Fastmail Review: Email Hosting Done Right
There are tons of different email hosts out there — GoDaddy, Google Apps, Zoho, Outlook and tons more. They all have their marketing language on landing pages that promises fantastic uptime, great features and excellent reliability. Given that this if your email, any host better be very competent and reliable. If your website goes down, […]
Guest Search & Booking Trends From Google
Did you know that Tuesday is the most-booked day of the week for travel? Or that 90% of all online bookings happen on desktop, but 50% of search volume for accommodations is on mobile? Google has just launched their travel trends for 2016 and it’s full of in-depth analysis from the world’s largest authority […]
VRMA 2016 Conference Recap
I just returned from the VRMA 2016 Annual Conference in Chandler, Arizona for the first time as solo marketing consultant. I was fortunate to previously travel to the conference through my previous agency employer but am pleased to say this year was great as well. VRMA events are such a fantastic way to catch up with people, […]
What Would It Take To Unseat A Large Listing Site?
About once a month, I get an email from the contact page on this very website that has this rough outline: I’m upset that HomeAway/VRBO/Flipkey changed their rules. I wish things could go back to the way they used to be. Why isn’t there another listing site? Someone could make buckets of cash if they […]
How To Get More Email Subscribers (Without Annoying Your Guests)
I’ll have to confess: this post is part rant and part strategy. In addition to being a marketing consultant, I am of course an avid internet user outside of consulting work. I research stuff, buy things and book trips online just like the guests I find for my clients. And, as a consumer, I despise poor […]
Should You Use Live Chat On Your Website?
As part of my client work, it’s common that I deal with software recommendations for best results. By far, one of the most common questions that I get is asking about live chat software: how to use it, what tool to pick and if it’s an effective tool for generating bookings. Like many answers […]
HomeAway Is Testing A New Layout For Destinations
Spotted today while performing research for a client, HomeAway is testing a brand-new search layout that’s a clear departure compared to the current search results page. With a large mapping element to the search and a new URL structure, HomeAway is emphasizing the location of each rental more by showing the properties in a given […]
Find New Places To Get Bookings For Your Rental Properties
Every client I work with, from a single-property owner vacation rental to a 500+ room hotel has one thing in common: a limited marketing budget. The numbers (dollars) may be vastly different in terms of overall budget, but I’ve yet to work with a client that has an unlimited marketing budget (by the way, if […]
