BLOGS

[SecondAct]

Just want to pop in here and comment on 2 things
JB, you obviously spend a lot of time on your blog and I just wanted to tell you that I really enjoy the way you work your local events, area history, happenings at the inn, into your posts. I have google alerts setup for lots of things and have been meaning to tell you that I frequently get hits on your blog/inn.
444, your blog is also "charming." The pics are gorgeous and everything ties together to give a feeling of serenity. Just beautiful!

 

[JBloggs]

Just want to pop in here and comment on 2 things
JB, you obviously spend a lot of time on your blog and I just wanted to tell you that I really enjoy the way you work your local events, area history, happenings at the inn, into your posts. I have google alerts setup for lots of things and have been meaning to tell you that I frequently get hits on your blog/inn.
444, your blog is also "charming." The pics are gorgeous and everything ties together to give a feeling of serenity. Just beautiful!.

Just want to pop in here and comment on 2 things
JB, you obviously spend a lot of time on your blog and I just wanted to tell you that I really enjoy the way you work your local events, area history, happenings at the inn, into your posts. I have google alerts setup for lots of things and have been meaning to tell you that I frequently get hits on your blog/inn.
444, your blog is also "charming." The pics are gorgeous and everything ties together to give a feeling of serenity. Just beautiful!

Thank you for the compliment.
Among the other guests-this weekend we have two younger couples here and both went hiking yesterday on Sharp Top which gives a 360 degree view, so that is my goal for the year - the market to the 20-30 crowd who want to hike,bike, explore, etc. It is always great when you see something from the efforts, most of the time you never know if anyone reads it. Appreciate it, thanks again!
I have to say that blogging is what I have really been enjoying. In a way, I am able to get out there, even if it is from my desk here. Actually, it does gives me a reason to get out there.

 

[white pine]

My take on it, especially if it means less work for YOU as the web guru!

• Great place for the innkeeper to post specials and things to do in the area;
• Great place for the innkeeper to keep in touch with guests;
• Great place for the innkeeper to post PHOTOS of seasons;
• The list goes on...

As far as how it helps overall, the more pages the website has (and I'm considering my blog as an extension of my website even tho it is not connected), the more chances someone will use the search term the innkeeper has blogged about.
You can SEO your webpages to death and have each page shine as far as a certain term goes, but you can't make the guest use THAT term to find you.
If your innkeepers are sending newsletters, they can direct guests to the content on the blog. If they have FB and/or Twitter (and I'm guessing not), the blog can get out to those subscribers as well.
It's just an easy way for the innkeeper without coding skills to make new content and share it immediately. A webpage may take months to show in searches, a blog is there NOW.
You know these innkeepers well and you know what they will and won't do on their own. BUT, telling them to block out 20 minutes on a Monday morning to blog about something interesting coming up in the next month or so is something they CAN do. And once some guest books and says, 'I saw it on your blog,' they'll get hooked.
Don't know who they heard speak, but Blogger is the one I use because it's easy and free. If you can type, you can blog.
One thing to make sure they understand, tho, is that the blog may be the first thing the guest sees, so it had better be 'polished' and not filled with typos, grammar errors, etc.
If any of them want a 'second opinion' on blogging, feel free to tell them to call or email me. I will happily tell them how much time it takes in a week for me to blog and what's involved..

I am hopeless here. I need Remedial Social Networking 100. I only finally got a cell phone this year; ditto the netbook. If this deal moves forward I will have to learn tons!
Where do I start? Should I just hire someone? I would really like to learn. I really think to blog about the progress would be interesting to follow. When I do a google search on the Inn name and town it pops right up; also when I google inns or b&bs or hotel/ motels for the town. It also lists the dead phone #, which is still available.
This seems like a really good thing, and I would like to capitalize on it. I think I should start with a blog and/or maybe a facebook page? Or should I get a website designed first ? I will be crazy busy getting things busy, and I don't know how much time I can afford to follow postings.
I am Lost, Confused, & reading everything, although it seems you are all speaking in tongues. Will head for a bookshop for a glossary. Again, thanks for all your help.
.

Start the blog now... get the timer ticking on it. Age is the one thing you can't buy in relation to websites.
If the place you are buying has a website, then you have to approach cautiously. Sure it probably needs to be re-done. Most designers are impatient and anxious and will rip out all the old pages and put in new shiny pages with new page names... thereby losing all the history for the site. DON't change the file names or locations.
.

When we are through the inspections and paperwork, I will jump in. Teen nephew says it is not hard, and will help Auntie. He says to use Blogger. Is this a good idea? Again, the place does not have a website, so I will have to research who to use to develop it. Should I start with Facebook first?
.

There's no reason you can't do both. I agree with swirt and Mort that it's easiest to start with blogger, but then set up a Facebook business page (be sure you do a business page, not an individual page) and then set up an automatic feed from your blogger to facebook. There is a facebook tool for it and there are lots of other independent tools if you just google 'blogger feed to facebook' like this page.
.

Thanks all, the fog is beginning to lift! Thanks Morticia for that great summary, and Swirt for clarification. I think I will take baby steps and begin with a blog...when the time comes. Right now I am back to crunching numbers after meeting with another contractor...

 

[Joey Camb]

My take on it, especially if it means less work for YOU as the web guru!

• Great place for the innkeeper to post specials and things to do in the area;
• Great place for the innkeeper to keep in touch with guests;
• Great place for the innkeeper to post PHOTOS of seasons;
• The list goes on...

As far as how it helps overall, the more pages the website has (and I'm considering my blog as an extension of my website even tho it is not connected), the more chances someone will use the search term the innkeeper has blogged about.
You can SEO your webpages to death and have each page shine as far as a certain term goes, but you can't make the guest use THAT term to find you.
If your innkeepers are sending newsletters, they can direct guests to the content on the blog. If they have FB and/or Twitter (and I'm guessing not), the blog can get out to those subscribers as well.
It's just an easy way for the innkeeper without coding skills to make new content and share it immediately. A webpage may take months to show in searches, a blog is there NOW.
You know these innkeepers well and you know what they will and won't do on their own. BUT, telling them to block out 20 minutes on a Monday morning to blog about something interesting coming up in the next month or so is something they CAN do. And once some guest books and says, 'I saw it on your blog,' they'll get hooked.
Don't know who they heard speak, but Blogger is the one I use because it's easy and free. If you can type, you can blog.
One thing to make sure they understand, tho, is that the blog may be the first thing the guest sees, so it had better be 'polished' and not filled with typos, grammar errors, etc.
If any of them want a 'second opinion' on blogging, feel free to tell them to call or email me. I will happily tell them how much time it takes in a week for me to blog and what's involved..

I am hopeless here. I need Remedial Social Networking 100. I only finally got a cell phone this year; ditto the netbook. If this deal moves forward I will have to learn tons!
Where do I start? Should I just hire someone? I would really like to learn. I really think to blog about the progress would be interesting to follow. When I do a google search on the Inn name and town it pops right up; also when I google inns or b&bs or hotel/ motels for the town. It also lists the dead phone #, which is still available.
This seems like a really good thing, and I would like to capitalize on it. I think I should start with a blog and/or maybe a facebook page? Or should I get a website designed first ? I will be crazy busy getting things busy, and I don't know how much time I can afford to follow postings.
I am Lost, Confused, & reading everything, although it seems you are all speaking in tongues. Will head for a bookshop for a glossary. Again, thanks for all your help.
.

Hello I do Facebook, Twitter, have 2 blogs and YTube.but to save you time to actually run your inn you can link them all together so that you update one and it posts the same info on all. Setting up a blog is really easy just go to https://www.blogger.com/start and follow the steps. I was worried when I was setting mine up that it would be complicated but it took about 10 mins. Basically it creats a web page that you can type on like a word document. you have complete control and can delte anything at any time. hope that helps.

 

[white pine]

My take on it, especially if it means less work for YOU as the web guru!

• Great place for the innkeeper to post specials and things to do in the area;
• Great place for the innkeeper to keep in touch with guests;
• Great place for the innkeeper to post PHOTOS of seasons;
• The list goes on...

As far as how it helps overall, the more pages the website has (and I'm considering my blog as an extension of my website even tho it is not connected), the more chances someone will use the search term the innkeeper has blogged about.
You can SEO your webpages to death and have each page shine as far as a certain term goes, but you can't make the guest use THAT term to find you.
If your innkeepers are sending newsletters, they can direct guests to the content on the blog. If they have FB and/or Twitter (and I'm guessing not), the blog can get out to those subscribers as well.
It's just an easy way for the innkeeper without coding skills to make new content and share it immediately. A webpage may take months to show in searches, a blog is there NOW.
You know these innkeepers well and you know what they will and won't do on their own. BUT, telling them to block out 20 minutes on a Monday morning to blog about something interesting coming up in the next month or so is something they CAN do. And once some guest books and says, 'I saw it on your blog,' they'll get hooked.
Don't know who they heard speak, but Blogger is the one I use because it's easy and free. If you can type, you can blog.
One thing to make sure they understand, tho, is that the blog may be the first thing the guest sees, so it had better be 'polished' and not filled with typos, grammar errors, etc.
If any of them want a 'second opinion' on blogging, feel free to tell them to call or email me. I will happily tell them how much time it takes in a week for me to blog and what's involved..

I am hopeless here. I need Remedial Social Networking 100. I only finally got a cell phone this year; ditto the netbook. If this deal moves forward I will have to learn tons!
Where do I start? Should I just hire someone? I would really like to learn. I really think to blog about the progress would be interesting to follow. When I do a google search on the Inn name and town it pops right up; also when I google inns or b&bs or hotel/ motels for the town. It also lists the dead phone #, which is still available.
This seems like a really good thing, and I would like to capitalize on it. I think I should start with a blog and/or maybe a facebook page? Or should I get a website designed first ? I will be crazy busy getting things busy, and I don't know how much time I can afford to follow postings.
I am Lost, Confused, & reading everything, although it seems you are all speaking in tongues. Will head for a bookshop for a glossary. Again, thanks for all your help.
.

Hello I do Facebook, Twitter, have 2 blogs and YTube.but to save you time to actually run your inn you can link them all together so that you update one and it posts the same info on all. Setting up a blog is really easy just go to https://www.blogger.com/start and follow the steps. I was worried when I was setting mine up that it would be complicated but it took about 10 mins. Basically it creats a web page that you can type on like a word document. you have complete control and can delte anything at any time. hope that helps.
.

Thanks for the kind advice, and welcome! I am going out to visit my Mom in MN next week, and have a nephew who will hold my had to begin blogging. Your post is reassuring. As long as I can practice a bit without having to post, I feel I will be O.K.. People on this forum are very helpful, but I do need baby-steps when it comes to internet social net-working. I read your other thread, and thought perhaps you could call yourself the Camberley Oaks, and just make a gradual change over--"Camberley"...short for the "Camberley Oaks" sort of thing. Being a "newbie", and only an "aspiring", I sometimes don't post all my thoughts. Good Luck!

 

[JBloggs]

Remember to take advice on this forum for what it is worth. Check it out, do your homework. There are plenty of different ideas and opinions here that might not actually be copasetic for you or for me.

 

[Pollyanna]

oh, and I should have left this yesterday... but if anyone wants to take a look at my blog you are MORE than welcome...
http://inspiredbycharm.blogspot.com
if you feel inclinded your welcome to comment on any posts. they is a little giveaway going on now too and anyone can enter. hope this helps..

four at four, thanks for the link. Besides being an innkeeper, I'm a professional writer (all non-fiction) and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your blog! I had to tear myself away from it to get any work done. Not just the friendly style of writing, but the pics are so compelling. I want to do those fruit trees and I'm just a fledgling gardener. They are fantastic. I'll research this whole thread later to find out what program you use. I am truly inn-spired!