" Marketing plans always have to reach
for the sky -- even when budgets are down to earth. That's the beauty of the six winners
of this year's Microsoft Publisher/Home Office Computing Most Innovative Business
Marketing Awards. Each has marshaled and stretched the limited resources typical of a
small business to cover a full spectrum of activities. (Link Resources estimates that
small businesses budget an average of $2300 a year for marketing.)
Meet this year's winners who have mixed original business concepts with imaginative
marketing that relies heavily on in-house desktop publishing for its success. .....
"
" Marcy Tudor: Weatherbury Farm
Marcy Tudor may be more cash-challenged than bigger-budgeted hotels and resorts,
but she's every bit as skilled in the art of destination marketing. Her approach to
enticing guests and building the image of the 104-acre working-farm-cum-bed-and-breakfast
that she started with husband Dale and son Nigel in 1992 more closely resembles that of a
much larger lodging operation than a typical B&B.
Although Tudor integrates standard B&B marketing techniques -- listing the farm
with local tourist promotion agencies and in travel guidebooks as well as direct mail --
it's the collective impact of many unique personal touches that has helped create a
business with a close to 50 percent repeat clientele for the Avella, Pennsylvania,
B&B.
From the personal welcoming letter to the schedule of activities that starts with
the breakfasts they prepare and eat with guests and includes farm tours, the Tudors strive
to make guests feel as if they're staying with friends. Weatherbury, unlike many B&Bs,
genuinely encourages guests to bring their children, so that they can share the experience
of being 'farm from the madding crowd.'
Tudor's enchantment with desktop publishing has fueled her passion for whimsical
(livestock birth announcements and personalized labels for guest-pressed cider) and
practical (a complimentary and extensive guidebook to the farm and its surrounding area
and gift certificates) collaterals. In addition to the current bounty of image-reinforcing
promotional items, she's drafting a cookbook and stationery.
But the true key to Weatherbury Farm's success may rest in its owner's attitude.
'It's a lifestyle, not a business' Marcy Tudor says."
