When innkeepers take a reservation from a repeat guest or learn that a new reservation was referred by a previous guest, it’s always a good thing. The higher the percentage of repeat and referral guests, the better, because word of mouth advertising costs nothing. Or does it? In the day to day reality of most […]
Word-of-Mouth Marketing Read More »
Here it is Monday noon and the entire week beginning last Monday seems like a nonstop event….sound familiar? Monday and Tuesday, Jan & I were attending and participating in the 86th Annual Meeting & Conference of the Maine Innkeepers Association. Kudos to our association’s Executive Director Greg Dugal and his capable staff for mounting another
It’s always exciting to find inns that really "get it" when it comes to marketing their properties. It’s not that there is just one way to do it, but that most successful inns follow one consistent pattern: they all pay a great deal of attention to what is happening: at their inn, in the marketplace,
This is how marketing is done… Read More »
In all the discussion about social media, blogs, Web 2.0, etc., I am reminded that it’s important to remember the basics when it comes to marketing your inn. There’s no substitute for the elemental aspects of hospitality, but to get i.guests to visit you, you have to attract them, and that means starting with a
Remember Web Basics Read More »
Any time a new bed & breakfast is in the planning stage, there are inevitably regulatory hurdles to surmount. Often times the neighbors have to approve, or at least not object too vehemently, to secure approval from planners and local elected officials. Over the years many people have asked us about studies that show the
Bed and Breakfasts and Property Values Read More »
With all the discussion about social media, blogging, travel review sites, etc., there’s always a fair amount of passion. Most innkeepers either love or hate Tripadvisor. There’s very little middle ground. Our feeling at The B&B Team is that innkeepers need to know about, track, and use Travel 2.0 venues as much as they can
When a Review is not a Review… Read More »
Who is the i.guest? What is an i.guest? The i.guest is the contemporary traveler who is changing the face of hospitality marketing. Welcome to Travel 2.0. The i.guest is Informed. Internet-empowered. Independent. And, importantly for innkeepers, is Identified. The i.guest is finding places to stay and booking rooms (not just seeing availability at midnight) on
Understanding the i.guest Read More »
Thanks to my friend, Michael Russer, a guru of modern marketing for the real estate industry, for a couple of great quotes that are particularly apropos of the innkeeping world today. Charles Darwin said, "It’s not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." In
Change and Adaptability in Innkeeping Read More »
When you’re in business as we are, you get all kinds of email newsletters on a daily basis. Most of the ones I get are either related to real estate or hospitality, the focus of our business. There are lots of articles that aren’t worth much, or aren’t relevant to the integrated work we do
Strategic Thinking for Innkeepers Read More »
"Social Media" is a popular buzzword today for that other popular buzzword, "Web 2.0." Like it or not, our world is different, and travelers are going to sites like Trip Advisor, My Space, Facebook, and others to hear what their peers are saying about the places they’ve been and stayed. If you are an aspiring
Social Media and Your Inn Read More »
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