B&B Owners Increase Revenue by 62%

May 24, 2012 - PRLog -- According to the Professional Association of Innkeepers International there are 17,000 inns in the U.S. If you ask the trainers of new B&B innkeepers, 30% percent of these inns are “winners.” The other 60% are “missing something.”What is this “something” that makes for winners?

In January 2012, Brian and Kolleen Weinrich, Innkeepers of the Federal House Inn of South Lee in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts saw a 62% increase in revenue compared to January 2011. While revenue isn’t everything, it’s probably a good clue that “something” is going on at the Federal House Inn that makes them winners. So I asked Brian and Kolleen what in their opinion were the top 3 reasons for this change.

Finding it difficult to give just 3, these were the reasons they gave:

•   increased presence on the web
•   good summer for tourism in the Berkshires
•   good group bookings
•   good guest referrals
•   personal attention to detail
•   their love of Inn keeping
•   hard work
•   complementary talents
•   knowledge of their niches
•   strategic thinking

So my challenge as their internet marketing guy was to sort through what they were talking about and boil it down to the top 3 “somethings” that accounted for their success.

We had been working together on their web presence since September of 2010 when they hired me to do a digital marketing strategy. My job was to study their business goals, ideal customers, existing digital strategy, and make recommendations for continuous improvement leading to a 10% increase in online revenue over a period of one year. The strategy, completed in January of 2011, evolved into a four part plan: get talk, get found, get leads, and get reservations.

Get Talk (Social Media)

From the beginning, Brian and Kolleen were reluctant to create their own social media accounts. While Brian has a limited presence in LinkedIn, they have no presence on Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus. They decided that instead of using social media as just one more channel to “get the word out,” they would instead simply encourage guests to use their own accounts to talk about their experience at the Inn. So they are adding to their guest departure material the suggestion that guests comment on the Inn in their social media accounts, TripAdvisor, and other online places.After all, talk among friends builds trust, trust builds preference, and preference leads to reservations. What better strategy?

Get Found (Online Traffic)

From the beginning the Weinrich’s used the traditional strategy for getting found on the web: keywords and inbound links. However, with the recent changes in the way Google and other search engines work, they have found it important to focus more on the quality of their content than just the techniques of search engine optimization. This is where their knowledge of their client niches has paid off. Rather than building content that sings the praises of the Federal House Inn, they focused on providing information eagerly sought after by their niches: people who come to the Berkshires for culture and for the outdoors.

Giving these niches names brings them to life. For example: Jane and John Culturebound represent a niche that is committed to visiting the Berkshires annually during the summer for a rich cultural experience in the beauty of the Berkshire Hills. They are planners, so they appreciate knowing the season’s events and lining up their schedule accordingly.

Brian and Kolleen happen to be very good at describing and giving their impressions of various cultural venues in the Berkshires. So they produced a series of “almost” videos on places like Tanglewood, Shakespeare and Company, and the Norman Rockwell Museum. I say “almost” videos because they did not want to be on camera. Instead, they recorded their voices on the external mike of a camcorder which was pointed to the ground. Later, still images were added over their voices, so they seemed like videos. By uploading these masterworks to YouTube and embedding them in their blog, they have one of the most compelling and technically advanced ways of getting found on the web.

Get Leads (Requests for information)

Brian and Kolleen’s strategy for getting leads is nothing unusual. They simply have the traditional “Contact Us” page and a newsletter sign-up form. But, again, it’s not so much the technology that gets results, as it is the way it is used.

For example, their most recent newsletter was opened by 34.5%  of recipients compared to 15.2% for the industry, and 5.3% of their readers clicked through to their website compared to 2.7% for the industry. Why is their record so good? Because of the quality of their content. Again, they focus on answering the questions important to their niches rather than pushing their own agenda.

Get Reservations

It may seem strange to say from a business perspective, but it’s not a focus on the bottom line that makes for their high revenue. It’s Brian and Kolleen’s focus on the guest experience both online and offline that seems to be making their internet marketing investment pay off.

Summing Up – Three Reasons

So how can we boil all this down into the top three reasons for the 62% increase in reservations? Having watched for almost two years how Brian and Kolleen run their business and take action on the web here’s my take.

1.   They find meaning in their business. Why else would they work so hard, pay so much attention to detail, and still maintain the calm, centered, heart-felt hospitality that their guest so obviously love and for which they return again and again and refer their friends?
2.   They know their niches. How else can they create the compelling web content that gets them found, gets leads, and gets reservations?
3.   They choose their strategies wisely, and follow through on a daily basis. How else can they calm the frenzy and distractions that are so much a part of the web and deliver results far above expectations?

To share their insights on why and how they achieved this on Paul Carter’s Virtual Coffee Break Wednesday, May 30 at 7PM. More information at: http://www.clickbasics.com/internet-marketing/increase-re...

About the Author:

Paul Carter is the owner of ClickBasics Internet Marketing, and Webmaster for the Federal House Inn Bed and Breakfast in the Berkshires. Paul specializes in helping entrepreneurs and small business owners increase revenue online.

Check Out the Following Links:

Bed and Breakfast in the Berkshires: http://www.federalhouseinn.com/
Increase Revenue Online: http://www.clickbasics.com/