Work hacks

I'm not great at throwing and catching but I am an expert juggler...

Over the years I've got used to balancing the demands of different clients and working on several projects at once, at the same time as trying to make time for family and friends, three dogs, household chores, hobbies and community voluntary commitments. 

I can never resist learning and trying any new (to me) time management tips and productivity hacks. Some are brilliant. Others just don't work for me. 

These are the very s…

How are you feeling about the year ahead? 

There's no doubt it's going to be tricky for many tourism businesses. But there will also be opportunities. What can you do to maximise them? 

Many are worried about rising prices. Offering good value for money (not necessarily lowering prices) will be essential. 

Over the coming months I think that visitors will have other pre-occupations too:

• Time - how to spend it wisely, how to get back some more time, how to maximise free time and not waste i…

There's one thing that makes every marketing activity stronger and more effective.

No, not money. Not even a lot more time. 

Consistency.

Taking one small action every day or week can be as effective as spending ages and pots of money on bigger activities. 

Consistency builds momentum.

It builds trust. It builds awareness. It builds experience.

It builds business and profitability.

What sort of marketing activity am I talking about?

I mean any action you might do regularly (and I do mean…

We often say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but how often do we actually use the right photos to convey key points? 

Most businesses have something they need to tell their visitors or need to stand out somehow. A single photo might do the trick. 

Have you thought about the key messages you're trying to convey and then made sure you're using photos that tell that story? 

Years ago I advised a hotelier, Dave, who ran a small hotel in an area that was notorious for dirty and run-down …

Social media is an essential part of tourism marketing. It’s free and can be incredibly effective.

It can also feel overwhelming and stressful. Here are a few ideas to help:

1. Create, then consume. Social media is useful when you use it to post, not just to scroll. So stop scrolling, think what you want to post, post it, and then if you have time, take a peak at the rest of your timeline. Being deliberate about how you use social media definitely helps.

2. Decide why you want to be on social…

Do you sometimes have days when you faff about or lack focus? When you find it hard to settle and get things done? 

Pomodoro is the answer!

The Pomodoro technique was created by a man called Francesco Cirillo and named after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer he first used (Pomodoro = tomato)

It's a really simple idea. You set a timer for a short period of time, typically 25 minutes. Focus on one task and stop when the timer goes off. Then you have a five minute break before re-setting. I find u…

Have you tried letting your visitors do your marketing for you? 

The 'normal' ways to do this is through word of mouth recommendations. I'm suggesting going a step further with four different ways to encourage your visitors to help promote your business - without being pushy.

First of all, you can encourage word of mouth recommendations through social media, simply by suggesting people follow you or asking happy customers to post photos of their visit. 

The second way is to think about offeri…

This is something you can quickly do to raise the profile of your business.

It's easier and quicker than you think so if you're been putting it off... do it now!

It's important. It's free. It's optimising your Google Business Profile - the new name for Google My Business. Don't worry about the 'optimise bit' - I'll explain. 

92% of search engine searches are on Google so it's incredibly powerful. You want your business to show up as high in the results pages as possible. You don't need any te…