Essential marketing tips for innkeepers

from Mike's Road Trip
Essential marketing tips for innkeepers

Deep clean every month. Uh oh...

Yep.
course, it's totally not true that you have to spend thousands, but it sure is easier.
You don't have to deep clean every month. That's silly.
Staying in a room is NOT part of the holy triangle of successful innkeepers, but it is still worth doing.
ETC. ETC.
If only there was a boiler plate that we could all follow.

Surprised he's found so many inns that do those things at the suggested intervals.
We have a fairly good cross section here and how many of us are doing that?
I haven't run across anyone in my town who does. Does that mean they're not successful? Don't think so.
The numbered suggestions were more to the point.

I would love to stay at B&Bs, but we don't. For one thing, it's often a single night and I don't want to displace someone for a single night with all that work. The other is that it may not be relaxing for me, talking shop, etc.

Jon Sable said:

I would love to stay at B&Bs, but we don't. For one thing, it's often a single night and I don't want to displace someone for a single night with all that work. The other is that it may not be relaxing for me, talking shop, etc..

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Jon Sable said:

For one thing, it's often a single night...

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Stop that! Linger a while and get to know the place. Better to see 3 places well than to rush through 6 places.
Also, remind me I said this the next time I'm single night town hopping myself!

Arks said:

Jon Sable said:

I would love to stay at B&Bs, but we don't. For one thing, it's often a single night and I don't want to displace someone for a single night with all that work. The other is that it may not be relaxing for me, talking shop, etc..

Click to expand...

Jon Sable said:

For one thing, it's often a single night...

Click to expand...

Stop that! Linger a while and get to know the place. Better to see 3 places well than to rush through 6 places.
Also, remind me I said this the next time I'm single night town hopping myself!
.

Click to expand...

It can be for a number of reasons. For example, I may be on the way to someplace by car. Or like last time, for a funeral.
Remember, I'm a city boy... cows confuse me.

The article has merit, but I am not in the camp that people should hire experts for this kind of stuff. I am in the camp that if something is important, the owner should master it. I do my own taxes (multiple properties) for many years. I know the law and the deductions/depreciations. No CPA has any tricks that would affect my taxes much. It is all in the tax software now.
Websites/blogs/social media/SEO need to be kept fresh. If doing it, the wordpress templates available now make it easy. There is value in getting help with the first set up, but the owner should be the one putting in modest efforts to freshen it and make it interesting. The easiest way (to me) is to find successful/major competitors and get ideas from their web presence.
Photographs? I think the owner should take a couple photography courses - lighting, setting up pictures, etc. Then, you can create a continuing stream of great photos on your blog, facebook, instagram, etc.
Marketing a business/inn is a primary responsibility, and there are courses, youtube videos, ebooks, software and other things that can make you an expert in short order. Giving others $20K to me is $$$ down the toilet. I would prefer to spend the $20K on one more ensuite bathroom or another similar improvement, I think it will make you more money.

I am a firm believer in letting someone who knows how to do something excellently to earn a living by doing it. Could I learn how to do my web site? Probably but I prefer to allow another to earn a living while I make better use of my time. Back in the day I was a programmer - in the way back machine of BAL and the beginning of COBOL. Then I became a VERY good computer operator (my programming knowledge made me a better operator) and now, I am a non-techie (more power on my desk than there was in the first mainframe I worked on).
I have an excellent tax person who is up on the latest laws and rules. I spend my time being the best I can be as an innkeeper, City Clerk, Board/Commission member (and I am on many), Other Mother & Granny, blow my brains out with the Band, and serving my community and Himself (full-time job there). I have a PR guy who does a good job for me. To do all myself, I am good at nothing.

gillumhouse said:

I am a firm believer in letting someone who knows how to do something excellently to earn a living by doing it. Could I learn how to do my web site? Probably but I prefer to allow another to earn a living while I make better use of my time. Back in the day I was a programmer - in the way back machine of BAL and the beginning of COBOL. Then I became a VERY good computer operator (my programming knowledge made me a better operator) and now, I am a non-techie (more power on my desk than there was in the first mainframe I worked on).
I have an excellent tax person who is up on the latest laws and rules. I spend my time being the best I can be as an innkeeper, City Clerk, Board/Commission member (and I am on many), Other Mother & Granny, blow my brains out with the Band, and serving my community and Himself (full-time job there). I have a PR guy who does a good job for me. To do all myself, I am good at nothing..

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I am in the middle on this - I think you have to know enough about it to know if you are having a good job done and not being ripped off.
I know I don't have a good eye for photo's but I know a chap who is a pro and will take good ones - am getting him in over when we are shut for Christmas as want a full set with clean rooms and I want ones of the zip and link rooms as twins and doubles as it causes confusion.

undersea said:

The article has merit, but I am not in the camp that people should hire experts for this kind of stuff. I am in the camp that if something is important, the owner should master it. I do my own taxes (multiple properties) for many years. I know the law and the deductions/depreciations. No CPA has any tricks that would affect my taxes much. It is all in the tax software now.
Websites/blogs/social media/SEO need to be kept fresh. If doing it, the wordpress templates available now make it easy. There is value in getting help with the first set up, but the owner should be the one putting in modest efforts to freshen it and make it interesting. The easiest way (to me) is to find successful/major competitors and get ideas from their web presence.
Photographs? I think the owner should take a couple photography courses - lighting, setting up pictures, etc. Then, you can create a continuing stream of great photos on your blog, facebook, instagram, etc.
Marketing a business/inn is a primary responsibility, and there are courses, youtube videos, ebooks, software and other things that can make you an expert in short order. Giving others $20K to me is $$$ down the toilet. I would prefer to spend the $20K on one more ensuite bathroom or another similar improvement, I think it will make you more money..

Click to expand...

undersea said:

The article has merit, but I am not in the camp that people should hire experts for this kind of stuff. I am in the camp that if something is important, the owner should master it. I do my own taxes (multiple properties) for many years. I know the law and the deductions/depreciations. No CPA has any tricks that would affect my taxes much. It is all in the tax software now.
Websites/blogs/social media/SEO need to be kept fresh. If doing it, the wordpress templates available now make it easy. There is value in getting help with the first set up, but the owner should be the one putting in modest efforts to freshen it and make it interesting. The easiest way (to me) is to find successful/major competitors and get ideas from their web presence.
Photographs? I think the owner should take a couple photography courses - lighting, setting up pictures, etc. Then, you can create a continuing stream of great photos on your blog, facebook, instagram, etc.
Marketing a business/inn is a primary responsibility, and there are courses, youtube videos, ebooks, software and other things that can make you an expert in short order. Giving others $20K to me is $$$ down the toilet. I would prefer to spend the $20K on one more ensuite bathroom or another similar improvement, I think it will make you more money.

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You kind of have to pick your poison on this one because you really don't have time to do it all. The important point might not be to DO everything but to understand enough of it to get it done right. And lots of owners have shown us their brand new sites and we've told them to go right back to the web designer and tell them to change (list follows here). You've noticed lots of innkeepers here have a partner working FT outside the inn, so there's not always another pair of hands around to do everything.
I agree you have to be able to do your own social media because hiring that out means you get the social campaign everyone else gets. You need to be able to take good enough photos for social media and the less important shots on your website. BUT, your main photos need to be the best you can afford. (Which doesn't have to be very high, you could get a really good student to do them.)
You do want to be able to make changes to your website on your own. No matter who designs it you really don't want to be on someone else's list of tasks to accomplish this week. (An example is the past 2 days we have gotten 4 calls asking about late check-in. It's obvious it's not clear on my website because everyone is quoting what the text says but they are not understanding it. I need to fix it. But not be on a list to fix it next week. Altho, seriously? TELLING someone to fix it might actually get it done faster. ;-) Oh well.)
But you can't expect to have time for everything. If you make up your list of all the tasks to be done in a day, then you need to assign those tasks to someone. Sometimes the best use of your time and money is finding the right outside person to do the job.
Like G said, sometimes passing the money around and keeping another small business in business is good for everyone's business. I don't NEED to buy locally made soap but I'm helping another business owner stay in business which makes my community more vibrant.

gillumhouse said:

I am a firm believer in letting someone who knows how to do something excellently to earn a living by doing it. Could I learn how to do my web site? Probably but I prefer to allow another to earn a living while I make better use of my time. Back in the day I was a programmer - in the way back machine of BAL and the beginning of COBOL. Then I became a VERY good computer operator (my programming knowledge made me a better operator) and now, I am a non-techie (more power on my desk than there was in the first mainframe I worked on).
I have an excellent tax person who is up on the latest laws and rules. I spend my time being the best I can be as an innkeeper, City Clerk, Board/Commission member (and I am on many), Other Mother & Granny, blow my brains out with the Band, and serving my community and Himself (full-time job there). I have a PR guy who does a good job for me. To do all myself, I am good at nothing..

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It is difficult to resist trying to do it all. I was raised by very self-sufficient children of the Depression. A lot of that stuck. I'm only now learning to trust, delegate, and recently, to selectively outsource!

I'm in the same camp on being self sufficient on learning how to do a website. I read a couple of books, watched some You-Tube videos and made my own site. For coding, fixing my errors, and tweaking some things, I got on Elance (now oDesk) and hired some freelancers for about $30 to $40 bucks for each job. Each of those guys did a great job plus a little extra when I asked them to. They explained to me how to do a few things I didn't know how to do then I left them a good tip. I've learned a lot about updating and maintaining our website. I truly believe it is one of our biggest assets. I'm glad that I did it myself and didn't spend $4000 to $7000 which we can readily spend elsewhere.
Now bookkeeping?!?! I'm learning this as well. Luckily I have a sister-in-law who is an accountant and business teacher. This double entry stuff is seriously confusing.

ChrisandShelley said:

I'm in the same camp on being self sufficient on learning how to do a website. I read a couple of books, watched some You-Tube videos and made my own site. For coding, fixing my errors, and tweaking some things, I got on Elance (now oDesk) and hired some freelancers for about $30 to $40 bucks for each job. Each of those guys did a great job plus a little extra when I asked them to. They explained to me how to do a few things I didn't know how to do then I left them a good tip. I've learned a lot about updating and maintaining our website. I truly believe it is one of our biggest assets. I'm glad that I did it myself and didn't spend $4000 to $7000 which we can readily spend elsewhere.
Now bookkeeping?!?! I'm learning this as well. Luckily I have a sister-in-law who is an accountant and business teacher. This double entry stuff is seriously confusing..

Click to expand...

I never see the complexity that business owners have with bookkeeping. I have a ton of receipts and mileage and other things for my rental properties at end of year for repairs, rent, expenses, legal, supplied, etc. Basically:
1) Put receipt/record in proper box (advertising, etc.). No receipts go into Excel spreadsheet.
2) Total at end of year.
3) Enter into turbotax. It pretty much tells you where to put everything.
4) Save stack of stuff for 7 years.
I have the same depreciation, deductions, etc. Not rocket science.

undersea said:

ChrisandShelley said:

I'm in the same camp on being self sufficient on learning how to do a website. I read a couple of books, watched some You-Tube videos and made my own site. For coding, fixing my errors, and tweaking some things, I got on Elance (now oDesk) and hired some freelancers for about $30 to $40 bucks for each job. Each of those guys did a great job plus a little extra when I asked them to. They explained to me how to do a few things I didn't know how to do then I left them a good tip. I've learned a lot about updating and maintaining our website. I truly believe it is one of our biggest assets. I'm glad that I did it myself and didn't spend $4000 to $7000 which we can readily spend elsewhere.
Now bookkeeping?!?! I'm learning this as well. Luckily I have a sister-in-law who is an accountant and business teacher. This double entry stuff is seriously confusing..

Click to expand...

I never see the complexity that business owners have with bookkeeping. I have a ton of receipts and mileage and other things for my rental properties at end of year for repairs, rent, expenses, legal, supplied, etc. Basically:
1) Put receipt/record in proper box (advertising, etc.). No receipts go into Excel spreadsheet.
2) Total at end of year.
3) Enter into turbotax. It pretty much tells you where to put everything.
4) Save stack of stuff for 7 years.
I have the same depreciation, deductions, etc. Not rocket science.
.

Click to expand...

For my businesses, I want to keep track of revenue and expenses more frequently than once a year, so a computerized system of record keeping is really useful. I have been using Quickbooks.
Regarding double-entry bookkeeping, all of the explanations I have seen make it more complicated than it is (it's the explanations that are complicated, not the actual data entries!) And using a program like Quickbooks generally takes care of the double entries for you.

ChrisandShelley said:

I'm in the same camp on being self sufficient on learning how to do a website. I read a couple of books, watched some You-Tube videos and made my own site. For coding, fixing my errors, and tweaking some things, I got on Elance (now oDesk) and hired some freelancers for about $30 to $40 bucks for each job. Each of those guys did a great job plus a little extra when I asked them to. They explained to me how to do a few things I didn't know how to do then I left them a good tip. I've learned a lot about updating and maintaining our website. I truly believe it is one of our biggest assets. I'm glad that I did it myself and didn't spend $4000 to $7000 which we can readily spend elsewhere.
Now bookkeeping?!?! I'm learning this as well. Luckily I have a sister-in-law who is an accountant and business teacher. This double entry stuff is seriously confusing..

Click to expand...

Elderberry Suite 'bedside' lamps. Very clever!

Jon Sable said:

I would love to stay at B&Bs, but we don't. For one thing, it's often a single night and I don't want to displace someone for a single night with all that work. The other is that it may not be relaxing for me, talking shop, etc..

Click to expand...

Haha. Don't even let them know you are in the biz. Have a ready made reply to that American question "What do you do?"
I don't ask. If it comes up in conversation, fine. I lean to tourist talk - have you seen the________, There's the _________event this weekend you might like....etc....
Awww, you'll have to take a crack at a B&B sometime. It's market research after all.
There's this place in a rather nice community along Oregon's north coast that I WILL get to one day. It's been on my list for a few years now.

Skamokawa said:

Jon Sable said:

I would love to stay at B&Bs, but we don't. For one thing, it's often a single night and I don't want to displace someone for a single night with all that work. The other is that it may not be relaxing for me, talking shop, etc..

Click to expand...

Haha. Don't even let them know you are in the biz. Have a ready made reply to that American question "What do you do?"
I don't ask. If it comes up in conversation, fine. I lean to tourist talk - have you seen the________, There's the _________event this weekend you might like....etc....
Awww, you'll have to take a crack at a B&B sometime. It's market research after all.
There's this place in a rather nice community along Oregon's north coast that I WILL get to one day. It's been on my list for a few years now.

.

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Skamokawa said:

There's this place in a rather nice community along Oregon's north coast that I WILL get to one day. It's been on my list for a few years now.

Click to expand...

And come see us!

Breakfast Diva said:

Skamokawa said:

Jon Sable said:

I would love to stay at B&Bs, but we don't. For one thing, it's often a single night and I don't want to displace someone for a single night with all that work. The other is that it may not be relaxing for me, talking shop, etc..

Click to expand...

Haha. Don't even let them know you are in the biz. Have a ready made reply to that American question "What do you do?"
I don't ask. If it comes up in conversation, fine. I lean to tourist talk - have you seen the________, There's the _________event this weekend you might like....etc....
Awww, you'll have to take a crack at a B&B sometime. It's market research after all.
There's this place in a rather nice community along Oregon's north coast that I WILL get to one day. It's been on my list for a few years now.

.

Click to expand...

Skamokawa said:

There's this place in a rather nice community along Oregon's north coast that I WILL get to one day. It's been on my list for a few years now.

Click to expand...

And come see us!
.

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You must resemble that remark

Harborfields said:

undersea said:

ChrisandShelley said:

I'm in the same camp on being self sufficient on learning how to do a website. I read a couple of books, watched some You-Tube videos and made my own site. For coding, fixing my errors, and tweaking some things, I got on Elance (now oDesk) and hired some freelancers for about $30 to $40 bucks for each job. Each of those guys did a great job plus a little extra when I asked them to. They explained to me how to do a few things I didn't know how to do then I left them a good tip. I've learned a lot about updating and maintaining our website. I truly believe it is one of our biggest assets. I'm glad that I did it myself and didn't spend $4000 to $7000 which we can readily spend elsewhere.
Now bookkeeping?!?! I'm learning this as well. Luckily I have a sister-in-law who is an accountant and business teacher. This double entry stuff is seriously confusing..

Click to expand...

I never see the complexity that business owners have with bookkeeping. I have a ton of receipts and mileage and other things for my rental properties at end of year for repairs, rent, expenses, legal, supplied, etc. Basically:
1) Put receipt/record in proper box (advertising, etc.). No receipts go into Excel spreadsheet.
2) Total at end of year.
3) Enter into turbotax. It pretty much tells you where to put everything.
4) Save stack of stuff for 7 years.
I have the same depreciation, deductions, etc. Not rocket science.
.

Click to expand...

For my businesses, I want to keep track of revenue and expenses more frequently than once a year, so a computerized system of record keeping is really useful. I have been using Quickbooks.
Regarding double-entry bookkeeping, all of the explanations I have seen make it more complicated than it is (it's the explanations that are complicated, not the actual data entries!) And using a program like Quickbooks generally takes care of the double entries for you.
.

Click to expand...

Makes sense. Cannot see purpose of bookkeeper. Plus I do not want others in my finances. A bookkeeper royally ripped off family friends years ago.