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dumitru

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 7, 2013
Messages
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Location
Dortmund, Germany
Hi all,
A new question for today: would you exchange 1-2 nights of free stay at your place in exchange for an article on a popular travel website/blog?
If you get a review of your hotel, a backlink to your website, some photos and maybe even a positive review on TripAdvisor, would you do it?
Of course not in high season, but how about low season?
Thank for your feedback :)
 
That is an interesting question. What sort of article? I ask as journalism ethics dictate that they do not receive freebies when they write articles. Now, is this the case in reality? Probably not.
A review is definitely a no no in exchange for anything, TA has stated those policies clearly.
 
So basically if I come to stay for free at a place, it would be against some ToS to review the place on TA? If money is not exchanged then no review?
Let's say your B&B is in Miami. I come for a 10 day vacation, and spend 2 days at your place. So instead of staying for free at some poor guy's place via CouchSurfing, I would stay with you.
I don't pay any money, but I have a popular travel blog, where I will be writing about Miami. In these Miami posts, I could mention something like: "During my trip, I stayed at JB B&B", with a link to your place.
So the article won't be JUST about your place, but might contain a photo or two of your property, the view from my room, me with a beer at the terrace, etc.
So you gain a link from a relevant travel blog, + some photos, + some visitors from my blog audience.
P.S. This is just a hypothetical situation, I'm not going to Miami, and I don't have a popular travel blog.
 
I would add, what sort of "popular travel website/blog?"
Certainly there are lot of magazines/blogs, travel and otherwise, where you apparently have to "pay-to-play," i.e. the editorial content of the magazine/blog (particularly product reviews, new product announcements, etc...) tend to feature the advertisers in that mag/blog.... Reputable journalistic news organizations certainly don't engage is such tactics, though, do they....
 
So basically if I come to stay for free at a place, it would be against some ToS to review the place on TA? If money is not exchanged then no review?
Let's say your B&B is in Miami. I come for a 10 day vacation, and spend 2 days at your place. So instead of staying for free at some poor guy's place via CouchSurfing, I would stay with you.
I don't pay any money, but I have a popular travel blog, where I will be writing about Miami. In these Miami posts, I could mention something like: "During my trip, I stayed at JB B&B", with a link to your place.
So the article won't be JUST about your place, but might contain a photo or two of your property, the view from my room, me with a beer at the terrace, etc.
So you gain a link from a relevant travel blog, + some photos, + some visitors from my blog audience.
P.S. This is just a hypothetical situation, I'm not going to Miami, and I don't have a popular travel blog..
dumitru said:
So basically if I come to stay for free at a place, it would be against some ToS to review the place on TA? If money is not exchanged then no review?
No, the point is that the there can be no quid-pro-quo -- the arrangement that you come to stay for free, or otherwise, can not be in any way based on a predetermination that you will write a review.... TA says NO incentives for writing reviews, positive or otherwise.
 
I would add, what sort of "popular travel website/blog?"
Certainly there are lot of magazines/blogs, travel and otherwise, where you apparently have to "pay-to-play," i.e. the editorial content of the magazine/blog (particularly product reviews, new product announcements, etc...) tend to feature the advertisers in that mag/blog.... Reputable journalistic news organizations certainly don't engage is such tactics, though, do they.....
An independent travel blog, ran by a single person/traveler, who has over 500 daily visitors, and writes about all his/her travels and experiences.
So nothing major like Yahoo! Travel or Huffington.
 
So basically if I come to stay for free at a place, it would be against some ToS to review the place on TA? If money is not exchanged then no review?
Let's say your B&B is in Miami. I come for a 10 day vacation, and spend 2 days at your place. So instead of staying for free at some poor guy's place via CouchSurfing, I would stay with you.
I don't pay any money, but I have a popular travel blog, where I will be writing about Miami. In these Miami posts, I could mention something like: "During my trip, I stayed at JB B&B", with a link to your place.
So the article won't be JUST about your place, but might contain a photo or two of your property, the view from my room, me with a beer at the terrace, etc.
So you gain a link from a relevant travel blog, + some photos, + some visitors from my blog audience.
P.S. This is just a hypothetical situation, I'm not going to Miami, and I don't have a popular travel blog..
dumitru said:
So basically if I come to stay for free at a place, it would be against some ToS to review the place on TA? If money is not exchanged then no review?
No, the point is that the there can be no quid-pro-quo -- the arrangement that you come to stay for free, or otherwise, can not be in any way based on a predetermination that you will write a review.... TA says NO incentives for writing reviews, positive or otherwise.
.
Harborfields said:
dumitru said:
So basically if I come to stay for free at a place, it would be against some ToS to review the place on TA? If money is not exchanged then no review?
No, the point is that the there can be no quid-pro-quo -- the arrangement that you come to stay for free, or otherwise, can not be in any way based on a predetermination that you will write a review.... TA says NO incentives for writing reviews, positive or otherwise.
Thanks for the clarification, this is very helpful.
 
I would add, what sort of "popular travel website/blog?"
Certainly there are lot of magazines/blogs, travel and otherwise, where you apparently have to "pay-to-play," i.e. the editorial content of the magazine/blog (particularly product reviews, new product announcements, etc...) tend to feature the advertisers in that mag/blog.... Reputable journalistic news organizations certainly don't engage is such tactics, though, do they.....
An independent travel blog, ran by a single person/traveler, who has over 500 daily visitors, and writes about all his/her travels and experiences.
So nothing major like Yahoo! Travel or Huffington.
.
I wouldn't care what blogger wrote about an inn. Doesn't mean squat to me. Now if the Washington Post does an article that's an entirely different thing.
 
a blogger really shouldn't be offering to write a review in exchange for a free stay - it sounds like a sweet deal for the 'reviewer' but how can they be impartial after getting a free stay? i used to get emails like that - a few each season - and turned them all down.
i once got all excited because someone who wrote a travel blog was coming by and wanted to review the place, and didn't ask for anything in return. i fussed for a week over so many details - and the CLEANING i did! i wanted that place to shine. well, at the 11th hour (literally, just before i locked the doors for the night at 9 pm) the writer stopped by, stood OUTSIDE in the dark under the porch light - saying she had no time to come in, gave me less than 5 minutes to answer a couple questions and was off and away. she had a camera with her but took no pictures that i'm aware of. i got the impression she was disappointed that i didn't have a restaurant or bar.
i don't know if she ever included the place in an article, i certainly never saw any reference to it. i felt like a fool for getting my hopes up.
i will say that i gave a night's stay in exchange for a painting of the place. THAT was a nice exchange.
 
Back in my early days - before TA and bllogs and FB, I gave freebies to freelancers in hope of getting publicity. 2 of them came through - both being vetted by the Tourism Div BTW and both put me in books. One did a book tour and mentioned our rail-trail as on of her favorites and the other put us in the 3rd edition of a guide book on WV. Then the lady who wrote the book on trails in my State and JB's did the 4th edition and the 5th edition and included us with a nice vignette in both. None of the others did squat.
My policy now is - if Tourism sends them - however many nights they need, otherwise I am sorry, no room for free. (And Tourism knows to call.)
 
I think I recall a big "stink" a few years ago when Rick Ste_ves was found to be staying free at some of the places he recommended in his guide books. In fact, I'm sure he recommended only good places, not in exchange for the free stay, but because his success depends on his readers finding value in his recommendations.
But it just didn't look good, so now he always pays standard rates, even at places he has been recommending for years. Luckily, he can afford it. I LOVE his guide books. He thinks and travels like I do!
 
I think I recall a big "stink" a few years ago when Rick Ste_ves was found to be staying free at some of the places he recommended in his guide books. In fact, I'm sure he recommended only good places, not in exchange for the free stay, but because his success depends on his readers finding value in his recommendations.
But it just didn't look good, so now he always pays standard rates, even at places he has been recommending for years. Luckily, he can afford it. I LOVE his guide books. He thinks and travels like I do!.
I've watched quite a lot of his videos for Italy / Austria / Germany, I like his passion.
And you are right, staying for free at some place is a strong incentive to be positive about the place...
 
To give an example of the type of articles that I'm talking about, I have to link to something I did last year, in a beautiful place in Austria:
http://www.brinzan.com/2013/05/sankt-wolfgang-im-salzkammergut-austria-april-2013-hdr/
Me and my wife stayed in that location for 1 night only, we needed a break in the "countryside". The place is awesome, beautiful scenery, so of course we both took a lot of photos.
I also took the liberty to link to the hotel that we stayed at, even though we didn't get anything for that (and did not expect anything in return either). It was a very nice hotel for which we paid in full (booked via Booking).
So I would image that an article like this might turn to be somewhat helpful for some business owners, etc.
Wanted to know how you would "value" something like it.
 
To give an example of the type of articles that I'm talking about, I have to link to something I did last year, in a beautiful place in Austria:
http://www.brinzan.com/2013/05/sankt-wolfgang-im-salzkammergut-austria-april-2013-hdr/
Me and my wife stayed in that location for 1 night only, we needed a break in the "countryside". The place is awesome, beautiful scenery, so of course we both took a lot of photos.
I also took the liberty to link to the hotel that we stayed at, even though we didn't get anything for that (and did not expect anything in return either). It was a very nice hotel for which we paid in full (booked via Booking).
So I would image that an article like this might turn to be somewhat helpful for some business owners, etc.
Wanted to know how you would "value" something like it..
While it was nice of you to do that, who knows of your blog post? as an owner, it would not be worth free nights stay to me. Thanks for the link,but again, anyone can link to any place. Not worth a free night.
 
To give an example of the type of articles that I'm talking about, I have to link to something I did last year, in a beautiful place in Austria:
http://www.brinzan.com/2013/05/sankt-wolfgang-im-salzkammergut-austria-april-2013-hdr/
Me and my wife stayed in that location for 1 night only, we needed a break in the "countryside". The place is awesome, beautiful scenery, so of course we both took a lot of photos.
I also took the liberty to link to the hotel that we stayed at, even though we didn't get anything for that (and did not expect anything in return either). It was a very nice hotel for which we paid in full (booked via Booking).
So I would image that an article like this might turn to be somewhat helpful for some business owners, etc.
Wanted to know how you would "value" something like it..
While it was nice of you to do that, who knows of your blog post? as an owner, it would not be worth free nights stay to me. Thanks for the link,but again, anyone can link to any place. Not worth a free night.
.
Well, for starters, search engines know of my blog post.
Backlinks are among the best (if not THE best) factors influencing the search rankings of a website.
For hotels and lodging properties getting backlinks is pretty difficult, as there aren't many occasions on which you would get one.
So a couple of quality backlinks from a few travel blogs can put you ahead of your competition.
I believed that in 2014 this is common knowledge...
 
To give an example of the type of articles that I'm talking about, I have to link to something I did last year, in a beautiful place in Austria:
http://www.brinzan.com/2013/05/sankt-wolfgang-im-salzkammergut-austria-april-2013-hdr/
Me and my wife stayed in that location for 1 night only, we needed a break in the "countryside". The place is awesome, beautiful scenery, so of course we both took a lot of photos.
I also took the liberty to link to the hotel that we stayed at, even though we didn't get anything for that (and did not expect anything in return either). It was a very nice hotel for which we paid in full (booked via Booking).
So I would image that an article like this might turn to be somewhat helpful for some business owners, etc.
Wanted to know how you would "value" something like it..
While it was nice of you to do that, who knows of your blog post? as an owner, it would not be worth free nights stay to me. Thanks for the link,but again, anyone can link to any place. Not worth a free night.
.
Well, for starters, search engines know of my blog post.
Backlinks are among the best (if not THE best) factors influencing the search rankings of a website.
For hotels and lodging properties getting backlinks is pretty difficult, as there aren't many occasions on which you would get one.
So a couple of quality backlinks from a few travel blogs can put you ahead of your competition.
I believed that in 2014 this is common knowledge...
.
I understand backlinks and Search engines. I am just saying that as an inn owner, I would not pay you a free night just for that.
 
I think I recall a big "stink" a few years ago when Rick Ste_ves was found to be staying free at some of the places he recommended in his guide books. In fact, I'm sure he recommended only good places, not in exchange for the free stay, but because his success depends on his readers finding value in his recommendations.
But it just didn't look good, so now he always pays standard rates, even at places he has been recommending for years. Luckily, he can afford it. I LOVE his guide books. He thinks and travels like I do!.
Arks said:
I think I recall a big "stink" a few years ago when Rick Ste_ves was found to be staying free at some of the places he recommended in his guide books. In fact, I'm sure he recommended only good places, not in exchange for the free stay, but because his success depends on his readers finding value in his recommendations.
But it just didn't look good, so now he always pays standard rates, even at places he has been recommending for years. Luckily, he can afford it. I LOVE his guide books. He thinks and travels like I do!
Agreed! And consider the Fodor's or Frommer's guidebooks, they need to be untainted. I know many of us thought that would sure be a cool job to have! I used to go to the bookstore and be glued to a guide for an upcoming trip!
 
I think I recall a big "stink" a few years ago when Rick Ste_ves was found to be staying free at some of the places he recommended in his guide books. In fact, I'm sure he recommended only good places, not in exchange for the free stay, but because his success depends on his readers finding value in his recommendations.
But it just didn't look good, so now he always pays standard rates, even at places he has been recommending for years. Luckily, he can afford it. I LOVE his guide books. He thinks and travels like I do!.
I've watched quite a lot of his videos for Italy / Austria / Germany, I like his passion.
And you are right, staying for free at some place is a strong incentive to be positive about the place...
.
dumitru said:
I've watched quite a lot of his videos for Italy / Austria / Germany, I like his passion.
And you are right, staying for free at some place is a strong incentive to be positive about the place...
It had better be.
I would NEVER let you stay here for free if you planned on doing anything negative, that is like a stab in the back. So that is where it is, really.
Of late, there has been a slew of articles written about a local area here, and every last one of them was verbatim spew from another article or source. It infuriates me, as I know these writers/journalists never came here or they would have their own photos, their own pov. Some are big timers too, not blog or travel writers hitchiking across country.
 
To give an example of the type of articles that I'm talking about, I have to link to something I did last year, in a beautiful place in Austria:
http://www.brinzan.com/2013/05/sankt-wolfgang-im-salzkammergut-austria-april-2013-hdr/
Me and my wife stayed in that location for 1 night only, we needed a break in the "countryside". The place is awesome, beautiful scenery, so of course we both took a lot of photos.
I also took the liberty to link to the hotel that we stayed at, even though we didn't get anything for that (and did not expect anything in return either). It was a very nice hotel for which we paid in full (booked via Booking).
So I would image that an article like this might turn to be somewhat helpful for some business owners, etc.
Wanted to know how you would "value" something like it..
While it was nice of you to do that, who knows of your blog post? as an owner, it would not be worth free nights stay to me. Thanks for the link,but again, anyone can link to any place. Not worth a free night.
.
Well, for starters, search engines know of my blog post.
Backlinks are among the best (if not THE best) factors influencing the search rankings of a website.
For hotels and lodging properties getting backlinks is pretty difficult, as there aren't many occasions on which you would get one.
So a couple of quality backlinks from a few travel blogs can put you ahead of your competition.
I believed that in 2014 this is common knowledge...
.
dumitru said:
Well, for starters, search engines know of my blog post.
Backlinks are among the best (if not THE best) factors influencing the search rankings of a website.
For hotels and lodging properties getting backlinks is pretty difficult, as there aren't many occasions on which you would get one.
So a couple of quality backlinks from a few travel blogs can put you ahead of your competition.
I believed that in 2014 this is common knowledge...
Backlinks are valuable if you are a valuable site.
 
To give an example of the type of articles that I'm talking about, I have to link to something I did last year, in a beautiful place in Austria:
http://www.brinzan.com/2013/05/sankt-wolfgang-im-salzkammergut-austria-april-2013-hdr/
Me and my wife stayed in that location for 1 night only, we needed a break in the "countryside". The place is awesome, beautiful scenery, so of course we both took a lot of photos.
I also took the liberty to link to the hotel that we stayed at, even though we didn't get anything for that (and did not expect anything in return either). It was a very nice hotel for which we paid in full (booked via Booking).
So I would image that an article like this might turn to be somewhat helpful for some business owners, etc.
Wanted to know how you would "value" something like it..
While it was nice of you to do that, who knows of your blog post? as an owner, it would not be worth free nights stay to me. Thanks for the link,but again, anyone can link to any place. Not worth a free night.
.
Well, for starters, search engines know of my blog post.
Backlinks are among the best (if not THE best) factors influencing the search rankings of a website.
For hotels and lodging properties getting backlinks is pretty difficult, as there aren't many occasions on which you would get one.
So a couple of quality backlinks from a few travel blogs can put you ahead of your competition.
I believed that in 2014 this is common knowledge...
.
I understand backlinks and Search engines. I am just saying that as an inn owner, I would not pay you a free night just for that.
.
EmptyNest said:
I understand backlinks and Search engines. I am just saying that as an inn owner, I would not pay you a free night just for that.
I had hoped the "link farming" had run its course... I agree, it is not worth a free night.
 
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