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Ok, had to laugh yesterday when seeing the website for a niche hotel provider in the U.K., called “Rooms for Baboons”. What do these guys do? They provide hotels rooms for “Stag & Lad” parties in Great Britain. Eh?

Not being a Brit myself, I can only imagine that if I am getting married and going on an extended bachelor party, I book my through “Rooms for Baboons.” Who wants to spend several hundred dollars (oops…I meant Pounds) on a hotel in Newcastle only to get kicked out for being too loud?

Did I get that right? Anyone want to tell me what a Stag and Lad party really is?

I mention their website for several reasons. First, it is a brilliant example of picking a niche, defining it, and doing everything that you can to dominate it. What could be more niche than stag parties in the U.K.? I have gone to the website several times, from several computers and noticed that I am seeing different headlines and text, so they are obviously collecting data and testing what works. Here’s an example:

AVOID STAYING IN NEWCASTLE HOTELS WITH FAMILIES & OLD PEOPLE

and here’s their subtext:

“If you’re not visiting Newcastle on a stag or hen party, or looking to have some fun, we won’t accept your hotel reservation under any circumstances.”

You think I am kidding? Take A Look: Stag Hotels in Newcastle.

And here’s the other version that I saw:

FIND ROOMS IN NEWCASTLE FOR YOUR GROUP IN 30 SECONDS

The subtext:

“If you’re struggling to find rooms for your lads weekend in Newcastle, don’t get frustrated calling dozens of hotels that won’t take your group - Find your group’s central, lad-friendly rooms now…”

Which do you think performs better? I am going for headline #1. Reading it, I am reminded of a quote (Dan Kennedy?), which reads, “Your readers don’t have time for your pathetic subtlety.”

I may be doing some SEO work for this company at some point, so I may write about them again.

cheers -Ryan

Are focused, niche bookmarking websites the future of the Web?

Several weeks ago, I bumped into http://sphinn.com/ a self-described, “Internet Marketing & Discussion Forum.” Unlike Digg, Furl, Reddit, Technorati and others, Sphinn accepts links for a relatively narrow group of subjects. Topics related search marketing (SEO, PPC etc.), online marketing and social media will make it onto Sphinn.

I was immediately hooked. Sphinn is nirvana to someone like me who is interested in online marketing. It gives me exactly what I want. I don’t have to dig through a bunch of posts on topics that I don’t like, I don’t have to search some huge website for the most relevant tags or categories. By definition, Sphinn contains the most relevant topics for me.

And from what I can tell it is a professional network. The people who post seem to be knowledgeable about their topics, I haven’t seen any flame wars or nasty attacks (I haven’t been using the network for a few weeks, so perhaps, I just haven’t found the flame wars?)

**Update: Ok, I was being a little naive. There does seem some name calling and flaming, here and there on Sphinn.

I can’t help but wonder if smaller networks like Sphinn are the future of social bookmarking. Don’t many people want to quickly and easily find targeted information on the subjects they are interested in? Don’t you?

And, of course, for times when not in the mood, you can always take a nice random walk down stumbleupon.