5 words that describe your business are ?

[Kay Nein]

Casual
Comfortable
Welcoming
Dog-Friendly
Family-Friendly
nb: Those five words (all right, seven if you don't count the hyphenations) were part of our original marketing plan before we opened the Lodge. The first three are part of every marketing piece we put out. They are intended to counteract the perception of B&Bs as chintz 'n' lace 'n' chocolates on the pillows places.

I'm actually surprised at the earlier comments on this thread about how hard this exercise was. Really? You haven't thought long and hard about what the distinctives of your business are? You have trouble rattling off five things that set you apart from your competitors? You haven't figured out why people choose to stay with you?

The secret of this exercise (and I didn't set it, Mary did) is to think about your place like a guest/consumer, and not as an innkeeper. Forget about all the stuff that impress *you* about your business, start paying attention to the things that guests latch onto.
Realize, also, that your marketing efforts will always be a filter in addition to making you attractive. You can't make everybody happy, so it's a good exercise to figure out who you want to make happy.
--Tom.

I think the "difficulty" comes in trying to narrow things down to five individual words -- not five phrases or five sentences or five paragraphs.
.

I think the "difficulty" comes in trying to narrow things down to five individual words -- not five phrases or five sentences or five paragraphs.

Thank you!
Yes that is the difficulty.
Here is an innfo-graphic I made last year on our site. A bunch of one word descriptions, etc.
.

That innfographic IS Inngenius! Damn, I wish I had 10% of your creativity! . smh

 

[Highlands John]

I think
(1) Clean
(2) comfortable
(3) convenient
(4) parking
(5) Breakfast.

It's surprising how many of us didn't say clean (myself included), maybe we take that for granted but I bet if you asked a group of travellers for their top 5 clean would come at no.1 on most of their lists.

 

[JBloggs]

I think
(1) Clean
(2) comfortable
(3) convenient
(4) parking
(5) Breakfast.

It's surprising how many of us didn't say clean (myself included), maybe we take that for granted but I bet if you asked a group of travellers for their top 5 clean would come at no.1 on most of their lists.
.

Yes I agree, it is expected.
and is obv a real problem as it seems to be mentioned in every review "the B&B was clean..."

 

[Flower]

Casual
Comfortable
Welcoming
Dog-Friendly
Family-Friendly
nb: Those five words (all right, seven if you don't count the hyphenations) were part of our original marketing plan before we opened the Lodge. The first three are part of every marketing piece we put out. They are intended to counteract the perception of B&Bs as chintz 'n' lace 'n' chocolates on the pillows places.

I'm actually surprised at the earlier comments on this thread about how hard this exercise was. Really? You haven't thought long and hard about what the distinctives of your business are? You have trouble rattling off five things that set you apart from your competitors? You haven't figured out why people choose to stay with you?

The secret of this exercise (and I didn't set it, Mary did) is to think about your place like a guest/consumer, and not as an innkeeper. Forget about all the stuff that impress *you* about your business, start paying attention to the things that guests latch onto.
Realize, also, that your marketing efforts will always be a filter in addition to making you attractive. You can't make everybody happy, so it's a good exercise to figure out who you want to make happy.
--Tom.

I think the "difficulty" comes in trying to narrow things down to five individual words -- not five phrases or five sentences or five paragraphs.
.

YES ! Yes it was the words . Not using phrase man that was all most impossible!
Now what I hear from my guests are wow what a view,
Your breakfast are amazing,
Your suites are so large.
Our attention to details,
Love your garden area so peaceful.
So much here you have thought of every thing.
Your beds are sooo comfortable I don't want to get out. Had a amazing sleep.
What is the name of your mattress company. Time in and time out we are asked this question.

 

[JBloggs]

Casual
Comfortable
Welcoming
Dog-Friendly
Family-Friendly
nb: Those five words (all right, seven if you don't count the hyphenations) were part of our original marketing plan before we opened the Lodge. The first three are part of every marketing piece we put out. They are intended to counteract the perception of B&Bs as chintz 'n' lace 'n' chocolates on the pillows places.

I'm actually surprised at the earlier comments on this thread about how hard this exercise was. Really? You haven't thought long and hard about what the distinctives of your business are? You have trouble rattling off five things that set you apart from your competitors? You haven't figured out why people choose to stay with you?

The secret of this exercise (and I didn't set it, Mary did) is to think about your place like a guest/consumer, and not as an innkeeper. Forget about all the stuff that impress *you* about your business, start paying attention to the things that guests latch onto.
Realize, also, that your marketing efforts will always be a filter in addition to making you attractive. You can't make everybody happy, so it's a good exercise to figure out who you want to make happy.
--Tom.

I think the "difficulty" comes in trying to narrow things down to five individual words -- not five phrases or five sentences or five paragraphs.
.

YES ! Yes it was the words . Not using phrase man that was all most impossible!
Now what I hear from my guests are wow what a view,
Your breakfast are amazing,
Your suites are so large.
Our attention to details,
Love your garden area so peaceful.
So much here you have thought of every thing.
Your beds are sooo comfortable I don't want to get out. Had a amazing sleep.
What is the name of your mattress company. Time in and time out we are asked this question.
.

Click here and right mouse click to SAVE AS to share other places.

 

[Flower]

Casual
Comfortable
Welcoming
Dog-Friendly
Family-Friendly
nb: Those five words (all right, seven if you don't count the hyphenations) were part of our original marketing plan before we opened the Lodge. The first three are part of every marketing piece we put out. They are intended to counteract the perception of B&Bs as chintz 'n' lace 'n' chocolates on the pillows places.

I'm actually surprised at the earlier comments on this thread about how hard this exercise was. Really? You haven't thought long and hard about what the distinctives of your business are? You have trouble rattling off five things that set you apart from your competitors? You haven't figured out why people choose to stay with you?

The secret of this exercise (and I didn't set it, Mary did) is to think about your place like a guest/consumer, and not as an innkeeper. Forget about all the stuff that impress *you* about your business, start paying attention to the things that guests latch onto.
Realize, also, that your marketing efforts will always be a filter in addition to making you attractive. You can't make everybody happy, so it's a good exercise to figure out who you want to make happy.
--Tom.

I think the "difficulty" comes in trying to narrow things down to five individual words -- not five phrases or five sentences or five paragraphs.
.

I think the "difficulty" comes in trying to narrow things down to five individual words -- not five phrases or five sentences or five paragraphs.

Thank you!
Yes that is the difficulty.
Here is an innfo-graphic I made last year on our site. A bunch of one word descriptions, etc.
.

Your graphic was darn good . Very clever idea.

 

[Willowpondgj]

Country Setting
In Town
Gourmet Breakfast
Beautiful Oasis
Wonderful/comfortable (most used terms in guest books)

 

[Madeleine]

Casual
Comfortable
Welcoming
Dog-Friendly
Family-Friendly
nb: Those five words (all right, seven if you don't count the hyphenations) were part of our original marketing plan before we opened the Lodge. The first three are part of every marketing piece we put out. They are intended to counteract the perception of B&Bs as chintz 'n' lace 'n' chocolates on the pillows places.

I'm actually surprised at the earlier comments on this thread about how hard this exercise was. Really? You haven't thought long and hard about what the distinctives of your business are? You have trouble rattling off five things that set you apart from your competitors? You haven't figured out why people choose to stay with you?

The secret of this exercise (and I didn't set it, Mary did) is to think about your place like a guest/consumer, and not as an innkeeper. Forget about all the stuff that impress *you* about your business, start paying attention to the things that guests latch onto.
Realize, also, that your marketing efforts will always be a filter in addition to making you attractive. You can't make everybody happy, so it's a good exercise to figure out who you want to make happy.
--Tom.

I always find these elevator pitches to be very hard. What distinguishes my place from the other 10 when we all have the same house, the same distance from town, etc is difficult.
Generally when I do this I realize how lame my place is compared with the others. I can come up with a dozen things we don't do that the others totally rock.
So yeah, when someone asks why they should pick us over all the neighbors, I freeze and tell them they really should stay at the neighbor's.

 

[Madeleine]

Casual
Comfortable
Welcoming
Dog-Friendly
Family-Friendly
nb: Those five words (all right, seven if you don't count the hyphenations) were part of our original marketing plan before we opened the Lodge. The first three are part of every marketing piece we put out. They are intended to counteract the perception of B&Bs as chintz 'n' lace 'n' chocolates on the pillows places.

I'm actually surprised at the earlier comments on this thread about how hard this exercise was. Really? You haven't thought long and hard about what the distinctives of your business are? You have trouble rattling off five things that set you apart from your competitors? You haven't figured out why people choose to stay with you?

The secret of this exercise (and I didn't set it, Mary did) is to think about your place like a guest/consumer, and not as an innkeeper. Forget about all the stuff that impress *you* about your business, start paying attention to the things that guests latch onto.
Realize, also, that your marketing efforts will always be a filter in addition to making you attractive. You can't make everybody happy, so it's a good exercise to figure out who you want to make happy.
--Tom.

I think the "difficulty" comes in trying to narrow things down to five individual words -- not five phrases or five sentences or five paragraphs.
.

I think the "difficulty" comes in trying to narrow things down to five individual words -- not five phrases or five sentences or five paragraphs.

Thank you!
Yes that is the difficulty.
Here is an innfo-graphic I made last year on our site. A bunch of one word descriptions, etc.
.

That is totally neat! How did you create that?

 

[JBloggs]

Casual
Comfortable
Welcoming
Dog-Friendly
Family-Friendly
nb: Those five words (all right, seven if you don't count the hyphenations) were part of our original marketing plan before we opened the Lodge. The first three are part of every marketing piece we put out. They are intended to counteract the perception of B&Bs as chintz 'n' lace 'n' chocolates on the pillows places.

I'm actually surprised at the earlier comments on this thread about how hard this exercise was. Really? You haven't thought long and hard about what the distinctives of your business are? You have trouble rattling off five things that set you apart from your competitors? You haven't figured out why people choose to stay with you?

The secret of this exercise (and I didn't set it, Mary did) is to think about your place like a guest/consumer, and not as an innkeeper. Forget about all the stuff that impress *you* about your business, start paying attention to the things that guests latch onto.
Realize, also, that your marketing efforts will always be a filter in addition to making you attractive. You can't make everybody happy, so it's a good exercise to figure out who you want to make happy.
--Tom.

I always find these elevator pitches to be very hard. What distinguishes my place from the other 10 when we all have the same house, the same distance from town, etc is difficult.
Generally when I do this I realize how lame my place is compared with the others. I can come up with a dozen things we don't do that the others totally rock.
So yeah, when someone asks why they should pick us over all the neighbors, I freeze and tell them they really should stay at the neighbor's.
.

We are all so different, on this forum alone we have so many differences. I don't have to compare to any other inn, so this exercise is probably totally different for me than for you Maddie. Interesting comment.
Something no one has mentioned here is "GREEN CERTIFIED" as many of us are, we are meeting the standards for that, but may not personally feel we are when the a/c is running and people waste food at breakfast (that is how I feel about it).

 

[EmptyNest]

Casual
Comfortable
Welcoming
Dog-Friendly
Family-Friendly
nb: Those five words (all right, seven if you don't count the hyphenations) were part of our original marketing plan before we opened the Lodge. The first three are part of every marketing piece we put out. They are intended to counteract the perception of B&Bs as chintz 'n' lace 'n' chocolates on the pillows places.

I'm actually surprised at the earlier comments on this thread about how hard this exercise was. Really? You haven't thought long and hard about what the distinctives of your business are? You have trouble rattling off five things that set you apart from your competitors? You haven't figured out why people choose to stay with you?

The secret of this exercise (and I didn't set it, Mary did) is to think about your place like a guest/consumer, and not as an innkeeper. Forget about all the stuff that impress *you* about your business, start paying attention to the things that guests latch onto.
Realize, also, that your marketing efforts will always be a filter in addition to making you attractive. You can't make everybody happy, so it's a good exercise to figure out who you want to make happy.
--Tom.

I think the "difficulty" comes in trying to narrow things down to five individual words -- not five phrases or five sentences or five paragraphs.
.

I think the "difficulty" comes in trying to narrow things down to five individual words -- not five phrases or five sentences or five paragraphs.

Thank you!
Yes that is the difficulty.
Here is an innfo-graphic I made last year on our site. A bunch of one word descriptions, etc.
.

That is totally neat! How did you create that?
.

Use Gimp, create a rectangle or a rounded corner image..whatever you want. I usually do a transparent background rectangle as a large image and then put layers of different text on it , Merge the layers and save it. Then resize down to smaller size to fit on your web page. Save as a .png to keep background transparent.
Simple as that.

 

[JBloggs]

5 words that describe your business, but no more than 2 per item.
Mine are = 1.Cottages 2.Room Service 3.King beds 4. In town 5. Multiple amenities.
How would you describe your business ?

I notice Mary's are quite literal, where others us adjectives.
The place vs the feel

 

[OnTheShore]

5 words that describe your business, but no more than 2 per item.
Mine are = 1.Cottages 2.Room Service 3.King beds 4. In town 5. Multiple amenities.
How would you describe your business ?

I notice Mary's are quite literal, where others us adjectives.
The place vs the feel.

Well, we're not selling just a place to sleep, we are selling an experience, particularly those of us who are (or are located in) a destination in and of itself (as opposed to, say, just a stop-over), thus the adjectives and the feel vs. the literal descriptors of the place.

 

[JBloggs]

5 words that describe your business, but no more than 2 per item.
Mine are = 1.Cottages 2.Room Service 3.King beds 4. In town 5. Multiple amenities.
How would you describe your business ?

I notice Mary's are quite literal, where others us adjectives.
The place vs the feel.

Well, we're not selling just a place to sleep, we are selling an experience, particularly those of us who are (or are located in) a destination in and of itself (as opposed to, say, just a stop-over), thus the adjectives and the feel vs. the literal descriptors of the place.
.

Well, we're not selling just a place to sleep, we are selling an experience, particularly those of us who are (or are located in) a destination in and of itself (as opposed to, say, just a stop-over), thus the adjectives and the feel vs. the literal descriptors of the place.

Agreed. I battle this, too much "experience" may sway those who want to stop over here. We can't be all things to all people, so we need to get our niche in order!
We are not hotels.
We are B&B's (or inns or lodges or cottages...)
PLEASE READ THIS:
Here is something I have been thinking about. The guests who are here for an experience (not from me, but with each other and this B&B innhanced their getaway) are always the most pleasant loveliest happy appreciative guests. Those who are one night stop overs could care less, are more demanding and basically only want a bed to sleep in. They stay pay and go away and I have no memory of them now.
One guest who finds an immense amount of things to do in the area, then the next acts like we're timbuktwo and needs to move on (like happened this weekend with a two nighter leaving after one night). No we don't have outlet stores. But their view is so limited, they are not ideal guests. They want to be entertained I suppose, so need a more active "scene".
PLEASE SHARE YOU COMMENTS ON THIS EVERYONE as I will put them together on a blog article in innteractive. No names or inns will be mentioned.
It will be called "The Frick and Frack or Jack Sprat"

 

[Highlands John]

I am curious to see how WE describe in 5 words compared to our guests.
HJ your Modern and Rural throws me. I know this is a battle you have so I thought I would bring it up, again. Sorry (

)
Here a home like yours would be called "Contemporary" that probably doesn't help..

I am curious to see how WE describe in 5 words compared to our guests.
HJ your Modern and Rural throws me. I know this is a battle you have so I thought I would bring it up, again. Sorry (

)
Here a home like yours would be called "Contemporary" that probably doesn't help.

I started writing a reply, but it got rather long, so I started a new thread.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

5 words that describe your business, but no more than 2 per item.
Mine are = 1.Cottages 2.Room Service 3.King beds 4. In town 5. Multiple amenities.
How would you describe your business ?

I notice Mary's are quite literal, where others us adjectives.
The place vs the feel.

Well, we're not selling just a place to sleep, we are selling an experience, particularly those of us who are (or are located in) a destination in and of itself (as opposed to, say, just a stop-over), thus the adjectives and the feel vs. the literal descriptors of the place.
.

Well, we're not selling just a place to sleep, we are selling an experience, particularly those of us who are (or are located in) a destination in and of itself (as opposed to, say, just a stop-over), thus the adjectives and the feel vs. the literal descriptors of the place.

Agreed. I battle this, too much "experience" may sway those who want to stop over here. We can't be all things to all people, so we need to get our niche in order!
We are not hotels.
We are B&B's (or inns or lodges or cottages...)
PLEASE READ THIS:
Here is something I have been thinking about. The guests who are here for an experience (not from me, but with each other and this B&B innhanced their getaway) are always the most pleasant loveliest happy appreciative guests. Those who are one night stop overs could care less, are more demanding and basically only want a bed to sleep in. They stay pay and go away and I have no memory of them now.
One guest who finds an immense amount of things to do in the area, then the next acts like we're timbuktwo and needs to move on (like happened this weekend with a two nighter leaving after one night). No we don't have outlet stores. But their view is so limited, they are not ideal guests. They want to be entertained I suppose, so need a more active "scene".
PLEASE SHARE YOU COMMENTS ON THIS EVERYONE as I will put them together on a blog article in innteractive. No names or inns will be mentioned.
It will be called "The Frick and Frack or Jack Sprat"
.

We experience the same as yoOne of the reasons why summer is such a tough time for us is that we get more tourists who are just here for the night and not the experience. Totally opposite from our ideal/typical guest. They are more needy, want an early (hot) breakfast even though we make it very clear what their options are, and they want to see everything within a very short period of time so they get frustrated our beautiful sites are not all in a small area.
They also seem to have no idea that the Oregon coast is not commercially developed like a lot of other coastal states. They miss the big cities with lots of restaurants and stores.
We also seem to get more people in the summer who have no clue what a b&b is all about. They book us, then sometimes are uncomfortable being in a b&b environment, even though our guests rarely see the other guests. I can only imagine that happens even more at traditional b&bs!

 

[gillumhouse]

5 words that describe your business, but no more than 2 per item.
Mine are = 1.Cottages 2.Room Service 3.King beds 4. In town 5. Multiple amenities.
How would you describe your business ?

I notice Mary's are quite literal, where others us adjectives.
The place vs the feel.

Well, we're not selling just a place to sleep, we are selling an experience, particularly those of us who are (or are located in) a destination in and of itself (as opposed to, say, just a stop-over), thus the adjectives and the feel vs. the literal descriptors of the place.
.

Well, we're not selling just a place to sleep, we are selling an experience, particularly those of us who are (or are located in) a destination in and of itself (as opposed to, say, just a stop-over), thus the adjectives and the feel vs. the literal descriptors of the place.

Agreed. I battle this, too much "experience" may sway those who want to stop over here. We can't be all things to all people, so we need to get our niche in order!
We are not hotels.
We are B&B's (or inns or lodges or cottages...)
PLEASE READ THIS:
Here is something I have been thinking about. The guests who are here for an experience (not from me, but with each other and this B&B innhanced their getaway) are always the most pleasant loveliest happy appreciative guests. Those who are one night stop overs could care less, are more demanding and basically only want a bed to sleep in. They stay pay and go away and I have no memory of them now.
One guest who finds an immense amount of things to do in the area, then the next acts like we're timbuktwo and needs to move on (like happened this weekend with a two nighter leaving after one night). No we don't have outlet stores. But their view is so limited, they are not ideal guests. They want to be entertained I suppose, so need a more active "scene".
PLEASE SHARE YOU COMMENTS ON THIS EVERYONE as I will put them together on a blog article in innteractive. No names or inns will be mentioned.
It will be called "The Frick and Frack or Jack Sprat"
.

Being less than 7 miles from an Interstate, we get a lot of one night stays. We also get a lot of first time B & B stays. The comment I hear most from the first-timers on departure is: "I will look for B & Bs from now on. I had no idea...."
Guests who book a two-night weekend find they have not even scratched the surface of things to see and do all the time plus the many festivals in the area. My two favorites are the gentleman who on their third visit greeted me with - "Where do you have us going this time?" and the couple who used us as a stop-over going to their destination and again on the way home. As the gentleman got out of the car on the return trip, I overheard him say, "It feels so good to be home!"
Most of my guests - even the one-nights - are interested in the history of the City, what the people do (they do not see factories so are curious), the history of the house, and my husband's paintings. The two things most commented on in the comment books are Breakfast and the "awesome conversations".