WEBSITES  OF  INTEREST for Aspiring Innkeepers

 by Trent and Susan Blizzard

The Internet is a great place for an aspiring innkeeper to research their new profession.   Check out the list of websites below which all offer valuable information and/or services for aspiring innkeepers. You may want to visit www.bbinternet.com/inn/aspiring/websites.htm first -- this entire article is posted there and you can click on the links instead of retyping them all.

B&B Country Inn Marketplace:
www.innmarketing.com
The B&B Country Inn Marketplace website has tons of inns for sale and links to seminars, consultants and other resources for aspiring innkeepers.

Professional Association of Innkeepers International:
www.paii.org
PAII is the national association for innkeepers to join.  They offer lots of research, resources and discounts from vendors.  Check out their big trade show in Chicago in April 2002 - it is the biggest and best trade show in the industry!  PAII also offers the industry's best online chat groups where you can ask for advice from other innkeepers.

Yellow Brick Road:
www.yellowbrickroadnl.com
They offer a print newsletter for aspiring innkeepers.  Their website also has online articles and links to consultants and innkeeping seminars.

Blizzard Internet Marketing:
www.bbinternet.com
Offering website design, hosting and promotion for the B&B industry.  The site contains a lot of resources to help you learn more about designing and marketing your website.  During your visit to the site, make sure you subscribe to the free newsletter and order a free copy of "Marketing Your Inn on the Internet".

About.com:
www.bandb.about.com
About.com offers pages of resources: consultants, innbrokers, seminars, stories from innkeepers, advice columns, and a great list of B&Bs in special niches.

Your State B&B Association:
http://innmarketing.com/state.php
Your state B&B association is a must join organization!  They will not only give you good advice and fellowship, they will also help put heads in your beds!

Fourth Annual Innkeeper Tracking Survey:
www.bbgetaways.com/innkeep/report_2000_intro.htm
The best industry research on the impact of the Internet on marketing your inn.

Innside Innkeeping:
www.innsideinnkeeping.com
Innside Innkeeping offers the industry's best videos for innkeepers: "Innkeeping: The Innside Story" and "B&B Internet Marketing: The Innside Story"

Bed and Breakfast Series:
www.bluemontbb.com/bb/table.htm
The Bed and Breakfast Series offers sage advice on starting an inn from an actual innkeeper's experiences.

Competitive Research:
www.linkpopularity.com
Try plugging in the website addresses of other B&Bs in your area to see where they get their traffic.  An easy way to find places to market your new inn's website.  A snazzier version of this same tool is available at www.marketleap.com/publinkpop.

Goto Keyword Suggestion Tool:
http://inventory.goto.com/d/searchinventory/
This tool will help you research good keywords for your future website.

Actual Business Plan Series:
http://bedandbreakfast.hypermart.net
An actual business plan you can purchase for $35.

As you may know by now, there is a lot for aspiring innkeepers to explore, consider, and learn.  The information available at the websites above should help you get a good jump-start on opening your own inn.

Trent and Susan Blizzard own and operate Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc. They specialize in providing complete Internet Marketing packages to B&Bs: website design, website promotion, and website hosting.  Visit their website at www.bbinternet.com. Sign up for their monthly newsletter at newsletter.blizzardinternet.com if you want to be kept abreast of  developments on the Internet that affect B&Bs.