VROA COMPLIMENTARY NEWSLETTER - January 19, 2004
SUBJECT: Website Strategy - Part One

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*** This is just a SAMPLE. To receive the whole newsletter from the VROA every week and to support the Vacation Rental Industry please visit www.VROA.org and consider joining. Its just $59 per year and you'll get 10 times your moneys worth.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whether you are self managed or use a property management firm you gotta have a website if you want to maximize income. In recent weeks I've been getting lots of questions about website strategy. For Example: David White from Rock Creek Cabins (www.RockCreekCabins.com) asked,

"Sometime in the near future I would like to see some discussion on posting rates on web sites. Also, the pros/cons of giving customers the ability to book reservations thru web sites."

And what gives me the right to speak to that subject? Well because those decisions go to the core marketing decisions that I've been studying for 30 years of doing print, broadcast and other kinds of advertising and marketing. I may not know it all but I do grab on to ideas I stumble upon. If I have a core conclusion about business (having rooted around inside hundreds of them) it is simply this, "Well run businesses do everything on purpose." There are no silver bullets, no perfect solutions. Every industry, every company is different. But if they think strategically, if they do things on purpose, they usually succeed.

BASIC QUESTIONS:
To design a website "Doing things on purpose" means going back to the basics. Before you start (or redesign) your site ask this question, what am I trying to accomplish? For most of us the answer is we are trying to attract renters. Pretty simple. But you may have other goals.

For example: Do you want guests to telephone inquiries or to email them? (Remembering that they may call in the middle of the night) If so, then you may need to install a second phone number that you can turn off after "Business Hours." In that case it would be smart to post your hours on your website.

Are you willing to return phone calls? (You would be amazed at the huge percentage of businesses who fail to do that). If so you'll need to have voicemail or an answering machine with a short but informative business like message on it.

Do you like speaking with "prospects" personally or would you prefer to handle email correspondence only. Not everyone is cut out to be a telephone salesperson. In this case you may want to omit your phone number from your website. (Even if you ask to only be contacted by email, believe me, they will call at all hours.)

Naturally the answer to these questions differ if you are not self managed. In that case you'll have to designate the manager to be contacted on your website so learn their preferences about phone calls or emails. Ask them and design your site appropriately. By the way, if your manager restricts access to his staff in anyway, you probably need to find a new firm because one of the reasons you use a manage is to take the sales burden off your shoulders.

MANY TACTICS:
You may be finding my advice so far requires you to think through each aspect of your website, and I hope you will do that for your site. But to make the process speedy I'll now outline some of the tactics you may want to employ in your website. Tactics hat are bound to produce results.

STRANGE TEST QUESTION:
But before I go through the laundry list let me explain a strange idea that has come about because of the web and that may have changed the face of marketing forever. It is this:

"The web allows us to provide more information than ever before. It allows us to organize it dynamically meaning viewers can pick and choose which information they look at by following links. Plus it allows customers to dig into that data at any place and time and often without our knowledge. In some ways that is scary because, unlike in-person sales, people we don't get to pick, choose what they see. Really for the first time, they choose how they want to be sold."

All of that means we have an opportunity, perhaps the requirement, to sell differently than ever before. To accomplish that I have taken to applying my strange idea, a kind of test really. It is based on the premise (which may not be true for all of you) that each of us can all get sufficient leads But it asks if can we get the best ones and, more importantly, how can we secure bookings while cutting the time we waste on prospects who will never buy?

The solution is to follow a "Tell Them Everything" Theory:

PROVIDE ENOUGH INFORMATION SO SOME GUESTS WILL NOT BUY YOUR PRODUCT.

Sounds crazy doesn't it? But fully informing the customer before they phone or write will save you a great deal of time.

As an example: If you accept pets feature that fact prominently on your site.

The "I gotta bring my well-behaved, well-mannered, quite, small (you fill in the adjective) pooch" people will flock to your rental. But the "I fear they'll be a faint tale tell smell of man's best friend" guest won't waste time to call.

And if the negative side of the Tell Them Everything works, it will work in the positive. Give viewers a wealth of information and then, if they call to book, you know they are a well informed and appreciative guest.

============================================
This week's Sponsor: Book: How to Make Your Vacation Property Work for You!
Alfred & Emily Glossbrenner have written 60 books totaling 1,000,000 copies. Their latest focuses on what they learned operating their "Bucks County Cottage" vacation rental (http://www.vrbo.com/7951). A must read for self managers See it at www.FireCrystal.com
============================================

In short, provide all the information you can so that customers can "self quality" themselves before calling.

FABULOUS PHOTOS: Vacation Rental Websites have improved markedly since the inception of the web. Originally home owners were delighted to snap a digital photo and throw it on the web. But now viewers expect high quality high-resolution photos, with proper lighting. Owners should use software to light balance the photo for a great effect. I'm not suggesting you make your place look better or different than it is. But even sophisticated digital camera photos need manipulation to make the photo look like what a visitor's eye will perceive when they arrive.

=====> Click here www.VROA.org to read the rest of this newsletter, or all the other great past and future issues. We hope you join and support the Vacation Rental Industry.

-------------------





TELL A FRIEND:

If you like receiving these newsletters, if we've helped you even a little, please tell your friends by clicking here (Its automated & easy.)
http://www.vroa.org/tellafriend/form.asp
-------------------

INPUT:
As always I seek your input. Please share your tips, techniques, compliments, and complaints on this or any other subject by writing me at Director@VROA.org.

HOME OF THE WEEK:
How about Mexico this week. Dominick Mullaney lives in New Jersey but loves to spend time at his Casa Mullaney in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Who can blame him. Take a look at http://www.a1vacations.com/casamullaney/1/ .(If you want your place considered for Home of the Week please drop me an email.)

FEEDBACK:
I have been getting your newsletters for a few months and love them. They are giving me info on subjects that I didn't think of before. Like the term and condition sheet.
- Debra, Green Bay WI USA

We try to have fun with the Vacation Rental business - hey its fun owning a rental. But sometimes we have to cover tough subjects like legalities. Glad you found it helpful.
- Wm. May

ONLINE:
Please see these websites for fun:
www.DoNothingHere.com

===========================================
VROA OWNER NEWSLETTER
Published weekly for all Members
Copyright - Vacation Rental Owners Association
Read this and all prior newsletters at www.VROA.org

Director & Editor - Wm. May Director@VROA.org
Membership - Penny Taylor Membership@VROA.org
PO Box 21305
Seattle, WA 98111-3305
Voice: 206-343-7777
Fax: 206-628-0839
Email: Info@VROA.org
Web: www.VROA.org (for Members)
Web: www.VROA.com (for Guests - coming soon)
===========================================