5 Perfect Places to Visit for Your Next “Workation”

Mission Point Resort

 

As the warm weather continues, working from home is taking on a new meaning. Many workers are choosing to ditch their home office and work remotely, anywhere from Michigan to London! Workation is the new concept of a vacation that combines business with leisure. Visit these top places for the best possible workation results!

Mission Point Resort, Mackinac Island

Take your laptop to the shores of Mackinac Island, Michigan – genuine hospitality and simple comfort await. Mission Point spans 18 acres of waterfront property on Lake Huron, creating an unparalleled setting for guests to savor life’s simple pleasures. Enjoy morning lakeshore coffee, classic comfort food at Round Island Kitchen, kite flying, flower pressing, biking, golf and bocce ball. Located just a short stroll from downtown, Mission Point offers an unforgettable workation for anyone.

The St. Regis Aspen Resort

Located in Aspen, CO, this resort has everything you could possibly need and more! From the hotel’s enviable vantage point, guests can enjoy world-class skiing or stroll over to historic Aspen, where luxury boutiques and charming restaurants beckon. Remède Spa, their award-winning wellness destination, is renowned as one of the world’s premier hotel spas, while their heated outdoor pool and hot tubs overlook stunning Aspen Mountain. St. Regis Aspen Resort also provides a Google Nest Wi-Fi Internet booster, an HDMI cord to display your computer screen on the TV, enhanced lighting for video conferencing and a Rode wireless lavalier microphone. Plus, coffee is delivered in the morning and your drink of choice will be in your hand by the time you clock out!

The Ritz Carlton, Orlando

In the heart of Orlando, FL, you can soak up the sun while getting straight to business. At the Ritz-Carlton, Orlando guests benefit from impeccable service, luxury hotel rooms and suites, sophisticated event venues and exceptional resort amenities, including their lazy river pool, 24-hour fitness center and the Ritz Kids program. They’re currently running a “Work from Home” program where guests receive a business butler who can do everything from securing an office location with Wi-Fi to taking care of administrative tasks like scanning and printing.

The Stafford London

Looking for an international visit but want to remain in your comfort zone? The Stafford London is the best bet, located only minutes away from the West End. Their stylish rooms and suites are guaranteed to help you relax. Choose from three individual buildings, all with unique characteristics, located at one of London’s most prestigious addresses. The suites come with more than enough desk space to spread out and get comfortable and their restaurant, specializing in modern British comfort food, will send a two-course meal up to your suite.

Rosewood Mayakoba, Riviera Maya

Since its debut in late 2008, Rosewood Mayakoba has been repeatedly honored as one of the finest luxury resorts in the world. Embraced by lush jungle and the stunning coastline of Mexico’s Riviera Maya, this oceanfront hideaway is situated at the heart of the 620-acre Mayakoba resort enclave just north of Playa del Carmen. This resort would be perfect for a large family or group looking for an extended stay. One week isn’t enough to experience all this resort has to offer – private roundtrip airport transfers, daily continental breakfast in your villa, a butler and relaxing spa.

 

For more tips and tricks, join our mailing list to hear more!

4 Ways to Make Your Product Stand Out Digitally

4 Ways to Make Your Product Stand Out Digitally

 

U.S. consumers will spend over $1 trillion in digital retail channels in 2022. Just like in-store, the digital shelf must communicate your brand story and values to engage consumers in an experience. Are you not seeing the digital sale conversions you’re striving for? The digital shelf is full of user-enticing products and you may be getting lost. Here are four ways to help you optimize your presence, start standing out from the pack and drive conversions!

Make a Good First Impression

Making a quality and lasting first impression only takes seconds. It’s important to convey your company’s vision and products in a clear and memorable way. From photography to the written details, it’s critical to communicate your brand’s story, voice, value proposition and overall aesthetic and tone. Grow your identity so consumers can connect with your brand and build a lasting relationship that keeps them loyal to your business.

Consistency is Key

Make sure your brand is consistent across all digital spaces, including website, email and social media platforms. Create a brand style guide to ensure all messaging and graphics, including tone of voice, fonts, images, hashtags and logo usage, are consistent. Consumers trust a brand they recognize, thus they will be more likely to purchase from you and recommend you to their peers.

User-Enticing Product Page

Build a product page effectively on your website and both your traffic and conversions will skyrocket. Link it to Facebook and Instagram Shop for consumers to easily access your products on all platforms at all times. Product page visual elements, content and navigation all have the power to make or break your store. Entice consumers with high-quality photos, well-written product descriptions and user-friendly shop features.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

When consumers are searching for your product, the first thing that pops up is the product’s graphic. That graphic has to not only catch the consumers’ attention, but needs to convince them to read more. Use a high-quality, clear photo that best showcases your product and brand image.

 

For more tips and tricks, join our mailing list to hear more!

 

Minimalism in the Workplace

Mininalism

 

Are you sick of feeling overwhelmed, misplacing important files and never having enough time during work? Implementing minimalism tips could be exactly what you’re looking for. Minimalism is not just about owning less stuff. It is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and removing everything that distracts us from it. Here is a list of ways to bring minimalism into your work so that you can feel calmer, more productive and less cluttered!

Declutter Your Workspace

Our workspace can have a direct effect on our mood and ability to focus. So whether you work from home or in the corner office on the 50th floor, it’s essential to declutter your workspace. While this may seem quite obvious, it’s crucial to clean up the mess surrounding your workspace before jumping right into a task. Remove stacks of paper, last week’s to-do list, lunch containers and coffee mugs – anything that doesn’t inspire. Download Asana to help you stay organized and make your workspace more comfortable again.

Minimize Notifications

Constant buzzing and banner notifications are some of the biggest productivity crushers in the age of digital media. Silencing or muting your workplace notifications and focusing on the task at hand is more beneficial for yourself and your work as well! Your day will quickly become more productive and stress free. 

Take a Break

To be the best employee you can be, taking breaks is necessary for a more productive, creative day. Taking regular breaks helps you remember and retain information, be more creative and cultivate an overall healthier lifestyle in the long haul. Work can be overwhelming; even a five-minute break could lead to the breakthrough you were searching for! So take a walk, refill your water a time or two; it’ll be more beneficial in the end.

Set a Deadline

Giving yourself less time to complete a task can be a fantastic way to keep you on track during a busy day. Effectiviology explains, “The phenomenon described by Parkinson’s law has been observed in a number of scientific studies, which show that when people are given extra time to complete a task, they will generally take advantage of that time, even if they don’t need it, and it doesn’t lead to better performance on the task.” Set the due dates now!

Make it a Daily Habit

To make your minimalism journey successful, maintaining daily habits is essential in making sure you don’t slip back into old habits. Practice the above tips and monitor how your mood and productivity levels have changed. Ask yourself if you truly need an item and if it’s giving you value throughout your day. When you lean into minimalism and have a daily commitment, you create more space for rest and reflection.

 

For more tips and tricks on how to make work itself work for you, join our mailing list to hear more!

,

‘Spring’ Ahead of Marketing Trends in Hospitality

trends

 

Warm weather is finally upon us, and summer is closer than ever! As hundreds of millions of people start to travel this spring, hotels are ramping up their marketing efforts to attract bookings and optimize revenue. From safety and hygiene communications to hands-free technology, staying on top of hotel marketing trends will play a key role in the upcoming months.

Safety and Communication

One of the most prominent trends hotels are embracing is linked to the increased need to highlight safety and hygiene measures. Updated marketing content and communications will make guests feel at ease. Hygiene measures and safety policies are at the forefront of travelers’ minds when booking. How well hotels communicate the steps they’ve taken can easily be the difference between generating sales and failing to do so. Efforts should be communicated on all marketing platforms, from check-in and in-room materials to digital marketing applications, including email, social and website.

Hands-Free Technology

Minimizing touchpoints will continue to be a primary goal across the travel sector this spring. Hotels, airports and restaurants have turned to mobile apps and QR codes to help reduce the spread of harmful germs. “In 2021, hotels will increase their adoption of technology that reduces the number of touchpoints. Abilities such as online check-ins and check-outs, mobile keys and room settings controlled by the Internet of Things (IoT) technology will become much more commonplace,” says GlobalData Travel & Tourism Analyst Ralph Hollister. “Using IoT to control room settings also allows hotels to gather more data on guests, creating a more personalized experience when they return next.”

More Flexibility

Successful hotels will offer guests added flexibility by adding 100 percent refunds for last-minute cancellations and other risk-reducing policies. “Having a flexible cancellation policy on a hotel website will be vital in ensuring direct bookings, and these relaxed policies will continue in 2021. For example, Marriott International has just extended its 24-hour global cancellation policy,” Hollister stated. Plans change at the drop of a hat, and in a world full of uncertainty, it’s better to be understanding of those changes. Demonstrating an understanding through a flexible cancellation policy can go a long way towards encouraging bookings and also help avoid negative press.

Extended Stays

As guests pursue longer stays, hotels and resorts will promote marketing communications for extended stay programs and packages. “Travelers will be looking to take fewer trips, but those that do travel are expected to also stay for longer,” says Hollister. “Uncertainty is strife and it may lead to people going ‘all out’ on one big trip, rather than risking several smaller ones that could be canceled.” After a year of being locked away, we can emphasize not wanting to leave paradise!

 

For more tips and tricks for navigating the current marketing trends, join our mailing list to hear more! Need help updating your marketing efforts to the latest trends? Contact us.

Four Benefits of Having a Well-designed and Well-structured Website for Small Businesses

Benefits to a New Website

 

It takes about 50 milliseconds (that’s 0.05 seconds) for users to form an opinion about your website. Speed, design and usability quickly determine whether visitors like your site and whether they’ll stay or leave. As typical as it is to say, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” websites are subject to an extreme level of snap judgments that immediately influence credibility and professionalism. A strategic, optimized website can help your brand become a reliable source for your customers. Here are the benefits of having a well-designed and well-structured website.

Improve Business Credibility

There are more than 30 million small businesses in the United States. To set yourself apart from the crowd, make sure your website is thoughtfully designed and structured from start to finish. A strong online presence should be on the top of your marketing to-do list. A professional site legitimizes your business and improves your credibility, making you look reliable and capable to tackle any job.

Improve User Experience Through Mobile

We live in a multi-screen society. Because of this, it’s important for websites to be viewable across as many devices as possible. Websites built with mobile traffic in mind appear higher in search results, increase the time visitors spend on your site, are guaranteed to look more professional and provide an optimal user experience, making it easier for visitors to find information quickly no matter what size screen the site is being viewed on.

Improve SEO Rankings

When you search on Google, Bing or Yahoo, you will see a list of websites with answers to your request. There are SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tactics that you can apply to your company website to improve its rankings. Creating relevant content tailored to your unique audience will set you apart from your competitors. Not having a website or one that ignores best SEO practices makes it difficult for your company to rank and gain free traffic. Strategic SEO helps build brand awareness as search engine users are more likely to trust a site on the first page of search engine results than organizations that are not.

Build Your Email Database

By providing visitors a quick, easy and efficient way to sign up for your email list, you can proactively grow your list and continually capture visitor data. According to Vertical Response, having a healthy email list is essential because every dollar spent on email marketing generates $38 in ROI. It’s one of the best ways to keep in touch with your customers and prospects, including its added benefit of boosting sales.

 

Starting a new business or need to refresh your current website? Our team will help you engage your audience and capture new customers with a modern, user-friendly custom site. Contact us today!