Misty Simon’s Town
Jun 17th, 2011 by Johan Horak
Although a winter’s day it’ beautiful.
Taking Care Of Your Home Whether You’re There Or Not….
Jun 17th, 2011 by Johan Horak
Although a winter’s day it’ beautiful.
Mar 18th, 2011 by Johan Horak
Posted via email from Your Stories, Your Tales -> Our Far South Pot Pourri
Oct 5th, 2010 by Johan Horak
Mar 25th, 2010 by Johan Horak
Cape Town Tourism tour operators, guest house owners and restaurants at the Cape Tourism network function.
“As per our telephone conversation, we are having a members networking function on 7 April 2010 with a focus on Marketing Tools for members.
I was very impressed with your article “2010 marketing strategies for guesthouse owners” and in fact forwarded it on to some of our members. I thought that it our networking function would be a great platform for you to do a presentation around the points you mentioned in the article. We have a large amount of small businesses registered with us who would greatly benefit from your advice.
Just some background to our organization: Cape Town Tourism (CTT) is the official visitor, industry & destination marketing agency for the City of Cape Town. We promote private-public partnerships, sustainable development and service excellence in tourism. We serve a membership base of approximately 2700 businesses, operate a current and growing network of 18 official Visitor Information Centres and assist an average of 150 000 visitors per month. The majority of our members are in the tourism sector (guesthouses, tour operators, restaurants, etc).
Details are as follows:
Date: 7 April 2010
Time: 14:00
Venue: Blaauwberg Manor, 6 Verkouteren Street, Bloubergstrand.
Warm regards
Gadijah Darries
Membership Administrator
Cape Town
LIVING CAPE TOWN, LOVING CAPE TOWN!
Southey’s Vines, 186 Main Road, Somerset West.
Tel: 021-840-1400
Fax: 021-840-1410
Website:
Blog:
Skype: gadijah.darries
I would like to thank Gadijah for the invitation.
Now please let me know what you would like me to say. Leave comment below.
Have Fun
Johan Horak
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Tel: 027 21 786 4028
Cell: 027 82 870 2004
Best things to do for free
Go to the beach – at Camps Bay, Clifton or Llandudno.
Or, go to Simon’s Town and take a drive around the peninsular: you go all the way down to Muizenberg, Fishhoek and Kalk Bay, keep going and it brings you out on the other side over the mountain. Then you can take the Chapman’s Peak Drive and come out at Hout Bay. So you go from the Atlantic Ocean, over to Indian Ocean and back again. You can do it an hour – or two with a lunch stop (I’d eat at the Chapman’s Peak Hotel or the Red Herring in Noordhoek.)
Obviously the M&G did not intent to write about all the things you can do for free. While driving “through” Simon’s Town, stop at the African penguin colony, Boulder Beach. You can watch these animals for free or you can pay less than R30 to go and swim with them on their beach.
Dec 3rd, 2009 by Johan Horak
A few tips before going away.
Test your alarm and make sure it is in working order. Do this in good time before you go away as December is a busy period for security companies and should the system require servicing you may need some time to sort it out.
Ensure your property is secure – that there are no holes in the fence or other vulnerable points of access to your home.
Ensure all bushes or trees close to your doors and garage are trimmed, to avoid the possibility of intruders hiding behind them
Stop all newspaper and other deliveries (if applicable) and arrange that someone collects your post while you are away. An overflowing post box or piles of newspapers are like a welcome mat for burglars.
Make sure anyone visiting the property (with your permission) knows how to use the alarm system correctly.
Ensure that all your outside locks are a minimum of four lever locks or double cylinder security locks and that all are in good working order.
Install an outdoor light or lights with timers and motion sensors to act as an additional deterrent.
Make sure your household and property insurance is paid, up-to-date and active.
Do not leave a message on your answering machine stating that you’re out of town.
Ensure that you have not left a key on the inside of an outer door that has glass panels or glass near the door lock.
Leaving dogs on the premises is a good security measure but obviously make sure they are well looked after while you are away.
Posted via web from Your Stories, Your Tales -> Our Far South Pot Pourri
Nov 14th, 2009 by Johan Horak

Nov 13th, 2009 by Johan Horak

Most visitors today use the internet to do research on their destination. They search for stories on pelagic birds, they search for a guest house between nowhere and hell. For every unique reason, you should write a story and publish it on your blog. Every story adds an entry point to the funnel. Every little bit makes it easier for your guest find your guest house online.
As they enter your story funnel they enter your cultivation pool. Now, give them a reason to start a discussion.Johan Horak
Online Marketing Tips Newsletter Using Social Media Like Twitter.
Holiday Home Management Tips Newsletter
Nov 12th, 2009 by Johan Horak
Are you a traditional guest house marketer? You pay for ads in travel publications, you pay to advertise with online accommodation sites… sites where you compete with every other average Joe-Guest-House-Owner for the top spot. We all know how the big brands interrupt us……..
In other words they pay to interrupt and never take time to create an opportunity where they can cultivate relationships.
According to HubSpot; in order to cultivate relationships we need to……..
- Listening — Every guest house owner needs to listen. You need to listen to your competitors, your customers, your prospects — your community. Social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook make this easier.
- Reach — Reach is important to any marketer. It's the number of people you can communicate with directly via email, telephone, or any other channel. Social media tools made it easier to build [networks].
- Nurturing — Nurturing is another critical marketing task for all guest houses. ….., you need to build trust with potential customers and educate them about your guest house. Social media facilitates the development of personal relationships at scale. This makes it an ideal tool for nurturing……[my edits .... swapping company for guest house] HubSpot
We are immune to advertising. Just forget it.
We are not seats or eyeballs or end users or consumers, we are human beings – and our reach exceeds your grasp. Deal with it.
We'd like it if you got what's going on here. That'd be real nice. But it would be a big mistake to think that think we were holding our breath.
What questions do you have, on adopting an online marketing strategy —- using social media like twitter?
Nov 12th, 2009 by Johan Horak
. Simon’s Town Penguins
If you make a trip to Cape Point Reserve, don’t miss stopping over a few hours in Simon’s Town. Visit the jackasss penguins at Boulder’s Beach and stop in the pâtisserie The Sweetest Thing for a heavenly lunch of coffee, quiche and a pastry.
Is it not amazing… when the world promote us, using electronic means. My question, “Do you make it easy for people to tell your story. For example, the Sweetest Thing Restaurant is a great place, but it relies on other websites to promote it. Good for them. But I recommend you take control and tell your own story. Because story telling is the most underestimated business skill in the world.