Oooh, look... some magazine coverage!

Using press and magazine advertising, brochures, mailings - old hat or still cost-effective?
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kendalcottages
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Post by kendalcottages »

Thanks, TC. That's the main shot we use, but we could definitely improve on it.

Unfortunately also, they cropped top and bottom which meant they cropped out the view of Kendal Castle in the version they used in the magazine. The original image is like this:

Image

Would definitely look betting on a 'blue sky day'.
Kendal Holiday Cottages Ltd., Kendal, Cumbria - between the Lake District & the Yorkshire Dales.
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Jimbo
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Post by Jimbo »

Image Image

Sometimes, adding a bit of warmth and contrast via photoshop can be a useful holding operation until you can re-shoot. But it's hard to disguise winter foliage and grey river water without major and expensive reconstruction work. My clients sometimes ask if I can make a picture shot on a dull day look as if the sun was shining ("can't you put some blue in the sky and up the contrast") and my heart always sinks ("can't you make the deadlines less tight, so I can choose decent weather").

Jim
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Topcat
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Post by Topcat »

Ooh yes, a definite improvement. But it looks great anyway. You can't go wrong with river frontage like that.

TC
Debut novelist at http://tinyurl.com/or89jle

http://wivenhoewriters.blogspot.co.uk/
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Topcat
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Post by Topcat »

KC, I've just been having a look, and if you click on 'dressing table in the master bedroom' it comes up as a shower head.
Just thought you'd like to know.

TC
Debut novelist at http://tinyurl.com/or89jle

http://wivenhoewriters.blogspot.co.uk/
Contributor to anthology 'In a Word: Murder'
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kendalcottages
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Post by kendalcottages »

Thanks, Jimbo... that's a marked improvement. It'd never occurred to me to tinker with it in Photoshop as I've always planned to get around to re-shooting it, but something like that would have been a good temporary solution.

I don't know when I'm going to get to re-shoot as right now we're getting our fair share of rain, as we did this time last year.

You might be interested to see what Kendal was like this time last year - including our apartment building.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1 ... 15c33b0256

This must have been just a month or so before we bought... are we crazy? :lol:

PS - Thanks, TC... will get that fixed some time.
Kendal Holiday Cottages Ltd., Kendal, Cumbria - between the Lake District & the Yorkshire Dales.
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Topcat
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Post by Topcat »

Wow! Well I did say you can't beat a river view!

TC
Debut novelist at http://tinyurl.com/or89jle

http://wivenhoewriters.blogspot.co.uk/
Contributor to anthology 'In a Word: Murder'
pujols
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EDITORIAL COVER FROM UK

Post by pujols »

Since we have been open....WHICH is now more than 2 years I have written to hundreds of journalists inviting them to taste and tell.
As we are in the heart of the wine country and we had a history of accolades for our cuisine in London I thought that this could begin to create possabilities.....NOT A SAUSAGE
We have a very fine and comfortable property with large and cosy rooms. We teach modern and traditional cuisine.
We have had truely great reviews on trip adviser....ONE posted on the 10th nov 2010 was my fav.
I have looked at every angle you can imagine....AND BEYOND
Trying to continue the dev eloppement of weddings in the local chateaux and we have an idea which I am developing....IT IS a little different but requires PRESS SUPPORT.
Would like to reach the press in Belguim and Holland.
Wedding market.
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Normandie
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Post by Normandie »

You probably need a PR person to present your case. I'm not saying that you can't achieve coverage without professional help but you've obviously tried and haven't.

Yes, there's a cost associated there but PR people get sent requests from journalists to provide them with leads to appropriate properties / companies etc when they are planning a feature. Much easier for an owner to get a feature when a journalist is actively looking for information rather than be pushing details at them when they aren't.

Maybe ring a couple of magazines and ask them to recommend PR companies they use?
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Jimbo
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Re: EDITORIAL COVER FROM UK

Post by Jimbo »

pujols wrote: I have written to hundreds of journalists inviting them to taste and tell. ..... NOT A SAUSAGE
You could, of course, go the cynical but time-honoured route of first taking paid advertising with some suitable publications and reach a tacit agreement that editorial coverage will follow. Nothing gets tired hacks off their backsides faster than a firm prod from their advertising department (who, in effect, pay the hacks' wages). In my experience, most editorial coverage is now thinly-disguised advertising copy and bears no relation to traditional news gathering and reportage in the public interest.
You probably need a PR person to present your case.
Choose carefully. Charlatans are not unknown in the PR industry. I believe that Margaret hired a PR company to publicise her recent award and promised to report back in due course? Might have some interesting insights?

Jim
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Normandie
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Re: EDITORIAL COVER FROM UK

Post by Normandie »

Jimbo wrote:Choose carefully. Charlatans are not unknown in the PR industry.
Absolutely. Which is why any PR already needs to have contacts in the home, gardens, cookery, travel industry and which is why a possible starting point might be to ask magazine feature departments who they use. PR companies are probably finding times difficult at the moment so are likely to say anything to get business, even if it is business they are not really placed - or motivated - to promote.

But also, when a PR company takes on work, results aren't necessarily spotted immediately. Some opportunties can be created, others have to be seized as they come up and some opportunities take their time arriving. That's not the case for major companies and brands, of course - they can create their own coverage. It's a bit more difficult for a small enterprise like a b&b, no matter how worthy.
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Aldo
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Post by Aldo »

It's great to see your property in print. Congrats.
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kendalcottages
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Post by kendalcottages »

Thanks, Aldo. :)
Kendal Holiday Cottages Ltd., Kendal, Cumbria - between the Lake District & the Yorkshire Dales.
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