Barefoot Technologies Blog- Vacation Rental Industry News

Marketing Your Vacation Rentals: Inbound Part 4

Posted by Adam Zippin on May 16, 2014 3:17:00 PM

So your web traffic is increasing and you have been getting more leads than ever through your site, so what’s next?  Que the sales pitch right? Wrong.  This is arguably the most crucial part of inbound marketing, where we turn those leads you've nurtured, into renters or guests.  If we look at this from a typical sales process, these leads are fresh and you need to flood them with your sales pitch to both inform them and sell them at the same time.  However, this is not your typical sales funnel, this is your inbound funnel, and the leads that you are looking at have found you because of something you offer that interests them.

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Tags: Vacation Rental Industry, How to market vacation rentals, Marketing, Marketing Vacation Rental, Property manager marketing, professional management, Inbound Marketing

Marketing Your Vacation Rentals: Inbound Part 3

Posted by Adam Zippin on Apr 24, 2014 4:06:00 PM

The third segment will focus on how to convert your new visitors into leads.  In segment 1 we discussed the background of inbound marketing, in segment 2 we covered how to get your message through the traffic of the internet, to the right person.  Once you have increased your traffic, the next step is to begin converting that traffic to leads.  After all, what good is a more qualified lead funnel if your conversion rates stay the same?  You have gone through the work to get your message to the people who want to hear from you, now make the most of this targeting and increase your close rates.

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Tags: Vacation Rental Industry, How to market vacation rentals, Marketing, Marketing Vacation Rental, Property manager marketing, professional management, Inbound Marketing

How to Seasonally Market Your Rental Properties

Posted by Adam Zippin on Nov 14, 2013 5:48:00 PM

Well it’s the time of year up here in New England where rumors of snow are backed up by frigid mornings and mildly warmer days, most call it winter but I am lucky enough to call it hockey season.  Now some may not see the difference between a winter enthusiast and a hockey fan but differences like this can distinguish your business from the rest.  With the winter coming in, the rental market shifts drastically up here, and in any location with winter snow.  So how does this resonate through with your business?  Here are 8 ways to beat the winter with simple marketing tools

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Tags: Vacation Rental Industry, Vacation Rental, Vacation Rental Software, rental industry competition, How to market vacation rentals, Rental Management, Second Home, Property Management Software, Management Software, Competitive Advantage, Rental management Software, rental marketing, Property manager marketing, professional management, rental indusrty competition, Offerings, rental management business, Rental Management CRM, CRM, CRM Tips

Airbnb.com Bounces Back: And In Impressive Fashion!

Posted by Adam Zippin on Oct 15, 2013 1:12:00 PM

My last blog got some mixed reviews after I wrote about the subpoena that Airbnb.com received.  Some people liked it and we got a tweet out there, others were not so impressed with my views.  So this week, I am glad to report that Airbnb.com has partnered with Pepsi Next to anchor its newest promotion.

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Tags: Vacation Rental Industry, Barefoot, Client Expectations, Vacation Rental Software, HomeAway, rental industry competition, How to market vacation rentals, Property Management, Second Home, Property Manager, Management Software, Competitive Advantage, rental marketing, Property manager marketing, professional management, rental indusrty competition, Airbnb.com

Blog Update: Why Airbnb Has A Tough Road Ahead 2.0

Posted by Adam Zippin on Oct 8, 2013 5:35:00 PM

 Back in May I ran a blog about Neil Warren who had rented his room through the popular site Airbnb.com.  This site has made news headlines a few times for its rental policies and the people who are avoiding laws and legislation while using the site.  One member found renting a room was violating her condominium complex’s policies.  Mr. Warren was in violation of several leasing laws for the city of New York.  He however, decided it was best to continue renting his apartment to quests.

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Tags: Vacation Rental Industry, Barefoot, Client Expectations, VRBO, Vacation Rental Software, VRBO Portal, rental industry competition, vacation rental scam, How to market vacation rentals, Property Management, Property Manager, Management Software, Property manager marketing, professional management, rental indusrty competition, Airbnb.com, Vacation Rentals, rental management business

Rental Scammer Caught! Sentenced to 2 years, most already served!

Posted by Adam Zippin on Oct 3, 2013 1:42:00 PM

 Its always an interesting story to read when you click through a cacation rental scam headline.  Sometimes the type of scam is new and you want to alert people, sometimes scams have hit a new area and the professionals there should be alerted, but one thing is for sure, you never feel content in anyway after reading about these scammers.  Today, there was a chance for that to change as I clicked “Rental Scammer Gets Two Years”.  Finally, I thought to myself, someone is being punished for these crimes.  To my horror, once the web page loaded the rest of the caption became clear, “most of which already served”.

 

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Tags: Scams, Vacation Rental Software, rental industry competition, vacation rental scam, How to market vacation rentals, Property Management, Competitive Advantage, Rental Scam, future of vacation rentals, professional management

A Successful Year For Vacation Rentals: Beating Hotel Occupancy Rates

Posted by Adam Zippin on Sep 26, 2013 5:06:00 PM

Congratulations are in order to the industry as a whole for a solid summer season.  According to an article by RIS Media, the average rental per week rose 19% over the same time last year.  In this numbers thick report, the stats are in and it was another banner year!  While we are always happy to see your success, we can't help but feel a bit of deja vu.  To add some juice, here are a few of our favorite numbers.

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Tags: Vacation Rental Industry, Vacation Rental, Client Expectations, Vacation Rental Software, How to market vacation rentals, Property Manager, Competitive Advantage, future of vacation rentals, professional management, rental indusrty competition, rental management business

Why Complacency is Killing Your Vacation Rental Business

Posted by Adam Zippin on Sep 24, 2013 4:50:00 PM

Last week I wrote a blog on why you need to use a portal program as a part of your business strategy.  This week I want to step back and take a look at why thoughts like this are so very important.  As I trolled the internet for industry news the other day I realized that more and more companies are moving into the rental booking and transaction market.  It first started with Wyndham and other hotel companies buying up rental companies.  Lately however, companies like TurnKey, BookingPal, HomeAway and others are pushing into the transactional aspect of rentals.  The business model of these companies is one that should be, not worrisome, but certainly relevant to your future business.

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Tags: Vacation Rental Software, future of vacation rentals, professional management, rental indusrty competition, rental management business