The Bed and Breakfast Academy Podcast
by Karen Thorne
Running a B&B is that job that many people dream of. You get to be your own boss, work from home and escape from the stress of the 9-5. Karen Thorne, founder and owner of B&B Academy and award winning B&B owner, shares all the secrets of starting up, running and marketing a successful B&B, getting 5 stars reviews whilst creating a lifestyle you'll love
Episodes
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#30 - 7 Things the Bed and Breakfast Owners Will Never Agree on
7 Things B&B Owners Will Never Agree On Running a bed and breakfast means making hundreds of tiny decisions — and discovering that not all B&B owners agree on how to do things. In this episode, Karen Thorne of Bed and Breakfast Academy takes a light-hearted look at seven topics that divide even…
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#29 Social Media for B&B Owners: It's Not All About Direct Bookings
Social Media for B&B Owners: It’s Not All About Direct Bookings Learn how to use social media as a tool to connect with guests, showcase your B&B’s personality, and build lasting relationships—without relying on it for direct bookings. B&B expert Karen Thorne of Bed and Breakfast Academy shares…
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#28 - Real-Life Tales from Running a Bed and Breakfast (and What You Can Learn)
Real-Life Tales from Running a Bed and Breakfast (and What You Can Learn) In this festive episode, I share some of the funniest and most memorable moments from my 17 years of running an award-winning B&B in Shropshire. From spider mishaps to dog antics, and even a few guest mix-ups, this...
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#27: Behind the Scenes of Running a B&B with Kate O’Donovan | Bed and Breakfast Academy
Behind the Scenes of Running a B&B with Kate O’Donovan | Bed and Breakfast Academy In this episode, I’m joined by Kate O’Donovan, owner of Maple Bank B&B in the stunning UK Lake District and a graduate of my B&B Academy course. Kate shares her journey from corporate life to running a thriving...
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#26 Choosing the Right Online Booking Engine for Your B&B with Heather Scott of Freetobook
Choosing the Right Online Booking Platform for Your B&B | Bed and Breakfast Academy Join me as I chat with Heather Scott from the International Booking Engine Platform, Freetobook, about the key considerations when selecting an online booking platform for your bed and breakfast. Heather shares…
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#25 What to Put in Your Guest Welcome Basket
Join me as I share my experience on creating a memorable welcome basket for your B&B guests. With over 17 years of experience running my own B&B and training hundreds of B&B owners since 2006, I provide practical tips and ideas to enhance your guest experience, ensuring they become loyal and…
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#24 The Importance of Knowing Your B&B Guest - Marketing Tip #9
Welcome to the B&B Academy podcast. I'm Karen, the founder and owner of Bed and Breakfast Academy, helping aspiring and existing B&B owners to create a B&B lifestyle you'll love living with guests who become loyal fans and keep returning. Visit the Bed and Breakfast Academy Website for more...
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#23 Turn a Negative Review into a Marketing Opportunity
Welcome to the B&B Academy podcast. I'm Karen, the founder and owner of Bed and Breakfast Academy, helping aspiring and existing B&B owners to create a B&B lifestyle you'll love living with guests who become loyal fans and keep returning. In today's episode, I share practical steps to take…
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#22 Making Effective Use of Your B&B Websites
Welcome to the B&B Academy podcast. I'm Karen, the founder and owner of Bed and Breakfast Academy, helping aspiring and existing B&B owners to create a B&B lifestyle you'll love living with guests who become loyal fans and keep returning. In today's episode, I share practical steps to take…
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#21 Using FAQs to Create Marketing Content for your B&B
For more information about Bed and Breakfast Academy visit the website here In this episode, Karen delves into the power of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for your B&B. Learn how a well-crafted FAQ page not only streamlines guest inquiries but becomes a marketing goldmine. From handling policy...
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#20 How to Organise your B&B Marketing Content
Welcome to the B&B Academy podcast. I'm Karen, the founder and owner of Bed and Breakfast Academy, helping aspiring and existing B&B owners to create a B&B lifestyle you'll love living with guests who become loyal fans and keep returning. In today's episode, I share practical steps to take…
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#19 Take Control of your Bed and Breakfast Marketing in 2024
In this episode, Karen shares her insights on how to take control of your B&B marketing and increase direct bookings. She emphasizes the importance of adopting authentic marketing strategies that not only yield positive results but also bring joy to the process. Karen challenges the common...
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#18 What makes a good bed and breakfast? 10 tips for running a successful B&B
What makes a good bed and breakfast? 10 tips for running a successful B&B When I was setting up my own bed and breakfast, my focus was very much on those added extras that would turn it into something special; the very expensive welsh blanket, the eggs benedict at breakfast and the huge brass bed...
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#17 How to prepare your B&B for the quiet season
In this podcast, I'm chatting about getting your B&B ready for the low season. If you're running a bed and breakfast in the Northern Hemisphere, chances are your business is slowing down for winter or maybe you're closing altogether until spring. Whether you're just getting fewer guests or taking…
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#16 Do you have to do a room tidy when your B&B guests are staying more than one night?
When bed and breakfasts opened following the first Covid lockdown, many B&B owners, myself included, stopped offering the room tidy. Now Covid rules are being relaxed and life is starting to feel a bit more normal - in the UK at least. There have been a few discussions in my Facebook Group for...
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#15 10 Creative Ideas for Reels to Help you Promote your Bed and Breakfast
If you’re a bed and breakfast owner looking to do more of your own business marketing and reducing your reliance on the online travel agencies, then reels can be a really effective way to showcase your business. In this blog post, I’m going to give you 10 creative ideas for using reels to promote...
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#14 Setting Smart Goals for Your B&B: Achieving Success Step-by-Step
It’s that time of year when many of us are thinking about New Year's resolutions and personal goals. But it’s also important to take some time out to reflect on and set goals for our business too. When I was running my B&B, I was guilty of having a wishlist in my head of things I'd like to happen...
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#13 How to get more recommendations for your bed and breakfast
It’s Karen here, I’m the owner and founder of Bed and Breakfast Academy. I provide training and ongoing support to aspiring and existing bed and breakfast owners, helping them create a B&B lifestyle they’ll love living, with guests who become repeat fans! In this week’s podcast, I discuss the…
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#12 How to cut costs and generate more income at your bed and breakfast
With increases in the cost of living; energy bills, fuel, food and supplier costs increasing, many bed and breakfast owners are bracing themselves for potentially difficult winter. Whilst we have little control over rising costs, now is the time to be thinking about taking positive action to help...
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#11 How to stay fit as a bed and breakfast owner with special guest, Ollie Halliday of Be Mobile Physio
How to stay fit as a bed and breakfast owner, especially as you get older. This week's podcast episodes is a bit of a step away from talking about B&Bs, but it really is relevant for bed and breakfast owners, especially those of us who are over 55, even if you're not a B & B owner and never…
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#10 Why it's important to understand who your ideal B&B guest is
Buying or setting up a B&B is not a cheap business so you need to do your research very thoroughly to ensure you’re not about to make a very expensive mistake. If you’re having to borrow money to acquire your business, you will have to prove to the lender that it will be a viable business and…
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#09 The 8 Mistakes I made starting up a bed and breakfast
In this podcast I talk you through one of the most popular posts on my Bed and Breakfast Academy Blog - the Top 8 Mistakes I made when starting a bed and breakfast. You can read the blog post here >> Top 8 Mistakes I made when starting up my B&B I’ve set up 4 B&B rooms in the 16 years I’ve been...
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#08 The 10 Essential elements of bed and breakfast design with Alicia Storie
I had a very enjoyable morning last week when I was joined by Alicia Storie, who is the founder of A Design Storie. She is an award winning eco conscious interior designer who specialises in designing short term lets and bed and breakfasts. Alicia creates eye catching interior renovations to make...
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#07 How to reduce food waste at your bed and breakfast
As the spotlight is very much on the environment at the moment, I thought it might be useful to look at how to reduce food waste at your B&B. Find out more about the live mini workshop I'm running for aspiring B&B owners >>> First steps to owning a bed and breakfast >>> First steps to owning a…
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#06 How to respond to a negative review for your bed and breakfast
It's difficult not to take it personally when you receive a negative review about your bed and breakfast. But you can turn a bad review into a great B&B marketing opportunity. In this episode I discuss ways of not taking it personally when you receive a review, turning it to you advantage and...
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#05 The Pros and Cons of Running a Bed and Breakfast
Running a bed and breakfast can be an amazing and fun lifestyle. But like any business it can also come with its own problems and it's not for everyone. In this episode I talk through the main pros and cons of running a B&B. Further blog posts you may find useful: Setting boundaries at your B&B…
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#04 Is running a bed and breakfast the right business for you?
In this week's episode I'm going to share the things you need to consider when deciding whether running a bed and breakfast is the right business for you. You'll find the free download I mentioned here 👉 get the free guide Find out more about the Online B&B Training here 👉 How to set up, run…
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#03 Taking time out from your B&B . With Clare Wright of the School House B&B
In this episode, I'm joined by Clare Wright, who runs the School House B&B in Shropshire with her husband Dave. Clare and I chat about setting a B&B up from scratch, why it's so important to your business to take time out and the importance in organisation and structure when marketing your B&B.…
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#02 Where to get inspiration for your own Bed and Breakfast
In this week's podcast I discuss how I found inspiration for my own B&B, share a confession about staying at B&Bs and also let you in on something a bit personal about my weekend. You can listen here... or you can read the transcript below
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#01 Starting up a bed and breakfast - what's it really like? With Claire Byrne of The Corner Broadstairs
Join Karen, owner of Bed and Breakfast Academy, and Claire Byrne, owner of The Corner, Broadstairs to find out what it's like to set up a brand new B&B. You can follow Clare on Instagram here --> The Corner Broadstairs Find out about the B&B Academy Training Course here --> Learn how to set up…
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About this show
Running a B&B is that job that many people dream of. You get to be your own boss, work from home and escape from the stress of the 9-5. Karen Thorne, founder and owner of B&B Academy and award winning B&B owner, shares all the secrets of starting up, running and marketing a successful B&B, getting 5 stars reviews whilst creating a lifestyle you'll love
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Karen Thorne
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