annehornyak.com

Things I learned this week: May 13

Anne Hornyak — Mon, 14 May 2012 02:59:09 +0000

How can it be Sunday night already?! To be honest, I can’t even remember what happened this past week. I know I had a few really good days and then the weekend hit me hard (again) and I spent most of it sleeping and resting. It’s the middle of month 5 of mono.

This week’s #tourismchat was about blogging and bloggers. Check out the transcript.
I added a few more destinations to my CVBs on Pinterest board.
Pin of the week:

Easy Facebook Tips

Anne Hornyak — Mon, 07 May 2012 00:40:13 +0000

Want more engagement on your Facebook page? Change the way you write your page’s posts.

Here are five simple tips:

Keep it short and be concise. Don’t use more than two sentences.
Want likes? Ask for it. Ask your fans to “click like” in the post copy.
Want comments? Try a fill-in-the-blank post.
Photos work wonderfully. Use at least 1-2 photos each week.
Be consistent with your content and frequency but don’t be afraid to be random every once in a while.

Experiment with content, assets and posting time to get the best results.

What works well on your page?

Things I learned this week: May 5

Anne Hornyak — Sat, 05 May 2012 21:20:32 +0000

It’s been a busy week and I’m tired – really tired – but I’m not exhausted, which is incredible.

The best way to combat burnout is with face time.
Spending the entire week in Portland, I now have a new appreciation for sunny, dry days.
My CVBs on Pinterest board is in an LA Times Travel article!
Google Drive may be super beneficial. I need to play around with that more.
Life without dog fur is nice for a few days but nothing says happiness more than puppy kisses.
Pin of the week:

Things I learned this week: April 28

Anne Hornyak — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 17:56:45 +0000

I was FINALLY starting to feel a little more normal again. For most of the week. And then it hit me. Hard.

I’m still sick. I’ve already slept for 12 hours and will probably take another nap this afternoon. Usually I feel physically worn out and I just have to lay around and rest but this time my body is craving sleep too. I had 4 REALLY good days this week and must have overdone it. I mowed the backyard Wednesday night and the front yard Thursday night so that probably didn’t help. At least it’s the weekend so I can rest as much as possible before Monday.
You can embed Pinterest pins. I don’t think this is probably new but it’s new to me. I do have a problem with the caption/credit lining up properly though. (Look below.)
I don’t think I shared this before but you can create an amazing Pinterest tab on your Facebook page with woobox: http://woobox.com/pinterest This looks much better than the hack I blogged about a few weeks ago.
Google docs do not show up for my blog’s email subscribers. If you’re one of them, check out my latest Pinterest post online.
Pin of the week:

Source: quotediary.me via Anne on Pinterest

CVBs on Pinterest: April update

Anne Hornyak — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:36:05 +0000

It’s time for another update! My list has now grown to 181 CVBs on Pinterest, not including international destinations. I’ve been tracking these basic stats weekly but it takes nearly 2 hours each Sunday to keep up so I’ll be changing my strategy soon.

What I’m seeing: the CVBs that pin daily, or almost daily, see a gain of 20+ followers each week. Those who don’t pin weekly have almost no growth at all. Of course, the larger destinations see a larger weekly growth. And so do those accounts who have a larger following. Everything seems to be proportionate on size and activity, as it should be.

Taking a break from extra analysis this month, I’m just going to share lists and resources in this post.

When I talk about “followers” below, I mean the amount of people following the entire CVB account / all of the CVB’s boards. Typically certain boards will have a LOT more followers than the entire account but it’s not possible for me to track the cumulative number of followers across all the boards each CVB has. I don’t have a script so I track everything manually and it may be hard to believe, but I do have interests other than social media.

CVBs, ranked by account followers

CVBs, ranked by number of pins

All 233 destinations on Pinterest, including international

If your CVB isn’t on the list, please send an email to anne@annehornyak.com or leave a comment on this post. Thanks!

Tourism Pinterest Contests

Anne Hornyak — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 01:42:15 +0000

Recently there have been 3 tourism Pinterest contests that have caught my attention.

1. Visit Bucks County “Repin It to Win It” Contest

This was the first CVB contest that I’ve seen. The rules are simple: repin any image from their Repin It To Win It Contest board and you could be selected randomly to win that prize. The contest period was just over a month long (March 20 – May 1, 2012).

They had 182 followers (those following their account, not the cumulative followers all of their boards) before the contest and currently have 345 followers, an 89% increase. A lot of DMOs have seen a growth average of 10-20 followers per week, which correlates directly to the amount of pins added each week. Visit Bucks County’s average for this contest period so far has been 28 followers per week.

Their contest board currently has 828 followers. They have 17 prizes/pins on that board and have a total of 2,065 repins for the contest so far.

On April 13, we saw a big jump in traffic to the contest. The ‘Repin It To Win It’ board jumped from 598 on April 12 to 733 on April 13. We specifically saw a great deal of activity on the Sesame Place pin, including more than 20 comments on that pin.

In terms of promotion, check out this get pinterested post or visit their Visit Bucks County News Pinterest board for other blog mentions.

We’ve promoted the contest through the press release, Facebook and Twitter (daily tweets about the different prizes). We’ve worked with our participating partners to encourage them to promote the contest through sample Facebook and Twitter posts on their company accounts. We promoted the Pinterest contest in our ‘This Weekend in Bucks County’ e-newsletter, as well.

This looks to be very successful! Congrats! And thanks to Jessica for providing extra stats and information!
2. Experience Columbus’ “Repin it to Win It!” Contest

This is a quick little contest to give away one prize. To enter, just repin this one image on Pinterest or leave a comment on their blog post.

Experience Columbus typically gains 20-30 followers per week. This contest is so short that it probably won’t impact their following much. So far there have been 33 comment entries on the blog and 68 repins. Of those, 50 repins occurred on the first day of the contest.

This was promoted on twitter and Facebook. It’s a very innovative way to incorporate Pinterest in a giveaway.

Well done! And thanks to Joe for providing the stats!

3. Pin Hawaii! Win a trip to Hawaii with Aqua Hotels & Resorts

This contest isn’t from a DMO but I’m including it this list because it still promotes tourism and it’s just so beautifully done.

Go to www.pinhawaii.com and be amazed!

What I love the most is that everything is on one site. The rules, entry form and even examples of what to put on your board. They show you tagged pins for inspiration or easy repinning.

This contest requires a little more effort but the prize makes it worth it.

Follow Aqua Hotels on Pinterest
Create a Hawaii Bucket List board
Tag your board with #pinhawaii
Submit your board’s URL on the entry form

This contest runs April 9-30, 2012. The only confusing part is whether people need to tag their BOARD or tag their PINS. Only one board comes up in the #pinhawaii search and it appears that it’s not related to the contest. So if this is criteria to win, you might want to quickly create a board. The odds may be with you!

What have been your favorite Pinterest contests?

Things I Learned This Week: April 22

Anne Hornyak — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 01:45:33 +0000

I absolutely dread my birthday. This year was a fairly big number so it was even harder for me. Another year older, another year wiser, right??

I’m old. Part of it is from still being sick but I just can’t do everything I want to do.
Are you addicted to Pinterest? Check out my DMOs on Pinterest google doc. There are 227 destinations on it now. I’m hoping to get another Pinterest blog post written this week too.
Babies are just as hard to photograph as dogs. My brother, his wife and their 3-month old baby girl were home this week from Germany. Mike should be stationed in the US next year so hopefully that means more frequent visits!
Asking for help is ok and sometimes the best thing you can do.
Pin of the week:

Things I Learned This Week: April 15

Anne Hornyak — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:19:53 +0000

Breaking routine:

Traveling truly renews the spirit. And a little sunshine goes a long way. I was in Southwest Florida for work a few days this week. As most of you know, I have a lingering case of mono and it’s been flaring up a lot recently, especially during this trip, with additional symptoms. You’d think that it wouldn’t last this long but recent tests revealed that the virus is still actively present. As exhausting as this week was, I think getting out of my normal routine helped tremendously. Being sick for this long really takes a toll on you mentally, which is even worse than the incessant exhaustion.
Online communication is great but there’s nothing better than seeing people IRL.
I met some incredibly inspiring people this week. It’s amazing how a few good conversations can change your entire outlook.
Pin of the week:

Things I Learned This Week: April 8

Anne Hornyak — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 01:41:45 +0000

Have you ever complained about a weekend being too long? Yeah, me neither.

Instagram is now available for Android.
Also new this week: you can now select a cover image for each of your Pinterest boards.
I pay a LOT for a personal health insurance policy and when I finally need it, things aren’t covered. How is that fair?!
The older I get, that harder it is to accept help from others. Is that the result of pride or stubbornness?
Pin of the week:

Instagram for Android

Anne Hornyak — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:13:55 +0000

Yes, that’s correct! Instagram is FINALLY creating an Android app.

It’s about time, right?