With much heartache but still hopeful

[user 26]

ps ... you DO have pictures. on your website, they click to larger images that are sweet. you just need guidance to get those BIG IMAGES on your pages. potential guests respond to pictures ...

 

[happykeeper]

Aloha BWatcher,
1) We have a long way to go with our website, but we have come a long way too! So these thoughts are intended to be positively helpful.
2) We have done most of it ourselves, but we have sought information and education from every nook and cranny(?)
3) EVERY INN can be a destination! You have potential. Like many of us - I went to see - and I saw potential!
4) Emotions sell and selling is emotional. I saw some hidden emotion but not the real on your sleeve kind that it takes to sell.
5) I don't know very much about WV, so I had to make up some emotions when I looked at your pictures. I saw your dining room picture full of people having a Sunday morning breakfast.
6) I think of picnics and iced tea or lemonade on a little table in the yard by a tree swing- with barefoot swingers.
7) Pictures on every page - tight shots - people - someone loading a canoe or a fishing pole. Your not a place to stay- your a place where people do things. A hiker with a "Don't feed the bears" t-shirt
On and on it goes- keep trying!

 

[wendydk]

Is most of your business couples, or groups? It seems to me that you lean toward groups, and that would turn me off as a guest researching a place to stay, especially since the rates page shows "$475.00 for whole house rental" before listing the individual room rates. I almost clicked off the page when I saw that, instead of reading on.
Looking at your listing on bb.com (and the reviews shown there), it appears that the porch, the gardens and shady pathways are a big part of what guests enjoy...you should be promoting those quiet pleasures (and posting photos of them) instead of highlighting "whole house rentals".
We've said it a hundred times here, and I'm sure you're sick of it, but your website is not really capturing the charms of your place. Do you own your own domain name, or does your webmaster own it? I have not seen any answer to the question "Can you make changes to your own website", or is that out of the question?
Do you have some high quality interior and exterior photos of your place on hand?

 

[Paisley]

You can clearly hear how much you love your home/business. I am an "aspiring" and, when I viewed your website, I didn't "see" the property the way you described (which sounded wonderful!). Some large, possibly professional pictures would bring this site to life! Hope it all works out for the both of you ...
EDIT: Clearly, I didn't read the whole thread. Obviously changes on the website aren't an option for you right now. I just needed to add my two cents because the B & B that we have been looking at is BEE-YOU-TEE-FULL!!! However, that clearly does not translate visually when you view its website. This was just all very fresh in my mind ... but I should have paid more attention. .

EDIT: Clearly, I didn't read the whole thread. Obviously changes on the website aren't an option for you right now.

Where did you read that? I must have missed it, too...
.

EDIT: Clearly, I didn't read the whole thread. Obviously changes on the website aren't an option for you right now.

Where did you read that? I must have missed it, too...

Ummm. It was there ... I think.

 

[birdwatcher]

Thank you all for all the advise.
Yes, I do own my own domain name but don't know how I would be able to take over the site. I think its on their server...(problem numero uno) Yes, I can change things on my website, and yes the truth is that no matter how many pictures we take of our property it does not give it justice until you are here. I've been fighting with my webmaster because there is a problem with me getting into the photo galery...like I said he is just not doing the job and I have no $$$ to hire anyone else at this time. The guests that do come like our website, but how many are we loosing? Our stats are still good.
I did not know that our site did not have on-line reservations until now. Our webmaster is not the greatest and has not been one in three years, we where taken advantage of and now we don't know what to do.
We do cater to groups but we have our large share of individuals renting our rooms. Yes, we have own suite in the main house and the other house is about 1000 feet next door. Just because we put the guest house first does that mean that we won't get guests looking at rooms? Maybe.
Catlady---You think we look like a hostel? What is a hostel? We have a Bed and Breakfast and our rooms have top of the line beds and we have private baths with all our rooms, no we may not have TV's in our rooms, and no we may not have the "luxurious" look that some of you may, but we think that we have a pretty nice place we cook a gourmet breakfast and we kind of have a B & B where you're not afraid to touch anything or walk too hard..etc. I have never been to a hostel, but isnt that one large room with many beds and ONE BATHROOM?! Is it like a Barracks? No...we are not even close to a hostel.
We are unable to open in the winter. This is a seasonal area, many restaurants close for the season, most rafting companies close most of their cabins. Pretty much after Bridge Day which is next weekend, things die around here. Yes, we have skiing about 45 minutes from here, but like I've mentioned before it costs aroud $500-700/month to heat up the main portion of where our revenue comes from...our Guest house.
K has ben here to our place. I know that my main problem is our website and our webmaster and my plan is to find some website management or website design classes to take so that I can do this myself, even if we end up closing our doors (which I don't want to do) it will come in handy in the future anyway.
I've beeb pretty much distrought the last couple days, but I know its simplistic, my hubbie said: "How many times did Lincoln "fail" in his life before he became president? He said seven times. I guess if this does not work, I can at least say that I gave it a try and I will do everything in my power to try and keep this place.
thanks alot you all....keep it coming.
Oh Yea, I will be dfinantely look into the customer service thing Ocean...lucky you that you've been so busy...good for you!

 

[gillumhouse]

so ...
am i correct that except for one guest suite which is in the house you live in, the other guest rooms are in a separate house and you cannot afford to heat it so cannot be open in winter?.

Yes, SS, you are correct - one suite in the main house. They turned the cellar house (what may be called a spring house in NE) into a game room/tv room and it is separate from both houses. I do not remember how far they are from Beckley, but I think they are probably too far to get the skiers - there is a ski resort near Beckley that I cannot remember the name of right now. Marketing and web site are the main problems and both take money.
Forgot to say the second house is right there a few yards from the main house.

 

[happykeeper]

Thank you all for all the advise.
Yes, I do own my own domain name but don't know how I would be able to take over the site. I think its on their server...(problem numero uno) Yes, I can change things on my website, and yes the truth is that no matter how many pictures we take of our property it does not give it justice until you are here. I've been fighting with my webmaster because there is a problem with me getting into the photo galery...like I said he is just not doing the job and I have no $$$ to hire anyone else at this time. The guests that do come like our website, but how many are we loosing? Our stats are still good.
I did not know that our site did not have on-line reservations until now. Our webmaster is not the greatest and has not been one in three years, we where taken advantage of and now we don't know what to do.
We do cater to groups but we have our large share of individuals renting our rooms. Yes, we have own suite in the main house and the other house is about 1000 feet next door. Just because we put the guest house first does that mean that we won't get guests looking at rooms? Maybe.
Catlady---You think we look like a hostel? What is a hostel? We have a Bed and Breakfast and our rooms have top of the line beds and we have private baths with all our rooms, no we may not have TV's in our rooms, and no we may not have the "luxurious" look that some of you may, but we think that we have a pretty nice place we cook a gourmet breakfast and we kind of have a B & B where you're not afraid to touch anything or walk too hard..etc. I have never been to a hostel, but isnt that one large room with many beds and ONE BATHROOM?! Is it like a Barracks? No...we are not even close to a hostel.
We are unable to open in the winter. This is a seasonal area, many restaurants close for the season, most rafting companies close most of their cabins. Pretty much after Bridge Day which is next weekend, things die around here. Yes, we have skiing about 45 minutes from here, but like I've mentioned before it costs aroud $500-700/month to heat up the main portion of where our revenue comes from...our Guest house.
K has ben here to our place. I know that my main problem is our website and our webmaster and my plan is to find some website management or website design classes to take so that I can do this myself, even if we end up closing our doors (which I don't want to do) it will come in handy in the future anyway.
I've beeb pretty much distrought the last couple days, but I know its simplistic, my hubbie said: "How many times did Lincoln "fail" in his life before he became president? He said seven times. I guess if this does not work, I can at least say that I gave it a try and I will do everything in my power to try and keep this place.
thanks alot you all....keep it coming.
Oh Yea, I will be dfinantely look into the customer service thing Ocean...lucky you that you've been so busy...good for you!.

This sounds so much more positive.

 

[JBloggs]

KnK you rock! What a great way to look at things. See we all get to benefit from others sharing on this forum. Thank you!!!

 

[EmptyNest]

Thank you all for all the advise.
Yes, I do own my own domain name but don't know how I would be able to take over the site. I think its on their server...(problem numero uno) Yes, I can change things on my website, and yes the truth is that no matter how many pictures we take of our property it does not give it justice until you are here. I've been fighting with my webmaster because there is a problem with me getting into the photo galery...like I said he is just not doing the job and I have no $$$ to hire anyone else at this time. The guests that do come like our website, but how many are we loosing? Our stats are still good.
I did not know that our site did not have on-line reservations until now. Our webmaster is not the greatest and has not been one in three years, we where taken advantage of and now we don't know what to do.
We do cater to groups but we have our large share of individuals renting our rooms. Yes, we have own suite in the main house and the other house is about 1000 feet next door. Just because we put the guest house first does that mean that we won't get guests looking at rooms? Maybe.
Catlady---You think we look like a hostel? What is a hostel? We have a Bed and Breakfast and our rooms have top of the line beds and we have private baths with all our rooms, no we may not have TV's in our rooms, and no we may not have the "luxurious" look that some of you may, but we think that we have a pretty nice place we cook a gourmet breakfast and we kind of have a B & B where you're not afraid to touch anything or walk too hard..etc. I have never been to a hostel, but isnt that one large room with many beds and ONE BATHROOM?! Is it like a Barracks? No...we are not even close to a hostel.
We are unable to open in the winter. This is a seasonal area, many restaurants close for the season, most rafting companies close most of their cabins. Pretty much after Bridge Day which is next weekend, things die around here. Yes, we have skiing about 45 minutes from here, but like I've mentioned before it costs aroud $500-700/month to heat up the main portion of where our revenue comes from...our Guest house.
K has ben here to our place. I know that my main problem is our website and our webmaster and my plan is to find some website management or website design classes to take so that I can do this myself, even if we end up closing our doors (which I don't want to do) it will come in handy in the future anyway.
I've beeb pretty much distrought the last couple days, but I know its simplistic, my hubbie said: "How many times did Lincoln "fail" in his life before he became president? He said seven times. I guess if this does not work, I can at least say that I gave it a try and I will do everything in my power to try and keep this place.
thanks alot you all....keep it coming.
Oh Yea, I will be dfinantely look into the customer service thing Ocean...lucky you that you've been so busy...good for you!.

I did not know that our site did not have on-line reservations until now. Our webmaster is not the greatest and has not been one in three years, we where taken advantage of and now we don't know what to do.
What? you never looked at your site in 3 years to see if you had on line availability? This is not your web masters fault..that is your fault. HOw do you think people were going to know if you had rooms available? This is something YOU had to sign up for and give that information to your webmaster to incorporate into your site.
You own your own domain? So who is hosting your web site? The webmaster??? Or another company? You can always transfer your domain to another hosting company, that is no big deal.
As I said to another poster, just because you learn how to use html software, still does not guarantee a good web site. You must have someone who knows what they are doing and preferably someone who understands the B & B business so as to build you a site that works for your business..not just a generic one. But of course you should realize that already because you obviously have someone who doesn't understand:-(

 

[wendydk]

birdwatcher, I recommend a download of the free version of IBP.
Not being really computer-language literate in the beginning, I found it invaluable in my SEO efforts, and my website is living proof that you don't have to be real tech savvy to have a successful website. I would be more than happy to help you in your efforts to build a new site, if you're interesteed. Just email me off forum.

 

[EmptyNest]

birdwatcher, I recommend a download of the free version of IBP.
Not being really computer-language literate in the beginning, I found it invaluable in my SEO efforts, and my website is living proof that you don't have to be real tech savvy to have a successful website. I would be more than happy to help you in your efforts to build a new site, if you're interesteed. Just email me off forum..

And who says this is a good product to use?
I would never download anything I didn't know anything about. Where is this from??? Not US. Have SWIRT take a look at this and give his take on it. SOunds like one of those promise all things...but take with a grain of salt...

 

[wendydk]

birdwatcher, I recommend a download of the free version of IBP.
Not being really computer-language literate in the beginning, I found it invaluable in my SEO efforts, and my website is living proof that you don't have to be real tech savvy to have a successful website. I would be more than happy to help you in your efforts to build a new site, if you're interesteed. Just email me off forum..

And who says this is a good product to use?
I would never download anything I didn't know anything about. Where is this from??? Not US. Have SWIRT take a look at this and give his take on it. SOunds like one of those promise all things...but take with a grain of salt...
.

Catlady, you must have missed the part where I said I use it myself, and thus I feel I can recommend it. I forget where I heard about it, but can vouch for it's performance. I would not recommend anything that I haven't used myself....but by all means, always do your own research on anything before you use it.

 

[birdwatcher]

Catlady-YES- I HAVE CHECKED OUT MY SITE IN THREE YEARS... yes, I did make many changes to my site in the four years I have been in business. This last season I have had problems with webevations among other things. So to answer your question, yes we have had many many on-line reservations but just found out lately that our on-line reservation system is not working. Yes, I own my domain name and I could probably have someone else host my sight, but I don't want to have my sight lost because of it, I also need to know what I'm doing before I attempt to FIX my website problem.
thanks little blue..i will e-mail you.

 

[EmptyNest]

birdwatcher, I recommend a download of the free version of IBP.
Not being really computer-language literate in the beginning, I found it invaluable in my SEO efforts, and my website is living proof that you don't have to be real tech savvy to have a successful website. I would be more than happy to help you in your efforts to build a new site, if you're interesteed. Just email me off forum..

And who says this is a good product to use?
I would never download anything I didn't know anything about. Where is this from??? Not US. Have SWIRT take a look at this and give his take on it. SOunds like one of those promise all things...but take with a grain of salt...
.

Catlady, you must have missed the part where I said I use it myself, and thus I feel I can recommend it. I forget where I heard about it, but can vouch for it's performance. I would not recommend anything that I haven't used myself....but by all means, always do your own research on anything before you use it.
.

Did someone recommend it or did you just happen across it on line and decided to give it a try? WHen I looked at it and an immediate download appeared on my screen it made me see a RED LIGHT. I see nothing on that site that would make me trust it enough to download it. Are you using the pay version or the freebie?

 

[EmptyNest]

Catlady-YES- I HAVE CHECKED OUT MY SITE IN THREE YEARS... yes, I did make many changes to my site in the four years I have been in business. This last season I have had problems with webevations among other things. So to answer your question, yes we have had many many on-line reservations but just found out lately that our on-line reservation system is not working. Yes, I own my domain name and I could probably have someone else host my sight, but I don't want to have my sight lost because of it, I also need to know what I'm doing before I attempt to FIX my website problem.
thanks little blue..i will e-mail you..

You didn't make it clear that you ever had webervations.I did not see anywhere for on line reservations.
Edited: Ok now I went back and searched your site. THe on line link is so hidden that I would have never guessed you had it. It should be one of the first things you see as a link on your home page and on your rooms page, just not buried alone on the contact page. where is says for request reservations for a specific date please visit this page. Put it out there so it can be seen.
If you move your site to another hosting company, you will not lose anything. It is still the the same domain.

 

[wendydk]

birdwatcher, I recommend a download of the free version of IBP.
Not being really computer-language literate in the beginning, I found it invaluable in my SEO efforts, and my website is living proof that you don't have to be real tech savvy to have a successful website. I would be more than happy to help you in your efforts to build a new site, if you're interesteed. Just email me off forum..

And who says this is a good product to use?
I would never download anything I didn't know anything about. Where is this from??? Not US. Have SWIRT take a look at this and give his take on it. SOunds like one of those promise all things...but take with a grain of salt...
.

Catlady, you must have missed the part where I said I use it myself, and thus I feel I can recommend it. I forget where I heard about it, but can vouch for it's performance. I would not recommend anything that I haven't used myself....but by all means, always do your own research on anything before you use it.
.

Did someone recommend it or did you just happen across it on line and decided to give it a try? WHen I looked at it and an immediate download appeared on my screen it made me see a RED LIGHT. I see nothing on that site that would make me trust it enough to download it. Are you using the pay version or the freebie?
.

When I decided to learn about SEO, I knew I wanted to do it myself, but did not want to pay big money. I searched and searched, looked at dozens of programs, researched reviews about them online, and after about a month of this, I went with IBP. I've only had to use the free version, and am very happy with the results.
So, I guess I found it after a crapload of researching for myself, and I use it on four or five different websites.

 

[birdwatcher]

Catlady-YES- I HAVE CHECKED OUT MY SITE IN THREE YEARS... yes, I did make many changes to my site in the four years I have been in business. This last season I have had problems with webevations among other things. So to answer your question, yes we have had many many on-line reservations but just found out lately that our on-line reservation system is not working. Yes, I own my domain name and I could probably have someone else host my sight, but I don't want to have my sight lost because of it, I also need to know what I'm doing before I attempt to FIX my website problem.
thanks little blue..i will e-mail you..

You didn't make it clear that you ever had webervations.I did not see anywhere for on line reservations.
Edited: Ok now I went back and searched your site. THe on line link is so hidden that I would have never guessed you had it. It should be one of the first things you see as a link on your home page and on your rooms page, just not buried alone on the contact page. where is says for request reservations for a specific date please visit this page. Put it out there so it can be seen.
If you move your site to another hosting company, you will not lose anything. It is still the the same domain.
.

Catlady...thanks so much, I know that its hidden, Oh I thought it would be difficult to have the site moved, will check into this as well. yup it should be on my accomodations and rates page. This is going to be my first priority after the season is over to work hard on my website.