I am visting family in Guayaquil Ecuador this week and I wanted to share my positive experience at the Hilton Hotel in Guayaquil Ecuador.  I have been a guest at this hotel a few years back but this trip was extra special because of all the money that has been recently invested in the property.

From what I gather from locals, the Hilton Colon Hotel in Guayaquil Ecuador, a popular destination for business and vacation travelers, is known for having the greatest selection of restaurants and specialty gourmet food provisions all under one roof.  The hotels multiple options for dining makes it Guayaquil’s most talked about hotel for a good night out with friends. 

American tourists and business travelers will easily know why I think that the Hilton Colon is THE place to stay in Guayquil. Convenience and variety are trademarks of the Hilton Colon which boasts six fine restaurants, upscale shopping, travel agencies, jewelry stores and even a bank.  It’s nice to be able to do all these things in the safety and comfort of the hotel.

Discriminating travelers heading to Ecuador will be rewarded with a wide selection of dining choices:  

• Terrua Wine Lounge - a fine wine bar serving a artisanal cheeses, meats and regional tapas dishes.
• Sal & Pimenta - A gourmet deli that offers fresh sandwiches, cakes, and wood fired brick oven pizza.
• Kioto – Guayaquil’s hip sushi bar serving fresh dishes and inspired cuisine
• Portofino – Guayaquil top destination for inspired International cuisine.
• Vereda Tropical Grill – A popular destination for mouth watering Argentina steaks and fresh seafood.  

New since my last trip, the Hilton Colon Hotel has recently added a full service spa and a state of the art work out facility.  Guests can now enjoy unmatched indulgence with the Hilton Colon’s exotic array of spa treatments.  The new fitness center features the latest technology in cardio equipment as well as a wide choice of nautilus and free weight equipment. 

The Hilton Colon’s Atrium Bar will reopen after a major renovation which is a popular lobby destination where upscale locals and hotel guests mingle.  The Atrium bar is the place to be for local star gazing and VIP guests from around the world.

The hotel is located just 5 minutes from the Guayaquil airport (GYE).  For additional information or to make a reservation, visit their website at: http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/GYEHIHF-Hilton-Col …

Brian Pasch, Automotive marketing expert, is scheduled to address attendees at the 6^th Annual Digital Dealer Conference in Las Vegas.  The 6th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition will be held at the Mirage, Las Vegas, from April 19-21, 2009.

Mr. Pasch is scheduled to speak on Monday April 20^th at 5:15 pm and will be reviewing effective Internet marketing strategies and automotive SEO techniques to increase dealer visibility on Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Celebrating its 6^th year, the conference has been growing in popularity due to its focus on cutting edge digital strategies to help car dealers become more effective and profitable in challenging markets. This year, hundreds of dealers from across the country are sending representatives to learn from the industry experts assembled for this exciting four day event.

Mr. Pasch will be encouraging seminar attendees to consider the many roles and personalities needed to compete on the Internet.  Brian Pasch has identified 10 distinct roles that automotive organizations will need to integrate into their Internet sales team. 

“The most valuable Internet Sales managers will be schizophrenic.” jokes Pasch, “The breadth of skills and personalities that are needed for car dealers to compete on the Internet are very diverse. I’ll be identifying ten important personalities that will give car dealers a competitive edge on the Internet.”

Automotive professionals who have not yet registered for the conference can obtain information on registration costs and conference agenda by visiting:  http://www.digitaldealerconference.com .   Automotive professionals can also call Richard Holley at 770-475-9870 for event registration information.

Conference attendees who would like to schedule a free personal consultation with Brian Pasch to discuss their Internet marketing needs, can make an appointment by calling 732-450-8200.  Appointments can be  made after business hours by sending  the Pasch Consulting Group an email at; info@paschconsulting.com.  Mr. Pasch will be available for appointment on Monday and Tuesday, April 20^th and 21^st.

If you are interested in reading more about the services the Pasch Consulting Group offers, you can visit their website and also subscribe to their Automotive SEO blog.

Why does one negative post on RipOffReport.com or ComplaintsBoard.com come up on Google Page One when I search my business name?

First of all the name of these websites, when they appear on a page of search results for your business name, is enough to unnerve you let alone  When your business name and RipOffReport.com is in the title a Google search result page it immediately implies that you have done something wrong.  When these complaint posts are resolved to the satisfaction of the consumer you will find that the post still stays up.  You might infer that the end game of these websites it to have something “bad” on every business name to drive traffic to their advertising campaigns.

Second, these websites make their living off of being sensational and controversial so doesn’t expect any common courtesy or concern how a post is negatively affecting your business.  The owners of these websites get daily threats and letters from lawyers but most are ignored.  This can be incredibly frustrating especially when businesses could be losing hundreds or thousands of dollars a week. 

Is there any protection from your competitors who decide to make false reports?  Not really.  If someone wants to attack there are numerous ways to defame another company anonymously.  So what is a company to do when the Internet has created a soapbox for anyone to instant create a global message? 

Companies need to have a strategy that includes but offensive and defense measures to control what consumers are writing about them on the Internet.  The companies that are hurt the most be sites like:

•  www.ripoffreport.com
•  www.complaintsboard.com
•  www.pissedconsumer.com

are businesses that implemented a proactive Internet Reputation Management strategy in place that ensured that there were ample positive reviews on the Internet to create a balanced view of their companies and its products or services.

The defensive elements of an Internet Reputation Management would start with ensuring that your business listing is correct in all the top consumer review websites.  Once this task has been completed, an email needs to be drafted that would simplify the task of your customers posting reviews on these sites. 

The customer participation email would have a few versions since there are a dozen places that you will eventually want to have your reviews posted. You would not want to have only one version that shows links to 10 different review websites; it would overwhelm your customers.  I would recommend that you don’t put more than 3 choices in a customer email.

Since there are about a dozen websites that should be considered for your IRM platform, your first email could link to the highest value review sites like Google Maps, Yahoo Local and Yelp.  Once these websites had ample reviews posted, you could send a second version of the email to target sites like InsiderPages, CitySearch and JudysBook.  The goal will be to have at least six positive reviews on the most popular public portals in your industry.

Do your research since every industry has specific high value web review properties.  For car dealers that website is www.dealerrater.com.  For restaurants they have a few high value sites like www.opentable.com and www.chowhound.com.  So, in addition to the well known review websites don’t overlook industry specific websites.

Keep in mind that only REAL customers should be posting.  Often computer IP addresses are checked when a review is posted so 10 reviews from the same IP address would most likely raise a flag and the posts removed. 

Fake reviews are often easy to spot.  Encourage your customers to be specific in their reviews and write about whom they dealt with in your company and what was their specific interaction with your business. In your email, ask them to close the review with their full name and the State/City they live in.  By adding a name the post has an extra degree of credibility rather than a review being signed as “J. Smith”.

The offensive elements on an Internet Reputation Management (IRM) campaign will be proprietary to the firm that you hire to assist you with your specific problem.  However, in effect, an Internet Reputation Management consultant will often employ highly focused SEO strategies and content publishing platforms to push these negative reviews off of page one.

If your business has not carefully review what has been written about your business on the Internet, take the time to assign that task immediately.  Then formulate a company IRM policy that addresses any immediate needs and protects your business from future attacks. Ignorance in this area of Internet Marketing can be costly.

Welcome to my latest blog to share random thoughts about Internet Marketing and enjoying your life!