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Budget Minded Ideas To Set Your Property Apart

Dinosaur Themed Hotel RoomNot all properties have a multi-million dollar budget to spend on theming, yet we all want to give our guest a positive experience that will hopefully have them stay on site again in the future.

Since we’re not all blessed with a Theme Park Budget, here are some ideas all properties can implement on a limited budget.

Idea #1 – Photo Spots

One of the easiest ideas to implement, and yet somehow seems to be one I continually recommend to property owners.

Take a corner, or a wall, or any location on your property and dress it up – make it picture worthy.

Instruct guests to take their selfies or family pictures there. Get some signage or offer to take the pictures for them.

In your theming, be sure to include something with your property’s name and web site address.

Idea #2 – Photo Streaming

Want to see your guests having a great time watching themselves on TV? How about seeing your #hashtag all over social media? You can easily do both of those at the same time!

Get an account on either  https://www.the-wallrus.com/ or https://hashslider.com/ (it doesn’t really matter which one, just chose one)

Purchase, or reuse a large TV/Monitor that has HDMI input. (Most smart TV’s these days have that).

Place that large TV in your lobby or common area where guests are sure to stop by. Connect a computer to it that is accessing the account you set up above.

When your guests use your #hashtag, they’ll appear on your TV in the lobby! 

People love seeing themselves on TV, and will be quite happy when they do.

Idea #3 – Combine Idea #1 and Idea #2

Combine the Photo stream with a picture spot, and you double down on your engagement!

If you have access to an internal programming network at your property, consider streaming your hashtag channel there as well.

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Google My Business

You Need Google My Business

Orlando Expert For Google My BusinessThe bottom line is that your property needs to be on Google My Business. It’s what people see who are searching for things on their smart phones. It’s what allows people to easily get directions to your establishment, call your location, see reviews, and yes, even post reviews.

People Find Information On Their Phones

And while most hotel/motel accommodations are booked via a laptop or desktop computer, you want to be able to provide your guests with the easiest way possible to find your location once they’re in town – or if they get lost in our wonderful city. If your location is listed in Google My Business, you’re just a  click away – and that’s a good place to be.

Listings on Google My Business get stale. People don’t update them on a regular basis. There isn’t an account manager who’s answering the questions from Google – they continually seek to validate the information listed about your business, and if someone isn’t there to respond to those messages, the account can be removed.

Google My Business is free. Listings don’t cost your company a thing. However, having one done right, and then maintained – well, that’s a different story.

We Are Here To Help You

At Sotellio, we have a proven method to keep the information on your Google My Business listing up to date and relevant. We insure that guest comments and reviews are dealt with in a timely and appropriate manner, we update site photos on a regular basis, and maintain information integrity within the listing itself.

We want to be your partner in success. Our plans start a low as $50 a month, and will ensure that your business is found when people are looking for you.

To find out exactly what Sotellio can do for you, ask about our free consultation. Just contact us today, and we’ll handle the rest.

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This Small Phone Camera Lens Can Make A Huge Difference

Your Social Media Feed craves good pictures, and good pictures come from a decent camera. Adding a small phone camera lens can make a huge difference in the quality of photos your camera is producing. That difference can easily turn into a paying guest at your location.

We previously shared some Tips for using pictures in Social Media, and do recommend that you read that if you haven’t already.

A Small Phone Camera Lens Can Make A Huge Difference

One of the leading decision makers in people booking a room at a location is what the room actually looks like. People want to see pictures of where they’ll be staying or taking their family to stay. Hoteliers will know that getting a good room picture is one of the more difficult things to do. Choices seem to be pretty limited. Either you’ve got a decent camera and enough time and equipment to do it yourself, you can hire a professional photographer to come in and do a room shoot for you, or you just grab a picture with your phone and hope for the best.

That’s how it used to be.

With a phone camera lens, the world of photography tends to open up just a little bit more for smart phone users.  That room picture that was so difficult to get now becomes painless with a wide angle lens attached in front of the camera on your phone. The front sign that looks great but is just too far away to get a good picture of? That’s taken care of with the 10x zoom lens. A picture from the edge of the pool comes alive with the fish-eye lens attachment. The possibilities become endless with the right set of tools for social media pictures.

I’m not discounting the need for a professional photographer, and highly suggest that you invest in at least one professional property shoot for your location. I’m referring to day-to-day social media posts that include pictures. Those are the ones you can spice up a bit with a  phone camera lens and stand out among your competition.

You can pick up that lens kit pictured in this post right here on Amazon.

No Time For Pictures? Sotellio Can Help You

You’re busy running the business, you don’t really have the time or the “eye” for photography – but you know you need pictures for your social media feed. That’s where Sotellio comes in! We’ll handle your property photography, and can even post pictures on a regular basis to your feed. Want to learn more? Just Contact Us today to get the conversation started.

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Using Pictures In Social Media

I’m not going to go into the staggering statistics about using pictures in social media, but if you’re interested, here’s an article you can read that has more than enough statistics to go around.

What I will comment on is my personal experience with pictures in social media posts; they work. Using pictures in social media is one of the top ways to engage an audience. Pictures tell a story in an of themselves. But don’t be fooled – you can’t just snap a picture with your cell phone camera and think that it will be the end-all photo for your social media. There are some tips you should follow.

Tips for using pictures in social media

  1. Hold your phone in landscape mode (sideways) for the best picture or video possible.
  2. Make sure something identifying your property is in the picture (if not, use a branding image or watermark of some kind on your photo)
  3. Get the lighting right. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but at least make sure the primary light source is behind your camera, not the subject you are photographing
  4. Learn The Rules of Thirds for photography. That will come in very handy when taking pictures of any kind, but especially for your social media.
  5. Be aware of everything in your frame. If there is trash, a mess, or anything out of place – straighten it up and retake the picture.
  6. Be aware of OSHA and other regulatory bodies. If you happen to take a picture of something on your property that may raise a safety or other concern, best to fix the issue and retake the photo.
  7. Be prepared to have a photo release statement on file for people to sign. Some guests may not want their photo shared on your social media. It’s always best to ask them first, and get a release signed.
  8. Don’t exaggerate or overemphasize something. Pictures taken at specific angles can make objects appear larger or smaller than they really are, leading to a false expectation from your audience – which may be a potential guest – who would then comment about that issue on Social Media.
  9. The subject matter might be boring to you, but it might be the perfect thing someone else needed to see. Sure, the sun sets over your property’s pool every night. When is the last time you took a picture of that to share?
  10. Post at least one picture a day – if not more. I personally try to get at least one picture in a day on my social media accounts. I don’t get one in with every post; but at least one daily.

There are several different types of attachments you can get for your phones – lenses, flashes, stands, remotes – all of which will help take your photography to the next level. We’ll cover that in a later post.

Don’t think you have the time to take photos of your property? Sotellio can help. Just contact us today to get the conversation started.

 

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Being Done Is A Great Feeling – But You’re Never Done

getting things doneBeing able to reach the bottom of your “To Do” list is a fantastic feeling; until you realize that you’re just going to add more to the bottom of the list when you finally get there.

We should all consider taking a collective step backwards and looking at the bigger picture – is everything on our “To Do” list contributing to our final goal? If it’s not, why exactly is it on our list? Could it be delegated to another person or agency? Is it really worth our time?

In consulting with Hoteliers, it’s been noted that many items on their “To Do” lists simply never get done. They’ll roll over to the next day, become past due, and then keep on racking up the past due points. They become unimportant, irrelevant to the day-to-day operations of the property – or so the Hotelier thinks. In truth, those tasks are vitally important to the success of the establishment, but simply go undone because of poor time management.

It’s important to be “Done” – and the best way to be done is to know exactly what tasks need to handled, what tasks need to delegated, and what tasks simply need to managed.

This lesson is particularly important to properties with smaller staffs – knowing what tasks need to be directly handled versus tasks than can be managed is crucial in getting to the bottom of a daily to-do list.

As the business world continues to evolve, there are certain things that Hoteliers must contract out and simply manage. Technology, Social Media, and Entertainment fall easily into this category. A property can get by without serving any food, but will not succeed without the aforementioned items.

Is it possible to reach the end of a “To Do” list? Yes, if it’s managed properly, and reasonable expectations are set. Sotellio understands what it takes to succeed, and our innovative approach to Social Media Marketing can help Hoteliers reach their goals.

Contact us today for more information about how we can help.