2009 – a big year for Nick Bowditch Travel

2009 has been a great year for my business. I have grown a lot in a time when retail travel, and small business in general, has seen a huge decline.

The Global Financial Crisis has taken its toll on quite a few businesses that I know of this year, but I am very proud (and relieved) to say that mine has not been one of them.

I wanted to share a few stats with you of things that Nick Bowditch Travel has been able to achieve as well as include you in my planning (and pipedreaming) for the direction of the business in 2010.

During the calendar year of 2009:

- I built my following on Twitter up from 38 to 2,742 followers by tweeting (3,641 times) about interesting and good content and trying to help promote other people’s small businesses as much as possible too.

- I launched the Twitter Head Start Package to help other small business owners achieve a similar success using Twitter.

- The fan base of my Facebook Page grew from 3 to 336 fans including some custom content and helping other small business owners customise their own facebook pages as well.

- My connections on LinkedIn have grown to 118 and this is something that I definitely want to do a better job of growing in 2010.

- I was able to help more than 20 other tourism-based small businesses promote their products and services and grow their business by developing unique social media strategies for them.

- I did 6 keynote speaking engagements towards the end of the year and with the same amount already booked for 2010, I think this could be a big part of my business through next year.

- I had more than 30 of my articles posted on other business’ websites throughout the year.

- One of my ebooks, “32 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started on Twitter” was downloaded 2,612 times between September and December.

- I was approached by a local Community College to conduct a course, “Social Media Strategy for Small Business” which will commence in February 2010.

- I started writing my first hard-copy book, “The Business of Being David – How to use social media to make your small business big“ which will be released in 2010 also (you can reserve your copy now).

- I gave away four ipods, several travel vouchers, movie passes and a week for 2 in Thailand as prizes to various competitions run on social networks and through my website.

- I was able to publish the writing of 11 guest writers who have all supported the site well and kept the content fresh and interesting.

- I improved my ranking on Google from somewhere in the 100′s right up to number 5 on the first page for my keyword search phrase “family travel”.

- My database of customers grew from 102 to 4,820 between January and December.

- Gross sales of travel packages, flights, accommodation, transfers and tours grew by 77% over 2008.

- Sales from my online store also grew in 2009, up by 44% over 2008 sales.

And all of this without maintaining a shopfront in a shopping centre or doing any mainstream or conventional advertising, and with a staff of just one and a half people (thanks Kel), although I am still on the hunt for the right person to join us.

I couldn’t have experienced any of that growth without a lot of help and support from both my clients and other business connections I have made, but also my beautiful family who make all the late nights and working on weekends worth it.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support, generosity and kindness in helping me establish my business in a competitive and at times cut-throat market. 2010 is going to be an even bigger year for Nick Bowditch Travel and I sincerely hope that it is a successful, happy and safe year for all of you as well.

Merry Christmas from Nick Bowditch Travel.

Nick

Tagged as: 2009, 2010, family travel, growth