Hey farmer farmer

InsideOut clients are thinking green!

Put away that D.D.T. now
Give me

Spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.

- Joni Mitchell

Man, even Joni Mitchell was thinking green!

A couple months ago, we asked our clients: “What do you do for mother earth as a business owner?”

The response was overwhelming and wonderful! We learned  that many of our clients are very eco-conscious.

Gathered here are some of the different efforts taken by our clients to stay green and keep the health of the earth on the forefront. This is just a small example of what these businesses and others around the nation are doing to think green and lessen our impact on this beautiful blue planet.

Salisbury House - Seattle, WA

• Soap and shampoo dispensers in showers save on packaging
• Food waste is composted
• The garden is pesticide-free
• Recycling facilities on property for guests to use.

Morgan Hill Retreat - Poulsbo, WA

• Use of fragrance-free and green cleaning products
• Produce their own eggs
• Their farm is pesticide-free. All food waste goes to farm animals or into compost which is then used in the gardens

Max Welding - Sequim, WA

• The company makes compost unit parts and bio diesel parts

Justin Trails Resort - Sparta, WI

• A certified green business by Travel Green Wisconsin.
• Native species landscaping
• Recycling
• Food waste is composted

Ramsey Canyon Inn - Hereford, AZ

• All gray shower water is used to water the orchard
• Shampoo, conditioner and shower gel dispensers in the showers save on waste
• Use local organic ingredients for breakfast, afternoon pie, and coffee service

Solglimt - Duluth, MN

• Use of low energy and LED lights throughout inn
• Environmentally friendly, phosphate free cleaning products
• Shampoo, conditioner and soap dispensers in showers to reduce waste
• Recycling program on property for guest use as well
• 100% cotton towels and sheets, reducing the use of petrochemicals
• Use Fair Trade coffee and tea
• 6″ thick wall insulation and 12-16″ thick attic insulation to reduce heating and cooling costs and energy expenditure
• Used recycled materials such as old sandstone street curbs and cobblestones in landscaping
• Gardens are pesticide-free and food grown at Solglimt is organically grown

Lookout Point Inn - Hot Springs, AR

• Insulation made with recycled newspaper particles
• Biodegradable detergents and cleansers are used
• Recycling baskets provided in all guest rooms
• Compact Florescent bulbs used throughout the inn
• Replanting to maintain topsoil and discourage erosion
• Linens no longer in use are given to staff or local charity

Wow! Isn’t that amazing?! We are so proud of our clients, and encourage everyone to pitch in and do their part for the earth and the next generation set to inherit this beautiful place.

“Wait, Charlie! You can’t use your hands in soccer!”

“Hey Charlie - don’t pick the dandelions! Keep your eye on the ball! No, no, don’t lay down! Oh, Charlie!”

That’s about how it sounds at a 3 to 6 year-old soccer game. The game mainly consists of a lot of running (hopefully in the right direction), tripping over each other in excitement, trying to remember which way your goal is, and of course totally losing focus in favor of picking flowers or laying down on the grass for a while.

But that is all part of the fun of coaching a team of tots playing “the beautiful game”. Even Pele was a 3-year-old, once. The head of our web department, Jeff Logan, coached these 3 to 6 year-olds this year, including his son Charlie. The team was sponsored by InsideOut.

They had a lot of fun, started to learn the basics of the game of soccer (dribbling, passing, shooting goals, making daisy chains) and most important, how to work as a team. We are happy to support a constructive past time for youths and feel these kind of organizations are important for a healthy community.

The InsideOut sponsored 3 to 6 year-old soccer team, coached by Jeff Logan on the right.

InsideOut Solutions has always been committed to the locality in which we reside - we have done pro bono marketing and print projects for some of the community organizations here on the Olympic Peninsula, like the Boys and Girls club and the Irrigation Festival. Sponsoring a youth soccer team is a great way to give back - and fun to boot!

Check out three new case studies on the InsideOut Web site! Okay, we’re not talking Freud here people - but these case studies might give you an idea or two about making your dreams a design reality!

We like to post case studies so that folks get an in-depth take on how we go about the various aspects of new Web site creation. There are many steps involved in the process, and, to quote a great mind here in the office “our work on a website is never truly finished”.

We when design a client’s new Web site there are some key aspects to our design process: A cohesive look must be created throughout the web site and print materials. This is called “branding”.

We like to create a website that will give visitors a feel for the inn before they ever leave their computers. Whether it is a sophisticated Victorian home, a mountainous country ranch or a tropical island paradise, our designs will transport you there.

Another aspect of our design process that is oh so important is our built-in search engine optimization. When we design a website, we make sure that body text, titles and meta tags already contain a structure that will allow for great search engine placement and make it easy for further improvement by our promotion team. We are careful to maintain links to the old site in the newly designed site so that page rank and ever so important link building is not lost.

WARNING: Our designs are known to infiltrate the subconscious, you may be dreaming of your new web site after visiting one of our case studies!

We are pleased to share that one of our clients has been recognized as being part of the top ten bed and breakfast towns!

Solglimt, in Duluth, Minnesota is an amazing facility on the waters of Lake Superior. Located on an intimate seven miles of sandy beaches, Solgilmt is welcoming and relaxing. On a lake so big it acts like an ocean, Solglimt gives visitors a chance to release worries into the rhythmic motions of Lake Superior and enjoy the quiet created by lapping waves on the shore.

The story is featured on CNN.com in the travel section. Originally from the publication Coastal Living, the article encourages that now is a prime time to stay at a bed and breakfast, and recommends cities and

The view of Lake Superior from Solglimt Bed & Breakfast

specific lodgings in 10 cities throughout the nation and Mexico.

Duluth certainly was a wonderful choice, full of classic American architecture and fun shopping.

Congratulations to Solglimt!

From all of us here at InsideOut, we hope everyone gets a chance to have their own intimate escape this fall!

We are proud to present the Professional Innkeepers Association of New Orleans web site to the world!

BBNOLA, as we have so fondly referred to the site, went live on Friday. It is a beautiful site, full of nifty features and insightful traveler information.

The site also features one of our signature maps - thanks Jack! - showing the city broken down by neighborhood. It is a great Google map displaying the sections of the city with B&Bs highlighted and color coordinated.

MEMBER ALERT! Make sure to download the BBNOLA graphic to your homepage so that you can proudly proclaim you are a member of this exclusive group, and also link to the association Web site. We are recommending that all members do this for marketing and SEO purposes. The more links the new Web site has, the more it will growing the rankings. Therefore, the better your business’ visibility will become through being linked to an important site like BBNOLA.

The Homepage for Professional Innkeeps Association of New Orleans!

The sunshine state is marketing itself in a whole new way!

Our prodigious web team has created another beautiful Web site for the Accredited Inns and Bed and Breakfasts of Florida. With a beautiful and colorful Web site, the design reminds the viewer of the lush and tropical nature of the state.

An interactive map, one of our specialties here at InsideOut, makes it easy to navigate through the site and find out more about the different regions. Once you zoom into a particular area, major highways, rivers, and with accredited B&Bs appear.

The new Florida Bed and Breakfasts Inns Web site.

We try to make our sites as easy as possible for potential customers. We have the inns organized by region, amenities, city, specials, and alphabetically. That way, hopefully, they will find whatever they are looking for without a struggle.

There is also an in-depth travel guide included on the site. Each region of the state has information on family or romantic travel, thrifty travel tips, nature-based travel, meeting and event facilities and recommendations about how to get “off the beaten path”.

Take a moment to explore the new Florida B&B Web site, and find out for yourself all the sunshine state has to offer!

Hot off the presses!

One of our clients has been acknowledged for their contribution to the green movement. In an effort to be kinder and gentler to the environment, industries of every shape and size are beginning to clean up their act—and clean up the earth. The media is following the movement closely and publishing advances as they happen.

Lookout Point Inn

Lookout Point Inn, located in Hot Springs, Arkansas, was noted by Ben Abbott and Richard Morgan in the Forbes Traveler story “America’s Greenest Hotels 2008” as setting green trends for the hospitality industry in Arkansas. Lookout Point Inn is giving old towels and linens to charity, while letting staff take home half-used paper products instead of trashing them. Their detergents are biodegradable and all light bulbs have been replaced with compact florescent bulbs, just to start. You can explore the eco-friendly practices of Lookout Point Inn on their website.

Lookout Point also has an environmentally green discount guests can take advantage of for reducing their carbon footprint.

We are really proud of Lookout Point Inn and encourage everyone to do what they can, small or large, to contribute to the betterment of their community, and therefore society.

We were on the road again with Jeff and Pat from the northernmost to the southernmost continental state.

Left to Right: Wayne E. Howell Jr., VP Herbie Wiles Insurance; Pamela Lanier, Travelguides.com, Lanierbb.com, Elegantsmallhotels.com, and Familytravelguides.com; Jeff Bryce of Reservation Nexus; Patricia Detwiler, Owner of Quilter's Inn and President of Florida Bed and Breakfast Inns (FBBI); Jay Karen, President of PAII; Jeff Logan of InsideOut Solutions; David Caples of Lodging Resources and Berkeley Young, President of Young Strategies, Inc.

Good-bye gray skies and evergreens, hello palm trees and sandy beaches-at least for a couple of days. We were lucky enough to have Pat McCauley and Jeff Logan representing us in Florida at the end of last month for the Florida Bed and Breakfast Inns (FBBI) annual conference. Held in Lake Wales, some of the most important folks in the B&B industry gathered in the sunshine state to discuss this year’s theme; “The Keys to Success”.

Jeff Logan spoke on the importance of every inn’s online presence with a lecture called “Get Going with Google”. He also unveiled the new Florida Bed and Breakfast Inns website to excited members.

Jeff and Pat helped the innkeepers continue to fill information for their businesses into the website database. One of the reasons InsideOut has seen so many contracts for State association websites is because we include features and details that make the site easy to use, present information in an organized and readily available manner, and of course, make it look as lovely as the state itself. Look forward to the new Florida Bed and Breakfast Inns website going live this Friday October 3rd!

Minnesota has witnessed all the good we can do and has signed up to be the next state with a site designed by InsideOut Solutions! Minnesota is a diverse state with lots going on and many beautiful areas to stay and visit.

Sweeping landscape and historic buildings are just part of what Minnesota has to offer. There is a thriving performance art culture, as well as many miles of trails and parks for hikers and outdoors man.

We look forward to encompassing all of these intriguing pastimes with the unique lodging facilities that dot the state. No matter where you are planning to go or what your interests are, there is a bed and breakfast nearby with an innkeeper waiting to share her favorite secret spot with you!

We look forward to the site going live in April.

Arriba!

Adobe Architecture and traditional clay pottery in New Mexico.

The New Mexico Bed and Breakfast Association has decided to join the many states on our roster of association website designs! We are honored to have New Mexico as clients and are looking forward to achieving our own little version of Manifest Destiny with all these great state associations!

New Mexico is a colorful and diverse region - a great place to explore and a great place for unique lodging.

We are honored to have been awarded their site design and look forward to having their new site live in February.