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
Recent Media Coverage

Current and Upcoming Publicity: Fall 2008
Throughout September and October, BedandBreakfast.com’s publicity has focused on the annual round-up of Great Places to Sleep…either with a ghost or in a B&B. Click below to read BedandBreakfast.com’s annual Halloween ghost tales along with the full round-up of 2008-2009 Best of BedandBreakfast.com Award winners.

10/9/2008
Best of BedandBreakfast.com
THE BEST OF BEDANDBREAKFAST.COM AWARDS 2008-2009

9/9/2008
GREAT PLACES TO SLEEP WITH A GHOST
BedandBreakfast.com's Annual 2008 Roundup of Bootiful and Spirited "Dead and Breakfasts"

Additionally, BedandBreakfast.com editors have been blogging away on the new BedandBreakfast.com Blog. As you’ll see, each time an editor visits a BedandBreakfast.com member, trip reports are posted. Additionally, we’ve posted a number of great photos and stories that innkeepers have sent us. Keep the news and photos coming! We love adding new entries to the blog with creative ideas from innkeepers. Also, BedandBreakfast.com editors and associate editors love to stay with members when they travel. If you’re interested in hosting a BedandBreakfast.com writer, let Marti Mayne know. You can see where we’ll be by checking the Innkeeper News Calendar; we’d love to post a trip report about your region on the blog.

Change photos often: Media are often on the lookout for timely photos. Additionally, photos from your listing pages are often linked to press releases posted in the BedandBreakfast.com Press Room, also visited by media worldwide. Most importantly, timely photos on your BedandBreakfast.com page motivate consumers to book. As fall approaches, replace the summer shots with fall foliage and holiday photos. Not sure how to post photos? Click here to go to your Home Base on BedandBreakfast.com, click Photos under Free Member Benefits, then upload photos following the easy instructions.

Coming up: We still plan to highlight some of the most creative packages for in-state vacations in our upcoming press releases, so it’s not too late to add yours to the In-State Special Rate on the Specials page of BedandBreakfast.com. Using your offers posted on the site, we will create a press release to encourage closer-to-home getaways. Additionally, be sure to post your Thanksgiving and Holiday Specials for upcoming publicity, too.

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 In-state and Halloween specials. Bronze member? Please click here to upgrade. Not yet a member? Join today!
 

Ask the Pros: We keep hearing Marti Mayne and Sandy Soule talk in workshops about the need for great photography; give us a good example of why we need to have professional photos on hand.

A: I’m glad you asked that question, because I have a good recent example of how great photography benefited our members through the BedandBreakfast.com publicity program. As we mentioned earlier, each year BedandBreakfast.com compiles a comprehensive listing of haunted inns and B&Bs, then distributes it widely to the media. As a result, a number of newspapers have followed up with stories. We were contacted by a writer at the Tampa Tribune who was in the process of writing a feature story and wanted photos of all the haunted inns in the south. We contacted the inns included in our press release and received great high-res photography from about half of them. Note the difference in the coverage received by those with beautiful high-res photography, and those without.


Inns with great photos ended up with a quarter page of space in the story; those who didn’t, missed out. If purchased as advertising, each color photo and description would have cost over $8,440.

The Texas White House in Fort Worth, TX, was also included in BedandBreakfast.com’s line up of haunted B&Bs. While this photo was not taken exclusively for stories about the inn’s ghosts, the media love photos like this to go along with articles they write about haunted inns; if you have an equivalent photo, be sure to upload it in high resolution to your listing on BedandBreakfast.com and to your own home page.



Let’s Hear it from Innkeepers
”I assure you that we are very much aware of the benefits that PR coverage affords and will take full advantage! Marti, thank you especially for your patience and perseverance with submissions. We truly appreciate BedandBreakfast.com's outstanding level of service and commitment to our industry.” -- Rosalie and Dom Ayala, Noftsger Hill B&B, Globe, AZ

“Thought you'd get a kick in your step this morning from seeing what a guest sent us yesterday after they received our area info and reservation confirmation emails. No surprise to you or to us, but another reminder that potential guests look at what reviews have to say about our places.

"‘Hello Tom and Anita! Thank you so much for your prompt and helpful responses. Yes, this will be our first visit to a B&B and we are very excited. We've read so many great things about your accommodations, service, and hospitality on Trip Advisor and BedandBreakfast.com. We know you'll provide a beautiful wedding for us.’” -- Tom and Anita Potts, South Court Inn B&B, Luray, VA

”Advertising with you was the best idea I had three years ago." – Shane Fisher, Slope View B&B, Winter Park, CO

Recent BedandBreakfast.com Media Coverage  
BedandBreakfast.com’s Great Places to Sleep with a Ghost press release has spurred many stories already, and there’s still two weeks left before Halloween. Blogs like Travelmuse.com, Gadling.com and TravelJournal.com have included stories not for the faint of heart. It’s even gone international included in the ETravelBlackboard.com, an Australian blog. The Earth Times was the first to run BedandBreakfast.com’s ghost stories. Additional stories mentioning BedandBreakfast.com’s compilation of ghost stories have run in The Houston Chronicle, Forbes.com, Reuters News Service, The Toronto Star, The News Tribune in Tacoma, WA, LA Times, and as we mentioned earlier, The Tampa Tribune did a great feature story on haunted inns in the South, spurred by BedandBreakfast.com’s release. We even did a radio interview on the CFAX Travel Show from Victoria, BC, about all the great haunted inns among BedandBreakfast.com members. As we write this, we’re working on another story about great haunts with the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Coverage has begun for the 2008-2009 Best of BedandBreakfast.com Award winners. The Pittsburg Post-Gazette posted two stories about winners in their region. The Wall Street Journal Marketwatch picked up the story for syndication and newspapers including The Dallas Morning News, The Hollywood Reporter, AZ Central and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer listed winners. Additionally, Yahoo! and AOL both ran the release in their business sections.

The Toronto Star told readers to visit the BedandBreakfast.com Blog for updates on B&Bs, and SmarterTravel.com advised readers that BedandBreakfast.com offers a great resource for fall getaways, specifically mentioning Specials on BedandBreakfast.com posted by Garden Grove B&B and the Colonial House B&B.

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