Its's In There!!! Elopement!

The article is in the paper today - the Charleston Gazette-Mail! Lifestyle - ABOVE the fold!! The only downer was to see the list of other B & Bs in the State that do elopements. Normally I would not care but I am scared to death that history will repeat itself. Many times over the years I have had ideas or put together ads and included others only to find that the others got business from it and I did not. There was a motorcycle friendly ad, the B & Bs for Vets, and several others. I heard from many B & Bs about them getting paid reservations because they had participated in the Vets - to date, I have had none. Several of the B & Bs in the ad told me of the reservations they gor from the ad - I had none. I posted my elopement idea last year and PT set it up very successfully and until I had the log house set up I had nothing (until November). Whatever - that is dfuture. For the moment I am over the moon because it was such a good article and the embedded video is great.
http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20140503/GZ05/140509820/1419 and here again is my photo from it

Yes, bummer. I know the feeling of having an idea that turned out like that. Maybe this one will be different. Most folks can't match your log house setting!

You have a very unique location. In my estimation that is what I would really market as the package. I can see you have some period or themed elopements in the future!
Congrats!
(Too bad they did not put Gillum at the top, that would have only been the right thing to do since you gave them the whole article/story. I have no idea what sort order they are in...)
Wait! TSI offers elopement packages? Since when?

BY the way, if you are in contact with them, they CAN make a hyperlink on the youtube to your url. They can also change the title of the youtube to say elope west virginia at your inn, etc. instead of calling it "eloped" ...
K I have never seen you not wearing your apron!

Joey Bloggs said:

You have a very unique location. In my estimation that is what I would really market as the package. I can see you have some period or themed elopements in the future!
Congrats!
(Too bad they did not put Gillum at the top, that would have only been the right thing to do since you gave them the whole article/story. I have no idea what sort order they are in...)
Wait! TSI offers elopement packages? Since when?.

Click to expand...

I am now offering the rental of my 18th century clothes if they want to go whole hog with the period (and if the groom is not TOO big, DH has period clothes also - the men's clothes were not as adjustable as the women's clothes were made) wedding.

gillumhouse said:

Joey Bloggs said:

You have a very unique location. In my estimation that is what I would really market as the package. I can see you have some period or themed elopements in the future!
Congrats!
(Too bad they did not put Gillum at the top, that would have only been the right thing to do since you gave them the whole article/story. I have no idea what sort order they are in...)
Wait! TSI offers elopement packages? Since when?.

Click to expand...

I am now offering the rental of my 18th century clothes if they want to go whole hog with the period (and if the groom is not TOO big, DH has period clothes also - the men's clothes were not as adjustable as the women's clothes were made) wedding.
.

Click to expand...

gillumhouse said:

I am now offering the rental of my 18th century clothes if they want to go whole hog with the period (and if the groom is not TOO big, DH has period clothes also - the men's clothes were not as adjustable as the women's clothes were made) wedding.

Click to expand...

If you can't get all this on your website put it on your blog and then a link on the website to this blog article with more photos etc.

Great article! Congratulations! Your name is in the article. You got that!

Joey Bloggs said:

BY the way, if you are in contact with them, they CAN make a hyperlink on the youtube to your url. They can also change the title of the youtube to say elope west virginia at your inn, etc. instead of calling it "eloped" ...
K I have never seen you not wearing your apron! .

Click to expand...

JB - I once was part of an Aspiring panel and one of the other panelists (seasoned - I was new and when I told the organizer that, the reply was "you are open aren't you? That is more than anyone here will be). To finish the previous thought - seasoned innkeeper said - Your apron is your badge of office, never be afraid to wear it. I had my logo printed on aprons - filling the bib portion - that I wear to be a walking billboard. I have the size to qualify as a billboard too!

Joey Bloggs said:

You have a very unique location. In my estimation that is what I would really market as the package. I can see you have some period or themed elopements in the future!
Congrats!
(Too bad they did not put Gillum at the top, that would have only been the right thing to do since you gave them the whole article/story. I have no idea what sort order they are in...)
Wait! TSI offers elopement packages? Since when?.

Click to expand...

Joey Bloggs said:

Wait! TSI offers elopement packages? Since when?

Click to expand...

I didn't check closely but I believe they listed every member of the state B&B association, whether they offer packages or not. I know for sure they listed several that emphatically do not offer elopement packages. Bad fact-checking.
The association president has been doing a series of articles about B&Bs in the state since early this year - I think the first one she did in March mentioned elopements and small weddings as things you may not think of for a B&B stay. Budget weddings are a thing these days.

Well- I poked around at the article and ended reading some reviews, and I'll tell ya what- I suddenly saw myself stopping in to visit friends. Warm and cozy personified.
I can't imagine folks wouldn't be interested in the package you offer. The article was about you, included interviews with satisfied consumers, painted a picture of how it would go, and pointed out what a great value it was.
So... what is the follow up strategy?

happykeeper said:

Well- I poked around at the article and ended reading some reviews, and I'll tell ya what- I suddenly saw myself stopping in to visit friends. Warm and cozy personified.
I can't imagine folks wouldn't be interested in the package you offer. The article was about you, included interviews with satisfied consumers, painted a picture of how it would go, and pointed out what a great value it was.
So... what is the follow up strategy?.

Click to expand...

I have posted a link on FB and thankfully it has been reposted by a few - not enough, but some. My PR guy says papers like to run stories that include other inns. I have told him about JB. If there is anyone on here from Ohio or MD or KY that does weddings or elopements send me a message offline. He would like to put together a 4-State pitch. I am concentrating on elopements and motorcycles with ads & articles this year. I also embedded the article on my elopeinwestvirginia.com page and my specials as well as my blog saying if you want to see what it is, look here. I honestly do not know what else I can do. I will just keep plugging. Oh, I also have postcards that I have out at shops in town and have placed at the Visitor Centers/Welcome Centers.

gillumhouse said:

happykeeper said:

Well- I poked around at the article and ended reading some reviews, and I'll tell ya what- I suddenly saw myself stopping in to visit friends. Warm and cozy personified.
I can't imagine folks wouldn't be interested in the package you offer. The article was about you, included interviews with satisfied consumers, painted a picture of how it would go, and pointed out what a great value it was.
So... what is the follow up strategy?.

Click to expand...

I have posted a link on FB and thankfully it has been reposted by a few - not enough, but some. My PR guy says papers like to run stories that include other inns. I have told him about JB. If there is anyone on here from Ohio or MD or KY that does weddings or elopements send me a message offline. He would like to put together a 4-State pitch. I am concentrating on elopements and motorcycles with ads & articles this year. I also embedded the article on my elopeinwestvirginia.com page and my specials as well as my blog saying if you want to see what it is, look here. I honestly do not know what else I can do. I will just keep plugging. Oh, I also have postcards that I have out at shops in town and have placed at the Visitor Centers/Welcome Centers.
.

Click to expand...

Well- since I can't resist being Mr. Helpful- I searched "elope west Virgina" and there you were!
Unfortunately, nothing on your listing told me I have to choose you for my elopement.
After seeing what you can offer- I would consider something like.....
The warm and welcoming wedding of your dreams is waiting for you at Gillum House at an honest price you can afford. Take away the stress of an expensive wedding and let Ka... help you focus your energies on creating a magical day with the memories that last a lifetime. From simple elegance to a historical recreation, you can have the wedding the memories are made of at a price that you can afford. ......

happykeeper said:

gillumhouse said:

happykeeper said:

Well- I poked around at the article and ended reading some reviews, and I'll tell ya what- I suddenly saw myself stopping in to visit friends. Warm and cozy personified.
I can't imagine folks wouldn't be interested in the package you offer. The article was about you, included interviews with satisfied consumers, painted a picture of how it would go, and pointed out what a great value it was.
So... what is the follow up strategy?.

Click to expand...

I have posted a link on FB and thankfully it has been reposted by a few - not enough, but some. My PR guy says papers like to run stories that include other inns. I have told him about JB. If there is anyone on here from Ohio or MD or KY that does weddings or elopements send me a message offline. He would like to put together a 4-State pitch. I am concentrating on elopements and motorcycles with ads & articles this year. I also embedded the article on my elopeinwestvirginia.com page and my specials as well as my blog saying if you want to see what it is, look here. I honestly do not know what else I can do. I will just keep plugging. Oh, I also have postcards that I have out at shops in town and have placed at the Visitor Centers/Welcome Centers.
.

Click to expand...

Well- since I can't resist being Mr. Helpful- I searched "elope west Virgina" and there you were!
Unfortunately, nothing on your listing told me I have to choose you for my elopement.
After seeing what you can offer- I would consider something like.....
The warm and welcoming wedding of your dreams is waiting for you at Gillum House at an honest price you can afford. Take away the stress of an expensive wedding and let Ka... help you focus your energies on creating a magical day with the memories that last a lifetime. From simple elegance to a historical recreation, you can have the wedding the memories are made of at a price that you can afford. ......
.

Click to expand...

Thank you for he verbiage. I liked it - in fact with a slight addition of names it is now on the elope page and I added a link to he home page to take them to the Elope page - it is not on the menu list and I do not mess with that part of my site. I recently had a problem with updating my site and that got fixed (could not add photos brought it to light. Now I cannot get photos to load to my WP blog but that is not as big a problem as the other was at this time. I know photos on blogs are important but..... I hate to ask a very busy person about it.