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10 Tech Tips & Tools for Today’s Travel ProChelle Honiker-Yarbrough, CTC

Think INside The Box

Today is all about the SPARK - an idea farm

You’re already doing this stuff, for the most part - these tools and tips just make it more efficient and/or effective

Formstack.comForm Building & Data

Management

Point and click design with flexible storage & redirection

Contact Forms

Honeymoon Registry

Online Booking

Surveys, Contests

Online Payment

Starts at $14 per monthAll Paid Plans Include:

Secure Forms

Payment Processing

3rd Party Payment Integration

Custom Redirects

Custom Confirmation Emails

You Retain Control of Customer Data

Choices change based on input - a highly sophisticated programming feature made simple

When the SEARCH BUTTON is pressed several things happen:

1. The data is written into a Google Spreadsheet for easy access and follow up

2. An Email is sent to a designated address (assign leads weekly)

3. The data is submitted to the search engine of the supplier

en.gravatar.com

Signup with your master email account and upload your favorite “avatar”

Works on all major websites and WordPress driven sites when you comment or sign up

Free!

Gravatar - Your Brand Simplified

Manage Multiple Images

HootSuite. Your Social Media Brain

You’ve accepted “Social Media” as part of today’s way of doing business and connecting with customers, potential customers and vendors

You’ve created a social media plan, complete with what platforms (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blog, Foursquare, etc.) that make sense

You’ve either delegated, or assumed long-term responsibility for posts and discussions

This is NOT

the objective of Social Media Management

All Your ProfilesAt A Glance

Hot Hootsuite Features

Twitter

Facebook Personal

Facebook Business Pages

Foursquare

MySpace

LinkedIn

WordPress

PingFM

Co-Tweeting, Scheduled Posts, Monitor Lists, Keywords

GoogleCalendar

One Calendar to Rule them All.

One Office Calendar

No More “TAG” - see it all at a glance

Recurring Meetings

Multiple Administrators

Pushes to Mobile Devices

Integrates with http://tungle.me

Tungle.MEMaster Your Appointments

Tungle.ME

Manage your schedule - not the other way around.

Allow clients to schedule appointments with you

Automatically syncs with Outlook or Google Calendar to reduce overlaps/overbookings

No need to have an account to be invited to meeting or RSVP

Feeding the MachineHow and Where to Find Content

Look Around...

Your STAFF & COLLEAGUES have broad experience and knowledge of destinations.

Your SUPPLIERS have a wealth of information and ideas

Your local COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES have interns and programs that can cheaply assist with writing, editing, tweeting and posting

SMOOSH them together for content-goodness

RSS Feeds & ReadersGet to the GOOD STUFF

Google Reader / iGoogle

Many websites use blogging platforms like WordPress - which automatically publishes an RSS Feed (www.sitename.com/feed)

Feeds can be “aggregated” into Google Reader or the iGoogle home page

YOU can publish your deals, news, andrelevant information too.

Tweet TweetBest Practices for Twitter

When and What to Tweet

Remember: it’s SOCIAL Media - not spray and pray. ENGAGE, DISCUSS, ANSWER AND ASK

Don’t be a social vampire - you’ll get staked

Use Hootsuite to follow keywords and discussions, then add to the conversation - DO NOT SELL.

Tweet relevant information during the “Drive Time” - 7am, noon & 4pm

When and What to Tweet

Use Google Spreadsheet to create a posting schedule

Use HootSuite to schedule tweets in one of the slots, then reply throughout the day so it doesn’t become time suckage

3 out of every 10 posts should be an answer, or a Retweet

Google VoiceOnline Voice Mail & Screening

Google Voice

Awesome for Home-Based phone management, still cool for “fronting” your mobile number

Doesn’t replace phone lines - still need mobile or land line

Lets you make/receive calls on your mobile OR from computer seamlessly

Route calls based on caller ID (icky clients? Mother-in-Law? Auto-transfer to voice mail!)

Google Voice

More Coolness:

Redirect your Mobile voice mail to Google Voice and have messages emailed to you

Send Text Messages from Google Voice

Add a widget to your website for 1-click calling

WiseStamp SignatureSignature Creation for Email

Point and Click

EditingMakes

itEasy

And Now...You’re Brilliant

But if you need some Geeky Refreshers:

TravelGeekSchool.com

chelle@travelgeekschool.com