Lay My Hat

Excellent initiative Rosie. I'm delighted to have just added a photo to the south of England album. Many thanks and best of luck with it. Hope it grows very quickly.

arkvilla wrote:I requested to join but have just realised it doesn't include USA - is there a reason it is restricted to certain countries?

I joined and then 'unjoined' for that reason. I applaud the initiative but it doesn't touch my market.

Out of interest why is it a closed group?

Thanks Rosie, I just joined using my personal fb profile, should I have used my gite fb profile?

Marks wrote:Out of interest why is it a closed group?

Closed groups allow you to select who joins so you can filter out spammers etc. It still comes up in a search.

Pen wrote:Thanks Rosie, I just joined using my personal fb profile, should I have used my gite fb profile?

You can only join form your personal profile and then link to our business profile and webpage when you add your photos to albums or post on the wall.

Okay - a bit of very early feedback ... if this group takes off with owners (which it probably will!), it's going to get very large and potentially unwieldy - I'm just imagining the scenario where someone looking for accommodation then has to plough through over twenty categories (more when area specific albums get created) to find the type of accommodation and area they're interested in ...

I can't help wondering whether separate groups for each country might be the way to go ... after all, most accommodation seekers know which country they want to go to, even if they're not fixed on the specific area. The whole gamut of groups could be referenced on the main page of each group. So to begin with there could be UK, France, Spain (possibly Spain and Portugal) maybe 'non Europe' as well.

Nemo wrote:

Marks wrote:Out of interest why is it a closed group?

Closed groups allow you to select who joins so you can filter out spammers etc. It still comes up in a search.

Sorry early morning slightly hungover head on. What is the criteria to join or be rejected?

I have to be logged into Facebook to see anything. Would you not want the page to be public without the need to be logged into Facebook? Apparently not everyone has a Facebook account

Thanks Rosie - great idea and request sent.
Jan

Although the group is closed the posts should be public no?

Of course right now they're not offering other countries so maybe that's not a concept they want to run with? I think the current admin are UK and France owners, hence the focus on these two countries.

However looking after that many groups would be daunting; really you'd need a minimum of two admin for each group. It would also dilute the member numbers which doesn't help the growth.

I know the numbers are small currently, but as yet I've only seen owner posts not guest requests or comments.

Marks wrote:

Nemo wrote:

Marks wrote:Out of interest why is it a closed group?

Closed groups allow you to select who joins so you can filter out spammers etc. It still comes up in a search.

Sorry early morning slightly hungover head on. What is the criteria to join or be rejected?

I have to be logged into Facebook to see anything. Would you not want the page to be public without the need to be logged into Facebook? Apparently not everyone has a Facebook account

The group is for UK and France currently. I've no idea what criteria the admin have set, but believe me as the group grows you will get spammers and you need a mechanism to chuck them out for good, which a closed group gives you.

Posts in a closed group can only be seen by the members, so yes this is aimed at Facebook users. https://www.facebook.com/help/220336891328465

Thank you Nemo for trying to clarify what our group is about and why. I won't bore you all with all the details as to why we have set it up like this other than to say it is what suits us and our needs at this current time. Please do all still add your ideas and input and we will certainly take them on board.

Obviously there is nothing to stop anyone else creating their own group to promote properties in their country or niche if they want to

Marks wrote: Sorry early morning slightly hungover head on. What is the criteria to join or be rejected?

Anyone can join because holiday home owners also look for holidays. However to add your property to the albums and post on the wall you must have a cottage/gite or B&B in either the UK or France. Anyone posting to links that are not in these countries will be asked to stop and if they refuse they will be removed from the group. Oh and static caravans are not allowed to post but an owner can join should they want to look for a cottage/B&B holiday.

I am admin on lots of groups, and if a group is closed only members of the group can see the posts

When someone tequests to join it is down to the admin of thr group to look at the profile of the person to see if it is a 'real' person, I am strict on all the groups I admiin, it is usually quite easy to see if they are spammers or not.

The groups I admin are Orlando related and are fantastic groups and I get the majority of my bookings from the groups - I have just 8 weeks available for this year and have bookings for 2016 and 2017

Social medial is the way forward for owners to deal directly with their potential guests and being ab;e to see both the page and the owner profile is a big plus point