By Kathleen Chester

Did you know that the first time a potential guest visits your hotel website, what he sees there could make or break the deal?

A recent research study conducted by Sabre Hospitality Solutions, revealed, ‘More than 60 percent of all online hotel bookings are made on the first visit to a hotel’s website, and over 80 percent of all online bookings are made on the same day of the first visit. ‘

These facts and stats mean that your hotel website needs to pack a punch in order to deliver results. These facts and stats also represent an opportunity – to evaluate your website, enhance it and gain more guests.

The first step in the evaluation process is keeping in mind that your hotel website is the first point contact with potential guests. A shoddy looking, slow loading and difficult to navigate website reflects badly on you and your offerings. Think of the affect, your hotel has on a guest when he walks through your doors and striving to achieve the ‘Wow’ effect for your hotel website. To create ‘Wow’ website, most experts list the following as the key ingredients:

1. Visual Appeal: A hotel website needs to have a visually appealing homepage to grab and hold onto a browser’s attention. An attractive website will also create a good first impression and will encourage a stronger user engagement i. e. encourage the visitor to make a reservation immediately.

2. Navigation: Having simple and clear navigation, which allows visitor to browse through the website easily, is extremely important as visitors who encounter bad navigation will move on rather than exerting extra efforts to locate information.

3. Keywords: Incorporate keywords and key phrases into your content. These words and phrases will help search engines index your website correctly, increase your search engine ranking and improve your conversion rate.

4. Unique and Up-to-date Content: Do not duplicate content. Search engines love unique and informative content. You should provide sufficient content on every page of your website including text, audio, video etc. You should also make sure all information is current. For example, in 2010, content for events that happened in 2008 should not display. This creates negative impression for visitors.

5. Optimize images: Search engines only index text. To make the most out of your images, you should optimize your images with Alt tags.

6. Sitemap: Add a sitemap to your website. This ensures that search engine spiders will index every page.

As you can see, there are many factors to consider when evaluating your website from visual appeal to simple and clear navigation. The study by Sabre Hospitality Solutions also revealed that, in addition to a visually appealing home page, “calls-to-action” repeated consistently throughout the landing and interior pages can directly affect online bookings’. This means you should include persuasive content and reservation links across the website, not only on the homepage. This will enable the visitor to book the second he is convinced without having to look for a reservation link or go back to the homepage.

We hope this article have been informative and wish you luck in your website evaluation and renovation efforts.

Make your evaluation and renovation efforts pay off by adding an online hospitality solution like ResAvenue to your hotel website. This will help you secure reservation with a payment in real time.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5535551

By Matthew Goudge

When you hear the word “chef”, what image comes to mind? Most people associate the word with fine dining restaurants and French sauces. Usually, the image of a chef comes with a big chef’s cap perched on a head. This is by far the most common imagery that people conjure up whenever they think of a chef. Along with this image comes a certain degree of respect. Needless to say, this is the most popular career in the culinary industry. In fact, almost everyone who takes up a degree in culinary arts intend to pursue a career as a chef. As expected, there are thousands of culinary schools all over the world. With the increasing popularity of this profession, numerous chef jobs have also sprouted.

Chef Jobs are Only Available to a Real Chef

Nowadays, there are varying chef jobs awaiting culinary students. There are positions that favor people who have a culinary degree or who have previously worked as chefs. Yes, even if the position is not actually a cooking-related position, chefs are still favored. There are many chefs who have pursued these kinds of positions. Who can blame them? The pay is often better.

Chefs have graced numerous kitchens, both public and private, for centuries now. Over the years, this profession has achieved a certain prestige that successful chefs truly enjoy. Many work in restaurants, resorts, hotels and private homes.

It is not easy, however, to become a chef. There is a lot of hard work, training and study involved. In truth, becoming a successful chef can be exhausting. You need to start at the bottom. In fact, before you can choose from among various high-paying chef jobs, you need to attain your certification as a chef and undergo culinary training. Before you can call yourself a chef, you need to work hard. You may be required to work on weekends and holidays. Yes, it is truly an exhausting job. You need to start from the bottom to reach the top. Before you can become a chef, you need to give your dues. The benefits and various chef jobs come after you have reached the top of the ladder.

You may have to start out as a preparation cook. You may have to spend a lot of time shelling boxes, chopping onions, cutting potatoes, grating cheese and peeling potatoes. From this position, you may be promoted to a Line Cook or Garde Manger position. Eventually, you may find yourself climbing the culinary ladder. You will become the Sous Chef and then the Assistant Head Chef and ultimately the executive chef. Once you make it to the highest position, you will find several high-paying chef jobs waiting for you. You can then take your pick.

Choosing from Among Several Chef Jobs

If you are considering a culinary career, there are actually several chef jobs that you can choose from. Some positions may not pay well while some may literally make you rich. There is a wide variety of options. Some of these options are discussed below.

Short Order Chefs

Unfortunately, if you are working in short-order restaurants, you may not necessarily be called a chef. The term has always been associated with fine dining, haute cuisine, fancy sauces and crème brulee. Short order chefs are often referred to simply as cooks. They create your typical French toast, breaded fish and eggs Benedict. Usually, you will find them working in diners and mid-grade establishments. This is not actually a very prestigious job, but you take what you can get. However, this is a great way to learn how to run a kitchen. Don’t’ turn your nose up on being a cook. Rachel Ray started out as a local grocery store cooking demonstrator and look where she is now!

Haute Cuisine Chefs

If you decide to pursue a culinary education or undergo an apprenticeship training, you will likely end up working in haute cuisine restaurants and cooking fancy dishes. People who cook pricey meals or dishes are the ones who are often called chefs. Many of them work in mid-grade establishments and first-class restaurants. Your degree of control varies depending on where you work and their policies. Of course, your specialization also plays a role. Large fine dining restaurants often have an army of chefs with varying specializations working for them and all of these chefs answer to the Executive Chef or Head Chef.

There are still other chef jobs that you can pursue. You can set up your own pastry shop. You may be a chef but you will also be called a baker. You can also set up your own catering business. You may be a chef but you will also be a caterer as well. You can also work as a nutritionist or a dietitian if you want. There are numerous chef jobs that you can choose from. All you need to do is to get the necessary education, training, experience, attitude and passion and you would be all set.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1744267

By James Druman

As a traveling writer (not to be confused with a travel writer!), the realities faced working from a laptop in the world’s premiere vacation destinations do not escape me. I wouldn’t trade my white sand beaches and palm-blanketed mountains for anything, but working in paradise does present challenges that demand some perseverance.

Of course, the largest obstacle is finding enough of an extremely scarce commodity called concentration. Everyone you meet seems determined to party around the clock – they’re on vacation; can you blame them?

If I slaved away at a 9 to 5 and got two weeks off per year, I’d party like a rock star too.

But a perpetually-traveling writer moves at a different pace. We’re out to savor the world, get to know its many flavors…not just take a bite and dash back home. And so to keep the dream alive, staying focused takes precedence over everything else. Let’s look at a few tactics you can use, shall we?

1. Split Your Attention

While it seems to counter the goal of staying focused, splitting your work time between two separate goals can actually lead to hyper-productivity. Let me explain.

I suggest two different paths for people who want to leverage writing for financial and location independence.

Freelancing serves as the first path-offering in-demand services provides a very substantial income these days. Another option is to spend your time creating content for your own business: building websites, driving traffic with your articles, and then referring information products (for which you claim a commission upon sales).

Both paths have their place. The first creates an income now, meaning you don’t have to wait to go live your travel dreams. The other path, meanwhile, builds a long-term asset that grows over time and continues making sales even when you step away from your work.

Back to this idea of splitting your attention – let’s bring this full circle.

Basically, I suggest you tackle both business models at once. Use half of your working hours to write for clients and use half of your hours to write for your own projects.

This approach motivates you to push forward because you make money now, but instead of solely building assets for other people, you build your own as well. And as your passive income streams grow, you can then take mini-vacations not only away from your country but away from your computer!

2. Take Afternoon Sabbaticals

Work hard to get things done, sure. But you didn’t start down the traveling writer path to work your life away, right? Instead of working straight through the day, take three or four hours off somewhere in the middle (I take my free time after my first or second focused block of work).

Hey, you live in paradise, so take the time to enjoy your surroundings. And blowing off some steam makes you that much more productive when you sit back down later.

During this time, I run errands if need be, but I usually try to do something active, even though I work out in the morning. People who work on a computer all day should get some activity in twice a day.

My typical activities include heading to the local sports center, going for a motorbike ride, bowling, checking out a local attraction, and scuba diving. Anything that gets me out of my room and moving around.

3. Punishments and Rewards

Struggling to meet your productivity goals? Set checks and balances in place. By creating negative consequences and positive rewards, you tip the scales in favor of success.

Here’s an example. If you want to obligate yourself to 5 days of work every week, tell a friend you will send them $20 via PayPal for every day you miss. And if you do get all 5 days of work in, treat yourself to dinner at a fancy restaurant at the end of the week.

Set up a similar system to obligate yourself to a morning workout. Be creative – what could motivate you to stick with a new habit?

4. Preserve Days Off

In addition to daily afternoon sabbaticals, take weekends off and stay away from the computer. If you can, make these completely offline days.

Time away from work gets you centered and recharges your drive.

Note that sometimes you’ll need to split up your off-days throughout the week rather than taking a whole weekend. For instance, sometimes a mad dash to the border to update my visa upsets my schedule.

Don’t worry too much when this happens, but stick with your set number of days off every week – believe it or not, your “vacation time” will increase the amount of work done each week, much like your afternoon sabbaticals.

And again, if living in paradise, you might as well enjoy the places you visit and live in. If you move around a lot, try staying in a new town for five days at a time, checking the place out while getting work done, and use the weekends for transit.

These are just a few of the simple, yet powerful lifestyle tips traveling writers can implement to become hyper-productive no matter what type of writing business they run. If you’re really set on being a successful writer on the road, don’t them for granted – trust me, they can make or break the dream lifestyle you’re trying to create…

Fear. It’s what prevents a lot of would-be freelance writers from giving up their day jobs and going after their dreams.

Before the advent of the internet, jobs for writers only cater to a select few, those who have undergone proper training to become one. In this day and age of internet boom, the demand for writers is so great that even a single individual who can speak and write the English language adequately can become one in his own right.

To many, becoming a writer is borne out of necessity and demand. Necessity because of the utmost desire to earn money which is met by business owners high demand for writers to run their businesses. Posting comments on forums or blogs are just a couple of jobs for writers that are in such demands on the internet right now. The average Joe usually starts out this way in his writing career borne out of necessity to earn money online. But along the way, he will be left with no choice but to go to the next level which is article rewriting whose sole purpose is to duplicate an original content without anyone noticing it.

Writing articles with original content is the ultimate goal of anyone who aspires to become a writer. Being able to write an original content will give the average Joe that feeling of satisfaction that finally he did it and he indeed can be justifiably called a writer. This is one jobs for writers that is also in such high demand that if you can write 5 to 10 original articles per day, then you will be earning quite handsomely.

One such demand for jobs for writers that is often overlooked by many is writing reviews whose earning potential is also quite good. It is just a matter of finding the right products to write reviews of and it is much better that if you own these products. But there are many business entrepreneurs out there who will hire your services to write reviews for them.

The possibilities for jobs for writers are boundless and there will be new demands for them just waiting to emerge and as long as they are present then there is no reason for you not to hop in into the bandwagon and start earning right away.

But becoming a successful freelance writer would also require some correct strategy and sacrifice on your part. It is no secret that you will be up against stiff competition vying for your services to the buyer. The best thing that you can do is to bid as low as you can and provide the buyer past samples of your work, and if he is impress with them, then he might close the bidding and hire you right away. Another important tip is strive hard to get your first positive feedback as much as possible. Once you have that, then you will become much more visible to the buyers.

By Evelyn Vargas

Online freelancing is one of the best ways to augment your income specially if you are not yet ready to put up your own physical business. Most of the opportunities waiting for you do not require money as starting capital. If it requires, it would be $10 for the domain name and another $50 for the web host company. Here is a list of freelance jobs that you can try to earn cash from the internet:

• Content writer. Google is thirsty for content in all formats – text, audio, video, image, etc. There is a seemingly endless opportunity for bloggers and writers to work online. All internet-based businesses, regardless of niche, need people who can produce high-quality articles for them. These articles are used to rank higher in Google search results and to drive traffic to a particular blog.

• SEO specialist. Internet marketers and business owners are in need of experts in search engine optimization. You can earn serious amounts of cash from this profession if you are really good. The task is to help clients to get on top of Google ranking. If you can show fast results, bonuses and the chance for a long-term contract await you.

• Virtual assistant. This is probably the most popular online job of this generation. The tasks are mostly clerical and compensation is from $5 to $125 per hour. Anyone can do it as long as you have a computer and internet connection, you can follow simple instructions, you can deliver on time and you have the right attitude towards work.

• Web designer. Requires knowledge and expertise in Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, PHP coding, etc. Web designers are one of the most highly paid freelancers in the online industry. They can transform a dull and boring website theme into an exciting and amazing one by using colors and correct HTML tagging, tweaking of CSS (custom style sheet), and by just being creative.

• Graphic Artist. Web masters and employers are also in need of people who can convert images from JPG to vector. If you are an expert in graphics and designing of t-shirts, mugs and accessories, take advantage of this opportunity to showcase your talent and earn money at the same time.

• Data entry specialist. This is the easiest task of all. If you have the basic knowledge of Microsoft Office – Word, PowerPoint, particularly Excel – then you can take this as a part-time job. The salary is not at all glamorous but the extra shopping cash that you can earn from this gig will surely put a smile on your face.

There are other online gigs to choose from but those mentioned above are highly in demand. However, if your goal is to really make lots of money, consider putting up your own virtual solutions company and get people to work for you.

The relationship differences are vast and changing rapidly in differences. Online dating is now moving further afield into more and more social platforms, such as Facebook, Badoo and even LinkedIn (for professionals). The worrying part of all this is how face to face communication has almost been removed from the initial relationship equation and been replaced to the always-on, electronic equivalent of both email and online messaging, to make those initial hook-ups with a potential partner.

Does this mean we are becoming further removed from a connected relationship? Is it a fundamental breakdown in how human beings should communicate? Or are we just moving with the times? Several leading researchers suggest Facebook will lead the charge in online dating as well as how we behave in our relationships.