If you run a motel in a historic area you might notice many of your competitors attracting patrons by advertising the historic events that have occurred on their premises or the interesting figures that have stayed with them. If you cannot boast of similar events, you can look to the other end of history and advertise yourself as a haunted motel.

If you have a verifiable death or haunting that occurred on site

This is the easiest marketing story. You can simply describe the place where the death or sighting occurred and do some research to unearth any photos or news stories to support the story and display these in the hotel. If there are any books that support the story, you can offer them for loan in a motel library.

If there isn't a verifiable death or haunting that occurred on site

In this case, you can use local famous cases and weave your location into the story. Perhaps a local man's death left his sweetheart waiting in the restaurant for him for hours, or a man waiting for his lover to leave her husband waited in the car park all night -- and to this day you can still see them waiting.

If you have a new building in a historic area

Even if you are a new building there was probably a building on site or close by in the past. You can use the vagaries of history to your advantage in this case and incorporate stories of star-crossed lovers, hangings from a tree and brawls in an old farm outhouse. All of these nearby events can lend themselves to good ghost stories.

How to market your story

Here are some ideas to get the story of your haunting out there

• If the local history buffs run a walking tour of the town ask for your site to be included as the "haunted happy hour".
• Contact some paranormal experts and ask them to stay in your hotel to see if they find any evidence of paranormal activity. At a minimum, their report should create some buzz around your motel.
• Modify your website to include the tales of your haunting, with some video interviews with staff or guests, and perhaps some blurry footage of a sighting.
• Contact the local paper to ask for an article that describes the rebranding of your hotel with some interviews from staff or guests again. Feel free to mention other upgrades such as room renovations at the same time.

You may also wish to contact other motels, such as Burswood Lodge, to find out about their marketing strategies.