I was reading some “advice” on vacation rentals somewhere on the internet. I recall it told the reader to list their vacation home for rent through the big #1 vacation rental advertising website to get renters. Agreed, this of course is a good first step. Next, the article said to go out and get your own domain name for your property. Again, agreed, I strongly suggest this as well . Lastly it told the reader to point their new domain name to their listing on the vacation rental advertising website. …This part I don't agree with very much.
Bad advice just burns me up… point your domain name to your listing on an advertising website. Really? You have to be kidding me. This is precisely an example of why I wrote a book on investing in vacation real estate and why I am writing this Blog.
In this Blog I will introduce you to the 1st key of the 4 keys to success with vacation rentals.
Key #1: Your Freedom! Your Website!
With my first vacation rental I never advertised my property for rent on the big vacation rental advertising website and I have never had any issues renting it. And my vacation home is in the middle of nowhere. Most people would have no clue to the whereabouts of the city that it is in. But I got it rented. But how?
From day one, I had my own website for my vacation rental. I controlled my own fate. I controlled my advertising, my renting process, my reservation process, and the overall management process…
Ah, what a nice thing Key #1 is.
If you follow the other persons “advice” in my opening paragraph, you will be tied into the big rental advertising websites forever. You will be paying a yearly fee to them… forever. Key #1, and the upcoming Key #2 to success will free you from having to pay fees and rely on others…So YOU can control your own future.
As for the way I do it, all forms of advertising that I do; flyers, business cards, ads in newspapers, chamber of commerce, word of mouth, local websites, and so on, point everyone to my property's website (i.e. www.boynemountaingetaway.com).
Why Key #1 Is So Important
Your property website is where all the magic happens. It's where you sell potential renters on your property, take reservations, accept payments, display your property guide, provide a downloadable copy of your rental agreement, inside and outside pictures of your property… Basically everything you need to rent and manage your vacation rental property.
Everyone should be coming to YOUR website, nobody else's, to get all the information about your vacation rental and to book their trip.
While writing my book on how to invest in vacation rentals, I quickly realized that I needed to provide an economical way for vacation rental owners to have their own property website. Well, that is what getawayx.com will do for you and it’s very economical… it's free.
You should only use the big vacation rental advertising websites for what they are, advertising. Why? Because if you follow Keys #1 and #2, you will not need to use them very much in the future.
My next Blog will reveal Key #2 to success in vacation rentals.
Stay tuned…
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