Is your Domain Name is right for your web site?

if not still renew your old domain name and redirect to your new one for a couple of years just in case your clients have your past domain in their files. Keep track and ask them to make sure they change this information to your new domain name.  Remember times change and so should the look of your web sites and keeping up with these changes let’s your clients know you care about your business. Just like you do any thing. You need to keep up with the times.

Professional Web Designers Want YOU to Make Money

If they web host your web site they constantly keep an eye on where you are in the search engines. If you need changes they are there to help.

I need to point out that choosing a domain name that connects with your business is important because when a client or guest is trying to recall who you are it is easier for them to remember you if your domain name is connected with your business. Domain names with less letters are easier to remember. Complimentary colors are important for your domain and two or three should be the limit.

Professional looking Photography

We have suggested before if you do not have a large budget go to your local high school or junior college ask the photojournalist professor to recommend who in his class is best to take photo’s for you. I am sure the student would love to have your photo’s for his portfolio. A photo gallery is great for almost any business. This is much less and helps the student. Text.. we recommend 250 words of text especially for the first page and as many pages as you can describe the content. Five to ten pages for a small site is perfect. One with a form to contact you is really helpful.

This is not all

The information we can pass on but we hope that this is helpful. Remember a new web site is like buying new clothes, a new house, or a new car. It makes people stand up and take notice. We look forward to promoting your business new or updating one you have had for years. Contact the team at Bed and Breakfast Web Designs who design for almost any business. We are here to help.

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ReservEase.com

Some of the Booking Options include:

• Free and Low Cost options
• Real Time Online Reservations
• Room Rate Management
• No Annual Free

Get Full Details Here

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As I stated above social network can work really well but you have to know how to use them correctly or just as important, use them often, and stay very active within their respective communities.  Here is a list of a few things that will help with decide if you want to get into the social network wave.

Do I have the Time to Dedicate?

Much like running a blog you need some time. Making contacts, and keeping up on information is vital. This is especially true with sites like Digg where being a known member  or “Power User” is key. As a new user you will need to participate and comment on other peoples posts to show that you are not a spammer or someone just looking to market your product.  Spend at least a couple of hours a week doing this.

Is There a Market for my Product or Industry?

What makes you unique? Find your niche or band together with other bed and breakfasts or inns,  in your city.  Places like facebook offer “groups”. These groups are get places to advertise your area or events that are offer something special. Don’t forget that the demographics of places like this are changing, the over 40 crowed is one of the largest growing groups that are signing up.

Be Friends with the Right People

Having 10,000 friends on a social network is great but if they are not relevant to your target audience or they are a business that only wants to peddle their product then your efforts can be wasted, you see this a lot in twitter. Like in life choose your friends carefully make sure you all have common interest.

Have Fun

Most importantly just have fun with it, enjoy what ever community you are a part of. If you look at it like a job you will get board. Have some good times reading funny articles or having a spirited debate, remember the idea is to be social.

No related posts.

Previously we discussed the art of staging your B&B/Inn for Sale. Today we will get our wits together and decide if we want to For Sale By Owner (FSBO) or by a Professional Real Estate Agent. Now that everything is spotless and freshly painted, unnecessary things stored in a unit far enough away that the temptation of putting favorite items on display is not an option let’s sit down and figure out what exactly we should do and how we should do it. If you are a first time Bed and Breakfast Inn seller you may want to consult with several Commercial Real Estate companies.

Picking an Agent

Finding the right agent can be difficult task you need ask if your Realtor company has an agent who deals in Bed and Breakfast Inns or has experience in selling commercial properties. Ask if they would come to your Bed and Breakfast to give you an idea on the appraised value. Keep in mind that a detailed appraisal will be required and will run around $2,000 but will be in your best interest in deciding the purchase price.

Professional Photography on the Cheep

Once you have decided on an agent make sure you have those professional photo’s we discussed in a previous write up. Remember if money is an issue you may call your nearest high school, Junior College and ask for the photography department request several of their photographs major students. Then interview them and check their portfolio’s before hiring your photographer. You will be surprised at the talent these young photographers have.

Make sure you find out who holds the copyright; you or them because you need these photo’s for the Inns For Sale Directories you will be advertising on the Internet. It should take only a couple of days to have your photo’s in hand for advertising.

Posting on Directories

When posting your listing on a for sale directory make sure you write your description carefully using words the Search Engines will be looking for and make sure you write a short paragraph about the attractions in your area. Bed and Breakfast Inn For Sale Directories are an important tool and the cost is well worth the exposure.

Finding Financing

Maybe the most important issue to discuss with your agent is qualified buyers and how they will be financed. Knowing where the potential buyer can turn if they do not have enough cash will be the difference on your bed and breakfast selling or staying on the market.

There are Professional Financing agents just for just Bed and Breakfast Inns. It is good to get in touch with this individual early on because you want to know your options and it is their business to assist you as well as your potential buyer.

Today’s market is not by chance and it is smart marketing strategy to remember that commercial sales can be difficult even for the veteran B&B owner and it is in your best interest to gain any advantage you can.
These notes barely touch the surface and we strongly encourage you to research well and rely on the professionals for advise when selling your Bed and Breakfast Inn.

We want you to sell your successful business in a reasonable length of time. The time frame of owning a Bed and Breakfast Inn we have found is four to five years. We have also found that the age of the new buyers have dropped to the 35 to 48 year old group. Do not feel badly about selling and moving on to another adventure in your life. Wishing all of you who have made the decision to sell the very best.

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In Part one we will start with the cosmetics of your Bed and Breakfast
1. Curb Appeal/ Exterior Appeal
2. Interior Appeal

Curb Appeal (Exterior)

I decided to start with the curb appeal because maybe by the time I had finished the curb & the interior the flowers would have grown. I first started with the house it self, it was newly painted 2 years ago so I had a company come and pressure wash the exterior and the drive way. Then we went to Walmart for some beautiful plants & a few new shrubs. We did not need many but just enough to fill in and let the new owners know our B&B/Inn is well cared for.  Actually this was one of the things I loved to do each spring and to match the flowers with the color of the house. Back to weeding, edging and trimming  the front and backyards. There was just a few repairs we decided to have a re-seal on the driveway to make it look fresher so the pressure was a good idea before that was done. More plants on the porch and some hanging one. The porch floor should really be painted so we allowed a couple of days for that. Finally everything in place and we were happy.

Interior on the Cheap

Now for the interior. We started on the third floor (attic area where we store things instead of the garage) vacuumed, cleaned the windows and boxed up everything. Much neater. Second floor 5 bedrooms. Stripped every thing down, wipe down wallpaper, repainted the woodwork & had the carpets cleaned, windows washed inside and out. The same for the 3 bedrooms, dining room, living room and library on the main floor. Now the kitchen. Updated the faucets, new dishwasher (it was not replaced when we purchased) replaced all the cabinet knobs after the cabinets were cleaned there was a lot of glass so it went quickly. After every thing was done we purchased new bedding and towels for each room. Thanks to TJMAXX. Really does look nice. Well worth the money. We really did not spend that much, did a lot ourselves, hired professional and non professional help which kept us sane. Now that is over the appraisal. A B&B/Inn a few blocks away is for sale for $888,000 but our appraised at $1,100,000…we know the times are tough but we will just wait and see. Now I need to advertise on the Internet.

www.InnsforSale.com is good site and the listing is for one year and very affordable.

Check back for Part 2 where will go a little deeper into the marketing end of selling your B&B

If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to fill out our comment box!

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Professional Photography

I can not stress this feature enough, great photos on your website not only show off the unique qualities of your inn, they validate your property to perspective guest. Hiring a professional photographer is as simple as “googling”  your area and viewing their portfolios. As with anything your personal budget is important, if you have the funds to hire a top-notch photographer, do it as the cost is well worth every cent.. If you are short of cash flow there is an alternative to get high quality photographs. This may be a short cut but is certainly cost effective and we have found some of the best photographers.

Go to your local University or Junior College, or high school. post a bulletin in the Photography Department/Art. Let them know you are looking for a Photo Major to photograph your property. Many of these young photographers will do it for a fraction of the cost. Most will want to add the images to their portfolio. I have personally suggested this method to dozens of clients and as a developer it really brings the site in together when it has stunning pictures. These young photographers have great photo equipment  Please note, always remember to find out who holds the copyright on the photos so you can use them for print as well as the web.

Easy Navigation

Content is King! Content can make the difference between having a website that is ranked high in the search engines or buried so low that guests will not know you exist. Knowing where and how to display your content becomes an essential part of your website. Make sure the site has an easy link menu that lets the user find information quickly from any page. Do not overload pages with too much text, photo’s or graphics. Keep a balance. Many web designers will try to add all the information on a couple of pages but this is can be counter productive if your guest doesn’t read any of it. Take your time when coming up with content. Be simple and creative it can make all the difference in the world.

Reservation Links

Having automated reservation will save you time and money. It will create more booking for your bed and breakfast inn. Potential guest like to view web pages at all hours of the day or night.  Their opportunity to book a room on the fly without having to wait till business hours sets you apart from your competitions.

Reviews

Take the time to look at the reviews of your bed and breakfast, see what people enjoyed about your B&B/Inn. and just as important what they might not have liked. Don’t worry if you get a bad review.  Remember not every one can be pleased just take the reviews as learning experience and correct things that need correcting.. Ask your guests to post their experience at larger review sites like Trip Advisor this way you will build a loyal following. By posting or having a link to your reviews new guests can get a better sense of what makes your B&B/Inn special.

Fast Loading Pages

A trendy Flash based websites may look really beautiful and fun but SEO (Search Engine Optimizing) is very difficult because most search engine spiders are unable to read your website. Remember traffic to your website is produced by the Search Engines. Your content is King!.

When discussing your web site with your designer and he/she asks for your content (text) remember when writing this content how your guest read and understand your information. The addition of music to your web site will slow down the loading time of your website   Just one more comment about Flash. If used correctly Flash can be a wonderful tool to complement your CSS based website. Now don’t worry if some or all of this come across as foreign that is why they have web developers, ask your web designer or web master anything you don’t understand. You are they client and your input is important.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions leave a comment below or if you need help with your Bed and Breakfast/Inn website Contact me at admin@bedandbreakfastnetwork.com www.BedandBreakfastNetwork.com

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Now is the time to invest in an existing Bed and Breakfast/Inn or small boutique hotel. The price of a Bed and Breakfast Inn has dropped drastically because of the economic situation but this is not always a bad situation for those who can invest in these great historical or newly built properties. Mortgage modifications and term extensions from the Treasury are doing their best to provide less expensive mortgage financing and are cutting interest rates to make monthly mortgage payments more affordable. B&B/Inn owners who will pay lower monthly payments will be more likely to to have money to meet their B&B/Inn payment, which will then increase the value of the bonds that are secured by these mortgages. Affordable and predictable monthly payments are what everyone is looking for as an investment and a Bed and Breakfast Inn is an opportunity to not only invest but see a return in years to come. You may or may not want to be the Innkeeper as well but this is income property.

You will find the return in what you offer your guests. The existing B&B/Inn you are looking to purchase may not offer spa, gift certificates, holiday specials, extended stays, honeymoon suites, but there are so many Specials that your imagination can come up with to make your Bed and Breakfast the one guest just cannot wait to visit or return over and over again. Also make sure that your web site is designed by a professional and your photo’s be the best. There are so many schools (high schools, jr. colleges & maybe trade schools in your area) that teach photography. Call ask for their photography department. Request from the teacher or professor 3 of their best students photography work, contact those students and ask for their portfolio and choose the one you feel does the best work in interior and exterior shots. Make a small contract for the price say $100 to $200 so they know you will purchase the photo’s  believe me they will be happy to be asked to take professional photo’s and you can give them credit on your web site. These photo’s are a selling point and valuable tool in the presentation of what you offer your guests on your web site. This will also mean will more financial return for you with great photo’s.
We encourage you to visit www.InnsForSale.com and to call Rick Newman for financial advise.

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