BnBFinder uk?

[Morticia]

Did anyone else get an email from BnBFinder UK? I'm curious if it is connected with the BnBFinder here or just someone stealing their name?

 

[DaisyMae]

yes, i did. this a.m. haven't read through it yet, though

 

[Sanderling]

yes, i did. this a.m. haven't read through it yet, though.

This is Mary at BnBFinder. This site has no affiliation to us. We are trying to see what we can do about it because we know that sites like this and others that use a name similar to ours cause confusion with innkeepers. It's a reminder to always know who you are dealing with when you pay renewals. We hear far too many stories from innkeepers who have paid directories when they thought they were paying us and these innkeepers have had no recourse to get their money back. While I don't know anything about this site there is an expression that "you get what you pay for" and having run a directory for more than 11 years I have NO idea how anyone can keep a free directory updated.
I am also not sure where this site got their list of emails. We got the same email to add "our inn". Our email came to B&B Finder, from B&B Finder.....

 

[Morticia]

yes, i did. this a.m. haven't read through it yet, though.

This is Mary at BnBFinder. This site has no affiliation to us. We are trying to see what we can do about it because we know that sites like this and others that use a name similar to ours cause confusion with innkeepers. It's a reminder to always know who you are dealing with when you pay renewals. We hear far too many stories from innkeepers who have paid directories when they thought they were paying us and these innkeepers have had no recourse to get their money back. While I don't know anything about this site there is an expression that "you get what you pay for" and having run a directory for more than 11 years I have NO idea how anyone can keep a free directory updated.
I am also not sure where this site got their list of emails. We got the same email to add "our inn". Our email came to B&B Finder, from B&B Finder.....
.

Thanks. If you hadn't come on here, I was going to email you and ask. But this is better because a lot of innkeepers get to read this now.

 

[happykeeper]

yes, i did. this a.m. haven't read through it yet, though.

This is Mary at BnBFinder. This site has no affiliation to us. We are trying to see what we can do about it because we know that sites like this and others that use a name similar to ours cause confusion with innkeepers. It's a reminder to always know who you are dealing with when you pay renewals. We hear far too many stories from innkeepers who have paid directories when they thought they were paying us and these innkeepers have had no recourse to get their money back. While I don't know anything about this site there is an expression that "you get what you pay for" and having run a directory for more than 11 years I have NO idea how anyone can keep a free directory updated.
I am also not sure where this site got their list of emails. We got the same email to add "our inn". Our email came to B&B Finder, from B&B Finder.....
.

Aloha Sanderling,
If I might hijack a little, we have been looking at B&B Finder as a possible choice for directories. Over time we have eliminated several because they rarely appear in the first five on selected searches, like "Hawaii Bed and Breakfast". Having tried them and let them go, we have not seen a drop in business really. What we have been seeing is that those directories that are moving into meaningful marketing of their properties- which means better placement but also reaching out to individual inns or niches- have more potential to help us. We are kind of past the "you have to listed because others are stage". With all these directories counting on that to get listings, the overall cost has soared through the roof.
Do you have any insights about where you see directories going in the next couple of years or how you see directories changing to cater to niches?
I am not sure if you discuss that stuff here, so don't feel obligated. You can email us directly if you prefer.

 

[Sanderling]

yes, i did. this a.m. haven't read through it yet, though.

This is Mary at BnBFinder. This site has no affiliation to us. We are trying to see what we can do about it because we know that sites like this and others that use a name similar to ours cause confusion with innkeepers. It's a reminder to always know who you are dealing with when you pay renewals. We hear far too many stories from innkeepers who have paid directories when they thought they were paying us and these innkeepers have had no recourse to get their money back. While I don't know anything about this site there is an expression that "you get what you pay for" and having run a directory for more than 11 years I have NO idea how anyone can keep a free directory updated.
I am also not sure where this site got their list of emails. We got the same email to add "our inn". Our email came to B&B Finder, from B&B Finder.....
.

Aloha Sanderling,
If I might hijack a little, we have been looking at B&B Finder as a possible choice for directories. Over time we have eliminated several because they rarely appear in the first five on selected searches, like "Hawaii Bed and Breakfast". Having tried them and let them go, we have not seen a drop in business really. What we have been seeing is that those directories that are moving into meaningful marketing of their properties- which means better placement but also reaching out to individual inns or niches- have more potential to help us. We are kind of past the "you have to listed because others are stage". With all these directories counting on that to get listings, the overall cost has soared through the roof.
Do you have any insights about where you see directories going in the next couple of years or how you see directories changing to cater to niches?
I am not sure if you discuss that stuff here, so don't feel obligated. You can email us directly if you prefer.
.

I think it's a great question which I'll give a general answer to. I am happy to discuss this or anything else at length with anyone who wants to. When people ask what I do, I tell them I run a "combination of a guide book and a search engine online". While guests can find your inn on Google local and popular travel sites such as Trip Advisor, directories help them find the right inn. For example, if two girlfriends are going away and want two beds in a room, they can easily find which inns can accommodate them on a directory like BnBFinder using our advanced search. Directories also give the media one easy place to refer their readers. Case in point, today we got this pick up on courses and classes at B&Bs: http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory?id=7680326. The writer could use one source (the directory) and give an example of a B&B in both Connecticut and California and then any paper in the country can pick up the story and direct their readers to one spot, our directory, to find a B&B. Tomorrow I'm doing a national radio tour http://www.bnbfinder.com/running-a-bed-and-breakfast-media-events.php. I do frequent interviews because as a directory I provide information, not an advertisement, to viewers, listeners and readers. So what does all this mean? I've given examples using BnBFinder, but any of the few quality directories will help guests to find the right inn and also to promote the industry in a way that inns cannot efficiently do for themselves.
What is the future for B&B directories? That's up to innkeepers. At this point innkeepers still have a choice and while advertising dollars are precious innkeepers need to support the concept of a few quality directories or lose all but the biggest. This is the tough part because more than half the guests to BnBFinder look at the inn's listing thinking it's their website and thus never show up on the inn's traffic report. When the innkeeper asks the guest where they found them, the guest will tell them "on the internet" or "on your website" when in fact they are on a directory, or found the directory on the internet.
The changes that I see for directories is that in order to succeed directories will need to provide more and interesting content and information, such as niche marketing, however, when you're promoting an industry as unique as the B&B industry that should be the easy part.

Mary

 

[Morticia]

yes, i did. this a.m. haven't read through it yet, though.

This is Mary at BnBFinder. This site has no affiliation to us. We are trying to see what we can do about it because we know that sites like this and others that use a name similar to ours cause confusion with innkeepers. It's a reminder to always know who you are dealing with when you pay renewals. We hear far too many stories from innkeepers who have paid directories when they thought they were paying us and these innkeepers have had no recourse to get their money back. While I don't know anything about this site there is an expression that "you get what you pay for" and having run a directory for more than 11 years I have NO idea how anyone can keep a free directory updated.
I am also not sure where this site got their list of emails. We got the same email to add "our inn". Our email came to B&B Finder, from B&B Finder.....
.

Aloha Sanderling,
If I might hijack a little, we have been looking at B&B Finder as a possible choice for directories. Over time we have eliminated several because they rarely appear in the first five on selected searches, like "Hawaii Bed and Breakfast". Having tried them and let them go, we have not seen a drop in business really. What we have been seeing is that those directories that are moving into meaningful marketing of their properties- which means better placement but also reaching out to individual inns or niches- have more potential to help us. We are kind of past the "you have to listed because others are stage". With all these directories counting on that to get listings, the overall cost has soared through the roof.
Do you have any insights about where you see directories going in the next couple of years or how you see directories changing to cater to niches?
I am not sure if you discuss that stuff here, so don't feel obligated. You can email us directly if you prefer.
.

I think it's a great question which I'll give a general answer to. I am happy to discuss this or anything else at length with anyone who wants to. When people ask what I do, I tell them I run a "combination of a guide book and a search engine online". While guests can find your inn on Google local and popular travel sites such as Trip Advisor, directories help them find the right inn. For example, if two girlfriends are going away and want two beds in a room, they can easily find which inns can accommodate them on a directory like BnBFinder using our advanced search. Directories also give the media one easy place to refer their readers. Case in point, today we got this pick up on courses and classes at B&Bs: http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory?id=7680326. The writer could use one source (the directory) and give an example of a B&B in both Connecticut and California and then any paper in the country can pick up the story and direct their readers to one spot, our directory, to find a B&B. Tomorrow I'm doing a national radio tour http://www.bnbfinder.com/running-a-bed-and-breakfast-media-events.php. I do frequent interviews because as a directory I provide information, not an advertisement, to viewers, listeners and readers. So what does all this mean? I've given examples using BnBFinder, but any of the few quality directories will help guests to find the right inn and also to promote the industry in a way that inns cannot efficiently do for themselves.
What is the future for B&B directories? That's up to innkeepers. At this point innkeepers still have a choice and while advertising dollars are precious innkeepers need to support the concept of a few quality directories or lose all but the biggest. This is the tough part because more than half the guests to BnBFinder look at the inn's listing thinking it's their website and thus never show up on the inn's traffic report. When the innkeeper asks the guest where they found them, the guest will tell them "on the internet" or "on your website" when in fact they are on a directory, or found the directory on the internet.
The changes that I see for directories is that in order to succeed directories will need to provide more and interesting content and information, such as niche marketing, however, when you're promoting an industry as unique as the B&B industry that should be the easy part.

Mary
.

This is the tough part because more than half the guests to BnBFinder look at the inn's listing thinking it's their website and thus never show up on the inn's traffic report. When the innkeeper asks the guest where they found them, the guest will tell them "on the internet" or "on your website" when in fact they are on a directory, or found the directory on the internet.

Mary

THANK YOU for saying that. Not that guests read this forum, but it's good to know that we're not going crazy on our own when a guest insists they are on our website but nothing that we painstakingly PUT on our websites seems visible to them.
'Hi, I'm on your website right now, but you don't have any pictures of your rooms or any prices...'
WHAT?!

 

[muirford]

yes, i did. this a.m. haven't read through it yet, though.

This is Mary at BnBFinder. This site has no affiliation to us. We are trying to see what we can do about it because we know that sites like this and others that use a name similar to ours cause confusion with innkeepers. It's a reminder to always know who you are dealing with when you pay renewals. We hear far too many stories from innkeepers who have paid directories when they thought they were paying us and these innkeepers have had no recourse to get their money back. While I don't know anything about this site there is an expression that "you get what you pay for" and having run a directory for more than 11 years I have NO idea how anyone can keep a free directory updated.
I am also not sure where this site got their list of emails. We got the same email to add "our inn". Our email came to B&B Finder, from B&B Finder.....
.

Mary - do you just like the little birds or are you associated with an inn? In addition to BnBFinder and being an author, I mean.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

Thank you for the clairification, we get spam emails all the time from sound-alike directories.

 

[swirt]

yes, i did. this a.m. haven't read through it yet, though.

This is Mary at BnBFinder. This site has no affiliation to us. We are trying to see what we can do about it because we know that sites like this and others that use a name similar to ours cause confusion with innkeepers. It's a reminder to always know who you are dealing with when you pay renewals. We hear far too many stories from innkeepers who have paid directories when they thought they were paying us and these innkeepers have had no recourse to get their money back. While I don't know anything about this site there is an expression that "you get what you pay for" and having run a directory for more than 11 years I have NO idea how anyone can keep a free directory updated.
I am also not sure where this site got their list of emails. We got the same email to add "our inn". Our email came to B&B Finder, from B&B Finder.....
.

Mary - do you just like the little birds or are you associated with an inn? In addition to BnBFinder and being an author, I mean.
.

do you just like the little birds

Is this a colloquialism for B&B's? I hadn't heard the term before?

 

[muirford]

yes, i did. this a.m. haven't read through it yet, though.

This is Mary at BnBFinder. This site has no affiliation to us. We are trying to see what we can do about it because we know that sites like this and others that use a name similar to ours cause confusion with innkeepers. It's a reminder to always know who you are dealing with when you pay renewals. We hear far too many stories from innkeepers who have paid directories when they thought they were paying us and these innkeepers have had no recourse to get their money back. While I don't know anything about this site there is an expression that "you get what you pay for" and having run a directory for more than 11 years I have NO idea how anyone can keep a free directory updated.
I am also not sure where this site got their list of emails. We got the same email to add "our inn". Our email came to B&B Finder, from B&B Finder.....
.

Mary - do you just like the little birds or are you associated with an inn? In addition to BnBFinder and being an author, I mean.
.

do you just like the little birds

Is this a colloquialism for B&B's? I hadn't heard the term before?
.

do you just like the little birds

Is this a colloquialism for B&B's? I hadn't heard the term before?

LOL! That was not a metaphor or colloquialism - little birds.

 

[swirt]

yes, i did. this a.m. haven't read through it yet, though.

This is Mary at BnBFinder. This site has no affiliation to us. We are trying to see what we can do about it because we know that sites like this and others that use a name similar to ours cause confusion with innkeepers. It's a reminder to always know who you are dealing with when you pay renewals. We hear far too many stories from innkeepers who have paid directories when they thought they were paying us and these innkeepers have had no recourse to get their money back. While I don't know anything about this site there is an expression that "you get what you pay for" and having run a directory for more than 11 years I have NO idea how anyone can keep a free directory updated.
I am also not sure where this site got their list of emails. We got the same email to add "our inn". Our email came to B&B Finder, from B&B Finder.....
.

Mary - do you just like the little birds or are you associated with an inn? In addition to BnBFinder and being an author, I mean.
.

do you just like the little birds

Is this a colloquialism for B&B's? I hadn't heard the term before?
.

do you just like the little birds

Is this a colloquialism for B&B's? I hadn't heard the term before?

LOL! That was not a metaphor or colloquialism - little birds.
.

LOL! That was not a metaphor or colloquialism -
little birds.

Oh ....nnnnneeevvvvermind

 

[Sanderling]

yes, i did. this a.m. haven't read through it yet, though.

This is Mary at BnBFinder. This site has no affiliation to us. We are trying to see what we can do about it because we know that sites like this and others that use a name similar to ours cause confusion with innkeepers. It's a reminder to always know who you are dealing with when you pay renewals. We hear far too many stories from innkeepers who have paid directories when they thought they were paying us and these innkeepers have had no recourse to get their money back. While I don't know anything about this site there is an expression that "you get what you pay for" and having run a directory for more than 11 years I have NO idea how anyone can keep a free directory updated.
I am also not sure where this site got their list of emails. We got the same email to add "our inn". Our email came to B&B Finder, from B&B Finder.....
.

Mary - do you just like the little birds or are you associated with an inn? In addition to BnBFinder and being an author, I mean.
.

I like the little birds…not sure if it is becuase I find it relaxing and mesmerizing to watch them running from the ocean as each wave rolls in or if it’s because I relate to them always being on the move…
Mary

 

[muirford]

yes, i did. this a.m. haven't read through it yet, though.

This is Mary at BnBFinder. This site has no affiliation to us. We are trying to see what we can do about it because we know that sites like this and others that use a name similar to ours cause confusion with innkeepers. It's a reminder to always know who you are dealing with when you pay renewals. We hear far too many stories from innkeepers who have paid directories when they thought they were paying us and these innkeepers have had no recourse to get their money back. While I don't know anything about this site there is an expression that "you get what you pay for" and having run a directory for more than 11 years I have NO idea how anyone can keep a free directory updated.
I am also not sure where this site got their list of emails. We got the same email to add "our inn". Our email came to B&B Finder, from B&B Finder.....
.

Mary - do you just like the little birds or are you associated with an inn? In addition to BnBFinder and being an author, I mean.
.

I like the little birds…not sure if it is becuase I find it relaxing and mesmerizing to watch them running from the ocean as each wave rolls in or if it’s because I relate to them always being on the move…
Mary
.

Me, too - and I used to vacation frequently at OBX where I could watch them all day long. We had recently stayed at the Sanderling Inn in Duck and I didn't know if you had a connection there.