Members Newsletter

Autumn 2011

The B&B Network Internet Marketing Association

In this edition:

Internet Marketing for the B&B SectorIn the past two or three years, the rules for promoting B&Bs, guesthouses and small hotels on the Internet have changed dramatically. Displayed room rates and offers can now change daily in order to compete and acquire what business is available. The prime function of the B&B Network is to "attract and capture" Internet users seeking accommodation and deliver them to our members webpages and websites - it is members responsibility to convert these visitors into bookings.

Although the past year has seen an overall 30% improvement in internet visitor levels on the B&B Network, many members still contact us to say levels of business are down on the previous year - on examination of their situation, we nearly always find they are not taking full advantage of their membership - See the next page of this newsletter for a full list of admin panel features that are designed to give you a competitive edge and checkout the guidelines below.

• Room Rates: It is essential that these are inline with prevailing market conditions and are checked regularly and updated when neccessary. Many B&B Network members reduced their rates last year and also posted Last Minute Discounts - those that didn't found it difficult to compete and harder to get bookings - room rates can be changed instantly via your admin panel - generally non members cannot do this and are at a distinct disavantage to the dynamics provided by the B&B Network members.

• Bookings and taking payment by credit card: This is becoming increasingly essential as the trend is being lead by car hire companies, hotel booking websites and an increased confidence by Internet users. In addition to the MIMA account introduced last year, members will have an increased choice for payments that will include PayPal and Moneybookers.

• Photographs: Guests still make judgement by looking at a B&B's photographs and business is lost by not having the best images of your property. Look at the photos on your website and ask "would I choose to stay here?"

• Be Proactive: We work very hard to generate visitor traffic to your webpage or website. Please make sure you play your part - understand the need to be aware of your competition, have competitive unabiguous pricing, respond to enquiries quickly and ask us to change your photos and text if you feel the need - doing nothing is not a good option.

The support section of your admin panel contains some tutorials to get you up and running - we shall be adding to these, so check this section regularly.

B&B Network MembershipThe membership year in Ireland is Oct to Oct and in the UK Apr to Apr.International membership (inclusion on www.bnb-network.com) is renewable on the anniversary of joining.Your annual fees help us remain strong and retain our leadership in this t e c h n o l o g y b a s e d m a r k e t i n g environment. We have had many "firsts" in the B&B sec to r and a message fo r our competitors - "imitation is the best form of flattery".

• First with admin panel• First with secure booking• First with iPhone App• First with Last Minute Deals• First with interactive websites

Membership comes with an admin panel that contains a number of Internet marketing 'tools' to help you compete effectively - the higher the grade the more tools are provided as part of your annual fee.

• and many more…..

Understanding what works and what doesn't on the Internet needs the experience that can only be provided by a specialised dedicated team, in what is a fast and ever changing technological promotional platform for B&Bs and Guesthouses. A safe pair of hands - The B&B Network

• Internet Marketing - be proactive

• B&B Network Poland

• New Irish Website

• Continuous Development

• The Mysteries of the Admin Panel

• New Booking System

• Accepting On-Line Payments

• Frequently Asked Questions

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News SnippetsB&B Network PolandBy the time you read this we should be well on the way to launching the B&B Network in Poland. This will be in both English and Polish to a t t r a c t b o t h n a t i o n a l a n d International visitors.The benefit to members in other countries may not be apparent but there are important links between all B&B Network sites that help with traffic/visitor capture and search engine optimisation.

New Website for Irelandwww.irelandbnb.comPrompted by by a "Fáilte Ireland's" initiative to categorise B&Bs, we have launched a website that includes a search facility for those categories Fishing - Golf Courses - Cycling - Walking etc. and taken it a step further and included a search for B&Bs near Visitor Attractions, Air & Ferry Ports, Irish traditional Music and those that are Pet Friendly or have Wheelchair Access - members star rating is also shown. The website also includes a complete list of all Last Minute Deals posted by members that can be sorted by county and town.

Our Continuous Development ProgrammeAs the recession continues it is important that we grab more of the business that is available for our members. To this end we are working on the way we target the websites in our network and introducing new websites to address different elements of the accommodation market.The Last Minute market has been very successful for members and we intend to increase the exposure of your deals by including them in more of our websites. Members websites will include a few enhancements this coming year mainly improvements to the enquiry /booking system.

The B&B Network Admin PanelEvery member has access to the their property admin panel and you can access it with a PC, Mac, Laptop, Netbook or iPad, using an Internet Browser from anywhere in the world. A change in the security of the enquiry system will mean that all members will have to logon to handle their enquiries - see article on the right.The admin panel is unique to the B&B Network. Designed to keep all your Internet marketing tools in one place, all activity on the admin panel is encrypted for top level security. So what's in the admin panel and why should you use it?Top Menu gives you access to the various sections :-SETUP | BOOKINGS | MARKETING TOOLS | MEMBERSHIP | SUPPORT

Setup Section• Create descriptions for each of your rooms (Room Type)• Compose email responses for use in the enquiry management• Amend cancellation policy (this is attached automatically to email responses)

• Setup or amend your room rates on a per person or room basis• Prepare and post Last Minute Deals & Special Offers• Block off dates when you are full or closed• Write a temporary message for you home page• Change you website options - see bottom of last page of this newsletter

Booking Section• Manage Bookings and Enquiries - Single Click confirmation or

Decline using built in email program and email template responses• Bookings Archive and Booking Statistics• MIMA terminal to process card holder present or telephone payments

Marketing Tools Section• Visitor and Enquiry Statistics - Check our performance against yours• Booking Statistics - How much business have you done?• Off Site Promotional Statistics - Banner Ads - Last Minute Deals• Verify Email Addresses - Currency Exchange Rates• Guests Mailing - email your guests with a newsletter or offers• Members Surveys

Membership Section• Current Membership Status• Full List of Members - help guests that are touring to contact

members• Standards & Practices required of Members• Membership Grades - a comparison of features and benefits• See your current website• Pay an Invoice

Support• Skype or Email Support• Live Support - chat with a team member live• Calendar Showing Holidays - Frequently Asked Questions• Recommended Free Software - word processors - browsers - anti-

virus - all tried and tested by B&B Network• Online Tutorials - learn the admin panel functions step by step• Internet Marketing Glossary

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Improvements in the Booking System

The display of rates, their upkeep by members and their competitiveness is of prime importance - we have featured room rates on the home page of our members websites since the inception of the B&B Network.

Recent trends in Internet use, the acceptability of on-line booking for all things in the travel industry and suggestions/feedback from members, has lead to a major re-think in how we handle enquiries and bookings.The home page of all members webpages and websites has been modified to incorporate an improved system. The initial look will be much the same but the calendar on the left of the room rates has been replaced with ARRIVAL & DEPARTURE selection boxes. Once the dates have been selected the room rate section to the right will display all offers and room types for the period selected - this includes Standard Room Rates, Last Minute Deals and Special Offers. This display allows for multiple room bookings as requested by many members (see rates graphic above).This provides the visiting guest with a simpler enquiry process and chance to request multiple rooms - once we have collected their personal details they are sent imediately to a BOOKING STATUS PAGE (see right) and asked to note their booking reference number.Confirmation: Once the B&B member has confirmed the booking, the 'Booking Status Page' is updated and the guest can rest easy. As long as the guest notes the 'Ref No.' they can access this page from any of our websites. Emails are sent at all stages of the booking process as normal but this system does not rely on emails being received and will eliminate most of the problems we have encountered with confirmation.NOTE! For this system to work correctly, all booking enquiries must be dealt with from within the admin panel using the simple built in email and confirmation/decline system - this will eliminate the problem, some members have experienced, of enquiries not being received or confirmation emails not being delivered by their Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

Accepting Online PaymentsIt is now very acceptable to pay up front for accommodation and members that wish to accept online payments may now select their prefered processing partner in their admin panel. Currently they can select from the following:-

• PayPal - (simple setup)• MIMA - Cash Flows - Internet Merchant Account• MoneyBookers - (simple setup)• WorldPay - Internet Merchant Account

Once you have have an account with one of the above, simply select the payment option in your admin panel.As bookings and enquiries are now managed via the admin panel they can be handled in 4 different ways with a single mouse click.

• Simple "Decline Booking" by email• Simple "Confirm Booking" by email • Confirm Booking and Request Deposit (% is set in admin panel)

• Confirm & Request Full Amount (a must for Last Minute Bookings)

All of the above collect the payment and update the "Booking Status Page". Finally the guest can print out the full details of their booking that includes terms & conditions, address, directions and satnav info as shown on the right.

Booking Status Page

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQ. I have an old website with the domain name printed on my letter and cards - can you update this website?A. Many of our members have been in this position - standard and premium membership provides you with a fully hosted website fully integrated with a members admin panel - it is a simple process to ask the domain name registry to point the domain name at our Internet servers and within a short period your new website will appear.

Q. I want to update pictures, how do I do this?A. Pictures have to be a particular size and aspect ratio to fit on members websites + they may also need some correction to give the best impression - add blue sky with clouds - remove telegraph wires - straighten buildings etc. For these reasons we ask you to send them to us by email or on a clearly marked disk. You can provide new pictures at anytime throughout the year.

Q. I have another website, can I link to it?A. The simple answer is No. However, the majority of members have just one domain name and use it for their membership website. The B&B Network team have a continuous improvement programme for maintaining and optimising our members and the network websites. Membership provides a number of Internet marketing tools that are integrated into members websites and allow them to compete effectively - it makes little sense to divert traffic to websites designed by 3rd parties that do not integrate with this functionality.

Q. Can I have a Secure Credit Card Payment Facility?A. Starting this Autumn members have a flexible system that will be able to accept payments for bookings using WorldPay, Cash Flows (VoicePay), PayPal or MoneyBookers.

Q. I've had hardly any bookings, what is the problem?A. In nearly all cases we get asked this question we find the member is not pro-active enough. The B&B Network works very hard every year to maintain visitor traffic to its members websites and web pages. However, converting those visitors into business is often a problem where the member does not appreciate the need to compete effectively. The Internet is one "big book" of B&Bs and Guesthouses - users of the Internet seek out the deals they perceive to be the best. Members should check their visitor statistics in their admin panel and look at the conversion ratio at the bottom of the page - if this is less than 1% then take action….

• Make sure that the photo(s) on your members webpage or website give a good impression• Check Room Rates displayed by other B&Bs in your area and make sure you are not "out of line" with them.• Always have the price of a "Room for Two" displayed on your home page with clear pricing - just posting rates

at per person often requires the guest has to have good mental arithmetic to calculate the cost of their stay - Best practice is room rates per night, 2 and 3 night rates (with maybe a small discount as an incentive)

• Last Minute Deals and Special Offers - if you have empty rooms for 15 days hence make sure you post them on your website with a small or encouraging discount. The B&B Network does it's part to help by syndicating these offers on an increasing number of its websites - see www.reddotdeals.ie and www.reddotdeals.co.uk

Q. I've just had wifi installed, can you put the symbol on the page?A. This is something you can do for yourself.Just logon to you admin panel and from the "Setup Menu" select >> Website Options - here you can set up a number of icons to appear on your website. This panel also allows you to setup categories under which you would like to be found eg. Walking, Golf, Cycling, fishing, plus your proximity to Visitor Attractions and Golf Courses.These facilities help in the optimisation of your website for search engines and the B&B Network websites - don't overlook them!

The B&B Network is managed by:Insight Web Marketing LtdKillarney, Co Kerry, IrelandTel: +353 647754094

Offices in:Ireland (HQ)

GermanyPoland

UK

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