Took a leap - dropped T r A and B & b. com

Well the year in review is complete and the ruanway winner is ORGANIC, with local partner links and local and state tourism links coming in a strong second and third.
When I factor in the natural migration from review sites and the target market for our inn, it just doesn't make sense to continue to pay a national directory for so little return. This is especially so for a site that has no interest in having a business relationship with you.
The plan is to expand our partner links, continue to manage our organic position, and look at how to redeposit the marketing dollars in a more effective strategy.
While I think the purchased link we are dropping had some benefit, those business benefits were overwhelmed by the ethical choice not to do business with a company that has no interest in page acuracy, review verification, or adherence to their own rules. (Ubiquitous Caveat- We have great reviews and our business has benefited from using this site)

Thanks for the update. No beware, when I dropped TA and a couple others they autorenewed without our authorization. After multiple phone calls and them telling us for certain we have been refunded, we were not. THIS is one main reason I won't pay for the biz listing - again- even tho I get calls email and nice cards in the mail trying to woo me as a "First time" Biz listing. They have no recollection of anything...doh!
All the best HK!
People google, we spoke of this on another thread about guests who DO NOT book online which I find it in error, but YOUBETCHYA this is where they find us, this is what they want, not some directory third party. Enough of us have been burned, we all know to go direct to the source!

Joey Bloggs said:

Thanks for the update. No beware, when I dropped TA and a couple others they autorenewed without our authorization. After multiple phone calls and them telling us for certain we have been refunded, we were not. THIS is one main reason I won't pay for the biz listing - again- even tho I get calls email and nice cards in the mail trying to woo me as a "First time" Biz listing. They have no recollection of anything...doh!
All the best HK!
People google, we spoke of this on another thread about guests who DO NOT book online which I find it in error, but YOUBETCHYA this is where they find us, this is what they want, not some directory third party. Enough of us have been burned, we all know to go direct to the source!

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Thanks for the reminder. I just went and checked my cc to make sure we weren't charged for another year.

Good point about using the extra funds locally, that's what we're doing as we drop directories. Helping out organizations in the 'community' that we like and want to support. (And, there's always the link love from those orgs!)

I have been dropping directories for several years. I just this morning got an online rez from a hit to my website from that directory. Yea, I can track one booking to a directory. Glad I gave it another year. This rez will almost cover the renew fee. I am down to several in a niche market and one B & B directory. The organic searches bring me up on the first page - often a couple times on that page!

Madeleine said:

Joey Bloggs said:

Thanks for the update. No beware, when I dropped TA and a couple others they autorenewed without our authorization. After multiple phone calls and them telling us for certain we have been refunded, we were not. THIS is one main reason I won't pay for the biz listing - again- even tho I get calls email and nice cards in the mail trying to woo me as a "First time" Biz listing. They have no recollection of anything...doh!
All the best HK!
People google, we spoke of this on another thread about guests who DO NOT book online which I find it in error, but YOUBETCHYA this is where they find us, this is what they want, not some directory third party. Enough of us have been burned, we all know to go direct to the source!

.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reminder. I just went and checked my cc to make sure we weren't charged for another year.
.

Click to expand...

I could not find a way to alter that info on line so that it would not work and they only offer you an option to switch to monthly. Until recently, they made it so difficult to reach them, it was like you had to pay.

Joey Bloggs said:

Thanks for the update. No beware, when I dropped TA and a couple others they autorenewed without our authorization. After multiple phone calls and them telling us for certain we have been refunded, we were not. THIS is one main reason I won't pay for the biz listing - again- even tho I get calls email and nice cards in the mail trying to woo me as a "First time" Biz listing. They have no recollection of anything...doh!
All the best HK!
People google, we spoke of this on another thread about guests who DO NOT book online which I find it in error, but YOUBETCHYA this is where they find us, this is what they want, not some directory third party. Enough of us have been burned, we all know to go direct to the source!

.

Click to expand...

This is almost another thread, but what I wonder is if all this stuff is being pushed at the innkeeping show. We have an innkeeper friend who has pushed their gross way up but they still don't seem to be able to realize a net gain. Spending a thousand on marketing to make a thousand and one seems silly to me.
Of course- I really don't have a clue what I'm doing half the time.

Happy Keeper said:

Joey Bloggs said:

Thanks for the update. No beware, when I dropped TA and a couple others they autorenewed without our authorization. After multiple phone calls and them telling us for certain we have been refunded, we were not. THIS is one main reason I won't pay for the biz listing - again- even tho I get calls email and nice cards in the mail trying to woo me as a "First time" Biz listing. They have no recollection of anything...doh!
All the best HK!
People google, we spoke of this on another thread about guests who DO NOT book online which I find it in error, but YOUBETCHYA this is where they find us, this is what they want, not some directory third party. Enough of us have been burned, we all know to go direct to the source!

.

Click to expand...

This is almost another thread, but what I wonder is if all this stuff is being pushed at the innkeeping show. We have an innkeeper friend who has pushed their gross way up but they still don't seem to be able to realize a net gain. Spending a thousand on marketing to make a thousand and one seems silly to me.
Of course- I really don't have a clue what I'm doing half the time.
.

Click to expand...

Happy Keeper said:

Spending a thousand on marketing to make a thousand and one seems silly to me.

Click to expand...

This is why I'm pretty pushy about getting at least a 10-fold return on my spending on directories. (Not on museums and the like.) So, if the directory charges me $500/year, I'd better be able to track back to $5000 in revenue. (Or there had better be a very good reason for supporting the directory other than the 10-fold return.)

Madeleine said:

Happy Keeper said:

Joey Bloggs said:

Thanks for the update. No beware, when I dropped TA and a couple others they autorenewed without our authorization. After multiple phone calls and them telling us for certain we have been refunded, we were not. THIS is one main reason I won't pay for the biz listing - again- even tho I get calls email and nice cards in the mail trying to woo me as a "First time" Biz listing. They have no recollection of anything...doh!
All the best HK!
People google, we spoke of this on another thread about guests who DO NOT book online which I find it in error, but YOUBETCHYA this is where they find us, this is what they want, not some directory third party. Enough of us have been burned, we all know to go direct to the source!

.

Click to expand...

This is almost another thread, but what I wonder is if all this stuff is being pushed at the innkeeping show. We have an innkeeper friend who has pushed their gross way up but they still don't seem to be able to realize a net gain. Spending a thousand on marketing to make a thousand and one seems silly to me.
Of course- I really don't have a clue what I'm doing half the time.
.

Click to expand...

Happy Keeper said:

Spending a thousand on marketing to make a thousand and one seems silly to me.

Click to expand...

This is why I'm pretty pushy about getting at least a 10-fold return on my spending on directories. (Not on museums and the like.) So, if the directory charges me $500/year, I'd better be able to track back to $5000 in revenue. (Or there had better be a very good reason for supporting the directory other than the 10-fold return.)
.

Click to expand...

Madeleine said:

Happy Keeper said:

Spending a thousand on marketing to make a thousand and one seems silly to me.

Click to expand...

This is why I'm pretty pushy about getting at least a 10-fold return on my spending on directories. (Not on museums and the like.) So, if the directory charges me $500/year, I'd better be able to track back to $5000 in revenue. (Or there had better be a very good reason for supporting the directory other than the 10-fold return.)

Click to expand...

10-fold return is the way it is taught in Marketing 101. As I have been noticing most directories only mention the 'average' inquiries you should expect to get from the listing, some go on to say - it will pay for itself. Big WOOP, I do not list to break even!!!
This new website format may just put them in the scratch off list for me this year, while in the last year, they were a big referrer for me the change in format nixed that and there is NO WAY in ____ I will upgrade my listing, the referral base couldn't justify that even before the change.
Link love is the way to look at things in the future. Big directories are going to be the thing of the past (topic of another thread), being on page one in organic listing IS the place to be!