How do we take an epiphany, and turn it into a brand; a trusted source of information; and a new business model for a new Web? Hotel Chatter (www.hotelchatter.com) is a study in product development from inkling to implementation. In 2003, Mark Johnson made a study of successful Web logs, and identified an opportunity in the viral growth of their popularity. Blogs were taking over the webscape as the main source of information for the digerati. In short, people trust the insights and exchanges of a thoughtful and verbose blogging community.

Drilling for Potential

Focusing on the authoritative status bestowed upon blogs, Mark decided to create a commercial Web log. He tailored a business model to the blog's ability to make meaningful suggestions to an audience of hotel consumers.

That was the easy part.

What's in a Name?

To capitalize on blog marketing, sincerity would be the key to success. The blogging and travel community would not easily accept a sudden corporate presence into its fold -- Hotels (from which the site would derive its income by way of referrals and advertisements) would prefer to be affiliate with an authoritative, professional entity. We looked for a name that captured the energy of the intended audience; a name that described the site's purpose and stuck in the mind; neither irreverent nor conservative. We also needed to be cognizant of domain names. Ease of typing and availability would play a part in our quest for the right label.

Honing in on a Niche

We took the seeds of Mark's idea and looked for different ways to successfully apply it to a new Website. We built a site that leverages the power of search engines, feeds off the dynamic nature of the blog format, and builds a powerful, robust data base of niche information. Having decided on tapping into the dynamic online community of travel writers and globe trotters, hotel reviews and referrals became the target, participatory journalism the catalyst, and top notch design would be the face to the outside world.

HOTEL CHATTER: A brand, born and raised.

After buying the domain name, we got to work building a community driven site that would combine ease of use with graduated accessibility. By allowing anybody to become a contributor, Hotel Chatter could grow at a phenomenal rate. The wider the breadth of its content, to more useful it would be. Everything about the development of Hotel Chatter was rapid. We developed an identity, site design, information architecture and payment mechanism within a few weeks.
       To shop the site around to potential sponsors, Hotel Chatter needed a press kit. We designed and produced kits that could be reproduced and updated quickly. As Hotel Chatter grew so would the press kit.
       The site was crafted with search engines in mind. If a person types a desired destination into Google, we wanted to be sure the relevant review within Hotel Chatter came up on the first result page.
       Hotel Chatter needed to project outside of its domain, so we developed an email digest and RSS feed implementation to syndicate content into different realms of the digital world.
       Pushing hard to create awareness of Hotel Chatter paid off. within three months of it launch, Time Magazine had picked it up with a glowing review. Since then the site has been touted by The Mercury News and the Boston Globe. Hotel Chatter has become the definitive place to make lodging plans, with literally thousands of reviews.