While it’s always been easy to find yourself amongst the bustle of Lygon or Chapel St, the lights of the MCG, or the corridors of the National Gallery, there are now a number of online tools that have unlocked the hidden gems of Melbourne’s underground.

Whether you are planning a night out or a solo tour to catch up on some culture, here are a few of the best websites showcase the best of what Melbourne has to offer.

Threethousand.com.au

Threethousand is a hipster’s guide to the arts scene of Melbourne (postcode 3000) and its surrounds. Operating as an online magazine with a small team of editorial staff and photographers this looks to filter the very best of Melbourne’s local arts culture. Split into categories such as “eat” “play” “stray” “watch” “make” the Thousands (they also operate in Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney) offer an often cheeky view on experiences such as how to make a frozen banana or build your own “herb fortress”, as well as a great range of book, music and theatre reviews.

The cultural calendar on the site is the most useful feature with great events every day of the year.

Thatsmelbourne.com.au

This is a slightly more mainstream and family oriented site that is run by the City of Melbourne. It offers thousands of events and ideas for trips in and around the city as well as links to longer weekend trips around Victoria. The ‘What’s on’ section is the most useful if you are looking to fill your day. This one is perfect for the upcoming school holidays.

Urbanspoon.com.au

Part of the global Urban Spoon network this harnesses the networked potential of bloggers across the city to give a citizens guide of the best places to eat in town. You can filter your search by location and price and then go on to read the experiences of hundreds of diners. After you’ve chosen a place to eat you can return and place your own voice on the site! On the whole it is a fairly reliable indicator of a good feed, but unless you have booked, steer clear of any restaurants in the top 10 as they will almost certainly be full!

Also Check out

BROADSHEET MELBOURNE – Food/Drink and Culture

BAR ENGINE – Nightlife

BEAT MAGAZINE – Melbourne Music Guide

But, even better than any of these sites will be your friendly guide at reception who will be able to point you in the right direction for a great Melbourne experience.

It got me thinking… is this because people use the internet for all their research these days? If so, by the time they actually pick up the phone to call us, they’ve effectively narrowed down their search to a select few properties, and they may have a couple of specific questions to help them make their decision. How do you decide where to stay when you go away on holidays or for business travel?

It’s kind of sad that the internet has taken much of the personal touch out of booking your accommodation. We love chatting to prospective guests and getting excited with them about their upcoming trip. It’s a great opportunity to offer advice on various attractions, transport options, our favourite place to grab a coffee etc.

Our use of social media has helped bridge this gap between the non-personal research/booking formula to have us offering the type of ‘personalities’ that our guests will encounter over the phone or when they arrive. However, our input into social media can only be of use as a selling tool for those who want to listen/ engage. To everyone else it may just come across as ‘noise’, or something else to interrupt their day. I hope not. But I’m sure there are people out there who feel that way!

So I’m interested in hearing what processes you go through when booking your accommodation. Do you do it the ‘old-fashioned’ way and pick up the phone? Or do you prefer to email/ enter your details into online booking forms to secure your accommodation?

Remember that we LOVE to hear our phone ringing, and being able to provide a more personalised service over the phone. Try it next time, you’ll be surprised at the additional extras you might even get thrown in for your stay

Who would have thought that a social media networking site, that started out with a flash idea from a university whizz kid, would have exploded into the world phenomenon it is today? Facebook helps us to not only keep tabs on our ex’s, but to branch out and network with people and companies we would otherwise not be in contact with. Facebook has opened an endless amount of opportunities for local and international businesses all over the world, and here at Caroline Serviced Apartments we have been sure to jump on the band wagon!

We not only use Facebook to stay in touch with previous, current and future guests, but we give guests the opportunity to experience our apartments. Jump onto our fan page to find out information about up and coming events in Melbourne, tips on what to do while you stay, check out new photos of each property, score yourself a great freebie (yes we have competitions ALL the time, you can even win a FREE night at one of our beautiful apartments!) or score a discount for your next stay. Feel free to hit up some of us local girls to find out what we like to do in our spare time so you can begin to plan your holiday!

It’s as easy as becoming a ‘Fan’. Click the following link and your on your way Facebook fun!:

http://www.facebook.com/CarolineServicedApartments

So what are you waiting for? Endless discounts and prizes await….!!!

The internet, global travel agent intranets and increased competition have all played a part in changing the way we run Caroline Serviced Apartments. The job itself continues to evolve as we adopt new ways of marketing ourselves, and improve our knowledge of our industry.

Here are six ways in which our business has changed in the last six years:

• The internet levels the playing field: The internet has enabled a small business like ours to compete with the bigger hotel chains globally. It helps even the smallest of businesses reach their most ideal client base… or better yet, have that target market find them.

• The internet has changed how people shop around: The information available online about any topic, product, service or business has completely changed the job of sales person. The phone used to ring off the hook throughout the day. We used to negotiate rates with prospective guests on most calls, and hear more about their specific needs before they made their booking.

• Online Booking sites were once only for last-minute availability: A couple of online booking sites was all that was needed to sell those last minute rooms, at super discounted prices. A room sold with a 25% discount is better than an empty room at full price when it comes to last minute sales. Now a number of 3rd party websites enable us to have inventory & rates listed for up to 365 days in advance! This offers a huge opportunity for offering better rates for quieter months etc.

• Hotel Websites a useful tool, and the booking engine was once optional: Our website used to be seen as a way to show our location, show photos of a couple of our best rooms and then hope that this would be enough for people to call. When we introduced an online booking engine to our website, we met it with suspicion and distrust (hilarious now when I think about it). Now we use our website to show people exactly what they are booking, and not just showing our top room. We feel this transparency builds trust from our prospective guests, as we have nothing to hide. We’re proud of our product!

• Yellow Pages, once were necessary for advertising: There was a time when it was essential to pay for an advertisement in the Yellow Pages. Delivered to every house, it was a sure fire way of getting your business noticed. Not anymore. The Yellow Pages is more useful as a door stop these days! We no longer list ourselves in the Yellow Pages. Now, most of our paid advertising is done in Search and Display campaigns. This has proved play a key role in getting our brand name noticed on a global level.

• Low cost advertising used to only reach a small, chosen market: In the past, if we wanted to advertise something specific but not launch into a full paid advertising campaign we would probably have had to get on the phone and call people, or produce an email or flyer. Now, there are so many opportunities to reach out to target markets (and beyond), thanks to the Social Media phenomenon. We Tweet daily and/or update our Facebook Page to let people know if we have a special offer available. But beyond this, we also make use of our YouTube channel or our Flickr photos to show guest testimonials, our rooms, our locations and our staff. Have you connected with us via any of these platforms? If the answer is no, then I suggest you check it out. We love that Facebook and Twitter offer us a quick way to respond to any questions or feedback from our guests, as well as allowing us to connect with them and offer advice or ideas of things to do/ specials at local restaurants etc while they are staying with us.

The internet has completely changed the face of our business in the last few years! Sometimes I do miss the days when someone would call up and I could spend some time going over all the features and descriptions of our room types, and they would make a decision straight away. But I have to say that I love embracing all of this new technology – as it’s just helping us get the name Caroline further and further out there!

What about you? We’d love to hear about how the internet has changed the way you find accommodation when you travel. Or how do you feel about the changes in your own business or industry with regards to how the internet?

Thinktank Media's Ben & Sam with Ali (and some serious long Island Iced Tea's)

This Blog for Caroline Serviced Apartments first went live in mid-2009 when the awesome team at Thinktank Media assisted our plunge into the Social Media world. Originally, we aimed to provide content on our apartments, activities in the local area, and other topics that our staff believe may be of interest to our guests (like Alex’s yummy recipes). We also hoped to provide a welcoming ‘face’ to our company branding, and letting our personalities shine through in our posts. We believe our apartments speak for themselves on our website, and even more so when you actually visit them in person. So this blog is another way for us to add value, or help our guests feel comfortable with our team even before they’ve met us in person!

When I first began brainstorming ideas for blog posts, I realised I have quite a repertoire of stories of life behind the scenes in the accommodation industry. Every day we welcome new guests into our properties, who share with us their own stories (and occasional drama). While stories of guest antics would probably make a fairly decent read, it could also scare travelers away from us. So it’s a fine line walked between providing privacy to guests, and offering enough intrigue to appeal to readers. If I wrote a post about those crazy antics of guests, you probably won’t believe me when you read it anyway!

Anna & Ali on a cold night out

A blog provides us with a medium in which we can engage with our guests. Sometimes I am convinced that no one is reading our posts, as comments are rarely made (or if they are it is often just spam from other accommodation providers in Bangalore). What if anyone who finds our blog just thinks we’re all weirdo’s? Are we really adding any value to our guest experiences? Travelers tend to be more active on social websites such as Facebook, Twitter, TripAdvisor or other online communities.

Writing a blog post takes time. I often write my posts in the comfort of my home in the evenings after a busy working day (with a nice glass of wine in hand). I find it very difficult to allocate a solid couple of hours during business hours to write a post. What with the phone ringing, the guests arriving, the housekeepers fluttering about, and the staff always wanting to ‘run something by me’ – it’s hard to escape the constant busy-ness of this business! However, I’m passionate about this blog, and hope that it offers some value to our readers.

Imogene has recently joined the team

If nothing else, I hope this blog shows off the amazing team that we have here at Caroline Apartments. I’ve named this post ‘Are We There Yet?’ because we have just gone through a massive staffing restructure and we’re very excited to have 2 new team members joining us! We’ll let them get a bit more settled in their role before they start developing blog posts though… The whole team seem to eat up the opportunity to put their stamp of individuality on our business via the blog – even though I often hear that they have trouble starting out on a new post. I’m confident that once they find the writing style that they’re comfortable with, they’ll be able to provide some great content.

So why do we keep this blog going? The blog has become part of our culture, bringing people to our site who may not have found us otherwise, and giving our guests a taste of what to expect before they check-in. We hope to continue bringing fresh ideas and content to our blog, and welcome any suggestions or feedback that you may have.

Alex & Agg on a staff night out

We may be a small company, but we aim for BIG impact and LOVE making new connections!

Recently, I was ‘checking-in’ while at the hairdressers, and the manager wanted to hear all about why I use Foursquare. My answers went beyond my competitive streak of gaining badges as rewards for visiting a certain number of venues, or for being the weekly winner (amongst my friends) for having the most ‘check-ins’. I realised that Foursquare is a perfect way for small business to promote themselves and their services. Using my hair salon as an example, I explained to the manager that she could offer specials to Foursquare users, or a little discount to whoever is the Mayor of the venue. Each time someone checks-in at a venue, they are promoting that venue. They are helping get the place noticed by others who also use Foursquare.

Here’s five reasons why Foursquare could offer great marketing potential for business:

• Tips from Foursquare users can help promote the venue. I could be in a shop, and while ‘checking in’, I may also have a look at what other Foursquare users have added as Tips on places nearby. Someone may have suggested that the cafe next door has the best coffee…. so of course I am going to test that out (there’s that competitive streak shining through again)!

• Tips from Foursquare users can help improve the service offered. Not all feedback is bad. Foursquare user tips that mention a flaw in a business could be used as a way of monitoring what customers are saying about your business. It could also help re-focus what your business is trying to achieve.

• Tourism. Businesses can learn where people are visiting in their local area, and why they might be coming to their area. This offers great potential for cities encouraging users to discover new places by offering Badges that are specific to that area. The little achievements (badges and points) that Foursquare offers, really do encourage users to get out and visit more places.

• Foursquare users also share their locations on other Social media platforms. Each time someone ‘checks-in’ at a venue, they are able to share this on Twitter, Facebook and with their Foursquare friends – that enables a business name & location to appear on all of those channels. Free advertising!

• Make a game of it. Businesses could encourage Foursquare users to visit their venue by offering a weekly prize to the person who manages to have the most check-ins at that location each week. This type of marketing tool encourages repeat business, ensures exposure through multiple ‘check-ins’ and has the potential to virally spread to encourage new customers.

At Caroline Serviced Apartments we make a real game of Foursquare. It has brought out the worst (or best?) competitive streak amongst our Front Office team. We have been battling it out to steal the title of Mayor of Caroline Apartments off each other, and we have fun trying to top each others stats on the weekly leader board. This little office banter we have is a good giggle, and addictive! It doesn’t have to be too invasive, ie we may not always want our co-workers to know where we are at all times – so the functionality of going “off the grid” still helps us get our points or badges, without letting anyone know our exact location. As much as I love my friends, I know they don’t really want to know that I am doing my grocery shopping at Safeway!

If you’re wondering how Caroline Serviced Apartments are using Foursquare to help promote our business… here’s a little sneak peak at a challenge we have set for Foursquare users on our Facebook Page. We’re asking for people to visit one of our properties (in Brighton or South Yarra) and ‘check-in’ on Foursquare at the venue sometime before 2pm Friday 16th April, to win a prize that’s well worth the effort!

After reading this great blog post (from Jade Craven & ThinkTank Media) on Twitter Lists, we put together all of our new found knowledge to try to make some sense of this new feature of Twitter…

How do we use Twitter Lists?

Twitter lists have made it so much easier for us to categorise the people or companies that we follow on Twitter. We have created lists based on industry, geography, clients, connectors and activities in our area.

Industry

This has helped us group together all of our peers (accommodation providers) around the world. We can easily keep up with trends in our industry.  We use this to see how other hotels are utilizing their Twitter accounts, and also to find some really useful links on marketing or industry trends. It actually has reinforced to us that we are leaders amongst our competitors, as we have created a Twitter community that we engage with on a daily basis.

Geography

Our business is located in 2 areas of Melbourne. So we have created one list for South Yarra businesses and another for the Brighton area. We’re hoping to increase these lists as more local businesses get on board with the power of Twitter, but so far it is fairly limited, and not as useful as it could be. If we had more businesses to add to these lists it would be a fantastic opportunity to cross-promote other businesses and create close relationships that help bring more people to our local areas.

Clients

At Caroline Serviced Apartments we have a number of large corporations that send their employees to stay with us whilst working on projects in Melbourne. This Twitter list has only a few of our clients on it, at this early stage and we hope to find more of them utilizing Twitter in the near future.  We hope to be able to follow and provide support for the company progressions.

Connectors

There are a number of Travel Bloggers and Twitter networking events that we can bounce off to improve our profile within Social Media platforms. Travel Bloggers may even be able to use our accommodation for a review on their blog, or offer our accommodation as a prize in their own competitions. Twitter networkers such as @tweetupmellers is an invaluable source of people that we’ve met face-to-face. Although it’s great to chat to people online, there really is something to be said for meeting people in the flesh! Now we’ve met lots of the people at TweetUpMellers, they also now have a connection in the accommodation industry in Melbourne, so that they can recommend us to their clients or friends. Connecting is all about sharing!

Activities

I made a separate list for Melbourne Activities after discovering several individuals or companies who have some outstanding content on things to do in Melbourne.  At our Brighton Property we provide  ‘daily news’ for our guests with suggestions of activities and restaurants , so this list is a great source of ideas! It provides a ‘locals’ perspective on some cool things to get involved in around Melbourne.

It’s a good start…

Although some of our lists are more useful than others at the moment, we see the  potential that some lists can bring. Now all we need is more businesses and good connectors to become involved in Twitter!!! It’s not as scary as they may think!

 
Let us introduce ourselves first then tell you guys why we are here.
 
Ali and Mei-Li (that is pronounced May-Lee) are adventurous, excitable and vivacious girls who are totally amazed by this space; social media. We have hooked up with Sam Mutimer from Thinktank Media who is cramming us with knowledge on how to use this space to connect with our clients; past, present & future. You maybe thinking now we work for some sort of escort agency… but actually we are managers of a brand of fabulous serviced apartments in Melbourne.

Caroline Serviced Apartments are luxuriously appointed apartments in some of Melbournes’ best locations (South Yarra, Brighton, Melbourne CBD) and we want to let everyone whose interested know about us! We want to show everyone how fun loving and accesible our staff and apartments can be! And we want to stay connected on a whole new level!
 
So what to expect in this blog? Expect everything!!! Expect the unusual, the quirky, the useful, the eye-opening, the crazy and of course a lot of ourselves. Most importantly we want to engage our guests and fans in social banter and do keep an eye out for competitions where the winner will actually recieve a PRIZE! For real.
 
What do you readers what to see in our blog? Let us know…