Summertime and the Blogging is Easy

Following is the latest in a series of guest columns by social media strategist Catherine Heeg.

Summer is the perfect time to bask in the sun – and blog!

Okay, I know many of you don’t envision lazy days by the pool with your laptop. Yet imagine the blogs you can crank out about your top-selling destinations while soaking up some Vitamin D.

This will be your best time to write a series of blog posts you can schedule to roll out during the busy fall season. Think about this exercise as banking more bookings.

Here are four ways to approach the task.

#1. Keep it simple
Research shows that the most-read blogs are 200 to 500 words long and include photos and/or video. Consider searching your own photo library or that of your top suppliers and writing a post about an area within your niche or specialty.

Tip: Let’s say you’re a cruise specialist; one post may focus on the activities available on your top-selling cruise ship. The next blog post might focus on the culinary and wine classes available on that cruise line or the value of traveling in a multi-generational group.

#2. Keep a list of potential topics
Still not sure what to write about? When you’re up against writers block the best plan is in your back pocket. That’s right; keep a running list of potential topics. Here’s where you may want to start when creating this list:

1.    Strategically plan your blog schedule around what’s hot in your marketplace at the time the blog will go live. For example, during winter write about Europe as people begin to think about summer vacations.

2.    How about cycling through your top selling destinations and writing a post about each. Bonus: Make sure to use tags and categories so that readers can easily find information specific to the destination they’d like to visit.

3.    Consider rotating your posts based on activities that appeal to a variety of demographics including foodies, adventure seekers, wine lovers, outdoor enthusiasts and art lovers.

Tip:  Work from an outline. Your outline of two to four key points will ensure you stay within the magical word count of 200 to 500 words. Consider starting with your closing statement and then working on the body. Save the opening paragraph for last: the best for last.

#3. Don’t like to write? Create a photo blog.
Here’s a secret to creating blogs without too much writing. Create your blog as a photo blog. Simply upload your favorite photos to your blog and tell your story through the descriptions of each photo. Photo blog; done, easy!

Blogging brings you the benefit of better SEO, clarifies your thought leadership and acts as a non-sales e-marketing tool. Here’s a foundation of blog platforms and plug-ins to help get you started.

#4 Advanced blog tactics
To ramp this up a notch, put together a SlideShare presentation focusing on your best photos.

Or use a tool like Animoto to boost the excitement factor. These tools provide you with a link so that you can post to your social sites. Plus you can insert this info into your next marketing piece.

Catherine Heeg is president of Customized Management Solutions. An international speaker and trainer, she delivers interactive social media, marketing and communication workshops and webinars for clients in the travel industry. Connect with her at http://www.cmsspeaking.com/contact/ and socially: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest.