For the last 15 years, we’ve seen a continuous pattern of high demand and low inventory in our property management business in July and August. It’s why we’ve been able to almost guarantee 100% occupancy to new owners, providing they priced competitively and delivered an attractively presented property. Until summer 2019, when in mid-June we […]
If you want to #BookDirect you need your own website. If you go the WordPress route, there are thousands of plugins that can increase the functionality of your site, make it look professional and are easy to use. Jason Beaton, partner at Vacation Rental Formula, and digital marketing expert talks us through 10 plugins you […]
So, you’ve got a great idea for a lead magnet to attract your website visitors to share their email address and have spent hours on Canva creating something that has massive value for your audience, looks professional and is going to bring loads more leads to your email list. Now what? How do you get […]
Last year, the inaugural #BookDirect Guest Education Day reached an estimated 3.5 million travelers with direct email campaigns and had a social reach of over 24 million consumers. A year later, the movement hasn’t lost any momentum as more and more owners, and property managers release their dependence on the major OTAs and increase their confidence in […]
Getting independence from the OTAs usually means a couple of things. You have to work hard at it and have to know what your goals are. It’s no good just cutting ties with Home Away or Airbnb and declaring you are going it alone. Not if you want to continue to drive traffic to your […]
This special episode brings together four top vacation rental experts to share their thoughts on this first Guest Education Day. With the hashtag #BookDirect, February 7th is the day designated to bring the attention of the travelling public, media and other interested parties, to the benefits of booking directly with a property owner or manager. […]
In episode 206 I spoke to digital marketing expert Jason Beaton about the importance of growing your email list. We discussed the issue that impacts everyone – how difficult it is to get people to give up their email address. Without that essential piece of information, it’s tough to start a book-direct campaign. Growing your […]
“I do think we will see another disruptor in this space. I do not think that the booking paths that Airbnb, Homeaway, Trip Advisor and Booking.com are currently utilising are the best for our industry. Someone is going to crack that code.” – Amy Hinote We are blessed in this industry with some highly intelligent […]
There’s a lot of talk about independence in our industry; how to achieve success without being swallowed up by the behemoth listing sites, and whether branding is worth the time and effort. I have a personal stake in all this. As a small property manager facing the challenge from sites wanting to wipe out our […]
2016 has been a turbulent year for the vacation rental industry and it seems that there’s something in the air. An unrest and dissatisfaction that is going beyond simple griping about traveler fees and the control that OTAs are tightening around our business models. In September, UK based Rentivo sent out a survey asking their […]
