Julia Forsyth of UK-based BigEars wants to revolutionize the way hoteliers experience guest feedback. Read our interview with her interview below:

What inspired you to create BigEars?

Hotels don’t generally do a good job of getting feedback from guests. They typically have a paper form to fill in as you are checking out, or a web survey which they email you shortly after your stay. Paper surveys are not likely to be filled in during checkout, more likely to be put into a handbag or pocket and forgotten about. Web surveys, completed a few days later, may have a higher uptake than the paper ones, but for people traveling on holiday, web time in precious and they won’t want to waste it filling in a survey, and for other people, the email arrives a few days after the stay so memories of the details of checking out procedure or first impressions of the room or bar can be hazy.

How does your product, BigEars, solve that problem? What makes you different?

Our product is different because we can target the guest close to the point of experience. Hotels can ask questions of guests during their stay, when the hotel and its environment is most relevant to them. You can give them a speed dial (or extension to dial) from the bedroom after they check in and get their first impressions of the reception, the room, the staff. You can reward them with a voucher to use at the bar. Guests can call the survey from the cab on the way to the airport immediately after checking out.

We can do clever things with texting, too – guests can text a short code to take the survey and our system calls them straight back – meaning the call costs them nothing and they don’t have to dial a long number – this text and call back feature has been hugely successful for targetting the under 30 demographic. We’ve also noticed that over 55s are more likely to take one of our phone surveys than a web survey.

What key things have you learned as you created BigEars?

“Talking isn’t work”! People leave much richer more insightful comments on a short telephone feedback line than they would write in a box on a web or paper survey. Also the power of audio is often overlooked or underestimated; really hearing the voice of your customer tells you so much more about their experience at your hotel than reading text on a traditional survey.

Our surveys are not designed for long in depth qualitative questions. They are to give customers the opportunity to tell the hotel what they think, in their own time and on their terms.
It’s a fantastic marketing opportunity for hotels to utilise.

What surprised you the most during development?

Actually, that the majority of calls to feedback lines are with very positive comments.
That audio is incredibly powerful and that hearing peoples’ real voices in their own regional accent and with their own turn of phrase really brings customer satisfaction to life.

How does BigEars make money for you? For hotels?

The ROI for hotels comes from really being able to understand their customers better and proactively manage standards. Hotels can match their performance to their customers’ expectations and really stay ahead of the competition. Now a days the voice of one guest can be amplified on the web…one blogger can communicate his/her thoughts about a hotel stay to thousands of followers. Our tool allows hotels to really listen to and appreciate their guests, encouraging repeat business, recommendations and customer endorsements. Staff interactions can make or break a guest’s experience. Staff training is something that can be actively managed with insightful customer feedback.

The goal of this blog is to encourage hotels to create memorable experiences for their guests. How does your product assist with this?

BigEars is a great tool for enhancing a customer’s experience. With clever dialogue design and branching questions the survey can be kept really short. With creative voice talent and script writing the survey can actually reinforce your brand. Customers really feel listened to and valued when you ask for feedback and then demonstrate that you have heard them and are acting on thier suggestions.

Have a speed dial from the hotel room to ask a question about the check in experience and for their first impressions on the room they have booked. Offer a free drink at the bar as an incentive to participate. Hearing a guest articulate what they LOVE about the room is incredibly valuable; playing the audio clip of a delighted customer to check in staff is a fantastic motivater for staff training… a customer saying how much they appreciated being greeted warmly and taken care of is a great way to reinforce the importance of doing this to reception staff.

What features do you have planned for the future?

The thing we’ve added most recently is the ability to tweet audio links. It’s great for adding content to a Twitter feed. Of course, it’s also possible to put audio links of lovely customer endorsements on your website. Literally having “word of mouth” recommendations for potential guests to listen to.

Can you give us an example of a hotel that has used this successfully?

Not yet! But we think it would be awesome! In the UK, we’ve had success in other domains, including a chain of pubs and restaurants. It’s also used for customer satisfaction surveys for insurance companies, financial institutions, and other retail chains. We’re looking for an innovator who would like to pilot this in the hotel industry.

If a hotel is interested in using BigEars, how can they begin working with you?

We are really easy to work with. The whole system is web based so there is nothing to install and no hardware at all. Links to all of the audio collected from calls can be emailed straight to your inbox. Results are collected in realtime and available instantly. We can even transcribe audio to text (using humans, not machines) and feed it straight into your existing data base. All you need to do is print and place some call to action materials and set up an extension on your phone system that calls the survey.

We currently have customers all around the globe, and platforms to run our software all over the world, so geographical location is not an issue for us. Also, we have voice talents who can record prompts in a whole range of accents, so we can have a BigEars survey up and running in no time at all. We would work closely with you and advise on questions to ask (we have heaps of experience here) and how to keep the survey short and snappy. We hate long boring clunky IVR surveys – ours are not like that at all!

Thank you, Julia!

Robert Patterson, Director of Social Media and Web Analytics at MMG Worldwide

My day to day is analyzing marketing opportunities for our clients
A lot of the doubt around social media is in tracking and ROI
We start with analytics and see what social media referrals are already coming into the site
Look at the demographics and find your target audience, and then create messaging around that
We want contests to encourage loyalty
We try to get people to both opt-in by email and fan you on Facebook
Both email subscribers and Facebook fans are valuable
We don’t see Facebook fans from an ROI perspective, but as earned media equivalency
No one has really figured out the value of a fan yet
We’re looking for referral visits to a website and goal conversion rates
You need to compare goal conversion rates with other referral sources such as email and PPC
Typically individuals coming from social media are more engaged with the brand
Look at return on influence
In terms of volume, PPC is much larger than social media
Search engine traffic is typically 50-75% of website traffic
Social media is much lower volume, but conversion rates are usually higher
Integration is going to be key in the future, bringing social networks to websites
The open graph that Facebook recently released is a huge push into making the web wide open
Having a single login will be huge for encouraging people to share content across a wide range of websites
Third party reviews are less trusted than friends and family
The name of the game is interconnectivity
The quicker people are to get on board, the further they will be of their competitors just entering the space

See Robert this October at EyeforTravel’s Travel Distribution Summit North America 2010.

(I saw this interview format in an Esquire magazine article, and really like the brevity. What do you think?)

David Morton is a revenue specialist with Bamboo Revenue in London. Today, we discuss what you need to know about encouraging direct bookings.

Our conversation is less than 19 minutes, and I highly recommend you listen to the whole thing – especially if you’re a smaller, luxury hotel:

[Prefer to listen on the go? Download the mp3 file]

For those of you who prefer to read, here’s the summary of the talk:

• Why don’t more guests book with hotels directly? Many hotels release a few rooms to external OTA sites at lower rates, and don’t realize that savvy guests will easily find those rates and book outside of the hotel’s system.
• Avoid retail marketing tactics; maintain consistency across all booking channels.
• For example, “In conversations with hoteliers, I see that some of them have defended [rate disparity] to me, and they’ve explained, ‘Oh, Dave, well actually, what I do, is on my own hotel website, and/or through my luxury brand, I will sell from my second-lowest room category up.’ So, if we’re talking about a historic hotel property, they’ll say, “Well, the old maid’ rooms and the tiny rooms up in the attic, I don’t have on my own website, but I’ll put those through third party websites.’ And again the conversation I have with them is, ‘Look — people are coming to your hotel website, they’re salivating over the gorgeous Michelin starred-restaurant, the beautiful oak-paneled library, your amazing spa. They just wanna be under your roof.”
• This type of behavior “trains” guests to not book directly, and is damaging to the hotel’s brand.
• “If you’re a niche product, as long as you’re in the top ten or twenty of the hotels on Trip Advisor ranking for your location, as long as you’re delivering a good product, good service, you can and you will get a lot of those bookings direct, if you’re offering rate parity.”
• It’s important to carefully control distribution through OTAs and focus on who you partner with. Read the fine print. Don’t assume that “the more partners, the better.” Work with OTAs that are “in synch” with your hotel’s brand.
• Guests prefer to book through sites that are SSL certified.
• Foreign guests prefer to book in their home language and currency.
• “Don’t become distracted by the mass-consumer market, because that’s not the market that you’re in.”

Martin Dishman is founder of The One Hotel collection, recently rated the world’s #1 most exclusive hotel by Forbes. (Another good story from Forbes)

In this 65-minute interview, we cover:

What inspired The One Hotel

[1:28] Why he went overseas and left the corporate scene.

[9:50] September 11, 2001 was a wake-up call. “Don’t wait until tomorrow to do what you want to do.”

[1:48] How a Thailand vacation inspired him to open The One Hotel: “Why am I not doing what I know I can do? I wanted to work for myself.”

[2:21] Why Cambodia? For starters, “Cambodia is really a unique place; people are so warm and friendly. There are a lot of misconceptions; Cambodia is on a growth trajectory.”

[5:05] How did Martin think of The One Hotel idea? “We could do two rooms, one on top of the other, but they’d be small, ordinary hotel rooms. The light bulb comes on; one room. Why can’t it be a one room hotel? I’m a hotelier; I can do this.”

[33:50] The importance of developing a unique concept: “If I hadn’t opened the One Hotel, if I’d had a three or four room hotel, I would have gotten 90% less press. But it wasn’t by design; [First] I found a place, then turned it into a one room hotel. 70% of the people we can’t get into the One Hotel can stay in Hotel B.”

Exceeding guest expectations, and “throwing the cookie cutter out the window”

[7:00] “In large hotels, there are things that are cost-prohibitive. The idea was to basically make it perfect… as perfect as you can. Everything fits together well, everything’s designed well, the finishes are fantastic.”

[13:38] On delivering exceptional guest experiences: “At the beginning, I met every guest at the airport; usually, I see them sometime after they arrive. I tell them, ‘my job is to get you here, then I turn it over to the staff.’ Cambodians, as I said, are so warm and friendly and sincere. It’s a great place to be a hospitality manager.”

[44:13] How does The One sound-proof their rooms? “We’re right in the middle of this walking street. People stop and think, ‘Oh the rooms are gonna be noisy!’ Well, I would be a really bad hotelier if I opened a hotel and had noisy rooms…”

How to define your niche

[21:52] Martin tells us about his target market: “Our guests are active; they’re engaged, engaging people. Because we don’t have a pool, we don’t get the kind of people that just lay by the pool all day. That’s not what they come to Cambodia for.”

[23:10] How does he find out what guests want? “I’m always trying out hotels, seeing what I like, what I don’t like, I like unique hotels. I think being unique is just about the best way to do it; give them something that they can’t experience anywhere else, something personalized that they’re not going to get at a chain hotel, and we really get to know the guests. We’ll go out with you and do things just for fun. It’s that kind of engagement with your customers that I think they really appreciate.”

Martin’s most essential amenities

[26:22] His #1 pet-peeve: hotels that charge for internet service. “It’s the whole ‘nickle and diming effect’ of hotels like that. And if you want to check out at 4, well that’s gonna cost you more money. At the One Hotel, if the room’s available, you can check out at 7 o’clock. There’s revenue I could be making, but to me it’s giving the guests value.”

[43:28] Another pet-peeve: “Nothing’s worse than a non-functioning hotel room.”

[28:54] Does it make for a better guest experience if you charge a little bit more for a room and give away more free amenities? “Every major hotel has a rack rate, but they never actually charge the rack rate. I don’t do that. I said, this is what my room is worth, this is what guests will find a good value.”

[30:00] The One’s amenities include airport transportation, breakfast, a fruit plate in the room when you arrive, and “more”. Martin describes how a few surprising touches and personal mementos can make a big difference in your guests’ experience.

How to successfully manage your team and collaborate with creative professionals

[14:40] “If you don’t like your job, find another line of work.”

[41:35] Martin’s team-member criteria: “I look for people who I respect for their abilities. John McDermott is a fantastic photographer. I know what I need from the hotel side, and he knows how to achieve it. John and I have got it down to a science. Also, I want to enjoy working with these people, right?”

[12:10] He’s a people person: “I’m the one that answers all of the emails and does all of the correspondence. I enjoy doing it, but I know I need to teach the staff, as well. But … I don’t want to let it go. It’s my baby. I can’t remember how many people I’ve interviewed; I’m a real people person; you have to be when you’re in this business.”

[39:40] “I’m so in tune with what we’re doing that I can manage it from a distance.” What’s his “secret weapon”?

[48:51] On setting standards and addressing problems; how does he communicate his vision and values to staff? “I care about them, so when there’s a problem that’s interfering with teamwork, or the customer service we provide, I’ve gotta solve that problem.”

[52:00] The One’s staff succession plan: “We usually take people that don’t have experience, and teach them in one position, they improve themselves, and move up to another position.”

[45:34] How to balance vision and creative freedom when working with creative professionals.

Martin’s marketing insights

[54:26] How and why the One’s opening generated good word-of-mouth: “Our only marketing budget is doing the website.”

[57:15] The One’s unique online strategy: “We don’t want to be on the big mainstream sites, listed with a bunch of other hotels in this location. We’re a niche property; we’re looking for a niche guest. We’re not a mass-market place, so I don’t wanna be on a mass-market website.”

[10:35] On being named “the most exclusive hotel in the world” by Forbes: “I was watching it when I was back home for Christmas with my mom and nephew…”

[58:09] How to tell if travel companies don’t understand your concept: “One of the local travel companies made a booking request for The One Hotel, and it came through with a request for an upgrade to a deluxe room. If they can’t sell us properly, we’re going to get guests that don’t want to be here.”

[58:52] Martin likes London-based site i-escape.com and Tablet Hotels but, “80%-90% of our bookings are direct.”

[1:01:00] When asked whether he encourages guests to write about his hotel online, Martin answers, “I think it’s a personal decision; it has to come from them. Those are going to be the genuine reviews, right?”

Here’s the conversation:

[Prefer to listen on the go? Download the mp3 recording]

Pat Bruce is a marketing analyst with over 25 years in the hotel industry. He’s sick of seeing ad agencies “bamboozle” their clients into buying expensive, ineffective marketing.

In this 82-minute interview, we cover:

• [0:25] Pat’s work in the industry
• [6:28] How this problem started
• [10:30] One agency’s policy of “churn and burn”
• [11:10] What causes agencies to behave like this?
• [16:30] The value of having an unbiased 3rd party advisors as you make decisions
• [17:10] The conflict of interest many consultants have
• [27:20] The numbers you need to be watching
• [35:50] Importance of qualifying your keywords
• [41:20] Optimizing one topic per webpage
• [41:40] How a website drove traffic by mentioning a comment by Michelle Obama
• [47:25] How to avoid unintentionally encouraging complaints on Twitter
• [58:00] Why you need to hire an educator (not a consultant)
• [1:02:00] Pricing the contract

Here’s the conversation:

[Prefer audio? Download the mp3 recording]

Get more insights from Pat on his blog….

This week, I spoke with the charming and insightful Isabelle Lozano, owner of Paris’ Apostrophe Hotel. Below is an excerpt from our conversation, and her seven secrets to boutique hotel success.

#1 – Treat your hotel like a pastry

Josiah: Can you tell me about the Apostrophe Hotel and your current role there?

Isabella: It’s a boutique hotel with 16 rooms. Each room is themed differently and has a unique decoration. This concept hotel — we prefer to say “Poem hotel” — is based on two major ideas: comfort and escape. Comfort is having something equal or better than what you can get at home. I’ve been working a long time in the hotel business, and I’ve seen hotels in Paris, at least, changing quite a lot. There was a time when you had a mini bar in your room; it was like Christmas-time! But now, when you go to your room, you really need something else…

Josiah: How did you decide on the amenities you offer?

Isabella: Of course I’ve been listening to customers in other hotels that we’ve run but we also just did it quite simply; what would I like to have in my room? Of course, a comfortable bed (these are not so common in Parisian hotels), to be able to watch a DVD or hear a CD, internet connectivity like at home, good showers and jacuzzi baths — that’s the part that is a bit more than what you can have at home. I believe the best way to personalize is to think about, “what would I do?”

Josiah: I think when you’re designing for yourself – instead of spending alot of time doing market research – the result is something alot more personal.

Isabella: Yes, and people feel that it’s “home made”. You know? It’s like a pastry. If you go to an industrial bakery, or if you ask your grandma to do it, the taste will be different. In our branch, I think it is exactly the same.

#2 Offer guests a unique experience, every time.

Josiah: You and your father wanted to create a hotel that was unique, and the way you did that was to create very different themes for each room.

Isabella: Yes, I think in Paris, we’re the only hotel that has a unique decoration in each of our 16 rooms. There are some new hotels that are very nice, but they usually have 4 or 5 types of rooms. Each one very different, but only 4 or 5. It pleases us, I must say, and it’s good for business. We have alot of people coming back, because they know that their next room experience will be different from the last. We’ve also created some packages that amplify the spirit of our hotel. We try a lot of different things and listen to our clients to see what matches. We call these packages “nuits de rêves” (dreaming nights).

Josiah: It seems like creating 16 different themes would take a lot of work and thought…

Isabella: Yes it did! (laughs)

Josiah: How did you come up with 16 unique room themes?

Isabella: Since we rebuilt the old building, we had to deal with the technical parts first. Then, in each room, we chose different materials, photos, tissues… The space may be the same, but the way we changed each design gives a totally different impression. For instance, in some rooms, we did something special on the ceiling. In the library room, we have a book on the ceiling. In the music room: sheet music.

Josiah: Did you and your father come up with each of the different designs, or were there other people involved?

Isabella: Obviously, the fact that we work with family is a great support. I would never have done this alone. We also had to work with an architect and a young designer, Sabrina Alouf, who’s Belgian. So yes, we had help. That’s good. We couldn’t have made it without them… (laughter)

Josiah: What feedback have you received? Do guests like the different room styles?

Isabella: The French people are absolutely keen on the hotel. They really love it and are very enthusiastic about it which is funny because French people aren’t always enthusiastic types of people, you know? It’s fun to see that. We’ve also get very good reports from Italians, Belgians and the English. Some Americans are reluctant because the bathrooms are an open part of the room, so they’re a bit shy about that.

#3 – Create online content for individuals. Stay flexible, and respond to customer feedback.

Josiah: Do you encourage your guests to talk about their experience online?

Isabella: We use our website blog sometimes, and, of course, you can’t avoid TripAdvisor; it’s really the number one website there for this sort of thing. We send our guests emails at the end of their stay, asking if they would be nice enough to leave us a review on TripAdvisor. We’re also working with Tablet hotels, because it also encourages comments.

Josiah: Do you find a lot of people follow through with your request and leave a review?

Isabella: There may be like 10% of French people doing this, because they really don’t like having to subscribe to all these things. Americans are much more helpful; I would say it’s like 80% of the Americans do it.

Josiah: Really? Those numbers seem high. I talk with hotels who get, maybe, 1%-2% of guests leaving a review, because like you say, it’s a little bit of a hassle if they don’t have an account…

Isabella: Well, if it’s someone we already know, like a businessman who’s staying with us a second time, we won’t bother them. I’m talking about tourism, mostly.

Josiah: Ah, okay. Interesting you’d make that distinction. I’d like to talk about your website for a moment, because it seems more like an online magazine instead of just a brochure. You’re posting alot of interesting content. How did you come up with the idea for your hotel website?

Isabella: There are more or less 3 big companies that are doing websites for hotels in Paris, and I feel like they all look the same. If you’re claiming to be unique, you can’t have a website that looks like the others. We worked with a company named Hoosta, and talking with them, we decided to do a kind of magazine. Keeping in mind that we normally have customers that know and have been to Paris, we’d like to offer them more of an agenda for Paris, not just say where the Eiffel tower is.

Josiah: Who would you say is your typical guest, who wants to know more about events in Paris? What’s the target audience for your website?

Isabella: We noticed that there’s a slight difference between the English part of the website and the French part. The French part has more articles and talks more about things that are less-known than in the English part. We’ve realized that the French customers were really reading alot of our posts. After arriving at the hotel, after their booking, they would say, “I’m going to go see this exhibition that I saw on the website.” The English part follows the same idea, but talks more about the hotel itself, because that’s what English clients want to learn about, we’ve realized.

Josiah: So you do more than just translate content: you’re creating unique content for each type of  visitor

Isabella: Yes, at first we were just translating, but we asked customers what they thought, and we found out that our English and French customers wanted different things. English and Americans were saying, “That’s too much information; we just want to learn more about the hotel.” I’m not working only for my own pleasure; my main aim is to please customers, so I keep asking them what they think. We did the same thing with our breakfast; we started with something very simple, and then we made changes according to what customers wanted.

#4 – Stay organized and cohesive by linking events and seasons to your web content.

Josiah: Who publishes new articles, new content to your website?

Isabella: I got help with the technical aspects of the website, but usually write the posts myself, or an employee will say, “Oh, I’ve noticed something about Paris; we should do a post.” It’s all a work of the hotel.

Josiah: And because your website it based out of WordPress, it’s very easy to update. You don’t need a web-master or a technical person…

Isabella: We have a web-master for other things, but not for the blog. It is a very big job, writing two articles a week. With the research, collecting images… I spend a good hour or two per post, but we prefer not to pay someone for that.

Josiah: I know it can take me 3… 5… 8 hours to write a post. Do you have a process that makes writing easier and faster?

Isabella: Well, each month we have a theme. For instance, February is the romantic month and March is the sporty month; we keep these themes in mind when creating two articles for each week, focusing either on the neighborhood or on the hotel and our themes. This makes the research much easier, because you know what you’re searching for, and you can link the month’s theme to promotions for the hotel; for instance, for July/August, we have a “picnic package”, and the main post for July will be about picnic spaces in Paris. That way it is very cohesive.

#5 – Attract readers with rich media and quality content; reward loyal customers with insider deals.

Josiah: I notice you have a lot of nice photos and videos, alot of rich media on the site. Do you take those photographs? How do you find them?

Isabella: Some are taken by us, and some… we find on the internet. The internet is magic (laughs). As for the videos, Hoosta shoots them for us. At the beginning, I wanted to make long articles, but that was silly. I don’t think people read as much on the internet; it’s not a newspaper. Usually, I write 5-10 lines, and spend more time finding a really good photo.

Josiah: What tactics have you found are the best for generating website traffic?

Isabella: We have people that come from other websites, and we’ve created a “fidelity club” (loyalty program), and give members the best available rate, the best parking, champagne at a restaurant we’re working with… guests work directly with us because they know they will get a bit more. That’s the main thing, and then, of course, we have alot of articles on different things in Paris, which helps people find our website more easily.

#6 – Keep your focus. “I’m not here to talk about Sarcozy politics.”

Josiah: I think once you adopt the mindset of a publisher and start putting alot of interesting content out there, it’s easier for people to find you through Google. You’re probably getting alot of organic, natural, free traffic from those searches.

Isabella: Yes, we just have to keep in mind that the posts we make should be related to the hotel business. I’m not here to talk about Sarcozy politics. That’s not my… you see what I mean. I’m going to talk about the fact that in Paris, for instance, there’s a very big exhibition on Monet that is starting in September. I’m creating a hotel package for that, and writing for people who are coming to Paris to see this exhibition and find a hotel. I’m not talking about everything and nothing at the same time.

Josiah: You mentioned that Facebook is working well for you, but Twitter isn’t working as well. Do you know why?

Isabella: I think because I did not understand how Twitter works, at first. So we’re working on that with Hoosta. When we’re doing something special, we’ll send a quick Twitter message. I’m starting to understand a bit more, but it’s not my generation, Facebook and Twitter.

Josiah: I think some design hotels, like yourself, do a little bit better on Facebook because you have the opportunity to share rich media.

Isabella: That’s quite true. I’ve also become aware that TripAdvisor is going to become involved with Facebook.

Josiah: Yes, TripAdvisor is including Facebook networks on their review pages, so that people can ask their friends for advice when they’re visiting a city. I think it’s going to be very interesting to watch how that works out.

Isabella: Yes; it’s all in the same spirit…

#7 – Collaborate with passionate staff, but remember; “Nobody knows more about your hotel and your clients [than you]!”

Josiah: You told me that one of the biggest misconceptions small hotels have is that they can’t manage marketing themselves. I notice that social media works best when the communication is coming from the hotel. It’s hard to do that from a distance. How do you get your hotel team members involved in the publishing that you do?

Isabella: Well… I’m hiring young people! (laughs) It’s quite important that they’re familiar with those kinds of communications. Then… they have to really like the hotel. The people that work here have a lot of heart. They want to work with something special, not just any hotel. Though, speaking truthfully, I’m personally the most involved with posting. The team gives me ideas, and I decide which ones fit with the hotel. If there are too many different voices, you can feel that something is wrong, so it has to be one voice, I think. Maybe I’m wrong.

Josiah: No; I think one voice but with many ideas is good. It’s important that guests really understand the culture and vision behind the hotel, and because you’re the owner and have set everything up, I think you understand what you’re trying to accomplish online, so it helps for you to be that one voice.

Isabella: Yes, and I ask the team to read the website very frequently; they have to be perfectly aware of what is told to customers by the hotel. I think most of hoteliers in small hotels think they cannot manage marketing themselves. Of course you cannot do everything, but you should make decisions and give general direction. Nobody knows more about your hotel and your clients!

Josiah: Excellent. So closing off, I hear that you’re interested in starting a shop with your own products. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Isabella: It’s not made yet, but I’d like to make a selection of products so people can take home a little souvenir from Paris; we wouldn’t do the typical souvenir, of course. I have no intention of buying small lights and flowers, but I’m thinking of finding a few objects that fit with the hotel, and we could sell at the hotel and on the website. I think it’s an interesting project, and with only 16 rooms, it’s a way to make more of a production. It’s not easy, but I’ll manage, I’m sure.

Best of luck, Isabella; thank you!

Today I had the opportunity to talk with Jeremy Silverman, one of the web’s top hotel lifestyle bloggers, and publisher of Future Blog for Design Hotels. Below is an excerpt from our conversation…

Josiah: Can you tell us a bit about Design Hotels and your role there as Head of Brand Experience?

Jeremy: Design Hotels, a Berlin based company, was founded 16 years ago with the goal of uniting independent hotels from around the world in one location. Our CEO and founder of the company, Claus Sendlinger, began compiling a portfolio of hoteliers in his professional and personal network who together formed the earliest incarnation of Design Hotels. From there, it’s evolved into a full service strategic partner for hotels; we do everything from e-marketing to sales representation around the world. We do in-house PR and creative services, as well as hotel development, and we provide the technology connectivity that allows independent hotels to be bookable to tour operators and travel agents and online travel agents. Basically, if you’re an independent hotel and you have a distinctive design concept and brand experience vision, then we’re kind of a one-stop-shop for you.

Walk us through a typical day in your life: what does your schedule look like?

What I’m responsible for, essentially, is everything that touches individuals. My goal is to standardize the way our brand is communicated, so that customers have the same experience with the whether they’re online, on social media or calling our reservation center. On a daily basis, I usually start off by reading the 50 to 75 sites that I check everyday — blogs, news portals or other random places on the internet. I get a daily brief of what’s going on in the hotel industry, but also in the related industries, like fashion, design, architecture, popular culture, celebrity, and technology. They’re all intertwined in what we do on a daily basis. I’m usually doing this for about an hour, and from there, I’ll pick content for our blog, then the day usually progresses very randomly; I could be involved in projects that are offline-focused, things that deal with our loyalty club, for example, and because the website falls within the department, I’m involved in alot of the technical development, and the ongoing improvement and optimization of our website. We’re also brainstorming alot of promotions, alot of hooks to get people interested in our hotels and our brands.

Why did you start the blog? Did you have specific goals?

When we started the blog two and a half years ago, it was really a promotional tool for an event that we have, the “Future Forum”, which is where the name “Future Blog” comes from. The Future Forum, which actually just took place two weeks ago in Berlin, is our semi-annual symposium. We bring together people from the hotel industry, and mix them with designers, interior designers, architects, and trend forecasters — this interesting mix of people — and listen to lectures, attend networking events, and see what comes out of it. So, to go back, the blog was created to highlight some of the key areas that we’re going to be discussing in the event and, naturally, it developed a following in the months leading up to the event. From there, we just let it grow organically.

What is a “lifestyle blog” and why is it important?

The term “lifestyle” is really ambiguous because people are always using it, but can’t necessarily pinpoint what it means. For me, when I say that we strive to be a lifestyle brand, the ultimate goal is that people will be able to experience the brand even when they’re not experiencing our product, per se. In that same vein, just because they’re looking at the Future Blog, doesn’t mean that they need to be looking specifically at a hotel product, but by virtue of being there, they should get an idea of what our brand stands for and represents. For us it’s pretty natural; the interests that overlap are reflective of what you’d call the cultural movement, the way that it’s headed. We’re saying, “You know what? This is all so interesting for us; this is interesting for our hotel owners, and by reading this, you can get an idea of what kind of company we are, who we work with, what we do, what we dress like, you know? What we like to do in our free time, and hopefully, the general mood gets across.

Do you know who your readers are? How do you know what they want to read on your blog?

Of course, we do analysis online using Google Analytics and other free social media tools to see which subject matter gets the most traction, but besides that, it has to do with response, really. Sometimes people will send me an email saying they particularly enjoyed something, and they want more information. Sometimes, this will spark conversation with a potential partner that said “thanks for linking to us”, or “Thanks for posting something about us, why don’t we have a conversation and see what we might be able to do together”, so it’s really dynamic, but it’s also a combination of pinpointing and seeing who’s responding, what are they saying, and having an open ear to feedback.

What does your blogging process look like?

I don’t have an editorial calendar, per se. I hadn’t identified any specific items that I wanted to cover with the World Cup for example, but daily you’re inundated with interesting factoids and news that, naturally, you’re gonna want to post online. I go through them for maybe an hour, hour and a half, and I’m just bookmarking the ones that I think are interesting or worthy, then I’ll do another run through, and see, okay, what’s the angle? Is this just interesting to me? Or is it something that’s going to be interesting to our readers as well? And the third element, which is very important, but not always present, is … is there a link to Design Hotels? I guess you would say I’m a “corporate blogger”; I don’t know if that’s the correct term, but I’m sort of representing a brand. It’s not necessary that every single thing is linked back to a profit goal, but when you can, it certainly helps. So that’s kind of the ultimate criteria.

Where do you get inspiration: which sources do you monitor? How do you keep track of what’s happening?

I know that most people use a reader, but I prefer to go to the sites individually; I have them all bookmarked. The reason is, because, that’s how I’ve found most of the other ones, by reading comments, and looking at other blogs, blogrolls, which you wouldn’t be exposed to by just using a Reader, necessarily. And I like to see the environment, where they’re posting, and try to build, if I can, a little bit better relationship with the other blogs, which has been pretty successful with quite a few of them. It’s a little bit more time consuming, but around 50-75 is manageable. If you get more than that, there’s probably a critical point where you would need to use a reader.

What were the big challenges you faced along the way?

Well, I think when I was starting, I was really relying on organic growth, just directly to the site, in order to expand the audience, but since then, the development of tools to increase traffic — some good, some not so good — have really matured, so using these and figuring out which ones work for us, I mean, there was a time when we were very reliant on Stumble Upon to get to the next level, and on the one hand it’s great that people are assembling your sites, but in the end, you get alot of really unqualified traffic, and, as we’re not trying to sell ads, and we’re not trying to monetize the space necessarily, I mean, it doesn’t take long to say “I like it”; after a while we stopped using Stumble Upon.

What did you wish you knew starting out?

I think really staying on top of the content distribution technology is important, but also, really trying to get into a rhythm, I mean, in the blogs that are not affiliated with Design Hotels, I had the same problems where I would be very active, then not feel like I’d found anything blog-worthy, so it would go, maybe, a week… and then, traffic would be down, and… it just takes a while, and people are often frustrated after a few months because they wanna see this big, steady increase, and then you kind of plateau at a certain point, but I think it’s just a matter of being persistent, and trying to create a standard. You don’t wanna say “standardize”; I guess that has a negative connotation, but a… consistent voice, and a consistent volume of posting, and a reliability in a way that you’re gonna get something interesting every time. So, really focusing on the content, and less on the technology, even though I said you need to stay current, but just because you have a bunch of funny widgets on your site, that isn’t really going to mean anything in the long term. If you have great content, people are going to return for that reason. You can see that on the top blogs; you can see that on Drudge Report, for example, doesn’t have anything fancy, and, I don’t know how many hits they have, but tens of millions of people, so, I think the key is really the content.

How do you attract new readers to the site?

We don’t like to put pressure on having an exact volume of traffic on the blog, which I think gives us a little bit of liberty to experiment a little bit, and also use those tools how they’re designed to be used. On Facebook, we tease the blog, and force people to come back to the Future Blog in order to boot traffic, which is good in a way, but at the same time, I think that, the fact we have it posted as a note, which means that you can access the entire blog post on Facebook without actually having to leave the Facebook environment, that is the purpose of spreading the brand values and focusing on interaction, rather than looking for an easy way to boost traffic. Twitter, on the other hand, it’s not easy to post alot of content in 140 characters. It’s really more about “seeding”, seeding around and with the ultimate goal of getting more traffic. But I think as it gets more saturated, and alot of people spamming on Twitter, it’s less and less effective.

Can you explain how to build mutually beneficial relationships with other bloggers?

There’s no system, but there are three ways — two of them you mentioned — definitely making comments is good, and emailing them can be good. Of course, sometimes I’m emailing them because I want them to cover our topics, as well. It’s always a great way to reach out. The third way is to repost some of the things that they’re posting. So for example, one of my favorite sources is the New York Times blog called “The Moment”, which is the blog of T Magazine, their style magazine. They’re producing alot of really interesting content. Through reposting occasionally, they’ve come to see us not only as a fan, a supporter, and an informal friend-partner, but also a source of traffic. I think that doing that is a good way to create goodwill, and also, eventually, it’s full-cycle. You’ll get some feedback from them occasionally, and especially for up-and-coming bloggers, that might be doing it professionally, but they’re not really really really getting tons of traffic, they’re quite keen to, not just swap links, but swap content at times.

So would it be safe to say that the best way to get on a blogger’s radar is to repost some of their material with a link back to the site?

Yeah, exactly, and it’s important to be very transparent. I mean, not that you’re plagiarizing, but always giving credit where credit is due. I don’t think anyone will ever have a problem with another blog saying, “look at this great content I found from ‘xyz’”, and linking back to them.

Do you cross-promote with social media or email?

Yes, I would say that, definitely, Facebook and Twitter are reliable sources — not the bulk — but, and this is maybe not the answer you’re looking for, alot of our traffic comes from Google Image Search. So, naming and tagging these images in the right way can be very valuable for getting traffic, but also reaching out to some of the indirect or directly related industries, so, on our blogroll for example, we have informal friendships, or partnerships, with all of these blogs; some more than others. This is one of the ways that we kind of get ongoing traffic. That’s probably the best way to start.

What was your most popular post?

People really like products. Yesterday, I posted something really short about a bicycle rack by a designer in San Francisco, and got two emails from people asking where they could buy it. The blog is fed on to our Facebook page, another good way to see what people are responding to. Beyond that, I don’t want to say it’s “random”, but people respond to different things. Just looking at our Facebook group, we have a huge population of people from Portugal, so if I ever post anything about Portugal, or Brazil, they’re freaking out and commenting on it, and very proud to see their country represented in the blog.

What is the most common mistake new bloggers make?

I would say, and this is something that I also did, just not creating this rhythm; not consistently updating the blog, making new posts, and maybe posting really intensively for a week, putting alot of really great content out there, and then just sitting on it and not following up.

What’s your biggest tip for writing a successful blog?

In alot of cases, you get one opportunity for people to come to your site, and if they like it, they’re gonna come back, and if you don’t have anything new, it’s possible that they’re not gonna come back again. But, as long as you keep putting new stuff up there, I think that you’ll have a chance to build loyalty among your readers.

Thanks for your insights, Jeremy!

Be sure to bookmark the Future Blog for daily lifestyle blogging goodness.

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Would you love to switch to Google Apps and move your computing to the cloud – but don’t know how the process works?

Today I talk with Susan Cline and Jim McNelis of Dito, a firm that specializes in helping companies transition to Google Apps:

[Download the MP3 file]

I wanted to do this interview – and introduce you to Dito – because I know so many hoteliers that would gladly switch over to Google Apps, but don’t know anyone who could help them do this. So I hope this conversation helps explain the process.

On the call, we talked about:

• Advantages for switching over to Google Apps
• Common questions people have about switching
• What people need to know before they switch
• Data migration issues
• The deployment process
• A story of a company that switched over successfully
• Where Google falls short, and how to supplement their tools

Thanks to Jim and Susan for explaining the process!

In today’s conversation, I talk with Martin Schobert, a digital communications strategist and founder of tourismdesign. In it, we discuss….

1. What we mean by “Communication 2.0″
2. How you can improve the experience of a traveler
3. How to provide better service at each customer touchpoint
4. Why Service Design is so important
5. How to encourage your guests and customers to talk about their experience online
6. The process for finding the right tools to share this experience
7. The danger of knowing your area too well
8. How to see your hotel or destination through the eyes of someone who has never been there
9. How to act as a guide for those visiting your destination
10. Why hotel marketers need to act more like destination marketers
11. The importance of creating guest personas
12. How to encourage guests to provide support and service to other guests
13. Low-cost, but attractive, incentives you can offer to promote this
14. The #1 most important thing you can do today to create a better guest experience

Listen here:

[Or click here to download the MP3 audio file]

(This was less of a formal interview, and more of a brainstorming conversation I thought you may want to listen in on. Thanks to Martin for agreeing to do this spontaneously!)

You can follow Martin on Twitter or on his blog (written in German)

A few days ago I had the opportunity to discuss social media for luxury hotels with Terry Kane. Terry is Director of Digital Strategy at the Jumeirah Group – which includes some of the most iconic hotels in the world, including Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Essex House in New York. Here are some excerpts from our conversation.

Is social media useful for luxury hotels? Do you know if your guests really even use it?

We know our guests use social media before, during, and after they stay with us.

Peer review sites are especially important for everyone in hospitality. We know our guests use the likes of TripAdvisor consistently across all our properties. And we’re not afraid of that. If you have a good product, you have nothing to be afraid of.

So we try to incorporate elements of social media throughout our websites. We encourage them to leave the hotel site and see what people are saying, but also to share information that they find on the site with their friends or family. It is about feeling comfortable, in your own environment and we like to ensure that we are open to this.

Read more…