Photos are terrific at attracting visitors to your story and your place. I promise you that there are not enough photos of your place online. Over at Tourism Currents, Leslie McLellan explained the need for pictures, pictures and more pictures: “With Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Foodspotting and all the other sites that emphasize social photography, it…
Saw this in Norfolk County in Ontario last week, and thought you could use it, too. It’s a series of profiles of local farmers and food producers. They worked with local talent to get terrific photos and words. They also have a dedicated site for it, at NorfolkFarms.com. Once you create quality content one time, you…
Watching people discuss using social media/social networks for marketing, I think there is a division that isn’t being talked about. The idea of “social media marketing” is used to mean two completely different approaches to the market. This matters in business and in tourism, because your approach determines whose advice you should listen to, what…
Finding time for writing or blogging can be tough for small business owners (and tourism professionals). We already have more than enough to do every day. So a few of us talked about finding time for writing the other night on BlogChat.* How to find time to blog or write: Always know what you’ll be…
A friend and small town resident, Ken Girty was taking a woodcarving class. The teacher sells rough outs (pre-shaped wood blocks to get your carving started) at his class. Ken bought one to work with in class. As the teacher came around to work one-on-one with Ken, he looked at the rough out Ken was…
In a small town, you might think everyone already knows about your business or your well-known tourism attraction. You might think you don’t need a website at all, or that it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a mobile-friendly website. You’d be wrong. You have new residents, people who have never needed your service before,…
Blogs and social media can be effective marketing tools for small town businesses, but they take planning to make the most of. This is true for small businesses and for tourism groups. Don’t let important events, holidays, and tie-ins sneak up on you. Use your calendar to connect your social efforts to the real world….
Educator Kevin Honeycutt of Inman, Kansas, (population 1300) is working with other locals to create a “New Billboard”: a combination QR code, Foursquare tour. If you can’t see the video, click through to Small Biz Survival. The basic idea is to draw in visitors from the highway, and use tools like QR codes and Foursquare…
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