Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Amazing Destination for Nature Lovers: Grand Turks


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The Grand Turks Islands boast not only the most beautiful beaches in the world, especially for nature lovers, who can discover a very interesting flora and fauna in the “Turks”.

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Plants and Flowers
Agaves, called sisal locally, were commercially grown until the 1920’s. Today sisal plants – Agave – can be seen around the islands growing wild and some have been planted in the Museum Garden.
Native plants that can be found include the Turks Head Cactus, Sea-Island Cotton, a wide variety of Orchids, Native Oak and Mahogany (both used for boat building), Mangroves, Lignum Vitae, silver and green Buttonwood, Sea Grape, wild yellow Allamanda, Acacia, Sea Oats and Cordia.
There are also a wide range of plants that have been brought here such as Aloe Vera, Coconut and wild Pomegranate. G


Grand Turk Island's nature has fantastic objects for award-winning photos. Capture your memories! Amazing cameras at bottom prices  
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Bird Watching
The salt ponds and inland marshes serve as excellent feeding grounds for resident and migratory birds. Search for Great Blue Herons, Flamingos, Osprey and Pelicans alongside Egrets, Terns, Frigates, Boobies and other water birds.

As part of the National Parks system more than twelve small cays have been set aside and protected for breeding grounds. 170 species of bird can be found in the Turks and Caicos Islands from Pelicans and Flamingos to Osprey and Cuban Crows. These bird species provide a paradise for ornithologists.


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Travel Destination Marketing Organization Budgets

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My first thought:  It must be a typo, when I read that 71% of Destination Marketing Organizations spent 25,000$ or less for Social Media management.  Even more shocking are the numbers of 37% of these, who spent between $1 and $10,000 only in their yearly budget.  Only when the International Organization showed the stats on their website did I believe it.


Travel Decisions:  Online

We all know:  Travel is big business and content marketing (e.g. travel stories or destination guides), posted on Social Media, are a great way to wet the appetite of travellers to book and agencies to recommend traveling to these destinations.  68% of leisure travelers begin their search online without a destination in mind.  Travel information and decisions are almost made entirely online.  People shop around before booking a package. A lot. 76% of Americans get their information through Travel Review Websites, 61% book through Online Travel Agencies and TripAdvisor stats show for example that for hotels THE most important sales factor are images.  As more as better.  And where can potential travellers find images for their destination?  Exactly! On the internet / mobile phones!   There is no doubt that destination marketing organizations need to show lots of information, travel stories and tons of images!
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What to Accomplish With a Budget, Less Than $10,000?

There are not only budget concerns, but also problems to keep up with trends and technology for destination marketing organizations, and most important: the factor time.  Almost 30% of organizations pointed out that time is their biggest problem.  What better than to contract with a Social Media marketing specialist and a knowledgeable travel content writer to help with relatively low-priced online help?  Another important thing would be to train the Destination Marketing Organizations staff better, so that they can answer inquires from the press.  Years ago I asked a provincial travel organization in Canada (home of ten-thousands of floatplanes) for a list of float plane operators, or at least a handful of addresses.  They did not know…  Can you believe that!  Even though their main brochure showed a floatplane on the cover.  Something similar happened at a travel fair when inquiring about Native travel - the representative of the province denied that there are any Native travel offers…   Destination Marketing Organizations:  Get your act together: Online and Off-line!
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More Travel Planning Statistics:

http://fredericgonzalo.com/en/2014/10/16/8-etourism-stats-to-consider-for-2015/

http://www.destinationmarketing.org/industry-news

http://www.destinationmarketing.org/blog/big-reveal-budgets-staffing-and-future-social-media-dmos

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Sunday, October 19, 2014

Top Ski Resorts at Big White, BC, Canada

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Big White was named one of the Top Ski Resorts from a world-renowned resort test portal based in Germany. After an assessment covering 18 stringent criteria, the site Skiresort.info awarded Big White 4.3 out of a possible five stars.
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Big White Ski Resort, awarded North America’s #1 Family Resort, is Canada's largest, totally ski-in ski-out resort village.  With over 2,765 acres (1,147 hectares) of skiable terrain on 118 runs serviced by 16 lifts, you will be entertained at any level. 

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"Champagne" Powder Snow
Big White is home to Canada’s longest six-passenger express chairlift, 4 high-speed express quads and an 8 passenger express gondola boasting a lift capacity of 28,000 skiers per hour - which means no lift line-ups.  
At an average temperature of -6’C (21’F), Big White receives over 750 cm (24 feet) annually of the Okanagan’s finest "champagne" powder.  The official trail stats are 18% beginner, 54% intermediate, 22% advanced and 6% expert. 
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In addition to downhill skiing and snowboarding, there are lots more fun winter activities, including snowshoeing, tubing, skating, snowmobiling, dog-sledding, horse-drawn sleigh rides and nordic skiing.  Enjoy!
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Where to Dine and Wine
Fabulous Globe Café and Tapas Bar offers not only a hearty breakfast buffet, with the best coffee in town, but also provides uniquely creative cuisine, particularly for après ski and dinner when they serve up a large range of interesting tapas to share with friends in a lovely décor and ambience.

The 6 Degrees Bistro in Stonebridge Lodge incorporates Italian and Mediterranean fare, which can be accompanied by a range of fine Okanagan wines.

Snowshoe Sam’s is the liveliest of après establishments or nightspots at Big White. It has a great pub atmosphere, and it’s also good for some inexpensive nosh. They offer live entertainment (Friday's and Saturdays) or a DJ during the week.
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Where to Stay?
Here are just three examples of dozens of accommodations in Big White:
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Saturday, October 18, 2014

FLICKR: Great App for Photographers and Bloggers

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With an average of 10 - 20 MB of new images that I shoot per day, over the years my computer space will be not sufficient to carry them all.  What better solution than to store it "in the clouds" via Flickr.
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Flickr, the photo-hosting platform owned by Yahoo, turned 10 years old.  They focused on user photos before most people started carrying around high-quality cameras everywhere they went, and it offered free cloud storage before services were even invented.  Flickr users upload a million photos each day, and over the past year, the service has been busy. 
Last year Flickr started offering users 1 TB of free storage, and was adding more features, including larger storage, filters and photo books.
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App for iPads
Photo-sharing platform Flickr rolled out an update, adding an iPad application that is iOS 8 and iPad Air 2 ready. Now Apple's tablets are becoming more and more photo-friendly , iPad  photographers just received another tool from Flickr.
However, the app isn't just for browsing and storing photos; it's also equipped with an in-app camera that can capture photos and videos on-the-go.  What's more: it includes Flickr's advanced editing tools, so photographers can directly  adjust without leaving the app.
The update comes on the heels of Apple's iPad Air 2 launch.  The company's latest flagship tablet is equipped with its best camera to date, a feature will likely produce more iPad photographers.
Flickr's new iOS 8-only app also takes advantage of the operating system's sharing extension, which makes it easier to share photos between Flickr and third-party apps. It also includes a new unified search and the ability to edit photo details.
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Friday, October 17, 2014

Fall: It's Time for an Apple

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I just found an online article on TIME: Apple Holiday 2014 Lineup, where they showed Apple's latest gadgets.   Mind-blowing how many devices are offered - just in time for Christmas.  It reminded me about a funny post on Google+ after the last Holidays, listing the family gifts:  "My wife got an iPad, my son an iPod and my daughter an iPhone and IPaid ..."

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Comparing Prices Pays ...
Comparing the low prices on Amazon.com for Apple computers and what I paid two months ago in a FutureShop in Canada, I really regret, not to have done my research, even though I order a lot from Amazon usually.   It could have saved more than $200 by ordering online, not to speak of the lousy service and arrogance customers experience at some local retail stores.  Or take the latest Apple iPhone 6 Plus: ordering from Amazon will save you a whopping $950 !!!  Plus free delivery.  See at the end of this article.

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MacBook AIR Laptops 
There are two base models to choose from in the MacBook Air line: an 11-inch and a 13-incher, last updated in April of 2014.  The 11-inch model fits into my handbag, and weighs only 2.4 pounds. However, for $100 extra, the 13-inch model has a higher-resolution screen, three additional hours of battery life, and an SD memory card and DVD slot.
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iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C
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iPhones
You have four iPhone models to choose from, running from FREE with a two-year contract, to $499.
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The iPhone 6 Plus is Apple’s biggest phone with a 5.5-inch screen. Going this big and expensive gets you a higher-resolution screen than the iPhone 6, optical image stabilization, and longer battery life.  On the low end, the iPhone 5C comes in five colors and is available with 8GB storage. A solid choice as a free phone.

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MacBook PRO Laptops
MacBook Pro:  Each model is less than three quarters of an inch thick, the 13-inch MacPro is weighing 3.5 pounds and the 15-inch 4.5 pounds (better processor, double the RAM, double the storage, and higher-resolution screen with a better graphics chip).
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iMac All-in-Ones 
Apple’s all-in-one desktop line were last updated in September of 2013, with the entry-level model added in mid-June of 2014, and the Retina 5K model was added in October 2014.
The Retina iMac, has a fantastic high-resolution screen, a quad-core Intel processor, a faster graphic chip and a faster 1TB hybrid hard drive.
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iPod

Great selection: there is the newest iPod touch with more fun than ever. It has an ultrathin design, a 4-inch Retina display, a 5MP iSight camera, iOS 7, Siri, iMessage, FaceTime and much more.  Then there is the iPod nano and iPod shuffle or an iPod classic. iPods are starting at only $49.  
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Lots of Gift Ideas!

Did I mention Apple TV and the fast selection of Apple accessories?  Apple TV is providing access to the iTunes Store and iTunes Match, it also enables you to beam audio, video and games to a TV from any iOS device via AirPlay, or you can pull and live-encode video from a PC or Mac.  Find more gadgets, such as a protective iPhone case, a stylish MacBook bag or a desktop cable organizer for Apple fans on Amazon's website, with pages and pages of Apple products for dedicated fans.


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Thursday, October 16, 2014

Interview with Linda Kovic-Skow: FRENCH ILLUSIONS

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A pleasure to meet Linda Kovic-Skow, the author of the highly popular book French Illusions, an amazing true story of a young American au-pair at a Château in the Loire Valley, west of Paris.
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Linda, how would you describe your book to someone who has not yet read it?
In the summer of 1979, when I was twenty-one, I contracted to become an au-pair for a wealthy French family in the Loire Valley. To secure the attractive position, I pretended to speak French, fully aware that my deception would be discovered, once I arrived at my destination.  Based on my diary, French Illusions captures my often challenging, real-life story inside and outside the Château de Montclair.

The over-bearing, Madame Dubois, her accommodating husband Monsieur Dubois, and their two children are highlighted as I struggled to adapt to my new environment. Continually battling the language barrier, I signed up and attended classes at the local university in the nearby town of Tours. When I encountered, Adam, a handsome young student, my life with the Dubois family became more complicated, adding fuel to my internal battle for independence.

Is there a message in your book that you want your readers to grasp?
Set in the beautiful Loire Valley, French Illusions, my remarkable true story, recounts my exploits as a young, adventurous woman filled with dreams. It’s not too late to create your own memories. Go out and explore the world. Life’s for living, after all.

What inspired you to start writing? 
About five years ago, after my husband and I dropped our youngest daughter off at college, I went through a sort of mid-life crisis. I missed being a mom and I wondered how I would fill the void. Sure I had my part-time bookkeeping business, but it consumed only a few hours a day and it was not interesting any more. Something was missing, but what?
This prompted me to review what I like to call my “mid-life list.” This is similar to a “bucket list,” with an important twist. The idea was to refocus myself and figure out the things I wanted to do with my life in my fifties – while I could still do them. My list was short.


  1. Learn to play the piano
  2. Travel to Africa to see the elephants
  3. Travel to Tahiti and see the island of Bora Bora
  4. Travel back to France (with my family this time)
  5. Write a book


At the time, I didn’t own a piano and, with two daughters in college (on the east coast no less!), I couldn’t afford a trip to Africa or Tahiti. I had already traveled back to France in 2001 with my family, so that left me to examine the fifth item on my list more closely. If I did write a book, would it be fiction or non-fiction? What genre would I choose?

The answers to my questions came to me in the shower (which is where many of my ideas seem to materialize, strangely enough). I decided to hunt down my diary from my au pair adventure in France and compose a memoir. It took me three years and countless hours to write French Illusions, but now I can scratch another item off my mid-life list.


Who is your favorite character and why?
One of my favorite characters in my memoir is Madame Dubois. Given her very arrogant, unforgiving attitude, she is the natural antagonist in my story.  As I worked my way through my diary, I recounted many heartbreaking interactions with my patron. Give us an excerpted quote from your favorite review of your book:

“This memoir from new author, Linda Kovic-Skow, is a must-read for all of us that have longed to explore the world, but don’t have the courage of the vivacious, young protagonist. Looking for a new direction in life, Linda yearns for adventure in her hopes of becoming a glamorous flight attendant. But, when she fibs her way into a job as an au-pair in the Loire Valley of France, she soon discovers that her expectations aren’t quite in line with those of her new employer.
The story flows nicely as she paints a picture of the quaint towns and rolling hillsides of her new home, but the highlights for this reader were the vignettes with the children, especially little Antoine. His adorable one-liners and interactions with Linda never ceased to brighten my mood. The relationships with the rest of the family are nicely developed throughout the book, and the dialogue reads well. Don’t be surprised when you see French dialogue on the page, though, because it is a convention that carries throughout. Overall, I thought that Francophiles and casual readers alike could enjoy this story, and I personally can’t wait for a sequel!” – Amazon Reviewer
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What would/could a reader or reviewer say about this book that shows they “get” you as an author?
A few readers have told me that my memoir reads like a novel and, at times, they have to remind themselves that French Illusions is non-fiction. I consider this a great compliment. Successful narrative non-fiction, above all else, must encompass good storytelling techniques such as character development and dialog.

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What genre have you not yet written but really want to try?
I would love to write a children’s book someday filled with stories surrounding the pets I acquired growing up. My love for animals, coupled with my parents lassiez-fare (let it be) attitude towards child rearing, resulted in some great tales. It would be fun to put them down on paper.
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What general advice do you have for other writers?
Hire a professional editor. I mean it. You can’t edit your own book. You won’t see the mistakes because you are too close to the writing. It will cost you a few hundred dollars for a line editor, a bit more if you need some in-depth editing, but it’s the best money you will ever spend. I cringe every time I read a negative review where the main complaint is formatting, spelling or punctuation. You want readers to judge you solely on the content of your story.
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Where can readers learn more about your writing?

http://lindakovicskow.com/

Don’t miss Linda’s lovely book trailer: FRENCH ILLUSIONS 

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Creative Marketing: For the Price of a Tweet


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In a former blog post I wrote about a great way to introduce your upcoming book to readers, creating a prequel in form of a short free book, which should include links to your book sales page or your website.  But how to let as many readers as possible know about your freebie – and at the same time about your new upcoming book?  
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Use the Help of Social Media
Let your free book or other written content go viral via Twitter by re-tweeting from your followers to your customers, friends and everyone else.  Nowadays it’s sometimes more valuable to have people talking about your book than the money you would earn for it.

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Sell Your Free Book for the Price of a Tweet
It’s a service that lets visitors access to your content without having to “pay” for it by giving up any personal information on a form — all they have to do is share it with their own networks on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or Facebook.
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3 Steps to Get Your Book Noticed!

Step 1: create a button and embed it on your website, e-mail or wherever.
Step 2: user access your content and ‘post’ about it.
Step 3: your users’ shares are re-tweeted and re-posted by their friends and followers.
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Easy to Set-Up and to Use
Not only is the tool super easy for your landing page visitors to use, but it’s also quite easy to set up. Pay With A Tweet allows you to stash content (a song or an e-book) and only allows access to it after a user has tweeted something about it.  In other words, it’s like a paywall in which you pay by tweeting about something.  If it’s true that attention is a scarce resource, drawing attention to something ought to be worth something, right?
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Downloaded 130,000 Times
The “social payment system” was developed by two young Germans, Christian Behrendt and Leif Abraham, who tested it on their own book: Oh My God What Happened and What Should We Do?  Great book content BTW!  Available in both, English and German language.  After eight weeks, their book had been downloaded 113,000 times and they had sold 1,300 copies on Amazon.  It became a Twitter trending topic twice, and the only promotion they did for the book was to tweet a single time.
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Teaser Version for Your Book
Why not give away a teaser version of your ebook in exchange for some promotion? Authors and book sellers can post the exact message they want consumers to send, in exchange for the free book. Retailers can attach a URL to the Twitter message that directs consumers to the web page that has the “Pay with a Tweet” button.
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Good to Know:

If you use a WordPress.org theme for your website you can install their own plug-in.  While consumers can add short personal notes to the author’s message, consumers cannot edit the URL attached to the tweet.  The Basic Version of Pay with a Tweet is FREE.  Read more details in this Hubspot article.


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Wednesday, October 15, 2014

The Marriage Whisperer

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Not every couple chooses to work and nurture their relationships proactively - before trouble strikes.  The Marriage Whisperer, winner of the gold medal in the IPPY "Living Now," a jargon-free, self-help title is written by an experienced Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and inspired by over 10,000 conversations.  Reviewer “You will be in awe at how many of these relationship stories will ring true!”  

It delivers 70 couple stories with humor and includes practical tips and tools for lasting relationship improvement. Popular themes like communication, habits, chores, arguments, sex, and intimacy are explored in easy-read tales. The Marriage Whisperer was featured in the September 2013 Small Press Bookwatch as a "Reader's Choice" for the marriage shelf and is "recommended" by the US Review of Books.


The Marriage Whisperer
The author, Patt 
Pickett, Ph.D. explains in an interview:  "My primary message in the book is to keep your life in balance, something that is important to avoid marital neglect.  Not having a balance in your life, such as work, marital life, family, hobbies etc. has long-term consequences for relationships."
“Will spend more time when …” we are in vacation, the kids are in school, the kids are out of the house, we are retired … NEVER works. If you don’t spent enough time together NOW, your interest changes and your attachment weakens. The challenge for couples is to find out how much is enough time to spend together."

Dr. Patt Pickett, can be found on Twitter @DrPattHP and on LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/patt-hollinger-pickett-ph-d-the-marriage-whisperer/11/76a/748.

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Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Successful Marketing Your Book

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Marketing possibilities for your book sometimes seem to be overwhelming.  Use this article's free checklist to schedule and divide it into small pieces. And execute one at a time – make it a habit to work on it every day.
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Let’s assume that you, as a self-publishing author are writing an excellent, high-quality book or e-book and now you are going to publish and market your book.
Or take scenario two: you have written the best book and found the best agent possible and she’s made the best deal she can get with the best publisher who’s interested, then you will be surprised to learn about the reality in traditional publishing: 
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Marketing Dollar Only for Celebrity Authors

Publishers do spend money on advertising, PR and paid placement in bookstores, but they don’t spend the same amount on all books. On average publishers spend less than $2,000 on advertising 90% of their titles—not much to get the word out about your book.

Bookstores will return your unsold books after three months to the publisher, which means almost the end of your book’s “brick & mortar” career.  These are the reasons YOU will have to get the word out about your book, no matter if you author-publish or if you go with a big, traditional publisher.
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You certainly have done your homework well BEFORE you started writing your book:

  • You researched your possible competition, how popular the genre is in which you are writing, and how comparable books are presented.
  • You have identified your target market and in which time-frame you want to accomplish the introduction for your book.
  • You made plans for your writing career, you vision already – and maybe even lined out several books, you know that one book only doesn’t make for a writing career.
  • You thought about where you want to be in one, three, or five years from now, and what you want to have accomplished as a writer then.
  • You also know that book marketing starts ideally before and while you write your future bestseller.

There are two avenues to market and sell your work, even if you have sold your manuscript to a traditional publisher. Either you:


  • will invest lots of money and buy ads / go on book signing tours / attend book fairs – or you
  • will invest time into building a platform and an authors brand through the use of social marketing and content marketing, plus you learn some fast and free tricks to spread the word about your book

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And then there is 
1. the promotional, social part and 
2. the “hard-selling” part for your book.

The latter will barely work if you have not laid out the foundation with the first part.  Would you likely buy something from an unknown person, no matter if on- or off-line?  Remember that your competition in published books is fierce and there are millions of books worldwide published every year.  Readers have to be convinced to buy an unfamiliar book from a totally unknown author…
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It will be the same for both, fiction or non-fiction:  The foundation for your books’ success is in building a community, a social environment and a platform to introduce yourself and your work to readers.  How can you accomplish this, even before your book is finished? It takes a year to make yourself known in the book community, so start early in order to have a successful book launch:
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1. What you can do before your book is ready to go to the beta-reader, copy-editor and final editor:

- Have a professional! photographer taken a portrait to use for your avatar
– Get to know and introduce yourself to potential readers, sign up at Google+  (good for SEO),      Twitter, FB, Pinterest, Flickr
– Join several book communities, #1 Goodreads, #2 Wattpad, #3 KindleBoards, BookTalk, Scribd…
– Visit forums in your field, especially if you write non-fiction
– Join HARO (Help a Reporter out) to make yourself a name as an expert in your field
– Start and write regularly (once or twice a week) blog posts
– Create your own (not a free!) author website 
– Send your blog articles to newspapers / magazines and even to e-Zines
– Write guest blogs for other bloggers to get your name out
– Write your “elevator pitch” and practice your “elevator speech” for quick pitch
– Start a spreadsheet or list with email addresses of potential readers
– Create an email signature & use it for every email you send out
– Print business cards / bookmarks
– Get an ISBN number and register your copyright
– Register with Bowker to have your book worldwide listed (free)
– Choose the right genre (category) and keywords for your book
– Gather as many reviews as possible and write a compelling blurb
– Research media contacts and prepare Press Releases
– Invite several thousand! people as followers and friends on your social media sites

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2. Plan of action, once your book is edited, has an appealing cover – that’s what people see first, is professionally converted (e-book), or got a perfect layout (print) and is ready to launch:

- Place your book into the right category / genre and subgenre (important for its success!)
- Create a second, separate BOOK PAGE on Amazon, Goodreads, Google+ and FB
– Submit your book to the Library of Congress (USA only)
– Set up a media press kit on your website with a link to your book trailer
– Plan and create an email campaign to potential readers
– Get customer orders for special (price) pre-launch sale
– Invite more reviewers for your book
– Submit photos of your book cover image to Pinterest, Flickr…
– Create a slideshow  and/or video book trailer
– Send copies to book reviewers in various publications and to book bloggers
– Send review copies to book clubs with large distribution
– Automate submissions to and between all your social networks
– Write a blog post about the upcoming launch
– Spruce up your website and blog for your book launch
– Write a compelling press release
– Ask your friends to list your book under “Listmania” on Amazon
– Participate in “Carnival of the Indies” blog carnival to promote your blog URL
– Comment on other blogs and write lots of guest blogs
– Submit your blogs including an URL link to even more e-Zines
– Consider to participate at KDP Select free days, announce your upcoming book for free
– Offer interviews at Radio /TV stations and newspapers or on other blogs
– Try to set you up to become a desirable guest expert on a talk or morning show
– Befriend influential book bloggers for even more reviews and articles
– Donate your book to local libraries and offer to speak
– Contact local bookstores for book signings
– Gather writing friends for cross-promotions and blog tours
– Add press clippings and articles, already published, to your website
– Get a new business card with an image of your book and sales link
– Place the books’ cover image & description daily on your Google+ stream
– Announce your book launch or book signing on Google+ for FREE
– Get even more friends, followers and people in your circles on social media sites
as you need lots of audience to spread the word about your new book!
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What else can you do to increase your books’ success:
– Become a guest speaker at writers conferences or business seminars
– Sell your book to libraries
– Let your book translate in other languages or sell foreign rights
– Split your (non-fiction) book in pieces and sell single articles to magazines
– Participate in writing contests and book awards
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The possibilities are endless…
Check for more tips at http://savvybookwriters.com/blog.  
Make sure you have done every one of these steps to have a great start once your book is published. Write for pleasure – publish for profit!

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Learn More About Marketing and Business Plans:
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