GET MORE HEADS IN BEDS

Are you sick of being held ransom to the 3rd party booking sites (and their exorbitant fees & commissions)…?

Or maybe you’re super happy with the bookings you receive through those sites but when you send your property link to someone & they make a booking you have to pay fees on what should be your direct booking.

Or the AirBnB / VRBO link you send shows OTHER PROPERTIES on YOUR property link!

Without a doubt it’s important to have a presence on 3rd party sites, however if your sole form of advertising is through these sites then it’s costing you money.

But how else do you get bookings?

Wouldn’t it be nice to receive direct bookings & not pay the exorbitant commission the 3rd party sites take?

But how…?

By being PRO-ACTIVE about marketing your vacation home instead of waiting for RE-ACTIVE bookings from the 3rd party sites.

Your Vacation Home Rental should have it’s very own website - ideally without the price tag of a custom design website!

Anyone who’s looked into getting an accomodation booking website with an availability calendar (which integrates into the 3rd party sites & updates in real time) knows that the price-tag is heftily into the thousands.

I’d like to educate you on a super cost effective way to market your property with the goal outcome to RECEIVE MORE DIRECT BOOKINGS through a payment gateway on your personalised Vacation Home Rental website.

If you’re ready to learn about how you can manage your Vacation Home Rental Property more effectively & increase your bookings & profits then I am ready to help you understand what other options you have with marketing your property.

I will show you how to get your very own property website online for a significantly smaller investment than building a custom design website, but with all the features (& more) that you will ever need to efficiently manage your Vacation Home Rental.

Are you interested in learning how to independently market your Vacation Home Rental & receive more DIRECT BOOKINGS?

I can teach you how. It will cost you nothing more than your time to chat with me & hear about what else you can be doing (outside of AirBnB & VRBO) to market your home for direct bookings.

PS… there’s so many things no one else is doing!

GET MORE HEADS IN BEDS
Personalized marketing consultancy for mid to high end vacation home rental owners

What can I help with?

Marketing your property is a skill & I’d love to show you how to do it well!

One of the most important aspects of any successful business is a website.

You have a product (your vacation home) where

people can buy online (make bookings), so ideally your website should be set up to work for you so you can make money while you sleep.

The majority of people don’t really want to be messaging back & forth about availability & pricing etc.

They want to see a beautiful property, imagine themselves & their loved ones spending time in that property, enter their dates, receive the total price then book & pay online at their leisure.

That’s why the 3rd party sites are so popular - because it allows people to search & book the way that suits them.

Anyone who’s looked into getting a website done with an availability calendar (which seamlessly integrates into the 3rd party sites) & updates in real time will know that the price tag is heftily into the thousands!

I’d love to show you a simple & super cost effective way to launch a website & smartly manage your vacation home rental business with the goal outcome of direct bookings.

How does it work?

It’s super simple!

The best way really is to book a 15 minute call with me & you can share where you’re at with your vacation home rental business & I can share with you some marketing insights that would help with your situation & explain what I can help with.

There’s no obligation to move forward with anything & I’d be happy to just connect & chat with you.

If you did want to move forward & take control of marketing your vacation home rental business with the goal of increasing your direct bookings then here are the 3 main points we would work to set up:

1) Your Property Management System (PMS)

3rd party sites are NOT a PMS on which to run your vacation home rental business. They are a helpful tool for exposure & to bring in bookings.

Maximize your profits with a rental booking engine. Our software allows you to receive direct bookings and save money on 3rd party commissions & fees.

Take ownership of your vacation home rental business & control all your bookings from one centralized dashboard.

Connect your reservation system to any external channels with our channel manager & forget about double-bookings!

The right PMS will give you:

a real time Availability Calendar (synced with 3rd party sites)
guest Management
task Management
help with automation & simplify guest communication in one message centre
reporting & analytics
accounting
& so much more! (even a free website if you pick the right one!)

If you’d like to hear about an efficient & very cost effective PMS let’s chat & I can share with you what I’d recommend for you.

2) Your Website

The best way to grow your vacation rental business is with your very own property website.

The websites that come free with the PMS I’m recommending come with so many amazing features, such as:

a real time availability calendar with seamless integration to the 3rd party sites (updated in real time as bookings drop in & help with avoiding double bookings!)
centralizing your reservation management & guest communication from all platforms into the one program
easily adjusting rates which then publish across all channels
setting special offers/rates to book off peak or in between bookings (set a discount code & send out to previous guests or FB post, link direct to your website to book online)
collecting online payments (instant book or booking approval required)
marketing & ongoing communication to your previous guest database
and so much more!

3) Your Pro-Active Marketing Plan

Is your sole form of marketing through the 3rd party sites? If so that’s ok!

One of my favourite sayings is, start where you are, with what you have & do what you can.

Bookings from those sites are re-active which means that the potential guest thinks of booking a holiday & visits one of those sites to search their location, dates, number of guests & get shown a list of 300+ suitable properties.

Pro-active marketing means that the potential guest isn’t thinking about a holiday, they see your property (through different means of advertising) & click to view your website, search their dates, get a pice & potentially even make a booking without exploring other options.

That’s the ultimate! A direct booking through your property website on your property domain without having to pay a 30% commission to a booking platform.

That’s just one example, just know that there’s so much more you you can be doing to market your vacation home rental.

I can work with you to come up with a personalised plan for your type of home & budget, enter your email address below to receive my top 5 ways to market your vacation home rental!

Frequently asked questions

Is this a property management agency?

No. A property Management Agency deals with your property on your behalf.

They advertise, manage guest communication, cleaning etc.

This is a marketing/promotional service to help you receive more direct bookings & have more control of your vacation home rental business.

Can I use your service if my property is being managed by a property management agency?

Yes of course!

My service is more aimed at those owners who are managing their properties themselves, however it certainly is complementary if you are with an agency.

I will help you with your own property website (including a real time availability calendar which updates as bookings are approved) & you can promote this rather than a link to your property on their agency website (which advertises other properties).

It also means that you are set up to receive direct bookings & not have to pay any agency fees on those bookings.

What are 3rd party booking sites? AirBnB, VRBO, Booking.com, Expedia, Trivago, etc.

Basically any site that you pay a subscription to list your property on, and/or pay a commission when a booking is made on that site.

Why isn’t it good to use the 3rd party sites as your sole form on advertising?

Wow, where do I start…?

Firstly, you don’t own any content on those sites! If you are barred for whatever reason, the sites go down or for some reason cease to exist so does all of your marketing & for most owners - business history, booking data etc, none of it is actually your property.

Secondly, the commissions you & your guest pay! I believe it can be as high as 30% on some bookings (give or take)?

Also if you’re sending your AirBnB/VRBO link to potential guests then you’re quite possibly losing bookings as on the page you send shows “Similar Properties”, one click & they’re gone to view someone else’s property & possibly making a booking from the link to view YOUR property.

You know what, this deserves an entire blog post… coming soon!

What’s the benefit of having a personalised website for my property?

Having your own website not only allows you to avoid additional 3rd party fees but also gives you the chance to take full control over your business.

You can:

update your content & edit rates as necessary in one centralized location (images, text etc & it publishes across all booking channels)
receive & manage reviews
manage guest communication (from all booking channels in the one central location)
set & promote special offers
easily manage your database of previous clients (and continue to market to them)
& so, so, so much more!

What is covered in the 15 minute call?

We can cover whatever you like!

If you just want to pick my brain & get some great marketing ideas that you can implement straight away then we can do that, there’s no obligation to take anything further.

I’m more than happy to share whatever ideas I have with you for you to take away & implement yourself if that’s what you’d like to do, I’ll just be happy to connect & have a chat with you to hear how your property bookings are doing with the marketing you’re currently doing.

What are you selling?

I’d like to think I’m not actually selling anything!

I have years of online marketing experience in the Vacation Home Rental industry & I’d like to share with property owners how they can be doing so much more than just listing their properties on the 3rd party booking sites.

How much to get a website with a real time availability calendar? You can have a website online for your property for as little as $12 per month.

There are 3 different options depending on what level of features you need however for 1 property at the Starter option will be just $12 per month on an annual plan.

Please note if you have more than 1 property - all properties can be set up within the same account, the price will increase slightly with each number of properties.

You can set the website up yourself or if you would like me to do it for you & have you online within just a few days then my set up cost is between $500-$600USD & this is a once off payment, ongoing management can all be done by you!

Is this a monthly subscription commitment?

Yes, the Property Management System (PMS) is a paid subscription business management tool which includes a personalised website on your personal domain.

Whether you pay monthly or yearly is up to you. If you’d like to pay monthly then you can do it that way, however if you pay for a year at a time then you save 30%.

Pay 2 years at a time and you’ll save 35%. It makes a lot more sense to go yearly or bi-yearly to save money.

My fee to set up the website is a once off investment!

(All pricing mentioned is USD)

Are you interested in learning how to independently market your Vacation Home Rental? If so, I would love to help.

It will cost you nothing more than your time to have a chat with me & hear about what else you can be doing outside of AirBnB & VRBO to market your home for vacation rentals.

Hint… there’s so many things no one else is doing!

And who am I…? I’m Shelley and I’m currently located in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (but you & your vacation home rental can be anywhere in the world).

My background is 5+ years Vacation Home Rental Online Marketing experience & I’m passionate about education Vacation Home owners on how they can become independent in their online marketing.

Since I’ve been in PV I’ve noticed so many Vacation Home owners relying on the booking channels as their sole form of marketing & I’d like to show you how you can have more control over how you market your property.

I’ve been in Online Marketing for 15+ years specialising in helping business owners shine online through business / marketing coaching & online marketing support - see my Shelley Ottens Marketing website here.

If you’re open to learning about other avenues of marketing your vacation rental

I’m looking forward to connecting with you.

Shelley Ottens | What’s App: +52 55 3968 3045 | Email: shelley.ottens@gmail.com