Spin It Lucky

I see all kinds of wild figures thrown around from 0.5% to 20.0% of site visitors that book then and there; this is broadly referred to as the conversion factor. I’m not going to tell you what it should be for your web site because I don’t believe in it. I use RevPOV – Revenue Per Online Visit – this is the RevPAR alternative for web site revenue benchmarking. It’s an easy sum; take your total DIRECT online revenues and divide it by the total number of visits to your site. Now, go back for the last 12 months and chart this both on a linear and month-on-month basis. Chasing visit growth as your goal is like chasing occupancy or average rate individually …as we all know, genuine hotel benchmarking is really about RevPAR, and in the online space, it’s all about RevPOV.

Yes, you need to grow visits but you also need to reach visitors who are ready to buy…and make them buy! That’s why we measure your total online revenues per visit, that is your most important benchmark …and now some tips on how to grow your RevPOV sensibly!

How to convert more web visits into revenue…

Right up front, your web site MUST have an Online Booking Engine (OBE) that allows site visitors to see real time availability; one that is able to sell a room or package and confirm the sale NOW, whilst I am in the mood to book. There are a range of third party suppliers that have ready-made booking engines, preferably that can be plugged into a page on your site or one that will open up in a new browser when a visitor clicks on the Book Now button.

Search for “online hotel booking engine” on your favourite search engine and many will come up. We always prefer to keep visitors within a site and therefore the OBE code needs to be easily integrated into a page on your site. Failing that, your OBE set up MUST open a new browser and either present some design/colour relationship with your site (reproduce it completely if possible) or very clearly state that this is the booking engine for The Sample Hotel; it should never provide links to other hotels that the OBE company services.

Why must your OBE open in a new browser? So that, should a customer chicken out of the booking process or make an error and want to start again, your site is still there in the original browser. This way, they can either start again or, shock horror, they might just pick up the phone and call.

Fees vary greatly but most OBEs will offer you a set up fee and then some form of base fee plus a percentage of revenue over a certain volume. Me? I’d negotiate away the setup fee and base fee (they kind of expect you to, that’s why they have them) and make it purely performance based. Don’t begrudge them the ongoing fee as, frankly, you are paying this only for materialised bookings so it comes out of incremental revenue and with a technology and user experience level that you could never reproduce on your own site. Don’t sign any long term agreements that don’t have a thirty day cancellation clause and read the fine print; there are some cowboys in this space.

And look for ease of use, for you and your team as well as the consumer. Is it easy to understand and operate or do you need to be a propeller-head to work your end of the system? We also like OBEs that have easy to create packages and lately we also like the ones that offer some value adds just before the final sale for things like fruit platters, wine and cheese or a bottle of bubbly on arrival…just don’t make things too complicated for your consumer…you have got between three and five clicks at the most to finalise a sale online, end of story.

If your current Online Booking Engine does not meet these criteria…change to one that does!

Now, what else drives conversion of online visits?

Pop in to Wal-mart or Target or K-mart – are you ever in any doubt that they are trying to sell you something? Lots of signs for specials and deals and promotions…if you buy now. Well, you need to be a little less precious and get a little retail about your web site. EVERY page on your web site must have either a BOOK HERE or ONLINE ENQUIRY button up toward the top right hand corner of your on-page text. This simple addition has been known to double hotel online revenues. Your web site should be created with goals in mind…a) make a sale, b) have users make an enquiry or c) encourage them to register to receive your newsletter and in some cases d) as they leave, ask why they didn’t buy. Your web site needs to be a sales funnel, persuading visitors to buy.

Page upon page of booking opportunities – create a page EACH for your weekend packages, romantic packages, special offers, promotions, deals, mates rates and more with links to your online booking engine – visitors will not scroll down screen upon screen of information…use yourself as a market research group of one, if you won’t do it, then chances are 99.0% of the world won’t either. The majority of people buy either a room only or B&B rate online but like to “window shop” to see what else may be available; perhaps a unique value added package or a special three night deal for Thanksgiving…you won’t actually sell a lot of these but they will help you sell more of your room only or B&B offers.

Add a very personal sales message and call to action – at the end of each page, and in keeping with the theme of that page, tell people why they should book; a story about what the outcome will be for them and provide a text link through to your booking engine, another link to your online enquiry form and a phone number to call if they are not brave enough to book online.

Testimonials – there’s nothing that consumers like to read more on a web site than testimonials; people who have stayed at your hotel or held an event and have then said something really nice about their experience. Go on, we all get some…add these to your site, either as a separate page in the navigation bar, or as a snippet at the bottom of each page. You will be surprised the impact that this will have on conversion levels as testimonials raise the confidence level of your online visitor.

The common theme I emphasise with web site conversion is about quality content; rich, experiential words and images that, just for a moment, touch your customers and take them past the nervousness stage and into the open arms of your booking engine. And not just on your Home Page…on ALL your pages.

The conversion tips I have just given you are just the tip of the iceberg; the essential question you need to ask yourself about every page on your website is “If I were a potential customer, would I buy that…now?” If not, then you need to keep tweaking the page content.

A lot of people ask me “Keith, why do you share all these “secrets” and other tips so openly?”. Well, in all honesty, I know that anyone with the right level of interest and commitment can learn how to build traffic to their sight and convert it…after all, that’s how I learned to do what I do…grow online revenues. The two challenges you face as hoteliers are (a) time (and the lack thereof) and (b) keeping up to date with the constantly changing playing field…then add into the inclination equation …yah de yah de yah de…

I know that, all things being equal, the very best conversion results can be produced internally…you and your team know your product and service, you know your customers and you know why your customers buy…all that is missing are the technical skills. Along the way in your career, you have mastered Property Management Systems, training skills, motivation and leadership…and you can master this thing called online conversion too.

But you are also smart enough to know that when you have a tax problem, you call in your accountant; if you have a legal issue your first port of call is your lawyer; a technology issue, you contact your IT support resource…and for web site development, design and construction hoteliers call Hotel Marketing Workshop. We are experts in building web site traffic and then converting that traffic into bankable dollars.

And, it might be a bit old fashioned in this hectic world of hotel marketing, the internet, online and hotel ecommerce but, I reckon that if you regularly do something nice or share your knowledge with someone who really needs help, then some time later, that goodwill will is usually returned tenfold.

Keith Paulin is the General Manager of Hotel Marketing Workshop (http://www.hotelmarketingworkshop.com). Like many hotel marketeers in the industry Keith “landed” in hotel sales and marketing after commencing his career in hotel operations. Keith has worked in senior marketing roles both within the industry (Hilton, Regent, Hyatt, Accor) and in other industries (HP, Lion Nathan, Shell) and has formal qualifications in Marketing and Business Management. Hotel Marketing Workshop works with chain and independent hotels delivering tactical, practical hotel marketing strategies at property level that work and, just as importantly, they assist with expert implementation. Keith has a very strong interest in the world of e-commerce, Search Engine Optimisation and Search Engine Marketing and a clear track record in producing on-line results in hotel internet marketing.

There is a single file format specified for use with all the DVD Books A – D.This file system is the UDF/ISO-9660 Bridge format. UDF
(Universal Disc Format) was designed specifically for optical media and has evolved from the ISO-9660 format. The benefit of this single file system is the ability for the
DVD media to be compatible across set top players and personal computers with DVD ROM players.

The top level of organisation on a DVD disc is a volume. The volume contains a single DVD Video zone which contains all the data elements for the set-top video title,
and a DVD others zone which can be used for non-DVD-video data elements such as desktop computer applications.
It is important to note that currently set top players cannot accss the DVD Other zones as they only know how to access the DVD video zone.
Computers can access the DVD Other zones and run applications that allow for a fuller interaction with the DVD Video zone.

DVD Volume structure

At the top of the structure is the DVD as a whole with its DVD other and video zone. Within the DVD video zone is the video manager, which is a master directory for the data elements, followed by 1 to 99 video title sets which inclue the video and audio elements. The video manager usually includes an introductory clip of video such as a logo, and a menu for navigation.

Video Title sets and Video Objects

Following the video manager are the video title sets. A DVD can contain multiple title sets.
A Video Title Set (VTS) is made up of a VTS Menu, and one or more video titles. Titles in turn can be broken down into Parts of Titles (PTT).
The data within the video title is made up of Video Object Sets (VOBS), which are made up of one or more Video Objects (VOB). A video object is made up of the video audio, navigation data and subpictures for a programme.
It is the VOB which is the fundamental media file element of the DVD disc.
The lowest branch of the DVD structure is the cell. Each VOB can be broken down into one or more cells. A cell may be as large as the entire movie or as small as an MPEG GOP (Group of Pictures).

For example a movie with 5 chapters would have one video manager, one title set, one title, one VOBS made up of one VOB and 10 cells.
Multiple Title Sets and VOBS become apparent when interactive titles are created.

A DVD that included an interactive music video programme with ten artists, each with five videos, artist information.
In this case the disc would have: on video manager, ten Video Title Sets, multiple Titles for each video. The reason for this division is that the DVD remote control has both Title and Menu buttons. The user can click on the Title button to return to the main DVD menu to select a title, or click on the Menu button to go to the menus for the particular title being viewed.

Kevin Round is a Director of Cofiant, a video editing and dvd authoring company based in the UK.

From pocket watch to a fashion accessory. What was once, in the earliest years of portable watches, considered to be unsuitable for men and only for ladies, has grown nowadays into a fashion utensil that everyone has. In the meantime, the wrist watch is no longer only a tool to tell which time it is. It is a designer piece and can indicate much more than the time.

A great deal of mechanics in a small housing

The first verifiable portable timepiece was constructed in 1500. This was not a wrist watch, but more of a pocket watch. Through technical progress, which made it possible for people to house mechanics in an more and more smaller space, the required parts of the clockworks were able to be brought into a manageable form. In this way, the first pocket watch was born, which at the time was still the size of an egg.

The computerized wrist watch from Japan

A totally new wrist watch came onto the market in the 1970’s from Japan, which had built its own watch industry. The new wrist watch from Japan was no more set on a mechanical basis, but on a computerized control. This watch expanded its range of capacity quickly. The wrist watch no more just showed the time. The small timepiece on the wrist now also knew the date, the day of the week and even knew whether a leap year was involved.

The wristwatch as jewelry

Nowadays, the wrist watch is no longer just a watch. The wristwatch has become a fashion accessory. Wristwatches come in all colours and forms cogitable. One can also purchase harmonious watches from all fashion collection. The current watches are dominated by the correct fashion trends. Despite these contrary styles, there is something for every taste. The small watches, which need spectacles to tell the time, and the extraordinary big watches, which make it hard to walk upright. In any case, one thing is sure: science is still likely to make so much advance – that the wristwatch will be found on the wrists of people for a long time, to respond to the question as to what time it is.

As the ocean becomes more acidic in places perhaps we can use the acidity to power up our cities and discharging the acidity by using it up like a battery? How so you ask? Well consider a weakened battery in your car which is old and nearly run out. It still has some juice too it and you can power up small things, maybe not enough to start your car every time, but you can turn on the dome light and such.

Well consider the ocean is very big and if it turns acidic that is very bad. But we know we need to turn on the Dome Lights in the stadiums and the streetlights in our city right? Well if the ocean is acidic then that is similar to a battery and so lets take the acidity and make electricity and discharge it by powering up the city.

In fact if we find acidic oceans on other planets we may wish to use the acidity in the liquid ocean to draw power from. As CO2 in the atmosphere increases the Ph level is lowered, add in some Global Warming or Climate Change with increased temperatures and the issue of acidity becomes severe.

This is really bad news for Coral Reefs and sea life indeed. But if this continues there indeed maybe one consolation and that is the acidity can be used to turn the ocean into a battery. Sure mankind should do whatever they can to prevent this catastrophe, but in the end perhaps we can use this to power up our cities. Or use such a strategy on other worlds with acidity in their oceans to power up a space colony. Consider all this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Something that is often found at the very bottom of the heap whilst planning a college education is medical insurance for college students. Most students are at an age where health insurance is not the first thing they think about. Teenagers tend to believe they will be around forever and that they will never suffer from an illness. The truth is, this is rarely accurate no matter how fit a person might appear. Reasonable student health insurance is not for those with a lot of money, it’s absolutely necessary.

Students who are included in a parent’s insurance policy are by and large covered up until they are 23. For anyone who does not have cover via their family plan, an essential part of planning for going to college will be researching an affordable medical insurance policy. What’s important in a policy for college students? What is your deductible? This is an annual sum you have to pay before the health benefits start kicking in, like an auto insurance plan. For instance, should your deductible be $500, you have to pay that amount before receiving financial benefits from the policy.

So what’s a co-pay? Once the deductible is covered, generally for each trip to the doctor, medication, or operation you will be asked to contribute a pre-determined part of the bill. That, succinctly, is co-pay. Precisely what does the health insurance pay for? Many plans are Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) or Partnership for Prescription Assistance. This can mean particular doctors might not be in your approved medical professionals or not be covered by your health insurance policy. A list of participating health professionals should be provided with most insurance plans, prior to making a decision do look into this list thoroughly.

What exactly is catastrophic insurance coverage? Limitations are commonplace in college student health insurance policies as far as terminal illnesses, the amount of cover extended in most student health insurance is more often than not less than a standard plan. Restrictions: Student health insurance plans may place some limits. Study your policy and see what is actually included.

Have all your medical insurance papers in your wallet everywhere. It is not only not possible to plan for accidents or illness, but they are unfortunately likely to happen at an inconvenient time. So ensure to be acquainted with your student health insurance plan, whether through your parents or with your own insurance policy.