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[ourinns]

Whole Earth Guide looks better when there's more stuff in it. It's a development of our listings sites www.ourbedandbreakfasts.com and www.ourvacationrentalhomes.com though none of the three is totally live as yet.

I'm in two minds about the Amazon context links myself. They're on as a trial to see what happens but, so far, it's a matter of pence income. I'm also none too keen on the way that they look like proper links but aren't.

The adsense appears all over because one or two areas of the site aren't enabled as yet. Coming fairly soon is the regional guide feature which will push the ads down somewhat. That also happens when I add more regions as you can see on the B&B listing sister site. In due course, I'll be replacing the right hand adsense column with entries taken from the listings sites.

Mind you, you'll need to think about the design AND concept if you want to compete with the likes of World Reviewer

Well.... as it happens Whole Earth is listing quite well on google on searches. Number two on "giants causeway pipe" on google.co.uk for example. Granted, I'm sure that's not a fantastically popular search but still pretty good going for a site registered under a month ago and for which there's been no promotion as yet.

What I'll be doing in due course (sometime pre-Christmas probably) is to start cross-linking the accommodation listings sites with the guide which should take up the traffic somewhat.

Actually, the one thing that'll probably take the traffic up the most is what I did this morning which is to copy a couple of the expat banking topics from foreign perspectives to whole earth. You'd be amazed at how popular the one on opening a bank account in America as a non-resident is!

Incidently, does anyone have any idea how google pagerank works on the likes of blogs? Although the homepage of foreign perspectives is PR4, I've noticed that what appears to be a considerable number of category pages are also at PR4 and indeed a number of individual posts have a higher PR than I would have expected.


Arnold

[Musetta]

My "blog" is really a combo travel blog/rental website but I'll add it here too! (no clue what the "other" thread is though...been offline a few weeks and so much to catch up on!)
http://SouthernItaly.wordpress.com

[Ju]

We now have a dedicated site for the blog www.vendeeblog.net . It is Jon's ramblings (not mine you'll be pleased to here!).

Ju

[altyfc]

I have a blog covering issues relating to the luxury travel industry at http://www.aluxurytravelblog.com as well as various personal blogs.

[Thomas BC]

I have just started a blog that focuses on green issues and environmental issues for both holiday home-owners and holiday-makers alike.

http://greengite.blogspot.com/

I decided to put the blog together because in researching what I can do as a holiday home-owner, I was surprised by the lack of simple and effective information out there. Oh there is a lot out there on EcoTourism, there are all sorts of organisations who produce Ecolabels and the like for holiday accommodations. But a lot of this is confusing, dense, difficult and expensive to implement. But there are lots of things we as holiday home-owners can do beyond the obvious (eg recycling and energy saving light bulbs) can do, and there are lots of things holiday-makers can do - but much of the information about these is scattered all over the web. I hope my blog will bring all this existing experience together, come up with new ideas, and ultimately make just a few people more aware. I think there is so much that can be done that does not need to be put across in a finger-wagging sort of way, and in a way that does not necessarily mean holiday-makers feel guilty about going on holiday!

It really is new, just went live yesterday, and so I am still in the process of sorting through all my research notes and getting things I want up.

I do hope some of you find something of use if not now sometime in the blog's development, and I look forward to seeing some contributions/comments.

I am looking for holiday home owners who really do go the extra mile to take into account green/environmental issues at their holiday property, and promote these to their guests. I am hoping for a reciprocal link arrangement, and perhaps a post about what you do (see example already there). Please pm me with details/proposals.

Many thanks
Thomas

[Garri]

Here's a list of places tagged: eco

And for the real hardcore greenists, here's a list of places tagged: off-grid

[Martha]

Nice, thomas! I have been looking into this for a while, as have a few others, look forward to reading it.

[Garri]

Thomas, have you heard of the Earthship in Normandy? Made of recycled tyres and earth.

I just performed a search using the tool we made (see my signature below) and found this:

Green gîte

The Guardian has nicked your name for their headline

[la vache!]

Thomas, have you heard of the Earthship in Normandy? Made of recycled tyres and earth.

I just performed a search using the tool we made (see my signature below) and found this:

Green gîte

The Guardian has nicked your name for their headline

It'll be interesting to see what their prices are like when they get round to advertising the accommodation. I'm sure there is a market, but I bet it won't be cheap to stay there. I wish my guests were more green aware and always switched off the heating when it isn't needed. And probably less than 50% of them ever pay attention to the recycling instructions and bags I provide for the purpose.

[Garri]

It'll be interesting to see what their prices are like when they get round to advertising the accommodation.

From £150 for a weekend (Fri-Sun), according to the article.

But I received a more informative response from the owner. They will start taking bookings in November for a March 2008 launch. Rental rates still tbc.

[Hells Bells]

Thomas, I have made a start at my apartment too, but no where near enough yet. Light bulbs are being replaced with energy-savers, and I am replacing the cleaning products with ecover or similar where possible.

[Thomas BC]

Thanks for the encouraging replies, and to Fire Bug for my first Comment

Helen, a start is better than nothing thats why I am doing the blog, because I have made a start and I want to take that next step.

Garri, thanks for the help - yes, I had seen the Earthship website - amazing. Like LV I too wait to see prices when these are confirmed. I have come across a few other people who are doing 'similar' projects but who do not receive this sort of media coverage - hopefully I will receive some 'diary' posts from them about their experiences and progress in due course.

LV, I get some of those guests too... too many of them actually. But I do think we, as the property owners, can do something to raise awareness of the issues. How about a 'Bin Bag Tax' ... Seriously, I have had guests here on a long term basis who went from three big bin bags a week to one big ban a week after I introduced them to recycling.
My second post is just about awareness raising, in a very good way ...I think.

The blog looks a bit French at the moment .... am hoping to expand geographically, so anyone from other parts of the world ... please get in touch or hang in there...material is on its way!

Thank agian
Thomas
http://greengite.blogspot.com/

[Stu]

We recycle wherever we can. Every light in our house is a low-wattage 'energy saver' type. Gawd, they're expensive. We burn wood with heat efficient wood-burning stoves that attain such a heat so as to burn the 'smoke' too. We compost, we have the chooks for eggs, and we breed cats for meat during the winter. How green are we?

On a more serious note, when working in West Wales, I came across a fantastic home built into the earth, facing westwards overlooking the sea. It had an earth covering and massive windows! My, what a view!

Later, I came across a guy called John Talbot. He's the brother of a friend, and works closely with Roger Dean, the famous artist. Together, they design and build Homes For Life.

I have been fortunate to meet John, and to explore one of the prototype 'pods'. I have to say that it's fantastically well designed, and I'd love to be able to offer up our spare acre or so to have a couple of these built into the ground as alternative holiday lets!

[Garri]

This is a blog for both holiday property-owners and holiday-makers.

Thomas, I feel you're being over ambitious with your audience and to be successful you'll need to focus on one group, which I would suggest the owners.

Start changing their ways, and that will eventually trickle down to the travel-consumers who book their holiday homes.

[la vache!]

I think it is a great idea Thomas - and I'll definitely be reading your blog and trying to educate the guests as much as possible. Does the fact that we have cows nearby negate everything though, as they are one of the main destroyers of the ozone layer?