past few days I have been trying to figure out the social online landscape and perhaps I am a further step ahead since I spoke at the Airdrie Chamber of Commerce about social media in Airdrie and social media in Calgary.  Each day I feel that I am another step closer to figuring this all out.  Oh yeah, thanks Leslie for your help.

What is the Social Landscape theory?

• Social Media
• Social Networking
• Social Technologies
• Social Currency

My goal is over the next few days to expand on these areas.  I am continuing to have a number of A-HA moments as my mind begins to focus on how businesses can use the entire social landscape to win new opportunities in the marketplace, become a voice in the community and share knowledge and information.

The big question that I still get asked is, how does business monetize when using the social landscape?  Not sure if this is small thinking though and the bigger question is how can our business become the thought leader, the online connector and the place people come for information.  Will social currency reap ongoing rewards?  Can we practice online what my good friend Bob Burg mentions in his “Endless Referrals” book?

More thought is needed….

Tags: Airdrie Chamber of Commerce, Behavior, Behavioural sciences, bob burg, Business/Finance, Calgary, Chris Brogan, online connector, online world, Psychology, reputation management, Social information processing, Social Issues, Social Landscape, social media, social media strategy, social online landscape, Social psychology, trust, Twitter Inc, USD
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