Tag Archives: style

Everybody Writes by Ann Handley

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Everybody writes, but do you know how to “create ridiculously good content?”  This “Go-To Guide” offers practical tips that can be applied to owning and running bed and breakfast inns.

Author Ann Handley explains a 12-step “Writing GPS”:

  1. Goal: know what you are trying to achieve and why it matters to your readers. Is it to educate them about your local area?  Inform them about upcoming events?  Entice them to vacation at your B&B?
  2. Reframe: phrase the idea in a way that relates to your readers.  Can they relate to needing a break?  Are they seeking to improve a relationship?
  3. Seek out the data and examples: use credible sources that support your main points and/or discuss personal experiences.  Your sources could be about travel and leisure, health and fitness, or food and wine.  The personal experiences could be yours or a story (told with permission) of a couple renewing their vows, for example.
  4. Organize: know what structure best helps communicate your point.  The story about the couple could be put in interview format, for instance.
  5. Write to one person: your goal is for your readers to recognize and relate to the issues. If may help to speak as though you are writing to a dear friend about the benefits of a bed and breakfast stay.
  6. Produce the ugly first draft: you first just want to get your initial thoughts written down.  This may not be pretty, but the object is to start writing!  You can edit it later.  What compliments do you hear from your bed and breakfast guests?
  7. Walk away: put some distance between your first draft and your second draft.  Even if it is to get up and make breakfast for your current guests.  The point is to allow yourself some time to get away from what you are writing.
  8. Rewrite: shape it into something a reader wants to read.  You may think of some additional points or some more specific examples to illustrate your points.  Perhaps you live in a historical bed and breakfast and learned more about the people who lived here and/or the guests they entertained.
  9. Give it a great headline or title: make sure you deliver on what the title says.  If your title is “10 Ways to Have Fun In [insert your area here]” make sure that you list 10 Ways and that people really have fun doing those leisure activities.
  10. Have someone else edit it: for grammar, usage, style, and punctuation.  Spell check is not enough and even that will not correct every spelling error.
  11. One final look for readability: make sure it is alluring, easy to scan, maybe part of a list or have bullet points.  Can people easily find my main points or do they have to hunt for them?
  12. Publish: know what you want your readers to do next so you can give your call to action.  This could include following you on social media, subscribing to your blog, booking a room, etc.

Ann Handley says that the more you think about what you want to say, and plan for it, the easier it is to say.

  • Why am I creating this?  Your content has to matter to your target audience.
  • What is my objective?  Know what you want people to do as a result of reading your content.
  • What’s my point of view?  Always be focused on your readers perspective (have a customer-centric point of view).
  • How will this impact my readers?  Put your readers into the story.

Creative Approaches To Frame Your Writing (examples listed apply to B&B’s):

  1. Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Bed and Breakfast Etiquette
  2. Skeptic: Are Bed and Breakfasts Really Better Than Hotels?
  3. Explainer: The Bed and Breakfast Difference in Plain English
  4. Case study: How One Couple Renewed Their Relationship At a B&B
  5. Contrarian: Why Relaxation Is Underrated: The Key To More Productivity?
  6. How-to: How To Plan Your B&B Vacation
  7. Quick how-to: 3 Ways To Jump Start Your Vacation Plans
  8. How NOT to: 5 Ways to Compromise Your Relationships
  9. First person: My Personal Experience At Bed and Breakfasts
  10. Comparison: How B&B’s Measure Up To Hotels
  11. Questions and Answers: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
  12. Data:Are People Working Longer Hours? Yes, Says Survey
  13. Man on the Street: Experts Offer Opinions On B&B Stays
  14. Outrageous: Why No Breaks Can Actually Make You Sick
  15. Insider secrets: The One Thing You Need To Know About Bed and Breakfasts

Bed and breakfasts can write using the 12 Steps of Writing GPS and they have many different ways to creatively frame their writing to their readers.  The important thing is that consistent, quality content keeps you in the forefront of people’s minds when they go to book their next vacation!

Posted in Decorating, Marketing, Success

Pinterest Strategy

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Pinterest-strategy

While Pinterest is fun, it is important that businesses form a Pinterest strategy 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!

 

Image by Marcus Berg of Unique Angles Photography

Posted in Blog and Social Media, Guests, Promotion

Why Bed and Breakfasts are Better Than Hotels

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Staying at a bed and breakfast can be better than staying at a hotel. Your B&B could be located in a restored old home or even a mansion with antique furnishings.  Your gardens may be lush and offer comfortable seating, and your rooms range from cozy to luxurious. Staying in your B&B can be a really unique travel experience and not one to be missed. Here are the top 10 benefits you can emphasize to your bed and breakfast guests.

  1. Their bed and breakfast is included.  While this may seem obvious, it’s actually a wonderful amenity in terms of convenience and cost savings. B&B’s offer anything from a continental spread to a hot gourmet meal. As a special touch, you can even bring guests their breakfast in bed.
  2. You can give them the privacy and peace and quiet they desire.  As a B&B, you can be more exclusive with fewer guests. You often have guests looking for a place to spend a quiet weekend.
  3. They’ll get more personal service.  With fewer guests than a hotel, you can give your guests a much more personal experience. Wanting guests to return, you are invested in making sure you have a great stay.
  4. Your bed and breakfast may be located in a less traveled area.  Unlike hotels, your B&B could be located off the beaten path. This provides your guests with a great opportunity to see less traveled parts of your community that they would otherwise miss.
  5. It is the perfect romantic getaway.  In fact, B&B’s have become so popular for couples that you may cater to this romantic angle, offering special romantic packages. These may include events planned ahead or excursions that are included in their stay.
  6. Your bed and breakfast is more secure.  At a B&B, there are fewer people coming and going. With less going on, as a B&B owner, you can keep a much better eye on their property than a typical hotel staff can on a hotel.
  7. Your guests can get a taste of the local culture and style.  Your B&B has its own character. Even better, you have lots of advice for your guests concerning the best things to do and see in the local area.
  8. You can offer extra activities.  You may be one of the many B&B’s that offer additional recreational activities in your regular packages. Depending on the location, your guests may be able to enjoy biking, hiking, canoeing, golfing, or skiing.
  9. Your guests will encounter unexpected luxuries.  B&B’s tend to offer all those extra special touches that can make your guests’ stay pampering and luxurious. Luxury bed linens and bathrobes, organic food, and locally roasted coffee are only some of the many perks that you may offer. You may even stock snacks and drinks in the common areas and rooms in case your guests get hungry.
  10. You provide a great value.  Although B&B rooms tend to be priced higher than hotels, usually your place offers a better value overall than hotel rooms. More amenities are included such as free phone calls and Internet, you get much better service, and the experience tends to be much more unique than an average hotel stay.

So, as the bed and breakfast owner, be sure to emphasize (on your website, blog, and your other marketing) the unique benefits that guests will receive when they stay at your bed and breakfast and why staying with you will give them a better experience than if they were to go to a local hotel.  You can focus on how your B&B gives that extra special personal touch.

 

Image by Marcus Berg of Unique Angles Photography

Posted in Amenities, Food

10 B&B Bedroom Names

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Bed and Breakfasts traditionally name each bedroom available to guests. This allows B&B owners, as well as their guests, to be able to distinguish between the rooms.  The B&B bedroom names can be based on any number of reasons.  Here are 10 ways B&B bedrooms names come about:

  • Activity (such as a hobby or a sport like photography or football)
  • Amenity (like a private hot tub or their own personal fireplace in the room)
  • Color in the room (like red or lavender walls or bedding)
  • Country or culture the room represents (such as China or Mexico)
  • Famous people (including famous writers and leaders like Hemingway and Lincoln)
  • History (named after the original residents or names associated with the time period in which it was built)
  • Location (such as on the beach or in a castle)
  • Occasion (such as the Honeymoon Suite or Anniversary Room)
  • Style the room is decorated in (such as Victorian or French Country)
  • Theme (including a particular animal or season)

As bed and breakfast owners, you can have fun with what you name your rooms. Be creative and come up with names of rooms that people would like to say they stayed in. Sometimes B&B owners have signs by the doors to let guests know they have come to the right room.

Naming the rooms in your house gives your bed and breakfast character and distinguishes it from other B&B’s. This also allows your guests to recommend the particular room they stayed in by name to other people.

 

Image by Marcus Berg of Unique Angles Photography

Posted in Decorating, Guests

Why You Need to Use Pinterest

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Pinterest may be the perfect tool for letting potential guests know about your bed and breakfast.  Ben Silbermann, Evan Sharp, and Paul Sciarra co-founded this website in March 2010. Millions of people use the website to pick up new hobbies, find their style, and plan life’s important projects.

Pinterest has pins that are like handsome little bookmarks. Whenever you find something on the web that you want to keep, add it to Pinterest. Your newly minted Pin will be here whenever you need it, and will always link back to the site it came from.

Boards are where you organize your Pins, and you get to decide what your boards will be all about. This is a great way for bed and breakfast owners to get ideas about cooking, decorating, gardening, hospitality, and more! Plus this is your chance to post pictures of your bed and breakfast, including:

  • The outside of your B&B
  • Your rooms and bathrooms
  • Your delicious breakfasts and recipes
  • Your garden, pool, hot tub, or any other amenity
  • Events such as weddings and music performances
  • Your library of books, DVD collection, etc.

Really the sky is the limit as far as how many pins you want to post. The point is that potential guests will see your bed and breakfast and click to find out more about you from your website.

This is a huge and free marketing opportunity!  All it costs is the time it takes to share the pictures (your own and the millions of other pictures already on the Pinterest website)! Be sure to check out Bed and Breakfast Blogging’s very own Pinterest website!

 

Image by Marcus Berg of Unique Angles Photography

Posted in Blog and Social Media

Creative and Fun Decorating Ideas

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You want your bed and breakfast to stand out to your guests and make a great impression.  The following is a list of decorating tips:

  • Keep in mind the geographical location of your bed and breakfast when you choose your color theme.  So if it is near water, you can use a them based on light brown sand, pink seashells and corals, ocean blues, and sunny yellows.  If you are in the mountains or a forested area, you can use colors found in the woods, such as deep greens and cranberry reds.
  • There are many different approaches to decorating your inns’ bedrooms.  For a traditional bed-and-breakfast look, use Victorian-style furniture.  For a cottage-style B&B, put handmade quilts on the bed with matching shams.
  • In order for your decor to flow, keep a consistent period or style decor throughout, varying in color themes only from room to room.
  •  Put natural-finish or painted wicker chairs near the bedroom windows.  Put floral fabric cushions in the chairs and add a matching ottoman.  If your B&B has wicker furniture, it is best to use the same style of wicker seating in the main living area as on the front porch.
  •  Decorate the main living area according to its size.  For an extra large living room, arrange several small groups of chairs.  For a smaller room, place a large couch in front of a fireplace, with a chair on each side.  For a relaxed cottage-style look, put loose-fitting canvas slipcovers on the furniture.
  • Accessorize with wall art that reflects nature in the area or local artists and artisans. Fill a large empty vase with rocks or shells that you or your guests have collected from the beach, woods or a neighboring lake.  Place skis on the wall like shown in the above picture for artistic flair.

You can get even more helpful ideas for home decorating from Better Homes and Gardens and at Pinterest.

 

Image by Marcus Berg of Unique Angles Photography

Posted in Decorating

AAA Diamond Rating

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AAA-Diamond-ratings

Today, AAA Membership has grown to over 53 million, with more than 1,000 offices and 38,000 employees throughout the United States and Canada.  To get your Bed and Breakfast evaluated by AAA, click on this Application for AAA Lodging Evaluation.

 

What the Diamond Ratings Mean:

One Diamond

These establishments typically appeal to the budget-minded traveler. They provide essential, no-frills accommodations. They meet the basic requirements pertaining to comfort, cleanliness, and hospitality.

Two Diamond

These establishments appeal to the traveler seeking more than the basic accommodations. There are modest enhancements to the overall physical attributes, design elements, and amenities of the facility–typically at a moderate price.

Three Diamond

These establishments appeal to the traveler with comprehensive needs. Properties are multifaceted with a distinguished style, including marked upgrades in the quality of physical attributes, amenities, and level of comfort provided.

Four Diamond

These establishments are upscale in all areas. Accommodations are progressively more refined and stylish. The physical attributes reflect an obvious enhanced level of quality throughout. The fundamental hallmarks at this level include an extensive array of amenities combined with a high degree of hospitality, service, and attention to detail.

Five Diamond

These establishments reflect the characteristics of the ultimate in luxury and sophistication.  Accommodations are first class. The physical attributes are extraordinary in every manner. The fundamental hallmarks at this level are to meticulously serve and exceed all guest expectations while maintaining an impeccable standard of excellence. Many personalized services and amenities enhance an unmatched level of comfort.

Importance

Being able to say that you have been rated by AAA and indicating how many diamonds are in your rating lets people know what to expect from their stay at your Bed and Breakfast.  It is truly an honor (not to mention very hard work) to achieve a five diamond ranking.

Posted in Associations and Ratings