Hello again Lovely Innkeepers!

Spring is coming finally ! Maple syrup weekends are starting around New England! And Pinterest still holds the media's attention as the "new" place for businesses to advertise.

I have mixed feelings still about Pinterest, I find it fascinating but warn innkeepers to take the hype with a grain of salt. It is still an unproven medium for advertising, especially in the travel industry and while the tourism industry has the potential to do a lot with it, it may be just the latest flash in the pan, and gone next year or later this fall.

I would caution innkeepers to investigate it, but don't devote whole chunks of time to building up a presence on it "yet". It's a terrific source of ideas for breakfast and other things and it "can" potentially be a source of click through traffic to your websites and other media. But until it has proven that its going to stick around, be cautious.

Facebook is the other 800 lb.gorilla that is making either businesses rejoice or curse. Regardless of how you personally feel about the new Timeline for business pages, if you have a Facebook page, I suggest you convert it over now to the new Timeline and learn how to use it.

It is optional now but it transitions ALL of them over at the end of March. If you don't transition before then, you are left with a huge gray area at the top of your page.

The new timeline has several things of note that innkeepers can take advantage of: the ability to "pin" a post to the top of the timeline and the ability to change the date of the post so it always looks "fresh". A few other things are pictures have much more visibility and the messaging feature as well can be a plus. If you are not going to use Facebook much but have a page, I would recommend turning it off. http://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/private-messaging-and-the-new-facebook-fan-page-timeline/

Reminder to past and new readers:

Please try to address the action items (a note will be next to items  in this newsletter marked in red) because they are IMPORTANT! saying (action item) Recommended at least to skim.

Recent Online Posts of Interest

Facebook (action item) read at least one to get up to speed on changes

Introducing New Facebook Pages https://www.facebook.com/help/pages/new-design

The Complete Guide to Setting Up the New Facebook Page Design

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31633/The-Complete-Guide-to-Setting-Up-the-New-Facebook-Page-Design.aspx

28 Things You Need To Know About The New Facebook Pages

http://blog.kissmetrics.com/new-facebook-pages/

5 Tricks that Every Marketer Needs to Know to Exploit the New Facebook Page Design http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2012/03/05/5-tricks-that-every-marketer-needs-to-know-to-exploit-the-new-facebook-page-design/

The Future of Bed and Breakfast Custom Facebook Landing Pages and Apps

http://blog.acorn-is.com/2012/03/the-future-of-bed-and-breakfast-custom-facebook-landing-pages-and-apps.html

Pinterest

Another reason to like Pinterest.

http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/another-reason-to-like-pinterest/

(now that's how customer service should be handled)

56 Ways to Market Your Business on Pinterest

http://www.copyblogger.com/pinterest-marketing/

Google

How to Pimp Your Google Places Listing

http://www.whitespark.ca/blog/post/6-pimp-your-google-places-listing

The Zen of Google Analytics (for Innkeepers)

http://www.abouttheinn.com/2012/03/the-zen-of-google-analytics-for-innkeepers/

Google Places Transitioning to New Support Forum – Removing All Previous Posts By Thursday

http://blumenthals.com/blog/2012/03/12/google-places-transitioning-to-new-support-forum-removing-all-previous-posts-by-thursday/

10 Google Search Tricks You Might Not Know

http://mashable.com/2012/03/05/10-google-search-tricks-you-might-not-know/

Twitter

What Marketers Should (And Shouldn't) Tweet [Research]

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31761/What-Marketers-Should-And-Shouldn-t-Tweet-Research.aspx

25 Great Ways to Start a Conversation on Twitter

http://www.zddesign.net/blog/ways-to-start-a-conversation-on-twitter-by-social-media-professionals/

What I Have Learned In 4 Years And 1,180 Articles About Twitter

http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/48-twitter-lessons_b19251

Other

7 Tips to Spy on Your Hotel Competitors on Social Networks (works for B&Bs too)

http://alainclasse.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/7-tips-to-spy-on-your-hotel-competitors-on-social-networks/

Seventeen mistakes hotels make with travel review websites

http://www.tnooz.com/2012/01/05/how-to/seventeen-mistakes-hotels-make-with-travel-review-websites/

4 Tips for Creating Your LinkedIn Company Page

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/4-tips-for-creating-your-linkedin-company-page/

7 QR code mistakes that can kill your promotions and how to avoid them

http://www.smallbizsurvival.com/2012/03/7-qr-code-mistakes-that-can-kill-your.html

Recent Blog Posts From our Blog that may be of interest to innkeepers:

QR Codes for Lodging (from the Mid-Atlantic Innkeepers Conference)

http://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/qr-codes-for-lodging-from-the-mid-atlantic-innkeepers-conference/

Twitter Guest Sourcing (from the Mid-Atlantic Innkeepers Conference)

http://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/twitter-guest-sourcing-from-the-mid-atlantic-innkeepers-conference/

Pinterest for Lodging (from the Mid-Atlantic Innkeepers Conference)

http://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/pinterest-for-lodging-from-the-mid-atlantic-innkeepers-conference/

----------------------------------------

 email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ?Subject=Enquiry%20from%20Forfeng%20Designs" target="_top" title="mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ?Subject='; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text34083 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //--> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it "> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with the email address you would like to use.