Property Managers Get Bit By Sneaky Dogs

Travelers are getting smarter and more savvy with technology. With their new found power those sneaky dogs have discovered a way to cut the property manager out of the picture (literally). Vacationers are bypassing property managers and going straight to the owner, in search of the lowest price.

How are travelers cutting out  property managers and travel agents? What would you say if you were guilty of providing your rental customers with direct access to the owners of the rental property? You would probably do something about it, right? Hopefully your answer is yes, if you don’t do something about it, you will continue to lose bookings to your owners.  The owners, I’m sure love that you are giving them commission free “lay down” bookings.

It sucks when you work the deal, sell the traveler on why this is the best place to spend their vacation, they become sold on the vacation rental and resort, then they book  with someone else. You might of  spent hours working with these guests between emails and phone communication, then to lose them.

Do you hear that sound? That’s the sound of your money and your time going down the toilet.

Whenever there is an issue of such effect, I feel obligated to share with you, my readers. Here is how it’s happening. Travelers get the information from you about the property including photographs of the home. Vacationers do their research online and find out more information about the resort and rental property. There is one sneaky move they can do to find information about the rental. But this is the information you don’t want them to know; the owners direct contact. Vacationers searching for the best deal will do this by using your own marketing against you.

Those beautiful images of your vacation rental have finger prints. Vacationers take your images and can easily put them into Google Images. Google Images is a search engine for images. You can drag and drop an image into Google’s search bar as shown below.

Once you’ve dropped the image into Google’s image search engine, Google will scan the image and compare it to other similar images from websites and pages all over the world.

As shown below it’s easy to find an owners online vacation rental websites, advertisements and listings. Are some of these ads by owner? Which ones are from the property manager? Who’s price is going to be lower?

More and more people are becoming familiar with this tool, so don’t wait til you know you’ve lost a deal to do something about.

This is one of the same tools they use in that Movie (now T.V.  show) Catfish. The show uses the photo tool to bust people who have stolen someone else’s identity online. The tool is used to search the personal images found on suspicious Facebook and social network s profiles. In the show they almost always track the photographs back to someone else who is totally clueless their images are being used. Its a powerful photo tool that is free to use and easily accessible.

Be aware and be prepared for those sneaky dogs trying to sniff out the owners details.  Here are a few steps you can take to reduce the chances of you giving away your vacation rental advertising efforts  and profits to someone else.

1. Do not give the rental property address before the reservation. Vacationers will often ask for the vacation rentals property address before booking. You should not be providing the property address until you have a bonified booking with a signed agreement. Your cancellation policy will help you reduce the risk of a cancellation should the vacationer eventually reach the owners directly. Admittedly I had this happen to me, I provided the guest with the address and she booked it elsewhere. Dumb mistake I know, don’t make the same mistake I did. Even if the renter is persistent and says they wont book, if they don’t know where they’ll be staying. You can track down the owner of the property with the address, it is public record.

2. Do not send the images via email whenever you can prevent it. I know sometimes  property agents who don’t use their websites properly send potential customers photos of rental inventory via email. Agents often send the travelers photos of the property they have obtained elsewhere; other than their normal inventory.The problem with doing that is, images are easily downloaded and are able to be searched by dragging the images into a Google  image search. Upload your pictures to your website and send the renters links to the property instead.

3. Lock your website down. You can lock your website so no one can grab your descriptions and more importantly your images. Our agents are making this change to their website to add that extra level of difficulty. If someone tries to save the image to their computer it will not allow them. This will take care of most travelers from moving forward with an image search. However there are ways around this, if you have the tools and you really want to steal the image you can, the extra measure will deter most.

4. Don’t use the same photos your owners use to advertise their vacation homes. Some property managers take photographs of the owner’s vacation home for their rental marketing, then provide the owners with copies of the photographs. Although this is a great service for your owners, you may want to consider the vacation rental marketing issues that could arise. Your property images should be different than the owners, shoot the photographs from different angles and Google will have a harder time matching up the image with the owners images.

Need help marketing your vacation rental? We are here to help!

Contact us today.

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Your Vacation Rental Experts

http://www.villamarketers.com

Author Of Vacation Rental Marketing Secrets

www.vacationrentalmarketingsecrets.com

Did you know that coupons can also reduce cancellations?

It’s true that coupons can reduce cancelations and there are mainly two reasons how.

• You can incorporate certain restrictions for a coupon or discounted offer. You may have noticed when booking a hotel you may be given the option to purchase a room at a lower rate with *additional terms. Usually those terms are, you cannot get a refund, cancel or change the reservation. These deals are offered at lower rates but with stricter policies.

•  The second reason is that because the traveler feels they’ve received an incredible deal they’re more likely to keep the reservation. The value of the deal keeps them committed based on logic. If they feel they will not get this deal again they will not want to let it go. If they’ve purchased at regular rates there isn’t as much to lose when canceling a reservation, they can always re-book it if need be.

Want to know more about advertising your vacation rental using coupons? Check back we are releasing a series about vacation rental coupon marketing with interesting facts and free ways to use coupon marketing in your strategy.

Want More Bookings?

Contact Us Today For a Free Quote

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Are you maximizing each of your vacation rental listings?

If not you’re likely losing some of the power from your vacation rentals ads.

According to Tripadvisor vacation rental listings that have 20 or more photographs receive 150% more engagement from their ads, when compared to rental ads that only have a few photos.

Does your Tripadvosr listing have 20 or more photographs? Why not?

Tripadvisor allows you to add as many photographs as you like to your listing as long as long as they meet the upload requirements.

There are many variables that affect the rankings of your Tripadvisor listings . We will help you address them here in our marketing blog, so be sure to bookmark our site and revisit us often if you want that marketing edge.

Do you have professional photographs of your vacation rental? Professional photographs for your vacation rental will help your vacation rental listing to stand out among the rest. If your vacation rental photographs are not of good quality your conversion from this 150% engagement will not be maximized on Tripadvisor or any other vacation rental listing site. Investing a few dollars into your vacation rental photographs will prove to be a wise investment. In the online world your pictures are everything!

Take advantage of our affordable vacation rental photography packages and services.

We offer vacation rental photography packages for as low as 199 also ask about our video and virtual tours.

We are partnered with Tripadvisor & Flipkey to help rental owners get the most out of their vacation rental advertising. We offer reduced vacation rental listing services contact us for more information today. We’ll make owning and marketing your vacation rental easy!

Villa Marketers

407-749-8159

http://www.villamarketers.com

If you’re interested in obtaining more traffic to your vacation rental website, listing services or offers then you’ll want to write a press release. A press release is a great way to gain traffic, back links and customers.

I recently wrote a press release about the release of my new book “Vacation Rental Marketing Secrets No One Will Tell You” the press release told readers about the important details about the book and within a few days we sold over 50 books. Not bad for a free form of vacation rental advertising.

However there are few things you’ll want to consider when writing a press release for your vacation rental business. When writing your press release you’ll want to make the article informative answering questions like who, what, where, when, how and why. When writing your press release for your vacation rental ask yourself those questions and then answer them for your readers in the press release.

Who is it about or who would be interested?

What is it you’re offering or promoting and what value is there?

Where is the property, website or services being offered?

How can someone take advantage of what your offering or how did it happen?

Why is this promotion or service being offered or why should someone be interested?

These are just a few ideas to run with when you’re advertising your vacation rentals online with press releases. Keep in mind that your press release should not be an obvious advertisement. Your press release is a way to advertise your vacation rental but you’ll need to cloak your advertising as news. Try to think of it as news and how can you present in a news worthy fashion.

Take some time working your press release and make sure its concise proof it yourself a few times then when you think you’ve caught all the errors have someone else look it over and get their opinion on the press release. Try to make your press release exciting interesting and relevant.

To learn how to create the perfect press release and distribute them purchase the book Vacation Rental Marketing Secrets No One Will Tell You”. The book is only $29.95 the most powerful and affordable vacation rental marketing book around. Get yours before our introductory offer expires.

After the offer expires the book will be sold at 59.95 it’s worth every penny at least that’s what our readers tell us!

To help you get started advertising your vacation rentals with press releases here is a list of 50 Top free press release services for your marketing tool box http://www.avangate.com/company/resources/article/press-release-distribution.htm

Creating quality press releases and advertising your vacation rentals can be a daunting task. If you need help marketing your vacation rental contact us we can take the leg work out of advertising vacation rentals online.

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Villa Marketers

407-749-8159

Holiday Home Advertising Warning

Holiday Home Advertising

I’m often contacted by holiday home owners needing some help advertising their holiday properties.

I see mistakes firsthand that often occur when an owner is handling their own advertising, many of which can put their holiday rental business in danger. Owner’s give online advertising the old college try but often find themselves with low occupancy. In many cases owners get distracted from their holiday rental affairs because of their real life issues and often lack the follow through. So in this blog I will hopefully drum up some motivation in holiday home owners to take action and prevent costly holiday rental investment mistakes. I will point out one common mistake I find that is very dangerous for the stability of an owners investment property.

In the business world, many successful small companies suddenly go out of business because they have been unable to react to a change in the market. One of the biggest causes of failure is the reliance on one specific marketing method to find customers.

I had a friend whose father had a successful shoe factory that was selling very high quantities of their goods. The problem was that essentially they were only selling to one large client who was then distributing to many shops. When that unique client was lured away from competitors this small business failed within six months.

I think that is a great example of how risky it is to rely on just one source of clients. And the same is true for your holiday home. Unfortunately, most holiday home owners tend to stick to one or at the most two sources of bookings.

You see, in business it doesn’t matter what you are trying to market, you will never find the ultimate marketing strategy. You can however attempt to develop the near perfect marketing plan. Nevertheless, there is always scope for improvement as perfection in this case does not exist.

It is the same for your holiday home advertising. You will never find the 100% perfect source of rental bookings from one holiday rental ad. But with a bit of dedication you can find a good working mix of strategies, listings and online holiday home advertising that can dramatically increase the return on your holiday home investment.

Ever noticed the message under every investment advice – “past results are not guarantee for future returns”? Well, always keep that in mind when you find a source of holiday bookings that is working very well for you. That source of bookings is not guaranteed to produce the same results in the future. So, be prepared by developing a mixture of different sources of bookings for your holiday home so that if one fails you can still rely on the others. In other words, follow the rule that says “don’t put all your eggs in one basket“. This cliche’ is usually used in the financing and investment world, but it is equally valid when it comes to your holiday home advertising.

There are many changes happening on holiday rental websites like VRBO that you can no longer rely on these types of advertising resources alone. You need to have a strategic plan that covers all your bases to ensure your rentals success.

This is why holiday home owners seek out the advertising services of Villa Marketers. Villa Marketers helps holiday home owners develop a diversified rental advertising strategy that will gaurantee holiday bookings for their rental property.  Advertising holiday homes online can be a daugnting task and our advertising services make it easy for owners just like you.

What Do You Think?

Learn More About Our Holiday Rental Advertising

Contact us today for a free advertising quote

407-749-8159

http://www.villamarketers.com

Vacation Rental Social Marketing

Continuing on with the theme of my last blog about marketing vacation rentals on Facebook I’d like to share more travel statistics on how social marketing can help your vacation rental advertising. In the video you’ll also learn the impact of mobile marketing which can give you insight of what is to come in the near future.

When you use social marketing in your vacation rental advertising plan you can reduce marketing costs and increase your bookings. Do you have a Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Flickr account? If you’ve put off marketing your vacation rentals on social websites like Facebook it isn’t too late for you to start.

In the near future the social networks will become even more saturated. Claiming your stake in the social marketing world today will help you develop seniority over your competitors.

If you need help getting your social marketing started or maintaining your current vacation rentals advertising efforts contact us today for a free quote.

Villa Marketers

407-749-8159

http://www.villamarketers.com

Vacation Photographs Can Help Make Bookings For Your Rentals

How To Market Vacation Rentals On Facebook

52% of Facebookers Inspired To Travel By Vacation Photographs. A Rental Marketing Must! Check The Stats

I have been asked this question on many occasions ”does marketing vacation rentals on Facebook generate rental bookings?”

Well, that depends.  If you are marketing vacation rentals on Facebook the wrong way it definitely won’t work.

However if you are different, creative and listen closely to what makes your followers tick you can peak their interest.

After-all followers are just people and people do travel. The trick to learn is how to get Facebookers interested to book your vacation rental?

I sometimes hear of professional marketers telling owners that Facebook doesn’t bring in bookings and not to waste their time with social marketing. You know I must call them out on this one.  I know first hand that the right social marketing campaign can generate interest and ultimately bookings, it’s worked for us. Facebook has helped us book rentals we would’ve never reached if it were not for Facebook.  Now there are third party statistics that prove these  ” professionals” wrong (be wary of the marketing advice you follow).

Did you know?

Google’s algorithm considers your ‘social relevance” when determining the ranking of your vacation rental website?

If that single reason isn’t enough to develop a social marketing strategy than consider these statistics.

According to a study from the flight comparison website Skyscanner; pictures have an extremely powerful  influence on Facebook users travel planning. With more than half (52 per cent) stating that seeing their friends’ vacation pictures has inspired them to book a vacation to the same place. (That’s the part that is interesting!)

These statistics will mean nothing to you except of course if you decide to adjust your Facebook marketing appropriately. Then you can truly benefit from using Facebook as an advertising website to get rental bookings.

The study reported 52% of Facebookers were interested in visiting the places they’ve seen their friends visiting. Their friend’s vacation pictures inspired them to take a vacation.  Most owners are not advertising their vacation rentals like this on social platforms and for this reason they lose out on the impact of social marketing. Social marketing is all about being social and shareable and vacations are something Facebookers share with their social groups.

They brag and boast about what a wonderful time they had on vacation. They share their vacation photographs with family and friends and if you have a way to get your property, logo or website recognized in front of these people you now have a ton of free vacation rental marketing. This is where having a Facebook page and a little branding are important for your vacation rentals social marketing. Having a brand will help those friends and followers to make a connection with your rental business.

Why does this type of social marketing work so well?

To answer this question let us reference Sam Baldwin, Skyscanner Travel Editor commented:

“They say a picture is worth a thousand words and here is the proof. Facebook is the perfect platform for two very powerful influencers of travel; a personal recommendation combined with alluring images. From Orlando to Australia, seeing our friends’ adventures can certainly plant a seed that later leads to a trip to somewhere you never previously thought about visiting.”

Let me ask you this….are you inpiring people on Facebook? Are your previous renters helping to inspire travelers for you? Or are you just trying to sell your followers something?

These are just some of the questions you’ll need to ask yourself before you can fix your Facebook and social marketing efforts.

Understand one thing about social marketing, it isn’t anything new. Its about building relationships with real people in a virtual way. It is through the relationships you build from your social marketing that you develop your leads .

When it comes to marketing vacation rentals on Facebook vacation rental owners and managers tend to get it wrong. Facebook is NOT an ad blaster for your vacation rental,  it is a network of ” Real People”. Do people really want to be hit with a daily barrage of your advertising? Of course not! If your messages are just advertisements of your vacation rental or management company, your likely being ignored.  If you rethink your social marketing strategy and refocus on people you will have better results with marketing on Facebook.  Stop thinking about yourself and focus your thoughts on your followers that is the mantra of social marketing. Think of ways you can help people on social networks? Try it out for your advertising and you’ll see a much more favorable response and deeper interaction with people.

Here are a couple of other interesting travel statistic to support the importance of social marketing

A recent study released by EyeforTravel indicated that 7 out of 10 travel brands professed how social media has not only generated a remarkable amount of direct bookings from social media sites, but has also significantly improved engagement with customers. If they can generate bookings couldn’t you?

If you learn how to advertise your vacation rentals on Facebook the right way, you’ll be able to take advantage of the fact that some owners aren’t on Facebook at all.  And you’ll be able to do better than the majority of owners because most owners marketing on Facebook are doing it wrong. If you develop your Facebook and social marketing now you’ll have a leg up on your competitors, check the stats.

A report by World Travel Market revealed that by 2016, social media will be in the forefront as a primary way to generate travel bookings and revenue for half of the travel industry.

The report also indicates:

22%, of travel companies generate revenue from social media efforts

27% are planning to make strides in social over the next 5 years

Are you going to get left behind? Do you have a strong social marketing plan in place, if not chances are you will.

When in doubt resort to statisitcs because opinions are like belly buttons everbodys got one.

If you need help bringing your vacation rentals marketing to its highest performance contact us we can help. 407-749-8159

Villa Marketers

http://www.villamarketers.com

I discuss social marketing in depth in my book “Vacation Rental Marketing, Secrets No One Will Tell You” if you want to learn secret social marketing strategies.

VRBO CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

5 VRBO Vacation Rental Advertising Complaints & Website Reviews by Owners

VRBO Vacation Rental Advertising Reviews

Vacation rental owners have been advertising their vacation homes on VRBO for years and in many cases with good results. However things are changing and vacation rental owners are complaining about the advertising services they receive from VRBO. There are several websites with unflattering reviews about the VRBO website and its recent changes written by the site’s advertisers.

It’s not uncommon for a big advertising website like VRBO to get complaints. It’s not a surprise someone is not happy with the services of VRBO. However the numbers of complaints are piling up more than ever recently.

Many owners contribute this to a number of reasons one of which is that VRBO.com and HomeAway are now being publicly traded. Vacation rental owners have stated they feel VRBO has lost touch with them as the customer. It appears things have changed on the vacation rental advertising front at VRBO. Rather than the vacation rental owner being their primary customers their new more important “customers” are share holders. This means keeping shareholders happy is their top priority but this often is not aligned with what owners want.

Vacation Rental Owners Vs Shareholders

Shareholders want more subscriptions & listings Vs Owners wanting less competition

Shareholders want higher listing charges Vs. Owners want better value for their money.

Shareholders want to make more money Vs. Owners want to make more bookings.

Shareholders and owners want different things can they both be satisfied? If so it looks like VRBO & HomeAway are having a hard time making it happen.

VRBO’s priority appears to be profits and that’s OK we are all in business to make money but the customer should always come first then profits follow. That’s the only business model that seems to be infallible. HomeAway now has new customers ever since it went public can it satisfy shareholders, vacation rental owners AND travelers?

How long can this business model last even the mightiest of empires can fall, will it and can it happen it to VRBO or HomAway? Or are vacation rental owners too dependant on them?

Here are a few of the complaints cited directly from the Homeaway’s website for your review.

1) VRBO inquiries dropping like a rock.
I took a look at my inquiry history on VRBO dashboard to compare the #’s for June 2012 to June 2011. I had more than twice the # of inquiries in 2011.

2)“Re: VRBO inquiries dropping like a rock.(Vacation Advertising Review)
I also have experienced almost dead activity only having one inquire in since the beginning of June. This was last week. Even then the inquire asked me if dates were available in July and they are not. She could have easily looked at the calendar.”

3) Re: VRBO inquiries dropping like a rock. (Vacation Advertising Review)
I, too, have dropped out almost completely from getting inquiries from VRBO. I also have noted a >50% decrease in traffic during the past few months. Curious because I paid to have my VR well-positioned third from the top in 20+ listings. VRBO used to be my most productive listing site”

4) Re: VRBO inquiries dropping like a rock. (Vacation Advertising Review)
I’ve had exactly 2 inquiries since Apr 29. Neither are groups that I would consider renting to. The one I got today at 1PM was sent on June 30 according to my dashboard. That’s 2 DAYS AGO!!!

This is TERRIBLE!!!!!

Linda

5) Re: VRBO inquiries dropping like a rock. (Vacation Advertising Review)
My inquiries from HomeAway and VRBO have also dropped. HomeAway used to be my leading source, but the last couple of months, they’ve dropped to third. Because of that I paid to jump from standard to silver (two levels) about two weeks ago. So far, that hasn’t helped. Here’s hoping it turns around for us all.

Mike

The owners that are less furious about the changes VRBO, HomeAway or any other listing make are owners who are less dependent on them. Vacation rental owners who have a diverse vacation rental advertising plan are less likely to feel trapped. Having several rental advertising strategies working together for you will help ensure your success and reduce the stress the “shareholder” mentality can force on owners. Obviously you can tell by the advertising reviews listed owners are concerned, frustrated and losing out on money but can owners, managers and advertisers help change this?

Vacation Rental Marketing Experts

Villa Marketers

407-749-8159

Related Article

3 Top Homeaway Vacation Rental Listing Complaints Owner Reviews of Rental Website

Owners Throw Away Their Rental Marketing Dollars

Biggest Holiday Home Marketing Mistake

Are YOU Guilty Of The Biggest Holiday Home Marketing Mistake?

Do you keep in touch with people that rented your holiday home in the past?

When I ask this question to other holiday home owners, most look at me as if I just landed from Mars! Many never maintain contact with people that have enjoyed a holiday in their home before. If you do that, it means that you have to constantly look for new customers.

In the business world, its a well known fact that it is much more difficult to sell to someone that has never heard of you before than it is to sell to someone who has already bought from you. Yet, most marketing efforts are geared towards always finding new clients. That is a big marketing mistake and often huge sums of money are “left on the table” because business owners never try to make offers to past clients.

In the business of holiday home marketing often the same happens. Holiday home owners manage to get a few bookings and then simply forget about those people once their holiday is over. Some wrongly believe that people won’t go back on holiday in the same place… so there is no point in attempting to contact past renters.

This is a common misconception but I can assure you that many people like to go on holiday where they have been before, IF they had a great time . Nowadays, most people take shorter breaks but more often throughout the year. This means that although they might visit the same resort year after year, they are not taking only that holiday.

So, don’t ever discard the opportunity of repeat bookings because you assume people wouldn’t go back to your holiday home. Just like you often visit your holiday resort, other people too might have good reasons to do the same. My good friend Gary has been to Florida once a year for the past 19 years. He also visits other countries but he simply loves Florida, and despite the fact he doesn’t own a property in Florida he always visits.

Wouldn’t it be great to have one or two rental clients like Gary? Well, unless you keep in touch with past guest then the chances of them re-contacting you are very slim, even if they are planning to go on holiday again in the same area.

You’ve already invested in advertising your holiday home don’t make the mistake of throwing away your money! Stay in touch with your renters and generate more leads from old marketing dollars you’ve already spent.

Are there areas your holiday rental marketing could use some help?

We Can Help! Contact Us Today

Villa Marketers

407-749-8159

www.villamarketers.com

Best Vacation Rental Website Design

In this video you’ll see a few of our vacation rental website design examples. We never use vacation rental templates all of our website designs are all custom designed specifically for each property and owner.

Our vacation rental web design team can create a website for any of your vacation rental business needs. If you own one property or manage hundreds of holiday homes we can develop and design the vacation rental website you need to make more bookings and manage your holiday rental business.

Our vacation websites help deliver your message to your vacationers.

Your vacation rental website is your headquarters and you shouldn’t take it lightly. Spend some time to make sure you have a website designed to wow your holiday home guests. A vacation rental website is not just about the design appearance of your site. In order to build a vacation rental business you’ll need to build a strong foundation, your vacation rentals website is your foundation. It needs to be designed to be search engine friendly using clean code and fast loading pages. There are many important elements that will affect how your holiday homes website will perform for you.

Don’t take chances with your vacation rental investment property by trying to save a few bucks, as it will likely cost you more on the back end. A website designed poorly for your holiday home will deliver poor ireservations and advertising results for your rental property, who can afford that?

When you’re thinking of designing a website for your rental property consider hiring a professional. A vacation rental website design company who is familiar with vacation rentals can make the process easy for you, they’ve done many times before. Villa Marketers is an agency with the experience and know how to make your website original and stand out in the crowd.

The vacation rental websites we designed are built with SEO in mind. Contact us for more information about designing a professional vacation rental website for your business.

Contact us for a FREE Quote

Villa Marketers

407-749-8159

http://www.villamarketers.com