Bill's Bountiful Blog

May I keep you posted on my thoughts, ideas, observations, and silliness?. Am I serious? Is it relevant?. Does anyone care? Probably not much.

But in today's age of everyone has something to say, why not me? And who can blame me for jumping into to the pool? For speaking up For laying it out?

"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." - Thomas Wiley, Journalist

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Lodging Newsletter 20240229 Noel Coward Snake

By Wm, May
Published: 02/29/24 Topics: Advertising, AirBnB, Marketing, Newsletter, Self Improvement, Selling Comments: 0

Sir Noel Coward, the playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, was known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise."

When asked his advice for young actors, he said, "Speak clearly, move about the stage gracefully, and falling back on the playwright is always a good idea."

Why is it that in some careers that some people just do the basics, some become reasonably competent and still others become exemplary, like Sir Noel?

In lodging management, vacation rentals in particular, the playing field is now littered with managers and individual hosts at every level. And all feel they are successful. Mostly because they don't know the facts, because they don’t study.

AirBnB and VRBO enticed people by proclaiming how easy it is to buy a vacation rental, get some bookings and live happily every after. That pitch works because, indeed, if a home is listed on a single website, it will get some bookings. Not necessarily a lot, but at least some bookings.

Unfortunately, that gives every participant confidence that they are doing things right. But in fact, if a home is only listed on one or two advertising websites, it is leaving money on the table.

The rule we were taught in college is that advertising is a matter of reach, frequency, consistency and messaging. It is a simple formula.

To get more sales, get more inquiries
To get more inquiries, get more visibility
To get more visibility, advertise every way you can afford

There are hundreds of duties necessary to achieve maximum income. The most fundamental is to advertise everywhere always. If you don’t know how, you need a professional full-stack manager.

- - - - - - -

Lodging Newsletter

by Wm. May, for February 28, 2024

Property owners hire professional vacation rental managers to do the work they don't have time to do, or don't know how to do, or that they may feel uncomfortable doing.

A recently retired Colorado manager explains to owners that managers take on sophisticated tasks to propel vacation rental success, (such as guest services, wide ranging advertising, personnel training, and guest services) but often they pay managers "to scrape poop off toilets."

Over decades of managing homes in various locations, from beaches, to lakes, to cities and mountains, our staff have invested tens of thousands of hours mastering every duty, from the lofty to the mundane.

SNAKE OIL

As the vacation rental industry has grown (and as happens in every popular topic - think Pickle Ball!) the industry is now rife with so-called experts.

These "experts" speak at every conference, author bland blogs, write never-ending articles on websites (like LinkedIn), pontificate on podcasts, and own paid, member-only forums. Some of these have some good information, but many have the kind of headlines that have always come with get-rich-schemes.

"Get rich working only 4 hours a week!"

"Become a manager in just 30 days!"

"Make your vacation rental a money machine!"

"Slick ways for easy rentals!"

And all these riches will be yours by buying their product, book, or seminar from people with insufficient knowledge and experience. If you think this sounds like a late-night infomercial for hair-growing vitamins, you are correct.

Unless you spend many hours every week mastering the industry, you will never maximize your income. The trouble is that snake oil sales people are providing 10% facts and 90% nonsense that harms readers by promising far more than they can deliver.

Benjamin Franklin said "Freedom of the press should be restricted to those who can afford one." But now the internet has made everyone a author, broadcaster, editor and publisher. How can you know who is really an expert? You can't.

The American Idol TV show is famous for promoting tone-deaf singer auditions, because the signers believe they can sing. How sad for those contestants. And how sad that homeowners are being led astray by experts who aren't.

It was once said, "That those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." But today those who can't, just say they can.

Better advice for vacation rental home owners is to heed dear old Sir Noel Coward, rely upon the author. For vacation rentals, that is to hire a competent, consistent, always learning, full-stack, professional manager.

Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0982 – 02/29/24

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

Vacation Rental Guest Psychology - Lodging Newsletter June 30, 2020

By Wm, May
Published: 06/30/20 Topics: Lodging Newsletter, Marketing, Newsletter Comments: 0

Well, where do I start? It has been a wild ride since the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus.

First, it was the massive economic slow down. But then, slowly, lodging guests realized they could "Get outta Dodge" and stay in a nice clean private vacation home, with contact-less entry, quarantined with their families, but still get out and about in nature.

Vacation rental bookings have rebounded in all our areas, and jumped hugely in some areas. As mentioned in last month's update letter, our super secret S2D2 Yield Management software prompted us when demand plummeted, but also alerted us to pump up rates when demand then jumped.

The result has been higher income for June and July. August is strong, too. And, with schools not re-opening, we think summer demand and, even, rates can continue into September.

Forgive us for gloating yet again, but we giggled as the local competitors were asleep and snickered as carpet bagging out-of-town managers missed the trend, because they are not in touch with every local market. Some panicked early and dropped rates by half.

We did the opposite and our clients are profiting.

The first office in our network opened in 1964 and we have been watching and learning as consumer behavior and habits change. Never have they changed as greatly and as rapidly as with the virus.

Here is the story.

==================================================================

The Advertising Industry has always been greatly misunderstood. It is not all commercials with beautiful celebrities and cavemen selling insurance on TV. On the Internet, advertising is not all about search engine optimization, pay-per-click Google ads or Facebook's spying on its members.

Having started in the ad agency business, I have spent decades watching, studying and anticipating what customers want to buy. Ad pros never try to sell things to people who don't want them or don't need them. And not just because they want to be ethical, but because they know it's not sustainable.

Famous advertising professor, Ed Bannister, startled his class when he said, "Good advertising just makes a poor product fail quicker." (People try it, hate it, and forget it.)

An agency partner one said, "Advertising is easy. You ask people what they want and then you give it to them." Never has this been more true than during the last four months of a pandemic.

With the advent of vacation rental websites just 20 years ago, travelers figured out that staying with their family in a private vacation home is simply a better deal than staying in a cramped hotel room, with no kitchen, no living room, long walks to the parking lot, and outrageous rates - on a per-guest basis.

The 9/11 tragedy frightened the world, of course, but slowly travel returned. The 2008 recession took away discretionary income, some of which would have been for travel. Slowly it rebounded.

Some guests fall for the pitch from Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) such as Expedia, because they buy the pitch that all bookings are cancellable, that the OTAs list all lodgings, and that they can earn "points" that may have some value.

VRBO.com implied that guests were booking with the "Owner" when, in fact, the majority of properties --especially the well maintained, properly cleaned ones -- are from professional managers. But some guests fell for it.

AirBnB sold guests the option of renting a couch or room in someone's house, until they figured out that guests really want private vacation rental homes. AirBnB produces lots of bookings, but guests can be -- shall we say -- weird. Such as expecting the host to meet them for a drink when checking in, even if it's late at night.

At first Covid pushed people into panic, but then travelers ran out of patience and figured out that the safest lodging option is to rent a professionally-managed private vacation home.

We soared because we always ask customers what they wanted. Yes -- our cleaning exceeds high hospitality standards. Yes -- you can check in without "touching" anyone. Yes -- you can bring your family. Yes -- the homes have solid internet so guests can work while vacationing. And oddly, no -- there are no early check-ins to assure the home has been sufficiently empty prior to arrival. (That is the answer the guest actually wants to hear.)

Our ability to adapt to the changing market place has given even more visitors wonderful vacations and our property clients even more money. If your vacation rental home income has not soared, please give us a call. We'll fix it.

Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0772 – 06/30/20

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

All Travel is a Local Beehive

By William May
Published: 03/01/20 Topics: Fishing, Marketing, Restaurants Comments: 0

Beehive Restaurant Montesano, Washington State USA

My memory is vivid even though it was decades ago. At age 10, I began playing little league baseball in the small town of Montesano, Washington State.

It is an idyllic place even today. The county seat and classically designed courthouse give the town the feel of financial stability. Homes and lawns are well kept and right in the middle of the town is the Nelson Baseball Field.

I dropped by yesterday during a time warp to find that nothing hand changed. The grass was green and well manicured. Local merchants had signs on the outfield fence. In the early morning, the only things missing were players, coaches and parents. I was all alone.

Winding up the road, I came to Lake Sylvia State Park and the time warp opened again. Nothing had changed in all that time. It wasn't fishing season, but I could imagine children on the bridge pulling in freshly planted trout. The beach and swimming area matched my memory precisely.

When we won little league games, the coach - my father, treated us to milk shakes at Gene's Stop and Go. They had dozens of flavors, but I never waivered. Chocolate was my one and only love. Still is.

At season end, Dad treated the family to dinner at the the Beehive Restaurant, that sat squarely in the middle of town. I remember the bright yellow sign with bees on it, the lunch counter, the waitresses so nice to small children, and the chicken-fried steak that my father ordered every time.

There are many stupendous things to see and places to go in the world. But those most loved are those that stay true to themselves. They find a good thing and tend it lovingly.

To my delight, the Beehive still sits at the same corner. Still has a lunch counter and still has smiling women who are nice to every customer. And the chicken-fried steak? Well, it was just as good as all those years ago. Fresh corn on the cob. Hand made smashed garlic potatoes.

After seeing all those big sites, visit Montesano some day to remember that local travel is always the best way to learn and share.

Author: William May – Publisher, Plumbob Publishing
Blog #: 0740 – 03/01/20

Sponsor: Hi-Tide Resort – You can't get any closer to the beach than this. Comfy, cozy, modern condos at Hi-Tide-Resort on Moclips Beach WA State.

How to Become a Professional Lodging Photographer

By Ron Lee
Published: 02/21/17 Topics: AirBnB, Lodging Management, Marketing, Photography Comments: 0

Becoming a professional lodging photographer has never been easier.

All you need is a camera and business cards. Just put the words "Professional Photographer" on the cards and people will think you are a pro.

Can you imagine a doctor getting away with that? Would you go to a dentist who says, "I am a professional dentist" who didn't have the training? Yikes. Those people would be driven out of the industry.

Unfortunately, there have always been a greatly many people who love the idea of being an artist, a photographer. It sounds like such a great job. For Inns, Resorts & Vacation Rentals, photos are the way guests make instant decisions to view your property or pass on to the next.

No longer is it necessary to burn hundreds of dollars of physical film, toil in the dark room and only later learn if your photos were adequate. Now a good digital camera gives you a thumbnail view instantly that you can call "good enough."

But, great camera gear doesn't make you a true photographer any more than buying your new born child a piano and pronouncing them a "Concert Pianist."

Today, a new higher title has been added to the photography professional. Its called "High Dynamic Range," or HDR, and it is a vastly superior way of shooting, processing, and delivering world class photography. It is a requirement for almost all photos, but an absolute requirement for shooting interior architectural images.

HDR Photos are crisp, clean and brighter, but only enough to match what the human eye actually perceives. By comparison, non-HDR photos are fuzzy, bland, and actually underestimate and mis-represent the property.

Unfortunately, most professional photographers are no longer professional because they are more in love with being "Artists" than they are in spending thousands of hours mastering HDR.

That means more lodging operators are wasting lots of money hiring pros or don’t begin to understand HDR.

To see the difference between Pros and HDR Pros, all you have to do is spend a little time examining listings on your favorite websites like VRBO.com, Expedia.com, or even AirBnB.com.

A company called Evolve Vacation Rentals offers "Free Professional Photography" to property owners. Because Evolve does not have on site staff they must call any "professional photographer" they can find and hire them without realizing that non HDR photos are robbing their listings of maximum bookings.

Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Vacation Rentals does the same thing. Their recent foray into Matterport 3D photos is a good start, but ignoring HDR still photos causes them to lose bookings.

Turnkey Rentals out of Austin is trying to take over the world, but right there on their home page are fuzzy, out of focus, non-HDR photos. How could a management company call themselves professional when the number one listing tool - photos - are all messed up?

All of these companies talk the professional photographer game, but non walk the walk. And all because they refuse to spend the slightly more money necessary to find and employ high level HDR photographers.

Ignoring the absolute requirement for HDR photos is like the proverbial canary in the coal mine. If your manager does not understand the difference between truly professional HDR photos and want to be professional photographers, what else don’t they understand?

Author: Ron Lee – Not a Photographer, Signatour Photo Team
Blog #: 0521 – 02/21/17

Sponsor: Signatours Photo Team – It is not enough to have a camera and cards that say you are photographer. Today's technology demands study, practice and perfection along with an artists eye. Every Signatour photographer has all of those along with a support and professional staff to ensure the highest quality HDR photos. – Signatours.com

Best Halloween Advertising. Cheapest too.

By William May
Published: 10/31/15 Topics: Advertising, Marketing Comments: 0

For many years the Philadelphia Cheese Steak shop occupied a triangle corner on busy Madison Avenue on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. It seemed to do well but changed hands a few times and gradually did the restaurant slow decline dance.

Meantime, just up the street the Bottle Neck bar opened and soon became a favorite hang out. When Philly closed, the proprietors - Erin Nestor and Rebecca Denk - grabbed the additional space and opened a nice neighbor burger joint. They called it "Two Doors Down" because, of course that is where it was.

Sometimes naming businesses and products is easy but often it is a long laborious chore. Who knows how the new restaurant got its name, but it is brilliant, memorable and fun. That fits the new decor and the food.

Halloween heavy traffic raced past Two-Doors, just as traffic always does, but ahead on the trek home cars were slowing and some pulling over to grab a burger.

All because someone, maybe the genius who named the restaurant, created a cheap but compelling reason to drop into the restaurant.

Pumpkins are cheap. A few orange LED Christmas type lights didn’t break the bank. surely the staff had fun making them. Or maybe the customers made them. (What fun.)

Putting the pumpkins in the window would have worked, but simply putting them on the street made them impossible to miss. On this rainy dreary night. It was warm. It was compelling.

They must have sold far more burgers that night because who could resist?

Accepting expensive solutions from advertising experts can produce great results, but advertising is always trial and error no matter how well researched.

On the other hand, creative thinking always wins over new customers, makes existing customers smile and makes the cash register ring.

Author: William May, MayPartners Advertising
Blog #: 0458 – 10/31/15

Sponsor: MayPartners – Pumping Advertising for decades but a new kinda marketing machine. Old fashioned marketing smarts with new technological know how. Our platform of constant promotion pumps up your sales. But you gotta call us now to start. – MayPartners.com

Creepy Vacation Rental Videos

By Wm. May
Published: 05/27/15 Topics: Marketing, Vacation Rentals, Videos Comments: 0

Recently, a number of websites - including some Vacation Rental portals - have begun using videos as a kind of background image that depict people using vacation rental homes.

Maybe you have seen them. Often they are mundane and slow moving but even the slight movement attracts attention.

There is no sound, and no titles and they are seemingly used mostly as a graphic element - to indicate that staying in the home is comfortable and desirable.

Unfortunately, they do the opposite because no one realized the implications that make the videos creepy.

One depicts a young woman asleep in a disheveled room as she wakes up.

Another shows a dad and daughter playing on the top bunk of a bed.

Another shows a couple of men making breakfast, in a none too attractive tiny kitchen.

All of these feel like they were video taped by a peeping tom when the people were not looking. Viewing them should make you feel uncomfortable.

So who thought this was a good idea? Maybe a peeping tom or voyeur?

The videos are often grainy, or perhaps faded which inadvertently indicates the videos were shot a non-professional camera. That too implies they were taken without the subjects approval. Even more creepy.

By comparison, some videos are exterior long shots of the ocean with boats moving, or waterfalls falling, some have people far in the background.

Those videos are more reassuring because they were clearly taken in a public space and not of some one in a private bedroom in their jammies. The subtleties between various videos is the difference between acceptable and creepy.

Author: Wm. May – Volunteer, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0398 – 05/27/15

Nothing Beats Chateau Chocolate Cake

By William May
Published: 10/01/10 Topics: Advertising, Marketing, Packwood WA, Radio, Selling Comments: 0

Years ago when I operated an advertising agency we sure thought we worked long and hard. Not to reveal my age, but I remember when we had to "spec" type, courier the details to a type setter and then wait days while it was set and returned to us. We then had to paste the galleys onto art board along with photos or other art to arrange the desired final ad. Read more

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