Do you wonder how to ask for a link request?  I am going to sum up the main points in the awesome book published by Entrepreneur Press called Ultimate Guide to Link Building: Build Backlinks, Earn a Higher Search Engine Rank, Increase the Authority and Popularity of Your Site by Eric Ward and Garrett French.

Steps:

• Look over the website you want to have your link on to make sure it is relevant
• Do not put the words “link request” in the email subject line
• Start the e-mail off addressing the website owner by name
• Introduce yourself, your website, and why you would like to the link
• Identify the exact URL on their site where you think the link is a fit
• List the exact URL from your site that you want them to link to
• Give a valid email address and respond to any email requests they send
• Provide your phone number–something a spammer would not do
• Follow any link request instructions they give
• If a reciprocal link, confirm that you have linked to their site and provide the URL
• Be attentive, professional, courteous, and to the point

This book also lists Link Building Strategies written by Jon Cooper of Point Blank SEO:

• Start blogging on your website
• Have internal links to other content on your website
• List resources and outside links
• Build relationships with others
• Find niche-specific directories
• Write guest posts or have guests write posts for your blog
• Provide educational content
• Write compelling testimonials
• Provide useful lists–there is power in making lists!
• Be interviewed or interview someone in your industry
• Offer timely/seasonal content
• Use humor
• Provide printable resources
• Host contests
• Cover news first
• Give helpful infographics
• Host online webinars
• Promote National Days and Events
• Survey people and post results
• Debunk popular myths
• Comment on relevant blogs
• Do question and answer blog post
• Ask customers what they want to see more of
• Connect with industry associations and organizations
• Attend relevant conferences
• Call people
• Host local group meetings
• Retweet Twitter tweets
• Provide email signature listing website & ways to connect with you via social media
• and much more!

There are always things you can do to draw bigger audiences to your website. By taking the steps to ask for link requests and implementing the link building strategies, you will be well on your way to developing more a popular website.

Readers, I welcome your responses to this post as well as other ideas related to the topic of link requests and link building.  I read every comment and respond when appropriate. Thanks! Kristi

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Mike Shubic of Mike’s Road Trip is an outgoing man of adventure.  He has been traveling on the road since 2010.  Mike hosts and produces high quality videos for hospitality businesses such as bed and breakfasts, inns, restaurants, and other “hidden gems of the road.”  He has been featured in USA Today Travel, Rand McNally Best of the Road, The Travel Channel, and more.

Check out Mike’s Road Trip’s Intriguing Inns and Beautiful B&B’s videos from YouTube.  I highly recommend him if you would like entertaining and professional videos made to highlight the unique strengths of your bed and breakfast.  From his website, Mike gives several reasons why your bed and breakfast inn should have a video:

• If a picture is worth a 1000 words, how many is video worth?
• Video builds trust with your prospects. Trust equals paying guests.
• Videos attract attention and help set you apart from your competition.
• Video is important for SEO (search engine optimization). Google is ranking pages with video higher for the same search terms.
• Video is not a fad. Four billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube alone.

Mike makes these suggestions to bed and breakfast owners:

• Have a professional overview video of your B&B/Inn produced.  Be sure to include the owner/innkeeper in front of the camera.  Let prospective guests know what makes your inn special and memorable.
• Guest testimonial videos can be very powerful.  This allows the viewer to hear what the experience is like from varying viewpoints.  Your guests may talk about things they liked that you never even thought about!
• Informal videos for your social network can be a great way to showcase area events and/or activities at your inn while keeping in touch with past and future guests.
• The visual impact of videos gives them a long shelf life.  Trust and interest can be earned as long as the video is live on the Internet.  You can be media friendly and share your videos with local media.

Professional and informal videos can be put on your website as well as shared on social media websites including Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube!  Mike is a well-spoken promoter of bed and breakfasts on his road trips all across America.  I recommend Mike Shubic of Mike’s Road Trip to all my Bed and Breakfast Blogging clients.

The post Mike’s Road Trip To B&B’s appeared first on Kristi Dement.

Did you know that there are 255 million monthly active Twitter users?  Did you know that 500 million tweets are sent each day?  Most of us know that Twitter is a popular social media website.

Here are some quick tips so you can get the best out of using Twitter to promote your bed and breakfast inn:

1) Know your audience in order to target your message to the right people.  You want to write to appeal to your specific market–not everyone.  What kind of bed and breakfast guests would you like to attract?    

• Be pet friendly if you want guests with pets
• Be couple friendly and require kids to be a minimum age
• Promote being healthy by not allowing smoking on all grounds
• Accommodate guests with allergies or restricted diets when you cook breakfasts
• Reach out to those getting married or renewing their vows with ceremonies
• Provide spa services to guests who like to be pampered
• Offer extra amenities such as hot tubs or private balcony views

2) Regularly spend time listening to the needs and wants of your target market.  What would ease their pain and make their lives better?

• Need time to get away from it all
• Want to relax with a loved one
• Want to visit a local relative without inconveniencing them
• Like to visit tourist spots in your area
• Want personal touch of a B&B versus big hotel

3) Have strategies behind who you follow.  You do not have to follow everyone. Be selective and show your audience what they like to see. 

• Travel tips (give them useful information)
• Scenic pictures of your area (entice them to visit)
• Baby animals (who does not like baby animals?)
• Recipes (you may even offer a cooking class to your guests)
• Local activities (show them what they can do in your area)

4) Have a consistent presence online.  Tweet at least four to six times per day if possible.

5) Provide useful content based on your brands’ goals.  Selling should not be the focus.

• Tweet powerful quotes
• Update readers about your area events
• Share meaningful stories

6) Tweet with images.  People are visual creatures and tweets with pictures are more than twice as likely to be retweeted.  Images can convey more than words do. 

• Share pictures of the bedrooms in your bed and breakfast
• Tweet pictures of your outdoor views including landscaping
• Share pictures of your delightful breakfasts and goodies made
• Share pictures of local community events including concerts and sports games

7) Be active on other social media channels and have a blog on your website.  Blogs provide fresh content the search engines love.  More online connections come from having a strong presence on other social media websites.

• Facebook
• Linked In
• Pinterest

8) Use hashtags (#) so the reach of your tweets spreads to people searching for that term. Use trending hashtags (labeled “trends”) on the bottom left.  Make sure the hashtags are relevant to the tweet and two hashtags is plenty.

• Newsworthy events
• Celebrities
• Holidays (including national food holidays)
• This day in history
• Sports
• Trending area activities

9) Always have a call to action.  Know what you want them to do after they read your tweet.

• Look at your website
• Subscribe to your blog
• Book a room
• Schedule their event

10) Monitor your Twitter results with other websites.  Some Twitter tools are available for free or to use on a free trial basis.  Try them out to see which you prefer.

• Buffer
• Hootsuite
• Social Bro
• Tweetdeck

When you use this tips consistently, you will see a dramatic increase in your numbers:

• More Twitter followers
• More retweets
• More blog subscriptions
• More guests
• And more income!

The post 10 Twitter Tips for B&B’s appeared first on Kristi Dement.

Did you know that using quotes from other people can help you get more results?  You are showing that you are knowledgeable about the key people associated with your topic. In Ali Luke’s blog post “26 Essentials for Blogging Success What You Need To Know” she wrote, “When you include quotes from established experts…you add authority, value, and interest to your blog.”

People love reading quotes from:

• Actors
• Activists
• Athletes
• Authors
• Celebrities
• Comics
• Entertainers
• Experts
• Leaders
• Inventors
• Philanthropists
• Politicians
• Role models
• Speakers
• etc.

The following success quotes come from a variety of people:

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” (Albert Einstein)

“Each person must live their life as a model for others.” (Rosa Parks)

“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.” (Bill Cosby)

“Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.” (Charles Swindoll)

“Nothing is impossible.  The word itself says, ‘I’m possible.’” (Audrey Hepburn)

“The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.” (Mark Twain)

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” (Napoleon Hill)

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” (Wayne Gretzky)

What about you?  Do you have a favorite success quote you would like to share with us?  I respond, when appropriate, to every comment.

The post Quoting Experts Gets You Results appeared first on Kristi Dement.

What can we do to grab the attention of the online world and become more visible to our internet audience?

1) Words–The words we use really help determine our online visibility.  In the online world, fresh content is everything.  We need to make a list of keywords we want associated with us and our brand.  We should consistently use those keywords in our content.

2) Actions–Ever hear the phrase, “What we do speaks louder than what we say“?  People observe others. Whether we want them to or not, people see actions as well as lack of taking action.  For example, if we consistently receive the same negative comments online, then we know we need to take action.  This is not the time for us to ignore it and hope it goes away! We should appreciate comments and respond to both positive and negative feedback.

3) Formatting–People like easy to read content.  Most people don’t read word for word online. They like to scan the page.

• Use bullet points
• Add numbers
• Offer descriptive subheadings
• Make important text bold
• etc.

4) Links–We should provide links to other places in our website/blog as well as outside resources. This goes a long way in showing others that we like to be helpful and provide useful information. We are more likely to be seen as leaders on our subjects.

5) Get visual–Images and videos attract eyeballs.  People notice meaningful pictures.  Pinterest is a great visual social media platform that literally has billions of pins.

We should ask ourselves, “What does my target audience like to see online?”  When we see things from their perspective, we can be more creative.  Are we using the right keywords?  Are we taking appropriate action? Does our formatting make our content easy to read?  Have we provided great links?  Have we featured attention-getting images or video? When we can say yes to all five questions, we will attract more attention online!

The post 5 Ways to Attract More Attention Online appeared first on Kristi Dement.

Every blogger dreams of a bigger audience.  It is human nature to want to be recognized and to receive attention and praise.  So just what makes a blog post go viral?

1) Have you grabbed their attention with your title?  Opening lines should pique interest and curiosity, show a benefit, highlight a need, promise to entertain/inform/teach, or offer something of value.  Work hard early on at hooking your reader into your post.

2) Have you made it easy to read?  Readers scan pages online looking for keywords, phrases, and visual clues like numbers and bullet points. Use lists or other formatting techniques to emphasize points.  Your content must be appealing, entertaining, engaging, and interactive.

3) Does anybody really care about your topic? No one wants to know what you had for breakfast–unless maybe you had breakfast with a celebrity.  Giving people the “inside scoop” on a famous person’s thoughts and secrets will make your blog incredibly popular.

4) Have you had personal experience involving your blog topic?  Accomplishments speak volumes to your readers.  This does not mean you have to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or featured on the cover of People magazine.  What lessons have you learned along the way? People tend to respect you more if you share past obstacles or mistakes and how you overcame them.

5) Is this a brand new topic?  If you are in the fields of medicine, science, or technology you may very well have cutting edge information to share with the world.  We are listening!

6) Is your perspective different and maybe even controversial?  Sometimes blunt opinions can get people in trouble, but they can also get passed along.  Do you have a hot topic that will lure comments?  Be sure to respond to your comments.  This is what makes your blog interactive.

7) Is there something fascinating about your topic or are people sick of reading about it because everybody in the world has been covering it?  There is only so many times people can take hearing about the celebrities that tend to get all the media attention.  It can be annoying when they compare two celebrities who wore the same thing and then make comments on “who wore it better?”  Most people don’t care!

8) Is there something hilarious, quirky, or unbelievable about it?  There is a large dog in my neighborhood who, from behind his fence, will jump up and down like he is on a pogo stick all across his backyard when he sees my dog and I walking together.  I need to get that on video! Speaking of…

9) Do you have a good graphic, photo, or video available?  Humans are very visual creatures. That is part of the reason why Pinterest other image sharing social media sites like Instagram have done so well.  Did you know Pinterest has over 70 millions users?

10) Have you shared your blog post on every relevant social media channel?  You may want to describe the post differently depending upon the platform.  Since Linked In is for business and career-minded people, you may have a different way of promoting your blog post to your Linked In connections than to your Facebook fans and friends.

How will you know if your blog post was successful?

• Number of unique visitors to your blog post
• Re-tweets, shared links, social network mentions
• Quality of the blogs and websites where your blog post is referenced
• Frequency of approaches by people interested in working with you
• Quantity of traffic where sales take place
• Amount of paid opportunities that result from your blog
• Blog subscriber numbers
• E-mail sign ups
• If people who have powerful influence refer to your blog
• The number and quality of comments from your readers

Trust me, you will know!  Do you have any ideas about what makes a blog post go viral? Please share below.  I read all comments and respond when appropriate.

The post What Makes A Blog Post Go Viral? appeared first on Kristi Dement.

1. ADVICE- You have unique advice that only you can offer to your readers.  Once you understand who your audience is, then you can write like you are writing to a friend.  They will feel like they know you and you will develop a huge following.

2. CAUSE- Why not rally your readers behind a cause you support?  Let them know what you are doing to make a difference and how they can help. Give a call to action. Seriously, don’t leave that out.

3. COMMUNITY- Your community could be defined by your local area or it could be people who share a common interest or goal.  Reach out to “your peeps” and connect with them!

4. COMPARISON- Take two things and compare them.  Whether you compare two breakfast foods or two fun activities, the fun is in comparing and contrasting them.  This could be educational, entertaining, or funny as well. Speaking of…

5. EDUCATIONAL- People like learning about things.  That is one reason why search engines are so popular.  Tell them something that not everyone knows, but you know because you are an expert at it.  Everyone is an expert at something.  Blog about what you know best.

6. ENTERTAINING- Everyone likes to laugh and have fun.  You could blog about entertainment that is coming to your community whether it is a music concert, sporting event, or theatrical production.  Be sure to make it “entertaining” to read!  Since blogging is writing that is typically less formal than say a report, let your personality shine in the post.

7. EVENTS- People like finding out about events–ones that will happen and ones that already happened.  If you have the “inside scoop” on the latest, you can “tell all” in your blog!

8. FAQ- This common acronym is short for “frequently asked questions.”  Many websites have an FAQ page on them.  Blog about commonly asked questions.  Blog answers to familiar questions so you can refer your readers to when they ask them.  Saves you time in the process!

9. FAMILY- Some of your best material can come from your family members and others with whom you are close. As long as you make it generic enough that you don’t single out any one person or you know they won’t mind your sharing it, go ahead.  You know you want to!

10. GUIDE- A guide-type blog post could be a collection of tips about a specific topic. While similar to advice blog posts, they are different in that these tips can be applied by a variety of different people–not advice for one type of problem.  Example: Simple Tips to Get Clients To Pay on Time, Quick Ways to Find Just What You Want Online, etc.

11. HYPOTHETICAL- Ask your readers what they would do in a hypothetical situation.  Maybe answer that question as well. These types of blog posts tend to get a lot of comments because people like to imagine, “What if….?” Sometimes I imagine, “What if I win a ton of money in the lottery and get to quit my day job?!”  I kind of have to buy a lottery ticket first. Oh well.

12. INSPIRATIONAL- Share something motivational with your readers.  Help them connect to you in a powerful way through your telling of someone overcoming a challenge and beating the odds.  Maybe that someone who overcame something big is you.  Don’t be afraid to share since it could encourage someone else!

13. INSTRUCTIONAL or “HOW TO”- Give instructions on how to do something that others want to know how to do, and suddenly you have a captive large audience.  You can be creative with your titles of these posts as well.  Two examples: How To Teach Your Dog Fun New Tricks, How To Make Delicious Homemade Ice Cream, How To Make a Memorable Family Scrapbook, etc.

14. INTERVIEW- If you don’t have any famous celebrities you happen to know (most of us are in this boat), then you could always interview a person notable for what they do. A person who is accomplished in a career or sport or another area of life.  If you interview a person who has an inspiring story and then you have an “inspirational interview”! Wow, two different ways to write a blog post combined! You are an overachiever!

15. LISTS- People love lists.  Examples: 10 Ways You Can Change Your Spouse, 20 Best Party Appetizers, Top 40 Bestselling Books About Fitness, etc.  You get the idea and they will too!

16. MEMORIES- Often, we like to recall fond memories or retell funny situations.  We may even want to remember how we overcame a trauma for the sake of helping another person who finds themselves in the same emergency. When you blog about a memory, be sure to create a vivid picture in their minds of all the important details of your experience.

17. NEWS- Did you know that sometimes bloggers are the first to break a news story? There have been cases where a blogger has gotten in trouble for sharing some kinds of sensitive information.  Keep your day job and don’t blog about company trade secrets.  Another word of advice is to keep your love life private so no one tries to sue you for disclosing personal details.  However, if you are in attendance at an exclusive event that you have permission to be blogging about, then by all means SHARE!

18. OPINIONS- If you loving sharing your opinions, then blogging is right up your alley!  As long as you are tactful and the topic is appropriate, it is alright to share what you think. You don’t have to have all positive comments from your readers.  In fact, it makes it more interesting when some of your readers do not agree with you.  Usually readers who do agree with you, will come to your defense when you are criticized by others.

19. PHOTOS- If you took a great picture or want to share several incredible pictures, then you may want to have a photo blog post.  When your text is all about what is in your photo(s), then you have a photo blog post.  Whether your pictures are of smiling people, grand buildings, gorgeous nature, or something entirely different, there are others who would love to learn about how you managed to capture the photos and the techniques you used in getting it to look the way it does.

20. PREDICTIONS- It is common at the end of the year (or the beginning of the new year) for people to come up with their predictions about some topic.  Examples: The Future of Technology, 10 Social Media Predictions, What is To Come in American Education, etc.  Similar to the hypothetical “what if” posts, these are your thoughts as to what will come about in the next year (or whatever time frame you select) concerning a particular topic.  Inquiring minds want to know!

21. PROBLEMS- Life would not be nearly as exciting if there were no glitches.  Inevitably, snags come along.  You spill chocolate ice cream on your brand new white dress shirt.  You get a ticket for speeding on your way to work early one morning.  Your problem post could be written to be a funny look at everyday life or it could be a solution post in which you address how to solve a particular problem with a specific idea, product, or service. People are always looking for solutions!

22. QUIZZES- Some people love taking quizzes for fun.  Why not write a blog post that is a quiz about something interesting?  Examples: 15 Questions to Discover the Vacation of Your Dreams, How Well Do You Know Yourself?, etc.  The point is to make your quiz blog post appealing enough to your audience, so that they want to take it.

23. REVIEW- Everybody loves reading reviews.  You could blog a book review, a restaurant critique, or a movie screening.  Reviews help other people who, for example, were thinking about reading the same book, dining at the same restaurant, or watching the same movie; decide if they want to based on your review.  When you write a review blog post, you have the power to influence your readers to take action or avoid it.  Don’t let the power go to your head!

24. SECRETS- This could mean quick shortcuts, little known facts, or juicy details.  Like news posts, people like finding out things they would not normally know had they not read your blog.  Same cautions apply!

25. STORIES- People love reading fascinating stories.  A story blog post captures the attention of your audience yet is brief enough to be the length of a blog post. Stories with important lessons for your readers earn you loyal readers.

Try one (or a combination of several) of these types of blog posts the next time you write! Don’t be afraid to get CREATIVE.  Most importantly, enjoy the process that blogging requires.  It always helps me to visualize my readers reading this.  Will they think this is funny?  Does that tell them everything they need to know?  etc.  Feel free to share your CREATIVE blog post ideas or to ask me a question related to this post.

The post 25 Ways To Write Creative Blog Posts appeared first on Kristi Dement.

I recently received a comment from a reader asking about how they could get started blogging. As a professional blogger and librarian, the first thing I recommend to get started blogging is to read successful blogs and to read about blogging. I recommend the following resources:

Technorati is a website that lists the top 100 blogs.  Since it is updated daily, the list stays current.  By reading the top blogs, you can get a feel for different blogging styles and techniques as well as what is popularly read. You will have your own style of writing, but this is a great place to start. This website also offers a directory of blogs.

When you do read other blogs, ask yourself:

• What do I like about this blog?  What do I dislike?
• What sort of content does it provide?
• Does the blogger put a unique spin on the topic and/or share their opinions?
• Do the readers give comments?  Does the blogger respond to the comments?

Another cool website is ProBlogger.  On the home page, you can sign up for free blogging tips to be sent to your e-mail.  This website is run by Darren Rowse, co-author of the very informative book Problogger: Secrets For Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income.

Some other blogging books I recommend:

Bloggers Boot Camp: learning how to build, write, and run a successful blog by Charlies White and John Biggs

Blogging for Creatives: how designers, artists, crafters, and writers can blog to make contacts, win business, and build success by Robin Houghton

Born To Blog: building your blog for personal and business success one post at a time by Mark W. Schaefer and Stanford A. Smith

Creative Blogging: your first steps to a successful blog by Heather Wright-Porto

A couple more websites about blogging I recommend:

Daily Blog Tips, Daniel Scocco

CopyBlogger, Brian Clark

In upcoming blog posts, I plan to write about how to blog and why some blogs become very successful.  I appreciate your comments and questions below.

The post How To Get Started Blogging appeared first on Kristi Dement.

I am impressed at how well you blend antiques with modern day technology such as flat screen televisions in all the bedrooms.

There is so much that Union Gables Inn and Suites offers their guests.  They are located in the heart of Saratoga’s Historic district known as the ‘Magic Rectangle’, one and a half blocks from the Saratoga Race Course on Union Avenue and two blocks to the Historic Congress Park.   Check out their photo gallery and make a reservation to be the guests at another bed and breakfast!

The post Union Gables Inn and Suites appeared first on Kristi Dement.

Your bed and breakfast guests usually have questions. Be careful to understand their frame of reference when they ask a question. While I was a young student at Michigan State University, I lived in an international dorm. For those of you who don’t know, Michigan State is located in East Lansing, Michigan. One of the reasons I chose to attend the university was that I lived only two hours away in a town called Holland, Michigan.

When an international student asked me what I was going to do over the weekend, I replied, “Go home to Holland.” She looked shocked and asked with a puzzled look, “Only for the weekend?” I had failed to take into account that she was thinking of Holland, Netherlands. Actually, the Netherlands is the country my great-grandmother and her family came from when they relocated to Holland, Michigan.  The windmill pictured above is a 240-year-old Dutch windmill that is located in Holland, Michigan.

We laughed when we both understood we were talking about two completely different parts of the world. I wrongly assumed that since we were both currently living in the state of Michigan, that she would have heard of my local Michigan town called Holland!

Often when recommending places your guests can visit and things they can do in your area, please remember my advice to never make assumptions. You may decide to offer print directions to your guests (to places like a local restaurant or attraction) so that they can take it with them should they not have a GPS with them.

You could even have an FAQ (frequently asked questions) page on your website with links to various places you suggest that they visit.  You could organize the recommended places by categories such as restaurants, museums, parks, and so on.  This helps your guests plan for their stay at your bed and breakfast and you can easily refer them to your website if they are calling or e-mailing you the question.  I recommend offering free brochures to local destinations to your guests while they visit in person.

Have you ever had a funny mix-up like mine with your bed and breakfast guests?  I would love to hear about it!

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