The Innkeeper's Resource

The B&B Team's Blog Has Moved!

2010-09-10T08:43:45-04:00

After a long year of fits and starts, and a two month hiatus from blogging while our new site was completed, we are back in the saddle with our blog posts, but not here! In fact, this site will come down in a couple of months, so please visit our NEW WEBSITE at the old address, www.bbteam.com, where our blog (including all the archives from here) now resides. And remember to change your RSS feeds to the new site.

We are confident that you'll like what we're doing at the new site and invite you to join us as soon as possible.

Vintage Ohio

2010-07-22T11:43:25-04:00

From a quaint New England village to an island paradise in Hawaii, all of the inns in the small lodging industry have great locations to share with guests. Some locations are well known to the world, while others are unique and extraordinary but have less world wide appeal.

One destination that fits this definition has been described as follows; “…rolling vineyards, sparkling lakes, quaint country sides, unique gift shops, picnics in the sunshine, festivals, tours”. You may think this is a narrative describing Lake Como, Italy or California’s Napa Valley. No, these words are from a travel promo from the Ohio Wine Producers Association. And yes, on the southern shores of Lake Erie there is an area that came to be known as the “Lake Erie Grape Belt” which can be traced back to 1820 when a domestic variety of grapes called Catawba was first planted. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow even wrote a poem titled “Ode to Catawba Wine”. In fact due to this poem, by 1860 Ohio supplied 1/3 of the nations wine and out produced California 2 to 1. What great PR. It may have taken a bit longer to get the word out (decades before our tech driven social media craze) but it did the trick!

Time passes and the southern Ohio wine district hits hard times. The Civil War creates a shortage of manpower to tend the vines and by the time Prohibition laws are passed (time to make the grape juice), the few wineries left struggle. A new era emerges in the 1900’s and Geneva-on-the-Lake, known as ‘Ohio’s First Summer Resort’ becomes a fashionable destination with the likes of Rockefellers, Fords and Firestones. Today it remains as a fun summer resort getaway destination for all.

The wineries in this location produce excellent cool weather wines, such as Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Pinot Gris as well as award winning ice wines. But you will find a much wider selection of wines to sample along the wine trails with twenty wineries in Northeast Ohio. You may already know or could surmise from the description of this destination location that there are bed and breakfasts and country inns that have grown up and thrived along with the vines.

The Lakehouse Inn and Winery, located on the shores of Lake Erie on the west end of Geneva -on-the-Lake, not only provides fine lodging but has its own winery. Their spectacular shoreline scenery is the perfect spot to dine and experience local wines and then retire to your guest room, climb into bed and listen to the lapping of lake waters on their sand beach. I’m in, when is the next flight to Cleveland? They are a great example of a property that has taken full advantage of their location.

There is a quote that I like from a brand marketer Tom Traynor; “Every place has some distinction, some reason to live there, work there, VACATION there, rather than someplace else.” We at The B&B Team work with inns in great locations, from sea to shining sea. It is a great pleasure when we work with innkeepers that love where they live and develop their properties into places where guests can experience all their location has to offer. Travelers love to experience and discover new places, as well as return to familiar ones. That is what travel is all about.

Have you taken full advantage of your location, its history, its uniqueness, and its distinct pleasures?

Would love to hear from you.

Janet

Please Just Touch and Go ... and an Innkeeper Request

2010-07-16T10:56:22-04:00

In my consulting and real estate travels around the Mid-Atlantic region, I often pass by Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Four times this week. I am often amazed by the size of the C-5A transports coming in and out of the base and look forward to driving right under the approach as the monster planes either take off or land. The roar is awe-striking as the big shadow crosses the highway I'm on.

And then my thoughts ALWAYS turn to a short prayer. I pray that each landing I see is followed by the roar of the engines and the behemoth plane taking right back off again. It's called a touch and go...training for take-offs and landings. The reason for my prayer, you see, is that Dover AFB is where many of the cargo and personnel aircraft originate on their way to Baghdad or Kabul. And, as the graves registration center on the East Coast, it is the destination of many young men and women returning to the States for the last time...on their way home to their families for the last time.

My prayer is for each plane to be a training mission and not a part of the heart-wrenching experience it must be for a family to come to grips with the loss of a son, or daughter, or dad, or mom. "Please, Lord, let it just be a touch and go."

What does this have to do with innkeeping? Probably nothing directly...it's more of a therapeutic outlet for me, my thoughts of my fellow West Pointers, my newer role as a Poppie, and, probably less seldom seen, the softer side of an old codger.

But I would like to make this offering to any innkeeper who feels similarly. And I know the people in this hospitality and care-giving industry are GREAT at such feelings. I am asking that innkeepers support our troops and their families. If you offer:

Military discounts
Comp rooms for military families...as a surprise gift, not necessarily a published rack rate
Other benefits, recognition, or gifts of value to military families

please let me know and I will list your name and inn, with link, and the benefit you provide, along with my heartfelt thanks, in my upcoming newsletters and blog postings. We are a great industry of professionals who understand the impact an innkeeper can have on a guest...and with the ability to send an appreciative gift to those who deserve our thanksgiving. Scott

Technology for Inns ... Tips for Making the Innkeeping Lifestyle a Bit Easier

2010-07-13T12:52:03-04:00

I received a short message from Mary and Alan Duxbury at The Carlisle Housein Carlisle, PA., and Alan offers TEN time and effort-saving tips for innkeepers. Mary makes the best quiche in the world and I opted for a picture of the quiche instead of Alan (sorry, Alan!) Many of Alan's tips involve technology and how its use can be a time-saving and headache-solving alternative for some of the daily frustrations of running an inn. Thank you, Alan...here's your list:

TECHNOLOGY TIP: A web-based Property Management System allows you to enter reservations from anywhere you have internet access.

OPERATIONS TIP: Alan recommends using a credit card machine instead of an internet credit card processing service if your inn is subject to frequent power outages. Phone lines continue to work in outages and you will still be able to do business.

TECHNOLOGY TIP: An iPhone or iPad-type device will give you that internet access capability. You can take reservations from the grocery store or while away from the inn without worrying about losing a booking by not getting back to your voicemail or answering machine soon enough.

TECHNOLOGY TIP: Google Calendar allows you to manage your daily schedule and appointments. If you keep your calendar on Outlook, Google Calendar can be synced with your Outlook calendar.

SECURITY (AND TECHNOLOGY) TIP: Set your wireless network to log all MAC codes and connection times of every device that connects to your service from your account. This will identify all users on your system and will protect you if any of your users are doing illegal activity on your network (such as downloading pornography or spamming).

TIME-SAVING (AND TECHNOLOGY) TIP: If you use company credit cards and banks (and we all do!), set it up to have them download their monthly statements directly into your financial software package. Saves a LOT of typing! (Call Alan on how to do that...not me!)

MARKETING TIP: If you want to get to the top of Google search results, when selecting important keywords, ask a friend with a similar inn that is distant from you for ideas. Local competition may not be as friendly sharing their secrets.

TECHNOLOGY TIP: On your wireless network, ensure it is secured with a password or phrase. You can inform your guests of the password but it also prevents the neighbors from downloading movies on your network and slowing your network to a crawl.

TIME-SAVING TIP: If you make a cash deposit to your bank, write the name and reservation number on the deposit slip. you will be able to query it on the internet a year later when your accountant asks where the money came from.

MONEY-MANAGEMENT TIP: Alan recommends having THREE bank accounts. One is your personal account for all non-business transactions. The second is for all deposits from sales...whether credit card deposits, cash deposits, gift shop sales, everything. This is an INTEREST-BEARING account. The third account is for expenditures. Transfer money from the revenue account into the expenditure account on occasion to pay the bills. This leaves the balance of the revenue earning interest. A side-benefit of having these two business accounts is that you will have all deposits and all expenses on SEPARATE statements at the end of the month for easy reconciling.

Thank you, Alan. I would be interested in other innkeepers' thoughts on any of Alan's ideas and feel free to send me YOUR tips for making the innkeeping lifestyle and business even more wonderful and manageable. Scott

Track Hospitality Trends

2010-07-05T11:47:31-04:00

Whatever business you are in, if you’re self employed there are two stages of work. We work “in” our business, and we work “on” it. There’s a big difference.

Most of us believe we are pretty good at what we do. We provide good service, good follow up, and a good customer (guest) experience. And sometimes it’s all we can do to keep up with all the things that have to get done today. The routine is essential to running the business, but the routine can also be a distraction from the big picture. So unless we are going to become slaves to our businesses, and unless we’re going to become victims of changing tastes, a tough economy, or things that are different (when did that happen?) we simply MUST make/take/schedule time to work on the higher level jobs that help a business thrive, not just survive, by going outside our daily bubble and seeing what is happening in the world that relates to our business.

Staying abreast of trends in hospitality is essential to staying on the leading edge, being relevant, knowing what consumers want and expect, and how we might deliver on or satisfy that expectation. How do you stay abreast of trends in hospitality? As we at The B&B Team® do, you can subscribe to newsletters that have relevant information and learn how to pick and choose what to read on any given day. To make life a little easier for you, here’s a partial list of some of the places where we get information and, on occasion, inspiration.

1. www.hotelmarketing.com. A daily summary of hospitality-related articles with good headlines and synopses. You can go to the source story when you want. If you only subscribe to and look at one, this should be it.

2. www.marketingprofs.com Marketing is an area that lots of innkeepers struggle with. Sign up for their “Get to the Po!nt” newsletter. It comes daily, is short and sweet, and is loaded with great ideas. One of the few that I try to read every day.

3. www.brasstackthinking.com Amber Naslund is young, bright, and a great thinker. This blog is a good source for philosophical as well as practical approaches to conducting business in a social media world. If you want to understand what “it’s all about,” this is the place to go.

4. www.ypartnership.com Premier research. Go to “News” then “Market Intelligence” and sign up for the free monthly update. Be the first to read what everyone else quotes!

5. www.socialmediaexaminer.com Some great articles about using facebook, Twitter, and other social media tools in practical, down to earth style. No mumbo-jumbo. You can do this!

6. www.mediapost.com This is a source for all things media and marketing. Way too much to take it all in. Go to “Publications” and browse a bit. There are LOTS of areas, and you can subscribe to any of them. Try a few and drop them if they don’t work for you. Go outside the box here, and think like a marketing professional. How can other’s experiences help your inn? I like the Behavioral Insider and the Social Media Marketing Daily.

7. www.htrends.com is a great place for a range of news topics from different sources including Smith Travel Research, HSMAI, Cornell, and others. A daily aggregation of news that you can pick and choose.

8. www.innkeeping.org Yes, by belonging to PAII, the Professional Association of Innkeepers International, you’ll receive the weekly PAIIinnfo newsletter, which is an aggregation of Innkeeping and hospitality related articles, many drawn from the above sources. If you do nothing else, skim this for what’s relevant. It’s part of your membership dues and will keep you at least aware of some relevant topics.

“But how am I ever supposed to look at, much less read, all this info when I have guests to take care of that are more important?” First, understanding trends in the travel industry is the difference between good and great innkeepers, those that flame out and those that keep reinventing themselves and enjoying success. Second, don’t stress about it; you can’t possibly read all this stuff. We can’t either, but we can and do look briefly, and, frankly, if it’s a busy day, I use the delete key a lot and without hesitation. There will be something more tomorrow. Do NOT let these pile up! But please take five or ten minutes to skim and read even one article a day, and you’ll be amazed at how much you’ll start to absorb, the tips that you’ll be able integrate into your business plan. If you really can’t do it today, just delete. It’s not the end of the world. But to ignore trends altogether because “you are too busy” all the time (who isn’t?) is to spend too much time working “in” your business and neglecting to work “on” your business.

What great sources do you look at regularly and find inspiration in?

Peter

Mystery of Mattresses Uncovered

2010-06-28T08:00:00-04:00

As an innkeeper and homemaker I have always been baffled by the mattress industry. Did you ever have a mattress salesperson give you a straight answer? The more you shopped, the more confused you got.

Recently Rick and I ventured out to buy a new mattress. Just by chance we stopped in at America’s Mattress in Scarborough, Maine which just happened to be next door to a golf shop, (guess where we shopped first)? We were greeted by a salesman who turned out to be the answer to my mattress shopping dreams. He was smart and boy did he know his business. He had great questions which helped us narrow down our choices to three mattresses and we were able to make a choice and purchase within 30 minutes. Hallelujah!

Because I was so impressed with our salesman, Ed Walters, I decided to give him a call and interview him for this blog posting. I thought if he could be helpful to individuals choosing a mattress than he would most likely have some good advice for innkeepers when purchasing mattresses for the wide variety of body types that seek that ‘heavenly, blissful and perfect sleep’ in your inns.

Question: “What is the main ingredient innkeepers should look for in purchasing a mattress?”

“Support is # 1 and comfort level is # 2. The mattress should be a combination of the two. Innkeepers need to satisfy a host of different people and personal preferences. A very firm or a very soft, cushier feel may not be the way to go. A medium firm spring (support) and a medium compression topper (comfort level) is a good way to go.”

Question: “The longevity of mattresses seems to vary widely. How long should a mattress last?”

“A good quality mattress should last from 8 to 10 years, an entry level mattress will only last 4 to 8. All mattress manufacturers give you a warranty. For example a good ‘rule of thumb’ is a mattress that offers a 20 Year Warranty will last at least 10 years.”

Question: “So what you are saying is pretty basic, the more expensive, or higher level mattress the longer it will last?”

“Not more expensive necessarily, but yes, a good quality mattress built with quality materials.”

Question: “This leads into my next question. Innkeepers are generally shopping with a budget in mind while looking for good value but not skimping on quality. What do you recommend for innkeepers?”

“I have good long time relationships with my hospitality customers. When we have sales or when we need to clear out our floor samples, I will call these customers and work with them and their budgets.”

"This sounds like a win, win situation. You clear out your floor samples and the innkeepers get good deals. Just like innkeepers need to build personal relationships with their guests, you are building relationships with your loyal customers with your personalized service.”

“Sounds good to me!”

Question: “In the May 2010 Consumer Report magazine, a ‘sleep specialist’ says you might want to avoid memory-foam mattresses if you sleep ‘hot’, that is tend to be warm in bed. What is your opinion on that statement?”

“That is a broad statement. Memory Foam is a ‘closed cell foam design’ which restricts air flow and can be very warm. Latex is an ‘open cell design’ which can be temperature regulating and can offer better ventilation. A firm coil spring mattress with a natural foam latex topper is a good combination. Also, nothing lives in latex (like germs, bacteria, etc.) and latex doesn’t pack down as quickly as fabric.”

I had many more questions for Ed, but decided to keep this blog posting short and not too complicated (like mattress shopping!). What I got from his statements is that the main ingredients to consider when purchasing a mattress is support, comfort and durability, all three of equal importance. Also, looking for a good quality medium firm and medium compression topper is a smart choice for the many body types that seek a comfortable sleep in your inn’s beds. And don’t skimp on the quality, you don’t want to have to replace your mattresses every 4 years! But a very important ingredient in our viewpoint at The B&B Team is finding a person like Ed who gives great customer service and a company you can trust and feel comfortable working with. This is something we at The B&B Team also strive for. Time is a most precious commodity with innkeepers and having the service that Ed provides for his hospitality customers is priceless and timeless.

Thanks Ed!

Do you all know what fairytale the picture depicts?

Janet

A Good Table

2010-06-17T09:05:38-04:00

After Peter's recent posting about the simple joys of sitting on the porch and the numerous comments it elicited, I thought I would share a brief 'reading' with you...one I wished I had written, but will be pleased to share with you instead.

A couple of weeks ago, Jan and I went to the wedding of Kate Lindblom, the daughter of Innkeepers Sarah and Erik Lindblom of The Captain Jefferds Inn in Kennebunkport. It was a beautiful day for the wedding, Kate was a lovely Bride and Sam the handsome Groom, and it was so nice to spend the afternoon with friends and colleagues in a wonderfully non-business environment. There was an abundance of food and wine after the ceremony and we were all enjoying an early summer afternoon in Maine. There were toasts from the best man, the maid of honor, and another from Kate and Sam's friend, Finn MacDonald.

Finn is one of the Owner/Innkeepers at our old inn, the Captain Fairfield Inn. Finn's toast brought a thoughtful hush over the crowd with its simple elegance and heartfelt meanings. With Finn's permission, I would like to share it with you now...and share a photo of us with family at our Good Table when we were Innkeepers.

"A Good Table"

Beginning tonight, let there always be a good table for you both to gather around.

Let it host friends and family.

Let it present birthday cakes, Thanksgiving Turkey, everyday meals, leftovers, your new best efforts and your burnt best efforts.

Let milk spill. Let fists pound. Let hands unite in prayer. Let the wax of candles drip. Let the rings of beer bottles multiply. Let the day's trivial gossip and life's great questions speak freely. Let others bore you to tears.

Let the sturdy legs and a strong surface absorb frustration, pain, uncertainty, and fear. Let it be the stage to let it all out on...then, let it be the foundation to build from.

Let date nights, late nights, anniversaries, picnics, pizza, salad bowls, super bowls, chowda, chili, ice cream and cake bring you together. Let your focus, for just a moment, be on the person next to you or across from you. Let the rest of life wait until you're finished.

Let this table take some responsibility off of your love for each other. Let there always be a good table in your life.

No matter what distance or disturbance may exist in your life, let the table be a bridge or a barrier. Let it be a functional bond.

Let that Good Table bring you both together.

Thanks Finn for allowing me to share your words. My wish to you all is that as you charge through your busy days as Innkeepers, taking care of your guests and your business, that you allow time into your day to take care of yourselves and to enjoy the 'Good Table' in your life.

Rick

Do You Know What the B&B Industry's Competition is Doing?

2010-06-11T10:25:53-04:00

On a flight to visit an inn this past week, I was reading an article in the USA Today (June 1) containing some interesting information about the big guys...the hotels...with information that also applies to the B and B industry. In his article "Hotels try to woo leisure travelers" Roger Yu relates some concepts of the changing travel marketplace and the evolution of the hotels (and WE should listen too!) to meet the change challenge.

First a few facts: According to D.K. Shifflet & Associates, a travel and research consulting firm:

Leisure travel surpassed business travel for the hotel industry in 2004
That gap has widened and by 2009, 54% of hotel travel volume is now leisure travel.
Corporate travel has been slowly declining, and "it's not going back" according to Shifflet.
The Gen X (late 20's to early 40's) travelers are replacing the Baby Boomers and are traveling with their young families.

The hotels are watching the changing demographics and evolving to meet the new market. To entice the leisure traveler to their properties, focus is strengthening on FAMILY travel. Marriott is:

Offering a Nickelodeon package to the kids with activity books and Nick bracelets
Toddler care packages are awaiting the arriving family with squirting bath toys, fitted crib sheets, baby shampoos and nightlights.
Spongebob backpacks with matching sheets and pillowcases are for sale in the gift shop.

The younger demographic is also demanding VALUE, a concept more wide-spread than just the Gen X-ers. Homewood Suites by Hilton (typically a corporate traveler mecca has seen a 50% increase in its leisure travel this past year) is revising its free meals program, and Kimpton Hotels will give away free sangria drinks and Wii video games in the lobby this summer...something for the parents AND the kids.

So what does that have to do with US in the Bed and Breakfast Industry?

Everything, if you are ready to keep your business growing!

B and B owners often cater to only a certain slice of the traveling market. They rely on the romance getaway, or traveling couple, typically Baby Boomers, to fill rooms. But this AGE-SEGMENT of the traveling market is declining and we must target the NEXT generation as well...and they're traveling with their kids. Some target the corporate traveler if the inn is fortunate enough to have several large businesses or a college within a mile or two. But this segment is also in decline, and mid-week rooms are going to go empty.

Some ACTION Items for your Next Planning Meeting

Is your Inn ready for a Tune-Up? Do your rooms and bathrooms appeal to the NEW demographic of the traveling public? Do you have Ipod docking stations, and have you replaced gramma's old furniture with clean lines and Pottery Barn-type styling? People want to visit museums, not stay in one.
Is your website ready for updating? Anything 2 years or older is a dinosaur that won't be found by the new search engine algorithms. Do you have video of area attractions, or still relying on static photography of a bed? The next generation is ultra techno-savvy and will find you in ways OTHER than your organic website, IF you embrace social media (May 7 posting) marketing and email marketing.
Are you still illegally restricting kids to age 12 or older? Talk to those inns who willingly accept children and find out what they do to make the family experience memorable.
If all the inns in your area still restrict children, think of the ADVANTAGE you will have when they send all their family-travel referrals to you!
Targeting and marketing for mid-week bookings in addition to your current corporate travelers will prepare to replace those declining mid-week business guests with others...such as quilting groups, elder travel with grandkids, or scrapbookers. I'll bet there's an inn in your area already capitalizing on this new trend.

The B&B Team is ready to help you with your Evolution Planning when you are finally disgusted with negative growth of your inn's performance. The traveling market is evolving, and we BEG each of the inns in this industry to evolve with it. And it's fun! And more satisfying than watching Spongebob!

Scott

The Joy of Porches and Guests

2010-06-09T15:49:33-04:00

Every morning, spring, summer, fall, and winter, I sit on my front porch in my wicker rocker to drink my coffee. And every morning I take at least two photographs with the same settings of the same views. It’s kind of like an innkeeper recording the guests that pass through your doors. Now, you ask, what do photos of a front porch view have to do with guests? I see it like this.

If you were to casually look at any random sampling of the pictures I take every morning, you might not see anything particularly interesting. It’s the same view, day after day. If you looked at enough, you’d see that there are different seasons. And once in a while there’s a foggy morning that makes for a dreamy picture, and fall shows off some dramatic colors. But taken in their entirety, especially in chronological order, you can watch the seasons change before your eyes, and the small differences (and sometimes more impressive ones) of the mornings start to form a picture of what it’s like to have coffee on my front porch, what it looks like in my small corner of Virginia.

Your guests are a lot like those morning images. Individually, the majority of them are sort of like every other guest that you routinely host and make every effort to provide a good experience. After a while, it’s hard to distinguish one from the other, but they are the essential part of the fabric of your Innkeeping experience. There are those especially colorful guests who, like a beautiful autumn morning, are memorable, and you welcome them back with joy in your heart because they are, well, so beautiful and wonderful! They are your friends! And, of course, once in a while you get that horrid guest that sticks in your memory that you hope never to see again. They are like my pictures of snow piled high in my yard this winter! Rare, but they are also a part of the fabric of your experience.

So, when the time comes that I put together a montage of photos from my front porch that shows the passing of the years, the changing of the seasons, with the stunning images in amongst the many ordinary and the few I’d rather forget, it will be like you, an Innkeeper, reflecting on your time spent caring for the travelers who pass through your threshold. And in that moment you’ll realize that even the most ordinary and unmemorable of guests made up the largest part of your experience, punctuated by the divas and aggravated by the PITA’s. And you will be gratified to remember that you treated them all well, because without them, you would never have been an Innkeeper.

Peter

We are a Visual Society...and Your B&B Can Exploit it!

2010-05-10T16:14:37-04:00

Check out the statistics:
- 32% of all Internet activity is made up of Video
- Consumers prefer video 6 to 1 over text
- Facebook video viewers are up 2000% in the last year
- It was discovered by Forrester Research that videos increase Search Engine Optimization on Google's (and other search engine's) algorithms by up to 53 times.
- 40% of Internet activity last year was on CONTENT...whereas only 20% was on search and commerce activities.

The numbers are convincing, but not surprising when you see the explosion of Social Media and technology in our industry. These figures, presented by Stephen Schweickart, CEO of VScreen, were detailed by Stephanie Andre in an interview published in RISMedia's April 28 Ezine.

SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH A B&B? Everything!

Gone are the days when having a few photos on your website was all you needed. The leaders in the inn industry recognize the power that video offers when grabbing the attention of the consumer. Everybody has heard that you have 3 secondsto grab the attention of a web surfer once your SEO efforts brings him to your site. If he subconsciously discovers he likes the look of the site, he gives you another 4 seconds to discover if your site can meet his needs by looking at the functionality and navigation. If you fail at either of these steps, he hits the BACK button and he's lost.

Video, per Mr. Schweickart, extends that window of attention-span to 14 seconds. People enjoy movies, they like the action. We are a visual society and the days of stagnant photos of the bed in the guest room will not grab the attention of the potential booking anymore.

It's time to update websites to meet these evolving interestsof the traveling market. Check out the YouTube video made by Dallas and Nancy Renner of the Chocolate Turtle B&Bin Corrales, NM. Not only do you get to see a bit of the inn and its colors, but the video takes you into the community to see the shops, the animals and the mountains, and you get to meet the innkeepers as well...always a part of the guest memories you want to create. That's a marketing advantage over the competition that throws water on the fiery argument that it's the current recession that is causing business to be down.

Your breakfast presentations are fabulous. Make your inn's presentation on the internet fabulous too.

Here are a few ideas to consider as you work to improve your website:

Replace the stills of the guest bed with video of the guest rooms...panning around the room and out the windows to the scenic river below.
Pan across the deck or private patio with the colorful breakfast settings to the bird feeder with the orioles and bluebirds or to the water feature in the garden.
Film the scarecrow festival in October, the strawberry festival in June, the sleigh rides in January and the flower fairs in April in your region. These are the places your guests are going to want to see to have the full experience.
Loan your digital camera to your guests heading out hiking or to the battlefield re-enactment, show them how to use the video feature, and put their live testimonial on your site and blog.
Link your blog with a feed to your Facebook account to have your videos shown to your fans around the world.

Grab them with your inn's beauty, your creativity and your innovation. You only have 3 seconds. Scott