social media Archives | Kristi Dement

Tag Archives: social media

How To Ask for a Link Request

Posted on July 8, 2014 by kdement Leave a comment

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

Posted in Associations and Ratings, Blog and Social Media, Conferences, Events, Promotion

10 Twitter Tips for B&B’s

Posted on June 24, 2014 by kdement 2 comments

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!

Posted in Blog and Social Media, Promotion

What Innkeepers Like Most

Posted on March 25, 2014 by kdement Leave a comment

I wanted to see if there were some common responses to the question I asked bed and breakfast innkeepers in an online Linked In group. The question was, “What do you like most about being an innkeeper?” Answers included:

Welcoming guests from all over the world
Meeting people from all walks of life
Showing hospitality by making others feel at home
Conversations that flow naturally with guests
Feeding our guests well
Being my own boss
Satisfaction from making others happy
Having guests return again and again and forming long-term bonds with them

So what do YOU like best about being owning a bed and breakfast? I can think of several responses, depending upon what activities you like to do at your B&B:

Greeting and speaking with guests
Cooking delicious breakfasts, desserts, and more
Hosting events such as weddings and group meetings
Tending to our beautiful garden
Renovating and restoring our home
Decorating the rooms
Designing several different packages for guests to choose from
Updating guests with a regular newsletter or blog
Using social media to promote our bed and breakfast

Everyday keep in mind what you love about being an innkeeper. Keep track of memorable moments with guests. Stay in touch with former guests and reach out to potential new guests. Join an innkeeping association for support from fellow innkeepers. Now it is easier than ever to keep in contact with others in our connected world.

Posted in Blog and Social Media, Food, Guests, Promotion

You Can Do Pinterest!

Posted on March 21, 2014 by kdement Leave a comment

As promised when I started our series of blog posts on using Pinterest, I will share with you some of my Pinterest boards and how I organized them. This is for you to get some inspiration when you pin on your boards! It gets exciting when you grow more followers. You can see which pins get repinned the most. You can do Pinterest!

Of course, food is a big deal for a bed and breakfast so I have more than one board for food. Perhaps I will have enough pins to have a separate board for eggs (including omelets and frittatas). I did have enough pins to have separate boards for crepes, French toast, pancakes, and waffles–even desserts! Currently, I have the following boards:

Bed and Breakfast Cooking

Bed and Breakfast Crepes

Bed and Breakfast French Toast

Bed and Breakfast Pancakes

Bed and Breakfast Waffles

Bed and Breakfast Desserts

I also have a board for cookbooks and for other books, including fiction related to bed and breakfasts and nonfiction about running bed and breakfasts.

B&B Cookbooks

Bed and Breakfast Books

Then I have few boards featuring bed and breakfast in the United States, bed and breakfasts in the world, and award-winning bed and breakfasts.

Bed and Breakfasts USA

Bed and Breakfasts World

B&B Award Winners

In case you are wondering why sometimes I spell out Bed and Breakfast and sometimes I shorten the name of the board to say “B&B”–it is so that the name of the whole board fits on the screen. Otherwise, if the name you give your board is too long, it will show a … after it to show that there are more letters, but not enough room. To me, it makes sense to name my boards short enough so that everyone can read its entire title.

I also name my boards with titles that are appropriate. For example, if it is a specific area of the house, I include that in the name of the board.

Bed and Breakfast Bathrooms

Bed and Breakfast Bedrooms

Bed and Breakfast Dining

Bed and Breakfast Kitchens

I also feature less thought of areas that can really look special in a bed and breakfast.

Bed and Breakfast Stairs

Bed and Breakfast Fireplaces

Bed and Breakfast Lights

B&B Stained Glass

Since so much of the visual appeal for a bed and breakfast comes from its outside, I put together the following boards:

Bed and Breakfast Entrances

Bed and Breakfast Porches

Bed and Breakfast Gazebos

Bed and Breakfast Gardening

There are some bed and breakfasts that specialize in an area. They could offer weddings, be located on a farm, have a spa, and/or a restaurant.

Bed and Breakfast Weddings

Bed and Breakfast Farms

Bed and Breakfast Spas

B&B Restaurants

Some bed and breakfasts are unique because they are located in a registered historic home or even located in a lovely castle!

B&B’s with History

Bed and Breakfast Castles

Because of what services I provide, I have a board for social media and one specifically for Pinterest.

B&B Social Media Success

Promote with Pinterest

Of course, I have not listed every board I have nor do you need to have the same boards as me. It is really deciding what you think visitors would like best about your bed and breakfast and featuring those in pins as well as pinning other B&B’s from non-competing parts of the country or those of your innkeeper friends and fellow association members.

Be sure to use the name of your bed and breakfast (or a shortened version of it) on your boards and in your pins as often as possible. This is key so when your pins get repinned they will know it was from your bed and breakfast.

What do guests say they like about your B&B? Start with that. You can also offer tips such as home organization, kitchen gadgets, decorating advice, etc. The sky is the limit. Whatever your strengths are as an innkeeper (ex: cooking, decorating, gardening, etc.) you can feature that in your pins.

You truly are free to make it what you want it to be! Once you get started, you may not realize how fast the time goes by! So starting pinning so you will be winning more business!

Posted in Blog and Social Media, Promotion

Pinterest Strategy

Posted on March 18, 2014 by kdement Leave a comment

While Pinterest is fun, it is important that businesses form a plan centered around the feedback they have received from other pinners.

Strategy:

Develop a strategy based on your analytics
Tailor your boards to the needs and interests of your followers (based on your Pinterest analytics)
Showcase your pins in an organized way that makes sense
Find out who is pinning what and why
Measure your impact and focus on boards performing the best
Create a variety of different boards that each target certain words
Cross-promote on other social media platforms (ex: Twitter, Facebook)
Include hash tags (#) in your board descriptions
Invite specific types of travelers into your bed and breakfast (ex: couples, business people, girlfriends, etc.)
Determine if you want to be pet-friendly, kid-friendly, or offer special events such as weddings or retreats
Look at how other B&B’s (with a large number of followers) use Pinterest

Pinterest can help virtually any business establish brand and get the word out. What you get out of Pinterest depends on what you put in it. In the process, guests will be able to peek into your personality, style, loves, and aspirations. Guests will feel like they know you before they arrive!

Posted in Blog and Social Media, Guests, Promotion

The Art of Pinning

Posted on March 14, 2014 by kdement Leave a comment

Pinterest is visual in nature so it works for visually oriented businesses like bed and breakfasts. People want to know what your inn looks like. Looking at your pins helps them to imagine themselves at your bed and breakfast.

Pictures:

Motivate them to plan a vacation to stay at your inn
Each picture is worth 1,000 words
Are more appealing and stronger than words
Pin only images with strong visual content
Brighter colors bring more joy
Feature just one idea or product in each pin
Use descriptive keywords you want to be known for
If you resize an image, make sure it is still clear and easy to see

Social media

Builds relationships with guests and potential guests
Raises the visibility of your bed and breakfast online
Gets you ranked higher on Google
Finds you business contacts like fellow innkeepers and associations

Remember:

Share your story of how you came to be bed and breakfast owners/innkeepers
Share information you are interested in and that your followers will find useful (such as travel tips)
Educate your audience on the advantages of staying at a bed and breakfast
Pin pictures of your bed and breakfast
Pin pictures of you amenities such as pool, garden, spa, etc.
Pin pictures of your community to give guests reasons to want to stay in your area

Etiquette or “Netiquette”:

If you were not the first to pin it, give credit to the original pinner.
Share and repin to show you are interested in other things outside your own B&B

Pinterest users become part of a larger community. When we promote other people’s pins they are more likely to follow us. That is one of my secrets to how I grew such a quick following on Pinterest. You can too!

Posted in Blog and Social Media, Guests, Promotion

Pinterest: Following Boards

Posted on March 7, 2014 by kdement Leave a comment

Not only can you start pinning pins from Pinterest, you can also start following other people’s boards. I am going to name the categories of boards and provide an example or two in parentheses of how this can apply to promoting your bed and breakfast.

As I write this, there are 7 featured boards:

Art (artwork of bed and breakfasts or people eating in bed)
Design (your website, your B&B stationery, your logo, etc.)
DIY and Crafts (guests with hobbies)
Food and Drink (pictures and recipes of what you make your guests)
Home Decor (for any room in your B&B)
Photography (breathtaking pictures that inspire)
Travel (you want them to travel to your area)

They also have the following categories:

Animals (pets and farm animals at your B&B)
Architecture (style of architecture of your B&B)
Cars and Motorcycles (that belong to you, your guests, or you want to have)
Celebrities (know of a celebrity that has stayed at a B&B? even cooler if it was at yours)
Education (feature local colleges and universities)
Film, Music, and Books (such as fiction books with B&B settings)
Gardening (pictures of your landscaping and those you admire)
Geek (such as avatars and comics and movies you like)
Hair and Beauty (does your B&B have a spa?)
Health and Fitness (feature your most healthy breakfasts)
History (is your B&B historical?)
Holidays and Events (if you decorate for the holidays, take pictures!)
Illustrations and Posters (anything that speaks to you and possibly your guests)
Kids (are you a kid friendly B&B?)
Men’s Fashion (if your B&B is in the mountains, feature hiking apparel)
Outdoors (pictures of local attractions)
Products (do you sell anything, like a cookbook or coffee mug?)
Quotes (positive quotes about life, success, and fun)
Science and Nature (pictures of the nature around your B&B)
Sports (what activities do people do when they visit you?)
Tattoos (of guests that visit if you ask their permission first)
Technology (do you offer free wi-fi access to your guests?)
Weddings (does your B&B perform wedding ceremonies?)
Women’s Fashion (if your B&B is in a warm place, feature summer outfits)

That is quite a list and it is sure to change as all social media changes, but that should give you some ideas on what you can pin about! Your only limit is your imagination!

Posted in Blog and Social Media, Guests, Promotion

Pinterest Settings

Posted on February 28, 2014 by kdement Leave a comment

A Pinterest Business Account has different settings. After your e-mail address and password, you have the opportunity to edit your Pinterest Business Profile anytime you want as you think of keywords you wish to be known for, offer new services, or desire to change your profile picture.

As for search privacy, I recommend that you say “no” so that your pins will show up when other people search for keywords relevant to your pins. You do want people to see your pins, right? After all, that is the point of marketing on Pinterest!

Beside “Personalization”, you can choose to let Pinterest show you pins based only on your activity on Pinterest or also based on your activity and others sites you have visited recently. I chose the later since it gives me more ideas based on what I have just been looking at online.

If you choose to get e-mail notifications, you can indicate yes or not to the following reasons why they could contact you when someone:

Pins your pin
Likes your pin
Follows you or one of your boards
Comments on your pin
Sends you a pin
From your other social networks joins Pinterest
Invites you to a group board
Price changes for a pin you add
Stuff you might like
Weekly inspiration
Feature announcements and updates
Invitations to give Pinterest feedback

You can also link Pinterest to the following social media and e-mail accounts:

Facebook
Twitter
Google Plus
Gmail
Yahoo mail

It all depends on how much feedback you want when people start pinning your pins and how connected you want your Pinterest account to be with other social media. Personally, I love getting e-mails that someone has pinned my pin or started following me or one of my boards! It helps me know what gets people’s attention. The next blog post we talk about how to do the fun part: pinning!

Posted in Blog and Social Media, Guests, Promotion

You Can Succeed With Pinterest!

Posted on February 21, 2014 by kdement Leave a comment

Biggest Social Media Companies Royalty Free Stock Photo

Did you know that Pinterest is a great way to attract guests to stay at your bed and breakfast? I am going to be writing a series of blog posts about my journey starting Pinterest.

Pinterest is a social media website that allows you to pin different pictures onto boards. You can use your own pins or pin other people’s pins. It sounds much more complicated than it really is.

Pinterest allows you to be very creative and this is a great marketing tool for your business! I would like to share some of my tips as well as discuss my Pinterest boards so you can see just how easy and fun it is for you to get started! The best part is that anyone can use Pinterest because it is FREE!

Posted in Blog and Social Media, Guests, Promotion

Vegetarian Bed and Breakfasts

Posted on February 15, 2014 by kdement Leave a comment

Do you have a vegetarian bed and breakfast? You may decide to cater your breakfasts to vegetarians only or offer vegetarian breakfasts to your vegetarian guests. A good rule of thumb is to ask for any dietary restrictions when you book your guests so there are no surprises in the morning!

Your breakfast menu could feature home cooked specialties prepared (with seasonally available) locally grown fruits and vegetables. Fresh fruit or fruit juice, home made bread such as rolls, muffins or scones. Guests can select either fresh brewed coffee or tea. You may include specialty omelets, pancakes, or even top your oatmeal with blueberries.

On your website, state that your wholesome vegetarian breakfasts sustain your guests all morning long. Promote your healthful vegetarian breakfasts in blog posts and on social media as well. Your B&B will attract vegetarians who are looking for a breakfast that complements their dietary lifestyle.

Posted in Blog and Social Media, Food, Guests, Promotion

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