Issue #7, November 2011

Hello again Lovely Innkeepers!

My apologies for the delay in getting this out this month. CT got hit with a several storm this past week and we lost power for a few days!

I just returned last week from the Michigan Lake 2 Lake Bed and Breakfast Asoociation Annual conference, where I had the pleasure of meeting some lovely innkeepers and getting to meet some people that I have only ever chatted with on twitter or on my blog comments. It's so wonderful to be able to put faces to names! And I want to thank Linda Singer, Sandy White and Cathy Russell for all their help and their team of volunteers! A truly well organized conference and a pleasure to be a part of it. Check out the conference recap here:

Reminder to past and new readers:Please try to address the action items (a note will be next to items  in this newsletter marked in red) because they are potentially IMPORTANT! saying (action item) Recommended at least to skim as some have points to ponder and some have actionable things to take advantage of.

Recent Blog Posts From our Blog that may be of interest to innkeepers:

Some food styling tips for Bed and Breakfasts

Good News for Facebook Fan Page Owners

Bed and Breakfasts, Engaging with Journalists on Twitter  (action item)

Helpful Free Applications and or Notes

Print Friendly- turn any webpage into a PDF

Teach Parents Tech  (action item to check out as very useful)
The folks at Google put this together to help their parents, but I have found the tutorials are great for any age!

WorkFlowy - Organize your brain.
A free way to organize your todo list online

Free classifieds
(similar to Craiglist without most of the spam) post your ads or rooms online

Forfeng's Favorite Posts of the Past Month

Sometimes, A Simple (Social Media) Reply Is All It Takes

Why You Can’t Separate Social Media and SEO
http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/separation-social-media-seo.html

10 reasons businesses don’t get social media
(They say, “Our customers are over 40, so they aren’t on Facebook or Twitter.”)

The Perfect Social Media Cake
Firstly Reddit the Recipe.
Propeller yourself to your store cupboard.
Stumbleupon your ingredients.
Plug in your oven and Flickr it on to 180C/350F.
You require
170g Facebook Page
140g Tweetdeck or Twitter
110g Wordpress
1 Very good quality Website or Two Blogs if the website is being updated.
1Teaspoon of Bookmarking Demon
Grate some IM Automator into the mixture
60mls of Google
Topping
3 tablespoons of Technorati
1 large dollop of Foursquare or Myspace
Method
Mix all your ingredients at high speed with your Spurl or Digg Machine, and pour into a lined Bookmark Tin and bake for 45 minutes. Whilst cooking the cake make the topping. Dissolve 3 tablespoons of Technorati with a large dollop of Foursquare. To test the cake as to whether it is cooked use an SEO or Google Analytic Tool whatever is to hand. If cooked, well risen and successful Linkin the cake with the topping.
Et Voila Del.icio.us! Enjoy.
~~Used with permission: Copyright Manorbier Bed and Breakfast, kbawelon.

Misc Business and Social Media

How to stop Facebook, Google+, and Twitter from tracking you

Pros and Cons of Deal Sites

How to Choose a Reputable SEO Company  (action item to read)

Blogging

65 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog

2 sites you can subscribe to (free) that will email you ideas for blog posts, not all will be applicable to B&Bs, but some interesting ideas.
Welcome to the Daily Post  http://dailypost.wordpress.com/

Facebook

5 Simple Steps to Prepare Your Facebook Fan Page for the Unexpected

21 Resources for Effective Facebook Fan Pages

How to Combine QR Codes With the Power of Facebook | Social Media Examiner

Google Plus Tab for Facebook Fan Pages

LinkedIn

LinkedIn Status Updates for Companies

5 Ways to Get More LinkedIn Company Followers

Google+ and Google Places (or all things Google)

Introducing a new support feature for Google Places for business

If I Had 1 Hour to Get Visible in Google Places  (action item to do)

Google Places Alert: Another Ugly Bug That Could Nuke Your Listing

40+ Travel Bloggers you really should add to your Google+ Circles

Google Sites - Mobile Templates (free mobile sites)

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A bit about my friend Iain's company who runs an interesting site called Room Swap
Everywhere we look people are telling us to tighten our belts. We have to hold back from splurging on the luxuries we can no longer take for granted. The new car, the holiday all now seem a bit indulgent. It is something that all consumers have had to deal with and adapt to.
But that also means the businesses who supplied all these luxuries to us have now been left with a giant hole to fill. For owners of small, independently owned hotels and guesthouses the last few years have been spent trying to come up with ways to keep their occupancy levels high. `Pay for 2 nights and get an extra night free', `includes free dinner', `complementary bottle of wine', `money off next visit vouchers', the list goes on.
A new concept that has risen up and is rapidly becoming very popular for these establishments is swapping rooms. Room Swap started in May 2010 and already has nearly 500 members in 63 countries! OK, so how does this work?
You pay your annual subscription fee of £10 and a detailed listing of your property is added to the site. This includes all contact details, a direct web-link and direct email contact, a fully detailed description of your property, images and a Google map. You are allocated login details and then it is over to you.
Most owners use their membership for staff rewards, Monachyle Mhor in the Trossachs, placecountry-regionScotland have been using their membership for their staff since joining. Owner Tom Lewis has credited the service as having delivered the "ultimate staff reward scheme".
Others have used their membership for themselves, some having traveled as far as country-regionIndia from the country-regionUK and country-regionFrance from the placecountry-regionUSA!
Members include beach huts in country-regionSri Lanka, apartments in CityManhattan, castles in country-regionEngland and B&B's in placecountry-regionFrance. There is self catered accommodation for members with families who may not be able to get a swap for 2 rooms.
Owners now have the opportunity to get some value from their empty rooms, although the housekeeping still has to be done, the `swappers' are in the bar or restaurant and using other facilities.
This is a fast growing community that offers something new. The opportunity of a holiday for those involved in hospitality is rare. Now there is a way of realizing this and it benefiting the business at the same time.  http://www.room-swap.com
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Forfeng Designs
Heather Turner ~ Chief Log Roller
Hospitality Consulting and Design
Graphic Design, Logos, Commercial Photography
Social Media Setups, design, customization, marketing plans and tutoring.

860-326-0721
P.O. Box 222, Rocky Hill, CT 06067