The Old Hen uses new media to grow business
June 9, 2010
By Aaron Randall
“Let’s just do it!” 17-year-old Brittany Morauski said to her mother, Deanna, in 2008. “You and Dad have been talking about it since you were dating.”
So began the conversion of the family’s North Bend home to The Old Hen Bed and Breakfast. “We had always thought this would be perfect for a B&B,” Deanna Morauski recalls. “The rooms were far enough apart, and it had good insulation.”
Deanna Morauski enjoys the timeless pleasures of cooking but has turned to social media to help her bed and breakfast grow. Photo by Dan Catchpole
Nestled away near the Snoqualmie River, the Old Hen is a peaceful, relaxing destination for couples seeking a getaway — or for those who just want to enjoy some of the finest food in the valley. “I would rate the meals five stars, if that’s as high as I can go,” said Carolyn Lowe, a member of the North Bend Chamber of Commerce and frequent guest of the Old Hen. “Each meal has been fabulous.”
Since the opening of The Old Hen in February 2009, Morauski has been amazed at their success. “We never dreamed this many people would find us this year, we have had guests from all over the U.S. and just had our first international guest, from Denmark,” she said. “We could barely understand him, but he sure was nice!”
Morauski has always had a passion for cooking and hospitality, going back to when she was 5 years old, and her mother worked at a bakery.
So the opening of a B&B was a natural transition. “Working in the bakery,” she remembers, “is where the love for cooking, small business, and meeting people grew in me.”
Morauski attributes much of the success of The Old Hen to her incorporation of new media in their advertising.
She has set up a website for the business, the oldhen.org, and created accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Foodbuzz. “I remember thinking ‘Wow, things spread fast here, this is good advertising.’” she said. “From then on I was hooked.”
Shortly after the opening of The Old Hen, Morauski started her own foodie blog, theoldhenblog.com.
She posts recipes, travel tips, upcoming events and activities in the Snoqualmie Valley, plus photos of her baked goods. Since its conception, the web page has received over 35,000 hits from all over the world. “I like to write, and I thought it might be a good way to advertise, and post recipes,” she said. “I thought, what a great way to put it all together.”
Currently, Morauski is working on a new website, tastehope.com, where she plans to use her expertise in cooking to touch people emotionally. “I am putting up videos where I talk about personal healing and growth, and incorporate it with the food I’m making,” she explains.
Going forward, Deanna Morauski and her family hope to see continued success with The Old Hen, and she plans to keep using new-media tools on the Internet to grow the business.
She says that she can’t ask for more than that.
“We absolutely love what we are doing, and are excited about all the people we will meet. We want to be considered a treasure in the Valley.”
Aaron Randall is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com
On the Web:
- Website: theoldhen.org
- Blog: theoldhenblog.com
- Social media:
- twitter.com/theoldhen
- www.facebook.com/
TheOldHen
- Foodbuzz.com
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