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Here's my fan page link.
grey, You are utilizing Facebook in a perfect way, IMHO.
I find it useful to think of this internet social networking just the same as local networking without having to leave my house. If you go to a party or networking function you behave accordingly to attract friends and collegues like yourself - like minded for the most part. I do that with my internet networking for the B&B and leave the personal page,( which I can control who views), for opinions and rants.
The Twiitter/Facebook genre has proved to be invaluable to me, especially when you network with folks nearby or in your town. I have gained new friends and exposure that has put heads in my beds. Folks remember me and recommend their family, friends and business collegues coming in from out of town to stay with us. It works.
If you have set up a fan page you may also control who can post to it. I love that fans post comments and pictures on my B&B page, but not everyone wants to do that, and that's ok too.
If you have a city forum or something like it, I highly encourage you to become a part of that too! There are usually several, so spend some time reading them to see what kind of folks you will be attracting. The best ones will also have event calendars that are open for posting. You can post an event you are holding and also check ahead for events you may not know about that you can include in your blog or tell guests about. Get your name out there. Name recognition is awesome to draw folks in.
I use Twitter and Facebook to point to my blog and my website. Totally invaluable!
.
Greystone has the advantage of living in an area where things actually happen. If I did a business specific Facebook page for our area, most entries would be z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z
neko-1.gif

 
Here's my fan page link.
grey, You are utilizing Facebook in a perfect way, IMHO.
I find it useful to think of this internet social networking just the same as local networking without having to leave my house. If you go to a party or networking function you behave accordingly to attract friends and collegues like yourself - like minded for the most part. I do that with my internet networking for the B&B and leave the personal page,( which I can control who views), for opinions and rants.
The Twiitter/Facebook genre has proved to be invaluable to me, especially when you network with folks nearby or in your town. I have gained new friends and exposure that has put heads in my beds. Folks remember me and recommend their family, friends and business collegues coming in from out of town to stay with us. It works.
If you have set up a fan page you may also control who can post to it. I love that fans post comments and pictures on my B&B page, but not everyone wants to do that, and that's ok too.
If you have a city forum or something like it, I highly encourage you to become a part of that too! There are usually several, so spend some time reading them to see what kind of folks you will be attracting. The best ones will also have event calendars that are open for posting. You can post an event you are holding and also check ahead for events you may not know about that you can include in your blog or tell guests about. Get your name out there. Name recognition is awesome to draw folks in.
I use Twitter and Facebook to point to my blog and my website. Totally invaluable!
.
Greystone has the advantage of living in an area where things actually happen. If I did a business specific Facebook page for our area, most entries would be z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z
neko-1.gif

.
Tie in to the next closest town with something going on! Lots of folks want to stay out of the action, but to know where the action is.
 
Here's my fan page link.
grey, You are utilizing Facebook in a perfect way, IMHO.
I find it useful to think of this internet social networking just the same as local networking without having to leave my house. If you go to a party or networking function you behave accordingly to attract friends and collegues like yourself - like minded for the most part. I do that with my internet networking for the B&B and leave the personal page,( which I can control who views), for opinions and rants.
The Twiitter/Facebook genre has proved to be invaluable to me, especially when you network with folks nearby or in your town. I have gained new friends and exposure that has put heads in my beds. Folks remember me and recommend their family, friends and business collegues coming in from out of town to stay with us. It works.
If you have set up a fan page you may also control who can post to it. I love that fans post comments and pictures on my B&B page, but not everyone wants to do that, and that's ok too.
If you have a city forum or something like it, I highly encourage you to become a part of that too! There are usually several, so spend some time reading them to see what kind of folks you will be attracting. The best ones will also have event calendars that are open for posting. You can post an event you are holding and also check ahead for events you may not know about that you can include in your blog or tell guests about. Get your name out there. Name recognition is awesome to draw folks in.
I use Twitter and Facebook to point to my blog and my website. Totally invaluable!
.
Greystone has the advantage of living in an area where things actually happen. If I did a business specific Facebook page for our area, most entries would be z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z
neko-1.gif

.
Tie in to the next closest town with something going on! Lots of folks want to stay out of the action, but to know where the action is.
.
aieechihuahua said:
Tie in to the next closest town with something going on! Lots of folks want to stay out of the action, but to know where the action is.
They have a once a month deal. So the entries would be z-z-z-z-z
wow.gif
z-z-z-z-z-
wow.gif

Seriously, our place IS the destination. We offer peace and quite in a beautiful setting. We get a lot of "stressor" coming from the big city to decompress. I send out a monthly newsletter that pretty much covers everything we have going on. There's really just not enough to support a Twitter or Facebook page.
 
Here's my fan page link.
grey, You are utilizing Facebook in a perfect way, IMHO.
I find it useful to think of this internet social networking just the same as local networking without having to leave my house. If you go to a party or networking function you behave accordingly to attract friends and collegues like yourself - like minded for the most part. I do that with my internet networking for the B&B and leave the personal page,( which I can control who views), for opinions and rants.
The Twiitter/Facebook genre has proved to be invaluable to me, especially when you network with folks nearby or in your town. I have gained new friends and exposure that has put heads in my beds. Folks remember me and recommend their family, friends and business collegues coming in from out of town to stay with us. It works.
If you have set up a fan page you may also control who can post to it. I love that fans post comments and pictures on my B&B page, but not everyone wants to do that, and that's ok too.
If you have a city forum or something like it, I highly encourage you to become a part of that too! There are usually several, so spend some time reading them to see what kind of folks you will be attracting. The best ones will also have event calendars that are open for posting. You can post an event you are holding and also check ahead for events you may not know about that you can include in your blog or tell guests about. Get your name out there. Name recognition is awesome to draw folks in.
I use Twitter and Facebook to point to my blog and my website. Totally invaluable!
.
Greystone has the advantage of living in an area where things actually happen. If I did a business specific Facebook page for our area, most entries would be z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z
neko-1.gif

.
Tie in to the next closest town with something going on! Lots of folks want to stay out of the action, but to know where the action is.
.
aieechihuahua said:
Tie in to the next closest town with something going on! Lots of folks want to stay out of the action, but to know where the action is.
They have a once a month deal. So the entries would be z-z-z-z-z
wow.gif
z-z-z-z-z-
wow.gif

Seriously, our place IS the destination. We offer peace and quite in a beautiful setting. We get a lot of "stressor" coming from the big city to decompress. I send out a monthly newsletter that pretty much covers everything we have going on. There's really just not enough to support a Twitter or Facebook page.
.
Well, your site does draw me in. How do you market yourself? Are you a memner of a B&B Association or anything like that?
 
Here's my fan page link.
grey, You are utilizing Facebook in a perfect way, IMHO.
I find it useful to think of this internet social networking just the same as local networking without having to leave my house. If you go to a party or networking function you behave accordingly to attract friends and collegues like yourself - like minded for the most part. I do that with my internet networking for the B&B and leave the personal page,( which I can control who views), for opinions and rants.
The Twiitter/Facebook genre has proved to be invaluable to me, especially when you network with folks nearby or in your town. I have gained new friends and exposure that has put heads in my beds. Folks remember me and recommend their family, friends and business collegues coming in from out of town to stay with us. It works.
If you have set up a fan page you may also control who can post to it. I love that fans post comments and pictures on my B&B page, but not everyone wants to do that, and that's ok too.
If you have a city forum or something like it, I highly encourage you to become a part of that too! There are usually several, so spend some time reading them to see what kind of folks you will be attracting. The best ones will also have event calendars that are open for posting. You can post an event you are holding and also check ahead for events you may not know about that you can include in your blog or tell guests about. Get your name out there. Name recognition is awesome to draw folks in.
I use Twitter and Facebook to point to my blog and my website. Totally invaluable!
.
Greystone has the advantage of living in an area where things actually happen. If I did a business specific Facebook page for our area, most entries would be z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z
neko-1.gif

.
Tie in to the next closest town with something going on! Lots of folks want to stay out of the action, but to know where the action is.
.
aieechihuahua said:
Tie in to the next closest town with something going on! Lots of folks want to stay out of the action, but to know where the action is.
They have a once a month deal. So the entries would be z-z-z-z-z
wow.gif
z-z-z-z-z-
wow.gif

Seriously, our place IS the destination. We offer peace and quite in a beautiful setting. We get a lot of "stressor" coming from the big city to decompress. I send out a monthly newsletter that pretty much covers everything we have going on. There's really just not enough to support a Twitter or Facebook page.
.
Well, your site does draw me in. How do you market yourself? Are you a memner of a B&B Association or anything like that?
.
aieechihuahua said:
Well, your site does draw me in. How do you market yourself? Are you a memner of a B&B Association or anything like that?
Thank You!
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We're members of the local chamber and I have a listing on B&B.com Other than that, I've tweaked my website to come up number one on Google, Yahoo, MSN and several others.
I use the B&B.com review widget on my main page and reviews are also posted on Google Local. We have print advertising in both the Dallas and Houston markets.
Right now, anyway, we're as busy as we want to be.
smiley-char092.gif

 
Not sure what I am doing wrong.. My personal page linked up to the business page. How do I fix this? I even created a new yahoo email account seperate from my personal one...
This morning when I made a comment on the business...when it posted it came up with my personal name-business as the comment sender and then had my personal picture on there. I'm sure it's something simple that I'm just overlooking. Can anyone help?
Thanks...Karen
 
O.K., here's a question for everyone concerning Facebook (or MySpace). Your information is only available to those individuals who subscribe (are a "fan") to your page. These are also individuals that you have accepted to view your page.
What's the point? You're only reaching those individuals who already know about you, so as an advertising media it's poor at best. Isn't the idea to get the word out to a NEW audience? In this day and age of email clutter and spamming is it realistic to believe that the general public wants to follow the wacky antics of an innkeeper?
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If you're wanting previous guests to know what you're up to then Twitter is probably a better choice. Although I've noticed the only ones who subscribe to our Twitter page are those guests that we hit it off with..
You're only reaching those individuals who already know about you, so as an advertising media it's poor at best.
Not so, I've already got complete strangers and friends of friends who have fanned me...
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Willowpondgj said:
You're only reaching those individuals who already know about you, so as an advertising media it's poor at best.
Not so, I've already got complete strangers and friends of friends who have fanned me...
With all due respect, "fanned me" doesn't necessarily equal reservations. For me, my time and energies are better spent utilizing those resources that will increase my revenue. I'd rather target my sales demographic.
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Proud Texan said:
With all due respect, "fanned me" doesn't necessarily equal reservations. For me, my time and energies are better spent utilizing those resources that will increase my revenue. I'd rather target my sales demographic.
With the same due respect, a clickthrough from a directory link, or someone reading a press release about your inn, doesn't necessarily equal a reservation either. FB and Twitter are just more tools to get your name out there. If you don't think your target market accesses that media, then don't use them. I think you'd be surprised at who's out there, though. It's not just teenagers any longer.
.
muirford said:
Proud Texan said:
With all due respect, "fanned me" doesn't necessarily equal reservations. For me, my time and energies are better spent utilizing those resources that will increase my revenue. I'd rather target my sales demographic.
With the same due respect, a clickthrough from a directory link, or someone reading a press release about your inn, doesn't necessarily equal a reservation either. FB and Twitter are just more tools to get your name out there. If you don't think your target market accesses that media, then don't use them. I think you'd be surprised at who's out there, though. It's not just teenagers any longer.
I am in complete agreement... there's even a Flair that says, "My kids are annoyed that I'm on Facebook." All my mom friends on are there together. And when friends of mine fan something, it shows up on my homepage (not my profile page) on the right hand side... as in "So-in-So-Fan-Page, 3 friends of yours are fans." So, yeah, total strangers could see my page.
It's one more link, one more way my name is out there, and it's free. (And FB itself is pretty cool....)
=)
Kk.
 
Not sure what I am doing wrong.. My personal page linked up to the business page. How do I fix this? I even created a new yahoo email account seperate from my personal one...
This morning when I made a comment on the business...when it posted it came up with my personal name-business as the comment sender and then had my personal picture on there. I'm sure it's something simple that I'm just overlooking. Can anyone help?
Thanks...Karen.
I'm not sure what you did 'wrong'. But are you talking about a fan page for the business? Or that you started a completely different facebook page for the business? If it's a fan page, then it will put your info because you started it from your account. If you started from scratch with a completely different name and email address, I don't know what happened.
When I write something on my fan page it shows the pic I have on my Facebook page because I'm signed in as that person. So, if you were signed in as yourself when you wrote something, that's what FB will use.
 
I started a completely new page for the business, but I think I know what happened. I realized you can't be signed into both facebook pages at the same time...took me a bit, but figured it out. Now just have to figure out how to actually add a link to the website so people on the website can become a fan.
Thanks for replying to my post..
Karen
 
I started a completely new page for the business, but I think I know what happened. I realized you can't be signed into both facebook pages at the same time...took me a bit, but figured it out. Now just have to figure out how to actually add a link to the website so people on the website can become a fan.
Thanks for replying to my post..
Karen.
Do you need to know how to add a link to your website or how to add the right link back to the fan page?
 
Hmmmmmmm....was looking to add a link on my website that said become a fan.. Is there a way to add this into the webervations request page also?? I have a line on there now if guests want to be added to our mailing list, but since i don't do alot with that thought if there was a way to add a link to facebook that would be better and easier to send guests updates on what's happening at our place.
 
It is my understanding that facebook wants the profile to be personal and the business to be added as a page... in fact, you can add more than one page, i.e. recipes page, b&b page, etc Then you get fans to link to your page.. I just haven't figured out how to block my fans from my personal profile page.. There's a way, but haven't looked hard enough for it.
I was recently at a workshop on social networking... there is a huge amount of women over 55 now signing up for FB and it is very popular as photos can be uploaded with control on who sees what.
 
My opinion:
It's free to sign up...free to use (unless you get paid apps.) If even ONE customer books because he/she saw my facebook page...then the effort was worth it.
I also use facebook, and sometimes my blog to place pictures that I don't find completely appropriate for the website (or I just can't find a good spot for them.) I put the facebook link on my website so that people can see it (most people are already sign on to facebook while they are browsing online anyways.)
I linked mine for you guys and gals to see => Sonata Inn
Cheers!
 
I am trying to set up a site too, then I add you :)
Where do I go to get the page address to post?
I am very new to FB and have to figure it all out.
Nice page :)
 
My opinion:
It's free to sign up...free to use (unless you get paid apps.) If even ONE customer books because he/she saw my facebook page...then the effort was worth it.
I also use facebook, and sometimes my blog to place pictures that I don't find completely appropriate for the website (or I just can't find a good spot for them.) I put the facebook link on my website so that people can see it (most people are already sign on to facebook while they are browsing online anyways.)
I linked mine for you guys and gals to see => Sonata Inn
Cheers!.
Nicely done!
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This is an important thread and what's interesting is, just by reading the responses here, we can tell that Facebook is not necessarily for everyone; but it could be.
One poster above said they didn't want "one more thing" to keep track of. Their energy was better spent elsewhere. While a "fan" doesn't necessarily equate to a paying reservation, it doesn't necessarily equate to wasted time.
Here's a link to the statistics page that Facebook makes public. Note in the first section that the fastest growing segment is people over 35. Last I heard, that's the demographic that typically stays at a bed and breakfast. In fact, the fastest growing segment in that "over 35" block is users between 60 and 75. They don't represent the largest group of users, but percentage-wise, they are the fastest growing.
As far as using Facebook for your business, there's a couple things to keep in mind. First of all, it doesn't need to be time consuming. You set up the page and do some basic promotion like put a link in your email signatures and ask people to become a fan. Ask guests if they're on Facebook (you might be surprised how many). If they are, ask them to become a fan and feel free to write something on your wall or post a picture. Do this when people check in and when they check out. In your follow up email to guests after they check out, put in a paragraph asking them to become a fan and post something about their stay.
After the initial setup, the maintenance is pretty easy going. WHY should you be doing all this? Because it's free publicity from qualified sources. If I stay at your inn and write a glowing review with a picture, it will go out to all my friends as a news post. Unlike TripAdvisor, you can delete what you want and block people. On your Facebook business page, you can post your own news items, photos, videos, etc. It's like a mini blog. Post your monthly special and it automatically goes to all your fans.
Lastly, I just want to make a quick note about Social Media Marketing (social networking). If what you do in the social networking arena is strictly selfish (i.e. "All I expect from my FB page is reservations and money"), you're going to be not only sorely disappointed, but likely ousted by the community. Social networking is evolving as a place to share information and expand your network. As a rule of thumb, 80% (or 8 out of 10) things you do online in social networking needs to be altruistically beneficial for someone else. For example, post a good recipe, make a positive comment about a blog entry you found, provide a helpful link to a local resource for guests, write a review about a past or upcoming local event, write a glowing review about a restaurant your guests might like. Get the pattern? After you post a bunch of helpful stuff, then post your monthly special or a link to your own blog post. Social networking is all about helping out everyone else. Once you develop that skill, you will become the "everyone else" that other people write about.
--Bill Foster
 
I meant to put in some tips about Facebook business pages.
1. Utilize Facebook's RSS feed. In the Notes secion you can tell it to automatically pull one RSS feed. That means you can have it pull your latest blog entries. It takes a half hour or so after you make a post, but it will come through. That means you can update your blog and don't even have to go over to Facebook to have it show.
2. If you don't have a blog (you really do need one), you can always have the RSS pull your latest TripAdvisor reviews. If a bad one comes across, you can just delete that note.
3. You have to promote it a bit, but the good thing with email is, you can easily put in a link.
If you want some examples, feel free to look at my business Facebook page or one I put together for the Hanford House.
--Bill Foster
 
I am trying to feed my blog into facebook like you said but it gives me an error when I use the blogs url address.
 
I am trying to feed my blog into facebook like you said but it gives me an error when I use the blogs url address..
The best way to do it is set up a FeedBurner account and have the RSS feed aggregated there. Then, enter the Feedburner address in Facebook. It will be something like http://feeds2.feedburner.com/XXXXX.
If you use the standard RSS address for your blogger account, it redirects automatically to Twitter.
Let me know if you have problems or need help.
--Bill
 
A friend of Irish Mountain B&B set up their FaceBook fan page. I've been suprised to see so many fan posted photos.
Check them out
http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=116423660258&view=all
Paul
 
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