Last week, I found myself in downtown Concrete, Washington, facing this huge map mural at the end of the street. I love the way the design works around the doorway. I even love the tag line, “Welcome to Concrete, center of the known universe.” As I figured out my location on the map, I realized…
Small towns change slowly, but they do change. Historic photographs and photo postcards show how your town used to look. But how do you share those with visitors? They’re on display in the museum, right? Well, young people aren’t going to your museum. So, let’s reach those young people where they live, right on their…
I’ve lived around here for ages. The last time I climbed to the top of the Glass Mountains, I was probably 10 or 12 years old. I only went back this year because I had friends in from out of town. I wonder, how many people live here, but don’t even know you can hike…
Want more local photos for your tourism efforts? Sponsor a photography event. Alva’s Picture My Weekend eventdraws photographers from all over the region. Help your local creative types put on a photography workshop or even a simple photo walk. Both are perfect for small towns. A photo walk is a group of photographers walking through…
I don’t know why it is that people like cows so much, but they do. And there is an important tourism lesson in that. Stargardener had a great time meeting my cows. Pam Mandel, Nerd’s Eye View, spent July in Austria amongst a dairy herd. Her conclusion? She likes cows, even when confronted with the realities…
A different kind of engine… SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is one of those things you hear about online. If you can just change a few magic things, your site will appear higher in the search results, you’ll get more customers, and retire to Bermuda. Or something like that. The things that work in SEO are…
“The Loneliest Road”US 50 in Nevada I’m just back from a big roadtrip across the American Southwest, and I thought I’d share my perspective as your potential visitor. Would you be findable to me? Let’s see. I had very little planned out, so I did a lot of searching online, especially from my phone. I tended to…
Did you know the photos on your tourism website are actually annoying more people than they are attracting? I hadn’t thought of this, but Andy Hayes explained it, in “Why Photos on your Travel Website Can be a Bad Idea.” I’ll give you the summary here, along with the action plan to fix it. Lovely!…
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