Lay My Hat

It's not too much of an exaggeration to say that one can hardly buy a UK magazine these days without RR's gorgeous properties featured over full-colour pages: House Beautiful (April '08 ), Motor Boat and Yachting (June '08 ), Elle this month, p.154 Place in the Sun current (Sept.) issue (Holiday Let of the Month)....the list goes on.

So come on, RR - tell us all - how do you do it? Just a hint or two?

MG

So come on, RR - tell us all - how do you do it? Just a hint or two?

Oh MG Have you looked at her place/s.....

Think its self explanatory .....
Any chance of a link....... so I can have a looksee cos Im too tight/discerning to purchase a copy.
and by the time it gets into the dentists itll be a bit dogeared I reckon

Common Jenny tell poor MG all.............

and Once again Congratsxxxxxxxx

Mountain Goat wrote: So come on, RR - tell us all - how do you do it? Just a hint or two?

Well, thanks guys. No point kidding ourselves, 99% is down to the fact that we are in a holiday location which has attracted a fair bit of media interest over the past year or so, and the other 1% is sheer good luck.

If anyone feels they have a property which might be of interest to a home interiors type magazine, I'd be happy to pass your details on... no idea if anything will come of it, but worth a go?

PM me.

Yes, RR, many congratulations as that is no small undertaking !

Your places look absolutely stunning and it's no surprise at all that they've been featured.

Have the spreads generated any enquiries / bookings ? Even if not, it's all fantastic PR and if you ever wanted a career- change - I don't think you'd have any problems in the world of interior design !

ATB
Beanie

RR, what do you think have been the results of such a lot of publicity?
Has the demand been such that you can increase your rates significantly for 2009? or that you have significantly more bookings than before the publicity?
Our neighbour's property features regularly in the French national press & demand goes up during the shelf life of the various magazines/newspapers - but she finds that this demand is for periods that would have been booked anyway. Her prices are no higher than her competitors'.
So: is it worth trying to get this publicity in the UK press?

Good God! You only have to blink and bingo, RR has dunnit again! Well done Rab! I'm on my way to bask in your reflected glory!

olive wrote:RR, what do you think have been the results of such a lot of publicity?
Has the demand been such that you can increase your rates significantly for 2009? or that you have significantly more bookings than before the publicity? .... is it worth trying to get this publicity in the UK press?

Hi Olive,

Oops, I owe you a belated reply.... Good question, but not an easy one to answer. By the time the features appeared, two out of three of our properties were pretty fully booked for summer 09 anyway. So although the articles probably did generate more demand (how much?), I really can't judge their impact on bookings. A few people have mentioned they saw the write-ups, especially the one in Elle, and I think we have probably had, say, 2 or 3 reservations as a direct result of that mention, but, tbh, we might have been able to fill the dates anyway. What I do notice is an obvious increase in visits to our website....and that can't be a bad thing. But our third property, and the most expensive one, still has good availability for summer 09, so whilst the publicity is great, obviously, maybe it's not quite enough to swing things (at this early stage)?

As Beanie says, it's all wonderful PR and I'd never turn down the opportunity of a mention, even though a full feature is quite hard work (you have to be there on the day, "dress" the house, answer questions, etc..), and there seems to be no guarantee of being published. I am still wondering whether a feature for 25 Beautiful Homes, originally scheduled for this summer, will appear, or has been abandoned....

Anyway, if and when we ever get to selling, a couple of glossies to spread before prospective buyers might just nudge Mr and Mrs Purchaser into signing on the dotted line.... fingers crossed, anyway!

Hi RR

All v. interesting and appreciate what you say about the publishing cycles.

However, I would strongly advise you to have all the features scanned and put them up on your website for all future enquirers to read about (apart from any future buyers !).

Perhaps have a 'press' or 'news' page and avoid overtly dating the articles i.e. - don't say 'as featured in Elle, Aug 08', as that will quickly date - just say 'as featured (or whatever wording you choose' in Elle, Yacht & Boat' etc,. Have the articles in some kind of form that makes them easy to read in full - perhaps a simple Adobe pdf.

I have this kind of thing on my business website and I can see from the stats that these pages are the ones that are often one of the first enquirers go to and seem to stay on for ages, indicating they're reading them through.

I would imagine that well written prose and even more beautiful photos of your places will do a lot more to drag in the punters than a few reviews on HR will do !

All the best with it and congrats again on pulling off some great coverage.

Beanie

Hi Jenny

Great ideas from Beanie[as usual]

Have you thought of a blog??
It would be a great place to show this sort of thing off,
and lots of people seem to think that they bring in visits to your website[not that I understand all that stuff].
but I understand you have lovely places[as anyone can see] and as much exposure as possible would be a good thing.....
You could have all the photos and articles.
I do think at times ,youre a really modest Wabitt, and you really shouldnt be,you have so much to shout about....and were all ears!!

Take Care....Love Rosxxxxxx

Great advice from you both girls - she is too modest, I agree.


Go for it RR - as I've said before, if you've got it, flaunt it! Strobes, neon - the works!

Thank you, Ros , and thank you, Beanie, for your kind words and helpful ideas. I really must get those features scanned and post them on the website - I haven't, as yet , and that is just silly. For blog-challenged rabbits, a simple "press" page addition to the website could be the way to go (bit less time-consuming perhaps, Ros?). The tip about not dating features too overtly is excellent, Beanie. I can see why it's a no-no, but I'm not sure I would have thought of it.

Tee hee, just caught your post in time, GG, i.e. pre-Submit, so no fiddly editing Thanks! ( but see you couldn't resist the Edit button!!! That made me laugh!)

Rocket Rab wrote: I really must get those features scanned and post them on the website

Update: They should be up there, now, and just wanted to finish with a warm thank you to everyone on and off this thread who helped nudge me there with good advice, encouragement and, er, logos

Fluff that fur out Rab - you should be really proud - your Press page & features look fab !

Well Done Rabbit, you clever thing.
and the logos look great, really add something.....[after my little previewing this morning]

Good for you

Clicking on the logos just gives me a blank page Rabbit!