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By Scott and Allison Crumpton
"Can B&B associations survive?" The quick and dirty answer
you'll hear from most everyone is, "of course." But as we delve
deeper, we find a more important question, "can B&B associations
thrive?" Unlike surviving, this outcome is less certain.
It is our belief that B&B associations not only can survive but they
can also thrive. However, there is a distinct difference between "can
survive" and "will survive."
For over a decade, B&B associations have done well for their members.
However, during the last year we have seen changes in the industry, which
have caused us to look critically upon associations and contemplate their
future. Associations have many inherent strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately,
it is their weaknesses, which have become more prevalent of late and their
strengths, which have been ignored.
There are many reasons why B&B associations were created: strength
in numbers, camaraderie, quality standards, shared information/education,
lobbying efforts, industry recognition and most importantly, cooperative
marketing. All of these strengths have served the industry well to one
degree or another. From the small local associations to the formal state
associations and all the way up to national organizations such as PAII
(Professional Association of Innkeepers International) and Select Registry,
each enjoys one or more of these strengths.
Strengths aside, over the last year the weaknesses of B&B associations
has risen to the surface and caused waves. Managing these weaknesses can
easily mean the difference between thriving and simply surviving. Unless
steps are taken to rectify the problems, associations will swiftly slide
into mediocrity.
Traditionally, associations were quick to adopt cooperative marketing
especially in the form of printed member brochures and directories. Over
the years, these directories became the centerpiece of their marketing
efforts and were continuously updated and improved. Eventually, many of
them were made full color, put together by professionals and some even
included advertising. Unfortunately, many associations have not followed
the same path with regard to Internet marketing. While individual innkeepers
were some of the early adopters of web advertising, associations have
lagged behind. This is not to say that associations do not have web sites;
they certainly do. The problem is that they have not followed the same
successful evolutionary path as their printed directory.
Specifically, many state associations spend upwards of $10,000 annually
on their printed brochure but rely on volunteer webmasters for their web
site. The printed brochure is carefully scrutinized and professionally
put together and printed while the web site is put together by an amateur.
Even when a professional is hired for either design or promotion of the
web site, the budget for Internet marketing does not come near that of
the printed guide. Often, it is under budgeted. When you consider that
many innkeepers claim over 80% of their reservations come from the Internet
you have to wonder at the lack of vision. Print isn't dead yet but it's
certainly not doing nearly as well when you consider the bang for the
buck (take it from me - a former B&B Guide Print Publisher!). Print
is expensive, time consuming, out-of-date when it hits the street, nearly
impossible to update and used less and less frequently with every passing
day.
Once the benefits of a proper Internet marketing campaign for an association
is understood, it's hard to argue against. However, some innkeepers simply
haven't caught the vision and are choosing to do things the way they always
have. If not corrected, this attitude can do the association great harm
in the long run.
So, let's quickly discuss a plan of action which leads to success for
associations.
1. Hold a meeting and allocate a budget. The budget should be
at least $3,000 for a state association and $1,000 for a local association.
Note, I said "at least" not "at most" as these are
bare minimums. When you nickel and dime, all you get is small change
and quite frankly, big change is usually necessary! If you can double
these numbers, you'll see a much greater return. Steal the funds from
the printed guidebook - you won't be sorry you did.
2. Form a committee of the top three Internet marketers in
your association and put one of the three in charge. This individual
will act as the liaison with all vendors. Please, please, please - do
not pick people who do everything themselves as this does not make them
experts. As a matter of fact, this will be counterproductive. The people
you're looking for are those who have knowledge of all the issues and
then hire professionals to do their work.
3. Hire an expert in B&B Internet marketing either as a
consultant or to handle the entire project. This person or company should
have at least 100 clients to their name. If they don't, then this probably
isn't their primary line of work.
4. Take their advice.
5. Use the web site not as a place for every member to have
their own web page but as a tool, which serves to drive potential guests
back to each member's individual web site. In other words, keep it simple
and direct.
6. Once a professional designs the site, promote it through
the paid search engines. This is where the majority of association web
sites are having trouble - they still think promotion on the Internet
is free which is why traffic to their web site is dropping off. If you
want visitors - you have to pay to get them.
7. If you are having trouble finding qualified officers, hire
a management company. Lois Cleveland of Association Management Services
(http://www.association-management.com)
currently takes care of roughly six state associations and does a wonderful
job. If your state association is struggling, this is one very good
solution to the problem.
B&B associations will most likely always survive. However, we would
personally like to see them thrive. Internet marketing can do for associations
today what print advertising did for them over the last twenty years if
association leaders will see this, take action and quickly evolve their
organizations. This is not an expensive proposition and the pay offs will
be incredible both now and in the future.
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