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Six-Weeks to Conference - and Counting Down!
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Patricia "Pat" Materka
, veteran innkeeper and author of "
Twenty for Breakfast
," bookends MBBA's 30th-Anniversary Conference with the closing luncheon keynote, "Whatever Can Go Wrong....." on Tuesday, November 7,
Pat is owner and innkeeper of the Ann Arbor B&B, a nine-room inn overlooking the U-M campus. Months after opening in 2003, she joined the MBBA Board of Directors and regularly wrote
True Tales of a New Innkeeper
for the association's newsletter. The column evolved into her engaging and humorous 2017 memoir.
Mary White, president of BnBFinder.com and author of
Running a Bed and Breakfast For Dummies
, called
Twenty for Breakfast
: “Not just another how-to book but an inside look at the unexpected day-to-day personal realities of being an innkeeper, with insights on how to manage those challenges with humor and success.”
Fourteen years in the industry have not diminished Pat’s enthusiasm for the always unpredictable, occasionally tumultuous, innkeeping life.
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Matt Bare
, founder of
Q4Launch
(which, incidentally, is developing MBBA's new website), launches the MBBA Conference on Monday morning, November 6, with one of two presentations designed to maximize your website conversions
.
Matt resides in Charleston, SC, which he considers "the home of hospitality!" He travels extensively for work, pleasure and mission work and brings a unique perspective to destination marketing.
He started Q4Launch in 2008 after selling his e-commerce company. Today, Q4Launch works with lodging properties from Hong Kong to Napa Valley and almost everywhere in between -- including Michigan! Matt has long been a leader in "internet marketing" and was deploying social media and content marketing strategies back when they were "just a bunch of forums."
With a love for travel and comedy, he always keeps things fun and entertaining. He believes if you can't have fun doing it, then its not worth doing.
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Here's what Matt Will Bring to the Conference Table
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Opening Session: How to Design a Killer Website
Fresh off the launch of the new MBBA website, you'll get some practical advice on how you too can have a killer website!
Matt will share insights on how to create an emotional response with your customer, how the website of the future looks and functions as well as the role your website plays as the hub of your marketing success. Come with a fresh pen and a notepad to take lots of notes.
Submit your website URL to Sandy
for a live analysis
from Matt. We'll learn from your example what's great and what's not. Think what you'll learn! Only three spots available.
Round-Table Discussion: Secrets to Winning on TripAdvisor
Reviews are more important than they've ever been, with consistency being the most important factor. Choose Matt's round table to discuss strategies on how to increase your five-star reviews on TripAdvisor, Google, Yelp, etc.
Closing Session: Seven Strategies to Increase Traffic to Your Website
Matt will delve into seven strategies he guarantees will increase traffic to your website. What better time to tackle this all-important topic than right now, as you're headed into planning for 2018? Discover the key players and practical tips. This session is accompanied by a workbook to get you started planning your 2018 marketing strategy, so come ready to be motivated, inspired and get to work!
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Access conference details and register now.
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30th Anniversary Innkeeping Conference and Aspiring Innkeeper Workshop
November 5 - 7, Grand Rapids
If you can't make it back home by the time the polls close on November 7,
contact your local governmental unit to request an absentee ballot today!
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We bet you remember Brenda Hawkins from workshops and conferences over the past few years. MBBA is so pleased to welcome Brenda and her beautifully-restored Victorian B&B in East Tawas to membership. Always A Holiday! is close to downtown, to the Lake Huron beaches and to everything that uniquely-uncluttered Northeast region of Michigan offers. The B&B has three guest rooms with private baths, plus an add-on room that expands a bedroom into a suite.
Lamplighter B&B in Ludington has the distinction of having been originally owned by long-time Quality Assurance reviewer, Judy Bertram, who retired after more than a decade at the end of last summer. New owners Jennifer and Dan Hinderer are excited to bring the inn back to membership in MBBA. Jen confided that years ago she worked for a member B&B in the Irish Hills area, and remembers how highly the inn owner spoke of the support she received from MBBA. Jen says membership was topmost in her mind from right from closing.
We look forward to meeting Jen and Dan and to seeing Brenda again at the conference.
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Simple photos tell enticing stories
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Whether the images are for your own website or for MBBA's new website "experiences," pictures do speak a thousand words. Don't these photos tell a story? Farm to table. Fresh and wholesome. Delicious. Don't you want to have an At Willow Pond B&B breakfast?
Claire Vandenburg took these photos with her smart phone, just as she takes the literally hundreds of photos she's shared over the years on her B&B's Facebook page. The only difference between her and many of us is -- she takes them. She's never without her phone in her pocket, and she snaps everything. Some are failures: an occasional image will be perfect -- a keeper. You can never count on taking just one.
Sandy White, MBBA's marketing director, suggests those of you who don't have professional photos of your B&B focus on lining up HORIZONTAL photos now. The most lovely light is available this time of year in the mornings and the afternoons.These are the photos she suggests you will want for your own website, your own Facebook page and for MBBA's social media promotions and the new website:
- Exteriors in the best light of day, with the most beautiful sky.
- The view and/or the outdoor spaces.
- Front door closeup.
- Photos of your ideal guests enjoying themselves -- with a focus on the fun experience they're having rather than documenting those particular guests. Example: Evening shot of guests telling stories around the fire pit. Sometimes faces aren't even needed to illustrate the experience. Written permission should be obtained for any photo with identifiable people. The way I'd handle it is: Take photos freely. If anything is usable, email it to the guests saying how much you love the photo and ask if it would be okay with them to use it on your Facebook and perhaps on your website. When you get their reply, you'll have their permission (or not).
- For interior photos, most rooms will have brighter indirect light (at different times of day for each room) at this time of year rather than later into the winter season.
- Closeups of mouthwatering breakfast plates photographed in indirect natural morning light. Tip: Prepare an extra plate to photograph after guests are served; take it to a spot with lovely light.
- Photos illustrating add-ons or packages. Examples: Your 'Breakfast in Bed' tray or a still life of props used in your 'Murder Mystery' package or a big bowl of popcorn to illustrate your 'Movie Night' package.
As a reminder: the new MBBA website is close to going live. Your B&B will be represented no better or worse than the information and photos you've provided. There are still a few days to get your photos and experiences to Sandy at
sandy@laketolake.com
. Note to procrastinators (you know who you are): better hustle.
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