How many directories???

[Willowpondgj]

Also remember that NOTHING IS FREE. There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. So if you think a free listing is worth something - think again, it usually ends up bringing you grief..

Usually true, but not always. The top referring directory for my area is completely free, blows the doors off the national directories, and beats out the high priced regional directories by a large margin.
.

Same here. I get the most by far from the Charlottesville Visitors and Convention Bureau website which is free. From looking at Google's report I get one third from Google, one third from referrals, and one third direct. That is probably word of mouth. I've received a lot of my bookings as referrals from their friends.
RIki
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)
.

LOL Your guests pay the lodging tax, not you. You just collect it and pass it on. So your guests are paying for it.
.

If you live outside our city limits, if you want to be listed on the VCB you have to collect the lodging tax and most of the the B&B's don't (get listed). So I guess in some respects they are giving up the exposure, to not charge their guests extra taxes...which we know can really add up, depending on where you live. If you live within the city limits, like we do, you are required to collect. I'm pretty sure they still have to collect a lodging tax for their town...maybe...so they don't want to tack on another one.
This is my understanding of it anyway...

 

[Penelope]

Also remember that NOTHING IS FREE. There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. So if you think a free listing is worth something - think again, it usually ends up bringing you grief..

Usually true, but not always. The top referring directory for my area is completely free, blows the doors off the national directories, and beats out the high priced regional directories by a large margin.
.

Same here. I get the most by far from the Charlottesville Visitors and Convention Bureau website which is free. From looking at Google's report I get one third from Google, one third from referrals, and one third direct. That is probably word of mouth. I've received a lot of my bookings as referrals from their friends.
RIki
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)

I just went to look and I have to say that the free state site is far and away the best referrer for me for the past 2 months. Double the paid directories and good traffic, too. Low bounce rate and high page views and time on site stats.
Our CVB is not free at all. Over $650 to join and we never got a referral from them. But, then, this state is not good at tourism perks.
.

But, then, this state is not good at tourism perks.

I don't understand that. One of your state's MAIN industries is tourism. What are they waiting for?

 

[egoodell]

Also remember that NOTHING IS FREE. There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. So if you think a free listing is worth something - think again, it usually ends up bringing you grief..

Usually true, but not always. The top referring directory for my area is completely free, blows the doors off the national directories, and beats out the high priced regional directories by a large margin.
.

Same here. I get the most by far from the Charlottesville Visitors and Convention Bureau website which is free. From looking at Google's report I get one third from Google, one third from referrals, and one third direct. That is probably word of mouth. I've received a lot of my bookings as referrals from their friends.
RIki
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)

I just went to look and I have to say that the free state site is far and away the best referrer for me for the past 2 months. Double the paid directories and good traffic, too. Low bounce rate and high page views and time on site stats.
Our CVB is not free at all. Over $650 to join and we never got a referral from them. But, then, this state is not good at tourism perks.
.

I'm lucky here as I have good response from both the state and Covention Visitor's Bureau sites and they are both free.
What I'm trying to get onto is Monticello's referral site. Only a couple of B&Bs are on it and the Association is supposed to be tring to get us and a few others on. This is something I just found out about - I think the local chapter should have let us know about it when we first joined. We had to ask about it after we found out about it on our own.
RIki

 

[gillumhouse]

Also remember that NOTHING IS FREE. There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. So if you think a free listing is worth something - think again, it usually ends up bringing you grief..

Usually true, but not always. The top referring directory for my area is completely free, blows the doors off the national directories, and beats out the high priced regional directories by a large margin.
.

Same here. I get the most by far from the Charlottesville Visitors and Convention Bureau website which is free. From looking at Google's report I get one third from Google, one third from referrals, and one third direct. That is probably word of mouth. I've received a lot of my bookings as referrals from their friends.
RIki
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)

I just went to look and I have to say that the free state site is far and away the best referrer for me for the past 2 months. Double the paid directories and good traffic, too. Low bounce rate and high page views and time on site stats.
Our CVB is not free at all. Over $650 to join and we never got a referral from them. But, then, this state is not good at tourism perks.
.

Although I do not get many from the State Tourism Main site, they have many "mini-online magazines" and I do get hits from those. Our Tourism Division works very closely with members of the industry who opt to use them. They like and do work very closely (and very supportive of) with the B & B industry.

 

[Morticia]

Also remember that NOTHING IS FREE. There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. So if you think a free listing is worth something - think again, it usually ends up bringing you grief..

Usually true, but not always. The top referring directory for my area is completely free, blows the doors off the national directories, and beats out the high priced regional directories by a large margin.
.

Same here. I get the most by far from the Charlottesville Visitors and Convention Bureau website which is free. From looking at Google's report I get one third from Google, one third from referrals, and one third direct. That is probably word of mouth. I've received a lot of my bookings as referrals from their friends.
RIki
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)
.

LOL Your guests pay the lodging tax, not you. You just collect it and pass it on. So your guests are paying for it.
.

If you live outside our city limits, if you want to be listed on the VCB you have to collect the lodging tax and most of the the B&B's don't (get listed). So I guess in some respects they are giving up the exposure, to not charge their guests extra taxes...which we know can really add up, depending on where you live. If you live within the city limits, like we do, you are required to collect. I'm pretty sure they still have to collect a lodging tax for their town...maybe...so they don't want to tack on another one.
This is my understanding of it anyway...

.

If you live outside our city limits, if you want to be listed on the VCB you have to collect the lodging tax and most of the the B&B's don't (get listed). So I guess in some respects they are giving up the exposure, to not charge their guests extra taxes...which we know can really add up, depending on where you live. If you live within the city limits, like we do, you are required to collect. I'm pretty sure they still have to collect a lodging tax for their town...maybe...so they don't want to tack on another one.
This is my understanding of it anyway...

Wait a minute...collecting lodging tax is not mandatory? I wish. Oh, you mean outside of your town the other places would have to collect an additional tax to be listed on that site?

 

[Morticia]

Also remember that NOTHING IS FREE. There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. So if you think a free listing is worth something - think again, it usually ends up bringing you grief..

Usually true, but not always. The top referring directory for my area is completely free, blows the doors off the national directories, and beats out the high priced regional directories by a large margin.
.

Same here. I get the most by far from the Charlottesville Visitors and Convention Bureau website which is free. From looking at Google's report I get one third from Google, one third from referrals, and one third direct. That is probably word of mouth. I've received a lot of my bookings as referrals from their friends.
RIki
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)

I just went to look and I have to say that the free state site is far and away the best referrer for me for the past 2 months. Double the paid directories and good traffic, too. Low bounce rate and high page views and time on site stats.
Our CVB is not free at all. Over $650 to join and we never got a referral from them. But, then, this state is not good at tourism perks.
.

But, then, this state is not good at tourism perks.

I don't understand that. One of your state's MAIN industries is tourism. What are they waiting for?
.

But, then, this state is not good at tourism perks.

I don't understand that. One of your state's MAIN industries is tourism. What are they waiting for?

THE main industry, or second. And, yes, we're on our own pretty much. Maybe it's better to leave the state out of it...

 

[gillumhouse]

Also remember that NOTHING IS FREE. There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. So if you think a free listing is worth something - think again, it usually ends up bringing you grief..

Usually true, but not always. The top referring directory for my area is completely free, blows the doors off the national directories, and beats out the high priced regional directories by a large margin.
.

Same here. I get the most by far from the Charlottesville Visitors and Convention Bureau website which is free. From looking at Google's report I get one third from Google, one third from referrals, and one third direct. That is probably word of mouth. I've received a lot of my bookings as referrals from their friends.
RIki
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)
.

LOL Your guests pay the lodging tax, not you. You just collect it and pass it on. So your guests are paying for it.
.

If you live outside our city limits, if you want to be listed on the VCB you have to collect the lodging tax and most of the the B&B's don't (get listed). So I guess in some respects they are giving up the exposure, to not charge their guests extra taxes...which we know can really add up, depending on where you live. If you live within the city limits, like we do, you are required to collect. I'm pretty sure they still have to collect a lodging tax for their town...maybe...so they don't want to tack on another one.
This is my understanding of it anyway...

.

Because I am in a municipality that did not enact the ordinance to collect the ":bed tax" I cannot collect it. I do not belong to either of the CVBs in my County because neither of them does anything for my town. I DO belong to the CVB in the county north of me - because of the rail-trail that serves us both - and that one is a paid member only and I consider it $50 well-spent. I do get hits from their site and they do have a Specials page that I admit I have under used.
Edited to add - if I were in the County, I would have no choice in the matter - I would be collecting the tax and half of that tax would go to the CVB and half would go to the County.

 

[Sunshine]

Also remember that NOTHING IS FREE. There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. So if you think a free listing is worth something - think again, it usually ends up bringing you grief..

Usually true, but not always. The top referring directory for my area is completely free, blows the doors off the national directories, and beats out the high priced regional directories by a large margin.
.

Same here. I get the most by far from the Charlottesville Visitors and Convention Bureau website which is free. From looking at Google's report I get one third from Google, one third from referrals, and one third direct. That is probably word of mouth. I've received a lot of my bookings as referrals from their friends.
RIki
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)
.

LOL Your guests pay the lodging tax, not you. You just collect it and pass it on. So your guests are paying for it.
.

ok, call me crazy but we paid the bed and lodging tax ourselves this year, but really because we forgot about passing it on to our guests (luckily it was only 2 %!). yes, newbie stuff that we are figuring out! Hey our guests loved the discount!!!! LOL we are passing it on to our guests this year.
We don't list with any b&b service, but we are listed with the Chamber. We don't do any paid advertising, only our website. But are looking at doing a free coupon book through the VCB.
We did way better than we ever thought we would do for our first 6 months! And I have to admit... I was so glad January came with only one booking. I needed the rest! But I'm biting at the bit ready to go again!

 

[Willowpondgj]

Also remember that NOTHING IS FREE. There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. So if you think a free listing is worth something - think again, it usually ends up bringing you grief..

Usually true, but not always. The top referring directory for my area is completely free, blows the doors off the national directories, and beats out the high priced regional directories by a large margin.
.

Same here. I get the most by far from the Charlottesville Visitors and Convention Bureau website which is free. From looking at Google's report I get one third from Google, one third from referrals, and one third direct. That is probably word of mouth. I've received a lot of my bookings as referrals from their friends.
RIki
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)
.

LOL Your guests pay the lodging tax, not you. You just collect it and pass it on. So your guests are paying for it.
.

If you live outside our city limits, if you want to be listed on the VCB you have to collect the lodging tax and most of the the B&B's don't (get listed). So I guess in some respects they are giving up the exposure, to not charge their guests extra taxes...which we know can really add up, depending on where you live. If you live within the city limits, like we do, you are required to collect. I'm pretty sure they still have to collect a lodging tax for their town...maybe...so they don't want to tack on another one.
This is my understanding of it anyway...

.

If you live outside our city limits, if you want to be listed on the VCB you have to collect the lodging tax and most of the the B&B's don't (get listed). So I guess in some respects they are giving up the exposure, to not charge their guests extra taxes...which we know can really add up, depending on where you live. If you live within the city limits, like we do, you are required to collect. I'm pretty sure they still have to collect a lodging tax for their town...maybe...so they don't want to tack on another one.
This is my understanding of it anyway...

Wait a minute...collecting lodging tax is not mandatory? I wish. Oh, you mean outside of your town the other places would have to collect an additional tax to be listed on that site?
.

It's mandatory if you live inside city limits.
Not mandatory if you live outside the city, but you don't get the perks of the VCB either...unless you collect and pay up...

 

[Morticia]

Also remember that NOTHING IS FREE. There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. So if you think a free listing is worth something - think again, it usually ends up bringing you grief..

Usually true, but not always. The top referring directory for my area is completely free, blows the doors off the national directories, and beats out the high priced regional directories by a large margin.
.

Same here. I get the most by far from the Charlottesville Visitors and Convention Bureau website which is free. From looking at Google's report I get one third from Google, one third from referrals, and one third direct. That is probably word of mouth. I've received a lot of my bookings as referrals from their friends.
RIki
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)
.

LOL Your guests pay the lodging tax, not you. You just collect it and pass it on. So your guests are paying for it.
.

ok, call me crazy but we paid the bed and lodging tax ourselves this year, but really because we forgot about passing it on to our guests (luckily it was only 2 %!). yes, newbie stuff that we are figuring out! Hey our guests loved the discount!!!! LOL we are passing it on to our guests this year.
We don't list with any b&b service, but we are listed with the Chamber. We don't do any paid advertising, only our website. But are looking at doing a free coupon book through the VCB.
We did way better than we ever thought we would do for our first 6 months! And I have to admit... I was so glad January came with only one booking. I needed the rest! But I'm biting at the bit ready to go again!
.

ok, call me crazy but we paid the bed and lodging tax ourselves this year, but really because we forgot about passing it on to our guests (luckily it was only 2 %!). yes, newbie stuff that we are figuring out! Hey our guests loved the discount!!!! LOL we are passing it on to our guests this year.
We don't list with any b&b service, but we are listed with the Chamber. We don't do any paid advertising, only our website. But are looking at doing a free coupon book through the VCB.
We did way better than we ever thought we would do for our first 6 months! And I have to admit... I was so glad January came with only one booking. I needed the rest! But I'm biting at the bit ready to go again!

Be very careful with this. There are some places that forbid exactly what you did. YOU, as the business owner, cannot pay the sales tax for the buyer. What you do NOT want to happen is your competition finding this out and using it against you. I know of a place that had quite the backlash against it because it did not charge the lodging tax when every other legit biz was doing so. In this case, it gave the owner a substantial advantage as the lodging tax was 9% and the room rates were over $200.
I'm not picking, but have you considered what other rookie mistakes you may have made that might come back to haunt you? I mean, just by reading the posts here you get a pretty good idea of what 'other' fees, taxes, liabilities may be out there.
If you did that well with no advertising except the Chamber, you must be in a high demand, low availability area...good for you!

 

[swirt]

Also remember that NOTHING IS FREE. There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. So if you think a free listing is worth something - think again, it usually ends up bringing you grief..

Usually true, but not always. The top referring directory for my area is completely free, blows the doors off the national directories, and beats out the high priced regional directories by a large margin.
.

Same here. I get the most by far from the Charlottesville Visitors and Convention Bureau website which is free. From looking at Google's report I get one third from Google, one third from referrals, and one third direct. That is probably word of mouth. I've received a lot of my bookings as referrals from their friends.
RIki
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)
.

LOL Your guests pay the lodging tax, not you. You just collect it and pass it on. So your guests are paying for it.
.

ok, call me crazy but we paid the bed and lodging tax ourselves this year, but really because we forgot about passing it on to our guests (luckily it was only 2 %!). yes, newbie stuff that we are figuring out! Hey our guests loved the discount!!!! LOL we are passing it on to our guests this year.
We don't list with any b&b service, but we are listed with the Chamber. We don't do any paid advertising, only our website. But are looking at doing a free coupon book through the VCB.
We did way better than we ever thought we would do for our first 6 months! And I have to admit... I was so glad January came with only one booking. I needed the rest! But I'm biting at the bit ready to go again!
.

Ouch. That's an expensive lesson. Especially when you consider that the tax was only 2% but you paid taxes on that money because it was part of your income stream instead of its own tax line, so really you paid like 2.6%.

 

[Sunshine]

Also remember that NOTHING IS FREE. There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. So if you think a free listing is worth something - think again, it usually ends up bringing you grief..

Usually true, but not always. The top referring directory for my area is completely free, blows the doors off the national directories, and beats out the high priced regional directories by a large margin.
.

Same here. I get the most by far from the Charlottesville Visitors and Convention Bureau website which is free. From looking at Google's report I get one third from Google, one third from referrals, and one third direct. That is probably word of mouth. I've received a lot of my bookings as referrals from their friends.
RIki
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)
.

LOL Your guests pay the lodging tax, not you. You just collect it and pass it on. So your guests are paying for it.
.

ok, call me crazy but we paid the bed and lodging tax ourselves this year, but really because we forgot about passing it on to our guests (luckily it was only 2 %!). yes, newbie stuff that we are figuring out! Hey our guests loved the discount!!!! LOL we are passing it on to our guests this year.
We don't list with any b&b service, but we are listed with the Chamber. We don't do any paid advertising, only our website. But are looking at doing a free coupon book through the VCB.
We did way better than we ever thought we would do for our first 6 months! And I have to admit... I was so glad January came with only one booking. I needed the rest! But I'm biting at the bit ready to go again!
.

ok, call me crazy but we paid the bed and lodging tax ourselves this year, but really because we forgot about passing it on to our guests (luckily it was only 2 %!). yes, newbie stuff that we are figuring out! Hey our guests loved the discount!!!! LOL we are passing it on to our guests this year.
We don't list with any b&b service, but we are listed with the Chamber. We don't do any paid advertising, only our website. But are looking at doing a free coupon book through the VCB.
We did way better than we ever thought we would do for our first 6 months! And I have to admit... I was so glad January came with only one booking. I needed the rest! But I'm biting at the bit ready to go again!

Be very careful with this. There are some places that forbid exactly what you did. YOU, as the business owner, cannot pay the sales tax for the buyer. What you do NOT want to happen is your competition finding this out and using it against you. I know of a place that had quite the backlash against it because it did not charge the lodging tax when every other legit biz was doing so. In this case, it gave the owner a substantial advantage as the lodging tax was 9% and the room rates were over $200.
I'm not picking, but have you considered what other rookie mistakes you may have made that might come back to haunt you? I mean, just by reading the posts here you get a pretty good idea of what 'other' fees, taxes, liabilities may be out there.
If you did that well with no advertising except the Chamber, you must be in a high demand, low availability area...good for you!
.

Thanks Bree, I meant that we paid the bed tax, not the sales tax, because we forgot totally to collect it. So it ended up coming out of our pockets. so instead of us making say $100. on a room we had to pay 2% out of that 100. so we ended up making less. We didn't do that on purpose, and yes we did remember to collect and pay the sales tax, which is a separate tax.
I don't think you are picking. and good reminders are always helpful. I have tried to be careful and not make too many mistakes and have really appreciated this site sooooo much. infact most guests are amazed when we tell them we are a new B&B and have not done this before (and that confirmation is always a good feeling).
as far as demand goes: we have several hotels in town from the tiny 'no tell motel' to holiday inn. Other than our B&B there is a B&B and a big mansion B&B here. There is also a historic hotel just three doors down from us. I think our advantage is that the other B&B isn't always available (owner travels out of state frequently and closes the B&B but tells people on the phone she is booked), and the Big mansion B&B which is very nice, the owner lives else where and has a 'manager' who lets people in the door and then leaves. We have not heard good things about it. The historic hotel is remodeled and has a restraunt in it, but the rooms aren't all that great. they tried to blend 'modern' with 'historic.' Again, I havent heard good feedback from the guests that have stayed there.
So far we have gotten good reviews on line and that helps too.

 

[Morticia]

Also remember that NOTHING IS FREE. There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. So if you think a free listing is worth something - think again, it usually ends up bringing you grief..

Usually true, but not always. The top referring directory for my area is completely free, blows the doors off the national directories, and beats out the high priced regional directories by a large margin.
.

Same here. I get the most by far from the Charlottesville Visitors and Convention Bureau website which is free. From looking at Google's report I get one third from Google, one third from referrals, and one third direct. That is probably word of mouth. I've received a lot of my bookings as referrals from their friends.
RIki
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)
.

LOL Your guests pay the lodging tax, not you. You just collect it and pass it on. So your guests are paying for it.
.

ok, call me crazy but we paid the bed and lodging tax ourselves this year, but really because we forgot about passing it on to our guests (luckily it was only 2 %!). yes, newbie stuff that we are figuring out! Hey our guests loved the discount!!!! LOL we are passing it on to our guests this year.
We don't list with any b&b service, but we are listed with the Chamber. We don't do any paid advertising, only our website. But are looking at doing a free coupon book through the VCB.
We did way better than we ever thought we would do for our first 6 months! And I have to admit... I was so glad January came with only one booking. I needed the rest! But I'm biting at the bit ready to go again!
.

Ouch. That's an expensive lesson. Especially when you consider that the tax was only 2% but you paid taxes on that money because it was part of your income stream instead of its own tax line, so really you paid like 2.6%.
.

Ouch. That's an expensive lesson. Especially when you consider that the tax was only 2% but you paid taxes on that money because it was part of your income stream instead of its own tax line, so really you paid like 2.6%.

I hadn't even considered that they had to pay tax on the money first.

 

[Sunshine]

Also remember that NOTHING IS FREE. There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. So if you think a free listing is worth something - think again, it usually ends up bringing you grief..

Usually true, but not always. The top referring directory for my area is completely free, blows the doors off the national directories, and beats out the high priced regional directories by a large margin.
.

Same here. I get the most by far from the Charlottesville Visitors and Convention Bureau website which is free. From looking at Google's report I get one third from Google, one third from referrals, and one third direct. That is probably word of mouth. I've received a lot of my bookings as referrals from their friends.
RIki
.

Is it free? We get the most referrals from our VCB too, but it is a "free" service we get because we pay the mandatory lodging tax. (So, it's not really free...)
.

LOL Your guests pay the lodging tax, not you. You just collect it and pass it on. So your guests are paying for it.
.

ok, call me crazy but we paid the bed and lodging tax ourselves this year, but really because we forgot about passing it on to our guests (luckily it was only 2 %!). yes, newbie stuff that we are figuring out! Hey our guests loved the discount!!!! LOL we are passing it on to our guests this year.
We don't list with any b&b service, but we are listed with the Chamber. We don't do any paid advertising, only our website. But are looking at doing a free coupon book through the VCB.
We did way better than we ever thought we would do for our first 6 months! And I have to admit... I was so glad January came with only one booking. I needed the rest! But I'm biting at the bit ready to go again!
.

Ouch. That's an expensive lesson. Especially when you consider that the tax was only 2% but you paid taxes on that money because it was part of your income stream instead of its own tax line, so really you paid like 2.6%.
.

Ouch. That's an expensive lesson. Especially when you consider that the tax was only 2% but you paid taxes on that money because it was part of your income stream instead of its own tax line, so really you paid like 2.6%.

I hadn't even considered that they had to pay tax on the money first.
.

yep! lesson learned!