Hello again Lovely Innkeepers!
The big news for this past month was TripAdvisor announcing a new feature that will allow Innkeepers to report any issues regarding blackmail threats from their guests http://cdn.tripadvisor.com/pdfs/email/Blackmail_US.pdf
Acorn Internet did a very good walkthrough on: How to Report Blackmail to TripAdvisor http://blog.acorn-is.com/2013/02/how-to-report-blackmail-to-tripadvisor.html
Tripadvisor has also added new badges for reviewers. I personally think the designations are quite amusing. 3 reviews makes you a Hotel Specialist!
http://www.tripadvisor.com/InfoCenter-a_ctr.Badge+Lander+US
Of other interest to B&Bs: We have started two B&B Google+ Communities
(also known as groups or forums). Any B&B/Inn is welcome to join the group, as well as
B&B vendors, please read the rules of the community before posting at:
https://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/rules-for-the-google-bb-people-group/
B&B Public Forum, all posts are public to the world:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/113676939343982081327
B&B Private Forum: (B&Bs/Inns Only)
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/103240175601771879920
Pinterest for B&Bs for Sale:
I’ve also started an experiment on Pinterest, if any B&Bs have their inn for sale, please let me know. Since I’ve started pinning my blog posts to Pinterest, I’ve been getting a lot of aspiring and “in my dreams soon” I want to be an innkeeper people following my boards. So my thought was if any B&Bs wanted to have a board, on my boards, they might get some extra “eyes” on their property for sale. If anyone would like a board (and I can add them as a contributor so they can add anything they want to it) please let me know. http://pinterest.com/forfeng/
Some free helpful tools I’ve come across lately:
Convert PDF to JPG online, PDF to JPG free converter
http://pdf2jpg.net/
Rafflecopter is the world’s easiest way to run a giveaway, free Facebook app
http://www.rafflecopter.com
All my + (Google+ information and statistics for your accounts)
http://www.allmyplus.com/
Cropp.me – Photo cropping tool
http://cropp.me/
Templates for Getting Google reviews (Thank you to White Oak Manor Bed and Breakfast for the heads-up for this link)
http://www.whitespark.ca/review-handout-generator/
A Few of our Posts from this past month:
Blog Checklist Worksheet
https://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/blog-checklist-worksheet/
A tip for innkeepers to leverage the new Facebook Graph Search
https://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/a-tip-for-innkeepers-to-leverage-the-new-faceboook-graph-search/
Innkeepers, are you REALLY leveraging local?
https://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/innkeepers-are-you-really-leveraging-local/
Bed and Breakfasts, Reputation Management and Deleted Tweets
https://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/2013/02/03/bed-and-breakfasts-reputation-management-and-deleted-tweets/
Travel Bloggers and Bed and Breakfasts
https://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/travel-bloggers-and-bed-and-breakfasts/
Facebook Local and what it means for Bed and Breakfasts
https://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/facebook-local-and-what-it-means-for-bed-and-breakfasts/
Just One Thing-Overbooking Your Time
http://chieflogroller.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/just-one-thing-overbooking-your-time/
Just One Thing-Glossing Over the Grunt Work
http://chieflogroller.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/just-one-thing-glossing-over-the-grunt-work/
Just One Thing-Does Your Ad Ring True?
http://chieflogroller.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/just-one-thing-does-your-ad-ring-true/
Just One Thing-Hacked Twitter Accounts
http://chieflogroller.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/just-one-thing-hacked-twitter-accounts/
Forfeng’s Favorite Blog Posts of this past month:
The Small Business Guide to Google Analytics
http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/microsites/google-analytics-guide/
Google Makes Business Photos Self-Service
http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/01/google-business-photos.html
Google updates Hotel Finder with date, neighborhood, brand, and travel time search
http://www.tnooz.com/2013/02/07/news/google-updates-hotel-finder-with-date-neighborhood-brand-and-travel-time-search/
Bing Adds 5x More Facebook Content to its Search Results
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34081/Bing-Adds-5x-More-Facebook-Content-to-its-Search-Results.aspx
How to Optimize Your Facebook Page for Facebook Graph Search
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/optimize-your-facebook-page-for-facebook-graph-search/
Best day to post on Facebook fan pages – and other helpful tips for travel brands [INFOGRAPHIC]
http://www.tnooz.com/2013/01/24/news/best-day-to-post-on-facebook-fan-pages-and-other-helpful-tips-for-travel-brands-infographic/
5 SEO Tricks for Pinterest
http://malharbarai.com/2013/01/23/5-seo-tricks-for-pinterest/
15 ways Pinterest can improve search results
http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/13624.aspx#
Hashtags-Twitter(and more!)
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/hashtags/
The Art of Getting Retweets [Infographic]
http://www.reviewzntips.com/the-art-of-getting-retweets/
Simple Tips to Make Your Hashtags Work
http://www.b2bmarketing.net/blog/posts/2013/01/17/simple-tips-make-your-hashtags-work
Why Companies Must Monitor Twitter Beyond The @Mention [STUDY]
http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/monitor-twitter-mentions_b36510
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