Ask The Local Eye

Misty Simon’s Town

admin — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 06:42:49 +0000

Although a winter’s day it’ beautiful.

Where to Find Two Ocean Marathon Accommodation

admin — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:05:56 +0000

Once again the beautiful city of Cape Town hosts the legendary Two Ocean’s Marathon. For over 40 years participants have raced against each other to complete the 56-kilometre run. This year it will take place on the 23rd of April and is estimated to attract about 20 000 participants.

Accommodation in and around Cape Town is sure to be booked up as people from around the world flock to participate or simply cheer on the Two Ocean’s marathon runners. The race in itself is a great route on which to witness the many wonders Cape Town holds, as it is set to pass both the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

Runners start the race in Newlands and head over to Noordhoek. They struggle up mountains and relax around the curves of Chapman’s peak as supporters cheer them on.

The Two Oceans race is labelled as an ‘ultamarathon’ and many will agree that it is one of the world’s most beautiful races.

When deciding on where to book your Cape Town accommodation for the Two Oceans race the choices are endless as the race more or less travels around the entire Cape Peninsula. Book your accommodation in the historical Simon’s Town or rent a Villa in Cape Town city. If you want a more relaxing atmosphere why not book your accommodation in the serene Noordhoek valley or quaint Kalk Bay village.

We at Cape Holidays can accommodate your every holiday need. Do not hesitate to contact us for your rental request.

We look forward to cheering on the Two Ocean’s runners together.

Posted via email from Your Stories, Your Tales -> Our Far South Pot Pourri

Where you awake – in time – to see this? Only in Simon’s Town

admin — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 06:00:37 +0000

Download now or watch on posterous

simonstownsunrise.mp4 (1954 KB)

Posted via email from johan horak’s energy flow

Invitation to speak at Cape Town Tourism Networking Function ~ You Are Invited To Attend

admin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:55:00 +0000

Cape Town Tourism tour operators, guest house owners and restaurants at the Cape Tourism network function.

Here’s an invitation to speak at the event and I hope to meet you there.

BTW: If you read the article I wrote on 2010 marketing strategies you’ll notice I share 14 marketing tips. I can either give you a run down of the all or I can focus on less and give you more detail. Any idea on how I should approach the talk?

“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

Become An Online Marketing Coach Fan
Stay In Touch With The Stuff Johanhorak.com Publish
Tel: 027 21 786 4028
Cell: 027 82 870 2004

Posted via email from johan horak’s energy flow

Cape Town: World Cup insider’s guide | Travel | guardian.co.uk

admin — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:05:04 +0000

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.)

via guardian.co.uk

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.

Posted via web from johan horak’s posterous

Securing your home while you soak up the sun – South Africa’s fastest-growing property website

admin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:12:09 +0000

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.

via realestateweb.co.za

Posted via web from Your Stories, Your Tales -> Our Far South Pot Pourri

The Device Is Inherently Of No Value To Us & Quotes By Ryan Opaz

admin — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:00:18 +0000

On Social Media: "The device is inherently of no value to us.” This was Western Unions response to the telephones invention. Ryan Opaz
The truth is that we are seeing the fading away of yesterdays’ tools of communication, giving way to a new way of looking….Ryan Opaz
Go ahead stick your head in the sand, pretend it’s a silly fad and that it is just a “phase”. Ryan Opaz
Your choice is either to adapt and take advantage of the opportunities it offers, or you can sit there and complain, and let it pass you by. Ryan Opaz
Today’s consumers have voices. The internet have given them voices, And these voices are not your competitors or enemies, but rather clients, readers, buyers, and sometimes new friends. Ryan Opaz
Today these conversations are online. They are searchable, they are contextual, they are everywhere. But most importantly they are offering you a chance to join in.Ryan Opaz
Today you can drive your own sales, rather than waiting for the critic to do it for you. But only if your honest, open and real. The internet is not a place to sell BS, it’s a place to have a dialog…join in and you will win. Ryan Opaz
Ryan Opaz

Online Marketing Tips Newsletter Using Social Media Like Twitter.

Posted via email from The Fisherman’s Secret

How To Use A Funnel To Get More Guest

admin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:32:40 +0000

If you are a traditional marketer, you pay to interrupt your guest. If your a cultivator, using social media, your guest find you because, their friends (your social connections) recommended you, or because you have some advice for them ….. readily available on the internet. In other words, traditional marketers try to sell their rooms and social media cultivators try to establish trusting relationships. Relationships that are amplified using e-tools.

But where do you start the cultivation process?

You start by creating an online story funnel on every reason they want to visit.

Hang in there, you'll get the idea.

You start by identifying all the possible reasons why people come and stay at your guest house. Looking at the online-story-funnel, you'll realise that the reasons are the top of the funnel. The more reasons you have the more effective your funnel. Every reason is an opportunity to invite people into your guest house.

Let me list a few reasons for you and then discuss how you can funnel people into your guest house or (cultivation pool).

People visit your town because they are avid pelagic bird watchers
People stay over in your suburb because it's close to the airport
Leopard toad frogs bring many visitors to your community
Your home is 5 minutes from the university
A FIFA word cup soccer team will be based near you
The flower season bring in many visitors
You are way beyond nowhere and travellers need a place to stay for the night. With people, using cellphones to search the internet they can be 5 kilometres from your home, tired and willing to stay at your guest house. Give them an online funnel story so that they can find you.

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

Posted via email from The Fisherman’s Secret

Are You A Traditional Guest House Marketer?

admin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:33:43 +0000

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

But this is new to you. That's true. The problem is that it's not true for many of your potential guests. And everyday more and more adopt online social tools.

Here's a few messages from our guest as listed in the Cluetrain Manifesto on social media:

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?

Johan Horak
Online Marketing Tips Newsletter Using Social Media Like Twitter.
Holiday Home Management Tips Newsletter
Download The Fisherman's Secret Free eBook On Cultivating Relationships

Posted via email from The Fisherman’s Secret

Marketing Lesson: Top Ten Things to Do in Cape Town, South Africa « Still Life in South America

admin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:53:37 +0000

. 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.

via stilllifeinbuenosaires.wordpress.com

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.

Posted via web from The Fisherman’s Secret