Remember the old saying, “a picture says a thousand words?” It’s a saying that rings true when potential renters are looking at vacation properties. One of the most important aspects in renting a vacation property is having great photography available. Potential renters depend on photos to help them in their decision-making process.  If the photos do not showcase the vacation rental as inviting or in the best light, a potential renter will quickly move on and view another vacation rental’s photos, and if they like what they see, they will book it.

Here’s a fact. No matter how wonderful your vacation rental is….if your pictures don’t show it, you won’t have as many rental inquiries, let alone bookings.  Investing in a professional photographer will pay off. They know the techniques to getting that perfect shot and beautiful photos will showcase just how wonderful the vacation rental is. Yes, paying out-of-pocket for a professional photographer can cost you a pretty penny, but maybe you know someone who might be able to help you out? Or perhaps you can trade a photographer’s services with a weekend getaway at your place.

If you advertise on Airbnb.com you can request for one of their local photographers to shoot your vacation rental for FREE. Although Airbnb.com will own the pictures, this will give you visual proof that professional photos are well worth the investment.

There is no doubt, with beautiful photos you will see an increase in inquiries and bookings. I speak from experience and can show you the before and after pictures. See below:

BEFORE—Taken with my camera.                                                        AFTER—A professional’s touch!

If you decide to take pictures on your own, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• First, make sure you are working with a nice camera that will take quality pictures. If you don’t have one, find one. It’s important to take quality pictures and you’re not going to get the highest quality from your phone’s camera.
• Take exterior pictures during your peak season and when the home’s exterior is truly showcased in the best light. You don’t want to take a picture when there is no foliage on the trees or the grass is brown. If you’re advertising during the ski season, make sure there is enough snow on the ground to make a skier’s mouth water. Also, you want the exterior clean. Do not include miscellaneous trash cans or clutter in the picture. If there is a view to offer, get a shot of the surrounding area ….. mountains with snow caps, an ocean view, nearby golf course, etc. If you have multiple peak seasons, then take an exterior shot during each and change pictures prior to each season to truly paint a picture for the upcoming season!
• For interior shots, make sure the rental is clean and has a look and feeling of “home.”  In fact, the rental should be so tidy, it looks as if the place has been scrubbed from top to bottom and nicely organized. Lighting is also critical. You don’t what the pictures to come out dark and dreary, but rather bright and inviting. Open the windows to bring in the natural light. Also, provide photographs for each of the bedrooms, family room, kitchen and any other room that will enhance the selling point of the rental.
• Once you’ve taken the photographs, invest some time with Photoshop to edit the pictures. Photoshop will enable you to turn good pictures into great pictures.

Yes, a picture says a thousand words. Renters may quickly scan the rental information, but they will definitely spend time looking at the pictures. Invest the money and take the time to do it right. You will definitely see a return on your investment.

When a potential guest is intent on finding a vacation home rental for their upcoming family vacation, they are most often focused and “in the zone.” They are ready to find that ideal rental and check off the task of “Perfect Summer Vacation House Booked.” They don’t want to wait for days to get a response that simply states, “The property you’re interested in isn't available. We will give you a quote shortly." Prospects want to find a place, get a quote, and pay for it, without this task taking days or weeks. Most likely they will book the property that responds the quickest!

In today’s world, technology has added the expectation of immediate response. When an email is sent, we expect a response…..most times in minutes….. NOT hours or days!

Do you want to increase bookings? Then exceed the expectations of your potential guests by providing immediate response to their inquiries. It’s a simple concept and can be achieved with MyVRMS.

Through the success of our clients, we have determined that providing prospects immediate answers to their questions, including the availability and cost, are key to processing more bookings. Our clients increase bookings by simply automating the reply process with MyVRMS, while immediately responding to inquiries and sending prospects to their website where they can book online 24/7.

Yes, it’s a technological world we live in. There is no such thing as 9-5. It’s 24/7 for those of us that want to capture the booking first!

It’s a new year! Forget resolutions….It’s time to take action. Creating or reenergizing your client communication plan is an important business practice you should consider integrating in the New Year to set your business up for success.

The New Year is a great time to refocus your client communication and in so doing enhance owner loyalty and the loyalty of returning guests. It’s important to build ongoing relationships with your clients and every interaction is an opportunity to enhance those relationships. Keep in mind, owner retention as well as returning guests are more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. This year, take the time to include a simple communication plan in your overall marketing strategy.

If you haven’t already, you may want to consider the following:

·         What Works?:  Consider what has worked for you in the past and what has not been successful. You don’t want to make the same mistakes.

·         Editorial Calendar:  Develop an editorial calendar and content to deliver a unified monthly message across all platforms based on timely information, resources, and current offerings.

·         Email Marketing:  Develop a monthly email marketing campaign targeting both owners and returning guests.   

·         Blog:  Create a blog that delivers valuable and useful content, providing a compelling reason to come back.

·         Quarterly Newsletter:  A quarterly newsletter can be sent as a direct mail and packed with valuable content.

·         Facebook:  If you haven’t already, create a Facebook account. It’s free, simple to update, and can be easily incorporated in your overall communication plan.

·         Repurpose Content:  To deliver a unified monthly message you can consider repurposing content from your email campaign for your blog, Facebook postings, newsletter, etc.

·         Birthday Cards: Show them you care…..send them a birthday card from your organization.

The New Year is the perfect time to set your business up for success and begin implementing your client communication plan. The year goes quick, so start today.

The vacation rental industry has gone through amazing growth in the last 10 years. With so many options of renting out your second home, renting out a bedroom, or renting out your own home while you are on vacation is just beyond what I would of imagined for the future. I remember buying my first second home and thinking, would'nt it be nice to rent this out when I'm not able to use it, this was 15 hears ago. I thought to myself, how would I get renters? Will anyone rent from me? How much would I charge? Will I want unknown random people in my home? Well, fast forward 15 years, and I have more business than I can handle. I actually turn away more business than I can accommodate. Funny how things work out!

The industry has exploded with tons of choices to advertise your space or home. From the giant, homeaway, who owns several sites like vrbo, vacationrentals.com, to airbnb, the couch surfing site that acts like a reservationist for you. Where do you begin?

First, with research. Once you are seasoned and understand the business, venture out to other niche sites, like this one I recently read about, surfbreakrentals.com

Now, I love to vacation at the beach, so surfbreakrentals.com is the perfect site for me to visit and search for the fabulous surf side villa. I have always been frustrated searching for a beachfront rentals amongst the other sites, because there are so many and it’s time consuming actually finding a rental directly on the beach without having to sift through tons of homes that are not. You can also search vacation rentals by surf spot. This is truly a surfers paradise to find a place based on the best surf in town!

The best part about surfbreakrentals.com is its FREE to list your property on the website. Now, what is better than that? It was also developed by and intended for surfers, there is nothing cooler than that?

I believe that advertising on niche sites as well as one or two of the larger sites is the perfect advertising blend. The large sites will most likely bring you the traffic, because it’s an obvious site where renters search and a niche site will help bring focused travelers, and you never know which one may bring you the most business, until you give it a try.

With the explosion of the industry, you can find almost any niche site, pet friendly, ski vacations, beach vacations, golf vacations, and now beachfront rentals.

Check them out,  surfbreakrentals

Often I think of new ways to fill vacancies, those unruly reservation gaps that make you want to cry!

When you look at your existing reservation calendar and see an open night in between two reservations, why not try to fill this vacancy by upselling it to your upcoming guests.

Give your vacation rental guests a call and offer the extra night for a discounted rate. Offering this open night at a discounted rate, increases your overall vacation rental revenue with minimal effort. Most guests will be willing to take you up on the offer to extend their family getaway just one extra night. Like the old saying goes, "Ask and you shall receive?"

The beauty in this is that you've got two potential takers, the departing guests and the arriving guests. I suspect one of them will take you up on the offer.

Another option is to offer a late departure or an early arrival for an extra fee.

These days its all about maximizing what you get with what you have! So try it out and keep us all posted on how it goes!

Does your vacation rental have that extra special touch?

My Vacation rental is on the slopes in North Lake Tahoe and I am always thinking of ways to provide extra amenities that would make someone remember this condo for their next vacation.

I thought, what is it that someone might forget to bring on vacation to the snow that I could provide with little or no extra cost?

How about snow gloves for kids. It seems that this is always a necessity that is either left at home or kids are loosing while on the slopes. Since I have young children of my own, I decided to take those extra gloves we have and put them in a box at the condo. This way my renters can enjoy having them there when they need them and I am not spending money to buy them or care too much if they get lost or taken home.

So, I challenge you to think about what it is that you can provide in your vacation rental that your renters would just absolutely “love”

Remember it’s the little things that you can do that will provide the extra special touch that will bring you repeat business over and over.

A friend of mine recently stayed in a vacation rental and I asked her how she liked it. She replied, “I loved it. I will never forget this place because when the owner sent back my deposit check, she also sent me a handwritten note thanking me for my business. I was pleasantly surprised!” I thought, WOW now that is good client follow up. So with that, what are you doing to show your guests that you appreciate their business?

I then reflected on myself that I could do a better job with guest follow-up. So, I decided to create a thank you postcard for my guests. I will send this note via the post office mail, after my renters have left so they will have a memoir to remind them where to find me again if they decide to return. It will also show my appreciation for their business. Since I do not collect/return deposits, I had to think of something that would fit my business philosophy. I thought of this idea because I have heard a few guests of mine tell me that they couldn’t remember where to find my place. I’m not sure about you but if you’ve ever tried to locate a rental within the advertising sites these days, it can be tough weeding through it all, not to mention remembering the place you rented last year. Why not save them some work and provide a card that they can put on their fridge or store in a place where they can find it and go directly to your ad or site versus surfing for it and ultimately renting from someone else.

 I encourage you to think of your own situation and provide that extra little effort that may reap you repeat business! Happy renting.

Reviews are becoming a must in order for you to successfully run your business. More sites are focusing on reviews as their number one priority. Whether it's Google ranking sites based on reviews or Tripadvisor with their giant pile of reviews, no one can argue that reviews are here to stay. If your running a business and are thinking "now is the time" to focus on getting reviews, you are right. Start off thinking how can you get customers or clients to review your business? Think about areas of your business you might see where a negative review may surface, polish those areas first before jumping into getting reviews. Once you start, more than likely, the reviews will not be removed if it's a third party website that is posting the review. So tread here lightly, don't just jump in and see how many reviews you can get! It's not worth it.

The other day I was reading a story about a vacation rental owner who was blackmailed by their renter. The owner attempted to withhold some money from their deposit because of some damage that had been done to their property while the renter was staying there. When the deposit was returned, the renter immediately got upset, demanded their money back or they would post a negative review. While this seems like they can not legally do that, vacation rental advertising sites are allowing it to happen.

So, with this in mind, I thought to myself. How can a vacation rental owner still attempt to get a review, even if a renter was not the perfect renter. I came up with this idea; what about asking renters to review your home before they depart or send them a rental review request prior to refunding their deposit. Now, I know you can not demand a review, thats unfair, but you sure can try this approach, and change your policy on refunding deposits 14 days after departure. This way you eliminate the exchange of deposit as a bargaining tool.

Of course, I do not claim to know it all, but I am a vacation rental owner who manages her own home. I have been working on refining my process of collecting reviews. I'm trying not to go overboard with it, but I am always thinking of ways to entice renters to review my place respectfully!

If you have a comment or idea on reviews, please post it here. I'd love to hear others views.

I just read an article on insights as to Google's strategy with placement of search results. It appears that some are closely watching this switch as it might bring a whole new mountain to conquer if you are trying to tackle search engine placement with your own personal property website. SEO economists have seen that Google is placing high relevance on "brand names". For example, if one enters a search term in a browser typically 10 results would be served on the first page with those 10 being unique sites. NOW, they are showing a sites links as sub categories under the main placement, see screen shot below. This means that real estate on the search result pages will now contain less variety. One site and its pages/links could take up half of page 1. This also means that if you are not a "brand name", you could very well end up on page 7 when you were on page 1. This will also appear to force more to focus on paid placement vs organic placement because organic placement will now be eaten up by the "big guy". This is now being tested in a few selected areas, mostly the UK...but if Google likes it, then it could become a standard around the globe!

For the related article, visit http://www.tnooz.com/2011/08/16/news/time-to-wave-goodbye-to-intermediaries-in-travel-brand-search-results/?utm_source=Tnooz+Mailing+List&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=00dfb37d58-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

I recently stayed in a hotel in San Diego vs renting a vacation rental this summer and I was overwhelmed when I got the bill. Not only was I charged the typical nightly rate, but I was also charged a city tax, a state tax, parking, and a resort fee. My 275.00 a night hotel room turned into 350.00 per night. I was shocked! Since I'm in the vacation rental business, I immediately thought, WOW this is a good incentive to rent a vacation rental vs a hotel! I could have found a VR for less with a kitchen and more room. The other major bummer was that the card keys the hotel gave us didnt work well. We had to use it in the elevator, to get in the pool, and to get into the workout room. After too many failed attempts for it to work properly, I had to go to the guest service counter twice and get new card keys. I was so frustrated, that I almost checked out, but realized they probably would have charged me anyway. So, I just let it go....but I certainly didnt forget. So, if you manage a vacation rental, do some homework of your surrounding hotels, see what they charge, not just nightly, but all the other add on fees that are not negotiable. Use this as a selling tool to promote your VR! Let your guests know that there are no surprises when you checkin or out of what is being charged. I think vacationers will see this as they begin to stay in VR's more and more, then venture back to a hotel and realize WOW that was more expensive than I thought it was going to be.

Happy Renting!