Guido is one of the most popular hotel blogging personalities online today, and authors the Happy Hotelier blog. He is owner of the Haagsche Suites in the Netherlands.
Running a small hotel finds me waiting a lot. Waiting for guests to arrive, waiting for guests to ask for some service, waiting for them to go dining – in order to drive them to the restaurant or to be able to provide for our turn-down service, waiting for guests to depart. In all these waiting periods that always vary, your attention remains totally focused on the guests.
You cannot have a serious task on hand. I found browsing the internet a good way of passing those periods. Much more interacting and entertaining than watching TV. From that came a wish to log my finds in order to be able to find them back and to share them. From getting attention from readers it developed into blogging. From meeting fellow bloggers came an interest in the travel blogging community and the blogging phenomenon.
The ultimate goal is twofold:
- To be able to remain on the forefront of what’s happening online, and
- To attract more guests to my hotel, not so much because I need more guests, but because online I find very interesting people each day and always like to connect with them to give them a great time in our hotel if possible.
How do you come up with new post topics?
I am insatiable curious, have a broad attention span and have always multiple (literally hundreds) topics to choose from and only a limited amount of time while posting cost me dearly, because I’m a two fingers only typist. As a matter of fact I’m interested to find a very easy way of keeping a scrapbook for my ideas from where I easily can copy and paste content into my blog.
What was your most successful blog post ever?
- Most commented: my list of 300 travelbloggers
- Most viewed: my review of the new CitizenM hotel at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
What’s your biggest tip about writing a successful blog post?
Always be and remain yourself.
What is the most common mistake new bloggers make?
Too much thinking and planning, being afraid to make mistakes. Just start and Do It! Dare to make mistakes. The best learning is from your mistakes:-)
What are your most effective methods of attracting more readers?
Installing the WP feedburner plugin that consolidates all your feed readers: In one day I found the fourfold of what it was the day before.
What are your 3 best tips for blogging?
- Content, content and content
- Keep it clear, simple and stupid
- For those interested: Here is a link to a presentation I made with tips and tools aimed at Hotels and DMO’s: http://www.happyhotelier.com/2009/07/12/i-blog-five-years-already/ complete with a link to my first ever slidesow.
