Vacation Rental Business Blog

In my book “Vacation Rental Marketing, Secrets No One Will Tell You” I discuss the benefits and show you how to make small collaborative efforts that help make a huge difference in your vacation rental business. The small things tend to make a vacation rental experience extraordinary instead of just ordinary.

An extraordinary travel experience will generate more repeat customers, more interest and help you earn higher rental profits. If you would like to keep your vacation rental business brimming with bookings you’ll have to make people want your vacation rental more that they want the money in their pockets. In order for you to achieve this goal you’ll need to build the desire for your property within potential travelers that interact with you.

To do this effectively it’s important to pay attention to the details of your property and the services you’re offering. Take a step back and observe areas where improvements can be made. An owner will need to work on improvements to the property throughout the lifetime of the investment. This includes making upgrades to their vacation rentals website, furnishings, house wares, marketing, procedures, maintenance and other details as needed. I can’t tell you how many websites I have seen owners using that looked like they built it 20 years ago with annoying flashing graphics and cheap looking designs. One of the things that really bugs me is to see vacation rental properties with pink outdated carpets or extremely dated furniture my grandmother used to own.

The majority of vacation rental owners that contact me understand they need to make improvements to their vacation rental business after all that’s why they are contacting us. However there are some vacation rental owners who just cringe at the word upgrade or update. This is because they hate the idea of investing money in their investment property. I find that these owners usually receive the least amount of bookings and are often in a bind with their vacation rental property. They run their investment property with a closed fist holding on tightly to whatever income they can squeeze from that investment without giving back to their business. Their reasoning for not investing back into their rental business is they aren’t making enough rentals to invest money in their property. They believe they need to hold on to whatever income they can get to pay the bills. What’s ironic is the reason these owners are not investing in their vacation rental property is the very same reason they need to be investing in their rental.

These owners say they aren’t making money booking their vacation homes so they’re reluctant or afraid to spend money. However if they don’t invest in their investment property their situation will not change and in most cases their situation will continue to deteriorate. The old saying ‘ it takes money to make money” is true in any business; the problem is owners don’t consider their vacation rental a business.  These are the groups of owners who complain about the vacation rental industry and blame the economy or their property manager for low occupancy. The truth is, they’re not doing well in their rental business because of the attitude they’ve had toward their vacation rental.

I call this the Dead Sea scenario. The Dead Sea is named appropriately because no plant or animal can live there. If a fish accidentally swims into the Dead Sea it dies instantly. Nothing lives in the Dead Sea because of the high salinity levels and build up from particles. These particles flow into the Dead Sea and sit stagnant because there’s no outlet for the water and particles to flow through, therefore the salt and mineral particles build up. The Dead Sea only collects, it does not give. If the Dead Sea had an outlet it would be very much alive.

Is your vacation rental business like the Dead Sea?  Do you let some of your income flow out into your rental business?

Open your mind and you will get your clients to open their wallets. Invest in your vacation rental business.

Visit our website for more information about our vacation rental website design and vacation rental marketing services.

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