Innkeeping
Official magazine of the Professional Association of Innkeepers International
summer 2014 | volume 8 | issue 3 | www.innkeeping.org
Late Hues Southwest Pesto Rice
Cool Cocktails Smartphone Optimized Web Sites
Innkeeping
Official magazine of the Professional Association of Innkeepers International
summer 2014 | volume 8 | issue 3
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inside
295 Seven Farms Drive, Suite C-236 Charleston, South Carolina 29492 856.310.1102 | innkeeping.org
2 Colorful Engagements 5 Smartphone Optimized Web Sites 8 Southwest Pesto Rice 10 Serving Your Youngest Guests 12 Cool Cocktails All Year Long 14 Asheville’s Princess Anne Hotel turns 90 17 Make Your Inn Buzz-Worthy With 5 Proven Techniques 19 5 Steps to Digital PR on a Budget 20 Finding Gold in a URL 21 Ad Index
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Cocktails Contributing Writers Lisa Kolb John Coutlakis Doris Clark Maria Coder Linda Carlson Adam Fortuna Brenda Rodriguez Heather Roscoe Ray Gomez Layout Imbue www.imbuecreative.com
PAII STAFF Ruth Ann Hattori CEO, PAII
Michele McVay Director of Events
Send comments, suggestions and contributions to Ray Gomez: marketing@paii.org
Isabel Abreu Director of Industry, Member Programs
Susan Pickford Office Manager/Bookkeeper
Emily Spiers Project Manager, Innsales and Vendor Relations
On the go? IN is online any time at:
Ray Gomez Director of Marketing & Communications
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Colorful
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Thousands of people become engaged daily, and most couples are vying for that magical memory that they can share with family and friends for years to come. Innkeepers have the opportunity to help create these experiences by doing some research, being creative, and building some relationships with local vendors. Being able to help guests with an array of engagement packages can not only set your inn apart from your competition, it can also create customers for life.
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Engagements
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The following are some easy, low-cost ideas for building more business: Up in the Air The sky is the limit when offering your guests the chance at an aerial engagement. From private plane/ helicopter rides and hot air balloons, to tandem wind gliding and sky diving, these ideas are lofty. Research local vendors that offer these services and talk about the type of discounts they can offer your guests ahead of time. Your involvement in the arrangements and the possible discounts gives your guests an added incentive to book through you. Take a Hike It’s a small investment, but a picnic basket could do wonders to kick-start your business and create a romantic memory for your guests. Add a “picnic lunch” as an upsell to your guests stay, and make sure you include a tasty lunch, silverware, linens, a blanket, water, a sweet treat and bottle of wine and wine key for a homerun. Don’t forget to research local hikes, parks, tourist attractions, and local sites that would lend themselves to an outdoor meal and a magic moment. Sunset Stroll Does your property have a nice garden or outdoor area that would make a great engagement spot? Armed with some inexpensive candles, flowers, table/chairs and a chilled bottle of champagne, you can create magic for a lucky couple. You could have the scene set as the couple arrives back to the inn after a nice dinner or lunch. Music to my Ears This is your chance to help couples make beautiful music together, or at least listen to it. By partnering with local musicians, you will be able to offer your guests a unique musical experience tailored just for them. Add different musicians and price points to your list, which will allow for a huge range of budgets.
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Picture It Make sure to help the couple capture their magical moment with some photos. Innkeepers can research a few local photographers’ information, compile pricing and make that information handy to your guests. You can try these ideas, but make sure you also advertise your inn’s engagement package in local publications, PR releases and especially in bridal and travel issues. If you’re on a budget, focus on springtime, Christmas and Valentine’s Day issues. Also make sure to put a link on your homepage highlighting your “one-of-a kind engagement package.” Not only do you want to make your guests arrival and stay an amazing memory, you want to stand out and be remembered.
Ray Gomez, Director, Communications and Marketing at PAII. He resides in Seattle and has worked as a military photojournalist, and a communications manager at T-Mobile and Starbucks. This article was written for PAII and its members.
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Smartphone Optimized Web Sites
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Has your Inn been left behind? by Lisa Kolb, Acorn Internet Services, Inc.
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In 2013 Forbes published an article by Joshua Steimie titled, “Why Your Business Needs a Responsive Website Before 2014.” He pointed out that unless you fall into one of below categories: 1. You don’t depend on your website for business 2. You have no competitors 3. Y ou are familiar with responsive website design (RWD) and you’ve already verified it’s not the right fit for you
…then this article is written specifically for you. Steimie went on to say, “But if your company depends on its website enough that losing the business it brings to you would be a serious blow, getting a RWD should be your #1 online marketing goal.” Wikipedia defines RWD as a “web design approach aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience—easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling— across a wide range of devices (from mobile phones to desktop computer monitors).” And to top what Steimie had written, when he wrote the article he hadn’t even take into consideration Google’s second and third Smart Phone optimized site options for either choosing a dynamic mobile site, or a separate mobile site. It got me to thinking. How do PAII members stack up when it comes to websites optimized for mobile devices such as
cell phones and tables? It got me curious enough to do research and this is what I found. So I was curious. I first created the categories that PAII Members would fall into: a. Danger Zone: Innkeepers with no mobile presence at all b. Have RWD: Innkeepers that follow Google’s number one recommended configuration c. Have a Dynamic Mobile Site (DMS): Innkeepers that follow Google’s number two mobile configuration d. Have a Separate Mobile Site (SMS): Innkeepers that are following Google’s number 3 mobile configuration Using PAII’s forum I selected a sampling of inns to see who was meeting Google’s recommended mobile configurations. I chose Inns that had written comments during the month of May 2014, and proceeded to conduct a test of each of their respective mobile configurations, and this is what I found: a. b. c. d.
40% have no mobile presence 14% have a RWD 32% have a DMS 14% have a SMS
Based on my research a large percentage of PAII member inns are in danger of losing a lot of business in 2014 because they don’t have a RWD. Continues on next page 2 0 1 4 SU M M E R
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Innkeepers without RWD, you should probably take heed to Google’s Smart Phone guidelines.
Mobile device usage is GOING UP while your Desktop Traffic is GOING DOWN. Below are some basic Desktop vs. Mobile vs. Tablet traffic statistics done on a study of Acorn Internet Services clients during the first 100 days of 2014.
You can see a steady increase in mobile device traffic in 2014 over 2013. And this trend is only going to continue. During 2014, the number of mobile devices is predicted to exceed the number of desktop and laptop personal computers (worldwide), according to research from Morgan Stanley.
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Google gives business owners these guidelines for a reason, and if Google is telling you that a RWD is their recommended configuration, then when you do choose to re-design your Website, it would make sense to consider following their guidelines, and consider a fully functional, speed and usability tested responsive design. Why should you bother using Google’s guidelines? Because, Google is the biggest search engine on the web. Over 80% of all searches are done in Google, not in Bing or Yahoo. So you want ensure your inn is one of the first to pop up and visited as many times as possible. Mobile search results are in the process of moving away from standard desktop results. In the future, search results on a smart phone will be determined differently than search results on a desktop. If you don’t have a mobile site that is following Google guidelines and tests well for speed and usability, you more than likely will be not considered a “good result” on a smart phone, thus risk losing business from your guests who use smart phones. One misconception about going mobile is that you’ll get unwanted walk-in traffic. Guess what, your guests are sitting at home in front of the TV with their tablet, or maybe they are dining at their local restaurant planning their next vacation on their smartphone. Many people plan their weekend getaways between business meetings or at the airport. If you don’t provide them a quality mobile experience, and your competitor does, guess who’s going to get that booking? A quality mobile presence isn’t just about your guests finding you when they are driving near your town. Repeat guests are an awesome revenue generating stream, but what about growing new guest bookings? Google has invested a lot of time and money into their PageSpeed Insights Testing tool, most recently adding in the usability and experience scores in addition to their original speed scores for mobile and desktop sites. http://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/ insights/ How do you prove that user experience does matter and how do you measure a potential guest’s experience on your site whether it be on a desktop, tablet or smartphone? I decided to settle on the Google Analytics “Bounce” statistic. My theory was, if a potential guest landed on the home page and immediately walked away (the definition of a “Bounce”) they must not have enjoyed the user experience and thus didn’t stick around to book a room.
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So I tested a sample of clients that had recently built a RWD who had never had a mobile site in the past. In other words their new RWD was their first online mobile presence ever, and this is what I found: Innkeepers with a new RWD were keeping their potential guests on their site longer than they had been with their old site. • Tablet users stayed around 17.33% longer • Smart phone users stayed around 14.07% longer • Desktop users stayed around 23.42% longer This is great news for these inns bookings. It makes sense that keeping a guest on your site longer gives you an improved chance of booking a room.
It’s time to seriously consider choosing the right direction when it comes to your Inn’s mobile presence. Do you want to continue to drive traffic to your website only to lose it because you aren’t providing the best possible user experience to your guests? Your guests are keeping up with today’s technology, but are you? Don’t get left behind. Lisa Kolb is former innkeeper based out of the Colorado Springs area and is the founder and President of Acorn Internet Services, which specializes in bed and breakfast Web site design and inn marketing. Lisa is also an active member of PAII and works diligently to ensure that innkeepers have a voice in local and national policies.
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Southwest Pesto Rice by Brenda Rodriguez
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This dish is a great way to stay cool on a summer day. It can also be prepared ahead of time, refrigerated and served cold for groups or events. It combines lime, cilantro, garlic and other spices to create a fresh flavor. Chef Brenda Rodriguez put together this recipe specifically for PAII and it’s members.
Garlic Lime Rice • 1 tablespoon canola oil • 3 cloves garlic, minced • 1 large onion, chopped • 2 cups long grain rice • 1 teaspoon kosher salt • 3 to 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth • Juice of 3 limes (reserve juice of 1 lime for garnish) • Zest of 2 limes Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add the rice and salt. Cook over a low heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly to make sure the rice doesn’t burn. Add 2 cups of the broth and the juice and zest of 2 limes and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until the rice is done. Add more liquid as needed. The rice shouldn’t be sticky.
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Cilantro Pesto • 2 cups chopped fresh cilantro • 1 cup chopped fresh parsley • 3 scallions, chopped • 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped • 1 teaspoon ground cumin • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika • 1 teaspoon cayenne • ½ cup coarsely chopped pumpkin seeds • 2 tablespoons water • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil • Salt and white pepper to taste Add all ingredients to food processor, pulsing and scraping down sides as needed. Once you have both components created, combine the rice with the pesto to taste, and refrigerate. Serve this dish cold and it will remain fresh for about five days. Brenda Rodriguez grew up in South Texas and eventually started her culinary career in San Antonio. She made the move to Seattle in 1999 where she worked as a sous chef at Flying Fish under the tutelage of Diana Kennedy and Marilyn Tousend. She worked her way to head chef at Ovio Bistro and Ama-Ama. She moved to Hawaii as a consultant for Aloha Mondays, followed by another short stint in Seattle. Brenda returned to Texas where she is opening up her own place Belly Up!, which marries “healthy and no so healthy food.”
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Serving Your Youngest Guests by Heather Roscoe
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Most small inns have “no children allowed” policies, and for good reason! It is often true that adults who choose to stay in bed and breakfast inns are not interested in being around the hubbub of children. However, more families are traveling with their children year ‘round these days. The competition for lodgers continues to grow and so does the need for new marketing ideas. Perhaps it’s time to consider accepting children— at least for the low season. Before you jump in, here are ideas to accommodate young guests while keeping your adult guests happy.
Set Expectations Setting an age limit can greatly decrease your chances of noisy tantrums. Generally, by the time children are 6-years old they are less likely to act out in public. Some inns only allow children over the age of 10. A little market research of your area should help you determine a good age limit to set for your inn. Don’t just set expectations for the parents, set it for all of your guests – including those without children. This means clearly stating on your website that it is a child-friendly establishment so the presence of innkeeping now | www.innkeeping.org
children is not a surprise. Make sure your other guests really understand what “kid-friendly” really means. Otherwise you could start seeing bad reviews from irritated honeymooners online.
Rules of Engagement When parents and children arrive at the inn take a few moments to clearly explain what kind of behavior is not acceptable (running down the halls, throwing food, quiet hours, etc). Taking the family on a tour of your facility is a great way to demystify the child’s surroundings and gives you an opportunity to personally show them the areas that are off-limits. And don’t be afraid to tell parents what you expect of them, too. It is fine to gently inform parents that their children need to be supervised at all times and kept quiet around the other guests, and that food preferences should be submitted a day in advance.
Divide and Conquer If your inn is large enough, have one or two family rooms that are separate from the other guests. This works very well if you have small, detached cabins
on your property. If you have more than one dining area (inside dining room and patio dining area) place families further away from guests, if possible. If your inn has a common pool or Jacuzzi, set hours when children need to vacate so adult guests can enjoy the water alone.
Provide Entertainment Investing in a swing-set, puzzles and board games, a few children’s DVDs, and some sports equipment can go a long way towards keeping all of your guests happy. Put together a 1-page handout of all childappropriate activities near your area; park with a good playgrounds, local swimming pools, scenic drives, children’s museums, and water parks for example, can help families stay entertained and fill their days. If you have several families with children booked at once consider offering 30 to 40 minute-long classes on-site so parents can have a break. Set up easels, smocks, art supplies, and some classical
music outside and let children paint or model clay. If you are near a beach consider offering complimentary beach toys and towels. Taking the time to do research, prepare and stock up on needed items, could drive some increased revenue and positive reviews. Staying at an inn that takes care of even the youngest guests can create great family memories and increase the amount of word of mouth marketing and return business. Heather Roscoe resides in Seattle, where she is a creative and communications professional, part time writer, and full time mother to 2-year-old Soren. She is also a blogger and more of her writing can be found at http://thereluctantmatron.wordpress.com/. This article was written for PAII and its members.
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Cool Cocktails All Year Long
D by Adam Fortuna
Don’t put those sunglasses away yet! Fall brings plenty of sun and warmth, and I see cool refreshing drinks staying around for months yet. Backyard barbecues, picnics and beach walks are still popular through Indian summer, so surprise your guests with some award winning options that will stave off the dread of winter. Your first step is to create a herb simple syrup. This is a great tool when creating drinks from scratch, not to mention it’s always great to have a home-made sugar syrup on hand for tea, lemonade and other summer drinks. You can definitely make this ahead of time, and keep in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. Most bartenders and “cocktailors” would recommend a ‘rich’ syrup, and I’m right in that same boat.
All About the Herbs
‘Rich’ Simple Syrup Recipe
Classic with a Twist
2 parts (cups) sugar—experiment with different sugars (muscovado, demerara, brown, honey, or plain white) 1 part (cup) water—experiment with different liquids (juices, tea) Combine in pot over medium heat until dissolved
You can literally use any fresh (and edible) herbs, spices, or flowers you can get your hands on. Some of my favorites are basil, rosemary, lavender, rose petals, saffron or sage. Just add the lightly chopped ingredient and let it simmer with the aforementioned syrup until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let steep for 10-30 minutes or until desired flavor is achieved.
Syrup 101 Create some scratch-made lemonade. 1.5 parts lemon (or lime or a mixture of both) 1 part herb-rich simple syrup (My faves are rosemary or basil) Still or carbonated water to taste, usually around 6 cups Substitute mint, green or earl grey tea for an interesting twist
One of my favorite cocktails for summer is the classic Tom Collins. This is a classic cocktail that if made right, is always a winner. • 2 oz Gin • 1 oz Lemon • .5 oz simple syrup • Soda water • Rocks (Industry term for ice) Shake first 3 ingredients with ice Strain over fresh ice in Collins glass, top with soda
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I usually do not mess around with classic recipes (they’re classics for a reason), but in this case, try using some of your ‘house-made’ flavored syrup. Again, just about anything you can think of would work with this recipe but I particularly like mint, rosemary, or basil. Garnish the drink with the fresh herbs you used in the syrup.
Packs a Punch Would you like to tackle something a little more complex? Here is my recipe for an awardwinning punch that I created that is truly a fun and creative way to impress guests, friends and family.
Bambi’s Red-Eye Punch with Citrus-Sage Syrup Punch Ingredients • 1 (750ml) bottle of bourbon whiskey • 24 oz fresh-brewed and chilled Red Rooibos Tea • 6 oz ‘navy strength’ Caribbean rum (I use Smith & Cross from Jamaica) • 8 oz Citrus-Sage Syrup • 12 oz fresh-squeezed pink or red grapefruit juice • 8 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice • Syrup Ingredients • 3 cups of white sugar • zest of 3 limes • zest of 3 grapefruits • ¹⁄ ³ cup loosely packed fresh sage • 4 oz fresh-squeezed pink or red grapefruit juice • 2 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice • 6 oz water
Syrup Instructions 1. Zest limes and grapefruit into dry sugar and mix 2. Chop sage leaves and mix into dry sugar, let sit for 15 min to extract and absorb oils 3. Add juices and water and simmer over med-low heat until fully dissolved, about 15 min 4. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer to separate all solids, and discard the solids 5. Let the syrup cool before use Final Punch Instructions Combine all ingredients in a large container. Mix thoroughly. Chill until very cold. Serve 3-4 oz portions over fresh ice. Garnish with a fresh sage leaf. Makes 20-25 servings (approx 80 oz)
Take Creative License Now that you’ve got a couple of recipes under your belt, try experimenting with some alcoholic and non-alcoholic classics. Put a creative twist on lemonade, limeade, Arnold Palmers, Old Fashions, Rickeys, Moscow Mules, Lemon Drops, etc. The possibilities for what you can create are endless. Think of all
the beverages that contain sugar, and then substitute your own house-made syrup for an interesting and creative twist on the summer classics. Make sure to take all the credit. Adam Fortuna is a locally celebrated bartender based out of Seattle, Washington. Adam currently crafts cocktails at the prestigious Cucina Spinasse and Artusi. He also lends his talents to making imaginative cocktails at Rob Roy, one of the top rated bars in Seattle. Adam’s accolades include being named one of the Top 25 Bartenders of 2014 by TheDailyMeal.com. He has been featured in Esquire.com, Seattle Magazine and Seattle-Met Magazine. And he was published in the 2013 book, “Savory Cocktails: Sour Spicy Herbal Umami Bitter Smoky Rich Strong.”
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by John Coutlakis
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he frozen fountain behind the Princess Anne Hotel looked like an icy white three-layer birthday cake in the bright winter sun one morning this week. It was an appropriate decoration, since the grand old lady turned 90 this month. The building on East Chestnut Street was named after its creator, registered nurse Anne O’Connell,
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who had it built to house the families of tuberculosis patients undergoing treatment in O’Connell’s nearby sanatorium. The nurse was so beloved, and her head of red hair “was set on her shoulders (so) perfectly beautifully,” according to one contemporary, that her patients called her “Princess Anne.” Her motto, “Comfort
First,” might well apply to the 18-suite boutique hotel — just blocks from the heart of downtown — that her namesake has become. “We think about what we like, and we try to pass that on,” said Jen Tracy, who co-owns the hotel with her partner, Howard Stafford. “It’s a very intimate setting,” Stafford added. “We have people that sit here for our wine and hors d’oeuvres in the afternoon and then forget about their dinner reservations.” Stafford didn’t set out to get into the hotel business. In his 20s and early 30s he spent 13 years running an increasing number of Radio Shack stores — while building three houses on the side. He soon decided his hobby should be his career. “I renovate. That’s what I like to do for a living,” he said. “I’ve probably done 40 projects in Asheville since I moved here in 1989.” He first noticed the Princess Anne around 1993, near the end of its almost half-century of providing
single-room retirement accommodations, but he didn’t make an offer to buy it until 10 years later. By then, the building was a center for transcendental meditation and it had been up for sale for a year or more. At the same time, “I had a void of projects,” Stafford said. “I got bored for a week and needed another challenge.” His offer was accepted this time, and the real work began. “I saw this place and I thought, ‘This has to come back to life,’” he said. It was “sort of a plus” that it had never been remodeled since its construction, despite its decrepit plumbing and a 60-amp electrical system — not even enough to power a small house in the 21st century. It took until the fall of 2005 to finish the work to Stafford’s satisfaction. The 42-room boarding house with more than a dozen shared bathrooms was transformed into a 16-suite bed-and-breakfast style hotel, with all private baths, kitchenettes and a wealth of windows that give every room an airy comfort. Stafford kept it simple, adhering to the hotel’s Queen Anne aesthetic — a much less cluttered look than the busy Victorian — and added touches of Arts & Crafts. “I tried to leave everything as original as possible,” he said. “I couldn’t bear to add Jacuzzi tubs and (gas) fireplaces. This is what it was like.” Two of the guest rooms, for example, still have claw-foot bathtubs. The building itself occasionally fought back against modernity, Tracy said. “The place did not want to be renovated. The same work would have to be done three times.” For example, when all their renovation materials were stashed in the dining room, “a sprinkler head just went off,” ruining everything. Stafford had previously spent a year renovating a private home just down Chestnut Street to create the White Gate Inn bed and breakfast, which his mother ran for a year, so the hospitality business didn’t intimidate him. “I like challenges,” he said. He also enjoys doing a lot of the work himself, from the plastering to the laying of hardwood floors and most everything in between. As the work progressed, Tracy joined in, leaving private practice as a psychologist to help renovate and then run the Princess Anne, and Stafford’s mother designed all the gardens and helped decorate. Now the hotel runs with the assistance of eight staff members, led by general manager John Patson and cook Emily Cromwell, who prepares breakfast for the guests as well as appetizers for an afternoon social hour. 2 0 1 4 SU M M E R
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Anne opened, he and Tracy are not done with the hotel. The rooms all now have flat-screen TVs in each bedroom and living room, and every winter means time to go over each room inch by inch, fixing anything that needs tweaking. “There’s no end to what could still be done here after all these years,” Tracy said.
NUTS AND BOLTS
“I think the guest experience is a lot like the aesthetic,” Tracy said. “It’s simple and it’s elegant.” The hotel has attracted “a huge repeat business,” Stafford said, such as the couple who drive down from Cincinnati for the occasional weekend. But even though Stafford has moved on to new renovation and building projects since the Princess
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The hotel: Completed in January 1924, renovated in 2003-05, the 25,000-square-foot, three-story building now has 16 suites, a spacious dining room, living and sitting rooms and a back porch. There are two staff apartments on a lower level. Amenities: Most suites have living rooms and kitchenettes. Breakfast and afternoon wine and hors d’oeuvres daily. Ample off-street parking. The owners: Howard Stafford, a renovation specialist, and Jen Tracy, a psychologist. Learn more: The hotel is at 301 E. Chestnut St., Asheville. Call 258-0986 or visit www.princessannehotel.com. John Coutlakis is a writer with the Citizen Times and can be reached at jcoutlakis@citizen-times.com
Make Your Inn Buzz-Worthy With 5 Proven Techniques
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by Linda Carlson
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Creating visibility is a challenge when you’re short on time, money, and marketing expertise. But if you use smart, proven techniques that can make your inn buzzworthy, a little time and money investment can go a long way.
Go Old School
Make an announcement about your inn to your alumni association, college, or high school publications. Whether it’s about your expansion or a menu change, try to generate some sort of special recognition in your college and grad school alumni publications and on their LinkedIn and Facebook pages. Remember some elementary and high schools have alumni blogs and Facebook pages too. If you’re a confident public speaker, offer yourself up to speak at your alumni association, career day, or any event that will allow you to speak about topics such as buying an inn, remodeling a building for an inn, or even Running a B & B: Fantasy vs. Fact. During the off-season offer a tour of your inn as a chapter event, with a modest ticket price to cover light refreshments. Remember that being a speaker
or a meeting host guarantees you publicity in advance of the event, and often a follow-up article in the chapter newsletter or website.
Stealthy Advertising Check newspapers and magazines for the “special sections” and supplements created by what’s usually called the “advertising publications department.”
If you haven’t done it already, create a Facebook page for your inn. Use email or a letter with an advertising flyer to introduce yourself to the editor of the section (sometimes the advertising manager) and offer your inn as a location for fashion or food photo shoots. If you won’t be paid, negotiate for an ad and, at a minimum, a reference to the inn in the article. For example, “A country inn may be the perfect setting for your wedding: you can
see how the lovely gardens of the Fox River Lodge showcased this season’s bridal gowns…”
Barter Harder Cooperative advertising is the backbone of small business advertising these days. You’re promoting another company’s merchandise? Locally made wine, beer, soda, chocolates or other refreshments? In return for tasteful signs on your buffet table identifying who makes what, ask these companies for free or discounted items, the loan of their mailing lists, or the door prizes for a special event. And, of course, in return for being mentioned in your ads, ask a vendor to help defray their cost.
Clip and Save One of the least expensive, easiest to control, and easiest to track promotional tools is the coupon. Use them to introduce the inn or new services or to offer a discount for last-minute or off-season bookings. Create them on your office copier or as PDFs, add them to invoices or receipts, and email them to previous customers—or Continues on next page 2 0 1 4 SU M M E R
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the customers of your vendors. One example: during the busy season, distribute coupons valid for a special (“Snow much fun,” perhaps, or a Halloween costume weekend) during off-peak months.
The first 40 words of your Facebook post are the most important…
Foster a Facebook Habit If you haven’t done it already, create a Facebook page for your inn. Find the most flattering photo you’ve ever taken of your inn and make it the header. These are business pages, so anyone who has permission to edit your Facebook page should stick to business contacts and business topics. Facebook pages create ideal opportunities for forums with users (especially those who have praise) and are a good way to advertise specials or make announcements about menu changes or special vacation getaway packages. Writing both
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Facebook and Twitter posts is much easier if you set aside an hour each week for them, and then schedule each post for a different day. The first 40 words of your Facebook post are the most important, and you can edit this down for the 140 characters of your Twitter post. Posts can be as simple as, “New waffle recipes being sampled this week at Twin Peaks Inn” with photos of your “testers” grimacing or grinning. Even better, they can include excerpts from media publicity or guests’ praise: “Can’t imagine a
more perfect anniversary getaway!” and “Delicious doesn’t begin to describe breakfast buffet at Clear Lake Lodge.” Linda Carlson is a marketing consultant and speaker on marketing communications, publishing and regional history. Carlson, who is based out of Seattle, is also the author of more than a dozen books. Tips for this article were adapted from her marketing communications guide, “Advertising with Small Budgets for Big Results: How to Buy Print, Broadcast, Outdoor, Online, Direct Response & Offbeat Media, available through Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. (ISBN 978-0-9627122-9-6, Barrett Street Productions, Seattle) You can reach Linda through her website: lindacarlson.com.
5 Steps to Digital PR on a Budget
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by Maria Coder
So you want to get your bed and breakfast on TravelandLeisure. com, TravelPulse.com and other travel news sites but don’t have the money to hire a PR firm? If you’re looking to trim costs, not time, here are five sure-fire steps tips to land your bed and breakfast in the news.
Make a List, Check it Twice Jot down every website, Facebook page, Pinterest board, etc. where you’d like your bed and breakfast to be mentioned. Aim sky high. From Good Morning America and the Wall Street Journal websites to your local paper’s e-newsletter. Then start visiting each site and write down the names of the writers that write the types of stories you’d like to have written about your B&B.
Play Detective Armed with your ‘wish list’ of outlets and reporters who you’d like to reach, comb through websites looking for emails for those specific writers. Not so easy? Well, I didn’t promise easy… I said it would be more affordable. See if you can find an email for another writer on that particular site. Is there a formula, say first initial, last name @ nameofoutlet.com? Maybe it’s firstname.lastname@nameofoutlet.com? Try searching for the
writer on Google by name – many times you’ll find a website or blog or Twitter account that will give you more clues or a way to reach them; even if it’s in 140-characters or less.
Fire Up the Think Tank Come up with a killer idea or something super original. Think about what does or can set you apart from other B&Bs. Breathe new life into a package with a clever name or interesting amenities. Maybe swap the mint on the pillow for a mini apple pie and offer a pie turndown service. Then create a calendar of daily or weekly pies for the fall. Give customer and media outlets something new to talk about.
Tell the World After coming up with a great idea, what do you do? It’s time to tell the whole world about it. Put together a one-page press release. Make sure you address the “who, why, what, when, where, and how.” In order to create and maintain integrity and a great reputation ensure you spell-check and triple-check your facts and accuracy. Use a site that will let you send it for free, like www. free-press-release.com. Then chop up your release so you can reuse it as a blog post, tweet and Face-
book post, to name a few. Last but not least, make sure to e-mail it with a small note to the writers on that ‘wish list’ you just created.
Keep a Lookout Join HARO (www.helpareporter. com) for free and keep your eyes peeled for journalists looking for sources for travel stories, where you might be a fit. Subscribe to BloggerLinkUp.com and swap content with other bloggers to help each others businesses grow. If your article is posted in any form, “Pin it.” Word to the wise: create an alternate email account before you join either service. They’re great, but it will help you avoid being overloaded with e-mails, press releases and membership offers. Maria Coder is a former journalist and the founder of Bed & Brunch PR, a boutique public relations firm that creates strategic media campaigns for travel and lifestyle brands. www.BedandBrunchPR.com
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Finding Gold in a URL by Doris Clark
B
ack in the day, before the internet, I owned an Inn on Martha’s Vineyard. I advertised in all of the normal places, including newspapers, guidebooks, etc. With the advent of the internet, advertising took a giant leap forward. It was like business owners were suddenly pioneers discovering new frontiers.
I was very intrigued with the internet and its popularity was growing so I immediately jumped on the bandwagon. Most of the innkeeper’s who had websites had the cookie-cutter websites provided by online bed and breakfast guides. The URL’s for those guides were a string of more than 20 characters. Purchasing a unique URL for your B&B was becoming very popular and it became my first order of business. This was the 90’s and PAII was working on being innovative and providing innkeepers with the latest information and trends in the industry. I attended a PAII conference, signed up innkeeping now | www.innkeeping.org
for an internet class, and was so excited to attend. The class was taught by Steve Demarest, who owned an inn on Friday Harbor in Washington. By the time I arrived it was standing room only. Steve started the course by asking how many of the attendees had their own URL. About 4 people raised their hand, mine included. He then asked for the name of the URL. One person said ABCInn.com, the next said DEFinn.com, and when it came to my answer, I said, “I’m proud to say twinoaksinn.com.” Then he lowered the “boom” on us. He said, “Why is your URL the name of your inn?” People
would have to have already stayed at your inn or knew of it to be able to find it. He explained that innkeepers should have a geographic URL for their inn as people search geographically first when they are going to an area. He said that his inn’s name was The Victorian Historic Inn, but his URL was www. friday-harbor.com. He went on to say that people searching for places to visit or stay in Friday Harbor would land on his inn’s website first. His explanation for using the dash in between Friday and Harbor was that the computer does not read dashes and a search for Friday
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Harbor made his inn’s website the perfect match. That made a lot of sense to me and I ran down to the computer room after his session to see if www.marthas-vineyard.com was available. It was and when I got back home, I connected my inn name URL to my newly purchased geographical URL. Putting that URL on my site completely turned my world around. Within weeks I couldn’t handle the amount of emails and phone calls that I was getting. My inn only had five rooms, but it was booked for the rest of that entire season and for the following two seasons. It was wonderful and I met more guests than I could count. I actually got to a point that I had to revert back to my inn URL because I was having a hard time handling the traffic.
Doris will be selling
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Marthas-Vineyard.com when she retires.
I had a very observant guest that asked me what did I do with the “marthas-vineyard” URL. That was the way he found me when he first started coming to my inn. When he went back to find my site, it was changed to the original URL. After he did some research and found me again, I told him the whole story. He suggested that I use the URL as a directory website for Martha’s Vineyard. The URL became a goldmine two times over. And so the rest is history, or at least all my jobs became history.
I retired from being a flight attendant, wedding planner, high school career coordinator, host family coordinator and innkeeper. Now I focus on my hobby, which is running and selling ads on marthas-vineyard.com. I love it and it affords me the opportunity to do it from anywhere in the world. URL’s can be goldmines and I intend to sell marthas-vineyard. com when I retire. Doris L. Clark is based out of Vineyard Haven and wrote this article for Innkeeping Now. Doris will be selling Marthas-Vineyard. com when she retires.
AdIndex BedandBreakfast.com.................................................................................... 4 www.bedandbreakfast.com
RezOvation...................................................................................................... 11 www.rezovation.com
Essential Amenities Inc.................................................................................. 7 www.essentialamenities.com
Sunset Hill Stoneware.................................................................................... 4 www.shstoneware.com
Inn Sales.......................................................................Inside Front Cover, 16 www.innsales.com
TripAdvisor........................................................................ Inside Front Cover www.tripadvisor.com
Interim Innkeepers Network....................................................................... 13 www.Interiminnkeepers.net
Unique Angles Photography........................................................................ 18 www.uniqueanglesphoto.com
PAII Conference.............................................................Outside Back Cover www.innkeeping.org
WebRezPro........................................................................................................ 9 www.webrezpro.com
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