I’m not sure if pointing the finger at anyone or any series of events will help me feel better about my observations over the last week as I have traveled through Italy.  This year I traveled to Lake Como, Bologna, Parma, Siena, Montalcino, Orvieto, and finally Rome.  I’m writing this blog post from my hotel room in Rome with a deep sense of loss.

For the past 15 years I have taken my annual pilgrimage to Italy with great joy so it is with great sadness that the luster has faded from my favorite European county.  The many attractive perks that this country once offered Americans are gone.  Even the local residents look sad and I don’t blame them.  With 15 year of travel to Italy as a perspective, in normal times the amount of tourism revenue would be twice what I observed on this trip.

Restaurants that were normally packed, are half filled.  Shops that were once bustling with activity, have little to no traffic.  Few tourists or residents were walking around with shopping bags indicating a recent purchase.

One morning, I ran through Siena on my morning jog, and the shopkeepers sweeping their sidewalks and washing their windows had no visible joy or energy.  It reminded me of  the movie “Ground Hog’s Day” with Bill Murray; these people were getting up each day facing the same economic challenges with no light at the end of the tunnel.

The Devaluation Of The US Dollar

The most obvious challenge today is the Euro to Dollar conversion which makes basic travel costs impossible for the average American.  When a buffet breakfast at a 4 star hotel costs $60 per person, you can see how my patience is being tried.   Fortunately, a great shot of espresso (cafe) is still less than 1 Euro.

Small local bars offering two eggs, toast, coffee and a juice are price at $15-$20 per person. Italy, which was once an amazing value for food, is no longer attractive to dollar holding tourists.  Imagine the food costs for a family of four traveling in Italy, and you can see why less American’s are coming to Italy in 2011.

For lunch, a simple plate of pasta pomodoro,  bread, a bottle of water, and cover charge will cost one person 18 Euros or about 27 dollars.  That’s without coffee and dessert.

Will Americans Stay Home

With these food prices, and a $1,500 coach ticket from Newark to Rome, will American’s continue to stay home?  A US family of four that spends one week in Italy in a city like Rome, and that would need two hotel rooms, would look something like this:

• Airfare:  $6,000
• Hotel Average Night:  $250 x 2 = $500 / night (min)
• Hotel For Week: $3,500
• Food For Week:  $4,000 (min)
• Taxi & Tours $400 (min)

So, without any gifts or extra special events, it would cost a family of four over $15,000 for one week in Italy.  If you want a rental car, budget another $1,000.   There are many places in the US a family could explore for a week and spend much less than $15,000.

I will not go into shopping prices but suffice it to say that the Nike store was 50-60% more expensive than back at home so there are no real bargains anymore with the dollar in such a devalued condition.

The Bright Side

As American’s come to the realization that their dollar is no longer the powerhouse it once was, will it awaken our country to keep our fiscal house in better order.  Will we demand changes in how Washington manages our money and investments which impact the future of our country?

I know the weak dollar will keep more Americans at home, which may also be a good boost to our economy.  For now, the Italians have no choice in making their country more affordable to Americans.  This of course is part of my sadness because both nations have always enjoyed a mutual respect and exchange of tourism.

For now, it look like the Italians will have a better deal if they come to America.

Today I had a great run in San Francisco with four friends. One was Adoni Maropis, who played Fayad in the TV series “24″.

Adoni is in great shape but the 9 mile run that we surprised him with today, a distance that he is not used to, got him pretty sore as we walked around SF tonight for dinner.

It got me thinking that even though Adoni works out regularly, and you can see that Adoni is in great shape, trying new things and flexing new muscles can really help us grow.

The running experience today will make Adoni stronger and healthier.

When I thought about Adoni, who is in such good shape, getting sore, it made me think of my own life and conditioning.

I reminded myself to develop disciplines to regularly flex NEW spiritual, mental, and emotional muscles.

I need to be pushing myself in all areas to grow and experience life in its fullest.  Life is really about balance.

I’m reading a book a week. I’m taking time to meditate. I’m setting out on new emotional paths. This is an exciting time for me.

Are you taking time to exercise all aspects of your being? When was the last time you were sore?

It is a great time to be in the digital marketing field as major shifts, twists and turns keep professionals nimble.  It’s also great to see automotive advertising budgets on the rise.

This month it’s Google+ and the +1 button are all the rage. I love my career because my being loves the challenges the Internet presents on a daily basis.

It is clear that Google is socializing search engine result pages (SERP). The addition of profile thumbnail photos, yellow review stars and +1 votes is a clear indication to me that these social signals will begin to more directly impact click paths and SEO rankings.

The visual power that yellow stars and photo thumbnails have to draw the eyeballs of shoppers to a specific section of a page is evidence enough that businesses that leverage these new opportunities WILL get more clicks.

All businesses that want to increase their online visibility need to pay attention to these major search and social marketing shifts.

Content Publishing Mandates

I have talked about Content Publishing strategies many times in the past and this marketing channel is becoming more urgent and meaningful than ever before.

Dealers need to implement a comprehensive content publishing strategy that leverages their fans and followers and the new social tools made available by Google.

Imagine what happens when you actively identify and connect with customers and local consumers who have the ability to +1 your digital assets. What happens when your dealership is attributed as the author of this well liked content? The answer is social relevance for your business.

Content Publishing Tools

Content publishing productivity can be increased over 300% with the use of content syndication tools like Dealer Syndicator, which is a web based software platform included in a dealer’s membership in the Automotive Advertising Network (AAN).

Members of the AAN can also increase the value of their content by integrating live inventory with their press releases, posts, testimonials and news stories. The live inventory increases the call to action of your content and each thumbnail creates an SEO backlink to your Vehicle Details Pages (VDP).

All dealer content published in the network of websites that comprise the AAN is enabled with the Google +1 button. As consumers like your content, they can add their personal “+1” mark to your articles. The AAN websites also support the new Google Authorship tags to increase the social authority of your content writers or very soon, for your business account.

As Google opens up Google+ to include business profile pages, content syndication will become an even greater benefit for car dealers. The key is to make it easy to write and syndicate content. Dealers also need multiple resources for publishing content on authoritative websites.

Dealer Syndicator

The Dealer Syndicator web based publishing platform and the thousands of websites in the AAN, give car dealers all that they need to start an effective content publishing strategy that leverages the latest opportunities for SEO and social authority. Dealers do not need to create dozens of blogs or microsites; they are already built and ready to leverage.

If your dealership is looking for leadership and the best strategies for content publishing and syndication, call 732.450.8200 and get a demonstration of the AAN and our Dealer Syndicator tools.

Dealer syndicator supports content publishing platforms that include: WordPress, Posterous, Typepad, Blogger, NING, Squidoo, Facebook, Craigslist, and all HTML based website platforms.

Members of the AAN also benefit from the strongest offsite Automotive SEO strategy and ranking results from any solution on the market. SEO is still any important part of a well-designed digital marketing strategy. If you want the best, become of member because membership has its privileges.

That includes kicking your competition’s butt!

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
About Brian Pasch