Everyone is doing, so why not -
2008 in review for CruiseSource.us
Highlights –
- Hit 12,000 visitors a month in September.
- Gave away first cruise ever on Twitter.com
- Jessica and I cruised on the Carnival Destiny – with live blog posts and pics from ship.
- @CruiseSource was recognized by some of Social Media’s brightest for use of Twitter.
- Wrote over a hundred of original articles on cruising
- Only Site that aggregated all of the cruise lines impacts during the very active hurricane season.
- Created a fun partnership with Madgringo.com!
Details of the highlights:
I set goals at Dec. 2007 for 2008. At that time CruiseSource.us was getting about 1000 visitors per month. I set a goal of hitting 10,000 visitors per month which was fairly absurd, but I believe in setting very high goals. In September 2009, CruiseSource.us hit over 12,000 visitors. Most of these visitors were coming to CruiseSource.us because it was the only place that aggregated all CruiseLine Impacts due to the Hurricanes and I was updating it 4 times daily. My brother and Sister-in-Law were set to be on a Cruise that looked like it had a good chance of being cancelled due to the Hurricanes. I was giving my family and other cruisers advice real-time on the blog.
I did not post 5 times weekly like I had intended. My main goal is to post original content that offers free advice to cruisers and I feel like I accomplished it. Unfortunately, due to time constraints I did not post 5 times weekly. This year my goal is to post on a regular schedule and to post 4 times per week.
This year we started using Twitter in October. We did live reviews and pics from the Carnival Destiny with the use of Twitter.com. Our use on Twitter has increased our readership and has gotten us noticed by some of Social Media’s brightest! It helps that we gave away the first cruise ever via Twitter.com to one of our followers!
Through Twitter we partnered up with MadGringo.com (home of sweet Hawaiian Shirts perfect for cruising) to do joint promotions, group cruises, giveaways, and Deal Promotion. MagGringo.com brings the life to the party and were a great partner in the free cruise giveaway. We look forward to growing this partnership as well as partnering with other brands that fit well with FUN Cruising.
2008 was an exciting year for CruiseSource.us. No one was able to completely avoid the mass pessimism during the Financial MeltDown of 2008, but we did our best to continuing pushing forward. Cruising proved to be an escape from reality for many during those months…and as the economy starts to come off its bottom in 2009 cruising will flex its muscle as being the best value for your vacation dollar. CruiseSource.us has some fun events in store for 2009, but do not want to much details in case any is listening…just keep checking back because you do not want to miss a free cruise give away again, do you?
I wish all of you and your family’s great health and wealth in 2009….always feel free to post comments with questions about cruising, they will be answered that day.
Happy Sailing ~ Rich Tucker
