Tools

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…

Where are you spending your time on social media? 

I don't mean where you're scrolling: rather where are you posting and most active in order to attract visitors?

I think many of us have got distracted trying different channels, enjoying the ease of just sticking a photo on Insta, taking a sneaky peak at stupid videos on TikTok. 

We've moaned about the changes to Twitter (X), thought that facebook was 'past it'. If you're anything like me, you've probably also felt a bit tired of social media…

Ready for two very quick tweaks that can drastically improve the impact of images on your website and social media? 

They're both really easy. 

First of all - crop. 

Yes, it's that's simple. When you're about to use an image, consider whether it would be stronger if you chopped off a bit. Maybe there's a distracting double yellow line? A bin, some clutter? Or you need to focus on a particular part of the photo? My father was a photographer and constantly tried to educate me. I'm still not a g…

Can you quickly answer these questions?

I’ll explain why in a moment.

What can you smell right now?

If you tasted the most local (to your business) food you could find what would it be? 

Is there anything you can see close to your business that many visitors don’t have near where they live. Or is there a small detail that visitors often overlook? 

What sounds of nature can you hear? Perhaps they change through out the year? 

If you were to walk blind-folded in the area close to your busi…

Last week a friend who is a psychologist asked for my help. She was getting lots of visits to her website but few bookings. 

I took an initial look: there was nothing actually wrong with it - it had all the right information but potential clients were just not getting in touch. Sarah's website just felt 'flat', not very warm. 

You may be wondering what this has to do with you and your tourism business? 

You and psychologist Sarah make people feel better, directly or indirectly. 

You both nee…

This week I've been judging the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence (accommodation) and noticed some positive trends: 

1. Good businesses really are memorable, with stand-out appeal: independents manage to do this well, and some chains are trying to find better ways to differentiate individual properties. Some businesses have made significant investments in their properties, but it's not just about cash - creativity and guest-focus really count.

2. Since last year's judging panel, it seems that…

If I say that I can tell you '3 easy ways to increase your profits', what's your response? 

The cynical ones among you might think it's too good to be true, but most people are curious and want to know more. You might think that you pretty much know everything there is to running a successful tourism business, but a little part of your brain will still want to know more, just to double check. 

This is 'information gap curiosity': the idea that most humans want to find out more when they think …

We often say that a picture is worth a thousand words. We know that images and videos are now an essential part of promotional activity. But do we use the right photos? 

Making some simple changes to the images you use can make your marketing much more powerful.

Using the right photos is part of persuading visitors that your business is good for them, relevant to their needs, that they will be welcome and are making the right decision. Visitors need 'evidence' and using the right photos is pa…

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…

Asking whether it's better to spend a lot or a little money on marketing probably seems a bit daft. Surely more is better? 

Not necessarily.

I've worked with thousands of tourism businesses over the years, from individual B&Bs to five-star hotel chains, from private houses and gardens to grand stately homes. Less than 10% of them have a significant marketing budget, even the large organisations.

Almost everyone believes they need a bigger budget. But is that really true? 

How much should you…