| People are always suggesting you "think outside the | | | | but that's after they've paid their bill and left. |
| box", well when it comes to bed and breakfast | | | | What you need to be doing is drawing more people |
| marketing I'm going to suggest you think outside the | | | | in, so you need to think about why people are |
| bed! | | | | coming to your area and how to appeal to them. You |
| The appearance of your bed and breakfast (or guest | | | | can break that down into quite small market |
| house, country inn, gite, or whatever accommodation | | | | segments - what's generally called "niche marketing". |
| you have) is very important, of course. How the | | | | It may not be important at the height of the season |
| building and rooms appear on your website and any | | | | if you are in a particularly popular tourist area, but |
| brochure or advertising will have a big impact on | | | | what happens out of season (apart from you having |
| people's decision so it's vital to get that aspect right. | | | | a good rest)? |
| If you can afford a professional photographer it's a | | | | The tourists might not be around in winter but what |
| worthwhile investment. If you can't, take a hundred | | | | about business events locally? Is there a conference |
| pictures with a digital camera to get one good one if | | | | or exhibition center? That kind of venue tries to fill its |
| that's how many it takes! | | | | space as often as it can. Can you appeal to the |
| However, that kind of thing is what you might call | | | | people coming into your area for those kind of |
| "ordinary" bed and breakfast marketing. It's what | | | | things? Perhaps there is a specialist season - like |
| everyone does. What are you going to do to stand | | | | fishing or hunting - that you can take advantage of? |
| out from the crowd? | | | | You might think that something like a home show, |
| Rather than thinking in generalities, get specific and | | | | for example, would appeal only to fairly local people |
| get targeted. What do I mean? Well most of the | | | | who don't need accommodation... but the exhibitors |
| time you probably think you'll stand out by improving | | | | themselves have to stay somewhere and not all of |
| your accommodation and making it more appealing to | | | | them turn up in Winnebagos! |
| your guests. To an extent that's correct - there's | | | | The other question of course is how you get to |
| certainly nothing wrong with that - but by the time | | | | those potential guests? Contacting local businesses |
| your guests experience it they have already made | | | | and conference organizers is one way but by far the |
| the decision to come and stay with you. | | | | biggest reach will be via the internet. The most |
| It will impact on their experience, it will make them | | | | effective way to use that particular bed and |
| decide whether or not to stay with you again or | | | | breakfast marketing tool is with a blog, which we'll |
| whether to recommend you to friends or colleagues... | | | | get to in another article soon. |