Principles of Marketing Your Bed and Breakfast, Guest House or Inn Using The Internet
Hello I’m Yvonne Halling of www.bedandbreakfastcoach.com and in this four part video series I’m going to talk you about how to use the internet to bring you more guests, more fun
and more money. So if you’ve been frustrated and overwhelmed by so much conflicting advice
out there on how to really use the internet for your benefit, then this series of 4 videos
will help you. There are 4 basic principles of using the
internet to bring you more guests, and they are:
#1 Build a list #2 Nurture and care for that list
#3 Provide regular content for that list #4 Make offers to that list
In this part 1 of this video, I’m going to show you how and why you need to build a list of guests
and potential guests, because without this first step in place, the other 3 just won’t work. This just isn’t any list, this is a list
of names and email addresses that you have control over, and can communicate with on
a regular basis.
So let’s start at the beginning. Why do you need to build a list? There’s a reason why the big online travel
agents like booking dot com and Airbnb don’t share guests email addresses with you because
they want to keep them for themselves. They’re building their own list, and right
now, that list is so big they can do anything they want with it. They can send emails to that list offering
anything they like, even other peoples’ products and services like insurance, car
hire, rooms at other B&Bs in different parts of the world, or even in your town because
having a list like that is pretty much a licence to print money.
Every time they send out an offer to that
list, a percentage of the list buys and they make money. Can you see why you need to build a list too? It doesn’t need to be as big as the online
travel agents’ lists but you do need your own list, and the good news is you probably
already have a list of guests, but you’re not controlling it. We’ll come to that part later, but today
I’m going to show you how to start building a list of potential guests, meaning the people
you’d love to welcome who haven’t yet made the decision to book with you. Step #1 is to know who you want to attract
and why. The internet is a big place with lots of noise
and if you’re trying to attract the attention of anybody and everybody, it’s going to
be a lot more difficult than if you can just narrow it down to just a particular type of person,
who likes a particular topic or two, that you also know about, and who also is potentially
likely to visit your area.
Then you’ll be able to track them down much
more easily. So let’s take an example. If you want to attract people who like crafting
or quilting, you’ll be able to find them hanging out together in groups on Facebook. There are around 600 million groups on Facebook,
all dedicated to their own particular topics, so do you think you can find a couple that
relate to you? I think you can. Step #2
Now that you’ve identified who you want to most welcome and you’ve found out where
they hang out online, you can request to join the relevant groups and find out what
they’re talking about. Taking the example of the crafters or quilters,
you could ask them if they ever go on crafting or quilting retreats, and if so, where do
they like to go. Ask lots of questions to learn about them. You’re just gathering valuable intelligence right now. Step #3
Once you’ve gathered the information, make a list of the questions, challenges or topics
they’ve raised and you can now turn their questions or challenges into content which
will help them choose retreats, destinations and even you as their next retreat venue.
So open a Word Document and list around 7
– 10 questions or challenges they’ve raised in your specific groups and which you can
answer, then answer them with around 200 – 300 words. Add a picture for each topic if you can, then
pop your branding which is something similar to your website banner to the top of each
page. Add a photo and short bio about you and finally
your website contact details and you’ve created what is known in internet marketing
language as a "Lead Magnet”. Congratulations! Now let’s put it to work for you so you
can build a list of potential guests. Step #4
You’ll need to sign up with what is known as a “list manager” such as Aweber, MailChimp
or Constant Contact, and create a little sign up form on your website, where those who are
interested can leave their name and email address in exchange for your new lead magnet.
Now you’re on your way to building a list
– the first basic principle of using the internet to market and grow your business. Stay tuned now for Part 2 of this series. If you’ve liked this video, then hit the
subscribe button below, to be the first to be notified when I post the next one, and if you’re
curious to know how other B&Bs, guest houses and inns just like you have put these basic internet marketing
principles in place to add at least 25% to their income without working
any more and having more fun, then click on the link below to register for my next Masterclass.
Click on the link and I’ll see you there..
