The annual meeting of the Maryland B & B Association had a one-day agenda that, in my opinion, rivals ANY B & B industry workshop for strength and usefulness of content. Held at Elk Forge B & B in Elk Mills, Maryland, in addition to the normal association business activities, the association hosted three content-packed experts that filled the session with useful and practical info that had attending innkeepers scribbling notes like crazy.
Don Farrell, Chief Cultivating Officer of Fresh Revenues, a frequent and entertaining speaker on converting telephone inquiries into bookings at the last two PAII conferences, conducted a 3 hour workshop on developing loyalty among guests and the telephone techniques to maximize bookings. One additional booking a day, assuming $150 Average Daily Rate increases annual revenue by $90,000! Here Don is calling an inn to demonstrate sound inn practices of phone call conversion.
In a time when every innkeeper is seeking to spend their marketing dollars wisely, Willow Coyle of bedandbreakfast.com offered expert advice on getting your Return on Investment with internet directories.
Lisa Kolb, president and co-founder of Acorn Internet Services, detailed valuable and practical info on maximizing internet exposure with Google, the potential impact of the upcoming Caffeine algorithm shake-up that Google is expected to launch in January (watch your rankings…they may be changing unexpectedly!), and maximizing the effectiveness of Social Media and its application to B & B’s. Here Lisa addresses questions from Dave Balderson (Wayside Inn) and Danielle Hanscom (Brampton Inn).
This one meeting alone, with its practical and entertainingly motivating content, makes the price of membership in the MBBA a valuable investment.
Attendees…any comments? Scott
