Google Google

I might buy one of those things to make my expensive butter into curls - it looked good in somebody else's breakfast shot I was recently studying on TripAdvisor. But possibly that level of presentation might be a bit 'Surrey' for the middle of Dartmoor. Tongs for placing breakfast ingredients aesthetically though, are my new 'must'. 

All a bit academic really, since I wont have had a single guest to stay throughout January!

To me, though, of equal interest to the actual running of the B&B, is the marketing of it, and how Google is changing the world.

In my opinion, Google has transformed the selling process - and also, what can be sold.

Esteemed Partner's massage service, for instance.  Despite my best efforts, pushing the fact that what he does can be life changing in terms of relieving/stabilising chronic pain possibly for ever, while 'extras' are not an option, people are just refusing to buy into what he offers via the internet. I'm flogging a dead horse here.  Someone has just booked an appointment with him via his ad in the local parish magazine instead.  Much more appropriate.

Meanwhile X has asked me to use my SEO skills to get him up the order if you Google 'Consultant in Leadership'.  Well I cant do that!  This would mean pitting one private individual against multi-corporate-global-conglomerates!

On the other hand,  if you put "What can I do about my teenager?" into Google's search engine, up comes nothing.  NOTHING!! I am fascinated by this.  Just a few extracts from books.  No one offering personal or professional help, not even qualified children's psychologists! I mean what an opportunity!  Years ago X and I investigated this area, as he's so wonderful at communicating with/helping troubled children.  We thought we would aim our service at super-rich people like Madonna.  But how to find/approach them? Well, through Google it would now be a complete doddle!

Likewise, Ive another friend, who I know, first hand, provides the ultimate service in helping couples through marriage bust-up to emerge the other end having escaped the court process, vaguely satisfied with the financial outcome, and sharing a genuine, if somewhat rueful, respect and friendship. This chap thinks there is no opening for him in offering this kind of mentoring/mediating as a professional service, without years of training, ideally as a solicitor with subsequent experience. But through Google I think there is.  You could test the waters even using a fake name and making up an identity - just to see if there's a demand.  If no one is interested, you havent really lost anything. There must be millions of other ideas out there. Soooooooooo exciting! The potential! The possibilities!

Meanwhile,  still smug and complacent as you like with my Number 1 positioning, if you Google 'Luxury Dartmoor B&B', the implication is that this will create so much demand that I can probably dispense with the 15% commission required by booking agents such as LateRooms, and Booking.com.  I should now be able to go it alone for free, thanks to a wonderful combination of Google and TripAdvisor.  So very many thanks to all of you who have put such nice things about me, my family, dog and home on TripAdvisor.  Sometimes I am so touched by what you write that I almost shed a tear - certainly my eyes water!

So, yes - I am so absolutely great at all of this that I havent had a B&B customer for a month,  and Wydemeet remains free to be rented as a whole for all of its four 2014 slots.  What on earth am I feeling so smug about?