The Magic Bullet
Ideas for Bed and Breakfast Hosts…

• Redo your website according to modern standards. And update both programming and content regularly.• Create original material – blog and post. Or submit your short column to AABBA and get the same effect with less effort.• Answer your phone – personally. And the AABBA Hotline phone, too, when it is your shift.• Diversify: use a combination of Internet tools. Pick two (VRBO, Airbnb, Expedia, Booking.com; Alaska App, Visit Anchorage, Chamber of Commerce, BBAA) to start. These cost money. If you support your AABBA site, you get indirect access to some of these as a member service, so you could pick two others! Then have as many of the following as you can manage (start with one new one today): Face Book, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, SnapChat each reach a different part of the population. Lastly, are you listed on any international sites?• Network: attend Anchorage events and display the AABBA logo wherever you are. When people ask, tell them about your professional association. And you know they will ask about your B&B, too. Meet with your AABBA colleagues and compare notes – that is market intel at its best.• Always satisfy the caller. If you cannot accommodate them, refer them to 907-272-5909 for personal care via the AABBA Hotline. You will be remembered for your kindness.

  • • Redo your website according to modern standards. And update both programming and content regularly.

  • • Create original material – blog and post. Or submit your short column to AABBA and get the same effect with less effort.

  • • Answer your phone – personally. And the AABBA Hotline phone, too, when it is your shift.

  • • Diversify: use a combination of Internet tools. Pick two (VRBO, Airbnb, Expedia, Booking.com; Alaska App, Visit Anchorage, Chamber of Commerce, BBAA) to start. These cost money. If you support your AABBA site, you get indirect access to some of these as a member service, so you could pick two others! Then have as many of the following as you can manage (start with one new one today): Face Book, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, SnapChat each reach a different part of the population. Lastly, are you listed on any international sites?

  • • Network: attend Anchorage events and display the AABBA logo wherever you are. When people ask, tell them about your professional association. And you know they will ask about your B&B, too. Meet with your AABBA colleagues and compare notes – that is market intel at its best.

  • • Always satisfy the caller. If you cannot accommodate them, refer them to 907-272-5909 for personal care via the AABBA Hotline. You will be remembered for your kindness.


Effective marketing takes creation of a tapestry – by weaving together a variety of marketing sources, you increase the likelihood that you will be noticed. That is why AABBA is important – it provides you a ’quality link’ when you have it on your own website. Designers call this a ‘back link’ and Google considers back links as proof of good business endeavors.

Have your checked to see how many exposures and hits your B&B had last month on the AABBA website? Logging in from the Member Info Button on the www.anchorage-bnb.com website gets you to the hidden-from-the-public information. See how you are doing there.

-MMR July 2017


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