Ask The Local Eye

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). 

1. People visit your town because they are avid pelagic bird watchers
2. People stay over in your suburb because it's close to the airport
3. Leopard toad frogs bring many visitors to your community
4. Your home is 5 minutes from the university
5. A FIFA word cup soccer team will be based near you
6. The flower season bring in many visitors
7. 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
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