How do you market your Inn

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jamesandjill

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As many of you may already know my husband and I just purchased an Inn so money is very tight. What are ways you guys market? Do you pay for advertising? If you so, where do you advertise? Do any of you do Groupons? How about Expedia or Airbnb? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
NEVER Groupon nor Living Social. The commission of Exp and Air will bleed you as your commission money will help them out-market you as they control your guests.
Look around - what do you have to market? Meaning what is there in your area to bring people there? Then look for websites that someone would use to find that activity. For example - I do overnight stabling for guests traveling with horses (I have an agreement with a local farmer). If you Goo gle the overnight term - the 2 most effective sites are each under $50 per year. IF there is an interest in something, there is a website telling people where it is. Do not go down more than 3 or 4 on the page - the lower it is, the less useful it will likely be.
Take stock of your area. Blog about it. Make packages around it. I did drives around ny area with Himself driving and me with a clipboard. Every junction/turn was a mileage check, direction (left/right/straight) onto what street/route with a durable landmark if possible (not the oak tree) pointing out FYI such as a family museum (was a name in a family genealogy and they stopped and were happy as clams) taking the to attractions or just great site-seeing roads (or for motorcycles). Put them in a table on the computer and have been printing them off (sometimes modifying them - then say NO to saving changes unless saving under a new name to have that in the future).
There are many things you can do with lottle money. Make friends with State Tourism, your local CVB, your State Welcome Center personnel.
 
We are on Air bnb, B&B.com, InnRewards.com, and local ones, etc. We take rack cards down to the visitor center and make sure our place is on google maps, etc. Except for Air all the other places direct the guests to our own website. We are not into the Online Travel Agents. (OTA) since they take too much money. Air takes 3% which we would have paid to swipe the card, so we do them. (But not under our inn's name so its not competing against us. It's in my aunt's name) We pay our bills, taxes, etc. and have some peace and quiet during the off season with enough guests to pay the heating bill, etc. But again we don't have a mortgage to pay so that might not work for you. We are also located in an high tourist trap area so marketing isn't so much a big deal for us. Be friendly, listen to the guests talk about their children and pets, have coffee, teas, and brownies or cookies out, and be yourself. People will feel relaxed and feel they have been taken care of. Let the guests know you are new at this.
Note: If you are renaming your place, get the first name as close to the letter "A" as you can, especially in a town with lots of places!
Hang in there, the first year is the worst! Each month we outdo that month the year before, so there is hope and it will get better.
 
If you are in a location where there are lots of other properties I would recommend joining B.con and selling your rooms on a commission basis but absolutely take a deposit to weed out the genuine bookers from the time-wasters and enforce minimum stays on holiday and peak periods.

If you are in a location with only a few B&B's in town then I would concentrate on your own website, in particular a WordPress based local area blog - what to do/see in the area, new restaurant openings, new menus, festivals etc., anything that is going on around your area (I concentrate on a 30 mile radius) and blog about them.

Landing pages are another thing I would recommend - what do visitors in your area come for - a college/university? A hospital? A museum? Whatever "tourist" attraction you have create a page on your website dedicated to that "attraction" with all the information a visitor could possibly need about it - opening hours, car parking information, public transport, pdf flyers, maps etc. Show your potential guest that you know everything there is to know about the "attraction" they are coming to see and believe me they will book with you.
 
Personally since you are on a really tight budget I would never give my rooms away with groupon!
I have never believed in using OTA's because they too cut into your bottom line. you want to keep as much money in your pocket as possible.
Use your blog!!! JB has given that sermon a lot!! Then use your FB page to point people to the information on your blog. FB does not replace a website
Talk to and network with other innkeepers in the area.Let them know business has changed.
be sure the former owner changes her site to reflect and redirect to your new site.
dont worry about the name game it is too late now. Work with it and network with everyone local you can. You are in a tourist location so that is critical for referrals. Let people know you are upping the game and that things have changed.
Google your old name and contact those sites to tell them your new site so referrals still come your way. Many are paid OTA's from former owner. She should remove your name from them or redirect to your new domain.
Find your niche. Is there a specific group you can market to? A special interest? Some packages you can put together?
It will take some effort on your part but you can and must do it. There is no easy quick way.
 
If there are other inns in your location get to know those owners and introduce yourselves to them. Ask them to send overflow to you.
No to Groupon type games as all you get is 25% of the room rate. So, if you generally sell a room at $100, when you use Groupon you get $25.
Clear the cache on your web browser and search for b&b's in your town. What shows up? What directories? Bedandbreakfast? Bbonline? look at signing up for the lowest priced membership just to get on the list.
Airbnb is a better OTA option when starting out as the commission is only 3%. The hotel OTA's take 15% and you can rarely get rid of your listing once you get on there. So think long and hard about that one.
If your town has a tourism marketing program sign up for it. Ditto county and state.
 
Also make sure you know everything that is going on so you can maximise your bookings ie events and so on when do you need a 3 night minimum, can you put the price up. Ive been where you are and every booking counts! I always see every direct booking as $20 saved. Also the longer a stay the less laundry etc costs so its a cheaper guest to house so saves your bottom line in that way.
 
Since you're starting 'new', building your business will take some time.
Our (started with two rooms) trajectory over 10 years:
Prior to opening, I examined how the local B&Bs were listed on the web. This was in 2005-2006 so a different world then. I googled the names of local inns and listed ours on every free directory I could find, for inns, for wonderful small towns, for kayak adventures, anything that made sense. Every one who would list for free I made the ask. I would probably not do this now.
First year we made the property taxes and more. Do it yourself website was added, I was careful with copywriting and take OK photos. I'm actually still using many of the photos.
Blog (that had been in place to two years prior) probably got us our first guests. I had been making posts about our area.
and online booking through Reznexus. At that time they had a return on investment guarantee of a certain percentage booked online overnight or the next period was free. Well, although they were impressive, the next year and a half turned out to be free.
We also opened not taking credit cards. First guests had to ask their friends for a check. We had credit card processing soon after. I bought the processing machine on ebay and went with the fellow many use here for service. My experience there not as good as others but better than I would have gotten on my own.
I started asking for reviews on TA right out of the gate. If they express joy, I make the ask as they are leaving. One in three do if I'm lucky I don't ask the grumpies, and remove the ask from the followup thank you email from grumpy guests. I am trying to amass enough positives so when the inevitable 'terrible' comes it won't totally kill our ranking. Many guests choose us from TA reviews.
Go ahead and tell them you're new. Pay attention to comments. Some are helpful. The suggestions that would involve completely remodeling the house - obviously not. You get a pass for being new and most everyone feels honored when their opinions are 1 - sought out and 2 - taken seriously. :)
Just from those things, business improved each year until a couple of static years 2009-2010 with the fall out after the Great Recession.
In 2011 we added the vacation rental and listed it on Air. Big jump in business because we are a rural area and could now take kids and dogs. Mostly people with dogs. If you take pets there is a screaming market for that. I also switched credit card processing to Square.
In 2012, (I think) a couple of members here pretty much forced me into a new website. Good thing they did, because DH had made the old one, was not the best copywriter, and we had words about it. We switched to online booking through Reservation Key at that time. Fits so well with the site and cost effective for a small inn.
Business grew faster after that. Not a sharp jump, but a steady one.
I got on Facebook in 2013 I think. I don't ask for friends or likes (other than a generic 'Like us on Facebook' on the website) so it will grow organically. No bookings from there as yet, but I am noticing just this past few months that my reach seems to have made quite a jump, so I will have to start posting more often there. We have friends who advertise their dinners there and it works well for them. Its free. Start using it now and I bet it will really help you once you reach a critical mass.
In 2014 we had a massive jump in business when a local kayak touring place added us to their elderhostel program. Since their guests are Sunday through Thursday, it didn't get in the way of other bookings. If you can partner with someone who does the (now Road Scholar) program it can be a very good thing.
Good thing we did not depend on them totally because they dropped the local B&Bs the next year for a larger establishment in town where are their program participants could stay together. Made more sense for them. That's the lumps.
But a funny thing happened in 2015. We got even more business than the prior year, even without the Road Scholar. I now call 2015 the critical mass year.
In 2016 I added our inn rooms to Air. Everyone else in the area had done so, so I followed suit. No discounts. Many say ours if their first 'real B&B'. they get professional inn experience, are favorably impressed and I ask them for TA reviews in addition to the Air reviews they will be asked by Air to make.
This year we added another vacation rental in a city 55 minutes away. I clean it, so it has really added to the work load, also the income. I also became an Air Superhost.
So this year, with still two inn rooms, plus two vacation rentals, we did our best year. Growth in the inn has been steady, I'm loath to say it but Air has been 40% of our business for the past two years. As others have noted they take 3%, so essentially the same as the credit card bite.
We offer our vacation rentals to long termers in the winter months. Pays for the heat, lights plus a bit for us. I don't have to clean every couple of days so holidays for me.
We went from pin money to real money in 7-8 years. I worked outside the home until this past spring also. We have another business so are not dependent on the inn.
Mileage varies, as they say, but we are doing better than I ever expected. This forum has been a constant for all those years. it is invaluable.
 
Since you're starting 'new', building your business will take some time.
Our (started with two rooms) trajectory over 10 years:
Prior to opening, I examined how the local B&Bs were listed on the web. This was in 2005-2006 so a different world then. I googled the names of local inns and listed ours on every free directory I could find, for inns, for wonderful small towns, for kayak adventures, anything that made sense. Every one who would list for free I made the ask. I would probably not do this now.
First year we made the property taxes and more. Do it yourself website was added, I was careful with copywriting and take OK photos. I'm actually still using many of the photos.
Blog (that had been in place to two years prior) probably got us our first guests. I had been making posts about our area.
and online booking through Reznexus. At that time they had a return on investment guarantee of a certain percentage booked online overnight or the next period was free. Well, although they were impressive, the next year and a half turned out to be free.
We also opened not taking credit cards. First guests had to ask their friends for a check. We had credit card processing soon after. I bought the processing machine on ebay and went with the fellow many use here for service. My experience there not as good as others but better than I would have gotten on my own.
I started asking for reviews on TA right out of the gate. If they express joy, I make the ask as they are leaving. One in three do if I'm lucky I don't ask the grumpies, and remove the ask from the followup thank you email from grumpy guests. I am trying to amass enough positives so when the inevitable 'terrible' comes it won't totally kill our ranking. Many guests choose us from TA reviews.
Go ahead and tell them you're new. Pay attention to comments. Some are helpful. The suggestions that would involve completely remodeling the house - obviously not. You get a pass for being new and most everyone feels honored when their opinions are 1 - sought out and 2 - taken seriously. :)
Just from those things, business improved each year until a couple of static years 2009-2010 with the fall out after the Great Recession.
In 2011 we added the vacation rental and listed it on Air. Big jump in business because we are a rural area and could now take kids and dogs. Mostly people with dogs. If you take pets there is a screaming market for that. I also switched credit card processing to Square.
In 2012, (I think) a couple of members here pretty much forced me into a new website. Good thing they did, because DH had made the old one, was not the best copywriter, and we had words about it. We switched to online booking through Reservation Key at that time. Fits so well with the site and cost effective for a small inn.
Business grew faster after that. Not a sharp jump, but a steady one.
I got on Facebook in 2013 I think. I don't ask for friends or likes (other than a generic 'Like us on Facebook' on the website) so it will grow organically. No bookings from there as yet, but I am noticing just this past few months that my reach seems to have made quite a jump, so I will have to start posting more often there. We have friends who advertise their dinners there and it works well for them. Its free. Start using it now and I bet it will really help you once you reach a critical mass.
In 2014 we had a massive jump in business when a local kayak touring place added us to their elderhostel program. Since their guests are Sunday through Thursday, it didn't get in the way of other bookings. If you can partner with someone who does the (now Road Scholar) program it can be a very good thing.
Good thing we did not depend on them totally because they dropped the local B&Bs the next year for a larger establishment in town where are their program participants could stay together. Made more sense for them. That's the lumps.
But a funny thing happened in 2015. We got even more business than the prior year, even without the Road Scholar. I now call 2015 the critical mass year.
In 2016 I added our inn rooms to Air. Everyone else in the area had done so, so I followed suit. No discounts. Many say ours if their first 'real B&B'. they get professional inn experience, are favorably impressed and I ask them for TA reviews in addition to the Air reviews they will be asked by Air to make.
This year we added another vacation rental in a city 55 minutes away. I clean it, so it has really added to the work load, also the income. I also became an Air Superhost.
So this year, with still two inn rooms, plus two vacation rentals, we did our best year. Growth in the inn has been steady, I'm loath to say it but Air has been 40% of our business for the past two years. As others have noted they take 3%, so essentially the same as the credit card bite.
We offer our vacation rentals to long termers in the winter months. Pays for the heat, lights plus a bit for us. I don't have to clean every couple of days so holidays for me.
We went from pin money to real money in 7-8 years. I worked outside the home until this past spring also. We have another business so are not dependent on the inn.
Mileage varies, as they say, but we are doing better than I ever expected. This forum has been a constant for all those years. it is invaluable..
I would say with air once we got Superhost we strongly increased bookings and we did the free photography was worth it as people feel confident in what they are getting and both cost us nothing but looking after our guests.
 
Since you're starting 'new', building your business will take some time.
Our (started with two rooms) trajectory over 10 years:
Prior to opening, I examined how the local B&Bs were listed on the web. This was in 2005-2006 so a different world then. I googled the names of local inns and listed ours on every free directory I could find, for inns, for wonderful small towns, for kayak adventures, anything that made sense. Every one who would list for free I made the ask. I would probably not do this now.
First year we made the property taxes and more. Do it yourself website was added, I was careful with copywriting and take OK photos. I'm actually still using many of the photos.
Blog (that had been in place to two years prior) probably got us our first guests. I had been making posts about our area.
and online booking through Reznexus. At that time they had a return on investment guarantee of a certain percentage booked online overnight or the next period was free. Well, although they were impressive, the next year and a half turned out to be free.
We also opened not taking credit cards. First guests had to ask their friends for a check. We had credit card processing soon after. I bought the processing machine on ebay and went with the fellow many use here for service. My experience there not as good as others but better than I would have gotten on my own.
I started asking for reviews on TA right out of the gate. If they express joy, I make the ask as they are leaving. One in three do if I'm lucky I don't ask the grumpies, and remove the ask from the followup thank you email from grumpy guests. I am trying to amass enough positives so when the inevitable 'terrible' comes it won't totally kill our ranking. Many guests choose us from TA reviews.
Go ahead and tell them you're new. Pay attention to comments. Some are helpful. The suggestions that would involve completely remodeling the house - obviously not. You get a pass for being new and most everyone feels honored when their opinions are 1 - sought out and 2 - taken seriously. :)
Just from those things, business improved each year until a couple of static years 2009-2010 with the fall out after the Great Recession.
In 2011 we added the vacation rental and listed it on Air. Big jump in business because we are a rural area and could now take kids and dogs. Mostly people with dogs. If you take pets there is a screaming market for that. I also switched credit card processing to Square.
In 2012, (I think) a couple of members here pretty much forced me into a new website. Good thing they did, because DH had made the old one, was not the best copywriter, and we had words about it. We switched to online booking through Reservation Key at that time. Fits so well with the site and cost effective for a small inn.
Business grew faster after that. Not a sharp jump, but a steady one.
I got on Facebook in 2013 I think. I don't ask for friends or likes (other than a generic 'Like us on Facebook' on the website) so it will grow organically. No bookings from there as yet, but I am noticing just this past few months that my reach seems to have made quite a jump, so I will have to start posting more often there. We have friends who advertise their dinners there and it works well for them. Its free. Start using it now and I bet it will really help you once you reach a critical mass.
In 2014 we had a massive jump in business when a local kayak touring place added us to their elderhostel program. Since their guests are Sunday through Thursday, it didn't get in the way of other bookings. If you can partner with someone who does the (now Road Scholar) program it can be a very good thing.
Good thing we did not depend on them totally because they dropped the local B&Bs the next year for a larger establishment in town where are their program participants could stay together. Made more sense for them. That's the lumps.
But a funny thing happened in 2015. We got even more business than the prior year, even without the Road Scholar. I now call 2015 the critical mass year.
In 2016 I added our inn rooms to Air. Everyone else in the area had done so, so I followed suit. No discounts. Many say ours if their first 'real B&B'. they get professional inn experience, are favorably impressed and I ask them for TA reviews in addition to the Air reviews they will be asked by Air to make.
This year we added another vacation rental in a city 55 minutes away. I clean it, so it has really added to the work load, also the income. I also became an Air Superhost.
So this year, with still two inn rooms, plus two vacation rentals, we did our best year. Growth in the inn has been steady, I'm loath to say it but Air has been 40% of our business for the past two years. As others have noted they take 3%, so essentially the same as the credit card bite.
We offer our vacation rentals to long termers in the winter months. Pays for the heat, lights plus a bit for us. I don't have to clean every couple of days so holidays for me.
We went from pin money to real money in 7-8 years. I worked outside the home until this past spring also. We have another business so are not dependent on the inn.
Mileage varies, as they say, but we are doing better than I ever expected. This forum has been a constant for all those years. it is invaluable..
I would say with air once we got Superhost we strongly increased bookings and we did the free photography was worth it as people feel confident in what they are getting and both cost us nothing but looking after our guests.
.
Alas, no photography available in our area, but bookings did increase somewhat with superhost.
 
Since you're starting 'new', building your business will take some time.
Our (started with two rooms) trajectory over 10 years:
Prior to opening, I examined how the local B&Bs were listed on the web. This was in 2005-2006 so a different world then. I googled the names of local inns and listed ours on every free directory I could find, for inns, for wonderful small towns, for kayak adventures, anything that made sense. Every one who would list for free I made the ask. I would probably not do this now.
First year we made the property taxes and more. Do it yourself website was added, I was careful with copywriting and take OK photos. I'm actually still using many of the photos.
Blog (that had been in place to two years prior) probably got us our first guests. I had been making posts about our area.
and online booking through Reznexus. At that time they had a return on investment guarantee of a certain percentage booked online overnight or the next period was free. Well, although they were impressive, the next year and a half turned out to be free.
We also opened not taking credit cards. First guests had to ask their friends for a check. We had credit card processing soon after. I bought the processing machine on ebay and went with the fellow many use here for service. My experience there not as good as others but better than I would have gotten on my own.
I started asking for reviews on TA right out of the gate. If they express joy, I make the ask as they are leaving. One in three do if I'm lucky I don't ask the grumpies, and remove the ask from the followup thank you email from grumpy guests. I am trying to amass enough positives so when the inevitable 'terrible' comes it won't totally kill our ranking. Many guests choose us from TA reviews.
Go ahead and tell them you're new. Pay attention to comments. Some are helpful. The suggestions that would involve completely remodeling the house - obviously not. You get a pass for being new and most everyone feels honored when their opinions are 1 - sought out and 2 - taken seriously. :)
Just from those things, business improved each year until a couple of static years 2009-2010 with the fall out after the Great Recession.
In 2011 we added the vacation rental and listed it on Air. Big jump in business because we are a rural area and could now take kids and dogs. Mostly people with dogs. If you take pets there is a screaming market for that. I also switched credit card processing to Square.
In 2012, (I think) a couple of members here pretty much forced me into a new website. Good thing they did, because DH had made the old one, was not the best copywriter, and we had words about it. We switched to online booking through Reservation Key at that time. Fits so well with the site and cost effective for a small inn.
Business grew faster after that. Not a sharp jump, but a steady one.
I got on Facebook in 2013 I think. I don't ask for friends or likes (other than a generic 'Like us on Facebook' on the website) so it will grow organically. No bookings from there as yet, but I am noticing just this past few months that my reach seems to have made quite a jump, so I will have to start posting more often there. We have friends who advertise their dinners there and it works well for them. Its free. Start using it now and I bet it will really help you once you reach a critical mass.
In 2014 we had a massive jump in business when a local kayak touring place added us to their elderhostel program. Since their guests are Sunday through Thursday, it didn't get in the way of other bookings. If you can partner with someone who does the (now Road Scholar) program it can be a very good thing.
Good thing we did not depend on them totally because they dropped the local B&Bs the next year for a larger establishment in town where are their program participants could stay together. Made more sense for them. That's the lumps.
But a funny thing happened in 2015. We got even more business than the prior year, even without the Road Scholar. I now call 2015 the critical mass year.
In 2016 I added our inn rooms to Air. Everyone else in the area had done so, so I followed suit. No discounts. Many say ours if their first 'real B&B'. they get professional inn experience, are favorably impressed and I ask them for TA reviews in addition to the Air reviews they will be asked by Air to make.
This year we added another vacation rental in a city 55 minutes away. I clean it, so it has really added to the work load, also the income. I also became an Air Superhost.
So this year, with still two inn rooms, plus two vacation rentals, we did our best year. Growth in the inn has been steady, I'm loath to say it but Air has been 40% of our business for the past two years. As others have noted they take 3%, so essentially the same as the credit card bite.
We offer our vacation rentals to long termers in the winter months. Pays for the heat, lights plus a bit for us. I don't have to clean every couple of days so holidays for me.
We went from pin money to real money in 7-8 years. I worked outside the home until this past spring also. We have another business so are not dependent on the inn.
Mileage varies, as they say, but we are doing better than I ever expected. This forum has been a constant for all those years. it is invaluable..
I would say with air once we got Superhost we strongly increased bookings and we did the free photography was worth it as people feel confident in what they are getting and both cost us nothing but looking after our guests.
.
And if you remodel the room, you can have them back, for free! We have super host too!
 
Since you're starting 'new', building your business will take some time.
Our (started with two rooms) trajectory over 10 years:
Prior to opening, I examined how the local B&Bs were listed on the web. This was in 2005-2006 so a different world then. I googled the names of local inns and listed ours on every free directory I could find, for inns, for wonderful small towns, for kayak adventures, anything that made sense. Every one who would list for free I made the ask. I would probably not do this now.
First year we made the property taxes and more. Do it yourself website was added, I was careful with copywriting and take OK photos. I'm actually still using many of the photos.
Blog (that had been in place to two years prior) probably got us our first guests. I had been making posts about our area.
and online booking through Reznexus. At that time they had a return on investment guarantee of a certain percentage booked online overnight or the next period was free. Well, although they were impressive, the next year and a half turned out to be free.
We also opened not taking credit cards. First guests had to ask their friends for a check. We had credit card processing soon after. I bought the processing machine on ebay and went with the fellow many use here for service. My experience there not as good as others but better than I would have gotten on my own.
I started asking for reviews on TA right out of the gate. If they express joy, I make the ask as they are leaving. One in three do if I'm lucky I don't ask the grumpies, and remove the ask from the followup thank you email from grumpy guests. I am trying to amass enough positives so when the inevitable 'terrible' comes it won't totally kill our ranking. Many guests choose us from TA reviews.
Go ahead and tell them you're new. Pay attention to comments. Some are helpful. The suggestions that would involve completely remodeling the house - obviously not. You get a pass for being new and most everyone feels honored when their opinions are 1 - sought out and 2 - taken seriously. :)
Just from those things, business improved each year until a couple of static years 2009-2010 with the fall out after the Great Recession.
In 2011 we added the vacation rental and listed it on Air. Big jump in business because we are a rural area and could now take kids and dogs. Mostly people with dogs. If you take pets there is a screaming market for that. I also switched credit card processing to Square.
In 2012, (I think) a couple of members here pretty much forced me into a new website. Good thing they did, because DH had made the old one, was not the best copywriter, and we had words about it. We switched to online booking through Reservation Key at that time. Fits so well with the site and cost effective for a small inn.
Business grew faster after that. Not a sharp jump, but a steady one.
I got on Facebook in 2013 I think. I don't ask for friends or likes (other than a generic 'Like us on Facebook' on the website) so it will grow organically. No bookings from there as yet, but I am noticing just this past few months that my reach seems to have made quite a jump, so I will have to start posting more often there. We have friends who advertise their dinners there and it works well for them. Its free. Start using it now and I bet it will really help you once you reach a critical mass.
In 2014 we had a massive jump in business when a local kayak touring place added us to their elderhostel program. Since their guests are Sunday through Thursday, it didn't get in the way of other bookings. If you can partner with someone who does the (now Road Scholar) program it can be a very good thing.
Good thing we did not depend on them totally because they dropped the local B&Bs the next year for a larger establishment in town where are their program participants could stay together. Made more sense for them. That's the lumps.
But a funny thing happened in 2015. We got even more business than the prior year, even without the Road Scholar. I now call 2015 the critical mass year.
In 2016 I added our inn rooms to Air. Everyone else in the area had done so, so I followed suit. No discounts. Many say ours if their first 'real B&B'. they get professional inn experience, are favorably impressed and I ask them for TA reviews in addition to the Air reviews they will be asked by Air to make.
This year we added another vacation rental in a city 55 minutes away. I clean it, so it has really added to the work load, also the income. I also became an Air Superhost.
So this year, with still two inn rooms, plus two vacation rentals, we did our best year. Growth in the inn has been steady, I'm loath to say it but Air has been 40% of our business for the past two years. As others have noted they take 3%, so essentially the same as the credit card bite.
We offer our vacation rentals to long termers in the winter months. Pays for the heat, lights plus a bit for us. I don't have to clean every couple of days so holidays for me.
We went from pin money to real money in 7-8 years. I worked outside the home until this past spring also. We have another business so are not dependent on the inn.
Mileage varies, as they say, but we are doing better than I ever expected. This forum has been a constant for all those years. it is invaluable..
I would say with air once we got Superhost we strongly increased bookings and we did the free photography was worth it as people feel confident in what they are getting and both cost us nothing but looking after our guests.
.
Alas, no photography available in our area, but bookings did increase somewhat with superhost.
.
Super hosts get top of the page, etc. Also makes people more confident that this is a good choice, etc. When we first listed there were only three inns on in our town. Now there are about six.
What do you think of how they changed the calendar? We like the old version better.
 
Since you're starting 'new', building your business will take some time.
Our (started with two rooms) trajectory over 10 years:
Prior to opening, I examined how the local B&Bs were listed on the web. This was in 2005-2006 so a different world then. I googled the names of local inns and listed ours on every free directory I could find, for inns, for wonderful small towns, for kayak adventures, anything that made sense. Every one who would list for free I made the ask. I would probably not do this now.
First year we made the property taxes and more. Do it yourself website was added, I was careful with copywriting and take OK photos. I'm actually still using many of the photos.
Blog (that had been in place to two years prior) probably got us our first guests. I had been making posts about our area.
and online booking through Reznexus. At that time they had a return on investment guarantee of a certain percentage booked online overnight or the next period was free. Well, although they were impressive, the next year and a half turned out to be free.
We also opened not taking credit cards. First guests had to ask their friends for a check. We had credit card processing soon after. I bought the processing machine on ebay and went with the fellow many use here for service. My experience there not as good as others but better than I would have gotten on my own.
I started asking for reviews on TA right out of the gate. If they express joy, I make the ask as they are leaving. One in three do if I'm lucky I don't ask the grumpies, and remove the ask from the followup thank you email from grumpy guests. I am trying to amass enough positives so when the inevitable 'terrible' comes it won't totally kill our ranking. Many guests choose us from TA reviews.
Go ahead and tell them you're new. Pay attention to comments. Some are helpful. The suggestions that would involve completely remodeling the house - obviously not. You get a pass for being new and most everyone feels honored when their opinions are 1 - sought out and 2 - taken seriously. :)
Just from those things, business improved each year until a couple of static years 2009-2010 with the fall out after the Great Recession.
In 2011 we added the vacation rental and listed it on Air. Big jump in business because we are a rural area and could now take kids and dogs. Mostly people with dogs. If you take pets there is a screaming market for that. I also switched credit card processing to Square.
In 2012, (I think) a couple of members here pretty much forced me into a new website. Good thing they did, because DH had made the old one, was not the best copywriter, and we had words about it. We switched to online booking through Reservation Key at that time. Fits so well with the site and cost effective for a small inn.
Business grew faster after that. Not a sharp jump, but a steady one.
I got on Facebook in 2013 I think. I don't ask for friends or likes (other than a generic 'Like us on Facebook' on the website) so it will grow organically. No bookings from there as yet, but I am noticing just this past few months that my reach seems to have made quite a jump, so I will have to start posting more often there. We have friends who advertise their dinners there and it works well for them. Its free. Start using it now and I bet it will really help you once you reach a critical mass.
In 2014 we had a massive jump in business when a local kayak touring place added us to their elderhostel program. Since their guests are Sunday through Thursday, it didn't get in the way of other bookings. If you can partner with someone who does the (now Road Scholar) program it can be a very good thing.
Good thing we did not depend on them totally because they dropped the local B&Bs the next year for a larger establishment in town where are their program participants could stay together. Made more sense for them. That's the lumps.
But a funny thing happened in 2015. We got even more business than the prior year, even without the Road Scholar. I now call 2015 the critical mass year.
In 2016 I added our inn rooms to Air. Everyone else in the area had done so, so I followed suit. No discounts. Many say ours if their first 'real B&B'. they get professional inn experience, are favorably impressed and I ask them for TA reviews in addition to the Air reviews they will be asked by Air to make.
This year we added another vacation rental in a city 55 minutes away. I clean it, so it has really added to the work load, also the income. I also became an Air Superhost.
So this year, with still two inn rooms, plus two vacation rentals, we did our best year. Growth in the inn has been steady, I'm loath to say it but Air has been 40% of our business for the past two years. As others have noted they take 3%, so essentially the same as the credit card bite.
We offer our vacation rentals to long termers in the winter months. Pays for the heat, lights plus a bit for us. I don't have to clean every couple of days so holidays for me.
We went from pin money to real money in 7-8 years. I worked outside the home until this past spring also. We have another business so are not dependent on the inn.
Mileage varies, as they say, but we are doing better than I ever expected. This forum has been a constant for all those years. it is invaluable..
I would say with air once we got Superhost we strongly increased bookings and we did the free photography was worth it as people feel confident in what they are getting and both cost us nothing but looking after our guests.
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Alas, no photography available in our area, but bookings did increase somewhat with superhost.
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Super hosts get top of the page, etc. Also makes people more confident that this is a good choice, etc. When we first listed there were only three inns on in our town. Now there are about six.
What do you think of how they changed the calendar? We like the old version better.
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Better I think. Pretty easy to navigate. Wish they wouldn't change things quite so often though.
 
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