How small businesses can 'NAB' more bookings
March 20, 2007
Introducing a new industry blogger, Karen Bryan...
I am an independent travel consultant and writer, promoting lesser-known destinations in Europe. I started my business in 2002 and have developed the NAB (Niche, Articles, Blog) system for my business, enabling me to NAB my share of the travel market.
As a small business I've had to find a niche for myself. I can't compete with the big boys on destinations such as Paris, Rome and Prague - I'd probably be on page 30 on a Google search. So I concentrate on lesser-known destinations. I write articles and destination guides for my site and then have them published on as many other relevant sites as possible - the first one I wrote, for Lake Iseo in northern Italy, is now the top search result on Google.
I started a blog in October 2006 after receiving an email for a student writing her dissertation about travel business blogs. I didn't know much about commercial blogs but I did a bit of research and thought I'd start one myself.
The blog has delivered an increase in Google page rank and a substansial increase in site visitors and bookings, without me having to spend any money on advertising. However it is pretty time consuming researching and writing posts. I also spend time reading and commenting at other related blogs.
Karen Bryan, Europe a la Carte
Nathan Midgley
Comments (2)
Blogging is a time consuming business but then marketing, done properly, does take time. Its not just advertising. Therefore I think it shows what can be done with a little bit of thought and a good targetting strategy within a niche market.
It would be good to see how well the blog continues to perform.
Posted by Paul Goodison | March 27, 2007 12:39 PM
Posted on March 27, 2007 12:39
I know that everything takes time, especially if you don't have a large marketing budget. I started my business almost 5 years ago. I'm optimistic about the continued success of the blog. Writing posts becomes an integral part of you daily routine.
I have to say I owe a lot to my son, who is 2nd year computing student. I could not have coped with web design, creating databases, blog integration etc on my own.
Posted by Karen Bryan | March 27, 2007 3:14 PM
Posted on March 27, 2007 15:14