Promoting the Industry
Our goal is to generate great publicity for BedandBreakfast.com
members specifically, and for the B&B industry as a whole. In this
issue we cover:
Upcoming Publicity for BedandBreakfast.com
members
Ask the Pros
Let's Hear it from
Innkeepers
Let’s Hear it from the Media
Recent Media Coverage
Current and Upcoming
Publicity: May and June
BedandBreakfast.com’s recent publicity has focused on travel trends,
Mother’s Day, wedding gifts of travel, and gardening packages.
Click on the headlines below to read the releases created for April
and May:
5/22/2008:
BEDANDBREAKFAST.COM SURVEY SHOWS AMERICANS POISED TO TRAVEL MEMORIAL
DAY WEEKEND AND THROUGHOUT SUMMER
5/15/2008:
GIFTS OF TRAVEL PROVE LOVE IS BETTER THE SECOND TIME AROUND
A Customized Getaway Gift Card from BedandBreakfast.com is the
Perfect Wedding Gift for the Second, Third or Fourth Time Around
5/7/2008:
POLITICIANS AREN'T THE ONLY ONES SLINGING MUD.
BEDANDBREAKFAST.COM MEMBERS INVITE GUESTS TO GET DIRTY
...WITH CREATIVE GARDENING PACKAGES, OF COURSE!
4/10/2008:
ONE GOOD DEED DESERVES A MOTHER. THIS MOTHER'S DAY, GIVE A LOW CARB
(ON) GIFT TO YOUR MOM, AND TO MOTHER EARTH, TOO!: Ten percent of
online BedandBreakfast.com gift card sales from Earth Day to
Mother's Day will be donated to American Forests Global ReLeaf Fund
to plant trees in honor of Mom
Kudos to survey respondents: Hat’s off to innkeepers who
responded to the recent surveys regarding Memorial Day travel trends
and Thanksgiving. Thanks to you, BedandBreakfast.com was able to
supply the media with exclusive and timely information about the B&B
industry from more than 1,000 innkeepers. Be on the lookout for
upcoming surveys where your input will be valuable for answering
questions about travel trends and B&B amenities.
Do you have B-roll? BedandBreakfast.com is building an
up-do-date list of all members with TV quality footage (B-roll).
Ideally, your footage will be shot in Beta or Beta SP, but more and
more stations can now accept professionally shot digital footage in
DigiPro, MiniDV and a few other formats. If your footage is shot in
European format (PAL), it can be converted for use in the U.S. if
necessary. If you have professionally shot television quality
footage, please email
Sarah.Stotts@BedandBreakfast.com and let her know the length and
format of your footage.
Coming up next month: Although there’s still time to post
your creative
Girlfriends Getaways for our upcoming story, we’re turning our
focus to fall and the holidays; be sure to post Thanksgiving and
Holiday specials soon.
To add specials:
Click here to go to your Home Base on BedandBreakfast.com, then
click the Specials link to add your packages. Be sure to include all
relevant information including rates, validity dates, whether
children/pets are welcome, and the costs. (Silver-level members and
above may post specials; simply
log in with your Property ID and password. Select Specials
from the table in your Home Base. Enter appropriate offers for
Thanksgiving and Holiday specials. Bronze member? Please click here to
upgrade. Not yet a member?
Join today!
Ask
the Pros: “I
was just going over the many reviews we have on our property posted on
BedandBreakfast.com. I am thrilled about the numerous positive comments
about our inn but equally delighted with the number of postings. Is there
any way our inn can get some additional press exposure as a result of this?"
-- Innkeeper, Rhode Island
A: Perfect
timing! We will soon be gearing up for the 2008
Best of BedandBreakfast.com Awards, offered to the top-reviewed B&Bs and
inns. Both the quality and quantity of reviews will be considered in the
selection of the winning inns; balanced comments are vital. Fewer reviews
where guests have taken the time to offer details are just as salient as
more reviews that were quickly jotted without many details.
Awards will be given for the top U.S., Canadian, European, Central American,
Caribbean, and other international inns, supplemented by regional awards,
themed awards for pet-friendly, family friendly, romantic inns, and more.
Winners will be announced in September 2008. The 10 top overall winners will
receive free Platinum memberships, and all winners will receive
recognition plaques or certificates and website badges, as well as inclusion
in our winners’ publicity campaign recognizing the top B&Bs.
It’s not too late to begin or to continue encouraging guests to post reviews
on BedandBreakfast.com. Remember, B&Bs with reviews get more reservations
than those without. The independent feedback offers credence to potential
bookers and may help land a Best of BedandBreakfast.com Award, too.
Let’s Hear it from
Innkeepers
“Thanks to BedandBreakfast.com's Tanks a Lot free gas promotion, we were
part of a
‘pain at the pumps’ feature on Hartford's NBC30 evening news. A reporter
found our special in your list of Connecticut B&Bs. We wanted to let other
innkeepers know that the specials posted on BedandBreakfast.com can benefit
in more ways than they realize. We also want to thank you for continuing to
provide new advertising and promotional opportunities for us.” -- Becky
and Dave Barrett, The Wallingford Victorian Bed and Breakfast, Wallingford,
CT
“BedandBreakfast.com does a great job of making my inn known to people all
over the nation, which is very important, since I can't possibly afford to
advertise in any other national venue. Thanks for providing a way for people
from far and wide to find my B&B.” -- Sherrie Hansen, The Blue Belle Inn
Bed and Breakfast, St. Ansgar, IA
Let’s Hear it from the
Media
“I really find the BedandBreakfast.com website helpful on our photo shoots.
I prefer to shoot at B&Bs, so feel free to send ideas my way. I am always on
the lookout for large B&Bs with private grounds in the United States. Thank
you.” – Carrie Lucero, Playboy Entertainment/ICS
Recent BedandBreakfast.com Media Coverage
BedandBreakfast.com’s press release outlining all the
Tanks a Lot offers has continued to garner tremendous media coverage.
Media from major newspapers to TV to Internet sites are sending their
readers and viewers to BedandBreakfast.com to learn about free gas
promotions. If you have not already added your package, please do so today.
As gas prices soar, the media continues to search for great gas specials.
Here is a sampling of the media coverage we’ve enjoyed over the past month
or so.
In late April, Tanks a Lot was included in an article on the front page of
Yahoo! Finance along with individual offers from B&Bs including the CW
Worth House and the Wallingford Victorian B&B, both listed on
BedandBreakfast.com’s Specials pages.
Smartmoney.com also listed the same article, and
MSNBC
featured Tanks a Lot in a story that also mentioned a clever offer from the
Tin Lizzie Inn.
MSN also included a mention about Tanks a Lot in a story linked recently
from its home page.
The Boston Globe headlined one travel story with BedandBreakfast.com’s
Tanks a Lot program, including a photo of the Pilgrim’s Inn in Deer Isle,
ME, and offers from the Inn at Ellis River, The Ruby of Crested Butte,
Colonial
 Terrace
in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Wilder Farm Inn in Waitsfield, VT. Tanks a Lot was
included in
USA TODAY’s roundup of great gas deals, along with another story that
appeared in the
Detroit Free Press.
BedandBreakfast.com has also had great pickup from national and regional TV
news shows, with stories about Tanks a Lot featured on
CNN. The
CBS Early Show included it in a story about saving money on summer
vacations. WESH2 in Orlando, FL, advised listeners to, “Try a website like
BedandBreakfast.com to find bed-and-breakfast locations. Many B&Bs are
offering special discounts or promotions to help offset fuel costs.” NBC’s
WESH 2 News Sunrise serving Orlando and Daytona Beach, FL, told viewers,
“Time for a money-saving secret. Try a website like BedandBreakfast.com to
find B&B gas promotions.”
Additionally, the May 2 issue of TIME magazine mentioned BedandBreakfast.com
as a resource for free gas offers, as did the
Miami Herald,
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the
Fort Worth Star Telegram.
While the media has been preoccupied by gas stories, additional coverage for
BedandBreakfast.com’s garden getaways appeared in the
St Petersburg Times, and coverage of
Memorial Day travel trends from BedandBreakfast.com appeared in
The Earth Times,
Houston Chronicle, the
Wall Street Journal Marketwatch and The Austin
American-Statesman in TX, plus
Yahoo! and the
LA Times.
Just when you thought BedandBreakfast.com’s Pancakes with Personality
Contest story was old news, winner Joanne Nichols from the Arbor Inn in Rye,
NH, appeared on
WCSH6 in Portland, ME’s feature show “207”, wearing her
BedandBreakfast.com apron and demonstrating her award-winning lemon
blueberry ricotta cheese pancakes. Click on the video link to watch her in
action.
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This Month's Sponsor
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Gift Card Reseller Program
Could you use some extra cash? Sign up for the gift card reseller
program, and make 15% on each sale! There is no cost to
get started;
click here for details. If you'd like to receive a free reseller kit, contact us at 800-462-2632 or
Support@BedandBreakfast.com.
“I have purchased weekends at B&Bs for friends before and had to contact
the place and make arrangements for a gift certificate of some sort.
This way my friends can select the location they want and when they want
to go. I will tell others about this great service!”
Referral Program
What’s better than
three month’s free membership? How about six months? Or a whole year? Refer
fellow innkeepers to BedandBreakfast.com, and if they join at the Silver
level or above, your membership will be extended by three months for
each B&B that signs up. If four B&Bs sign up, your membership is free
for a year! For details,
log in to your Home Base and click
Referral Program under Free Member
Benefits, or call 800-GO-B-AND-B (800-462-2632).
Online Trade Show
Visit our vendor members!
Click here to view our Online Trade Show.
Are you a vendor?
Click here to get featured!
Advertising Auctions
Featured Property and
Inn of the Month auctions are easy, affordable and effective ways to drive
traffic to your website.
Member Information
To update your entry, check your traffic statistics, and renew your membership,
please log in
with your property ID and password. Don't like your password? Once you're
logged in, click "Membership," select "Change Password," and choose another that's easier to remember.
More information
"I am happy to report that we have had several enquiries from your site, and
one guest who is staying for five nights, so our membership cost has been
covered. Thanks for your help!" Caitlin Adair, Sanctuary, Putney, VT
Inns for Sale
Innkeepers' Info Center
Need more
info? You’ll find lots of educational
articles on our site for your convenience.
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