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Marketing Your Business

A Guide to Placing Your Business On The Map In Coal Country. 

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2019-08-01-12-52-www.riverworksmarketing

The Tug Valley Area CVB has created this website with the intention of marketing our local amenities for visitors with our primary two items being lodging facilities and restaurants . If you haven't seen it yet, please visit these links:
Lodging Facilities: https://www.visitcoalcountry.org/accomodations 
Restaurant Facilities: https://www.visitcoalcountry.org/places-to-eat
If your particular business says "details coming soon", it is because you have not supplied us with a 2-3 sentence "blurb" about your facility. Please, Please do this! You can contact us at our email located at the bottom of this page with that, as well as any information we may have that is incorrect. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


-Another suggestion/idea is to have a Facebook Business Page! We believe this is a very important step in getting the word out there that your place even exists. To create a Facebook Business Page, simply visit this link:

 https://www.facebook.com/pages/creation/?ref_type=comet_home 
 

Make sure you select the category on the left side titled "Business or Brand". Another important note is, whatever you do, do NOT create a personal facebook page and name it as your business. People used to do that because the Business Pages portion of Facebook did not exist. The biggest problem with this is personal pages get "capped" off at 5,000 friends whereas business pages can receive millions of followers with NO cap! Also, as your page grows, you can create a unique "@name", such as "@VisitCoalCountry" for your username. As of now, you must have 10 "Likes" on your page to do this, but that is easily achievable by inviting your friends to like your newly formed page. 

 

 

 

 

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-When it comes to social media, Facebook is the front-runner right now. For lodging/restaurant owners, we would certainly give some consideration to Instagram too though as its a great way to showcase your facility and the folks who stay/eat with you. Sign Up Here: https://www.instagram.com/accounts/emailsignup/?hl=en  Keep in mind, for continuity, we would undoubtedly recommend using the same username on ALL social media so that folks can easily find you on the social media sites you utilize. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


-Next in line behind social media is Trip Advisor! Folks utilize this service to read reviews and find out exactly what you offer. We would *highly* encourage you to get listed on Trip Advisor.  It's not difficult at ALL and 100% free. You can pay for additional advertising, etc, but just being listed is the big thing here. To sign up, visit this link: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Owners You will need to supply quite a bit of information regarding your rates/pricing/details about your business BUT once you've got it all entered, it's super easy to manage. 

 

 

 

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-Another outlet for people to find you is a Google Business Page. Again, another free service but think about how many folks use Google to research where they will stay/dine while on a trip. And it integrates with Trip Advisor to show your reviews to folks! To claim or create your Google Business Page go here: https://business.google.com/create?gmbsrc=ww-ww-et-gs-z-gmb-v-z-h~bhc-core-u%7Cmybb Additionally, by completing/claiming your listing, it will show up on Google Maps so then folks will actually be able to find you! That part is HUGE.

 

 

 

 

 

 


-Just as important as Google is; Yelp! Yelp is a business directory system that has both a web and app based presence that showcases reviews, photos, and information about various places....particularly lodging and food establishments. You can sign up for free here; https://biz.yelp.com/?source=consumer_site_header&utm_content=header&utm_medium=www&utm_source=cons_home 

-Hashtags! For those of you unfamiliar, these little "tags" help sort posts/photos/videos and more when posted to social media. Your local CVB (us!) like to use the following tags often;
-#VisitCoalCountry
-#LoveWilliamson
-#RideMingo 
-#AlmostHeaven 
-#HatfieldMcCoyTrails 
By utilizing these, when folks search through hashtags, they will see YOUR posts! 

-We want to include this link for folks who are gonna ask the question "So, now I have these social media pages, what should I post?". Britni Mullins with Fuel Travel has an awesome list of 80 ideas for things you can put up on your page. There are some great suggestions there and we encourage those of you who even consider yourself social media "gurus" to check this out; https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/social-media-post-ideas-hotels/ 

-Lastly, we want to mention Facebook Events. Once you've created a facebook business page, you can create events that your page can "host". It's super easy to set-up an event and you'll have a tab on your business page that says "Events" where you can create your listing. This is SO important to us at the CVB! Why? If your business is having a cookout, a trail ride, a big party, or ANYTHING, we can post it on our page (Keep in mind we have 4700+ followers and are continuing to grow!) and it will go out to all of our followers as well. WE can help you grow and spread the word on the awesome things you guys are doing. If you want to see an example of some events, check out our event page here; https://www.facebook.com/visitcoalcountry/events

So, If you don't have anything listed above, will it take some time to set it all up? You bet! But the end results will be SO worth it! Having your business out there visible for folks to find will benefit you greatly. If any of you have any questions at all in regards to any of the topics above, feel free to reach out to our email and we'll assist any way we can in getting you set-up and ready to "Rock n Roll"! 

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For Example, our Facebook/Instagram are both "@VisitCoalCountry"

Hotel/Motel Tax Information

The City of Williamson imposes a Hotel/Motel Occupancy Tax upon any and all hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts located within the city limits. Such tax is six percent (6%), and is to be levied by the hotel, motel, or bed and breakfast operator upon the consumer, and included as part of the consideration paid for the occupancy of the hotel, motel, or bed and breakfast room. 

The tax is to be collected by the operator and remitted monthly on the Hotel/Motel Occupancy Tax Return to the City Clerk's Office on or before the 15th day of the first calendar month following the month in which the tax was collected. Any operator who fails to file a return and pay the tax by the due date shall incur penalties of five percent the first month, and one percent for each additional month. 

Hotel or motel occupancy billed directly to the federal government or to any state or political subdivision shall be exempt from the hotel occupancy tax. However, rooms paid for by an employee of the federal government or by any employee of the state or political subdivision for which reimbursement is to be made, shall be subject to the tax. 

Starting a Tourism Business!

The tourism industry continues to grow across south-western West Virginia and we  encourage local entrepreneurs to consider opening businesses related to the tourism industry. These include places such as (but are not limited to);  
Hotels/Motels/Lodging, Restaurants/Bars, Off-Road Vehicle Rentals, Souvenir/Apparel Shops, Gas Stations/Convenience Stores, Fishing/Kayak Rentals, and more! 

If you're looking to open a business within the City Limits of Williamson, here are some useful links to get you started! 

CVB Requirements:

-Submit a Business Compliance Application to us!

Federal Requirements:

-Register for Employer Identification Number (EIN) through the IRS
(Alternatively, Sole Proprietors may use their Social Sec. Number)

State Requirements: 

-Register your business through the WV State Tax Department

-Register your business through the WV Secretary of State

City Requirements:

-Complete a Business License Application

-Complete Monthly Business & Occupation Tax Form

-Remit your 6% Hotel/Motel Tax Monthly

Do you have an event you'd like us to promote? Click this link and submit your information: 

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