DISQUS

Hey Seth - was reading through my feeds this morning and pleasantly surprised that you linked to me. :-)

Strangely enough, I actually consider myself a non-creative type of person...I didn't grow up laboring over my journals or feeling the need to write and that goat above probably has more artistic talent than I do.

When it does hit my creativity seems to come in bursts and I can easily go for months without any quality ideas. So thanks for this much needed bailout!

Goat caption: "Hey Ma, when did you grow a beard?"

Seth - I hate 'great post' comments but this one...GrEAT post! Enough said.

Hi Chris - thanks for these thoughts!

As someone who owns a small hotel in the Caribbean where travel is said to be off somewhere between 50 to 70% I can speak with some credit to courting niche markets.

We do not see too many business travelers here on Culebra, but we have been successful at targeting our property to people who are looking for an easy escape from the U.S., no large chain hotels, and amazing beaches.

However, this is not the key.

In my opinion, the real strategy is to first define your goals. You can't go after a niche if you don't really know who you are (as a property) or where you hope to go in the future.

Once your goals are defined then the real work begins, your niche MUST be able to find you! It’s where we have had some success and it’s also the place in which social media is at its very best.

I think the large chain hotels (the ones courting business travelers) would like to attract various niches, but if they are not willing to lay the all important groundwork to gain trust in the various forums, blogs, etc....then they are setting themselves up to fail. However, if they actively participated in social media conversations around the various platforms of whatever niche they are hoping to attract and helped people then I think they could increase their business exponentially.

As always, kind regards,
Mark H.
@mark_hayward

Seth - so sorry to hear about your loss! And thank you for the reminder...sending emails and notes now.

Hey John - really appreciate you and Chris Brogan sharing your experiences with social media. The economy is tough and the more we help each other the better off, I think, we will be.

I actually own a small business and use social media for all of my connecting, marketing, and promo. Here is the link to my social media system:

http://mark-hayward.com/2009/01/27/how-i-use-so...

Thanks again, and hope you have a great weekend!

Good stuff, Chris! Seems you also forget to mention....Mayor of your own virtual town on Twitter. ;-)

Also, can't wait to see what you do with non profits, so please do let me know if Train for Humanity can assist at all. Currently working on a post "How to Create & Launch a Non Profit with NO Overhead."

Hey Chris - GREAT list!! And thank you for the link to TrainforHumanity.org. :)

One thing I would add for your readers is to NEVER give up on your dream in 2009!! Over the course of a year and a half, my wife and I were turned down for a business mortgage over ten times. We were so close to giving up. But on the eleventh time we got a YES and are now pursuing our business dream and living in the Caribbean.

I wish you and your readers nothing but tremendous success in 2009.

Nice work, Chris!! You certainly are a class act.

Maya - best of luck in your new venture...I am sure it will be a huge success. :)

Hi Maya - how are you? I came over after your comment on my ZH guest post (thanks!) and will be adding your site to my daily RSS.

My wife and I have three former stray/street dogs and we are usually fostering one or two. I get a kick out of the personality differences in all dogs...and I find that I even like them better than some humans. :)

<abbr></abbr><abbr>mark_haywards last blog post..What is one thing you have always wanted to do in your life but have not done yet?</abbr>

Congratulations, Chris, you certainly deserve the accolades!

Congrats Chris! Awesome news and I am sure it will be a tremendous success. :)

Hey Chris - this was my recent attempt to share the love between 97 people and try to help EVERYONE to create some new contacts:

http://www.mytropicalescape.com/2008/10/15/97-r...

Hope you have a great week1
MH

Hey Chris - I would just add, similar to what Barb says above, the absolute beauty of blogging is that you can, in a sense, become your own tourist board.

For example, the Puerto Rico Toursim company wanted to charge us like $1500 to place a very small advert in their informational booklet. Because we are a very small operation (my wife and I) I have found it works better just to put my energy into promoting Culebra and my INN on my own.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to work with PR Tourism but sometimes I think many tourism offices are out of reach for the little guys...

Planning travel is truly one of life's great little pleasures...heck you can do it even if you never intend to set foot on a plane! I just returned from Nicaragua and thoroughly enjoyed the pre-trip planning, almost as much as the experience itself.

mark_haywards last blog post..Train for Humanity Week Three Update

Hey Chris - as someone who might be searching for employment in the near future (me)...I feel your blog/social media network might also be what attracts a particular company to you. Has anyone put a value on pre-existing social networks yet (a future post for you perhaps?)?

Before I hit publish or post on anything, even guest posts, I am keenly aware of the value that it might add to, or detract from, any future employment searches.

Hope you're having a nice weekend!
MH

Hi Cath - thank you for your kind words. :) Running the B&B and (now) meeting new folks everyday it really does surprise me how much easier introductions go when you make the other party comfortable...

Hi Zoey - it is truly amazing how much networking we do online! I think next week I might actually try to keep track of how much time I am on twitter, etc. And I agree about the silences, I actually like them, but I think that is when other people tend to get nervous.

Hey Erica - you are definitely not alone! I think "shyness vaporlock" (as you so eloquently put it) affects many of us seemingly confident people. It's how we choose to deal with the shyness that determines our existence.

Hi John - open ended questions...fantastic recommendation! That is actually how I greet most of the guests that come to stay with us and I find that it makes them comfortable right off the bat and in turn takes the pressure off of me.

*Hey Michael - "sociable-ness" has been duly added to my dictionary. :) Great new term for a Monday morning!

*Hey Shonika - Toastmasters is a great organization. I am quite fortunate on the public speaking front because as a former Peace Corps volunteer I had to do presentations on a daily basis (and in a different language). As long as I have prepared well for the talk I actually enjoy public speaking....strange, I know, but I think it came with so much practice.

*Hi Ryan - when I head to any conference I try to be as well prepared as I can and those are fantastic additional tips that you offer above!

*Lyndon - best of luck to you at Word Camp. :)

*Hey Liz Strauss - nice to me you, too!

*Hi Kim - for me nowadays it's almost a laid back reservedness that I have because I find in many situations I just prefer to sit, listen, and watch. Although, in terms of business, I don't really have the luxury of doing that anymore since I purchased my small hotel here in the Caribbean. :)

*Hi Lucy - I am right there with you when it comes to the kiss on the cheek! (A very common form of greeting here in Puerto Rico.)

*Hi Dawn - how are you doing? thank you for your kind words.

*Hey Terence - I would agree and I would also add a firm handshake to go along with that eye contact. If I am at a conference I usually have trouble remembering names (a whole other issue!) but I CAN always remember the person with the feeble "dead fish" handshake...and not in a good way.

Hey Gary - came over to say hello from the comment you left on my ProBlogger guest post. Have you been to Papua New Guinea yet? It's where I served as a Peace Corps volunteer...

Are you in Guam now? If you see Leo Babauta, tell him Mark says hello. :)

Hey Chris - agree with everything...the one suggestion I would add is - you don't have to try and meet everyone at a particular conference. Sometimes it's nice just to sit back, listen, and take it all in. :)

Hey Leslie - nice post! We actually launched Train for Humanity, a new non profit humanitarian org, a couple of weeks ago via Twitter. Chris Brogan was kind enough to get the tweets rolling.

Our mission - training (getting in shape) + social media + blogging = social good

Attempting to raise $50,000 to help Darfur Peace & Development rebuild the Shegegkaro school, which was recently bombed...

Hey Chris - best of luck with your new venture. Wish you nothing but tremendous success.