City break guide to Singapore

Because Singapore is celebrating its 50 year of independence with parties and openings aplenty (singapore50.sg). Come Q3-Q4, the six-starred Patina Capitol Singapore - with architecture by Pritzker Prize Laureate Richard Meier and interior by Jaya Ibrahim - will debut in two restored heritage buildings in the Civic District.

And in November, the National Gallery will open on the grounds of the city’s most iconic buildings - the former Supreme Court and City Hall; with a combined floor area of 60,000 sqm, it will house the largest collection of South-east Asian art in the world. Foreigners holding travel documents from certain countries require a visa to enter Singapore. See the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority website.

Discover for yourself what life is like in one of the world’s most affluent cities. While S$500 a pop meals are not hard to find, it’s completely possible to eat like a king without spending more than S$5 to S$10 per head. Witness how the locals make the most of their lives in a city known for its draconian laws and apparently “unhappy” citizens. It will change the way you view the little red dot.

Weather-wise, there is no “best time” to visit Singapore. Known for its year-round warm and humid weather, the city’s temperature hovers between 24C in the mornings and evenings and about 31C in the daytime. From November to January, the temperature dips slightly with the onset of the wet monsoon season during which it’s wise to pack a brolly.

Travel guide to Singapore

Singapore is a bustling hub of culture, food, and all around good vibes.  It’s the most modern city in Asia.  It’s vibrant, it’s energetic, and it always leaves me fascinated. If you think New York City is busy, just wait until you see Singapore.  People are always in a hurry and they walk really fast (they are actually ranked the fastest walkers on earth).  It seemed like everything was happening in fast motion, which always kept me on my toes!

What to do in Singapore? Just walk around the city and you will find unexpected treasures everywhere. I am talking about incredibly modern architecture, shopping malls with river boat tours running thru them, surprisingly cheap street markets, beautiful botanic gardens surrounding the city, hawker centers (huge outdoor food courts) on every block and much more.

Why is everything so clean in Singapore? Well, Singapore has some of the strictest laws in the world.  There are street signs all around the city reminding everyone not to litter, smoke, chew gum, run, spit, etc.  If you don’t follow the rules, then you must pay a steep fine.  But nearly everyone obeys the rules, which is why Singapore is also of the safest cities in the world. Everything from the metros, malls, restaurants and residential buildings are so clean that you can eat off the floor!

Despite being a densely populated city, the metro system is VERY easy to figure out and there are taxis all around that are pretty cheap to use. After being in Singapore for just a few hours, I was already confident enough to navigate myself around town.  All the signs are in English (and most people can speak/understand English), so it’s almost impossible to get lost.

General thoughts on Singapore

If you think New York City is busy, just wait until you see Singapore.  People are always in a hurry and they walk really fast (they are actually ranked the fastest walkers on earth).  It seemed like everything was happening in fast motion, which always kept me on my toes! You might be surprised to hear that Singapore is a tiny tropical island, made up of 6 million people (75% Chinese).  It’s located just 80 miles north of the equator — so the temperature is always hot and humid.  It’s tropical location provides 17 nature reserves and more than 1.4 million trees!

Why is everything so clean in Singapore? Well, Singapore has some of the strictest laws in the world.  There are street signs all around the city reminding everyone not to litter, smoke, chew gum, run, spit, etc.  If you don’t follow the rules, then you must pay a steep fine.  But nearly everyone obeys the rules, which is why Singapore is also of the safest cities in the world. Everything from the metros, malls, restaurants and residential buildings are so clean that you can eat off the floor!

Despite being a densely populated city, the metro system is VERY easy to figure out and there are taxis all around that are pretty cheap to use. After being in Singapore for just a few hours, I was already confident enough to navigate myself around town.  All the signs are in English (and most people can speak/understand English), so it’s almost impossible to get lost.

In fact, the city just took #1 as the Most expensive city in the world by the Los Angeles Times.  Aside from street food, which is reasonably priced, you wouldn’t believe how a beer or alcoholic beverage costs… And if you want to rent a flat, then good luck finding a cheap price!

Things to do in Singapore

Most tourists tend to gravitate first towards the famed retail stretch of Orchard Road. Fine, get your fix of bold-faced names like Louis Vuitton, Chanel and every other couture label under the sun. When you've gotten that out of your system, dump your purchases back at the hotel and head out into the 'burbs where the real charm of Singapore lies. We're here to guide you to the top 10 places where tourists don't normally go; in short, the places where Singaporeans in the know live and play.

So, you've arrived. It's early and nothing really opens for business until around 11 a.m., so how are you going to kill time? Slip on the trainers and head out to the Botanic Gardens (open 5 a.m. to midnight). At this time of the day, downtown Singapore's last remaining green lung is a cool, bucolic retreat filled with joggers, dogs and tai-chi practitioners. Wander through the swaths of virgin rainforest (the main boardwalk through it is entered from Upper Palm Valley Road) and then take in the National Orchid Garden's many-colored collection of 1,000 orchid species and 2,000 hybrids. When you're done, drop into the food court near Tanglin Gate for a traditional local breakfast of soft-boiled eggs, coffee and toast slathered with coconut jam.

It may seem a little strange to head to a hotel to look at artwork, but the Ritz-Carlton is no ordinary hotel. The massive three-ton Frank Stella installation at the entrance and the pair of Dale Chihuly crystal glass sculptures that anchor both wings of the building kick off one of Southeast Asia's finest (and under the radar) collections of modern and contemporary art. The majority of the pieces were specially commissioned for the public spaces and guest suites. The treasures on view include Andy Warhol and David Hockney's exuberant colors, Rainer Gross's geometric compositions, Henry Moore's restrained monochromatics and the lush botanicals of Robert Zakanitch. It's all free to view, and you even get an iPod-guided tour.

Let the other tourist hordes charge over to the newly minted Peranakan Museum or the gloomy Asian Civilisations Museum. If you do only one cultural thing during your 24-hour Singapore layover, it must be a tour of the unheralded Chinatown Heritage Centre, where entire sets of bedrooms, kitchens and street scenes from the late-19th century and early-20th century have been faithfully recreated. It's an authentic slice of Singapore's history that's made all the more fascinating by the gleaming skyscrapers just a few blocks away. And if you must, pick up a kitschy souvenir from the gift shop on your way out.

Using social media techniques for public relations

Today, several business owners engage in social media to improve their brand image; in the past, these platforms were only used for personal reasons.

Bacall Associates – a boutique sale, advertising, and PR support agency - will share a few techniques where you can use social media to boost your company's public relations.

Create good content

Make sure to publish a social media friendly content that the customers will surely buy, share and value. Incorporating case studies in your content could add value to your post because they're one of the strongest quantifiers you can use on the internet. They also provide a concise and clear data along with a perspective on the results. They should be presented in the right method to get an emotional reaction from your potential customers, which may cause direct involvement and possible sharing. Case studies are often shared by leading media outlets provided by businesses of different sizes and influence. You can also include videos or pictures to add life to your content. Publishing great content can improve your brand image and PR.

Make your brand caught bloggers' attention

Seeking bloggers' coverage can also help you boost your brand. The connection between public relations and social media known as the blogosphere serves as one of the most important factors for bloggers. Bacall Associates also affirmed that most bloggers are actively using social media platforms nowadays, and many of them are being carefully monitored by journalists.

Use social media to connect with the press

Since they can get a boatload of information on the web, the press has made the internet their home throughout the years. Major publications are now using Reddit to source fascinating stories while major news outlets are covering Twitter through the use of hashtags and trends.

It is now quick to connect with the media using social media platforms. If you have a great story to cover and use appropriate social media tagging and hashtags, it is possible to get a solid media coverage.

Bacall Associates now in Singapore is involved in this practice for several years now and they've been using social media to heighten their influence to their customers. The impact of social media on public relations indeed brought remarkable change to this practice, which helped many businesses around the world to enhance their brand image.

Marketing plan using social media

Bacall Associates views social media as an excellent helping tool to several business owners. It can help you with your public relations as well as fostering your integrated marketing communication (IMC) plan. Bacall is known for their cost effective integrated public relations, marketing and sales campaigns in the United Kingdom, Asia like Singapore and Hong Kong.

It's critical to have an IMC plan first before you start communicating with the world about your company according to Bacall Associates. It may contain different approaches on how to communicate your business with your target audience. It can also be a powerful guideline to marketing teams during implementation to reduce any concerns and to prevent any internal disagreements between stakeholders.

Social media is considered essential to any IMC plan these days whilst your IMC can use several different communication mediums such as content marketing, public relations, advertising and social media. Bacall Associates found the impact of social media on the following areas, which proved that it could improve your IMC plan.

Public relations (PR)

Social media has lessened the pressure on PR pros over the past few years because it offers great benefit and easy accessibility to them. They can get a comment out within minutes of the news breaking with social media, its speed and relevance are really remarkable. Your social media audience should be connected to your sources.

Advertising

Social media made a huge change in the world of advertising today because it can specifically target your audience, easily measure your social media advertising ROI, and immediately make changes to your advertisements, that's why business owners put big advertising budgets on social media nowadays.

Tips to Plan a Holiday Trip

Are you planning to have a holiday trip with your family? As one of the experts in travel, Bacall Associates views that it will be a great idea because it could create special and sempiternal memories with your family members. Don't stress yourself too much, just focus on the fun and relaxing aspect of it because the Bacall team is here to guide you in planning your getaway.

Get a travel journal

Having your own travel journal can help you prioritize things and be in control of any predicament because this can be a tool for you to cope with different situations since you're knowledgeable about the plans you've made and they're kept in a single place, so the moment you begin planning your holiday trip, get a notebook and write down all your ideas. But if you prefer an electronic journal, you can go with it, just remember that things might go wrong with electronics so it's better to have a printed version of your travel plans.

On the other hand, most prefer a handwritten journal because it provides an emotional experience. You know that whatever you write there is important to you, and you can see your thoughts in your own writing, making memories to every single page. Handwritten journals give stronger impression than electronic journals.

Choose your top travel destinations

If you have a few places in mind, write down those places in your journal and see to it that you'll only make a short list of it, so that it will be easier for you to decide on which place you're going to for your holiday trip. The list may include your top three preferred destinations.

Research each place on the list

Research everything you can about each place on your list to help you compare them a lot more carefully. You can use search engines like Google or Bing with your research, or you can ask your close friends and relatives for more information about each place. You must know the transportation available in each place, and how long will it take you to reach your destination using different types of vehicles. Also include in your research about crossing borders so that you'll know if you need visas or if your passport is in order.

How to integrate social media into sales promotions tips

Social media can provide a huge amount of information about qualified leads. A well-designed campaign using a combination of promo codes can produce a lot of detailed data, that's why most social media platforms provide analytics to analyze these data for future campaigns. It's really important to properly manage the data when you have collected these leads. A modern CRM (customer relationship management) software allow your team to capture leads as well as to follow up with offers and subsequent campaigns.

Today, it's no doubt that a lot of customers choose social media to search for trusted opinions of different individuals about a certain product or service since it's easier for them to research and buy online. A well-organized social media campaign must be an important part of your business' sales promotions because most people prefer a recommendation from a friendly face than a dry impersonal search result.

A well-organized social media campaign can also be a strong and effective sales tool as it allows your business to get closer to the customer, enhance your understanding towards their interests and develop lasting relationships with them.

Acquiring social media success often involves a long process, especially in small businesses, you should flourish your profiles first and develop a genuine relationship with your business' followers in order to provide value before easing into any type of sales promotions. The following are some simple tips provided by Bacall Associates in utilizing social media into your sales promotions.

Tips for making travel more affordable

Some companies understand this need of every individual, that's why they're giving their employees free trips to help them rest for a while to help them work more efficiently once they return. However, not all companies are like this because they want their employees to work more for them but pay them less. That aside, Bacall Associates guarantee that traveling can be really inexpensive, and fun and rejuvenating at the same time.

Do you love to travel so much but you don't have enough time and money to do it? Worry no more because Bacall Associates will share some money-saving tips that can help you travel to the place you want. You can trust the organization’s judgment because it is a renowned boutique PR, marketing and sales support agency that specializes in travel at the top end of the market. After reading this article, you will never excuse yourself from traveling anymore.

Stay in youth hostels

If you’re a young traveler, it’s often a good idea to stay in youth hostels to save money. Don’t let yourself drown into the wrong ideas or myths about youth hostels because this kind of place allow young souls to see the world without spending too much money since they're inexpensive to stay in. You'll also get a chance to meet new people who are doing the same as you. But since you're staying in a youth hostel, you should practice extra caution because of safety reasons.

Book in advance

If you can handle your trip well in advance, then it's a good thing because this will give you the best pricing especially if you're going to travel during holidays. Bacall Associates always recommends booking in advance to make sure that you can get the best discounts where you can save up to 80%.