Monthly Archives: January 2013

Who Is This Blog For?

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If you own a business and want to grow it, or if you just love to travel then this Blog is for you.

It’s for small business owners to promote their businesses, travelers to tell us about their journeys, their favourite places and their stories, and for everyone to find the best value adventure travel and accommodation worldwide.

But it’s not just for businesses in the travel, tourism and activities sectors.
The Business and Marketing Categories on the right are for any business that wants more traffic, more customers and more income.

And it’s for you if you love to travel.

So if you want to tell us about your travels, ask questions, promote your business or pass on useful information to help others, then please leave your comment below.

Thank you

Cliff Chapman
traveljunkies.

PS . . . If you would like us to post your article on our blog then send it to us here.
Please keep it brief and make sure it’s relevant and not just an advertisement.  And to help you get started take a look at . . .
http://www.traveljunkies.com/blog/how-to-write-a-perfect-blog-post

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Is Social Media Right For Your Business?

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As Jim Rohn would say – “Of Course”

Please share with your friends and colleagues

Many business owners, especially those who have had their  business for some time and are used to working in established and traditional ways, are asking the question … “ Is Social Media Right For My Business?”
Without a doubt, the answer is “Yes!”
And the reason is, that’s where your customers are heading, now and in the future.
Forget what you’re used to doing, what you’ve always done. Don’t think because you’ve got a website, that’s all you need. The rate of change is faster than ever.

read more …

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Great Little Book On Getting Social Media To Work For You

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We all know that Social Media is now the mainstream channel for promoting your business and driving traffic to your website.

There are thousands of books, blogs, courses, videos and various other publications designed to help us make Social Media work for us whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more.

But what does it all mean?

 

Few of us have the time, the knowledge or the inclination to become Social Media experts although we may have set up our Facebook Page, our Blog, joined Linkedin and use Twitter to post our tweets, but does it really make a difference to our business?

Well, yes it does if we do it right. And just a few tips and tweaks can make all the difference.

I’ve come across this little book, available only on Kindle at the moment but will soon be published as a book .

It describes itself as …

“500 Social Media Marketing Tips is your guide to social media for business, covering all of the web’s biggest players, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, and many more! This book provides simply-written expert tips, sharing secrets about how to build your brand in social media spaces, attract and engage with customers, increase sales, and generally maintain an awesome social media strategy. In addition, you’ll gain access to over 130 (and growing!) FREE social media video tutorials.”

… and I can honestly say it’s the most useful guide I’ve found.

500 tips in just 130 pages, so nothing is too daunting and it’s an easily dip in – dip out book that’s very well organised and very easy to follow.

We don’t often promote products, and only if we use them ourselves, but I can highly recommend this book which is full of ideas for both experienced publishers and newbies alike.

It costs less than $5 or £3 and is worth that to us many times over.

If you only buy one book on the subject, buy this one.

You will find it on Amazon here …  500 Social Media Marketing Tips: Essential Advice, Hints and Strategy for Business: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and More!

In UK you will find it on Amazon here …  500 Social Media Marketing Tips: Essential Advice, Hints and Strategy for Business: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and More!

(Do your friends and colleagues a favor & share this with them)

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Cliff Chapman
traveljunkies

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What is Adventure Travel?

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This?

 

 

 

 

 

Or this?

 

 

 

 

 

Or both?

Well for a start Adventure Travel is popular. According to Google around 165,000 people search for it every month. It’s not in the same league as Tours with 45 million searches per month but there’s enough interest in it to find out what it is.

Like most things it means different things to different people so here at traveljunkies we split Adventure Travel into two categories to make things easier. At least we think so.

The first category we call Adventure Travel rather than just organised holidays, after all, who wants to be seen as being “organised”.
These are vacations “organised” for you where you have to do little more than just pay for it and turn up.
Everything else is done for you but you may have to expend some energy  to make the most of it.
Typical Adventure Travel includes packaged tours, cruises, safaris, train journeys, coach tours, theme holidays etc and these can be arranged by tour operators, holiday companies, tourist offices, hotels and individual independent business owners.
This type of Adventure Travel will often appeal to families, groups, first timers and people who just want a relaxing holiday to get away from it all.

The second category we call Active Holidays and these are where you have to get off your bum and do things.
In this category are activities such as water sports, snow sports, trekking, cycling, climbing, exploring etc. plus any of the activities above where you have to put in the effort rather than having it done for you.
A tour where you walk rather than ride is a good example.

Now there will always be overlaps of the two and people will have different views so have we got it about right?

Does the way we separate the two types of Adventure Travel help you, the customers, to find what you’re looking for, and you, business owners to decide where best to advertise?.

Tell us what you think. and please share with your friends and colleagues.

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Cliff Chapman
www.traveljunkies.com
New places to go, good value accommodation, great activities and exciting things to do.
Get a free listing in traveljunkies here for your travel or activities business!

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Guests Complaints

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They walk among us and they vote!!! Be afraid! Be very afraid!

Thomas Cook Holidays have received these genuine complaints from guests …

1.  “We had to queue outside with no air conditioning.”

2. “It’s lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons.

3. “We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels.”

4. “We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels.”

5. “I often needed to buy things during ‘siesta’ time – this should be banned.”

6  “My fiance and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked.”

7. “The beach was too sandy.”

8. “We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white.”

10. “Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined as my husband spent all day looking at other women.”

12. “No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled.”

13. “There was no egg slicer in the apartment…”

14. “We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish.”

15. “The roads were uneven..”

16. “It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it only took the Americans three hours to get home.”

17. “I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends’ three-bedroom apartment and ours was significantly smaller..”

18. “The brochure stated: ‘No hairdressers at the accommodation’. We’re trainee hairdressers – will we be OK staying there?”

19. “There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners now live abroad.”

20. “I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local
store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts.”

21. “It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel.”

22. “I was bitten by a mosquito, no-one said they could bite.”

23. “On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don’t like spicy food at all.”

Yes, be very afraid!

(Please share with your friends and colleagues)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cliff Chapman
www.traveljunkies.com
New places to go, good value accommodation, great activities and exciting things to do.
Get a free listing in traveljunkies for your travel or activities business!

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More People Are Killed By Falling Coconuts …

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… than by germs from aircraft bathrooms.

Lonely Planet’s article about the dirtiest things you touch when you travel will scare the pants off you if you worry about it …

(Please share with your friends and colleagues)

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Cliff Chapman
www.traveljunkies.com
New places to go, good value accommodation, great activities and exciting things to do.
Get a free listing in traveljunkies for your travel or activities business!

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Facebook Graph – Why It’s Important For You

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You may have heard of the new Facebook Graph but what is it, what does it do and why is it important for you in your business?.

In simple terms it will allow you to do the kind of searches you’re already familiar with using Google but you can do much more personalised searches for your friends, other businesses and most importantly, your customers and prospects.

Even more ways to use your lists.

Facebook says that its new search bar will return “the top search suggestions, including people, Pages, apps, places, groups, and suggested searches” — notice how “Pages” and “places” are listed separately.

Facebook’s new search will let users do searches like “dive companies that my friends have been to” (which means Facebook check-ins are a signal) and “hotels that my friends like” as well as the more basic types of search.

The business Page is what a small and local business can control the most, and Facebook’s three specific tips for business owners are focused on optimizing a Page for the new search.
Facebook says (quote) …

  • The name, category, vanity URL, and information you share in the “About” section all help people find your business and should be shared on Facebook.
  • If you have a location or a local place Page, update your address to make sure you can appear as a result when someone is searching for a specific location.
  • Focus on attracting the right fans to your Page and on giving your fans a reason to interact with your content on an ongoing basis.

It’s only available to a limited number of users at first, Facebook Graph Search will be offering local search from day one.

Keep watching

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Cliff Chapman
www.traveljunkies.com
New places to go, good value accommodation, great activities and exciting

(Please share with your friends and colleagues)
.

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Best Carnivals in Brazil

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Sao Paulo carnival on Friday and Saturday 8 and 9 February and the  popular parade of competing samba schools in Rio de Janeiro On 10 and 11 February 2013.

See hostelbookers blog for more details of carnivals and parades throughout Brasil.

And don’t forget to share with your friends and colleagues

http://blog.hostelbookers.com/destinations/south-america/best-carnivals-brazil/

.

 

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Cliff Chapman
www.traveljunkies.com
New places to go, good value accommodation, great activities and exciting things to do.
Get a free listing in traveljunkies here for your travel or activities business.

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