CH A P T E R 8
8.2 Marketing DIY marketing for your VRP business has become the process of managing the online presence provided by various vacation home online service providers. Over the last five to ten years, the expectations of guests and owners have changed dramatically thanks to technology. Online booking is now the norm for travelers. Most mobile devices to book a vacation rental. Many of these DIY sites have excellent tutorials and programs that walk you step by step through the process of customer care, home presentation, and general marketing. VRP Online Site Comparisons
DIY online booking sites today are vastly different from the ones we saw a couple years ago. There have been substantial changes to all of the vacation rental listing sites, from the way they charge homeowners to the amount they charge guests, to the way they rank properties in search results. All these variables are leaving VRP owners wondering which one is superior, and/or which one (or combination of several) will best fit their needs. I have spent the time comparing the biggest players in the DIY market to give you a starting point from which to do your own analysis and experimentation. First, let’s take a look at fee structures. In this section, you’ll fi nd a cross-platform comparison of the fees you’ll have to pay to promote your property on each major listing site, including pay-per-booking fees, subscription costs, and credit card processing fees. Let’s use a nice round number and say $25,000 is what the average VRP owner grosses per year across all sizes and types of homes. So, for our discussion, we will use this number to compare the different online listing platforms’ performance. With the subscription plan on two of the major DIY sites, you pay $499 per year for the subscription and a 3% credit card processing fee ($750 if you make $25,000). So, $23,751 is what you’ll earn in gross annual income.
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