For“ lineage” adverts – the small classified ads consisting of words only, without graphics or frames – the first word or two is vital. This will be printed in bold, and needs to attract the eye of your perfect prospective guest. Think this through, with a copy of the publication in front of you. If you are going in under“ Cornwall”, don’ t make“ Cornwall” your first word – they know that already! Make your town or village your first word, eg“ St Mawes”, or make one of your USPs your first words, eg“ Sea Views”. If you are going to be listed in a non-geographical heading like“ UK Short Breaks”, then name your location your first word. Make your advert full of information, but concise, and with a telephone number and, ideally, your domain name too. An example is:
St Mawes – friendly thatched cottage B & B. Generous Cornish breakfasts. Lovely sea views. All rooms en-suite. Prices from £ 35pp. RoseCottage. co. uk. 01326 123456
This gives readers your main selling points and contact details. Don’ t forget, the purpose of this kind of advert is not to tell the reader everything about you, but only to get them to telephone you or visit your website. They will find out the rest at that stage.
Public Relations You would not be best advised to engage a PR firm, but if you have the time and interest, you could do some PR work yourself. Write a Press Release about your“ third night free” offer, and sent it to the travel editors of all the national newspapers. You might just get a paragraph in a travel section, worth many hundreds of pounds. PR is not a closed order – anyone can do it. If it costs little but might gain you a lot, it may be worth the time.
Online marketing
Online advertising is getting more and more important all the time, as everyone now realizes. If you are not interested in computers and are tempted to ignore online marketing because it is an unknown or baffling area, we have one word of advice: don’ t! The advantages and effectiveness of online advertising just cannot be ignored, and if you do things properly( not as difficult as you might think, with our guidance) you may, like us, find that most of your B & B business comes from your online advertising.
The great advantage of the internet is that it has levelled the playing field to some extent, between small businesses like B & Bs, and very large ones like international hotel chains. Just five to ten years ago, a small B & B would not have a hope of rivaling a hotel chain in its advertising efforts, particularly in international advertising. The big chains could afford to spend huge amounts of money on advertising campaigns in many different countries, which would generate them business from abroad and from within the UK, whereas a small B & B could not hope to do more than get a listing in the local tourist office brochure or( at the cost of a large percentage of commission on every booking) in a tour operator’ s brochure.
How to Start & Run a B & B www. howtorunabandb. com