Mindset

If you feel that many people are looking and not booking, lurking but not visiting or spending - then you're not alone. 

There's a lot of 'wait-and-see'

Waiting for the weather to get better. Waiting for the economy to improve. Waiting for some kind of certainty. Waiting to feel better. 

This is all going to take some time. 

Of course some people are struggling, but there are also many still with money in their pockets. 

But they're waiting. They're in a state of inertia. 

It's our job to …

Small businesses have a great advantage over larger ones: they can offer a much more personalised service, and tailor what they do to suit their customers better. 

It can sometimes be hard to convey this to visitors though.

When you write words on your website, in a mailing or on social media do you ever feel like you're casting your words out into the world, not knowing where they'll land or who will read them? I know the feeling!

​It's hard to write in a way that will appeal to potential new gues…

"I haven’t got time for marketing. It just takes too long".

 We’re all guilty of saying this from time to time. But what are we really saying?

 Let’s go back a few steps, and then I’ll also suggest a solution that I’ve found works well.

 First things first. You want your business to make a profit or at least break even? You need people to know about it, and want to visit?

 But you’re only human and only have so many hours in the day. You have to prioritise time according to the tasks in hand…

I recently met with someone who has a really good business, with loads of potential. But he said that he’s struggling, both to get more attention and new visitors, and financially. When we talked a little more I discovered two things: a) he’s paying for advertisements all over social media; and b) he’s paying someone else to do his social media posts for him. Neither the ads nor the posts are really having an impact - he’s not building followers very quickly, not really extending his reach (how …

I’ve recently heard from numerous business owners who have said they’re struggling at the moment. Some are disheartened by their lack of bookings and visitors, other exhausted by the extra effort that seems necessary to generate income and uncertainty caused by last minute bookings.

If you’re feeling like this, you’re not alone.

I am running a free marketing workshop (on Zoom so you don’t have to go anywhere and there’s a replay available) to outline what you can do right now - details here. You’r…

I’ve lost count of how many conversations I’ve had with people who wondering if the weather will ever get any better, and tourism business owners who say that bookings seem slower than usual. The two are definitely connected! You can’t change the weather but there are two easy things you you can do about it.

The first easy thing…

The world is in turmoil - war, climate change and economic certainty. It’s natural for people to be reticent about planning day trips and booking breaks. But many do hav…

Can you feel the excitement and anticipation in the air?

As the weather warms up, holidays approach and we slowly cast off our Winter vests, it’s uplifting to look forward to the Summer.

Social media is filling with news of last minute preparations for attractions re-opening, and visitors are posting about their plans for trips.

Now’s the time to take advantage of two related factors in your marketing: Anticipation and FOMO (fear of missing out).

When I talk to some business owners about using a…

A long time ago I worked in an office where we used ancient manual typewriters to write the same kind of letters again and again. I’d seen one of the early Amstrad computers in action and eventually managed to persuade my boss that we’d be much more efficient with a computer. The day the computer was due to be delivered, one of the secretaries (then aged about 25) didn’t come to work. She sent a letter saying she was giving in her notice because she didn’t want to use a computer and thought it w…

Are you busy? Tired? A bit over-whelmed or pre-occupied? Hamster-wheel spinning too fast? Just generally feel a bit ‘meh’, at least now and then?

I’m guessing ‘yes’ to most of those questions? If so, you’re definitely not alone. This is exactly how many of our visitors feel too.

Do you read every email you receive? Do you see every social media post of all the accounts you follow? When someone tells you something do you always listen and absorb what they say? Do you notice every word and photo on…

Are you leaving money on the table? Or maybe just not attracting people who want to spend money with you?

There are  reasons why you may not be attracting visitors or making as much money as you'd like.

Once you've considered each of these, small actions can have a big impact.

1. You don't make it clear who/what kind of people can benefit from your business. People often think something isn't for them, for example they may like the look of a holiday cottage but just not know what they'd be ab…