April 2012 Newsletter
My Favourites are now more social…
Over the last year, we’ve been steadily building a stronger presence on Twitter to provide information to holiday cottage owners as part of our services for My Holiday Marketing. Over the last month, we have successfully expanded this to include a new Facebook page for owners. We’re also pleased to announce that we have established new Twitter and Facebook pages to attract potential bookers to your listings on My Favourite Holiday Cottages, all of which are and will continue to contribute to the steady increase in visitors to the site.
To get the ball rolling, we’d love it if you could ‘like’ and follow the pages by clicking on the links below. We’d appreciate the extra support – and as this will help drive more traffic to the site, it’ll also benefit your listing.
(My Favourite Holiday Cottages) Twitter Facebook
Design Modifications
We always like to place as much emphasis as possible on visitors seeing your photographs; they create the emotional attachment that acts as the starting point to get people to book your property. To support this, we’ve changed the layout of our search pages so that all photographs are larger and each result is more clearly laid out so that they can see your main photograph as clearly as possible. An example of our new layout is below...
Guest Posts
We recently published a fantastic article by Paul Johnson, who supplied us with an excellent article on ‘The Perfect Time to Visit the Lake District’.
If you have an article about your property and the surrounding area that would appeal to potential bookers, then feel free to email it to info@mfhc.co.uk, and we’ll publish it on the website. It will provide you with some good publicity and additional links to your site.
Meebo…
You may have seen a number of new boxes around our site with the word ‘Meebo’ in the corner. Try it out! This is a new live help function, so if you have a problem whilst you are on the site, start typing in your question or comment, and we’ll be able to respond immediately.
Top Tips for Welcome Packs.
Rick recently wrote a fantastic blog article based on feedback from other holiday cottage owners about top tips for welcome packs. We’d love you to read and see your thoughts about the article. If you want to suggest an article topic for us to blog about, contact us at info@mfhc.co.uk, and we’ll look into it.
Correct and improve Us...
We’re always keen to hear what you think of the site and any improvements we could make. Over the next month, we’re focusing on more ways to optimise the site to maintain the increase in the number of bookers using the site and make the content on My Favourites more ‘social’ so even more people on Twitter and Facebook can see your properties. We look forward to hearing from you.
If you know anybody in these areas who would like to sign up for My Favourite Holiday Cottages, please get in touch...
The Perfect Time to Visit the Lake District
The Lake District has long been a favourite with writers, artists, poets and holidaymakers. But when is the best time to visit? Summer days can be beautiful but busy... the Winter months can be equally stunning yet much quieter, and the Autumn colours should not be missed, particularly if you’re an avid photographer. However, one of the best times to visit is coming up right now... so without further ado, why not consider a trip this May?
Why in May, you might wonder? Well... it’s a really beautiful time of year. The days are getting longer, typically with more sunshine and less rain. The Easter rush has passed, and the Summer influx has yet to come.
(Historically, May is one of the driest months of the year in Cumbria.) And whilst the host of golden daffodils might be past their best, there are carpets of bluebells in bloom everywhere. England is the best place in the world to see bluebells, and the woodlands of the Lake District offer some fantastic examples. Trees are also in bloom, rhododendrons are flowering, and the white blossom of the damson trees in the Lyth Valley is not to be missed.
Also, with the tourist season fully underway (the main season runs from April to the end of October), the local calendars are brimming with all events, whether you enjoy outdoor pursuits or something a little more laid back.
The Fred Whitton Challenge is a cycling sportive for those who enjoy a rigorous challenge. It takes in 112 miles of road cycling over some of the most challenging routes in the Lake District, with the fastest completing the route in around 6 hours. If two wheels aren’t your thing, but you still enjoy a tough challenge, you could tackle the Brathay Windermere Marathon on 20th May - it’s a full marathon (26.2 miles) but much more challenging than the more well-known marathons such as London because it takes in several climbs along the way. And, if you’re really brave (and extremely fit!), you could tackle the ‘10 in 10’ (11th-20th May), which requires you to do the Brathay Windermere Marathon 10 times in 10 consecutive days!
If, like most people, you prefer a more sedate and relaxing introduction to the Lake District, don’t despair... there are lots of other things going on to whet your appetite. For example, there’s the Keswick Jazz Festival (3rd-6th May) in the north of the county, the Cartmel Medieval Festival (4th and 5th May), the Cross Bay Walk across Morecambe Bay (2 weekends in May), Music on the Terrace at Brochole near Ambleside (22nd May), Kendal Farmers Market (25th May) and the Westmorland County Show not far from Kendal (26th and 27th May).
Whatever your preference, May is a wonderful time to visit the area and see what the Lake District offers. Paul Johnson is the owner of the beautiful Riverside Apartment in Kendal, on the edge of the Lake District National Park
Where are your favourite corners of the Lake District in summer? Add your suggestions to the comments box. (Please note that all comments are moderated before publication to prevent spam).
Suggested Cottages
We have selected a choice of holiday cottages of different sizes in scenic rural Lake District locations. Click the cottage name to view more images and information.
Hullet Hall on the shores of Lake Windermere. This Graythwaite Estate Cottage sleeps 6
Hazel Seat - sleeps 8
Hazel Seat is a large holiday cottage with an indoor pool on Lake Windermere.
Hammerhole is a large lakeside Cumbrian Cottage with its own jetty and boat mooring.
For more Lake District Cottages to book, click here to view our complete Lake District Holiday Cottages collection.
Photo credit: Hatters Cottage in Hawkshead