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Plan Your Travel Itinerary with Trippy and TravelMuse

	by Golda Criddle on February 22nd, 2012

Yesterday’s travelers were limited to travel agencies, books, brochures and traditional word of mouth for travel advice. Now the entire world is available at your fingertips through websites, online travel agencies and social networks. New social travel sites are popping up every day with different approaches to help travelers plan their trips.

The latest entry in social trip planning is Trippy, a site that revolves around planning a trip based on recommendations from your friends. The site differs from Gogobot and Gtrot in that it aims to build your entire itinerary from your Facebook friends.

When you create a trip on Trippy, you are told right away which of your Facebook friends “know” your destination, having lived, studied or visited there in the past. You can also specify whether your trip is strictly business, budget, romance or even adventure, and tell your friends what you want to experience during your trip. You can then add places, restaurants and hotels you are considering visiting, eating in and staying at. At the end of the process, Trippy provides you with a customized trip URL that you can share on Facebook or Twitter to get your input from your social circle. When your friends click on this link, they will be able to view your proposed itinerary and make comments. You can plan your trip by the day, and when you’re ready, check rates and book your hotel within Trippy’s platform.

Another great site for planning your trip is TravelMuse. The site acts like a scrapbook for your trip, as you can save any web page into a folder so that all of your ideas are in one central place. TravelMuse offers its own Bookmarker to make this process as easy as accessing your bookmarks through a browser. You can also view your saved items on a map, on a calendar, and look for other things to do when you have a few extra hours.

A unique feature of TravelMuse is the “Get Inspired” tab, which allows you to build a customized trip based on your interests and preferences. You can select when you wish to travel, what airport you are flying out of, your favorite activities, maximum flight time and budget per person. From these parameters, TravelMuse will build an entire trip for you within seconds. Talk about making travel easy!

What social travel sites will you use to plan your next trip?

Categories: B2B & B2C,Blog,Clients,Facebook,Hotel Internet Marketing,Hotels & Resorts,Hotels & Resorts,Internet Marketing,Social Media,Social Media Marketing,Travel,Twitter — Tags: Gogobot, social travel, Social Travel Planning, social travel sites, travel itinerary, travelmuse, trippy;

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Can a Small Startup Make Water Damage to Smartphones a Thing of the Past?

	by David Sotelo on February 20th, 2012

One of the biggest problems for cell phone users since we started using them was getting them wet and having to go out and get a replacement. Whether it was spilling a drink on them or even accidentally having them fall into the toilet we probably all have at some point experienced our phones getting wet. A solution to this problem would seem to be a savior to the millions of mobile users however the insurance companies probably are not too fond of it. A small company in Santa Ana, Ca is looking to be that savior. The company is called and they have developed a product where they are able to waterproof your phone both inside and out.

The process takes the device into a chamber and they put a specialized nano coating in the form of a vapor on it. The vapors form a bond on a molecular level to protect the phone. The vapors are so small that they cannot be seen or detected which is ideal for a Smartphone. The cost is $59 and you have to send your phone to the company to be treated and they will ship your new waterproof phone back to you. Kind of makes you wonder what there actually putting on your phone since they do not recommend getting your phone wet to test it out. Liquipel does state that if your phone gets wet that your phone will be fully functional including ear jack and usb port.

The idea is great and they seem to have a process down but I guess only time will tell if this works as well as advertised. There are several videos that demo the process from placing the phone in a glass container and submerging the phone completely in water. One of the demos shows an android device being submerged in water without the battery case and came out working just like before. It was pretty amazing stuff and will be interesting to see if actual user feedback is as positive as the product demonstrations.

Categories: Blog,Uncategorized — Tags: htc waterproof, waterproof cell phones, waterproof droid, waterproof phone cases, waterproof your phone;

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How to Respond To a Negative Hotel Review

	by Golda Criddle on February 17th, 2012

Review sites and social media are tools that all travelers use when looking for hotels to stay in. They are becoming extremely important in today’s travel industry, especially now that OTAs like Kayak are starting to integrate TripAdvisor reviews directly into their searches. In this high-tech world we live in, it is best for general managers to interact with their customers on social media, especially when it comes to online customer reviews.

Sooner or later you’ll encounter a negative review on Yelp or TripAdvisor that isn’t a spammer or false claim. What do you do? In most cases, you should respond. Follow these simple steps in crafting your response.

Respond in a timely fashion. Responding quickly shows the customer that you are monitoring your channels closely, and that someone cares about their con
cerns. Other people are also more likely to read your response if it is put up quickly.
Be polite, calm, and professional. Treat this review like any customer service request and be courteous. Be sensitive to the customer’s feelings. Such professionalism will enhance your online reputation.
Be honest. Perhaps the criticism was just a simple misunderstanding. Is there information on your website that addresses their complaints? Or if they had a problem with your staff, apologize if necessary and look forward without accusations.
If the customer’s criticism is valid, acknowledge that there is a problem, and something is being done to fix it. This shows the customer that their opinions have been heard. Perhaps you should speak to your staff about the importance of friendly customer service.
Thank the customer for his or her review. This shows that you appreciate the customer’s feedback. It also encourages further (possibly positive!) feedback.
Offer compensation if appropriate. Usually a discounted room or upgrade is enough to compensate the customer for any wrongdoing. In most cases, it will also damage your hotel less than a bad online reputation. Ask for the customer’s contact information so that you can contact them immediately upon offering the compensation. This also shows potential customers that you are willing to rectify your mistakes.

Your customers will appreciate that you cared enough to respond to their complaints, and your hotel will look great to other possible guests. Who knows, maybe your response will even get the customer to write a more positive review in the future!

Categories: Blog,Hotel Internet Marketing,Hotels & Resorts,Hotels & Resorts,HSMAI,Internet Marketing,Social Media,Social Media Marketing,Travel — Tags: negative hotel reviews, online hotel reviews, review response, tips to handle hotel criticism;

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What You Can Learn from Beverly Hilton’s Twitter Faux Pas

	by Renee Radia on February 15th, 2012

It was Twitter that first broke the news of Whitney Houston’s sudden and tragic death this past weekend. She was found unconscious and not breathing in a hotel room at Beverly Hills’ prestigious Beverly Hilton late Saturday afternoon. Many people turned to the hotel’s Twitter account hoping for insider photos, updates, etc. of the chaos surrounding the star’s passing. What did they find instead? Jovial photos and tweets about celebrities entering the hotel to attend a Pre-Grammy Gala being hosted there. While the hotel did post one tweet extending its sympathy for the passing of Houston, it continued on shortly thereafter with photo upon photo of smiling celebrities. Twitter users quickly became outraged by this apparent social media faux pas, posting such comments as “such poor taste,” “just plain stupid,” and “odd and IMO, completely disrespectful.”

So what is the best response if there is a crisis at your property? What is the best action to take in order to disseminate the appropriate information, keep people happy and calm, and most of all continue to be respectful? It depends on the circumstances surrounding the crisis. Regardless, people will be flocking to your hotel’s Twitter account to receive information about what’s going on at your property (Beverly Hilton’s Twitter account has gained over 1,000 followers since Houston’s passing!). You don’t need to be a news source providing up to the minute news on anything other than what’s happening on your grounds. Twitter has really changed the way hotels broadcast to their guests and followers, and while it’s great to take advantage of this channel, it’s also important to be respectful and not overdo it.

In some cases, it might be appropriate for a Twitter account to “go silent” in honor of someone’s passing. In Beverly Hilton’s case, where the hotel basically invoked a “the show must go on” approach, the Pre-Grammy Gala began and there was no mention of Houston for quite a while as the hotel began tweeting about arriving celebrities. Twitter users were upset to find updates about celebs instead of information about and respect for Houston. A better idea might have been to incorporate both events together. For example, “George Clooney arrives, appearing somber, and pauses quietly at Houston’s memorial.” This shows respect for Houston’s death but also announces the news of Clooney’s arrival.

Another tactic might be responding to select tweets and retweeting your concerned fans as well, to let them know that you are listening to their thoughts and that you too are concerned about the current events at your hotel. There are many options of how to react in the social media world, but acting as if everything is fine and moving on without showing your fans you actively care about the situation is not the best way to go and can appear discourteous to some. It is a great way to upset your followers and leave people with nothing but a sour taste in their mouths.

Categories: Blog,Hotels & Resorts,Social Media,Twitter — Tags: Beverly Hilton, Social media crisis, Twitter, Twitter faux pas, Whitney Houston;

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Happy Valentine’s Day From EMA!

	by David Sotelo on February 14th, 2012

Categories: Blog,Social Media,Uncategorized — Tags: Social Media, valentine day, valentines day;

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Turn Your Hotel Guests into Advocates With Flip.to

	by Golda Criddle on February 10th, 2012

A recommendation from a friend is more trusted than one from a stranger. It is common knowledge because it just makes sense. This is a concept a new social media marketing platform for hotels, restaurants and airlines is capitalizing on through the vehicle of social media. The platform is called Flip.to, and its goal is to help hotels turn their guests into brand evangelists by providing incentives for spreading the word.

Flip.to works by allowing guests to reach out to their friends in a way that feels natural while using social networks along with a hotel’s booking engine. When a guest books a room with a hotel using Flip.to, they can share their trip with their friends without even leaving the hotel website. When this guest’s friend clicks on the link, they will land on a personalized version of the hotel’s website that includes reviews from their friends about the hotel and local area. Hotels will have the ability to control all messages to guests, including advertising incentives for sharing trips. Flip.to will also email vouchers to guests who have reached their goal with a QR code that makes the redemption process simple. Hotels will also have access to their own analytics so they know who is talking about them and how much traffic they are receiving.

With Flip.to, hotels finally have an effective way to engage with their guests and measure their ROI. According to PRnewswire.com, nearly one in four guests has used Flip.to to share with all their connections their trip details and what hotel they are staying at. In addition, for every 100 posts shared through Flip.to, hotels have seen 300 to 1000 unique visitors coming to their site, with 10 to 20 booked rooms. That means an ROI of 5 to 10X.

More than 100 hotels are currently using Flip.to fuel new bookings including L’Auberge Carmel in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. They were also the first to integrate the marketing tool with hotel channel management system RezExchange so that their clients no longer have to re-code their backend software. This also means that guests of L’Auberge Carmel automatically have their perks credited without the use of vouchers.

Flip.to differs from social travel sites like Gogobot, Gtrot and Kukunu in that it empowers the hotel directly, and has built-in incentives for positive messages. The use of a personalized landing page through a guest’s link is also effective in selling a hotel with real words and faces of people they trust. Flip.to’s platform is also currently available for airlines and restaurants. With a platform that makes sharing and rewarding feel authentic and natural, Flip.to has great potential to revolutionize the way hotels use market online through social networks.

Categories: B2B & B2C,Blog,Clients,Hotel Internet Marketing,Hotels & Resorts,Hotels & Resorts,Internet Marketing,Social Media,Social Media Marketing,Travel — Tags: brand advocacy, flip.to, hospitality marketing, hotel Internet marketing, Hotel Social Media Marketing, incentives, QR Codes, Social Media;

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Supercharge Your Smartphone with Business Calendar

	by David Sotelo on February 6th, 2012

A calendar can play a big part in the everyday use of a Smartphone user. The calendar is an organizer, reminder and agenda maker all in one. Business users are very aware of how important their calendars are but even if you don’t need it for business they can be a life saver. As an android Smartphone user I have relied heavily upon Google’s Stock calendar but recently bought the paid version of Business Calendar by Appegenix Software. I am currently using Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and did not like the new stock Google calendar that comes with it. There is a free version with advertisements for those that would like to try it out first before paying but I will go over my impressions of the paid application after using it and the various features that you get.

Business Calendar has some great options you will not find on the Google stock calendar. What I disliked the most about the new version of Google’s calendar is entering new agendas and how burdensome it was to set the date and time you want. The calendar would keep adding another day for the added event and I would constantly have to edit the duration. Business Calendar is great when it comes to that, you can easily add an event and it does not change the duration on you and makes it very simple to change. You can view your calendar in month, week and as an agenda or today view. Also if you long press an event you get shortcuts to edit, delete, copy or add a new event which come in really handy.

There are plenty of options and features for business users such as graphical and textual presentation, drag and drop functionality, options to link contacts to an event and a search function. There is also smooth scroll and zoomable multi day view, configurable font sizes for the app and the widgets and a context-sensitive help system to optimize your work. If you’re a business user you won’t be disappointed and for non business users do not worry it is not complicated but actually rather simple to create, edit and delete events. Another great part is it syncs up perfectly with your Google account and calendar widgets if you have those as well. So far I really like business calendar and it does what it supposed to do well. The paid version is a little pricey at $4.99 but it’s a small price to pay for a stable and useful Smartphone tool. If that is still too much try the free version and you still get all the same features except with ads. Either way you can’t go wrong.

Categories: App Reviews,Blog,Dr. App — Tags: android business calendars, android calendar apps, business android calendars, calendar apps, google calendar android;

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How SMBs Can Join In on the Google+ Hangout Trend

	by Golda Criddle on February 3rd, 2012

Google+ gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “hanging out” with its video Hangout feature. It takes chatting online to a whole new level by allowing for spontaneous face-to-face online gatherings. Any Google+ user can start a Hangout with up to 10 other users for any length of time for free.

Many businesses, public figures and celebrities have started using Google+ Hangouts to reach out to the public including the White House, David Beckham and The Muppets. Most notably, President Obama used the social network’s video conferencing tool to create a virtual town hall meeting focusing on the economy. He took questions via Twitter and YouTube. Five Americans in citizens across the country also participated in the Google+ Hangout, and were able to ask follow-up questions in real time after the President spoke.

Further, NBC’s Darren Rovell will host a Google+ Hangout to discuss this year’s Super Bowl commercials on February 6. Users will be able to use a feature of Google + Hangout that allows users to share and watch YouTube videos simultaneously. Rovell explained the purpose of the hangout: “The day after the Super Bowl is when people head back to their office water coolers to discuss what they loved and what they didn’t. Our conversation is about taking all those water cooler conversations and bringing it to a national, digital stage.”

Both of these hangouts take advantage of the “Hangout on Air” feature that allows Hangout to act as a live broadcast to the public. Google+ Hangout combines some features from programs like Skype and GoToMeeting such as multi-people video conferencing, and screen-sharing for free. This is what makes Google+ Hangouts unique.

Google+ Hangouts can be useful for small and large businesses alike. Here are just a few ideas for using Google+ on a smaller scale:

Customer Service: Personalize your customer service by helping out your customers face-to-face! Private hangouts can be a great way to offer excellent support and you’ll be able to get visual cues and live feedback from your customers.
Brainstorming: If your business operates remotely, Google+ Hangouts allows for weekly or monthly communication through virtual meetings. You know ideas flow freer in a group setting. You can also use Hangouts with Extras to watch inspiring YouTube videos to start or end sessions.
Instructional Classes/Webinar: Chef Lee Allison uses Hangouts to teach cooking classes. You can teach skills from software to social media through video with interactive chat. Hangouts make question and answer sessions easy, personal and informative!

Can you think of other ways to use Google Hangouts to promote your business? Please feel free to share your ideas in the comments below!

Categories: B2B & B2C,Blog,Clients,Google,Internet Marketing,Photo & Video,Social Media,Social Media Marketing — Tags: collaboration, Customer Service, google, google + hangouts, video conferences, video conferencing, webinar;

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Internet Censorship: Is This Just the Beginning?

	by Renee Radia on February 1st, 2012

Just a short while ago, the Internet was abuzz with discussions about SOPA and the drastic effect this bill could have. Not long after the bill was shelved, file-sharing site Megaupload was taken down. Next, Twitter announced that it would be censoring Tweets in specific countries. And most recently, Google has come out saying it too would be censoring its widely-used blogging platform, Blogger, on a country-by-country basis as well. While in the past, some Internet users could have gotten away without caring about or even being aware of such censorship, it is becoming more and more difficult for even the common day user to ignore the direction that the digital world is taking.

Twitter’s recent policy changes may be the most interesting. Late last week, the company posted on its blog saying that it would take a reactive approach to removing Tweets, meaning that it will censor content only after a request is made to have it taken down. The content will, however, still be “available to users in the rest of the world,” as the blog post reads. Doesn’t this almost guarantee an increase in site traffic for this flagged content? Who wouldn’t want to read or watch something that another country has deemed inappropriate? We as humans are inherently curious about this sort of thing!

Google’s popular blog-publishing service, Blogger, also announced recently that in the coming weeks it will begin rerouting Blogger’s blog pages to country-specific URLs. For example, if you are in France visiting a “blogspot.com” site, the servers will automatically detect your IP address and redirect you to “blogspot.fr”. Creating a localized domain will allow Google to be able to remove content in a specific country but still have it available for U.S. readers and potentially other countries’ as well.

While both Twitter and Google, as well as any other site that may follow, are simply doing their best to adhere to local laws, this is a clear step backwards in our current digital era. Despite this censorship being implemented mainly for non-U.S. countries, it does bring many questions to the table. Weren’t these social networks created so people can share their own opinions and express themselves freely? Where will these attacks on free speech end? And what can we do to make them stop?

Categories: Blog,Google,Social Media,Twitter,Websites — Tags: Blogger, free speech, Internet censorship, Megaupload, SOPA, Twitter policy;

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Hotels Get More Analytical with Trip Advisor’s New Feature

	by David Sotelo on January 30th, 2012

Hotel owners are always looking to find better ways to drive more sales and a huge part of your online marketing is through web analytics. One of the largest online travel agencies has implemented a new dashboard that will excel in just that. This could be a valuable tool in addition to what is currently being used to monitor your online data. TripAdvisor is a huge source of traffic and a hospitality hub when it comes to travelers looking for reviews, prices and hotel information. The new analytics will allow hotel sales managers and owners to get good insight into how they can improve their campaigns and guest experiences.

There are quite a few free features and functions being introduced but among the more prominent ones is a list of a hotel’s competitors that are most viewed by the consumers they are targeting. You will be able to get your sites popularity ranking, summary of reviews and comments by ranking as well as your TripAdvisor ranking. There are also added features for business listing subscribers including trending graphs that will show page view trends over time, performance metrics such as a property’s business listings compared to other properties and top special offers by click through which are recommendations based on the offers that receive the most clicks.

The free service is available now and the business listings versions will be available within the next few weeks. The great part is that if you registered on TripAdvisor as a business representative of the hotel you will be able to use the free service. The TripAdvisor management dashboard looks like it can be a valuable tool for hotels considering the volume of traffic that TripAdvisor gets and the wealth of information it can generate. Using analytics can make a huge difference in taking your hotel where you want it to be.

Categories: Blog,Hotel Internet Marketing,Hotels & Resorts,Internet Marketing — Tags: social media analytics, social media dashboard, social media metrics, social media monitoring tools, socila media measurement;

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