Series: The Birth of Grace Elizabeth’s Bed & Breakfast (#3 in a series of 4)
Now that you know the story of how Grace Elizabeth’s Bed and Breakfast came about through my previous two posts let me tell you a little about marketing to guest so that they would come. No, we did not just build a B&B in hopes that they would come. We did a little research and found out that Minden had three things that drew people to the area: Pioneer Village, Minden Opera House and the sandhills crane migration. These people would need a place to stay and staying in a B&B is a unique lodging choice that many people seek.
Ok, to be honest, there are no guarantees and we really had no idea if we would have anybody interested in staying at our B&B. Oh, the cottage was cute and comfortable and best of all it was private, but who would pay to stay in this adorable place?
Marketing is all about finding your niche and what problem do you solve for your prospective customer. We found out that our niche was not tourists visiting Pioneer Village. Yes, some did come to see P.V. but not as many as we had thought. We found out that people really liked the privacy of the cottage. They didn’t have to worry about staying in a bedroom right next to someone they did not know. When you book the cottage you get the whole house to yourself.
So with that information, we started marketing to families and couples traveling together. The cottage became a place for girls’ getaways and anniversaries. We’ve had short term stays by business people and for personal retreats. Calgon take me away – yes there is a bathtub!
In short, it has been a great experience and we have met people from all over the world. Visit our B&B website/blog at graceelizabethsbb.wordpress.com and like our Facebook page – Grace Elizabeth’s. Next week’s post will be the last post in this series. Until then…
Sonya Kay
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