Marketing Your Vacation Home

The most difficult issue in helping a "stake holder" market their home is management of their expectations. Note: a "Stake Holder" is anyone who has an interest in seeing that a home is rented. A person owning a second home, a property manager and an investment syndicate are all examples of a "stake holder".In my website development business we view HomeAway and VRBO as two requirements any serious stake holder because the performance and value provided by these two services is irrefutable. However, the approach of HomeAway is a one size fits all. My view is that a vacation home is unique. This uniqueness requires a unique and non-generic way to organize the information about your vacation home. In addition, I believe that changes are taking place in the industry that will affect the way "guests" search for properties. I am not sure HomeAway's business model is ready for these changes. Back to management of the stake holder's expectations, HomeAway and VRBO have produced an unrealistic measuring stick by which to compare the performance of other listing services and vacation home marketing concerns. In a word, HomeAway and VRBO have made it very easy to make money in the Vacation Rental Industry IN THE PAST.Going forward, stake holders will need to learn how to use all the tools available to build a viable and profitable Vacation Rental Business. Don't expect a listing service or a website to bring people to bring this constant stream of people to your Vacation Home. Rather, stake holders should focus on retention of guests who have come to your home and have already enjoyed the benefits of the destination and the vacation rental. Maintaining a relationship with your guests is the key to building a repeat and referral business that will reduce your dependence on the listing services. A personal website is the key to branding a vacation rental business because you are in complete control of the advertising and content on your website. Control means you are building your business and not that of the listing service. That said, use HomeAway and VRBO as long as they work for you but, be prepared to stand on your own two feet when it comes to building your vacation rental business.Thanks,Homespun Websites LLC