All products, services, or links mentioned on my website are for products and services that I have personally used and/or recommend. Some of the links are affiliate links. This means if you click on an affiliate link and purchase an item, I may receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.
Any successful business person will tell you, you need to develop a routine of purposeful habits.
Vacation rental business owners are no different than other business professionals. By incorporating these seven habits into your business strategy, you are sure to have less chaos and more time to meaningfully work your business.
By incorporating these 7 productive habits into your routine, you’re setting yourself up for SUCCESS!
The most important habit of a successful vacation rental host is diversification.
Diversification is the name of the game in the stock market, and so it should be with your vacation rental business. As a result, successful vacation rental hosts know that the “market” (VRBO, Airbnb, TripAdvisor, etc.) can quickly change their rules. They sometimes even take down a listing without notice. In fact, it says exactly that in Airbnb’s terms and conditions!
Successful vacation rental owners know that the only way to protect their investment long-term is to first, establish a business website and social media business accounts. They don’t rely on a third party to be the sole marketer for their vacation rental.
Another piece of the diversification puzzle is to pay attention to what’s happening in the industry and with the competition. Diversification allows owners to more easily pivot when there are industry shifts.
For example, an owner receives an unwarranted/unfavorable/false review and the OTA shuts down the listing. Diversification (having multiple established listing sites, including a website and social media accounts) gives the owner additional options for picking up bookings. Without diversification, the owner would likely be in huge financial trouble.
Monitoring your online traffic provides a wealth of information.
Your website analytics will tell you what page is most visited, where the traffic is from, their age, gender, days of the week, and time of day, just to name a few. Therefore, you can use this information to maximize your audience engagement and reach.
Study statistics for your social media posts. Is your traffic clicking on your links? Are they commenting on and engaging with your content?
Do some A/B testing with your posts. For example, use the same text, but different photos. Which one performs better? Adapt your photos for future posts based upon the reaction from your A/B testing.
All of the social media platforms have some sort of analytics tool. Below are links to the most common sites:
Analytics are the detailed information, data and statistics that are collected from your online accounts and website(s). Most analytics reports include the number of visitors to your account, as well as some demographic information about the visitor.
Analytics are more than just the number of site visits. Use the analytics from the various platforms to get to know more about your online audience.
Perhaps your posts are attracting the wrong potential guests. Does your vacation rental property best suit couples and honeymooners? If so, perhaps you should avoid posting and sharing content that wouldn’t be relevant to target guests.
Instead, make your social media posts appeal to your specific target audience. Become the local travel “expert” for your target audience.
It’s also important to know your guests’ persona in order to create an atmosphere inside your property that caters to their unique needs. For instance, if you typically host families with young children, be sure there are plenty of games, books, and activities that the children will enjoy. Happy kids = happy mom and dad = better vacation for everyone!
One of the best ways to guarantee success is by investing your time and committing to learn as much as you can about the vacation rental business.
Clearly, successful hosts don’t become successful overnight. Reading, studying, and listening to other hosts is going to be the fastest and easiest way to learn the tricks of the trade. Learn from their successes, as well as their mistakes.
Most importantly, recognize that what works best for one host, may not be a good fit for your business. Consider their guest persona, location, their hosting experience, etc. before implementing any well-intended advice you’ve read in a Facebook group or vacation rental owner forum.
Moreover, seek out the leaders in the vacation rental industry and study their business models. Invest your time into learning marketing techniques and then implementing those skills into your business in a way that promotes the best guest experience.
I encourage you to join my weekly tips email. You’ll hear about the latest industry news, changes and products.
Each week I share actionable tips for improving your guest experience and boosting your income. Sometimes I share sneak peek freebie downloads and content that you won’t find on my website. And if you decide you no longer want my tips, you can unsubscribe at any time.
It’s hard to stay on top of all the changes that are happening all by yourself. I promise to do my best to keep you informed of changes with the OTAs, as well as changes to social media algorithms.
Let’s get real for a minute…
My job is to get the information out to you. It becomes your responsibility to devote time for making your vacation rental business successful, so open those emails and click those links.
As a business owner, part of your responsibility is to familiarize yourself with the legalities of running your business.
This includes local zoning laws, city ordinances, county regulations, state laws, federal regulations and the numerous tax regulations. Don’t jeopardize your property or your finances by not following the laws and regulations. If in doubt, hire an attorney and Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to help you.
Important information from the IRS website: Know the tax facts about renting out residential property
Also, read IRS Publication 527 – Residential Rental Property (Including Rental of Vacation Homes)
Remember, you don’t need to know every single law and ordinance. You just need to know if and when you should consult with an attorney or CPA.
Never has there been more technology options for vacation rental owners than there are right now.
From sophisticated vacation rental business software to WiFi keyless locks and thermostats, hosts have tons of available trendy technology.
That’s good news for you, as the host, and for the guests.
Guests are expecting automation and technology to be a part of their travel experience. They are looking for the ease of INSTANTLY booking online (whether you like it or not) and they want info readily available electronically.
Are you able to deliver on these new necessities? It’s time to get on board.
Automation will not only please your guests. It will make your job as a host so much easier and it will save you HOURS!
Systems, processes and automation will help keep you organized. I learned this the hard way. The first couple of years in business, I had information scattered in several notebooks and I was fighting time at the end of the year to get income and expenses organized for income taxes.
Not anymore! I created my owner vacation rental planner that keeps everything organized, including furnishings/appliance inventories, remodeling/updates project info, marketing/blog templates, bill pay checklists… you name it, it’s in there!
Check out my Vacation Rental Business Toolkit and see it’s something you can use to save time, effort and some gray hair.
In addition, I now have all of my routine guest correspondence automated – and most importantly, personalized!
What do you think of when you hear the word “hospitality”?
Hospitality goes far beyond just being “nice” to your guests. It’s about being aware of and understanding your guests’ needs. Then being proactive in meeting those needs to the best of your ability.
Hospitality = friendly, generous, welcoming, helpfulness, kindness, attentive, gracious, thankful, quality, flexible, accommodating, attention to detail, personable, listening, problem solving, patience
You won’t be able to please every guest, but as a host, it IS your job to try.
It’s not always easy to be hospitable. However, even when you are hosting “the worst guest ever”, it is never appropriate to be rude, obnoxious or condescending. Those actions will only escalate the problem.
Always, always always, remain professional.
Just by reading this blog post, you’ve shown me that you’re serious about your vacation rental business.
Join me and a tribe of other owners as we tackle the issues and work for better solutions each week through my TrendyTips emails.
Get organized and save yourself some time and frustration with my Tools & Resources.
If you’re ready to learn more, my online vacation rental business and marketing courses can be found here.
I’d love to hear from you. Email me at connie@trendyhospitality.com or comment below. Tell me what you’re doing to become a more successful vacation rental host!
You’ll learn unique marketing strategies for social media that will generate more revenue for your business.
Social Media Marketing Bootcamp is a self-paced, 5-Part course designed exclusively for vacation rental owners. The content will be specific to the vacation rental industry, and you’ll have access to exclusive content, worksheets, and questions/answers as you move through the course.
Learn more about how to effectively market your vacation rental on social media, in my Facebook & Instagram Course Exclusively for Vacation Rental Hosts.
Here are some of the topics included in the Social Media Marketing Bootcamp Course:
Take the quiz to find out how the Social Media Marketing Bootcamp course will help your vacation rental business.
After taking the quiz, you’ll see a personalized report explaining whether you’re a good candidate for the course.
You don’t want to miss any of my weekly vacation rental management and marketing tips! You’ll also get my FREE Download – 9 Steps to Preparing Your Vacation Rental Business to #BookDirect!
Would you like to take Direct Bookings for your vacation rental, but you don’t know where to start? Evaluate where you are and what steps you need to take to gain back control of your vacation rental business. It’s not as hard as you might think.
Learn what Trendy Hospitality is all about. And learn more about me and why I have such a passion for vacation rental management and marketing.
I would jump for joy if you’d share my blog posts on your favorite social media platforms, including Facebook groups ! ↓
All products, services or links mentioned on my website are for products and services that I have personally used. Some of the links are affiliate links. This means if you click on an affiliate link and purchase an item, I may receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.
My website is built using WordPress and is hosted by Bluehost. The rates are very reasonable and they give you plenty of hosting space and powerful features under the basic plan.
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