I'm thinking about joining California Beds, but I wonder if it is really worth it. Our advertising budget is limited, so why should I spend some of it on California Beds?
We have a no-risk money-back guarantee that gives you a full refund if you cancel within 60 days of starting your new membership, so you can try us at no risk. Even after those 60 days are up, you can cancel at anytime and get your membership fee refunded on a pro-rata basis calculated off of the remaining whole months of your subscription. So why not try us out? There is absolutely no risk to giving us a chance to prove to you that we can be a great marketing partner. With membership packages available starting at $5.95 a month, we have something for every budget level. For three more excellent reasons why you should join us, please check out our Innkeepers page.
The whole idea of uploading an image for my property listing makes me sweat. Can you help me?
YES! We are more than happy to help you with this step. You can either e-mail us an image at help@calbeds.com that you have that needs to be cropped and/or optimized for the web, or more simply you can just point us to a photo on your website that you would like us to take, crop, and optimize for your listing with us. Again, we are more than happy to help you with this process.
I would like to list with you here at California Beds, but I don't see my city on your website. Can you accommodate new cities?
Absolutely. First off, our website only shows cities that have listings in them, so if there are no listings in Calabasas for example, a link to that city page won't appear on the Southern Coast region page, or in the Browse area of the Search page. But if a new property joins and selects Calabasas as their Listing City, Calabasas will appear on our site in those two locations the very next day for our site visitors to find. When you join California Beds, please browse through our comprehensive Listing City menu in registration to find your city. In the event that you STILL don't find the city where you would like to list, either e-mail us at help@calbeds.com or write instructions in the NOTES section of the registration process to tell us the city that you'd like us to add, and we'll do it immediately.
I'd like to join, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what membership level is right for me. What are your recommendations?
With four membership levels starting at $5.95 a month, we have a package for every budget. Let me discuss the four membership levels below, and give you some thoughts to consider on each:
SILVER - Our basic membership level provides an important
presence on one of the leading California lodging websites for
just $5.95 a month, cost-effective enough for any advertising
budget. Silver membership provides a link to your property's website
as well as a phone number where visitors to California Beds can
call you. Book just one room night a year from a guest we sent
your way and you're already making money.
GOLD - Gold is our most popular membership level, which
at an affordable $9.95 a month provides you with a link to your
website, contact information, rate information, a property description,
and a property image. We've found that the additional details
of a property image, property description, and rate information
(which Silver membership does not offer), really increases click-through
to your website. Gold membership also allows you to post Lodging
Specials, which Silver does not. At only $9.95 a month, if we
send only one guest to you all year that rents only one room night
that you wouldn't have booked otherwise, you've earned your annual
membership costs back. Everything after that is gravy. For most
cities in California, a Gold membership will give you one of the
top listings for your city, but for more competitive destinations
you may want to consider Platinum or Diamond.
PLATINUM - The best use of a Platinum membership is for
those properties that want to guarantee strong exposure on a city
page that has a number of Gold and Silver members already. At
$19.95 a month a Platinum membership will earn you rotation in
the Featured Property slot on your city page (click
for example), and the top listing on all but the most competitive
few dozen cities in California. If there are no other Platinum
or Diamond members on your city page, you will have exclusive
placement in the Featured Property slot (which dramatically increases
click-through). Even if there are a couple other Platinum and
Diamond listings on your city page, you'll receive a share of
the Featured Property rotation and will still have a priority
listing for your property even when you are not in your Featured
Property rotation. A Platinum listing is a great investment in
the situation where a city page already has several listings,
and you want to have a priority presence.
DIAMOND - A Diamond membership provides a property with
a dominant presence on the California Beds website, not just on
their city page but also on their associated region page as well
as the homepage of the entire site. At $34.95 a month a Diamond
membership will earn a share of the Featured Property rotation
on the California Beds homepage, an extremely valuable piece of
real estate that guarantees a high number of visitors looking
for lodging in California. The Diamond membership also provides
a share of the Featured Property rotation on the member's region
page (e.g. Wine Country), as well
as a share of the Featured Property rotation on the member's city
page. Even when the property is not in is rotation in the Featured
Property slot on its city page, it will have one of the top, if
not the top, regular listing on that city page. While $ 34.95
represents a more significant investment, a truly dominant presence
on California Beds is earned. A Diamond membership is more typically
purchased by larger properties that want to lock in as much qualified
traffic of interested California travelers as possible.
FINAL THOUGHT - To help you make the right decision that is best
for your property and most cost-effective, take a moment to do
a little competitive analysis. Go to the city page where you plan
to list, and see what other properties are doing. If there is
nobody above a Silver listing, a Gold listing is enough to not
only ensure that you stand out with the additional details of
a property image and description, but will give the top position
on your city page. If there are many Gold and Silver listings,
you may want to consider a Platinum listing that will give you
not only a higher slot on the page than Gold and Silver, but will
give you a rotation in the Featured Property position on the city
page. Our research has shown that the "Featured Property" gets
a very high click-through rate, for the city level pages as well
as the region pages and homepage (Featured Property rotation on
region and home pages available for Diamond members only). Think
about your position competitively with the other properties on
your city page, and figure out the best "bang-for-you-buck."
What types of lodging properties do you accept here at California Beds?
The focus of California Beds is UNIQUE lodging properties. That means bed and breakfasts, inns, non-chain hotels, resorts, cabins, and lodges. This means that if you have a unique identity, like the Avalon Hotel on Catalina Island or the Cheshire Cat Inn, we'd love to have you. If you are the Hilton Santa Barbara, or any other chain property, California Beds is not the place for you.
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