Promoting the Industry

Marti Mayne The BedandBreakfast.com Press Room is a popular feature for the media: Visit the Press Room to find a wealth of information on package ideas, travel advice for guests, press releases, and a complete editorial calendar, offering B&B story ideas for each month. Additionally, you'll find B&B industry history, facts and figures, as well as links to Sandy Soule's wonderful travel tips and advice columns. If you're being interviewed by a writer, please refer them to the press room for great background information. We're very proud that BedandBreakfast.com offers one of the most comprehensive one-stop story shops in the industry, one that can also serve as a great resource for your own publicity efforts.

Special Promotions & Media Relations

BedandBreakfast.com's publicity efforts have produced several banner months for our members. Articles in high-profile newspapers and magazines contributed to record-breaking numbers of impressions: in the month of October alone, BedandBreakfast.com posted more than 57 million impressions with a value of almost $87,000. Read more about it below.

Special thanks to all the innkeepers who provided information and photos in a timely manner. Your efforts paid off with coverage in magazines and newspapers. Whenever one of our publicity requests applies to your B&B, please respond quickly, to increase your chances of being one of the BedandBreakfast.com members who gets to see their name "in lights."

Placing a Value on Publicity: When we say "it pays to respond to publicity leads," we mean that media coverage translates to heads in your beds. If you missed the article last month, click here to read all about it.

White space counts: A recent Roper poll determined that a "clear majority of American consumers are more likely to trust media reports than advertising," according to this consumer research company. "The study, which was sponsored by PR agency Hanser & Associates, showed that 68% of participants place more weight on news coverage than advertising when determining their trust of individual companies. While just 23% of respondents said they consider the two to be of equal value, a mere 9% called advertising more important." Details here

Great Harvest-to-Holidays Stories: In November, we sent these releases:

• TURKEY, TOTS AND TATERS: Family-oriented B&B Thanksgiving packages.
• TURKEY & TRIMMINGS ON A BUDGET: A compilation of affordable Thanksgiving B&B getaways.
• B&B COOKING SCHOOLS OFFER CULINARY TRAINING ALONG WITH R&R: A taste-tempting round-up of B&B-based cooking schools.
• GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN! Entertaining, value-packed girlfriends getaways at B&Bs throughout North America.

We love hearing from you!: Here's a sampling of letters we received from innkeepers following the USA TODAY article about the Ten Best Places To Sleep With A Ghost:

"We don't know how much business came from USA TODAY and how much came from MSNBC.com [which also picked up the release]. The phone did not stop ringing and we had the best Halloween ever. We got as many as thirty calls a day. We ended up running our special three weeks in a row. The USA article is now in our scrapbook and is enjoyed by all." Carol and Ted, Captain Grant's B&B, Poquetanuck, CT

"Thanks once again for including us and for doing such a great job. The phone has been ringing and we are keeping track of the results. In the long run, we think the publicity in for our region will be invaluable and certainly would not have happened without your help." Judy Hotchkiss, Prospect Hill B&B Inn, Mountain City, TN

"Thanks for all your great work! I have had lots of calls and bookings. The Chamber of Commerce was really excited as well! Let me know when I need to get creative again." Pat Inmon, John Denham House, Monticello, FL

And from one of Redbook's romantic choices: "We have been able to track seven reservations for three nights each, plus three one-night stays from our mention in the Redbook Magazine article." Bob and Charlene Johnson, Johnson Mill B&B, Midway, UT

Post Your Specials Today: BedandBreakfast.com specials are popular with both the media and inngoers. Specials can be posted by theme or by state/province. For best results, post your specials both on BedandBreakfast.com and on your own website. Not sure how to post your specials? Here's the free deal for Silver members and up:

• Log in with your property ID and password, then select "Edit Listing" from the toolbar at the top of the page. From the drop-down menu, select "Specials."
• Under "Special Summary," click the theme of your choice from the drop-down menu, and combine a promotional rate with whatever tempting treats or special event tickets your guests might enjoy--it's up to you.
• To see the specials that have already been posted by your fellow innkeepers, visit our Specials page and click the drop down box marked "Select Special."

Bronze member??? Don't miss out on these specials. Try our 100 percent risk-free upgrade guarantee.

Publicity Leads: BedandBreakfast.com offers you two ways to stay up-to-date on publicity leads:

1. Email publicity leads: Every few months, we send you a text email, outlining upcoming publicity initiatives; we use many of the responses to create the press releases we send to the media. Please make sure your spam filter isn't blocking these BedandBreakfast.com emails or you may miss out on some great opportunities.
2. Online publicity leads: These are specific requests from travel writers needing information for stories. To read them, log in to your home base with your property ID and password, then click "Publicity Leads" under "General Information."

BedandBreakfast.com Media Coverage

Our efforts to promote the B&B industry through articles in magazines, newspapers, television, and on the Internet paid off again in November. BedandBreakfast.com recorded a record number of impressions in October, followed by another 4.33 million in November. Here is a sampling of some of the articles written:

Gary Lee, of the Washington Post, wrote an article that has been syndicated to newspapers around the U.S. about the appeal of B&Bs as good alternatives to larger hotels. BedandBreakfast.com was the first directory mentioned and was described as "user-friendly" with a number of useful search and amenities options.

About.com told their subscribers about the BedandBreakfast.com members offering covered bridge packages in their B&B newsletter. Additionally, the About.com Travel With Kids newsletter offered BedandBreakfast.com as a source for Thanksgiving packages with kids and directed those in search of a great place for turkey, taters and tots to BedandBreakfast.com's Specials section

CNNMoney.com listed a sampling of the haunted B&Bs on an article entitled Gory Getaways Highlight Halloween.

Sandy Soule's B&B Bonuses article, favorably comparing B&Bs to hotels continues to appear throughout the media. The Business in Broward (FL) Journal reprinted the article in full.

The TIME magazine article about adventurous travelers opting for urban inns mentioned BedandBreakfast.com as an excellent resource:

The New York Times offered an excellent analysis of the B&B industry in this article.

After reviewing some of these articles, we believe you'll now agree that it does pay to respond to BedandBreakfast.com's publicity leads. Through our PR efforts, your packages and features are listed on major media outlets - often with links directly to your site.

This Month's Sponsor

Online Trade Show

Click to visit our newest vendor members:

• BB Amenities
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More vendor info...

Gift Certificates

Inn at Occidental, Occidental, CA

More gift certificates are sold during the holiday season than any other time, and the lucky recipients will soon be searching for B&Bs that will redeem them. Don't miss out! To join the nearly 3200 participating inns, just log in to your home base with your property ID and password, or click here for more information.

Traffic statistics

Log in with your property ID and password for details on the number of page impressions and click-throughs your B&B has received as a result of all BedandBreakfast.com online marketing, including property listings, Featured Property, and Inn of the Month advertising. More information

Member Information

To update your entry, post specials, and renew your membership, please log in with your property ID and password. Can't remember your password? Click here, then enter your property ID and we'll email it to you. Don't like your password? Once you're logged in to Home Base, just click "Change Password" (first item in the left-hand column), and choose another that's easier to remember. More information

Inns for Sale

Time to move on? Sell your property by listing it on the leading Internet site for bed and breakfasts and inns, BedandBreakfast.com. Email us today and we'll put you on our special offer mailing list. Read more

Online Bookings

Taking real-time, online reservations is the most effective way to transform your Internet presence from an informational resource into a 24/7 sales engine.  Read more

Innkeepers Information Center

Need more info? You’ll find lots of forms, tutorials, and educational articles on our site for your convenience.

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