Bookt LLC

Press Release: Bookt Taps “Big Data” Expert from Columbia University to Help Reshape Lodging Industry

joel@bookt.com

Dr. Tony Jebara Joins Bookt as Strategic Advisor to Exploit Role of “Big Data” in Online Travel

HOLLYWOOD, FL, April 2012 – Bookt LLC, a pioneer in cloud-based technology solutions for the lodging industry, has announced that Dr. Tony Jebara has joined as a Strategic Advisor. Dr. Jebara is the Director of The Machine Learning Lab and Associate Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University and an expert moving "Big Data" applications from mere profiling to true personalization, the Holy Grail in travel marketing and consumption.

“The opportunity for Big Data and Machine Learning in travel is huge,” said Rob Käll, CEO of Bookt. “We intend to exploit the insights we are unlocking from our platform data, to empower our InstaManager clients in the Vacation Rental industry, with precise intelligence on individual travel shoppers in real time. Dr. Jebara’s background and cutting edge research will help us accelerate our technology leadership in how lodging is marketed, sold and delivered.”

Ben Strum, Bookt’s CTO agrees. “I was lucky to do some of my graduate studies with Dr. Jebara and that work helped shape the continual improvements we make in InstaManager client data quality and online conversion. Working with Tony, the next step is focused on the vast amount of data related to leads, pricing and website traffic. We are currently developing algorithms to optimize and visualize this treasure trove. Our goal is simple: Give our clients the tools they need to succeed in 2015, today in 2012.”

“The Bookt team truly has exciting and ambitious plans,” said Dr. Jebara. “But because of their platform approach, they are also practical and doable.” Jebara added, “What encourages me even more is that they have already solved some key data problems so that their platform can readily accommodate Machine Learning techniques. They are well positioned to leverage Big Data in the cloud, both for their lodging industry clients and making the consumer experience when booking travel better.”

About Bookt
Bookt is a leader in cloud based solutions for vacation rental managers, hoteliers, innkeepers, and larger travel organizations in the lodging industry since 2007. Bookt’s software and integrated marketing services make lodging companies more effective with activities that directly drive their revenue, manage resources, and provide business control. Our flagship product, InstaManager, is delivered in partnership with TripAdvisor targeting the $85B Vacation Rental Industry. Sophisticated PMS, CRS, CRM, CMS, distribution and back-office functionality is delivered through the cloud to customers in over 32 countries on 6 continents. Please visit InstaManager’s VR Labs and learn more at: www.bookt.com.

Experts Report Cloud Software Use Accelerates to "Ripping Point"

joel@bookt.com

Today, on the day that we officially launch our InstaManager Smart Response Advanced Lead Processing, I read an article that reports on the software-as-a-service, or SaaS market – what InstaManager is and what Bookt creates …our business model.

I am sure you are familiar with the term tipping point. Here is a new one – ripping point. Defined in this story as “the practice of ripping out older software and replacing it with cloud-based, hosted applications” – ripping point. I like that.

We see it every day at Bookt with our rapidly growing base of InstaManagers now in 32 countries on 6 continents. The ripping point follows the tipping point as the innovative “early adopter” vacation rental mangers got onboard earlier and now the majority joins in larger and larger numbers as adoption as a whole is accelerating. It is classic. And it is precisely because of operating our business in the cloud with software-as-a-service that we can give these amazing prices, onboard new clients quickly, scale as a company, and especially add new features and service like Smart Response that come out of our VR Labs.

Just in case you want to read that ripping point article from today’s Barron’s, here it is: http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2012/03/07/cloud-software-use-accelerates-says-citi/?mod=BOL_hpp_blog_techtrader

Get Ripped!

Using Free Reports to Sell Your Vacation Rental Property Management Services

joel@bookt.com

New York Habitat specializes in corporate apartments and vacation rentals in New York, London, Paris and the South of France. This week while reading their “Paris Furnished Apartment Market Report: 1st Half 2011” I found myself thinking that if I owned a Paris Apartment to rent, I would definitely consider listing with them and they would be at the very top of my list.

Why? Because it was not someone just saying that they were experts on the Paris Rental scene (in fact, they do not say it) – they show it.

The title of this article is a bit misleading. Yes, offering free useful reports is a great way to connect with your target audience and has been forever. In my humble opinion, what the people at New York Habitat have done is take this up many notches in sophistication. It is more than just a free report. The data and value is unique and makes them stand out. It is uber professional and probably gives them an edge when talking to property owners. I also think that understanding the data and its meaning also makes them more successful with renters.

Bookt is also leveraging our information management technologies to collect and analyze large quantities of data regarding the vacation rental business. And we are beginning to use it more and more to help our clients and we will be talking about it more and more in the near future.

For now, checkout some of our free quizzes and reports; join us in saying BRAVO to New York Habitat; and for our InstaManagers out there, start thinking about what kind of report you could write that would make you standout in your market area – one that would translate into new clients. If you want to bounce around some ideas with another marketeer, please email me at joel@book.com and let’s have a chat.

Vacation Rentals during London Olympics

joel@bookt.com

Read the story about London Vacation Rentals during the Olympics on the InstaManager Vacation Rental Blog.

Bookt Press Release: "Bookt Launches InstaManager™ Multilingual‎"

joel@bookt.com

Website and Booking Engine “Speaking” Travel-Shopper’s Native Language Translates
Into Competitive Advantage for Savvy Vacation Rental Managers

HOLLYWOOD, FL, February 1, 2012 – Bookt LLC, a pioneer in cloud-based technology solutions for the professional vacation rental manager, announces another new feature for InstaManagers in 2012 – the ability to add multiple international languages for all current and new InstaManager FLEX clients as an affordable upgrade.

“Everyone knows that travel is global,” said Robert Käll, CEO of Bookt. “And data from both the US and EU shows overwhelmingly that for travel search and purchases, consumers prefer their own language. That means a full language translation of the entire website including all property descriptions and booking screens.”

“We think many US-based vacation rental companies will obviously think of Spanish first,” said Käll. “There is a huge first-mover advantage for a Vacation Rental Manager to truly standout online in their local market,” he added, pointing out that content targeting the large Hispanic travel community can many times reign supreme in the various Spanish versions of Google and other search engines. German, Portuguese, French and Italian are also popular options, but even languages with non-latin alphabets like Korean and Russian can be accommodated. And for this upgrade, Bookt has made it easy and affordable – less than a thousand dollars for each new international site hosted on a unique domain.

InstaManager FLEX is a groundbreaking product combining powerful vacation rental manager software with tailored marketing distribution through FlipKey and TripAdvisor, with pricing starting at $1 with additional fees tied exclusively to a client’s booking success. Since 2007, Bookt has successfully served a fast growing global network of vacation rental managers. With the introduction of InstaManager FLEX and continual rollout of new features like Multilingual and last month’s launch of Mobile Web, Bookt anticipates accelerated growth and rising market prominence. Learn more at: www.instamanager.com.

About Bookt
Bookt is a leader in cloud based solutions for vacation rental managers, hoteliers, innkeepers, and larger travel organizations in the lodging industry. Bookt’s software and integrated marketing services make specialty lodging companies more effective with activities that directly drive their revenue, manage resources, and provide business control. Our flagship product, InstaManager, is delivered in partnership with TripAdvisor targeting the $85B Vacation Rental Industry. Sophisticated PMS, CRS, CRM, CMS, distribution and back-office functionality is delivered through the cloud to customers in over 31 countries on 5 continents. Learn more at www.bookt.com.

Happy BLUE MONDAY to All!

joel@bookt.com

While its origin might be more pseudo than science, in the Northern Hemisphere the 3rd Monday in January has been dubbed the most depressing day of the year – or just “Blue Monday”. And according to some in the travel world, there will be a huge increase in travel reservations this week as millions of people try to fight off the funk by booking a feel-good trip for later in the year.

Let us know if you are busier than usual this week and see an increase in bookings. Savvy lodging managers will have some special offers ready to go and displayed on their website that appeal to the mindset of “shaking off the blues”. FYI – our InstaManager solution comes with an Online Booking Engine with an integrated “Special’s Engine” that makes it easy for you to create and post special offers and packages with a couple of clicks and empowers you to be able to entice vacation-shoppers on-the-fly to give you their business NOW!

Do you have a Special’s Engine that makes it easy to create specials using a number of different variables in order to attract many shopper types and satisfy many shopper needs? InstaManager clients are empowered to create a variety of special targeted offers:

Coupon Code: Can be applied by guest at the time of online reservation in order to apply the discount.
Effective Date: When the special starts, as in … you can check in on that day or after.
Expiration Date: When the special ends, as in … the last day your reservation can check out on.
Cutoff Date: The date you must make your reservation by, as in … you must book your stay prior to mm/dd/yyyy to take advantage of this special.
Min Condition Value: Offer tied into a minimum nights of stay required to take advantage of the special.
Amount: Used when the discounted value is a flat dollar discount.
Percentage: Used when the discount is a percentage of the total booking.

That is a flexible Special’s Engine. Especially making it easy for you to directly compete with the Lodging Company down the street.

So – Happy Blue Monday! We hope you and your guests have a wonderful time booking away the blues.

Bookt Press Release: "Bookt™ Adds Mobile Website to InstaManager™ FLEX"

joel@bookt.com

Mobile Web Emerging as Major Revenue Opportunity for Vacation Travel Companies

HOLLYWOOD, FL, January 4, 2012 – Bookt LLC, a pioneer in cloud-based technology solutions for the professional vacation rental manager, has announced that mobile websites are ready to launch for all current and new InstaManager FLEX clients as an affordable upgrade.

“The beta rollout of our mobile technology has shown some encouraging internal client numbers,” said Rob Käll, CEO of Bookt. Case and point is John Paulsen, President of www.DestinGetaways.com. “We have had significant improvement in mobile visitor engagement since launching the mobile site,” John said. “In December for example, time on site was up 23% and bounce rate was down 17%, both telltale signs that the site is more useful for people with mobile devices.” Paulsen added, “What’s also very interesting is that the number of visitors accessing with mobile devices more than tripled compared to Dec 2010.”

Käll added, “Forrester Research now reports the mobile web will join traditional websites as the top two travel touchpoints in 2013. That is why we are so focused on our InstaManagers adopting the mobile web right now and before their competitors, and why we are giving everyone a free 3-month trial to make it happen right now.”

InstaManager FLEX is a groundbreaking product combining powerful vacation rental manager software with tailored marketing distribution through FlipKey and TripAdvisor, with pricing starting at $1 with additional fees tied exclusively to a client’s booking success. Now with the fully-optimized Mobile Web upgrade, consumers can search, check availability, book, and get their confirmation all via their Smartphone or other mobile device. “InstaManager Mobile delivers the best online experience for mobile travelers,” said Käll. “It’s faster load with all relevant info available and built exactly for the smaller screens.”

Since 2007, Bookt has successfully served a fast growing global network of vacation rental managers. With the introduction of InstaManager FLEX and continual rollout of new features like Mobile Web, Bookt anticipates accelerated growth and rising market prominence. Learn more at: www.instamanager.com.

About Bookt™
Bookt is a leader in cloud based solutions for vacation rental managers, hoteliers, innkeepers, and larger travel organizations in the lodging industry. Bookt’s software and integrated marketing services make specialty lodging companies more effective with activities that directly drive their revenue, manage resources, and provide business control. Our flagship product, InstaManager, is delivered in partnership with TripAdvisor targeting the $85B Vacation Rental Industry. Sophisticated PMS, CRS, CRM, CMS, distribution and back-office functionality is delivered through the cloud to customers in over 31 countries on 5 continents. Learn more at www.bookt.com.

TravelClick Data Shows Hotel Industry Enters 2012 on Solid Footing

joel@bookt.com

There are reams of data and metrics about client performance that we track internally at Bookt as actionable intelligence we turn into fuel for the Online Success of our global InstaManagers.

We also look outward at industry sources like TravelClick which provides business intelligence via comprehensive forward-looking data, based on real bookings, not just projections.

What their current data shows thus far is a ‘slow and steady’ increase in hotel performance in 2012 with gains from both leisure and business segments. You should absolutely read the TravelClick press release in its entirety but the highlight is a positive trend. That's good news for specialty lodging!

By the way, do you receive alerts on travel news from the Leisure & Tourism sector? You should. Check out this special section in PRNewswire.

If you have some industry trend data you would like to share, please connect with us at info@bookt.com. Thanks!

2012 Another Strong Year for Vacation Rental Marketplace

joel@bookt.com

At Bookt we keep a pretty close eye on the trends and events in the vacation rental industry. And, while 2011 was a great year for our industry, 2012 should be even better.

One such “event” is the recent naming of Dermot Halpin as president of vacation rentals for TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site. This is a new position at TripAdvisor and shows their commitment to vacation rentals. Here is a link to the Press Release: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tripadvisor-names-dermot-halpin-president-of-vacation-rentals-135642943.html

We have a great partnership with FlipKey and TripAdvisor with our InstaManager FLEX (Vacation Rental Software & Marketing) and look forward to bigger and better adoption by professional vacation rental managers in 2012 in both North America and Europe. In fact, we predict that InstaManager FLEX will be a major industry trend for 2012. To learn more, please visit www.instamanager.com or call Matt Hoffman at 1.800.941.0868 x 915.

Rob Käll's Hotel Executive Article: "Need Customers? Then “Customer Relationship Management” Matters!"

joel@bookt.com

You have heard it all before. The Internet has leveled the playing field for travel … today’s lodging-shopper has more channels and choices … new strategies and tactics are needed to effectively compete in today’s socially connected online world. Okay. That is the way it is. Let’s talk about Customer Relationship Management as a practical approach and toolset that can give you an edge within today’s reality.

Gaining and Retaining Customers
Back in the late 1950s, IBM developed the first true automation innovation in the travel industry by envisioning and launching SABRE, the first computerized reservation system, automating the way American Airlines booked reservations. SABRE really “took-off” so to speak and sparked a revolution in travel technology. It is not too surprising then that IBM again, in 2001, produced the definitive “blueprint for customer relationship management in the travel industry” – and it remains as solid today as it was when penned 10 years ago.

Basically, IBM knowingly said that it takes a “disciplined” approach to collect and then apply traveler information to the building of strong customer relationships. That methodically, in a step-wise approach, you must:
1. Continually refine your insights into customer needs, habits, and economics
2. Develop and deliver targeted and tailored value propositions based on that knowledge
3. Focus your time and business resources on activities that help produce what is above in 1 and 2

Cause and effect. Today’s even greater level of interaction with past guests and prospects (the cause) provides the opportunity (the effect) to even better understand the needs, behavior and values of individual customers and customer segments. Which is a good thing as the intense global competition for lodging consumers tends to make our offerings and services increasingly similar, so customer “relationships” have become the transactional currency of successful sales, marketing and service-driven lodging companies. Truly, “relationships” matter and are today’s powerful brand differentiator. This is where CRM comes in and can make the difference between a booking for you or one of your competitors.

CRM for Lodging Companies – the M is as important as the R
Great news! You do not have to hire an expensive IBM consultant or buy their costly mainframe to effectively “gain and retain” customers. Not anymore. What you do need is integrated software + marketing; software to help you effectively organize your actionable customer and prospect data + marketing that continually interacts with your targets throughout all of your channels. Savvy lodging professionals understand that the “M” for Management of the “C” for Customer (including Prospect) data is as important as the “R” for Relationship in CRM. Only when you are able to “M” an always growing number of “C” information will you be able to nurture your “R” with your target’s specific needs and deliver the explicit values they seek and do so within multiple layers of engagement. Thus, savvy lodging managers are working with integrated software that delivers scalability to accommodate more and more information from more and more touchpoints for more and more prospects and past guests.

CRM done right
As far as choosing software goes, it is best to focus on your specific business needs rather than getting lost in the bells and whistles of the various CRM System offerings. In other words, do not get sidetracked by all of the amazing things that a random system promises; instead, think about your particular business, your staff, your pain-points, your touchpoints – and what your CRM needs to accomplish to gain and retain your target guests. Keep it simple. Identify the sales and marketing activities you will actually employ to engage new and past customers, and select a CRM system that is reliable, proven and scalable to that end.

Keep it simple. CRM done right will result in your ability to:
• Capture new targets and understand their unique preferences
• Nurture a developing relationship by providing tailored information and offers
• Convert prospects to sales/bookings
• Incubate past guests – continue to nurture – continue to convert for new bookings
• Measure results and effectiveness, and refine your tailored offerings

Savvy lodging managers “keep it simple” by selecting and then employing CRM software as a tool that supports one straightforward goal – the ability to continually refine their insight into customer needs and then directly target (and deliver) their value-proposition(s) to meet those needs.

Social CRM
The travel world is abuzz with discussion and debate on social media. Let’s move beyond buzzwords and clichés, and continue to keep it simple… When it comes to Social CRM, there are four core ideas to internalize and act on:
1. The online community is influential – so join the conversation and never try to control it.
2. The social customer is not looking for intimacy with you – just tangible value and in some cases a way to open a conversation.
3. Past guests primarily rely on their own experience in deciding whether to do business with you again.
4. Prospects primarily rely on your brand’s reputation – especially via reviews from family, friends and past guests.

Considering the above, savvy Lodging Managers use CRM to make it efficient to capture activity on social outlets and then to communicate with individuals and the entire community. In other words, it’s just another channel to do what you do. However, the savviest among us exploit this still-emerging channel by recognizing they are competing for people’s time, attention, data and ultimately endorsement – and acting accordingly.

Acting accordingly? Yes, with actions focused on design and implementation of customer/prospect engagement tactics as capsules containing “tangible value” in return for that time/attention/data/endorsement. And with regard to “endorsement” – namely effectively garnering and promoting positive Guest Reviews, this is your online reputation and is absolutely a mega-element to your online success. (Note: at Bookt, Guest Reviews for our clients are displayed within the lodging-shoppers property selection process, at the point of sale. Endorsement = Bookings!)

Customer Segmentation
Some marketers make the mistake of focusing just on what people “are” and miss the real opportunity – looking at what people do. Clearly, CRM systems are built to record individual characteristics (Guest Profiles) from which you can create and launch target marketing programs containing tangible value. But it is even more important to act on customer and prospect “behavior” because it is here that CRM closes sales. If you just deal with Guest Profiles you are like a salesperson that continually spouts off features and benefits but never goes in for the close – and waits for the target to do that for themselves. If you also look at customer and prospect behavior you can identify where people are within the Sales Funnel (sales process) and both know precisely when to engage and what to engage them with.

For this you need to have a more sophisticated CRM – one that lets you visualize and track actionable individual online behavior. This is called the Digital Footprint.

The Digital Footprint
Some bookings just “come to you”. Others – probably the ones you are not getting today – these you need to work for. Thus, a CRM system which allows you to see and track (all in one “view”), the incremental online activities and behaviors of your prospects and past guests (their “digital footprint”) – this is a CRM that fuels conversion. These sales don’t “come to you” – you come to them. Digital activity is a predictor of purchasing activity. If your CRM can track visits, chat, agent conversations, email click-through, offers they have looked at, past reservations, quote generation, preferences, etc., then you are in position to maximize your Sales Funnel. If not, it is time to upgrade to a CRM that can.

Target Email Marketing
Drip-drip-drip. Why? Because it works-works-works. Particularly when combined with customer segmentation for groups of people with shared preferences. Drip-drip-drip. This is classical online marketing but CRM gives you an edge.

What is not so classic and requires the “digital footprint” capability is target email to individuals. This is especially fruitful when your email “offer” is activity-based. Like “10% off” for an online booking for someone who visited your site, generated a quote, but did not book within 4 hours. Does your CRM system alert you to that type of real-time opportunity? And does it contain an integrated automated email capability? Good for you if your CRM does – time to consider an upgrade if it does not.

You cannot manage what you cannot measure
Every article on CRM seems to end with some version of that old quotation… “You cannot manage what you cannot measure”. Yes. It’s true. Analytics. Metrics. Analysis. You don’t need to be Einstein to understand the value and importance of the numbers.

Let’s end this article with Einstein – from a sign that he hung on his wall in his office at Princeton University. It said… “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."

Einstein’s simple sign reminds us that CRM, like any other tool, is only as good as the people who use it. That at the end of the day it is you, the savvy lodging manager, who will successfully exploit the potential of CRM based on your focus, creativity and skill-set. As mentioned above, the “M” is as important as the “R” in CRM. And you don’t need to be Einstein to know that you are the “M”.

***
I’d love to get your feedback. What works for your company? What doesn’t? Have questions? Need advice? Email me at rob@bookt.com and let’s chat. Maybe I could even include your comments and ideas in my next article – coming soon!

Rob Käll is the CEO and Co-founder of Bookt, a comprehensive web services provider for the global lodging industry, delivering seamless integration and turn-key web solutions. The Company provides a complete range of services for vacation rental managers, hoteliers, tour operators, developers and larger travel organizations, from sophisticated website development, booking engine hosting, online marketing services, search engine optimization and CRM strategies. For more information or to take Bookt’s interactive quizzes to gauge your website’s effectiveness, visit www.bookt.com.

Interns Wanted!

rob@bookt.com

Bookt LLC. (www.Bookt.com) is seeking energetic Marketing, Operations and Support interns to work out of our Hollywood, FL based office. This is the perfect opportunity if you are close to graduating or just graduated, and want to break in to the lucrative online technology and marketing space, but realize that you may not have all the required skills yet. Here is what we’re looking for:
Key Attributes
* Analytical and Organized
* Good Communicator of Complex Topics
* Customer Success Oriented
* Leadership & Accountability Attitude
* Troubleshooter and Resolver
Key Tasks
* Managing Projects & Production Staff
* Handling and escalating customer Support Issues
* Consulting on Marketing and Operational Tactics
* Configuring Online Solutions
* Performing Online Marketing Tasks (e.g. email or SEO campaigns)
Desired Skills (if you don’t have them, you will get them…)
* Understanding of Hospitality and Lodging industry
* Project Management
* Online Marketing (SEO, SEM, Social Media, Email Marketing)
* Intermediary HTML and other Web Technologies
This internship requires that you commit to specific hours in our office, between 20-40 hours/week. For each month of completed work you will receive a pre-negotiated monetary reward provided you met the agreed upon milestones – we will also handle any requirements for documentation and references from you school if applicable.

Successful interns will have preferred consideration for a permanent position with Bookt as we’re currently growing quickly.

If you are interested in this growth opportunity please forward resume and cover letter to jobs@bookt.com. Bookt is an equal opportunity employer. To find out more about Bookt, please review the links below:
Corp Site: www.bookt.com | www.instamanager.com
Our Executive Team: http://www.bookt.com/AboutUs/OurPeople.aspx

New "No Kids" Policies Emerging for Travel

joel@bookt.com

Interesting article about an emerging trend in travel and other business sectors -- NO KIDS ALLOWED.

Here is a link to the article: What do you think???

Bookt/InstaManager Client Testimonial

rob@bookt.com

Thank you Darik, for this wonderful endorsement...

We're very proud of your progress!

Did You Know This About Bookt?

joel@bookt.com

Bookt’s total business solution platform empowers unique specialty lodging organizations of all sizes around the world for major Online Success.

Bookt is the only company providing…

Translation-ready turnkey solutions for a Global Travel Industry: website content, data, currencies, distances, temperatures, tags, etc., – both front-end and in the control panel/dashboards.
Turnkey Geo-Targeting Infrastructure: a sophisticated hierarchy of segmented landing pages and functionality that make it easy to add new locations/markets to your website or portal, and make it fast and easy for your target Guests to search/find precisely what (and where) they are looking for.
Turnkey Enterprise Capabilities: like data source aggregation and rule-based extranet features. Automated Self-Service Inventory Partner Tools: to facilitate signup, activation, commissions, upsells, distribution, etc., – all integrated with automated billing features.
An “Open” System Approach: enable inventory and data syndication from Bookt and online booking to Bookt as well as deep 3rd party PMS/CRS integration into Bookt.
Rapid Solution and Website Provisioning: enables launch and customization of Specialty Lodging Solutions in a couple of weeks rather than a couple of months
Sandbox Access Capabilities: open systems that uniquely allow customers and 3rd party developers to build solutions, widgets and tools within the Bookt Platform.

Bookt is headquartered in Hollywood, Florida, USA. For more information, please visit us at www.bookt.com or email us at info@bookt.com.

How to Do Online Reputation Trending – a Primer for Lodging Managers

joel@bookt.com

Bookt's CEO, Rob Käll, wrote this great article recently published in Hotel Executive. Enjoy!

How to Do Online Reputation Trending – a Primer for Lodging Managers
By Rob Käll, Bookt

If you are just beginning to pay attention to Online Reputation Management, to be completely candid with you – you are a bit late to the ball. But do not fear. Reputation Management is classical Marketing, Customer Service and Public Relations. And, to that point, today’s Internet makes it straightforward and transparent to understand what people are saying about you, saying about your staff, saying about your service, and saying about your property. Thus, Online Reputation Management is actually easier than you might think.

Think “High School”
Remember the good old days – before the Internet, Facebook, and Twitter? When he-said-she-said-they-said all those positive/negative things about you behind your back? Like when you found out in study hall that a rumor about you had been floating around school for several weeks that just ain’t true!

“I swear I didn’t do that! And even if I did, you haven’t heard my side of the story. I fixed it right away. I really, really did. …Who told you that anyway???” But, alas, it was too late. You were weeks behind those tattle tales. The “what” that you didn’t even know that you didn’t even know had morphed side-ways, and your reputation had been smeared, and your critics had their pound of raw and pimply teenage flesh. Back in the day, the social chatter network was impossible to control, manage and respond to. The buzz boys and gossip girls could have their way with you and there was very little you could do about it.

Well – these are NOT the good old days. These are the much better days where you can know right away – in real time – what people are saying, thinking and critiquing about you and yours. The Internet is chitchat central. Today’s public square. And it must also be your listening post for what he-said-she-said-they-said. Good and bad.

What is Reputation Management?
While we will get to that in a moment, in the 1st century BC, Latin maxim writer Publilius Syrus said, “A good reputation is more valuable than money.” I get that. But to update this maxim for today’s instantaneous Internet-Age, a good reputation is money! And a bad one is lost bookings and lost revenue for your property.

Fact: The majority of travel purchases today have an online component. Specifically, even if the booking is not made online, travel-shoppers habitually do online research before they book with you or a competitor. Further, a growing travel trend is to not only research a “product” online but to also Google the “company” to see if it has a good reputation, is worthy to “buy” from, and look for “feedback” on how past guests have been treated.

Just like in your own life, when you are about to make a big and important purchase, don’t you Google the company to see if there are “reviews” from happy/unhappy clients before you pull the trigger and pull out your credit card or mobile phone? Exactly! While it is not always easy to measure the extent of business lost by having a bad online reputation, it is certainly a sea-change of business reality that is having a greater and more profound online effect as these key travel technology social-waves surge and swell. At Bookt, for example, we are BIG fans of TripAdvisor and their vacation-rental counterpart, FlipKey. Both of these sites and companies are the market leaders when it comes to vacation-travel-shoppers searching for Guest Reviews online. At Bookt, we have gone so far as to integrate Guest Reviews from these companies within our technology platform to make it easier and seamless for travel-shoppers to find out about another guest’s experience without having to leave our clients’ websites – in other words, at the point of sale. By providing travel-shoppers with this often compulsory information at this precise point in time, this is how we help our clients control the “ball” in reputation management, so as not to let a booker escape and search for this required evidence someplace else where he/she may get distracted or, perhaps even worse, see other lodging options from local competitors after leaving our client’s website.

Oh yes… What is Reputation Management? Technically, it is the process of you tracking actions and opinions about those actions; reporting on those actions and opinions; and reacting to that report creating a feedback loop; with tracking and reporting ranging from word-of-mouth to statistical analysis of thousands of on and offline data points. TIP: Make sure that your web company has automated processes that can help you track these online events, gives you the tools so you may react quickly and, especially – puts you in position to control the ball.

Speaking of Balls…
Two millennia after Publilius Syrus said, “A good reputation is more valuable than money,” legendary basketball coach John Wooden said two insightful things that you should be aware of and act on accordingly.

One, he said… “Never make excuses. Your friends don't need them and your foes won't believe them.”

Two, to paraphrase, Wooden said… “Character is what you really are. Reputation is what others think you are.”

As the online travel market continues to expand and thrive, successful lodging companies and the savvy managers who run them are quickly acknowledging the level of importance that reputation management plays in their overall marketing strategy. Case and point in our travel industry. Remember the “United Breaks Guitars” video that showed up on YouTube a few years ago, watched over ten million times? While it is hard to fully know just how many millions of booking dollars United lost, it points out how just one unhappy Guest can ruin your day (and career). Fact: Guitars broke. It happened. Never make excuses. Instead of doing nothing, which is what United did, they should have made their own video, posted it on YouTube, taken responsibility, and said what they are going to do – or did about it – including how they can assure other prospective travelers that it doesn’t happen to them.

Yes – this is an extreme example. However, pretending it never happened is not good for business or your reputation. Fix it. Address it. Talk about it. Take responsibility. Online Reputation Management is a way to show your character, and to shelter and safeguard what people think about you in real-time. Control the ball! And there are two balls you need to actively control.

Macro Online Reputation Management
Ball one is dealing with news on the Macro level, employed when there is a major negative hit being broadcast about you and your property. Here, you need to act quickly using the same channels where the news/event is circulating. Like last year’s Gulf Oil Spill. So, for example, if you were a beachfront hotel in Florida’s Panhandle, you should have been out there quickly with blogs, press releases, Facebook posts and Tweets about how you were NOT being affected and are open for business as usual. Perhaps a video placed on your website and on YouTube as a typical family walks the pristine beaches in front of your property enjoying the fun, sun and surf – leisure as usual. Control that ball!

Micro Online Reputation Management
Ball two encompasses dealing with smaller, individual issues and opinions, and again employs the same micro channels where the criticism is being levied. Yes – while the “micro” scale can be more challenging to administer, individual opinions should not be underestimated. How to prepare? Have smart automatic monitoring tools in place so you can see the issues in real-time and answer in same. It is easy in today’s Internet to monitor public opinion and news about you and your property on forums and blogs and keep track of the discussion there via keyword alerts. If there is bad publicity or negative reviews, you must respond quickly. Based on the posting, either take responsibility or give your side of the story (in a respectful and non-threatening “soft” way) – and thank the citizen journalist for her/his comments. Good news or publicity is easy to respond and react to. It is the negative feedback or news that you must handle with a professional tone and composure.

Monitoring your Online Reputation
How can your news and review watch be efficiently accomplished? Make sure you are working with a web company (or specialized vendor) who can integrate one of the many services that handles review monitoring. Some providers make it easy by providing an RSS feed – automating the process of bringing the data into your management system so you can measure and classify, score and quantify, and deliver reports so you may analyze general and particular trends. Of course, this analysis comes only after you have reacted quickly and responded to macro and micro issues throughout the relevant broadcast channels.

Whether you are late to the ball or it is by this time business as usual, considers the following as a complete Online Reputation Management program and protocol in order to best control the ball.
1. Uncover and promote the positive news and reviews about you and your property.
2. Regularly broadcast press releases and educational articles about your property and destination.
3. Consistently share new and upbeat success stories on the websites and blogs that you control.
4. Leverage all key social media channels for positive news and successes.
5. Post professional bios and other info about your people and property on your site and LinkedIn.
6. Analyze your results, patterns and progress – reward those responsible in your organization for improvements. Monitor your local competitors and look for opportunities to stand out by comparison.
7. And NEVER break that guy’s guitars!

I’d love to get your feedback. What works for your company? What doesn’t? Have questions? Need advice? Email me at rob@bookt.com and let’s chat. Maybe I could even include your comments and ideas in my next article – coming soon!

Rob Käll is the CEO and Co-founder of Bookt, a comprehensive web services provider for the global lodging industry, delivering seamless integration and turn-key web solutions. The Company provides a complete range of services for vacation rental managers, hoteliers, tour operators, developers and larger travel organizations, from sophisticated website development, booking engine hosting, online marketing services, search engine optimization and CRM strategies. For more information or to take Bookt’s interactive quiz to gauge your website’s effectiveness, visit www.bookt.com

Back by Popular Demand - Bookt Live

rob@bookt.com

After a short hiatus - Bookt Live, the interactive map where you can see how people find Bookt's lodging clients all over the world is now back. Check it out: www.bookt.com/live

Best Beaches in 2011 - Interesting Article

joel@bookt.com

At Bookt, we are always on the lookout for great articles that employ smart marketing for our clients. I came across this terrific example the other day, sent to me by kim@thefamilyvacationexperts.com.

And since I have been to most of the places in the article and can personally vouch for how great they are, here is a link to Best Beaches 2011. Enjoy!

InCircleRentals.com - A Great New Idea

joel@bookt.com

I am always excited to passing on a good entrepreneurial idea in the specialty lodging space. Randy Zats attended our Portal Webinar this week and I got the chance to learn more about his business – a startup that is unique because vacation rental owners run it for owners and their property managers.

It appears that www.InCircleRentals.com is like a Facebook for owners, but is more laser focused. They help owners, grouped by city or resort, share prospective guest leads in a safe, secure environment. Open to all types of properties, from luxury villas to value- priced condos, they offer a 90-day free trial. Registration takes 2 minutes, does not require a credit card, and there is no commitment.

A great feature at InCircleRentals is lead sharing by email. For busy property managers and owners that get a dozen leads a day, rather than log in and retype the lead info, they can simply email the leads into InCircleRentals, and they’re done. The system then contacts the future guest for permission and then forwards the email to all the owners in the group. Interested owners contact the guest to negotiate. The property management process is unchanged.

InCircleRentals.com also offers an affiliate program for property managers. A manager’s owners are grouped together in a “closed circle” so the property manager always benefits, regardless of which owner books the rental.

According to Randy, InCircleRentals members have vacation properties on three continents, and they provide personal service to help owners in any way needed by phone, email or fax. Randy is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I like the concept behind InCircleRentals because it combines the benefits of reciprocal cooperation while preserving the owner’s independence. Their motto is “Collaborate, Not Compete” and is a win-win for everyone. Rather than turn away guests, now an owner has an alternative, “Let me ask other owners”.

Interested in learning more? Want to fill some of the unbooked weeks in your vacation rental calendar? Please visit www.InCircleRentals.com or call them toll-free at (888) 317-1538 or email RandyZ@InCircleRentals.com. Great idea Randy! Our compliments!

Who is InstaManager???

joel@bookt.com

InstaManager is the Bookt brand dedicated to Vacation Rental Managers @ the Local Level.

As a partner with Bookt for over two years – InstaManager Solutions are built on the Bookt Platform – Matt Hoffman and his team has served the needs of Professionals in our industry delivering …more bookings, less work!

InstaManager is an expert with the Bookt Platform and 4 Pillars of Online Success!
• Direct Online = Template or Custom Website, Booking Engine, SEO, Easy CMS w/ Smart Content Generation
• Expanded Distribution = Integration w/ Leading VR Portals + Yield Management/Special’s Engine
• Social CRM = Lead Management, CRM, Email Marketing, Social Media Marketing and Guest Reviews
• Dynamic Back Office = PMS, Payment Processing, Trust based Accounting, Work

Perfect for Managers with 10-250 units under management who need better vacation rental software & marketing tools!
• Easy to start, easy to use!
• Value Priced!
• Friendly, knowledgeable, unlimited phone & email support
• Powered by the flexible Bookt Platform, 4 years in the making!
• Handling tens of thousands of vacation rental transactions monthly!

Our InstaManager Solution offering is all about putting you, the Manager in control, making sure you can compete effectively both on the local and global level.

www.instamanager.com

Bookt Goes To FVRMA with 5 InstaManager Golden Tickets

joel@bookt.com

It is that time of year when Members of the Florida Vacation Rental Manager’s Association gather together to connect with colleagues, exchange ideas, and reaffirm our profession’s mission.

Bookt will be in Orlando May 1st – 3rd with our new partner, InstaManager. Here is the... Press Release announcing our merger.

We look forward to seeing all attendees in the sessions and at the social events.

If you are from another region or won’t be attending the show, you may still qualify for an InstaManager Golden Ticket.

Learn more about this very-very-special Special Offer by connecting with Matt Hoffman via matt@bookt.com

Going to the show? Please come by our booth to share ideas, and celebrate our profession’s great strides and even greater future.

See you in Orlando!

Bookt LLC and InstaManager Join Forces to Democratize Professional Vacation Rental Management Solutions and Services

joel@bookt.com

HOLLYWOOD, Florida, April 12, 2011 – Bookt LLC, a trailblazer in online media and guest-conversion technology for lodging and travel companies, today announced that it has acquired the client portfolio of InstaManager Solutions (www.instamanager.com), a rising star in the online marketplace for vacation rentals handled by professional management companies.

"We are thrilled to welcome the InstaManager clients onboard," said Rob Käll, Bookt’s President. "We have beefed up our Support Team to insure a smooth transition, but also to deliver greater and more meaningful services to all the new clients joining our ranks.” Käll added, “It is actually a double bonus for Bookt with Matt Hoffman joining to head up our Vacation Rental group as VP. Matt himself is a rising star in the industry and a talented leader – we’re lucky to have him.”

According to Hoffman, Bookt and InstaManager have already partnered for two years with Bookt supplying the underlying infrastructure that InstaManager Solutions are built on. “Knowing Rob and the Bookt team, I am certain that this move will help us enrich both our products and client relationships,” said Hoffman. “Joining forces at this time in the industry will give a major boost to hundreds and hundreds of property managers out there who are being squeezed and need a solid, affordable solution that comes with friendly customer service that is second to none!”

Simply put, the Bookt Platform is built on complete integration of the four pillars of online success for today’s super-competitive lodging world. 1) A brilliant website and booking engine. 2) Expanded distribution. 3) Great CRM intertwined with social-engagement. 4) A connected and dynamic back office. “Bookt is poised and positioned now for rapid growth,” Käll said. “It took us three years to assemble and prove the Platform. Now it’s time to get the message out and win over the professional managers from Miami to Seattle, to Europe and beyond. If you manage vacation rentals, you need to see what’s in store from Bookt.”

About Bookt
Bookt is a comprehensive web services provider to the specialty lodging and travel industry, delivering seamless integration and turn-key web solutions. The company provides a complete range of services for vacation rental managers, hoteliers, innkeepers, and larger travel organizations, from sophisticated website and portal development, online marketing services, inventory distribution, social media, SEO and CRM strategies. For more info, visit www.bookt.com or call Joel Fellman at 305-760-4576 Ext. 934.

Guest Blog - Google Conversion Tracking

jacob@bookt.com

Most vacation rental and hotel owners know the power of Google AdWords--those persistent little ads that border Google search pages. Getting in front of someone who is actively searching for accommodation in your area is a great way to capture bookings.

(If you haven't tried out AdWords yet and are curious, spend a little time with the AdWords Online Classroom to get up to speed: http://www.google.com/adwords/onlineclassroom/.)

So let's say you've started running AdWords. What's next? How do you know how much to spend? How do you know if your ads are working? Are people simply clicking on your ad and bowsing, or are your ads generating actual revenue?

The Bookt platform is a powerful tool here, and not just for documenting who comes to your site from where. You probably already know that Bookt captures all lead sources and displays them in your control panel:

What you may not know is that by adding a simple snippet of code, you can see exactly how much money you're earning from your Google AdWords campaign. How, you ask?

It's easy. First, go into your Google Adwords account and click the tab that says "Reporting & Tools." From there, select "Conversions."

You'll be taken to a page where you can select "+ New Conversion." I named my conversion "Booking," and I set the value of the conversion to 1 (though you could put your average revenue per booking here, if you wanted).

Once this is set up, you'll be able to edit the settings and obtain the unique code Google automatically generates.

Copy this code.

Now, navigate to your Bookt control panel. You'll go to Customize > Website Setup.

From there, you'll see a field halfway down the page that says "Goolge Adwords Conversion Key." Paste your Google code there, click Save, and you're set!

Google will now be able to track every time someone not only clicks on your ad, but also goes through the booking process on your site.

You can see the number of conversions you're getting right on the Campaigns page in your Adwords account. The report above is a sample - it shows that in the last 2 weeks of December, these ads received 133 clicks and 1 conversion (booking). Hey, it's a start!

With better data we can all perform better as businesses. Fine-tuning ads based on what works and doesn't work helps a business appeal to its best customers. And ultimately, connecting with people seeking our hospitality is what online success is all about.

Rebecca R. operates Inhabit Vacations has been a Bookt Platform customer since June 2010

Bookt’s Systems PCI Compliant

rob@bookt.com

Bookt recently performed a network audit and review of all credit card related processes. As expected our systems passed all critical tests and we received formal certification from a third party (security metrics) that our systems are PCI compliant. This is critical to all lodging companies, since regular business practices require most companies to store credit cards for their guests.

Is your software PCI compliant? If not you could both have increased liability and pay higher merchant fees.

Read more here about the Bookt platform security.

Learn more about PCI compliance and why it is important on the PCI Security Standards Council site..

Lastly, learn why hotels and other lodging companies should pay extra attention to this topic:

Dec Newsletter - Start 2011 Strong

rob@bookt.com

4 Pillars of Online Success: Technology and services that make it happen

Happy Holidays and a Prosperous New Year
from the Bookt Team!

Open vs. Closed?
What is the number one lodging technology trend for the twenty tens? In our opinion, it is the continued connection of suppliers, aggregators and affiliate partners. Accurate and deep inventory data must distributed in ever more sophisticated ways. So why are some technology vendors doing everything they can to keep their customers' data under lock and key? Does that really serve their customers? Here are 5 key questions to ask any technology company you are considering doing business with.

Seeing is Believing - Bookt Live!
Many companies make bold claims about their SEO skills, website traffic and global reach. Bookt can actually back up ours. See a real-time snapshot of website traffic, search terms etc. for real Bookt platform customers: Bookt Live.

Education and Lodging Industry Knowledge - Social Media
Take our instant Social Media Quiz, Download the 7 Social Media Secret Tips Report.

End of Year Offer - F R E E Social Media Upgrade
Order a a standard (or higher) hotel/resort or vacation rental solution before 12/31/2010 and get an upgrade to our Social Media Gold Service at no extra charge. A $900 value on top of the package savings.

Bookt: A Better Way to Buy Lodging Software - Tap into The Lodging Cloud.
Get Website, CMS, Booking Engine, SEO, PMS, CRM and Accounting Tools for only $49/user per month. No long term contracts.

Recently Launched Online Lodging Solutions

www.UltimateAlgarve.com

www.ncluxuryrental.com

Bookt.com Direct: 305-760-4576 | Toll Free: 1-800-941-0868 | Email: info@bookt.com

Subscribe to Bookt's monthly newsletter here

New Quizzes and Tips for 2011

rob@bookt.com

Hollywood, FL – November 2010 – “I don’t know what I don’t know.” That’s how many lodging managers feel about the rapidly changing online travel technology landscape. What’s state of the art, what’s old school and what’s plain hype?

So where to go for the answers? While you can obviously scour the net for information, the articles you find may not apply to your specific situation. Searching and reading also takes a lot of time – A better way is through a collection of 15 comprehensive self-assessment quizzes that allow you to get an instant score of your knowledge and operational readiness in a wide variety of topics that are relevant to hoteliers and managers of resorts and vacation rentals.

Bookt has introduced the “4 Pillars of Online Success”. The first pillar is “Online Direct”, in that section you will find quizzes and tips related to Website Design and Content, SEO and Booking Engines. In “Expanded Distribution” you will learn about effective distribution and pricing strategies. The third pillar relates to “Social Media and CRM”, with info about the super-hot Social Media sphere, along with equally important topics like Lead Management and Email Marketing. The last pillar is the “Dynamic Back Office”. While less sexy, unless your back office works smoothly, a lot of money could be lost in inefficient and error prone processes. Test your property management system and financial operations.

If you find that you need more knowledge, a free secret tips document for each topic is also available.

All this information and more can be found on Bookt’s website at www.bookt.com/knowledge.

“I talk to lodging managers daily and while everyone knows that online is the future (and present) of lodging, the thirst for easily digestible and actionable knowledge is immense. We created the Bookt Online Lodging Knowledge Center to answer that need,” says Bookt’s VP of Sales and Marketing, Joel Fellman.

Bookt also offers popular weekly webinars in various topics related to Online Hospitality that encourages live participation and questions. Interested professionals can sign up at www.bookt.com/webinar.

About Bookt
Bookt is a comprehensive web services provider to the global vacation rental and hotel industry, delivering seamless integration and turn-key web solutions. The company provides a complete range of services for vacation rental managers, hoteliers, tour operators, developers and larger travel organizations, from sophisticated website development, online marketing services, search engine optimization and CRM strategies.

For more information, please visit www.Bookt.com or call Joel Fellman at 305-760-4576 Ext. 934.

Bookt is Hiring - Success Manager

rob@bookt.com

Bookt LLC. (www.Bookt.com) is seeking an energetic Project Manager to work out of their Hollywood, FL based office to help manage the company’s growth. Bookt is a leading provider of online lodging solutions, offering cutting edge technology to help hotels, resorts, and vacation rental companies operate their businesses and market their services and rental inventory. Since the conception of the company in 2007, Bookt has grown to serve over 400 lodging companies through is cloud based technology platform & marketing services. This opportunity is great for a candidate who wants to grow their technical and managerial skills through fast paced workflow and a high growth company with global ambitions. Applicants should fit the following profile:

Key Attributes

Analytical and Organized
Good Communicator of Complex Topics
Customer Success Oriented
Leadership & Accountability Attitude
Troubleshooter and Resolver

Key Tasks

Managing Projects & Production Staff
Consulting on Marketing and Operational Tactics
Configuring Online Solutions
Performing Online Marketing Tasks (e.g. email or SEO campaigns)
Travel Marketing Tasks (e.g. GDS distribution)
Billing & Collection of Project
Process Documentation & Improvement

Desired Skills

Understanding of Hospitality and Lodging industry
Project Management
Online Marketing (SEO, SEM, Social Media, Email Marketing)
At least Intermediary HTML and other Web Technologies

The new team member will initially be hired as an independent contractor, but the right candidate can expect the position to transition to a full-time at-will employment opportunity with health benefits within six months.

If you are qualified and interested in this growth opportunity please forward resume, salary requirements and cover letter to jobs@bookt.com. Bookt is an equal opportunity employer. To find out more about Bookt, please review the links below:

Corp Site: www.bookt.com
Our Executive Team: http://www.bookt.com/AboutUs/OurPeople.aspx
Bookt in the News: http://www.bookt.com/AboutUs/BooktInTheNews.aspx
Client Showcase: http://www.bookt.com/WebsiteDesign/FeaturedSites.aspx

Webinar: Social Media Marketing

joel@bookt.com

In our interactive, 50-minute Online Webinar, you will learn about…
■ What can Social Media Marketing (SMM) do for you?
■ What best practices will help you profit from the conversation?
■ A proven SMM online-success-sequence for Lodging Managers.
■ Where to begin or refine your online travel conversation?
■ How to maximize your SMM ROI!

Wed, Aug 4, 2010 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT
Wed, Aug 11, 2010 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT
Wed, Aug 18, 2010 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT
Wed, Aug 25, 2010 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT

Once registered you will receive an email confirming your registration with information you need to join the Webinar. Want to attend the Webinar but need a more convenient day/time? Please email joel@bookt.com and we will schedule a free, private session just for you!

Online Specials: What Works Best?

rob@bookt.com

Special Offers Deserve a Special Place in Your Marketing Mix

Name a more competitive online arena than Travel. Can you? As an entrepreneur in hospitality marketing and technology – perhaps I am biased. To me, the Travel marketplace is at the top tier of the web’s explosion of channel aggregation, information, and game changing consumer sophistication. To compete and win, today’s hotelier must develop a multi-layered strategy and deploy an array of finely-tuned tactics. And must do so while battling a recovering economy and navigating crowded sea lanes. Bon voyage!

Special times require special measures, with the keyword being “Specials” – a tried and true marketing tactic that can help you beat your competitors, engages consumers, and can be profitable when smartly done and managed.
Unless your city is hosting the Super Bowl, every day, forever, specials should have a time and place in your marketing mix.

Priming the Pump

According to their most recent survey on consumer satisfaction with reservations made on seven major independent travel sites, J D. Power and Associates reports – in order of importance – that consumers are looking for “competitiveness of price, ease of booking, usefulness of the information on the website, availability of booking options/travel packages, appearance/design of site, and ease of navigation.” Thus, while price clearly plays a key role in consumer satisfaction, just as clearly – improving your site itself is also critical. This means that savvy hoteliers will continually refine their website. Consumers are seeking comfort and value in your property as well as in their online experience. To prime the pump for effective use of special offers, get your website house in order. This is absolutely Step #1.

Website Content

Okay. Your website functionality and design is new and improved. So it’s time to launch your Valentine’s Weekend Away promotion – right? Not so fast. One other area on your site requires a look before you leap. Content. According to an April 2009 report from the global online travel and tourism site, TravelMole, when booking a holiday online, consumers say the following content are important:
• Pictures of accommodation and facilities: 76%
• A written description of the destination: 72%
• A destination map: 70%
• Destination activities and events: 67%
• Weather information: 65%
• Travel information such as time zone currency and visa requirements: 60%
• Local dining information: 51%
• Local sports and leisure information: 33%
• A video of accommodation: 30%
• Video of the destination: 25%
• Details of family and children's activities: 20%

MBO – Marketing By Objectives

Specials can drive revenue through more bookings, longer stays and filling your “Shoulder Season.” Special offers can also generate revenue and demand for your property’s amenities (Spa, Restaurants, Bike Rentals, Tours, Tickets, Excursions, Transportation and other unique services that you offer.)

This is also a good time to make friends and influence other local businesses that may be interested in making or solidifying special offers that can be bundled with yours. Restaurants, Clubs, Shopping venues, Sports, Theme Parks, Museums, Festivals and the like should be on your radar screen. Again, consumers are searching for both comfort and value. Align your objectives with those of your target consumers. Make sure that finding these special offers is easy, especially from your Home Page. Position them “above the fold” and write a blog article every time you launch a new one. Take advantage of seasonal events and holidays. Leverage your property’s best assets and partner when it will deliver an exponential value for your guests.
When not to use Specials? Some might say that specials are not necessary when demand is already high. Savvy hoteliers will still see the value of specials year-round as no one said price needs to be lowered, even during times of plenty. A “Romance Package” with Champagne, French Toast breakfast in bed, and Massage for Two at a premium price is a viable idea at many properties, even when the big convention is in town. Comfort and value. And value does not necessarily mean a bargain. It often relates to advantage and worth.
Making Sure You Have the Tools
While it may be obvious, it is important that your website booking engine can handle specials. Will your site accept and process special offers or do you need to upgrade to make that happen? Also, is your booking engine and reservation system fully integrated with your website? Some hoteliers are still using old school 3rd party pop-ups or framed solutions. In those cases it is hard to make the special offer part of your overall site content. The best place to for an offer is obviously on the home page. To be competitive you need sophisticated booking technology that can accommodate special coupon codes, percentage of rate discounts, fixed discounts, free nights, package prices and more. It is also important that this tool can accommodate blackout date requirements as well as integrate with lead source management for tracking purposes. When you speak with your web team, make sure they understand the flexibility you need to successfully exploit consumer demands for targeted offers and a positive user experience.
Marketing Your Specials

In addition to your own website, Special Offers should appear on your Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and travel communities you are connected to. Ask your web company if they can automate distribution feeds to your pages on these Social Media sites. It is easier than you think to automatically push this type of content once it is added to your own site. (You are exploiting “softer sell” Social Media today – aren’t you?)

Another channel is your own internal past customer list. By now, the savvy hotelier has built an opt-in email list for this express purpose. To alert past guests about specials, news and relevant offers that they may be interested in.

Are you sponsoring keywords on Google or another Search Engine? Targeted offers that sync with target keywords are marketing opportunities can have a measurable return on investment. Keep good records of campaign performance so you’ll know what to do next year if the opportunity repeats.

And, if affordable, place your special offers on local online destination guides. Future guests often start here when scoping out a holiday they are planning. Having a specific offer vs. just a plain vanilla listing will make your property stand out from the crowd. [Speaking of the competition – what Special Offers are they promoting? What can you learn from their ideas and experience?]

Finally, ask for feedback from guests who take you up on your special offers and display these reviews on your website. The Smith Family was delighted with your Kid-Friendly Package, especially the warm chocolate chip cookies before beddy-bye. This information will be meaningful to the Jones Family as they check-out your online offer and may motivate them to check-in.

Different Strategies for Different Channels

Many hoteliers find that they think about pricing options differently depending on whether they are addressing the needs of their own site vs. the aggregated hotel sites. Where is it best to adjust my overall rate and where is it best to utilize a special offer? To maximize revenue “yield”, consider adjusting to “right price” for the portals if conversion rates deliver, and run “specials” on your own website where the conversion improvement from a 10% “web-only” discount, for example, many times well pays for the revenue loss. Hopefully you have sufficient analytical tools to measure performance. I encourage you to try multiple strategies and compare your results; fine-tune going forward.

In Conclusion

Special Offers deserve a special place in your marketing mix. They can be both lower and premium priced. Today’s travel consumer has gazillions of choices so you and your offers must stand out and laser in on the comfort and value that travel shoppers are searching for.

Your website is your primary online storefront and must be easy to navigate and your special offers must be easy to find and book. Tell the world about your offers and smartly use email and Social Media to get the word out, automating where possible.

Finally, you have another great asset at your property that can be another key factor in successful Special Offer results. Of course it’s your people. Especially those who answer the phones and Registration. Your entire team needs to be well versed and trained on your specials and sell them, at every opportunity. The folks at Check-Out can also obtain a Guest Review and communicate about upcoming specials, and take a reservation.

Companies like Orbitz, Expedia, Hotels.com and all the rest of the big league players spend millions of dollars a year on research to learn how best to improve the travel shopper’s online experience so they can beat the competition and improve their revenue via site performance. Even if you do not have those resources available, sometimes it is important just to know that this is important. That your prospective guest is looking for a certain online experience. And there is no one better than you to start thinking about how you can get a greater performance out of your website and online marketing tactics. And, don’t hesitate if you need some help – find a company with proven insight and ask them to make you a Special Offer that delivers the comfort and value you deserve.

Special Lodging Offers Get Booked!

sam@bookt.com

Because so many travel consumers are looking for something extra special these days, Bookt has made it simple for lodging managers to create and promote special offers. To create a great “deal” on-the-fly around a special price, or amenity, or attraction or activity. Something extra to seal the deal.

Does your online Booking Engine have an integrated “Special’s Engine” that makes it easy to create and post special offers and packages with a couple of clicks? Bookt’s does! Designed and proven to inspire the travel-shopper to stop searching, and click-through to book online with you right now.

Our key to success is …flexibility! Our clients wanted a Special’s Engine that could create offers using a number of different variables to meet both the consumer’s needs as well as your revenue management goals. So we developed a Special’s Engine where you can create a variety of special targeted offers based on variables like…

Effective Date: When the special is starts, as in … you can check in on that day or after.
Expiration Date: When the special ends, as in … the last day your reservation can check out on.
Cutoff Date: The date you must make your reservation by, as in … you must book your stay prior to mm/dd/yyyy to take advantage of this special.
Min Condition Value: Make an offer tied into a minimum nights of stay required to take advantage of the special.
Amount: Used when the discounted value is a flat dollar discount.
Percentage: Used when the discount is a percentage of the total booking.
Coupon Code: The code can be applied by the guest at the time of the online reservation in order to apply the discount.

Does your online Booking Engine have this flexible functionality? Bookt’s clients use it every day. We would be pleased to show it to you – just get in touch and we can show you how it can work for your lodging business at info@bookt.com.

Bookt Goes to Hollywood

rob@bookt.com

Relax – we’re not giving up on lodging industry technology to make movies. We’re just moving our headquarters to Hollywood, FL, 15 min north of our current location in downtown Miami.

So it’s time to say goodbye to our Office Manatee and our lovely view, and hello to a new, bigger and better office that can accommodate our constantly growing team.

Our new address is:

Bookt LLC
2450 Hollywood Boulevard
Suite 201 Hollywood, FL 33020

Our phone numbers and other contact information remains the same. Here are some pictures of our new building. As stated before, we love visitors. If you are in town, please stop by our office.

Best,

Rob

Get More Units Bookt - Lead Processing

sam@bookt.com

By: Sam Marks

5/27/2010

Companies that don’t have effective lead processing strategies in place are literally throwing money and business away. No matter how much you market and attract new guests, your profit margins will diminish by not thinking each day how to increase your lead-to-booking conversion rate. In this game, speed, information, and accuracy are key.

Just remember that when someone inquires about a property or room rental, they are in the shop and compare mode. Unless they have been a loyal guest of yours for years chances are they are skipping site to site comparing properties apples to apples.

Speed - If you are the 2nd or 3rd company to follow up on a lead, chances are that you will lose this booking or have to close the deal at a smaller margin by offering a super discount. Bookt’s CRM pulls in lead information instantly and sends site administrators notification emails. In the Control Panel we provide management and follow up tools to help streamline your processes.

Information – If you don’t capture the right information at the time of the inquiry you will turn off the potential guest by having to dig for these details. Take advantage of your competitors deficiencies here by capturing travel dates, # of Adults and Children, type of property and location they are seeking, and special requests. Bookt’s websites capture leads on 3 levels, all gathering applicable information regarding the guest travel criteria. Information is power….

Accuracy – If you are not accurate when proposing a suitable and appealing rental unit then you will lose the prospect’s interest right away. This goes hand and hand with capturing the right information. When following up with a lead, you should be able to have a “perfect” property, and 3-5 others that are “excellent alternatives”. Always be armed with backup properties of like (accuracy) size, price, location, amenities and overall flavor. With this information captured, Bookt clients can easily search their inventory filtering by multiple attributes to drill down on a handful of ideal and relevant properties.

*Speed in many cases will make up for information and accuracy. Staff your company with a confident, well spoken, and personable reservationist that isn’t afraid to pick up the phone and dial away. Have them man your email and/or CRM with a top priority of follow up to each lead by phone within 5 minutes of receiving the notification. Do this, and engage with the guest prospect faster than your competition. The guest will appreciate the responsiveness, build faith in your services, and be willing to work with the reservationist to find and reserve that perfect rental.

I was speaking to the CEO of a well known rental portal the other day over dinner, and we were discussing different marketing initiatives regarding the specific traffic sources and the quality (often determined by the lead-to-booking conversion ratio) of each traffic source. We started talking about SEO and he immediately dismissed it touting the fact that they didn’t need it. His reasoning was simple. Instead of investing many thousands of dollars in SEO with fuzzy performance tracking and slow returns, they focus exclusively on paid search. With this, they know exactly what they are paying for, and tracking ROI is much more tangible. The Key – maintain a competitive advantage in lead-to-booking conversions. Where most companies will lose spending $2 per click on SEM, they are able to make a nice return because they have perfected speed, information, and accuracy.

Focus on optimizing your lead response processes and it will open up marketing avenues once believed to expensive to play.

Does Your lodging Website Shine in an Era of the Super Portals?

sam@bookt.com

5 online strategies using Bookt’s platform to maintain a competitive booking advantage over lodging portals

With the emergence of the "Super-Portal", if your online marketing strategy is only re-active you are likely to be re-lying on the marketing services of external channels. As more portals adapt their model from cost per lead networks to complete booking portals, it is more important than ever to close the sale through your direct and most profitable channel - your website. It is no secret that the mega- portals are aggressively attempting to dominate the organic search rankings for vacation destinations worldwide. So this begs the question, with some of these companies having access to hundreds of millions in capital, and tens of millions dedicated to marketing and SEO, how is it possible to compete? In order to answer this, you must first adopt and utilize today’s technologies to stay ahead of the lodging wolf pack. When it comes to your actual website one thing that is for sure, a seamless and completely integrated booking engine is essential to online success.

At Bookt, we recommend distribution and connectivity with booking portals if one of your primary business goals is to reach new customers. This doesn’t mean it is in your best interest for the reservation to be made on the portal, rather quite the opposite. One of the key benefits of distributing your properties to portals is the overall exposure and amount of direct traffic that will derive from these listings. Consumers will often see your listings on 3rd party sites, check the price, and then go straight to the source (your website) to shop for a better price. In most cases you are required to have price parody across all channels, so, how can you close the deal on your website where you benefit the most? Below are 5 strategies to achieving a competitive booking advantage over aggregation portals.

1. Make it clear who is in charge - With portals, the company managing the property and their reputation are not always clear; take advantage of that. Make it clear that you have a physical address close by your rentals, and that you have a knowledgeable staff available for guests’ needs. Make your company’s background and reputation clear on your homepage to show your credentials. On deeper pages of your website, provide some more personal information. Show a picture of your staff, their pets, and talk about living in the area. This will strike an emotional cord with your guests and make booking online that much more comfortable.

2. Cultivate lead Response Efficiency – Fine tune your inquiry auto responders so that they give some general information and promise a prompt follow up. Focus on getting your reservations staff to follow up with the guest prospect within 5 minutes to maximize your lead conversion ratio. Do so and you will engage consumers while they are in the shop and compare mode and it will be your reservation to lose.

3. Show More Rental Information – Always remember that next to the property owner themselves, you know more about the properties under management more than anyone else. This gives you a competitive advantage over a portal because you have firsthand knowledge of that property, and its surroundings. Often portal inventory is based on what a property manager puts into that system manually, causing laziness or lack of details. Take advantage of this by showing lots of information regarding rentals proximity to local attractions, activities, dinning, user reviews, and your overall expertise of the properties and the surrounding areas. There is no such thing as to much information in this context.

4. Limit your line items – When most people see cryptic line items, they think to themselves “how can I avoid these?”. As much as possible, try bundle additional fees into the base rate. Most consumers have a higher tolerance to taxes that are typical, but are uncomfortable paying minute fees that add not additional benefit to their rental or vacation.

5. Encourage Action with Specials and Discounts – Bookt’s specials engine allows you to create specials and discounts on the fly. This gives you the flexibility to be creative and spontaneous. It is often hard for portals to provide specials without having a more personal relationship with the Property Manager, since they do not control the inventory or pricing. Since YOU DO, you can provide extra booking incentive where you know you have margin to spare. Offer discounts and specials to encourage visits to take action now, before they can shop and compare. In your responses to leads, get creative! Keep a couple “hidden” coupon codes in your arsenal and find a way to make it specific and unique to the prospect. If you see a lead come in from your Facebook page, respond to the lead with “I see you found us through our Facebook Fan Page, that’s great! We can offer you a 5% coupon because of this by using coupon code “FACEBOOK5” if you book today!”. The trick is to engage consumers while they are on your site, show off your credibility, and offer them an extra incentive tailored to them if they take action now!

Lodging CRM - Customer Relationship Management. How Are You Performing?

joel@bookt.com

Leading Lodging Technology and Marketing Company Launches Free Assessment Tool for Measuring the Effectiveness of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Programs for Hotels, Resorts and Vacation Rentals.

Well-nurtured relationships via CRM with past guests and prospective customers can turn both groups into new revenue with a lower acquisition cost. Bookt invites Vacation Rental, Resort & Hotel Managers to take a free online Quiz. How does your CRM perform?

Miami, Florida – March 21, 2010: Online Travel Marketing & Technology firm, Bookt LLC, today launched a free online quiz for lodging managers so they can measure their effectiveness exploiting Customer Relationship Management strategies, tactics and tools.

“An effective CRM is a practical way to keep track of past customers, their interactions with your company and their preferences, and turn these interactions into bookings”, said Robert Käll, President of Bookt. “It is also a way to handle new prospects and provide consistent and prompt follow-up on inquiries that will also lead to sales and bookings.”

The Bookt Customer Relationship Management Quiz and “instant score” are available on Bookt.com. After taking the free quiz, Bookt offers Lodging Managers a free download of their PDF entitled “Effective CRM Strategies, Tactics & Tools” Report with 8 Tips For Success!

“Travel shoppers are much more likely to engage and book with Lodging Companies that quickly and seamlessly respond to their individual needs and vacation experience goals,” Kall says. “An advanced CRM that automates all the processes and tagging allows the Lodging Manager to focus on data-mining and precision target marketing …NOT the overwhelming tasks of data collection.”

Bookt is a comprehensive web services provider to the global vacation rental and hotel industry, delivering seamless integration and turn-key web solutions. The company provides a complete range of services for vacation rental managers, hoteliers, tour operators, developers and larger travel organizations, from sophisticated website development, online marketing services, search engine optimization and CRM strategies. For more information or to take Bookt’s interactive quiz on Customer Relationship Management Strategies, Tactics and Tools, please visit www.bookt.com.

Only in Miami: The Chicken Edition

rob@bookt.com

It’s Friday, so time for another “non-business” blog post….

Once again, I got reminded of the peculiarities of living in Miami when I went downstairs for some coffee. In the water there was a chicken head floating… How did it end up there? Most likely a victim of a Santeria ritual.

Speaking of chickens, this is what I saw in the parking lot of my local Costco the other day. Chickens are a fairly common occurrence in metro Miami and according to this recent article re. cut backs in city government, we should expect even more of them in the future…

That said, I love living in Miami and the ever exciting cultural experiences you have here. Please stop by our office if you are in town…

Have a good weekend!

Best,

Rob

FVRMA 2010 Annual Convention & Tradeshow

joel@bookt.com

Are you going to the show???

4 Tips to an Effective CRM Strategy Utilizing the Bookt Platform

sam@bookt.com

By: Sam Marks

3/16/10

With the rapid pace of business in this new decade and the immense competition in the lodging industry, it is more important than ever to adopt new technologies to help reach new customers while nourishing relationships with previous ones. Although the theories of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) have been around for years, the means by which we practice these strategies evolve each day. Today, new business is won or lost on the internet front and competitive accommodations are just a click away. Find four tips below to help you position your CRM strategies using the Bookt platform to achieve higher customer satisfaction and reach new marketing objectives.

Capture Website Visitor’s Contact Information! Driving traffic to your website is not a standalone key to online success; you must create new customers by capturing leads and generating online bookings. To do so, develop 3 effective onsite methods to capturing guest information. A robust CRM platform and strategy is meaningless without customers. While old customers are great, new customers are the most fundamental piece of a growing business. Unfortunately, if you are looking at your traffic analytics, you are probably realizing that 95% of your new website visitors are simply vanishing without a trace. Take action! Bookt’s platform was developed with customer acquisition in mind; integrating specific property question forms, newsletter sign up, social media sharing, and booking abandonment capture screens. Since your website is your most direct channel for online business, utilize this powerful medium to capture new customers and prospects because every new website visitor is an opportunity for new business!

“Tag” Previous and New Guests - So you have invested in a comprehensive CRM and have dozens of contacts pouring in each day... what now? In most cases days, weeks, months go by without much consideration to all these new contacts until your twice yearly mailing which happens to go out to ALL your contacts. Now, think about this scenario; you own a vacation rental business serving Florida's Gulf Coast. You are enjoying beautiful sunny days with high's in the low 80's. A wicked snowstorm hits the Northeast which happens to be where 30% of your customer base resides. Now you quickly write an inviting email, with a last minute coupon code and send it out to this clientele in just a couple clicks... effective and efficient! This can be made possible with Bookt’s platform by means of what we call "Tags". Create a master list of tags (e.g. northeast, family, has pets, beachfront only, long term guests) and get in the habit of tagging new customers with applicable attributes that will make searching, grouping, and mailing quick, easy, and effective.

Improve Your Lead Processing – All the leads in the world won’t do you any good unless you are investing time and resources in streamlining your lead follow up processes. Companies are letting reservations slip away every day by leaving this as a lower level priority! Through the Bookt Platform, you can test different methods of following up with both email and phone inquiries and gather conclusive data on how you are most effectively converting leads into online bookings. Work to shorten your lead response time to less than 5 minutes. Understand your reservationist’s strengths and weaknesses and develop a lead processing strategy that compliments your operations. Finally, track your different channels of leads as well as the cost and conversion rate of each. This will help you allot marketing dollars where you can expect a consistent ROI.

Know Your Guest History! After being in business for years with tens of thousands of previous guests, do you really expect to know the names and history of each guest? Let Bookt’s platform handle this for you so you can focus on obtaining new customers instead of remembering old faces. Our CRM will remember and automatically store the history of all your guests, and even those inquiring who never actually made a reservation. When a new lead comes in you can quickly reference the history (previous dialogue, inquiries, reservation details, preferences, and internal notes) of that guest and speak to them on a personal level, further building their loyalty to your company and increasing the chances of a booking conversion.

Connecting the Social CRM Dots…

rob@bookt.com

By Rob Käll, Bookt LLC

Intro

Connecting the Social CRM Dots… What does that mean? Simply put, it is how to leverage both Social Media tools and CRM best practices as effective marketing tools for your lodging business. This allows you to achieve objectives such as more repeat visitors and a higher level of trust with new customers. All without busting the bank in terms of work effort or new technology.

What is Social Media?

This question may seem a little moot, since Social Media is a topic on almost everyone’s mind these days, but for the purpose of this article I would like to define it more clearly. To me, Social Media is a new breed of online tools that lets users start or join conversations (e.g. Twitter), create connections with other users (e.g. Facebook) and share their feedback and experience (e.g. TripAdvisor). The aggregate of these activities are extremely influential on other users, and that is the core reason why there is now so much emphasis on Social Media as a marketing tool.

What is CRM?

Compared to Social Media, the concept of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) may seem stodgy. But the fact is that CRM is still in its infancy, especially in the lodging field. Most travel companies fail to fully utilize its potential. So what is CRM exactly? Here I choose to define it as: An effective way to keep track of past customers, their interactions with your company and their preferences. It is also a way to handle new prospects and provide consistent and prompt follow-up on inquiries that can lead to sales/bookings. And because so much of this follow-up is fast and electronic, I consider tools like Email Marketing a vital part of CRM. Yes - there is a reason your inbox is full of emails from companies you have done business with in the past. Email Marketing done right, still works very well.

How is Social Media and CRM Connected?

The obvious answer is that they both deal with your future, current and past guests and how you, in the best possible way can understand their needs and expectations. And when you do, you can use these tools in powerful new way to influence purchases (e.g. I saw my friend’s sister had become a fan of your resort on Facebook so I decided to visit it as well).

The Usual Problem

So if CRM and Social Media are both very effective and intrinsically related, why don’t most lodging companies have a coherent and integrated CRM and Social Media marketing strategy (putting up a Facebook fan page that is then left to linger is not a Social Media strategy…)? Yes, you guessed it. The reason is usually lack of time, no personnel with the right skills and no tools that make updating Social Media sites and recording customer preferences quick and easy. We have also found that there is sometimes a bias against having an employee update a site like Facebook during work hours if it is perceived as a waste of time or sends the wrong message to other employees. Thus, Lodging Managers need a strategy and a well thought out plan to get all the benefits while avoiding the pitfalls and drawbacks.

The Solution – The Connected Web…

At Bookt we strongly believe in connected systems. So much so, that one of our first strategic initiatives was to create service we call Bookt Connect, designed to allow us to connect to almost any other service out on the internet in a fast, secure and reliable manner. The solution to time and resource problems is to simplify generation of relevant content, reduce the number of places to post updates and as much as possible automate information distribution and collection. Here are the 3 core activities you need to perform in order to connect the Social CRM Dots:

Create Your Lodging Company Feed

Your “feed” is all the things you want your Social Media sphere to know about you. Here are some examples that have wide appeal and relevance:

Blog about relevant local news and upcoming events in your area
Include all new special offers and promotions you are launching
Include any new attractions and amenities coming to your destination
Include summaries and selected user reviews (e.g. 38 of 40 user reviews collected during Feb. 2010 rated us either 4 or 5 stars)

Distribute your Feed:

This is actually not that difficult any more. In the last 10 years, standards for organizing frequently updated web information have emerged (two common formats are RSS and ATOM) and many different tools allow you to both post and read data in those formats. Once your feed is set up, you should configure it so every new item also gets:

Posted to your Company Blog (preferably as part of your company’s regular website)
Posted as a Facebook status update
Posted as a tweet on your Twitter page
Posted to your Company’s LinkedIn Page
Included in your Monthly Email Newsletter

Engage in the Conversation

Unlike many marketing approaches of the past, social marketing is not a one-way street. Expect and encourage an open conversation with your new social user-base (after all, they are your “friends, followers and fans”). The more you engage, the more you will spur the conversation. Again, the new connectivity technology can help you manage this flood of messages in a meaningful way. Bring in and organize this data and tie it to the appropriate data in your CRM customer database (so that if you pull up the appropriate record you have any Social Media comments included in their customer history). Here are some specific tactics:

Set up Facebook and other user-conversion tools so emails are sent to a centralized inbox when someone makes a comment. Process that inbox through a CRM lead management tool and associate comments with the correct person
Monitor all relevant travel review sites and bring in all reviews in a categorized and organized way (most provide the same type of feeds that were discussed above). Respond to or challenge all non-favorable reviews.
Include links to your review management system, Facebook fan page and Twitter feed in every post-stay email your PMS sends out.

The Future of Social Media Marketing

The future is already here. It may just not be completely evident to everyone yet. It consists of three major themes:

Transparency – If you are not a great lodging company more people will figure it out faster than ever before. Focus on delivering excellent service (commensurate with your lodging category) and make sure that guests perceive it as such.

Mobility – Everything today can be done from anywhere – when someone has a bad experience at a hotel these days they won’t say: “I am going to write complaint letter when I get home”, they will pick up their phone and tell the world about it right then and there including posting it on Twitter.

Connectedness - You as a lodging manager can take advantage of this new paradigm, where the entire web and all its data is connected, and use it get a 360 degree view of how your customers perceive your services and where you need to make improvements.

With a strategy similar to the one described above, you are ready to take one the second decade of the new millennium - and the good news is, many of your competitors have not yet figured this out, which can give you a distinct and lasting competitive advantage.

I’d love to get your feedback. What works for your company? What doesn’t? Have questions? Need advice? Email me at rob@bookt.com and let’s chat. Maybe I could even include your comments and ideas in my next article – coming soon!
____________________________________________________________________________________
Rob Käll is the President and Co-founder of Bookt, a comprehensive web services provider for the global lodging industry, delivering seamless integration and turn-key web solutions. The Company provides a complete range of services for vacation rental managers, hoteliers, tour operators, developers and larger travel organizations, from sophisticated website development, booking engine hosting, online marketing services, search engine optimization and CRM strategies. For more information or to take Bookt’s interactive quiz to gauge your website’s effectiveness, visit www.bookt.com.

Our Office Manatee

rob@bookt.com

It’s Friday so I figured a little brevity is ok. Our office is located right on the bay in downtown Miami and today when I walked downstairs for some coffee, I saw this guy:

One of the wonderful things about Miami is the close access to the bay and the ocean. Right now during “Winter”, the manatees migrate to the warmest water they can find. In this case a marina outside our office. In a few weeks, he will most likely swim out to the wider bay to feed on the sea grass. Manatees are very gentle animals that are unfortunately endangered. Many are injured in boating accidents, since the tend to lie still right under the surface making them very hard to see from a distance.

Leading Travel Marketing and Technology Company Unveils Free Assessment Tool for Lodging Managers to Measure Effectiveness of their Website Design & Features

joel@bookt.com

Travel is more competitive than almost any online marketplace. Better looking and consumer-centric websites will win over vacation travel shoppers and book greater revenue in the new decade. Bookt invites Vacation Rental & Hotel Managers to take a free online Quiz. How does your website stack up?

Miami, Florida – February 16, 2010: Online Travel Marketing & Technology firm, Bookt LLC, today launched a free online quiz for lodging managers so they can measure their effectiveness exploiting Website Features and Design elements.

“A superior website is an essential and vital prerequisite for success for a travel and lodging business in 2010,” said Robert Käll, President of Bookt. “It is also an area that many hotels, resorts and vacation rental companies need to pay more attention to and can easily improve.”

The Bookt Website Design & Features Quiz and “instant score” are available on Bookt.com. After taking the free quiz, Bookt offers Lodging Managers a free download of a Effective Travel Website Design & Features Report with 6 Tips For Success!

“Consumers engage with travel sites that are well designed, make it easy to search and find what they are looking for, and sites that build trust as part of the user experience,” Kall says. “Some lodging managers are not even aware of how easy it is to improve their sites performance and capture more revenue online.”

Bookt is a comprehensive web services provider to the global vacation rental and hotel industry, delivering seamless integration and turn-key web solutions. The company provides a complete range of services for vacation rental managers, hoteliers, tour operators, developers and larger travel organizations, from sophisticated website development, online marketing services, search engine optimization and CRM strategies. For more information or to take Bookt’s interactive quiz on Travel Web Design, visit www.bookt.com.

SEO – Let’s Get Quantitative and Demand Results

joel@bookt.com

Hardly a day goes by when I am not speaking to a hotelier or lodging manager about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This is a topic that has continued to become more and more important in most hotels’ and vacation rentals’ marketing mix. And that’s no wonder, as properly done, SEO can very effectively increase any lodging organization’s bottom line. But beyond catch phrases like: “drive tons of traffic” or “rank at the top of Google” and other hyperbole common in the sales process of SEO services, how is a successful SEO project run and how can you be sure you are getting the results you are paying for?

Can SEO Success be Measured?

Given the title of this article, the answer is obviously, yes. However, many times the evaluation and metrics produced from an SEO project do not really tell the stakeholders what they need to know: Is this working very well, ok or poorly? The reason is, often only certain metrics are measured and those items are not being evaluated in a full context. Below is an outline of metrics and other considerations that when taken together produce the context that allows you to truly evaluate whether or not your SEO project is successful.

Before you Start

Before starting a new project, it always makes sense to define some objectives. I think most of the time the objective is to drive more traffic to the property website, which is likely to lead to closed bookings. Ensuring you have top ranking for key phrases is important, but not the only strategy as we will discuss below.
Establishing Your Baseline
If your website has been live for more than a few months, you are most likely already receiving organic search engine traffic (but probably not to the degree that you would prefer). Take a snapshot of that data and save it. All SEO gains are incremental and if you don’t know where you started from, you won’t be able to measure your progress.

Measure Your Potential

While it would be nice for any hotel to rank #1 for a phrase like “Hotel”, that is not realistic for any individual property or small chain website. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set your sights high. Pick the 3-4 attributes that represent your property best (e.g. luxury, boutique, business etc.) and your market areas in incrementally smaller segments (e.g. South Florida, Miami, Miami Beach, South Beach). Then, use a tool like Google’s keyword research tool (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal) to research the number of monthly searches you get for each combination when paired with common words like “hotel” or “resort”. The more searches, the higher potential. This tool also gets you some insight into the competiveness of each keyword. Do some trial searches in a search engine and see which sites rank above you. That’s your competition. The best keywords are the ones that reflect your property the best, have the highest amount of traffic and the least amount of competition.
Measure Your Rankings
Once your project is underway, start measuring your ranking for your top keywords. Ranking position is critical. The difference between ranking #1 and ranking #8 for a popular keyword typically produces very significant differences in SERP (Search Engine Result Page) click-throughs to your site. What’s also important is that today, rankings are fluid. Because of constantly updated links, algorithms and content changes, sites move up and down in the rankings. Keeping track of rankings manually is very time consuming, so using a tool that does it automatically allows you to track it fairly frequently and graph it over time. You want steady improvement and top 3 rankings for at least some of your keywords. The best tools also cross reference the ranking data with keyword popularity and actual site analytics.

Measure Your Change in Traffic Patterns

Assuming you are embarking on a successful SEO campaign, what type of changes should you see? A tripling of traffic in a month? That’s fairly unlikely. Rather, measuring organic search engine traffic as a percentage of all traffic, you should start to see an increase in that share. You should also see a shift in the actual keywords that bring you traffic (this requires that you also study your website analytics report carefully). Whereas in the past your property name might have been your primary search word, you should now start to receive significant traffic on other keyword combinations, preferably the ones that best match your core offering. This is important, since those searches are likely to have the greatest online conversion (percentage of visitors that actually book on your site). If your site has been properly structured and optimized, you should also start receiving more “long tail” traffic. Those are searches that have a fairly specific set of search words. This would be a 4 or 5 word search phrase, e.g. “Art Deco Boutique Hotel in Miami”, where each combination is fairly rare, but given the many possible permutations, they still represent a rather large traffic opportunity.

Measure Your Success (and Failures)

Once you have the above-mentioned statistics in place, how do you know whether you are successful or not? As mentioned, SEO progress tends to be incremental, so that clear indicators, like a doubling in the number of bookings from the previous month is rather rare. Instead, looking at the metrics described above over a few months time, you should see steady improvement across the board. And what is failure? Failure is no progress or even sliding backwards while actively engaging in SEO activities. Failure can also be that you are able to drive more traffic to your property website, but that traffic is not converting at the same level as you have experienced in the past. If your site has an effective booking engine and relevant content but you are not seeing an increase in booking conversions, chances are the keywords that you are using are not reflective of what your visitors are expecting when clicking on your search engine link. Either way, failure requires reevaluation, both of strategy, and accountability; the people that work for you must acknowledge problems and take responsibility to rectify them.

Continuous Improvement

SEO is not a onetime thing. Even if you are able to reach a higher level of success, many of your competitors probably also employ SEO techniques and the landscape changes all the time. You will have occasional setbacks, but if you have a credible offering and an effective website that evolves with the times (lately we have found that various social media tools help generating significant incremental search engine traffic); you should be able to generate a positive return on your investment.
How to Evaluate and Move to the Next Level?
I am aware I just fed you a bunch of facts, terms and metrics, some of them rather esoteric. The purpose was to give you some insight and background. Don’t be afraid to ask your SEO team to explain and justify their results. After all, they are the experts. The idea is not accept everything at face value. Being an educated consumer always makes sense, especially in the SEO world…

I’d love to get your feedback. What works for your company? What doesn’t? Have questions? Need advice? Email me at rob@bookt.com and let’s chat. Maybe I could even include your comments and ideas in my next article – coming soon!

This article was originally published on HotelExecutive.com

Lodging Managers - Are You Monitoring Your Competitors?

joel@bookt.com

At Bookt, we recommend that someone on your Lodging Management Team should be monitoring the competition, including what they are offering in terms of online "Specials" and "Deals". Further, it is important to view the competition not only as your local hotels, resorts and vacation rentals – but also look at this in a general way as you can learn a great deal from national and global competitors who are communicating with and targeting the same travel shopper demographics that you are.

How to collect competitive intelligence? Regarding your local competitors, we recommend you visit their websites on a frequent and consistent basis. At least once a month. Certainly someone on your staff can make this happen and write up a brief report to share with your entire team.

How about other non-local competitors vying for the same travel dollars and demographic? Sign up for newsletters from Orbitz, Expedia, Hotels.com and the like. I also get a weekly email from Budget Travel, and it is always filled with ideas that would be useful for Lodging Managers to review and process. You might find ideas here that will generate an idea for your lodging business.

Do any of these “steals and splurges” promotions turn on your creative juices for your property or rentals?

The Amazon & Inca Trail from $2285 for 15 days: Book an Intrepid trip in the Americas and save up to 15% or enter to WIN a trip for two in North, South or Central America! (From Intrepid Travel)

Book Now and Save up to $770 on Breezes Escapes: There's never been a better time to take a Breezes Resorts & Spas getaway. Book a 2010 Breezes escape now & save up to $770. (From Breezes Resorts & Spas)

MGM Grand's Guest Privilege Program: Join Prima for a complete VIP experience. Includes free suite upgrades, limo transfers, 2-for-1 entrees and more. (From MGM Grand Las Vegas)

Experience Maui's Hawaiian Hotel for $159/night! The perfect place for a getaway! Free nightly hula show, Hawaiian activities, children's program & more. Rates from $159/nt! (From Kaanapali Beach Hotel)

Tahiti–5 night getaway from $1,399. Escape to the paradise of Tahiti with this exclusive 5 night package from $1,399 incl. air, hotel and daily breakfast. (From Tahiti Tourisme)

Finally – compare your website’s performance to your competitors with tools like www.compete.com. The data is not always perfect, but you can learn a great deal from this type of service and like all of the above, can ultimately help you put the pieces together and achieve your revenue goals.

Want to talk about competitive intelligence in the lodging industry? Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com. There has never been a better time to improve your marketing reach and Get Bookt!

With Sympathy for the People of Haiti

rob@bookt.com

I am learning more about the horrible earthquake event in Haiti and I keep thinking of this: As I have been travelling around the world (although I’ve never been to Haiti) and meeting people from many countries and cultures, I am always surprised how similar their priorities, aspirations and fears are to the people I know here in the States. The people in Haiti are right now feeling just like you or I would feel if we lost loved ones or our home and security was destroyed. But there is one important difference, unlike here, there are virtually no organized systems or infrastructure to deal with disasters like this in Haiti. It’s easy to feel helpless…

To do something I just made a donation to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. If you have the means, I encourage you to do the same.

New “How To” Video Tutorials Launched

sam@bookt.com

Bookt has many years of experience designing technology that can be best described as “intuitive” and very easy to use. We hear this all the time, especially during “How To” training when launching a new client on our platform. And clients can always call or email Support to get a personal “How To” refresher. But now we have taken this one step better. Recently we launched “How To” Video Tutorials accessible 24/7/365 through each client’s Control Panel.

Need a refresher on how to add or change a property photo? Add a new local restaurant? Manage your leads? Bookt’s “How To” Video Tutorials are a great resource and always available for you and your team.

Just login to your Control Panel and check out the Community Tips section on the bottom left. And let us know if you find these videos helpful and specific subjects for which you would like us to create a Video Tutorial in the future.

Bookt is dedicated to your Online Success! These “How To” Videos are just the latest example of “How To” walk that talk!

More tutorials here: http://www.youtube.com/user/booktmedia

Questions about how you can use Video to tell your story? Contact us and we can help you.

Social Media Changing How Vacation Rental and Lodging Companies Market and Communicate with Vacation Travel Shoppers

joel@bookt.com

Social Media has opened opportunities for travel businesses through the power of an immediate connection with consumers and exchange of information, ideas and personal preferences. Bookt invites Vacation Rental & Hotel Managers to take a free online Social Media Quiz. How Social Media savvy are you?

Miami, Florida - January 12, 2010: Online Travel Marketing & Technology firm, Bookt LLC, today launched a free online quiz for lodging managers so they can measure their current performance exploiting Social Media Marketing.

“The need for travel managers and their websites to connect with and engage 1-to-1 with consumers has never been greater,” said Robert Käll, President of Bookt. “Either you are connecting with your target vacation shopper or your competitor is.”

The Bookt Social Media Marketing Quiz and “instant score” is available here. After taking the free quiz, Bookt allows Vacation Rental and Lodging Managers to download a free Report entitled, Social Media Marketing For Travel – 7 Tips For Success!

“Social Media is another great channel that early adopters are already leveraging to create travel revenue,” Käll says. “Consumers have lots of choices. The faster and deeper you can engage with your target, the better!”

Cloud Based Services for Hotels

rob@bookt.com

As a vendor of Cloud based services for the hospitality industry, I thought this was an interesting article:

http://www.buyerinteractive.com/buyer/article.aspx?articleid=15564

I have actively gone out and spoken about the promise of the cloud for hotels and vacation rental companies, most recently at the CFVRMA.

What do you think? Let me know (rob at bookt.com),

Five Common Booking Engine Mistakes to Avoid for Your Hotel or Vacation Rental Website

rob@bookt.com

Almost everyone in this environment is looking for ways to maximize revenue; from large hotel chains to independent boutique properties, hoteliers across the world are looking for ways to boost their sales. So it’s not surprising that in my conversations with operators, I am constantly being asked “What is the secret to success on the web?” I always respond with a question of my own: “How much attention do you pay to your property’s website booking engine?” More often than not, those looking for ways to increase their online sales have booking engine problems that can be fixed, without completing overhauling the property’s website.

Most hotel operators acknowledge that the company’s website is an important revenue generator, but rather than using it as the cost-effective and dynamic tool that it is, they lose focus and turn it into the equivalent of an online brochure. While brochures have their place in the marketing mix, they are not directly responsible for a hotel’s profits, whereas your website can be. By optimizing the booking engine, hoteliers can maximize bookings and revenues through this important portal.

First, though, hotel websites must avoid some of the pitfalls I see all too often that prevent a website’s booking engine from contributing positively to the property’s bottom line:

1. The Shy Little (Booking) Engine

When designing websites, I always try to present the website visitor with a one-two punch: first, the emotional reaction - “Oh, I want to go there!” - accomplished by beautiful images, often as a subtle slideshow. Right next to it, a very clear call-to-action: the quick availability and rate search. When these two aspects- which are the most effective at encouraging bookings- are the centerpieces of a successful web strategy, the property’s online revenues increase dramatically. An unobtrusive text link that says “Reservations” hidden in a corner will not make the grade; your home page is not the place for subtlety.

Remember, people make up their mind in seconds whether a website has the information they are looking for or not. Make it easy for them to find (and use) it. If they don’t see your call-to-action right away, their next click will be on the back button.

2. Popups be Damned

This is my biggest pet peeve. Next to email spam, popups are the most reported internet annoyance for consumers shopping for a hotel online. Just as you don’t want your most important online revenue generator to go unnoticed, you don’t want your booking engine to be scaring consumers away. The reasons for using popups vary and although there are ways to avoid being caught by a popup blocker, why take any chance that your booking engine will either annoy your customer or be blocked altogether?

3. Not Making it a Part of the Rest of Your Site

Before your booking engine can be the central feature of your website, it must first be fully and dynamically integrated into the website - as cleanly and seamlessly as possible. When hotel or lodging websites resort to popups, it’s usually because they lack a truly integrated solution. I believe that consumers expect a seamless booking experience similar to the one they have on third party sites like Orbitz or Expedia, and if they can’t get it through your property’s site they will go elsewhere. So what is the “right” way to do it? A consumer’s typical online purchasing process goes something along the lines of this:

Arrive at the home page, get rates for room types from booking engine.
Decide whether your rate and availability suits their needs– Is the rate too high? Are you booked solid through their travel dates? Then, especially in the current climate, consumers will search for specials and deals that may be available.
So the price is right and you have availability, next consumers want to find out what your property has to offer – pool, spa, golf course, restaurant, valet, etc. Don’t forget to include photos! Again, they have to decide whether what you offer suits their needs.
Hopefully, they’ve made it this far and they are happy with what you have to offer. So they click on the ‘book now’ button and once again, either reject or accept your cancellation policy, additional fees and security and safety of your site.
If you’re doing your job as web marketer, the consumer will then enter their credit card details and confirm the booking.

As you can see, even a person who is ready and willing to book their stay goes through multiple accept/reject check points. And at every one of these booking stages, you run the risk of losing the customer. If your site changes its look or there is a visual disconnect with what you are offering, forces a popup, includes broken links or incorrect data, or seems incomplete and difficult to navigate through any of the touchpoints, it is highly likely that you will lose the booking.

And always make sure the booking portion of the site looks like and is connected to the rest of the site: this is vital to create trust and high level of comfort. The unit description and booking pages are excellent opportunities for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) because they contain many of the keywords that people are likely to enter when searching for lodging online. If those keywords are found on a different site - as they would be if your booking engine was a popup - that is another lost opportunity to deliver this traffic to your site.

4. Not Spelling out the Specials

Today, most sites have some kind of search box and most website management companies can track the results. Guess which category is the most common? Sales, deals and discounts. The most effective specials are those that appeal to each traveler’s specific situation. For example, a traveler with a large family that needs three rooms might be hoping to get the third room at a discount. A late-booking visitor, knowing that your property has availability, might be looking for a last-minute discount. Offering specials to these willing customers and then clearly outlining them in rate quotes (and again during the booking summary) will increase conversion rates tremendously.

5. Asking for the Wrong Info at the Wrong Time

The online booking engine is a wonderful invention, appreciated by busy travelers who want to compare rates at 2AM and by hoteliers who want to sell their inventory in an effective manner. One of the challenges the online booking has always faced is trepidation - even sometimes hesitation - on the part of consumers to give out credit card numbers online. So be smart about how you ask for this information. Make sure your security certificates are up-to-date, visible and recognizable. Use the best encryption and information security practices available. Keep your potential customers’ privacy as the central factor in deciding whether to collect any information because you can be sure, if their information is ever compromised, that’s the last sale that your property will ever get from them.

If you have an effective reservation department that can follow up on email inquiries, ask for name, email and phone number in the step prior to the credit card details. If the user for some reason has second thoughts (we techies call these ”abandons”), you still have a hot lead that you can call back to help “complete the reservation”. Conversion ratios on abandons tend to be much higher than regular email leads, especially if agents are empowered to offers small discounts as part of the process.

Clearly, your property’s online success also depends on many other factors beyond just the specific booking engine: low traffic, poor search engine optimization, lack of brand recognition or subpar revenue management will be equally detrimental. The most important concept however (a new website mantra!) is this – you have direct control over your website and booking engine so if it’s not working, fix it! Rededicate your website to the purpose of not just driving sales or increiasing leads, but creating revenue. Help your booking engine contribute to your bottom line, rather than ruin it.

I’d love to get your feedback. What works for your company? What doesn’t? Have questions? Need advice. Email me at rob@bookt.com and let’s chat. Maybe I could even include your comments and ideas in my next article – coming soon!

This article first was published online on HotelExecutive.com

The Upside and Pitfalls of User Reviews on Your Own Website

rob@bookt.com

The Upside and Pitfalls of User Reviews on Your Own Website

By Rob Käll, Bookt

Online travel reviews are nothing new; they have existed in one way or another for over 10 years and many of the most popular travel sites allow users to post reviews. In fact, sites without user reviews may become less common over the next few years, as consumers rely more heavily on others’ experiences before making a decision.

So here is a question for you: if you are not displaying your customers’ experiences on your property’s site, what’s holding you back? I know, you’re probably thinking: ‘but what if I have a bad review on my site?’ and it’s a valid concern because at some point, no matter how good your hotel is, someone somewhere will have something negative to say. You can’t be all things to everyone all of the time. Let’s explain and analyze the pros and cons of posting consumers’ reviews of your property on your own website.

Why are Reviews Popular?

We humans are social beings and our behavior is, to a very large extent, influenced by other people’s actions and opinions. We also want to make an impact in some way and be influencers of others’ actions, so it makes perfect sense that we would spend time writing reviews – and especially if our experience has drawn out passionately positive or negative feelings. According to Market Metrix Hospitality Index, approximately 10% of hotel guests post reviews about their experiences. For some, it is a way to vent about their less than stellar experience at a property. For others, it’s a way to spread the word of a special experience. Either way, these reviews provide important information that potential guests will trust and value, and of course, influence their booking decisions.

The Transparency Revolution
Transparency and accountability - you hear those words everywhere and through the miracle of today’s technology, transparent information is more available than ever. That said, in the eyes of consumers, not being transparent can equate to being shady and unresponsive. You know that saying ‘honesty pays’? In the case of online reviews, this is very true. Being upfront and honest translates to more trust and eventually more sales.

The Upside

Since reviews – especially ones with dates, names and those that do not look filtered or edited - can help establish credibility with potential customers. Having them on your site can be very beneficial. If most traveler reviews indicate good experiences, a potential booker will assume that he or she will enjoy a positive experience too.

Regardless of whether you are a large hotel or hotel chain, an independent boutique hotel, or a vacation rental property, you can benefit from posting guest’s comments. Showing a list of customer reviews that are overwhelmingly (but not exclusively) positive will truly reinforce the trust factor. Just think, if you can reinforce the trust factor on your own website, where your offering is the only one available, the user may not bother to check any other review sites, where he or she is bound to be bombarded with many competing offers.

What about the Pitfalls?

The most obvious pitfall is having more than the occasional negative comment about your property in plain sight for potential customers to see. If you are seeing negative reviews on a regular basis (or if you are seeing many of the same complaints over and over), you should get to work on improving service by addressing each of the concerns.

The Inevitable Bad Review

Even if you do have mostly positive reviews, sooner or later you will see a bad review come in. What should you do? Delete it? If it contains inappropriate language or complete fabrications, you should. After all this is your site and you are responsible for its content and accuracy. But if there are one or two complaints in an otherwise positive review, respond to them and post your response just under the review. Make it personal and outline your version of the incident or respond to specific issues and how they were addressed. Be sure to thank your negative reviewers for their valuable input and consider inviting them back with an incentive to show that you really do walk the walk.

So while no one likes to be told that they are not perfect, negative reviews can actually work in your favor. Your response will show that you are customer-service driven and accountable. These types of responses (if not too frequent) can actually help you build credibility and show that you care about your customers’ happiness and satisfaction.

How It Can Be Done

If you do not want to implement your own review management system, you can actually bring in reviews from popular travel review sites like TripAdvisor.com (be sure to check specific terms and copyright first) through something called an RSS feed (Really Simple Syndication - which isn’t as simple as you may expect because “what is RSS” is a very common Google query). An RSS feed can be embedded into your site and will automatically refresh as new reviews are posted. Ask your website solutions company to set up your own review management system or RSS feed on your site. If you have questions, feel free to contact us at Bookt.

As a hotelier, it is in your interest to encourage the vast majority of guests who had a great stay at your property to write a review. That can be done in many ways. One of my favorite tactics is a short message on the room key folder that suggests they write a review. To incentivize further, promise a small gift, like 5% off their next stay or free parking next time they visit if they send an email to you with a link to their review.

Tap the Social Business Intelligence

Social networks like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are increasingly important tools for the hospitality industry and the information that can be aggregated from them can be used for serious business purposes. Case in point, tracking average rating scores on a monthly basis from multiple review sites (tools that use the RSS feeds mentioned earlier exist) can illustrate important trends in your property’s customer operations. Reward your team for increasing scores, and demand improvement if the scores fall off. Empower your team to be a bigger part of the hotel and its success.

Evaluation Necessary

After adding reviews, it’s important to keep track of your site’s metrics and track the data internally. Make sure to track online booking conversion and abandon rates before and after the change. If you feel that reviews posted are primarily promoting your property and brand, keep up the good work. If they improve with time (which we frequently find), you are on to something. If not, remove the reviews and try something else because the most important thing about marketing – on or offline - is to always be thinking strategically and moving forwards.

Remember that online reviews are part of the constantly moving target of increasing traffic, increasing conversions and increasing bookings.

This article was originally published on HotelExecutive.com

Century South Beach Hotel's Online Booking Conversions Increase a Whopping 185%

The Century South Beach Hotel's former site needed a make-over front to back. Bookt designed a fully optimized website with an emotionally appealing design, new booking engine and tracking and management system. In its first month with the new site, The Century enjoyed significant increases in total online booking conversions, direct online bookings, total number of pages viewed per session and total pages viewed per session.

How did we do it? Keep it simple and follow the big guys. Expedia & Hotels.com offer uncomplicated websites and seamless booking engines with a secure credit card information stage. Hotel websites should be no different. Booking engines with pop-ups or iFrames confuse the would-be-booker and should be avoided. The new Century’s booking engine stays within their URL and offers a safe and comfortable environment in which to book. Century Proprietor, West Tucker, commented, “Several customers have mentioned that the [Century] online booking process has been streamlined to mimic that of the larger online booking sites. The interface is friendly, the results clear, and the message online is consistent.”

Online success begins with visibility on the organic searches. The Century’s original SEO program was less than optimal. The site now ranks well for natural keywords related to the hotel’s specialty, destination and common travel related terms, an improvement that may offer the highest ROI for a lodging website. SEO reports generated and reviewed on a monthly basis outline improvements that have been made and where opportunism to do better may still exist. This is where the hotel, with minimal effort, can take their property from good to great.

Transparency is a must. The Century site offers complete information on room sizes and categories as well as area attractions and proximity to hotel, accessible in one or two clicks. Automatic currency and measurement conversions make it easy for the international visitor and a TripAdvisor feed touts the hotel’s high customer satisfaction rate.

Lead capture information is one of the most important tools available in increasing online booking conversions. If the visitor abandons the booking process before the credit card stage or has a question before booking, the system automatically supplies the hotel with follow up information and the tools to respond. The Century was able to take their impressive 24% in direct online bookings to an even more impressive 185% total online booking conversions by using the lead capture and respond tool proprietary to the Bookt solution.

Additional key statistics include a 37% increase in total pages viewed and a 24% increase in pages viewed per session. These results are expected to improve further as full search engine optimization results show after a period of 2 to 3 months.

Today’s traveler is savvy and does their homework. If a lodging provider has a well-designed site with relevant information at one’s fingertips, immediate calls to action to book, and an uncomplicated booking process, increased bookings within as short as one month’s time are only a click, or two, away.

For the full Case Study, click here.

Great Ideas in the Vacation Rental Industry may need “Infrastructure” and Collaboration

While your friends at Bookt are not the center of the universe, we are at the center of a universe and talk to Vacation Rental Managers everyday who have terrific ideas.

And, while all of these entrepreneurs can certainly go-it-alone, sometimes these visionaries could benefit from a collaboration with another thought leader to make their BIG idea really fly!

At Bookt, each and every conversation we have about a BIG idea is confidential. We do not tell others about your “secret sauce” or tell you about theirs. Everybody’s intellectual property is protected and secrets are maintained. It is, after all, all about trust.

The specific purpose of this article is about collaboration of ideas – where 1 + 1 = 3, 4 or 5.

Bookt is well-positioned to make introductions for this express need and purpose, especially when we see that infrastructure needs and ideas intertwine.

Are you open to exploring a collaboration opportunity with another thought leader in the vacation rental arena? Would your BIG idea be better if missing pieces and resources could be integrated to save you time and money?

If you answer "yes" to the above, please call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com and we will make the introductions and, if all makes sense, get you hooked-up.

The Vacation Rental Industry is consolidating & increasing its sphere of influence in Leisure Travel. BIG ideas abound. No one has all the answers so…

…There has never been a better time to Get Hookt & Get Bookt!

Another Vacation Rental Manager's Dream

joel@bookt.com

Vacation Rental News – Good and Bad!

joel@bookt.com

First the good news:

Beautiful-Places.com is the first vacation rental company to ever receive a Travel Weekly Magellan Award. BRAVO! This opens the door to Vacation Rental Industry Recognition and Standards (they say in the article - click here.)

Now the bad news:

'Nigerian fraud' hits vacation rental firm – read the article here in the Newburyport Daily News, my hometown paper.

The Vacation Rental Industry is gaining strength, power and huge popularity. That fact will attract the good like Beautiful-Places.com as well as the bad/ugly like the scammers in the second article.

As a professional Vacation Rental Manager, you may want to blog about or publish these Fraud Prevention Tips on your website:

> Pay with a credit card > Avoid wire transfers and money orders > Speak to the owners or managers on the phone if suspicous > Ask for references if suspicious > Request the street address of the property > Ask where else the property is advertised and for how long > Never give out personal financial information

Want to chat about both the good and bad news?

Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com.

There has never been a better time to Get Bookt!

Vacation Rental or Hotel Room in Rome?

joel@bookt.com

Next September, my wife and I plan to go back to Italy. This trip, we will spend the first four to five days in Rome before jumping into our rentacar and driving south to Sorrento for 2 days. After the Amalfi Coast, we will take two more days and drive up Italy’s scenic East (Adriatic) Coast all the way to the top-right, northeast Italy on the Austria and Slovenia border – to our ultimate destination - Friuli, where my wife’s family is from. We will stay in Friuli to visit and EAT with family for about six days and then drive 4 hours west, over to Milan for the direct flight back to Miami.

While it is a year away, for big trips like this I like to do a lot of deep planning. And I like to be planning at exactly a year out so I can see the “now” and think about the “then”. For example, the weather now is perfect in Friuli and in the South. Also, we want to avoid Venice because the Film Festival – the oldest in the world – is happening now and will be happening then – next year at this time. By doing my research in this mirroring fashion, I get to see in real time what is going on now and look to see if it will be going on then.

What I cannot seem to do right now is see on Orbitz.com what a hotel room would cost in Rome because they only go out 11 Months in advance.

However, I can absolutely do this now on Holiday-Velvet.com and find terrific apartment rentals all over Rome and the rest of Europe. You CAN search a year out for a Vacation Rental in Rome on Holiday-Velvet. I am thinking of this Blog article as the 1st in a series where I will share my experience of researching then booking then going to Italy, at this time next year. What I see so far is that a Vacation Rental seems much more economical in Rome compared to what it appears a hotel costs. While I cannot be certain due to the inability to look out 12 months on Orbitz, it seems that a comparable Rome Vacation Rental will save us at least $150 a day in lodging and dining cost. That $150 in daily savings will pay for the entire car rental cost for the whole trip! Very cool Holiday-Velvet! Bravo! Affare fatto! (It's a deal!) That's it for today. I will pick this up another in real time day soon when I have more time to research. Arrivederci!

Site Score for Vacation Rental Managers

joel@bookt.com

Answer these 10 questions and get an instant online effectiveness score for your Vacation Rental Website.

Vacation Rental Website Design & SEO 1) Does your website design promote a strong emotional reason to visit your destination? 2) Has your site been search engine optimized (SEO) and does every property you manage have its own page?

Vacation Rental Website Searching & Booking 3) Do you have a property/room availability quick search form on the home page of your site? 4) Does a consumer see rates and availability in one or two clicks from the home page of your site? 5) Is your booking engine appearing as a frame or a popup with a different look than the rest of your site? 6) Is your site catering to an international audience with automatic translation of units and currencies?

Vacation Rental Website Tracking & Control 7) Can and do you) track these 3 important metrics on your site: Monthly Visitors, Avg. Page views/Session & Website Bounce Rate? 8) Do you know which lead source a booking comes from and can you run reports that show your marketing ROI? 9) Are you in control of the content on your website and can you easily make changes yourself?

Vacation Rental Website Connectivity 10) Does your website automatically synchronize its content with your reservation system and any other portals you use to promote your properties? Take the FREE Quiz Here NOW! Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com.

There has never been a better time to see exactly where your Vacation Rental Website stands and to Get Bookt!

(Travel) Consumers Want Deals Now!

joel@bookt.com

In an article published today in the online version of Smart Money entitled 5 Kinds of Stores Discounting Deeply - AnnaMaria Andriotis says that Summer has just started, but retailers are already feeling the heat. Clothiers, restaurants and other vendors are wilting -- and cutting prices -- as they struggle to cope with a slowdown in consumer spending. The upshot for customers is a slew of deals across a variety of sectors.

Here are the five retail sectors that have been hit the hardest and are offering incentives to consumers to come in and spend money now:

1. Car Dealers

2. Home Furnishings

3. Apparel

4. Electronics

5. Full-Service Restaurants

Are you acting now to provide specials and deals to vacation travel shoppers? If Kohl's, Macy's, Chrysler, Target, Dell and Applebee's can do it, so can you! Would you like a sounding board on Vacation Rental Deals that work? What is successful and what will drive travel shoppers to your brand? Please call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or reach out via email to joel@bookt.com today. Ask me about Bookt's Summer Specials! There has never been a better time to Get Bookt!

Promo Calendar for Vacation Rental Managers

joel@bookt.com

A “Promo” or Promotion Calendar is a tool. A tool that identifies in advance your marketing events, media & pr campaigns and your merchandising efforts throughout the year. A document that visually displays when and where these events are happening AND a place to put your ongoing results in real time.

Also known as a Marketing Calendar (or Merchandising Calendar in the Retail world) – savvy professional Vacation Rental Managers should create one of these Calendars as part of your marketing strategy for your business as a whole and individual units to both keep track of what is going on and to be able to quickly see where you should turn your attention next.

NOTE: While the Marketing Calendar is definitely a “thing” – meaning a piece of paper that you can hold in your hand, see it more as an Activity-Plan-Of-Action. It is not just the planner – it's the PLAN!

Will creating and living a Vacation Rental Marketing Calendar take time and resources? You bet. Proper planning and execution does take time but it also produces benefits. If done well and consistently, a Marketing Calendar can increase your overall rental revenue and occupancy as well as improve your Vacation Rental marketing campaigns moving forward, especially the same ones for next year!

How-To

The focus of planning your calendar and activities is to first, take full advantage of all the holidays and special events in your local area throughout the year. Next, to exploit and leverage both internal and external global events. And finally, fill-in with unique events that fit your vacation rental business’s needs or the needs of your individual property units. (For example, a large ocean front beach home, great for weddings or family reunions, has different needs and a different calendar than a plain vanilla two-bedroom condo on the Golf Course.)

Step 1: Go out and buy a BIG calendar, the year-at-a-glance type. Or buy a software program that allows you to set-up and see your calendar in this way. The key thing here is to use the year-at-a-glance format so you can get the overall, integrated picture.

Step 2: What should you consider putting on your calendar? Start with all the holidays and special events in your local area, add in internal and external global events, and then get creative with unique events to fill-in.

The Holidays: You would be shocked at how many businesses in general fail to take into account the impact of holiday seasons on their business. In the vacation rental world, we always consider the big holidays, but don't underrate the significance of some of the smaller holidays, including religious holidays. TIP: Remember – every holiday is an opportunity for somebody to give somebody else a vacation, even a vacation to be taken later. Do you email your past clients in late October or early November regarding a Family Gift they can give at Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan or Kwanzaa? Like a terrific week in one of your wonderful Vacation Homes! They can gift it at Xmas for the following summer. Don’t forget to add in an incentive like a free family pass to a local attraction. Less than obvious is to create, for example, a special Valentine’s Gift Offer – a box of chocolates with a Long Romantic Weekend Coupon to be booked at a time of the recipients choosing! Get creative and have fun with holidays!

Internal and External Events: Think about what is happening in and around your vacation rental company that might impact your overall marketing and advertising strategy. Company holiday New Property coming on board Launch of a new product or service Company or Property birthday/anniversary Your Owner-Contracting cycle A new Mall or Shopping Venue opening in your area A new Attraction pening in your area Major Tradeshows you attend

There's lots going on in the world that could impact your business. Major elections Major sporting events Major TV events (e.g. academy awards) Local community or city celebrations and events Local expos and social activities Seasonal cycles Tax season Summer vacation Winter vacation School holidays

Can your suppliers help?? I think yes! How about working with your Travel Insurance provider on a special Secure Travel Event/Month or Program. They may have some advertising dollars in their budget as well! Ask and you may receive!

Step 3: You need to track your results. By doing this, you can discover what is working, what you need to work harder on, and what you need to stop spending time on. Also, you can and should use your marketing calendar for virtually all of your marketing efforts. It's more than just holiday and special event planning. Every week & month, the calendar can keep you focused on your regular and consistent marketing activity. Why not use it to tell you when you plan to blog, submit articles to local publications, give live presentations, attend important networking groups, send out another direct mail piece, etc.?

Want some help creating your first calendar? Want to chat about taking your current calendar to the next level? Would you like to see how the Control Panel and CRM in the Bookt Platform makes life easy for the savvy Vacation Rental Manager?

Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com.

There has never been a better time to create and live a Marketing-Promotional-Merchandising Calendar to Get Bookt!

Vacation Rental Managers: Social Media Trends

joel@bookt.com

Each and every week the Bookt team gives free, interactive “How-To” coaching Webinars via GoToMeeting with savvy Vacation Rental Managers. One of our most popular “How-To” sessions is on Blogging and other Social Media – a Webinar we did three different times just last week in both individual and group sessions.

This morning I realized that while we are experts @ coaching the “How-To” – sometimes I forget to mention the “Why-To” – equally important to cover, and I will do a better job of this moving forward.

Vacation Rental Managers need to not only blog and tweet, but also consider advertising in the emerging Social Media outlets. Why-To???

Gordon Borrell leads a research and consulting firm that tracks local advertising and helps media companies develop executive strategies. Their focus is interactive advertising and marketing and their primary strength is fact-based analysis. I love their slogan – says it all: Tomorrow's Media, Understood Today.

Earlier this summer, Gordon wrote a blog post that caught my attention, called Local Ads Moving to Social Networks. Basically they did an assessment of advertising placed on social networking sites and found that nearly 20% of all ad spending is by local businesses. They had assumed going into their research that commercials on social networks were almost purely national. The results – that local advertisers will account for about $641 million of nearly $3.3 billion spent on social networking sites this year trying to reach consumers.

Know this: That $641 million is just a small number – accounting for less than 3% of all locally spent online advertising. Most important to know is that nearly 60% of all that local social-networking advertising is going to two sites, Facebook and MySpace. They are the only two sites generating more than $100 million from local ad placement, w/ much of it in Google or Yahoo’s contextual placement program. And keep an eye on Facebook. It is the biggest share-getter. In fact, 74% of its ad revenues are from local businesses.

Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com if you would like to chat about Social Media – either the “How-To” or “Why-To”. Or consider attending one of our upcoming free Webinars on the subject. Would love to see you there!

The bottom line is this…

There has never been a better time to understand Social Media and exploit it and Get Bookt! @ 800-941-0868 x 934 or joel@bookt.com.

News for Vacation Rental Managers

joel@bookt.com

At least once a week I take the time to look at news that affects our industry. For example, I learned something important from all of the articles I scanned today, including these three I saw this morning:

1. Secure America Acquisition Corp., formed to invest in the homeland security arena, has decided that a luxury vacation is a better game plan.

2. Wii Sports Resort Mobile Tour Offers Virtual Vacations at Minnesota State Fair

3. Workers Taking Fewer Vacations In Struggling Economy Virtual vacations? What’s the fun in that???? Perhaps this would be good for the folks in story #3, I guess.

If you have the time, "Google" the search term Vacation Rental and then click the "News" Tab and this is what you find. In addition to the "Sponsored Links" there are some pretty interesting stories. My favorite was the Top reasons to stay at a vacation rental. But I would like that one BEST, wouldn't I!

Reading the news for our Vacation Rental Industry from time-to-time keeps me abreast of some of the regional opportunities and problems as well as the trends and ways to stand out online for both Bookt and our clients. If you run across an interesting article or vacation rental-oriented blog post, please send it my way. Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com to get me and Get Bookt! Please and Thank You!

Kate Rice, Executive Editor of TravelPulse.com

joel@bookt.com

On July 1st of this year, Kate Rice published an amazing editorial on vacation rentals called: The Untapped Vacation Rental Market

A MUST READ!!!

While I am sure you will enjoy the article, it is Kate’s perspective that I think is most interesting to think about. We spoke on the telephone yesterday after trying to connect for over 2 months.

Where Kate is coming from is the perspective of the Travel Agent. TravelPulse.com and many of the other great publications in Kate’s domain – like www.vacationagentmagazine.com and the very popular www.agentathome.com – are focused on today's savvy Travel Agent community. And it would serve the vacation rental industry to pay attention to these travel advisors and their sphere of major influence on vacation travel shoppers.

YES – there are ways for Vacation Rentals Managers and Travel Agents to cooperate and help insure a great vacation for our joint clients. In addition to delivering their clients terrific properties with wonderful service and amenities, the incentive for a Travel Agent is a commission. Do you offer that commission to a Travel Agent who helps their client book your Playa del Carmen Beach Condo or Ski-In, Ski-Out at Keystone?? Your Vegas Villa? Your Paris pied-à-terre?

Please call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com to learn more about how to truly connect with the Travel Agent’s world and sphere of influence and Get Bookt!

As Kate concludes in her article... In the end, the vacation rental market is the perfect niche for travel agents willing to develop expertise in an area and charge fees for helping clients book a complex product. I heartily AGREE!

Thank you Kate! We appreciate your support to bring our two travel services provider groups together. Bravo Kate Rice! B-R-A-V-O!

Vacation Rental Managers: Networking Works

joel@bookt.com

I am not sure that networking is required to be a success in the Vacation Rental Industry, but I personally feel that it helps. Savvy networking works for many and can definitely work for you too!

Are you networking? Are you either physically or virtually getting out there and making yourself known? Are you sharing what you have and what you do and at the same time learning more about what others have and do?? Yes – it needs to be a two way street because your networking contacts will not be happy if you are only involved for your own personal benefit.

With effective networking in place you can definitely give your business more credibility. For example I belong to a number of networking groups within the Vacation Rental industry. Through LinkedIn alone I belong to 12 such groups - Click here to see my LinkedIn Page. LinkedIn has 29 "Groups" that may be of interest to professional Vacation Rental Managers. Are you networking with like-minded professionals on a weekly basis? It is often more convenient to network online than it is in person because online you can be exposed to volumes of people at any time of the day or the night. You also do not have to worry about being nervous or what you look like as you would if you were in person. I also like the camaraderie of in-person networking events. Are there business events in your town that would make sense for you to attend? Vacation Rental Managers would probably fit right in at any civic event and scenario as we have a great and needed product and EVERYONE knows someone or many people looking for lodging in their/your city. Tourism helps make your city great! The Vacation Rental business and YOU are a major force in Tourism throughout the country. Stand tall and proud! Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com to start your networking with me today to Get Bookt!

Vacation Rental Managers: Shoulder Season?

joel@bookt.com

If you have ever purchased a big, big, big bag of candy the day after Halloween or a Honey Baked Ham the day after Easter, then you've “experienced” the motivation and thrill vacation shoppers feel when buying a vacation during Shoulder Season.

Same exact delicious mouthwatering ham BUT priced at about half or lower than it was the day before.

Not expensive High Season. Not cheap and miserable Low Season. But “just-right” – almost perfect, still great weather, swim-in-the-lake, no hurricanes, smaller crowds, save-me-money, good old predictable Shoulder Season.

When is your Shoulder? What sort of vacation-travel-shopper does your Shoulder make the best sense for? How are you marketing this terrific time of the year? Are your local competitors also exploiting or is this an advantage you can stake out for yourself?? And remember, it's always shoulder season somewhere.

Let's connect today and put both our shoulders to the grindstone. Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com to start target marketing your Shoulder & Get Bookt!

Labor Day Vacation Rental Specials in...

joel@bookt.com

Labor Day Weekend starts in four (4) days for me, possibly sooner for you and your vacation-rental-shoppers.

Have you put together a “special offer” yet? Is it working? Does it need to be fine-tuned in real time?

What are your competitors doing for special deals this Labor Day? Do you have a log for each holiday by local competitor to make it easier to remember and for planning purposes, for next year?

Have you blogged about your “special offer” and used great Keyword-content? Have you put the offer out there on Twitter?

What are hotels in your area doing?

What events are planned in your local community for this Labor Day Weekend?

You have worked hard all Summer and Team Bookt hopes your Labor Day is Bookt Solid!

If you want to chat about any/all of the ideas above and take a Labor-savings walk through the Deal-management tools in our Control panel, call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com.

There has never been a better time to Get Booked & Get Bookt!

Bullish on Bookt for Vacation Rental Managers

joel@bookt.com

I am not a perfect salesman but I have found success by carefully honing my skills and presentation-style to resonate with a particular target’s personality, my perception of their needs, and how best to push them past the goal line of a closed sale.

While I often think I know exactly what to do and who to be “in the moment” and it is hard to put that “stuff” into words as it is more embedded inside me, I can assure you all that I do not tell prospects what he/she wants to hear or misrepresent what Bookt has or what we can do. When and if I ever misspeak, I correct it fast. If I am not sure, I call the Bookt expert right away and then call the Vacation Rental Manager right back with the right answer.

The above are general statements but are also my specific approach to telling the truth in the moment with a Vacation Rental Manager. BTW – telling the truth in the moment is, itself, an amazing sales technique. 9 times out of 10 the prospect moves farther faster in the sales process right after the truth be told. In 7 out of 10 cases, they are ready to move forward. In 2 out of 10 cases we both know that Bookt is not right for them. Either way – the sales process has moved forward to either a resolution (we cannot help them) or to okay – I can live with that – tell me more.

Another general statement is this: My brand of salesmanship is not BS. My brand of salesmanship is just plain B. B for bullish. Bullish and confident about the power of the Bookt Platform and the power of the Bookt Team. Bullish not bull. I am self-aware, because so many people have told me that why they buy from me as a salesperson …is my confidence. My enthusiasm and my confidence in what we have and what we do.

I am not a perfect salesperson. I am not the best salesman that there is. I try to be the best sales person that I can be and I am comfortable telling someone that our thing may not be right for them. I am also proud to tell a Vacation Rental Manager when our thing is perfectly right for them and will help them fix what’s broken in their process and take them farther faster in their business. Are you a Vacation Rental Manager who wants Bullish not Bull? Who wants to hear the truth in the moment? Good or bad??? Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com. There has never been a better time to get bullish and Get Bookt!

I had a Dream...

joel@bookt.com

Today is my birthday. Perhaps that is why I had this amazing technicolor dream last night and was rewarded with a vision of the world - the way it should be. No. I'm not talking about World Peace. That would be cool, too, of course. But that wasn't my dream. I dreamt that I was on "vakay" - that's what we called vacation back in Newburyport. Anyway, I was on vakay and I was sitting at my computer as usual and opened up a fresh browser window and... - the world had changed. For the better. I saw the whole world like my world. And everyone was connected to it. And everyone was happy. Especially me. Below is what I saw... CLEAR as day! Click the image below to see what I saw - then click the back-button to read the rest of this post, below the picture... Happy Birthday to ME! If you received an email about this "vision" you are either a client or a friend. We may already be working together or hopefully will be soon. Very soon - I HOPE! Together, making the world All Vacation Rentals - All the Time!! While I will be on "vakay" after my 11 AM Eastern / 9 AM Central time meeting this morning, if you wish to give me a jingle to "seal our deal" I will be accepting your call. :) Thank you for your business and your friendship. Have a terrific August 29th. I know I will. Talk soon... JF

Vacation Rental Managers: Learn From Hotels

joel@bookt.com

Are you a Vacation Rental Manager competing head-to-head with hotels in your market area?

You may want to take a peek at an iPerceptions Hospitality Industry Report Q2 2009 just released.

As the linked 4Hoteliers article states, this report analyzes real-time feedback from more than 123,000 visitors on hundreds of hospitality sites to identify the most important issues and trends facing the online hospitality industry as it strives to improve bookings, customer satisfaction and loyalty.

The report gives hospitality marketers and site operators intelligence that can be used to optimize the online experience.

To read the full report, please follow the link below: www.iperceptions.com/en/resourcecenter/download/file_id/147

Bottom line? Problems travel shoppers face with hotels are very much opportunities for Vacation Rental Managers with Booking/Reservations and Navigation/Technical superiority – like we deliver at Bookt. ;)

Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com.

There has never been a better time to improve your Booking Engine and Technology to Get Bookt!

Vacation Rental Managers: Learn From Hotels

joel@bookt.com

Are you a Vacation Rental Manager competing head-to-head with hotels in your market area?

You may want to take a peek at an iPerceptions Hospitality Industry Report Q2 2009 just released.

The report gives hospitality marketers and site operators intelligence that can be used to optimize the online experience.

To read the full report, please follow the link below:
www.iperceptions.com/en/resourcecenter/download/file_id/147

Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com.

There has never been a better time to improve your Booking Engine and Technology to Get Bookt!

Special Packages for Vacation Rental Managers

joel@bookt.com

I am not often impressed with how hotels “package” their rooms and locations. Yesterday I was impressed after a simple click-through on a Hyatt Flash Ad on Yahoo!

I was impressed by its simplicity. A great offer at a great price at a great location. What could be simpler than that. And the rotating pictures absolutely resonated with my internal “I want to be there” button. Bravo Hyatt!

Resonating images and a good deal. We can learn a lot from this in the Vacation Rental community.

Are you using resonating images? Do you offer a good deal?

In my humble opinion, you should be. On both counts.

Travel consumers want to “taste, see and smell” your difference. Vacation shoppers want to feel attracted to your destination and to simply see themselves in your images. AND, they are looking for something special. Special price, amenity, attraction or activity. Something special to seal the deal. Something that simply makes them stop searching and click-through to book online with you.

Simply call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com.

There has never been a better time to simply Get Bookt!

Bookt Loves Nova Scotia!

joel@bookt.com

Dear R & K:

Sometimes the medium is the message. It is decision-time for you as you evaluate the strengths and weakness of the two approaches you are considering. I must admit that I am partial to one candidate that you might decide to hire for the “job” at hand. It’s a BIG job and an important decision. Here are my thoughts…

Hiring a Bookt Site is the BEST and most PERFECT Sales Rep you will ever employ. While "best" and "perfect" are STRONG words, I stand by them. Here are 22 résumé facts – you be the judge.

Your Bookt Sales Representative… 1. Is eternally vigilant and proactive, serves your owners and vacation travel shoppers 24/7/365. Never calls in sick or leaves early or takes a coffee break. 2. Speaks a multitude of foreign languages and delivers price, local weather, calendar and distances to local attractions in the native tongue of your visitors - automatically. 3. Is beautiful and classy – a pleasure to look at and work with. Is “empathetic” with each customer individually and gives each person a unique and custom experience of your online store. 4. Communicates testimonials and client-reviews of your individual properties in real-time AND at the exact moment this info is needed to help close the sale. 5. Is 100% consistent, especially when it comes to managing, converting and incubating travel shopper leads. 6. Delivers price and availability info on your properties without distraction – forming a meaningful “trust” bond with your prospects so they do not leave your store and go somewhere else. 7. Is plugged-in to your Reservation system and constantly knows the right price and availability of all of your units. 8. Is plugged-in to your QuickBooks making accounting/transactions a breeze. 9. Is the easiest to manage rep you’ve ever had – automatically and immediately alerts you to sales, leads, questions and problems. 10. Is the fastest/most consistent employee you’ve ever seen – automatically and immediately confirms, emails, updates and communicates with your prospects 24/7/365. 11. Is free! Just kidding, but is a cost-effective, already trained and proven employee ... producing more revenue than any comparable employee (or web solution). 12. Is a Search Engine expert! Meets and welcomes your targets on Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc., ushering them into your store to the precise product display counter they are looking for. 13. Can “wait on” dozens of clients simultaneously, all the while in discrete telepathy with your other employees, systems and rulebook. 14. Has all the answers to all the questions at her fingertips, or knows how to get them while making the client happy and comfy. 15. Is always subtly and ingeniously “pushing” your targets to book your cottages. Makes them feel warm, safe and secure, and "trust" giving you their money. 16. Imitates “salespeople” they are already comfortable with like Orbitz, Hotels.com and Expedia. 17. Simultaneously talking to your Owners, keeping them in the loop 24/7/365. 18. Is simultaneously telling your story, bragging and blogging about you and your attractions, specials and local events in other stores. 19. Is simultaneously tracking and reporting back to you where your targets are coming from and who is referring them to you. 20. Is simultaneously giving precise directions to where you are located and where the shopping, beaches, antique shops, stores, restaurants and other attractions are located. 21. Mentors you on online marketing strategies and tactics to help insure your ongoing online success. 22. Loves Nova Scotia – just like you!

As stated, I am biased and know this Sales Representative will serve you well and make you proud.

R and K - the medium is the message and the Experts at Bookt are ready, willing and able to perform on all counts and all measures of Online Success. The Bookt Sales Rep is already a proven winner just waiting to be shaped and cast to your individual and specific needs. To hire or ask additional questions about this savvy and strong candidate, dial 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com.

Bookt loves Nova Scotia! There has never been a better time to Get Bookt!

Vacation Rentals Planet-Wide ... VRF!

joel@bookt.com

This morning my wife and I played one of our favorite Google games. We call it Vacation Rental Fantasy or VRF for short.

Want to play? Open up Google and type in any of your personal fantasy location(s) followed by the words Vacation Rental.

Hang-out near George Clooney? Lake Como Vacation Rental Escape to the South Seas? Tahiti Vacation Rental Going green is your game? Eco Friendly Vacation Rental Like animals? Safari Vacation Rental Want to Thai the knot? Phuket Vacation Rental

Here’s the thing. The world has gotten smaller. You can go anywhere these days. And you can find a Vacation Rental anywhere. By George!!!

AND your Vacation Rental location is a VRF for thousands of people searching online every day. Planet-wide. At Bookt, we even show your listings in a multitude of foreign languages and deliver price, local weather, calendar + distances to local attractions in the language of your website visitors – automatically.

Voglio vacation vicino a George Clooney - was my wife's VRF today.

Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email joel@bookt.com today. There has never been a better time to be a VRF & Get Bookt!

Vacation Rental Managers: “Rent a Bike” Now

joel@bookt.com

I read a Travel-related article yesterday describing a new company called RentaBikeNow.com with the tagline – Go. Ride. Everywhere.

Kind of a nifty idea I think. Makes it easy for you to offer this cool service/amenity to your Guests.

I sent them an email asking if Bookt could seamlessly integrate their bike-rental widget into our platform. More to come on that …but in any case, Vacation Rental Managers can become an Affiliate and share in the rewards as you help your Guests find exactly what they may be looking for (a bike) to actively explore your area and get some exercise while staying in one of your properties.

Sometimes it is the amenity that you provide that gets the attention of the vacation travel shopper. “Go. Play. Everywhere.” is the name of the new firm that owns RentaBikeNow.com and Go-Play-Everywhere kind of sums up what this company may have in mind as they go to more cities and offer more amenities to your target customers.

Looking for Amenities and Widgets to attract more Vacation Rental Shoppers? Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com. There has never been a better time to leverage another company’s great ideas & Get Bookt!

Reputation Management for Vacation Rental Managers

joel@bookt.com

CGM – or consumer generated media (CGM) – is a powerful online force. I would venture to say that every single day, someone somewhere is talking online about you, your company, your units, your competitors, and the vacation-rental industry. Have you ever "Googled" your name, your company, your units, your competitors, and the vacation-rental industry? Try it and see... What is Reputation Management? Just like it sounds, the "actions" of Reputation Management (RM) are managing-directing-controlling your online reputation, standing, status, name, repute and character. Because of CGM, RM is now a required activity for today's savvy Vacation Rental Manager. Required? Really? Yes. Really. In fact, over the last few years companies specializing in Reputation Management have emerged. They break RM down into three parts: 1) Building, 2) Maintaining and 3) Recovering (or Fixing). What is your reputation online? Are people criticizing you and your properties or service? Or are they saying great things about you? WHATEVER the case - you must pay attention to CGM and address the concerns or criticism as well as take advantage of all of the positives floating out there regarding your reputation. Further - there are many best practices to leverage RM - and Bookt can help in either case. Like many online realities today, it's very much about the Search Engines. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) must be part of your plan-of-action in the Vacation Rental space. And, your friends @ Bookt makes it much easier for you to manage-direct-control your reputation online. Critical issue! Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com and we'll walk and talk you through both understanding your current reputation and how to further BUILD it, MAINTAIN it, and FIX it (where necessary). There has never been a better time to manage CGM for RM through SEO & SEM and to Get Bookt!

Notes from "the road" - Naples, Florida

joel@bookt.com

Back home. Back to work. One final reflection on the trip and FVRMA... As reported prior to the meeting, my expectations were these: 1) Great ideas will be discussed and adopted. 2) Problems will be addressed and solutions found. 3) Bookt’s current customers will have new ideas to integrate into the Bookt Platform. 4) We will make multiple sales to new customers. 5) A good time will be had by all.

On a personal level, for Bookt as a company, and for FVRMA as a community - I would have to say that my expectations were definitely met. AND THEN SOME! The Vacation Rental Managers that we talked with were fantastic! The "drill-downs" were revealing and yes - there are solutions to be found, close at hand. These forward-thinking Vacation Rental Managers were truly open to partnerships, collaboration and new ideas. The same holds true for Vendors. They, too, were Open! Open! Open! So now let's collaborate and partner towards combined success! Yes. Let's. Now. Right away. Please note that these words: "partnership" and "collaboration" and "fantastic" are not mere sales chatter or exclamation points with no deep meaning and purpose. They are, rather, what I precisely found in real-time with real people. Over the next couple of days I will reach out to new partners who have needs and projects in the works right now. The time is now for taking savvy and targeted solutions and a business relationship in the "collaboration pipeline" to the next level. One of my biggest take-aways from the meeting was/is Bookt's place in all of this and all the ways that I can personally contribute to the advancement of our common goals. To steal an image from Bookt's President, Rob Käll's keynote speech and presentation, I am ready, willing and able - sitting right here among the clouds...

Would you like to have a personalized discussion on your future and online opportunities in the Vacation Rental arena? Whether you are a VR Manager or a VR Vendor - Bookt is here to collaborate!

Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com now and we can explore how best to move forward together.

There's no better time for VROI, collaboration and to Get Bookt!

Notes from "the road" - FVRMA Conference

joel@bookt.com

The first full day at FVRMA was outstanding! Bravo to Beth Brinkley and her entire team for a truly wonderful program and events!

The Exhibit Hall opened early with Bookt and the other vendors able to connect with Vacation Rental Managers over coffee and continental breakfast. The coffee was especially well received following the Wine Tasting event the night before. :) Thank you!! The general session started with a welcome and some introductions from the always-steady Paul Hayes, FVRMA’s terrific President. Paul is the owner of www.rentkeywest.com and a very involved and dedicated person in our industry. Thank you Paul for all you do on behalf of Florida Vacation Rental Managers!

Doug Kennedy came next with an enthusiastic talk entitled "Contemporary Training Tips For Maximizing Reservations Sales and Hospitality/Guest Service Excellence in a Down Economy" – excellent presentation Doug!

I was never so proud of Bookt’s founder and president Robert Käll on his great and motivating speech on "The First Decade of the 21st Century: What Did We Learn and How Does it Relate to the Vacation Rental Industry". Way to go Rob! Informative and timely! There are many concrete things Vacation Rental Managers can do, especially if we think and act in concert.

After the first two presentations I moved back to the Exhibit Hall for a half-dozen or so deeper meetings with Vacation Rental Managers as well as several conversations with other vendors Bookt is or will be partnering with. While this is the way it should be perhaps, it is striking how supportive FVRMA is regarding the vendor community. The industry is young and there are a myriad of opportunities for Vendors and Managers to help each other move our industry forward. It is the most generous symbiotic relationship I have ever seen in all the fields I have worked in. Both sides join together and help the other grow along the lines of our common purpose and goals. In my humble opinion, this is definitely how it should be in all fields. FVRMA deserves the majority of credit for the hands-on approach to teamwork and team-building. Thank you Paul Hayes and FVRMA!

More to come… tomorrow from home in Naples.

Notes from "the road" - Welcome to Florida!

joel@bookt.com

Welcome to Destin! Home of this year's FVRMA Convention and, at this moment, the remnants of tropical storm Claudette. The drive from Columbus Georgia to Destin yesterday was very easy. Beautiful rural scenery through southern Alabama and into northern Florida. Rolling hills and farms. Very nice drive! As soon as we entered Florida we stopped at the Welcome Center to look around. There were a million brochures for vacation rentals, hotels, activities and events - all very well organized by the various regions of the State. On the way to Destin we stopped at Seaside - a planned community on the Gulf often cited as an example of successful implementation of New Urbanism. Time magazine called it "the most astounding design achievement of its era and, one might hope, the most influential" while others call it a manufactured fantasy. Many scenes of the 1998 film The Truman Show were shot at Seaside. Good movie! Today we have some client meetings and are setting up the Bookt Booth at the convention. We check-in to our Sandestin Resort vacation rental @ around noon. Yes - the tropical storm that passed through was exciting but FVRMA will be even more so. More so to come in the morning! Have a great day!!

Notes from "the road" - Callaway Gardens

joel@bookt.com

I rarely use words like "breathtaking" but in the case of Calloway Gardens, the word applies. Perhaps it is because I am a "flatlander" and live/work in South Florida and am used to palm trees and tropical horticulture, but - Callaway Gardens literally took my breath away. Callaway Gardens is a 13,000 acre resort complex located in Pine Mountain, Georgia, just outside of Columbus. The vacation rental resort draws over 750,000 visitors annually.

History: Callaway Gardens was founded in 1952 by Cason J. and Virginia Hand Callaway to promote and protect native azalea species. Today, it features terrific accomodations and a wide variety of recreational attractions including a large enclosed butterfly habitat, a horticultural exposition known for its wide variety of cultivars and native plants, and an amazing 11 mile bike trail that weaves through the wooded gardens (you can even rent bikes and helmets here). Robin Lake Beach in Callaway Gardens is the world's largest man-made, white sand beach as it stretches a mile around 65 acre Robin Lake. The beach serves as the hub of summer activity and features swimming, sunbathing, miniature golf, table tennis, shuffleboard, volleyball, a fitness trail, paddle boats, concession area, picnic tables, a store, and equipment rentals. Equipment rentals include sailboats, canoes, and motorized Suncats. One great upcoming event is the Sky High hot air balloon festival. I wish I could see that! Later today we are packing up and driving down to Destin for FVRMA. It is great to travel our beautiful country and see the hills and valleys and pine trees and forests so foreign to South Floridians. I will not soon forget the beautiful Calloway Gardens and the terrific vacation rentals in Pine Mountain Georgia! More to come from FVRMA tomorrow...

Notes from "the road" - Columbus, Georgia

joel@bookt.com

Columbus is the third-largest city in Georgia, and the one hundred twentieth-largest city in the United States. I am in Columbus with my wife visiting my niece and her husband and family. We are here for two days on the way to the FVRMA Meeting in Sandestin. This is a beautiful city, ranking number 4 on the 100 Best U.S. Cities to live by Best Life Magazine. Last night we visited with our family and had some terrific Georgia Barbeque at Country's - an amazing and delicious local culinary flavor and treat! Today we are going to Callaway Gardens - a Georgia vacation rental resort with luxury accommodations, family vacations, world-class golf courses, spa packages and weekend getaways. We got up early this morning and visited the Riverwalk - a beautiful City Park system in the downtown area. We are also going over to nearby Alabama to "take the boat out" on a man-made lake - about an hour away. While this is really a working vacation trip, I can already say that Columbus, Georgia is worth the trip! Click the following link to check out their Vacation Rentals and quaint B&B's!! Much more to come...

FVRMA – Expectations “Set” and Good-To-Go

joel@bookt.com

It is just after 4 AM. In about an hour we embark on a road trip which will include the FVRMA Meeting in Sandestin Florida.

During the drive North, I will participate in several business phone calls and a conference call. At around 3 PM I will have a Skype call with a client in Mexico City. And I will respond to emails throughout the day – wherever I am.

It’s good to live in a “connected” world. It’s business as usual today even with a 10 hour drive to Southern Georgia on the schedule.

On Monday, Bookt and other Members of the Florida Vacation Rental Managers Association gather in Sandestin to conference for 3 days about our industry, new technology, new ideas and ongoing issues in need of smart solutions. Bookt’s President, Robert Käll will deliver the Keynote Address – including several Käll-to-Actions! Some people have all the luck when assigned their last names!

I will report via this Blog about my experiences at this meeting. And I have certain expectations which I will share with you now, and report on how they are “met” from the field, in real-time.

My expectations are these: 1) Great ideas will be discussed and adopted. 2) Problems will be addressed and solutions found. 3) Bookt’s current customers will have new ideas to integrate into the Bookt Platform. 4) We will make multiple sales to new customers. 5) A good time will be had by all.

While both general and specific, these are my expectations. I will report on what happens in real-time via this blog.

Time to load up the car and make the sandwiches. We have a “book on tape” (CD) – Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park (a great vacation rental if ever there was one!)

Have a great day! Call me in the car. You know my numbers…

Very best regards,

Joel Fellman Director of Vacation Rental Solutions www.bookt.com

Direct: 305-760-4576 Ext. 934 Toll-Free: 1-800-941-0868 Email: joel@bookt.com Skype: joelfellman LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/joelfellmanbookt Twitter: bookt_solid

“Lead Scoring” for Vacation Rental Managers

joel@bookt.com

Like you, from time-to-time the team at Bookt evaluates the quality of our leads. We know that some lead sources are better than others and we can fine-tune our marketing tactics to prioritize both our time spent and target marketing dollars in order to exploit/leverage both the higher quality leads and better lead sources.

In a nutshell, “Lead Scoring” links a value to each lead based upon weighted criteria. For example, a vacation-shopper who fills out a web form on your Bookt site might have a higher score than someone who emails you with a question. Or, a caller who asks for your Pet Policy may have a higher score than someone who signs-up for your Newsletter. Sometimes the differences in quality are subtle. The BIG opportunity is, by giving a value for each lead (hot/warm/cold in the beginning) your booking agents can better prioritize their lead lists and focus on those opportunities with the greatest potential value.

How do you accomplish this? By creating a perceived “value” system based on analyses of your past experience; it might be as simple as scoring based upon lead source or it may include a variety of factors including rental property of interest, length-of-stay, and time frame. Some of this information might be captured at the time the lead is created or later – and your rental agents can add or verify info so the lead score can/will adjust accordingly over time.

And, once you have a “lead scoring” methodology in place, your sales team can use it to prioritize their activities. In Bookt’s experience, this can make a huge difference in terms of productivity/bookings.

As you become more sophisticated with your “lead scoring” practices, you can move beyond a hot/warm/cold type of rating system to an actual numerical score based on a myriad of factors collected over time. And, as a Vacation Rental Manager, lead scoring also provides you with a way to analyze both the quality of your responses to inquiries and vacation rental agent performance. If all you have is anecdotal info or gut feelings about lead quality, it’s hard to change behavior. With lead scoring you can see by vacation rental agent, what the average score for their converted leads is and the average score for booked reservations. Further, over time, this metric can be built into their compensation and bonus plan.

Would you like to discuss the nuances of “Lead Scoring” for your Vacation Rental business? Would you like to take a peek inside Bookt’s Command & Control Center to see all of the easy-to-use tools that makes your life as a Manager more productive and your sales agents more effective?

Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com and we can chat about “Lead Scoring” and how it can be used to increase your Online Bookings and create opportunities for Online Success!

There's never been a better time to methodically measure the "temperature" of your vacation rental leads and to Get Bookt!

“Demo” Meeting with Vacation Rental Managers

joel@bookt.com

Almost every day, a Vacation Rental Manager (or two) calls or emails to learn more about the functionality and marketing features of the Bookt Platform. One of the principal means we use at Bookt to interconnect with Vacation Rental Managers is an online “demo” appointment via our GoToMeeting web conferencing system.

GoToMeeting is a great advance in “show-and-tell” as it allows for a very interactive and personalized discussion with both parties able to assume control of the screen to drill down on various fundamentals, unique situations and essential discussion points. Each and every “demo” is customized to the needs of a particular client/destination.

Within the meeting, which typically lasts about an hour, each party “interacts” along this general outline:

Interactive Talking Points: > Vacation Rental Manager’s (VRM's) & Company Business Goals > VRM's Current Online Booking & Web Traffic Situation/Objectives > VRM's Target Market Area & Competitive Landscape > Bookt's Experience, Expertise and Leadership –- what it means to VRM's Specific Case & Situation > Bookt’s Marketing & Technology Platform –- what it means to VRM's Specific Case & Situation > Specific Ideas/Best Practices to Build on and Sustain VRM & Co > What a VRM/Bookt Online Success Partnership would look like

Vacation Rental Managers tell us and appreciate that these sessions are very personalized and that we take a very "strategic-thinking" approach and work hard to put ourselves in their shoes as we look at their goals and solutions for their individual business reality.

This approach makes for a very interactive call and each client has his/her own problems and potential solutions to "demo" or demonstrate and instruct upon to us in real-time via GoToMeeting.

Are you a Vacation Rental Manager with your own set of unique problems and opportunities? Can you carve out an hour to discuss your issues and goals in detail with another industry professional?

Would you like a personalized, customized, frank discussion on your online presence/competition in the Vacation Rental & Lodging arena?

Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com and we shall GoToMeeting!

There's never been a better time for Strategic Thinking & Get Bookt!

Marketing For Vacation Rental Managers

joel@bookt.com

The proven Bookt Platform delivers dozens of top-notch marketing-specific features dedicated to your Vacation Rental listings and destination. Are you the person responsible for Marketing at your Vacation Rental company? Would you like to "turbo charge" your Vacation Rental Leads, 24/7/365? If m-a-r-k-e-t-i-n-g is your role and responsibility, then we have lots to talk about...

Booking Engine connected to your Reservation System always knows the right Price and Availability of all of your Units!

Pre-Defined Custom Searches by Amenity, Location, Building, Development = Shoppers find exactly what they seek – fast!

Integrated Maps w/ Precise Directions/Locations of Shopping, Restaurants & Attractions to your Units = Visitor satisfaction!

Deliver Price, Weather and Distances in the “Language” of your Visitors - Automatically. Shoppers “trust” and feel at Home!

Is “Empathetic” w/ Each Customer Individually – Offers Each Visitor a Personalized, Unique Experience. Builds more Trust!

Display Testimonials/Reviews of Each Property and Your Services Exactly When Needed to Close the Sale!

Search Engine Optimization is built into the Platform from the ground up! Get found on Google, MSN & YAHOO – included free!

Free Integrated Blog & Social Media Connectivity to Leverage Web 2.0/3.0 Travel-Shopper Connectivity! The currency of online customer-acquisition is Target Marketing. Bookt's Tools and Technology is cutting-edge and second to none. Let's schedule a "no-pressure" demo meeting via GoToMeeting and talk about your target vacation rental shopper and how to leverage the marketing tools built-in to the Bookt Platform for online success! Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com for a free, no-obligation chat and demo.

There has never been a better time to Get Bookt!

Travel Content/Deals Targeting Consumers – Vacation Rental Managers Must Standout!

joel@bookt.com

Most of the articles in this column discuss online marketing tips, ideas and technology for Vacation Rental Managers.

One consistent theme which pervades my blog articles is that there is enormous competition for the “eyeballs” and dollars of vacation travel consumers and the Vacation Rental Manager must “standout” relative to ALL of them. This morning, for example, I received three different emails in my inbox targeting vacation travel. Many vacation rental shoppers get these targeted offers everyday. The Vacation Rental Manager has to compete and "stand out" above the entire fray and huge noise-level for eyeballs and leisure travel dollars - every day! And, you never know which door (or Window!) your target consumer is going to go through to find the vacation offer that suits their budget and preferences. Let's take a peek at my morning mail...

The first is from AirTran Airways... and they are offering a Free Upgrade on a rental car from Hertz when I book my flight on the AirTran Portal. I like flying AirTran and take part in their Rewards Program to get special offers and earn travel discounts and other freebies. Their "partnership" with Hertz elevates them in my eyes + costs AirTran nada. Everybody wins!

The next one is from the 800 pound gorilla, Orbitz. Each and every week, this Travel giant sends me their so-called Top 10 Deals. These "deals" are both vague and specific and invariably motivate me to "click-through" to one or more of them to learn more. And once "inside" Orbitz, there are many other offers and trips to tempt me. Orbitz is a master of bringing you in the door!

The last one is from Microsoft and isn't a "travel deal" per se.. As you can see, this one is a tie-in to WindowsLive and they want to make it super-easy for me to upload and share my Vacation photos with friends and family. Sending this great offer during travel-season is the "hook". MS is "borrowing the interest" of vacations to sell their stuff. Very smart! Is your inbox filled everyday with travel offers and related material? Many, many vacation rental shoppers get these targeted offers everyday. The Vacation Rental Manager has to compete and "stand out" above the entire fray and huge noise-level for eyeballs and dollars - every day! And again - you never know which door (or Window!) your target consumer is going to go through to find the vacation offer that suits their budget and preferences.

Looking for CRM and automated emailing technology to attract/book more vacation rental shoppers and compete with the Travel giants? Please call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com and we can talk about this and other ideas good-to-go for Vacation Rental Managers, within the Bookt Platform NOW!

There's never been a better time to deliver your message before the competition does. There has never been a better time to Get Bookt!

The BEST and PERFECT Sales Representative for Your Lodging Business

joel@bookt.com

Hiring a Bookt Site is the BEST and most PERFECT Sales Representative you will ever employ. While "best" and "perfect" are BIG words, I stand by them. Here are 22 résumé facts – you be the judge.

Your Bookt Sales Representative…

1. Is eternally vigilant and proactive, serves your owners and vacation travel shoppers 24/7/365. Never calls in sick or leaves early or takes a coffee break.

2. Speaks a multitude of foreign languages and delivers price, local weather and distances to local attractions in the native tongue of your visitors - automatically.

3. Is beautiful and classy – a pleasure to look at and work with. Is “empathetic” with each customer individually and gives each person a unique and custom experience of your store.

4. Communicates testimonials and client-reviews of your individual properties in real-time AND at the exact moment this info is needed to help close the sale.

5. Is 100% consistent, especially when it comes to managing, converting and incubating travel shopper leads.

6. Delivers price and availability info on your properties without distraction – forming a meaningful “trust” bond with your prospects so they do not leave your store and go somewhere else.

7. Is plugged-in to your Reservation system and constantly knows the right price and availability of all of your units.

8. Is plugged-in to your QuickBooks making accounting/transactions a breeze.

9. Is the easiest to manage employee you’ve ever had – automatically and immediately alerts you to sales, leads, questions and problems.

10. Is the fastest/most consistent employee you’ve ever seen – automatically and immediately confirms, emails, updates and communicates with your prospects 24/7/365.

11. Is free! Just kidding, but is an inexpensive, already trained and proven employee costing much less than any comparable employee or (web solution).

12. Is a Search Engine expert! Meets and welcomes your targets on Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc., ushering them into your store to the precise product display counter they are looking for.

13. Can “wait on” dozens of clients simultaneously, all the while in discrete telepathy with your other employees, systems and rulebook.

14. Has all the answers to all the questions at her fingertips, or knows how to get them while making the client happy and comfortable.

15. Is always subtly and ingeniously “pushing” your targets to book your condos, villas, vacation homes, cabins or hotel rooms. Makes them feel warm, safe and secure, and "trust" giving you their money.

16. Imitates “salespeople” they are already comfortable with like Orbitz, Hotels.com and Expedia.

17. Simultaneously is selling your units in other stores and keeps track of what’s what with no double bookings.

18. Simultaneously talking to your Owners, keeping them in the loop 24/7/365.

19. Is simultaneously telling your story, bragging and blogging about you and your attractions, specials and local events in other storefronts.

20. Is simultaneously tracking and reporting back to you where your targets are coming from and who is referring them to you.

21. Is simultaneously giving precise directions to where you are located and where the shopping, golf courses, restaurants and other attractions are located.

22. Mentors you on online marketing strategies and tactics to help insure your ongoing online success.

Would you hire this Sales Representative for your Lodging business? To learn more about this candidate, please call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or reach out via email to joel@bookt.com today. I will send you her resume and let you meet him right away.

Picking Topics For Your Vacation Rental Site Blog Is As Easy As 1-2-3!

joel@bookt.com

By now, everyone agrees that blogging is an excellent way to get out your marketing message in a very user-friendly way. Clearly, the more you blog, the better your results will be. Not only your results in terms of travel-consumers both enjoying and finding useful your targeted content, but also your results in Google, YAHOO, MSN, AOL and the other leading search engines. Blogging is as easy as 1-2-3!

Blog about what you know – what your “sweet spot” is.
Blog about subjects that you feel will resonate with your target audience.
Blog about timely information or events.

Here are some practical Topic ideas (with search-engine-optimized Headlines) that might make great blog articles and might just help get your creative juices flowing:

Success Stories - Headline: Family of Five Say Park City Vacation Rental Delivered the Best Ski Vacation Ever!
New Properties - Headline: PacificaVR Adds Elegant 3 Bedroom Villa to Palm Springs Vacation Property Listings!
Old Properties - Headline: Orlando Vacation Rental Close To Disney Is Great Choice for Economical Vacation
Your Unique Services - Headline: How Rent Key West’s Quality Assurance Checklist Delivers Total Customer Satisfaction!
New Services - Headline: Sign-Up For Free Lake Geneva Newsletter to Learn About Summer Vacation Home Specials!
Your Amenities - Headline: Ski In - Ski Out In Ogden Valley Utah and Spend More Time on the Slopes!
New Restaurants, Shopping Venues and Events in your area - Headline: Nordstrom’s Comes to Naples - Close to Beach Condo Rentals on Spectacular Gulf Coast!
New Staff Members - Headline: Mary Jones Joins Destin Holidays as Vacation Rental Specialists!
And More!

Need help picking your blog topic? Email me today at joel@bookt.com and I will be pleased to help you every step of the way and make blogging about your vacation rental business as easy for you as 1-2-3! Bookt is a comprehensive web services provider to the global vacation rental industry, delivering seamless integration and turn-key web solutions including built-in Blogs. Headquartered in the US, Bookt provides sophisticated website development, online marketing services, search engine optimization and CRM strategies to a wide range of domestic and international clients. For more information visit us online at www.bookt.com. Now get out there and blog, blog, blog!

Hilton Head Island Vacation Rentals @ CLVHHI

joel@bookt.com

Hilton Head Island is 20 miles north of Savannah, GA and 95 miles south of Charleston. It's an exquisite locale with 12 miles of amazing beaches and World Class amenities. HHI is especially known for some of the BEST golfing venues anywhere – so much so, the Island even looks a bit like a sporty golf shoe.

Our Carolina Lowcountry Vacations colleagues offer a wonderful and sophisticated collection of beautiful homes, townhouses and villas on Hilton Head Island. These properties are the perfect place to relax and enjoy the most beautiful island in the Lowcountry. Your vacation rental gives you access to one of the top ten family beaches in the country and offer the ideal place to set up your beach chairs, enjoy the sea breeze, play in the surf or watch the kids build the perfect sandcastle. If you want to experience the call of the ocean, CLVHHI offers fishing, kayaking, parasailing, surfing, wave running, wakeboarding, crabbing, dolphin watching and more. Want more action? In addition to golf, CLVHHI can hook you up with tennis, over 50 miles of bike trails, horseback riding paths, premier shopping and wonderful food – dining “in” or “out”.

Savvy travelers know that planning your trip to Hilton Head involves much more than just booking a unit. Carolina Lowcountry Vacations guest services are client-focused and the CLV Team will take care of all the particulars from golf tee times, court times, water activities, dolphin tours to dinner reservations. You’re on vacation so just tell CLVHHI what you want to do and they will take care of the rest!

Vacation Shoppers have a myriad of choices on Hilton Head Island. Looking for outstanding properties and 5-Star customer service? Contact the team at Carolina Lowcountry Vacations or call toll-free 1.866.957.0522. Ask your host about the Lowcountry Privileges Card and other great Special Offers!

Hello! My Name Is...

joel@bookt.com

Bookt makes Lodging Websites but that is not the product or the service that you get.

The Bookt Team has been online since 2001. We know that our clients are interested in more than a great looking lodging website with blinking lights.

At the upcoming FVRMA conference in Sandestin in mid-August, our name tags in the booth will proudly say for each member of the dynamic Bookt Team…

Online Success! Those are fighting words at Bookt and it comes from the top. Our co-founder and President Rob Käll says it best:

Anyone can put out a website. At Bookt, our whole philosophy revolves around what happens AFTER the website is launched. Lead capture and conversion. Booking ratios. Always increasing search engine traffic. Constant fine-tuning of our client’s online marketing and consistent upgrades to continuously improve the Bookt Platform. Launching websites for Lodging Managers is easy. Making sites that PERFORM and meet the revenue goals of the Lodging Manager, that are easy to manage and deliver what each and every stakeholder in the Vacation Travel Supply Chain is looking for, is the hard part. That’s why we are so focused and passionate about Online Success at Bookt. Online Success is not just our slogan. It’s our purpose.

Please call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com. There has never been a better time to perform online and increase your effectiveness & Get Bookt! Hello! My Name Is ONLINE SUCCESS!

Business Development at Bookt for Vacation Rental Marketplace

joel@bookt.com

Every week it seems we get a new inquiry from a company who has a great idea and wants Bookt’s input and potential participation.

“Input” is easy as we have an amazing Booking Engine and integrated Vacation Rental business platform. While we are absolutely open to “participation” – this is always a more complex issue as Bookt’s approach is to help and support all Vacation Rental companies and ideas.

We actively look for and embrace small “p” partnerships. But, in order to be most effective and promote the needs of the entire Vacation Rental Industry, Bookt has followed the “neutral” path and delivers great solutions that tend to move the VR Market forward without conflicts of interest with our clients and colleagues.

In fact, Bookt’s technology platform was designed and is constantly being fine-tuned to “connect-the-dots” throughout the Vacation Rental supply chain. And once we respond to an inquiry from a forward-thinking company about their idea, here are the questions we ask internally to evaluate our participation:

Questions we answer:

>Can the relationship refer us new clients and help us support current clients? >Does the relationship offer a solution consistent with our platform and w/o cannibalizing our existing business? >Can we power the idea/solution using our platform and is it profitable to develop and run? >Can we resell the “idea” as a new product within our Control Panel and further serve the industry and our clients? >Is the relationship party an industry insider that can elevate our standing in the VR community? >What other strategic and tactical reasons/opportunities does the idea present? >What are the quantifiable aspects of the idea/solution? >Added sales revenue? Time commitment? Legal costs? >Development time? Marketing and production cost and time?

The Bookt team takes small “p” partnerships seriously as we are well aware that our reputation is directly tied to the company we keep. We only partner with like-minded people and companies whom we can grow with, together, and with whom it is profitable as well as enjoyable to work with.

Do you have a forward-thinking idea that will help you and the Vacation Rental Industry succeed?

Bookt may just be able to help you turn your idea into reality. Please call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com. There has never been a better time to be creative in the vacation rental marketplace & Get Bookt!

Bookt and the Vacation Rental "Supply" Chain

joel@bookt.com

They say a picture is worth a thousand words... so this will be my shortest blog posting ever...

The above is Bookt's view of the world. In the hierarchy, Vacation Shoppers/Renters are on top of the inverted Pyramid, Owners are next, then your Staff and You, followed by Bookt supporting all. Bookt meets everyone's needs & dreams; everyone wins. The end.

Online “Empathy” Books and Closes the Vacation Rental Sale

joel@bookt.com

Travel consumers have many choices. The top-notch Vacation Rental Managers we are working with at Bookt are always looking for ways to make their online marketing Stand Out, Inspire and Motivate the vacation shopper to book their properties.

How do you Stand Out, Inspire and Motivate the Online Travel Shopper with so many competitors vying for the same booking? Through empathy. By putting your self and your site in their shoes.

Empathy … Like so: ...Have a website… that meets and welcomes your targets on Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc., ushering them into your online store to the precise pages, properties and amenities they are looking for. ...Have a website… “look and feel” that connects and resonates with your target demographic. If you target families, for example, your site should display families having fun and relaxing in your accommodations and activities. ...Have a website… that automatically recognizes where your shoppers are located and “speaks” a multitude of foreign languages to deliver price, local weather and distances to local attractions in the native tongue of your visitors. ...Have a website… that communicates testimonials and client-reviews of your individual properties in real-time AND at the exact moment this info is needed to help close the sale. ...Have a website… that delivers price and availability info on your properties without distraction – forming a meaningful “trust” bond with your prospects so they do not leave your store and go somewhere else. ...Have a website… with easy online booking so vacation shoppers can book your units – or easily email a question – 24/7/365. ...Have a website… that quickly, consistently and automatically confirms, emails, updates and communicates with your target vacation rental prospects 24/7/365.

Do you “Have a website…” like that? Does your online approach create empathy and fit the shoes of your target audience?

Bookt can help you create empathy with online travel shoppers and help you book and close more vacation rental sales. Please call us today at 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email us at: joel@bookt.com. There has never been a better time to Stand Out, Inspire and Motivate the Online Travel Shopper & Get Bookt!

Treehuggers are Smartbuggers- The Lodging Industry Goes Green

Listen up lodging professionals, do not be intimidated if the only green practice you know of is to choose paper over plastic. And if you don’t know about that one…oh boy, we’ve got some work to do! No worries, I won’t give up on you. We are in this together. I can’t stress enough how easy it is to ‘go green’ at the most basic level for your hotel, inn, resort, b&b or vacation rental. Besides being easy, it’s necessary, as the number of environmentally conscious travelers is growing at a rapid pace. Don’t be left on the sidelines looking green in the face.

Did you know that 44% of U.S. travelers consider environmental impact to be important to them when planning travel? Nearly one third of U.S. travelers would pay premiums, but these savvy consumers are looking for practices that go above and beyond cursory measures (Source: PhoCusWright's Going Green: The Business Impact of Environmental Awareness on Travel, 2009). The movement to go green is here to stay so lets work on getting your property prepared.

First, take it slow but take it seriously. Do not expect to transform your property into a L.E.E.D. certified well-oiled machine on day one. That’s a long-term strategy that requires a decent amount of thought and strategic planning. Do know this- there are L.E.E.D. certified lodging options on the market today and I suspect they will be laughing all the way to the bank when the rest of us are just trying to figure out what L.E.E.D. stands for. Start educating yourself and your staff now and make greening your property a priority with a clear timeline for achievements.

Today, you can implement small details that the guest and the planet will appreciate. In hospitality, it’s all about the details, right? I’m sure you’ve heard about Linen Reuse Programs. Of course, do that. It’s a no-brainer and a detail that won’t go unnoticed. However, below are some green practices and promotion strategies that you may not have heard of which will leave a big impression on your guests and may even earn you some greenbacks in the process.

IN ROOM RECYCLE BIN Place an attractive basket or bin that fits with your room or property décor and attach a printed or handwritten note that says, “We are happy to handle your recyclables for you. Please place them in this basket”. Couldn’t be easier, right? Stay with me…

NON-TOXIC CLEANING PRODUCTS The days when the smell of ammonia & bleach meant the room was clean are over! Use non-toxic cleaning and polishing products, non-chlorine bleach and non-aerosol sprays. Your guests will love the light, fresh scent that doesn’t produce a chemically induced headache. Too expensive you say? I say, no way! Good ol’ baking soda, vinegar, and lemon work wonders. These standbys and environmentally friendly cleaning products are now available in bulk at wholesalers like Costco.

LIGHT BULB SWAP OUT Choose energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs. Although they cost more initially, you save money in the long run as they last up to 10x longer than incandescent bulbs. For fluorescent bulb recycling (they contain mercury and must be properly disposed of), contact the U.S. EPA or equivalent if you live outside of the United States.

EMAIL CONFIRMATIONS, ONLINE BROCHURES Faxing and rack brochures are so 90s. Today’s savvy travelers view a mailed confirmation or paper brochure as tree manslaughter. Travel consumers are surfing the net to make their next lodging decision. Make sure your website, a.k.a. your online brochure, is up to date, eye catching and keeps the viewer on your site without jumping off to find a better place to stay. Send by e-mail reservation confirmations, Thank You Letters, and guest satisfaction surveys. Have a ‘green’ tab clear on your site listing your green initiatives so that eco-friendly travelers know what you offer. SEARCHING CAPABILITIES Make sure, and I cannot stress this enough, that you are searchable on the Internet. Your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy has to be comprehensive and all-inclusive. If your web designer or web hosting company is not well equipped to handle your SEO strategy, contact a company like Bookt to assist. Once you have a working green program in place and staff is trained and ready to deliver, be sure to include search keywords like “eco-friendly hotel” and “green vacation rental”. Be careful here, you’ve got to be able to talk the talk AND walk the walk if you are going to market your property as ‘Green’.

GET CREATIVE, ADD YOUR OWN SPECIAL GREEN TOUCHES Innkeeper James Blunt at the Centerboard Guesthouse in Nantucket, MA offers shade-grown/organic green coffee beans, which they receive in large burlap sacks (which are used to wrap shrubberies during the cold months) and roast fresh in small batches on the premises, eliminating the need to discard coffee containers. Great service, great coffee and less wear and tear on the planet earth. Not bad! Go James!

EDUCATE AND EMPOWER YOUR STAFF TO GO GREEN Even today, many adults think green is just another color on the wheel. That said, take a patient approach with your staff. Chances are many of them have kids who learn about the green movement at school and understand it far better than them. I’ll never forget the look I got from our cleaning person at a hotel I used to work at when I put a box with “Recycle” on it in the break room. Needless to say, the only thing she saw in that box was more work for her. Guess who took the recyclables each week to the drop off? Don’t give up like I did. Today there is momentum behind the green movement and people are more apt to listen and be interested. Hold green team training meetings with your staff. Make it fun and reward them for coming up with more ways to go green.

So go on, hug a tree! Your guests will thank you for it. By reducing your carbon footprint, you will experience more foot traffic to your property and, sorry but I have to use the cliché, make the world a better place. Ahhhhh.

Susie Belanger is the Director of Hotel Solutions at Bookt. She is the first step in a hotel's journey to increased bookings. Susie brings over 10 years of professional hotel, travel & marketing experience. After receiving an MBA in International Business & Marketing from the University of Miami, Susie held Director of Sales & Marketing positions for hotels Circa39 and The Tides in Miami Beach and opened her own events & travel company in 2007. To reach Susie, email susie@bookt.com or call 305.760.4576 x935.

Webinar on Webinars – How To Use Online Meeting Technology to Increase Vacation Lodging Bookings

joel@bookt.com

Bookt has designated August as Webinars Capture Reservations Month and will hold six free 50-minute Online Webinars where you will learn about… • How to leverage longer research-lead-times that travel shoppers employ to investigate a great vacation spot and accommodations • How interactive tactics like Webinars boost lead quality and improve conversion ratios • How group conversations can “sell” and “close” bookings online and differentiate your brand • How Webinars dovetail into your larger Social Media plan-of-action

Each Webinar will cover the same exact topics. Pick a day and time convenient for you and your time zone! Monday, Aug 3rd @ 2 PM Eastern Time Tuesday, Aug 4th @ 11 AM Eastern Time Wednesday, Aug 12th @ 4 PM Eastern Time Thursday, Aug 13th @ 12 Noon Eastern Time Friday, Aug 28th @ 3 PM Eastern Time Saturday, Aug 29th @ 10 AM Eastern Time Webinars are free and without obligation; sign-up is on a first-come, first serve basis. Space is limited. Reply to webinars@bookt.com to sign-up today. Please email your full Name and Email address for the session you wish to attend.

Complete dial-in instructions will follow as soon as you sign-up.

What is a Bookt Online Partnership with Vacation Rental Managers?

joel@bookt.com

Simply stated, Bookt is not just another pretty face. Your Bookt Vacation Rental Website is not a show horse – it’s a work horse. Bookt is right there, where the work is being done. ...Talking with your vacation shoppers in their homes via Google and escorting these targets directly to your units 24/7. ...Giving directions, availability and prices in the language your vacation shoppers speak – making targets comfortable and feeling right at home. ...Handling transactions, payments, bookings with speed and accuracy so everyone gets paid exactly what they are owed. ...Alerting you to sales, leads, questions and problems. Automatically updating you and vacation shoppers 24/7. ...Always selling, selling, selling shoppers to buy, buy, buy your condos, villas and vacation homes.

Your Bookt Website is a work horse. Our online partnership is focused totally on your online success.

We are working 24/7 to deliver the right vacation rental at the right price at the right time to the right customer.

A Bookt Website’s work, work, work is never done and we want our online partnership to never, never end.

To learn how a Bookt Vacation Rental Website can start working for you, call 1-800-941-0868 x 934. Where the work is, that’s where Bookt is. Call or email: joel@bookt.com today. Ask about our Summer Specials!

There's never been a better time to Get to Work & Get Bookt.

Vacation Rental Managers: BYOD!

joel@bookt.com

Bookt has some of the best graphic designers in the business and the “look and feel” of the sites we design create a strong emotional connection with vacation travel shoppers and truly resonate!

However, some Vacation Rental Managers are happy with their site's “look and feel” but not-so-much with their online results.

BYOD! Bring Your Own Design! Save money!

The team at Bookt will happily use your design and “bolt” it onto the Bookt Platform in order to deliver: >A professionally designed site using state of the art technology. >A seamless booking engine without distracting pop-ups or website redirections - consumers book their stay online with confidence. >A search engine optimized site attracting vacation travel shoppers searching for precisely the units and attractions you have to offer. >A powerful reservation system that makes it easy to organize guest data, booking & payment info, integrated to QuickBooks. >An automated Command & Control Center to self-manage your site, business operations AND convert/incubate consumer leads. >A cost effective turn-key solution, priced lower than any other comparable package.

Like your look and feel but not your online results? Please call us today @ 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com today. Ask about our Summer Specials - ending soon!

There's never been a better time to get "bolted" and Get Bookt

Take Command & Control of your Vacation Rental Business with Empowering "real-time" Management and Analytics Reports & Tools

joel@bookt.com

Your Bookt Website and easy/intuitive Control Panel allows you to measure, modify and manage your leads, sales, staff, follow-up and SEO performance with a CLICK and a SMILE.

CLICK to find out, measure and analyze… ::Vacation Shoppers in real-time visiting your website and where they are coming from ::Your “leads” generated in real-time including your lead sources and profitable keywords ::Individual and Total bookings, expressed in units and dollars, in both words and charts ::Staff performance including response speed, results and automated email follow-up ::Return on investment (ROI) of your Ad Campaigns and Special Offers, all in real-time

SMILE… because you are at Command & Control!

The Bookt Dashboard empowers you to view and to analyze the performance of your website, team and your business at a glance.

Wait! There’s more! You can actually do something about it. You can take action, 24/7/365 – all in real time!

Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 to take our Command & Control features out for a ride and see if Bookt’s Empowering "real-time" Management and Analytics Reports & Tools will help you with your Vacation Rental Business. Actionable-knowledge is the real Power! Call or email: joel@bookt.com today. Ask about our Summer Specials!

There's never been a better time to Command & Control & Get Bookt

The “BEST of Breed” Vacation Rental Booking Engine – Accessible, Affordable, Achievable!

joel@bookt.com

As the Vacation Rental Solutions team leader at Bookt I see hundreds of lodging websites every month and review their online booking capabilities. Over time, we have learned that vacation rental travel-shoppers are looking for an online experience similar to what they find on all the major travel sites – like Orbitz, Hotels.com and Expedia.

And Bookt delivers on that consumer expectation and I am proud to say that the “BEST of Breed” Vacation Rental Booking Engine is now absolutely Accessible, Affordable and Achievable!

We make the “upgrade” as easy as 1-2-3-4 at Bookt, and we are experts at integrating:

> A seamless booking engine that does not rely on distracting pop-ups or website redirections, but instead offers an easy/comforting way for consumer to book their stay online with confidence. >> A booking engine completely synchronized to resonate with the keywords and search terms that vacation travelers are looking for in your market area every day. >>> A powerful reservation system that makes it easy to organize guest data, booking & payment information, with the connectivity to QuickBooks “included” in the implementation. >>>> A seamless connection to your action-oriented Command & Control Center empowering the Vacation Rental Manager and staff to self-manage both the website and business operations in one place AND manage, convert and incubate consumer leads.

Accessible, Affordable, Achievable!

Now through InstaManager's $1 Switch - www.instamanager.com

Location, Location, Vacation! Why Integrated-Mapping is Critical to Vacation Rental Managers

joel@bookt.com

As we all know, a Vacation Home or Vacation Condo or Vacation Villa rental is merely the point of embarkation for all the fun and activities your guests will enjoy while visiting your destination. They may eat, sleep and relax in your property units, but it is the beaches, the ski slopes, the shopping and the local attractions they are coming for.

At Bookt, we pay a lot of attention to mapping “from here to there” and it is totally integrated in order to: > Automatically “Geocode” every one of your properties with exact longitude and latitude of the address > Instantly display all of your properties on a map automatically, in conjunction with the search results > Explicitly mark exact distances between your properties and popular attractions and landmarks > Automatically list and translate distances in familiar terms for global site visitors (kilometers vs. miles, etc.)

Vacation Rental Managers who offer their guests and prospects precise information about property locations in relation to local activities and other landmarks close more sales online!

Destination-Embarkation-Information-Integration = Vacation-Location-Elation!

Want a conversation on integration of your Vacation Location Destination Information? Dial 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com today. Ask about our Summer Specials! There's never been a better time to Get Bookt!

Think Bigger in a Travel “Buyer's Market” for the Win-Win!

joel@bookt.com

Yesterday I read a news article where the author coined the phrase "a traveler’s market" referring to the myriad of online resources catering to travel shoppers, and that with great deals aplenty, Travel has joined real estate and automobiles as a “Buyer’s” market.

Are you getting your fair share? Are you offering deals that compete with all your local lodging competitor's offerings? Are you capitalizing on how your local merchants, restaurants and activity destinations are also making great offers to attract the same target shoppers you are aiming at? Are you partnering with any of these folks and linking to each other’s special promotions?

Think BIGGER. Think “collaboration” with like-minded, non-competitor businesses who are willing to share your offers with their targets to “add value” to their offers and broaden the scope of their sphere of influence. And vice-versa. Isn’t there a restaurant owner you know who would like to make an exclusive special promotion to your clientele to get them in the door? Isn’t there a local fishing boat captain who would appreciate working with you and take great care with your guests and show them a good time at a discount – and send his clients your way for a great place to stay?

The ideas and opportunities for collaboration are endless. AND, if you would like someone to brainstorm with on how to best integrate "collaboration" into your marketing plan during this Buyer’s market, please call us today at 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or reach out via email to joel@bookt.com today. Ask me about Bookt's Summer Specials! There has never been a better time to collaborate and Get Bookt!

“Third-Party Endorsements” are Excellent “Sales Closers” and they truly Help You to "Build Trust" with Travel Shoppers

joel@bookt.com

When my wife and I went to Europe last year we used TripAdvisor as part of our research on where to stay in Paris, Avignon and Bruges. Why? We had never been to these cities and we wanted “peace of mind” to improve our chances of having a great travel experience. Did it work? YES!

Our expectations were totally met regarding the accommodations and the locations we selected, and we even returned the favor and wrote a TripAdvisor Review for one of the places we stayed (1st review on this page) to help other travelers do the same.

Bookt Lodging Website Solutions have many bells and whistles, with the vast majority created to Close Sales for our Lodging Managers. One such feature is Integration of Property Reviews and other unbiased testimonials from past guests.

If you are in the online Lodging business, you may be interested in this article published recently in the online edition of Budget Travel.

AND, if you would like to see how easily Bookt can integrate these “Third Party Endorsements” into your online marketing approach, please call us today at 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or reach out via email to joel@bookt.com today. Ask me about Bookt's Summer Specials! There has never been a better time to Get Bookt!

Blogging Webinars for Vacation Rental and Lodging Managers

joel@bookt.com

Bookt has designated July as Get Blogging-Get Booking Month and will hold six free 50-minute Online Webinars where you will learn about… ...How to easily and profitably join the Online Vacation & Destination Travel conversation ...Why blogging can influence your Google PageRanking and make you stand out with Search Engines ...Picking topics that will resonate with and attract your target Vacation Shoppers ...How blogging dovetails into your larger Social Media plan-of-action Each Webinar will cover the same exact topics. Pick a day and time convenient for you and your time zone! Monday - July 13th @ 2 PM Eastern Time Tuesday - July 14th @ 11 AM Eastern Time Wednesday - July 22nd @ 4 PM Eastern Time Thursday - July 23rd @ 12 Noon Eastern Time Friday - July 31st @ 3 PM Eastern Time Saturday - July 25th @ 10 AM Eastern Time

Webinars are free and without obligation; sign-up is on a first-come, first serve basis. Space is limited. Reply to webinars@bookt.com to sign-up today. Please include your Name and the Session you wish to attend.

Complete dial-in instructions will follow as soon as you sign-up. Get Blogging - Get Booking!

VIEW End Of Summer Vacation Rental Deals!

joel@bookt.com

Have you created a competitive End of Summer Special for your Vacation Rental business? Mountain view? Waterview? Forest view? Garden view? Lake view? Pool view? Bridge view? Doesn't matter! In my view... sell whatever your VIEW is! There has never been a better time to Get Bookt!

Success Story: Be Master of Your Own Domain!

joel@bookt.com

Recently, we worked diligently for over a week with one of our newest clients to help them get control of their Domain Names. Unwittingly, control of their Domains was in the hands of a former Webmaster who had moved across the country and who they had not worked with for 2+ years.

After countless emails and phone calls and dead ends, we finally broke through the barriers and achieved a Success Story – worthy of repeating here as a cautionary tale.

What does it mean to "control" your Domain Names? Why is domain name security important?

Let’s start with these Three Keys to YOUR Own Domain Name Security Success Story:

1) ...Make sure YOU are the Registrant.

2) ...Make sure the domain's Administrative Contact is someone you totally trust - or, better yet, YOU be the Administrative Contact.

3) ...Keep your domain data organized with logins and passwords in a safe and easily accessible place.

Truly, your Domain Name is at the center of your online identity. In the Vacation Rental business, having targeted domain name(s) clearly communicates your offering to your prospects and clients. And makes it easy for vacation-rental-shoppers to find your website, says something specific about you and your business, and helps protect your brand.

If you lose control of your Domains, you are risking all that you represent online. And, if a disreputable individual gains control and decides to point your Domain to a different web site or use your Domain's email addresses for nefarious purposes, your problems get significantly worse.

At Bookt, we never ask for or take Domain control. What we do is help our clients first gain then maintain control themselves and then help them “point” their Domains to their site(s) and our secure servers. Like the Vacation Homes, Condos, Cabins and Villa’s that you rent, your Domain is also a valuable “property” to which you need total command and control.

Are YOU the master of your own Domains? Here is a quick way to check. Just go to www.betterwhois.com. Type your url (without the “www”) into the center Box and click “Search”. On the next screen, enter the magic code, click “Continue” and voilà – you will have your answer. And if you find you need some help – just call on your Bookt Account Executive and we will help you make-it happen!

Online Marketing 201 for Vacation Rental Firms: Exploiting Social Media For Fun & Profit

joel@bookt.com

The experts define Social Media as “…online content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. It's a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues (one to many) into dialogues (many to many) and is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers. Social media has become extremely popular because it allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal, political and business use.”

And it is the latter – business use – that is the focus of this article today.

The following “do-it-yourself” overview and guide to employ Social Media to drive more vacation-shoppers to your Vacation Rental business is for more advanced and dedicated individuals. It definitely takes a time commitment to consistently perform – but beyond that, anyone can do it and you can get started today.

What Google Wants is What YOU Want!

Larry Page is the co-founder of Google – the world’s largest Internet company and most important search engine and online advertising technology. He defines the "perfect search engine" as something that "understands exactly what you mean and gives you back exactly what you want." Named after Larry Page, Google’s PageRank™ technology has changed the way searches are conducted with Google putting the most relevant and reliable search results first. That’s why Google is the Number 1 search engine and why their search Algorithm is so powerful.

To totally simplify why what Google wants, you want – it is all about content, keywords and links. That’s where Social Media comes in. Assuming that you have your Marketing 101 down pat and your Website is well optimized for the Search Engines, then exploiting Social Media is the next logical step to advance your progress in “being found” because it will add layer upon layer of content, keywords and links that will resonate with the Search Engines (and improve your PageRank in the process).

Social Media Includes…

Just as the Google Algorithm contains a multitude of channels and variables, your personal Social Media Algorithm (Socialgorithm) can and should leverage multiple online resources, including: Public and Personal Blogging, UGC (user-generated content), Online Video and Photo-Sharing Sites, Online Publishing and PR Sites, Personal & Industry Social Network Sites, Social Tagging/Bookmarking.

Public and Personal Blogging: Blogging should be the cornerstone of your online foray into Social Media as the search engines like nothing better than fresh content. If you are consistent, blogging will quickly improve your PageRank and drive more targeted vacation-shoppers to your site. TIP: Blog about your destination! Position your company and properties as the center of your destination universe. Write about shopping venues, restaurants, local events and local attractions. By definition, these are the “keywords” vacation-shoppers are searching for.

UGC (user-generated content): Today’s vacation-shopper is dramatically influenced by non-biased user reviews and testimonials; what was another family’s experience with your property and customer service? It is more important than what you say about your property. TIP: Integrate Trip Advisor and FlipKey into your site. Ask for and publish testimonials, both great and not so great. For the not-so-great experiences, make sure you “fix” whatever the problem is right away. Problems happen. Sometimes it is how you respond to those problems that differentiates you from the pack.

Online Video and Photo-Sharing Sites: This is perhaps the easiest of Social Media to leverage. TIP: Invest in a good camera that takes high resolution photos and videos. Create engaging, destination-centric titles and captions then post them on the usual suspects: YouTube, MetaCafe, Flikr, SnapFish, etc. Don’t forget to link to your videos and photos on your website and blog! And, like with blogging, make your visual subjects the local shopping venues, restaurants, events and attractions.

Online Publishing and PR Sites: Even if you are not the sponsor of a local event or attraction, create a special offer connected to the event or attraction and publish it on the myriad of free online publishing and public relations sites. TIP: While there is a cost involved, consider sites like PRWeb and Businesswire who will distribute your press releases globally for a fraction of the cost of traditional media. There are other sites like Ezine Articles where you can publish “expert” articles on your destination and specialties and truly standout with vacation-shoppers and search engines.

Personal & Industry Social Network Sites: The Facebooks and Twitters of the online world are definitely paying off for many Vacation Rental firms; and you can now even insert your online branding within these sites. Again, remember to post links to your blog articles, photos and videos here. TIP: Create a LinkedIn page for yourself and then join Industry Groups like Discover Vacation Homes and Vacation Rental Professionals and start networking with like-minded industry insiders.

Social Tagging/Bookmarking: Bookmarking is one of the oldest and most effective ways to connect online. Some popular bookmark sites are Digg and del.icio.us. TIP: Like all of the social networking ideas above, Bookt can help you make-it happen! In this category, Bookt provides what are called “link bait” widgets for your site to make it easy for visitors to add and share your site through simple bookmarking functionality.

Bookt is not a Website company. We are an Online Success company. Exploiting Social Media should be on your roadmap to Online Success. It's on ours and we will help you find your way. For fun and PROFIT!

About the Author: Joel Fellman is Bookt’s internal ‘champion’ of the Vacation Rental Industry and works with clients in a consultative way, helping match Bookt’s advanced platform capabilities with a client’s specific business requirements so they may solve their problems, gain a sustainable competitive edge and grow their business. Joel studied Hospitality at UNH. He is responsible for lead capture and conversion for hundreds of property agents/firms, helping drive their online success. Joel has 25 years experience in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, IT and internet marketing leadership. Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email joel@bookt.com for a free, no-obligation chat and demo.

Wi-Fi - A Perk w/ a Punch

rob@bookt.com

We have received a lot of feedback on this article published in Hopitality.NET - “Hotel Perks Pack a Punch”. When discussing what perks are most sought after, many people mention free Wi-Fi. I wanted to make you aware of a company that we have successfully collaborated with in the past – Smart Wires (http://www.smartwires.net/). They offer cost effective Wi-Fi solutions that can power a relatively large geographical area for an affordable fee. Suitable for Hotels, Resorts or Vacation Rental Companies. Check them out.

Why Bookt Clients Love Our "Do-It-Yourself" Content Management Tools!

joel@bookt.com

I am working with a new Bookt target client on a Website “makeover” and one of his pet peeves about his current website is how content changes are handled.

As his current web company (name withheld) states…

HOW TO UPDATE YOUR XYZ WEB SITE:

Step 1. Submit to XYZ detailed information about what you would like done.

Step 2. You will be notified of the estimated time it will take to make the update, as well as the estimated time you can expect the update to be complete.

Step 3. Give approval for the update to be completed.

>Your update will then be submitted to the XYZ Design Team, and a project manager will contact you if necessary.

>>Fill-in the form below: Tell us what needs to be done on your site? (To expedite the process, please be as detailed as possible.)

That's not good! In the above case, you need to submit a work order to your webmaster even for simple corrections. That takes time and costs money. With other systems, you might be able to make changes if you know HTML or more advanced coding languages.

At Bookt we know there is a better way!

Bookt's platform provides a completely integrated Content Management System (CMS) that gives you control over your site's text and images. And it's easy!

Properties: Using your Bookt Control Panel, you can easily add, edit, and delete properties in minutes. Let your new listing targets know you will list their rental on your website immediately. Need to change rates, taxes, fees, amenities, description, photos, or availability? It can all be done in minutes, in real time!

Points of Interests: Local attraction info is important to vacation-travel-shoppers examining your rental properties. Maps and descriptions of local tourist attractions provide valuable information to prospective guests and also help to generate additional search engine traffic. Many vacation rental managers also use this page to barter for coupons and reciprocal links. At Bookt, mapping and distance calculations are done automatically - a real time saver!

Other Pages: Your site also contains "static" pages that often need regular updates, like About Us, Area Information, Rental Policies & Additional Services. With Bookt’s Content Management System, you can edit this information as easily as writing an email.

Want to learn more about our easy-to-use Content Management Tools? Want to be empowered to make your own changes yourself in real time 24/7?

Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email me today at joel@bookt.com for a free, no-obligation demo of our do-it-yourself CMS.

Bookt Clients love our Content Management Tools and you will too!

Is Your Lodging Website Summer-Ready?

joel@bookt.com

In the United States and the rest of the northern hemisphere, the first day of summer is the day of the year when the Sun is farthest north (this year it’s tomorrow, June 21st).

This day is known as the Summer Solstice – from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because tomorrow the Sun’s movement appears to stand still in declination; that is, the Sun's path north throughout our winter and spring stops, before reversing direction.

If you are in the Vacation Rental business, this is definitely not a day to stand still. Tomorrow is the first day of Summer. Do you have a Summer Sale/Deal/Promotion ready to launch? Many of your Lodging competitors do, both in and out of the Vacation Rental business.

Check out 5 Vacation Rental Spots for Summer Savings published in SmartMoney, or take a peek at this Examiner.com article reviewing “amazing” Hotels and Resorts deals this summer.

AND especially, go to your local competitors websites and see what they are offering to the same guests you are targeting.

Is Bookt participating in the Summer Sale Season? You betcha!

We put our marketing money where our marketing mouth is and are offering great Summer Specials and Discount Deals on all of our Lodging Website Solutions and Booking Engine.

Want to set-up a 1-on-1 Marketing Meeting to chat about ideas you can deploy online to attract travel-shoppers looking for a sweet summer deal? Want to learn more about Bookt’s Summer Special Discounts on our Website Solutions and cutting-edge Booking Engine?

Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email me today to joel@bookt.com.

Summer starts tomorrow. Now, please, don’t stand still!

Bookt Client Case Study @ eHotelier

rob@bookt.com

Check out this case study of a recent Bookt Customer with clear before and after shots and results at eHotelier: http://ehotelier.com/hospitality-news/item.php?id=P16304 The hotel is Invogue in Laguna Beach, a very striking website: http://www.invoguelagunabeach.com/

Lorem Ipsum - Did you know?

Did you know Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text but is a variation of text from Cicero's 45 BC literary piece "On the Ends of Goods and Evils or or alternatively [About] The Purposes of Good and Evil "? In publishing and graphic design, lorem ipsum is the name given to commonly used placeholder text (filler text) to demonstrate the graphic elements of a document or visual presentation, such as font, typography, and layout. The lorem ipsum text, which is typically a non-sensical list of semi-Latin words, is a hacked version of a Latin text by Cicero, with words/letters omitted and others inserted, but not proper Latin. The original passage began: Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit (Translation: "Neither is there anyone who loves grief itself since it is grief and thus wants to obtain it"). It is not known exactly when the text acquired its current standard form; it may have been as late as the 1960s. Source: Wikipedia Submitted by Roy Vella, Art Director and 'cool trivia guy', Bookt, LLC

Wellness Strategies for Vacation Rental Firms

joel@bookt.com

Heath and Wellness is all the rage! Why not connect with local individuals/companies who already provide these services and already travel to a client’s location to deliver their personal touch?

The above is a badly drawn example of a graphic you could put on your website in specific spots. And add Cosmetologists, Personal Trainers, Herbalists and many other Health & Wellness providers to that list. You may/may not want to take a "cut" of what the Yoga Coach charges – that’s up to you and him/her to workout. What is important about this idea is that you are connecting with already existing local services to enhance your brand and offer. And it doesn’t cost you a thing! But will “add value” to your rental cabins, villas, condos and vacation homes.

Looking for ideas about ways to “add value” to attract/book more vacation rental shoppers and compete amenity-to-amenity with the big hotels in your area? Please call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com and we can talk about this and other ideas good for the health of your business. There's never been a better time for Wellness and to Get Bookt!

The Natural Rule of Link Building

sam@bookt.com

Natural Links Win

With regards to link building, I am going to misquote an old sports saying, “[natural] versus nurture, [natural] always wins”. In our last link building blog All Juiced Up, we discussed the importance of obtaining quality links, and how to use its juice most effectively.

Consider inbound links in their most natural form; if you have a meaningful site, how will the majority of your natural links be derived, and what will they look like? They will come in from various channels (blogs, forums, resource directories) and use a variety of anchor text, deeplinks, and supporting text. Let’s us use a vacation rental website as an example, some natural links may look like:

“I recommend staying at one of these vacation rentals when visiting Laguna Beach”. * anchor text, homepage link, and supporting text
“There are some great attractions in Laguna Beach.” *anchor text, deep link, supporting text
“I checked out some guest reviews and found this companies vacation rentals to be well ranked: www.invoguelagunabeach.com/Booking/AvailableRooms.aspx.” *no anchor text, deep link to rental search page, supporting text

The variations are endless, but the point remains that high volume link deviation appears natural to the search engines. Make sure you consider this when constructing your overall SEO strategy.

What’s Not Natural?

Google’s algorithms are constantly evolving, and there are always large scale attempts to beat these coveted codes through unaccepted mean, typically considered Black Hat SEO. With Regards to link building, Google Bombing is the most recognized method and was made famous in 2007. The Democratic party is a social media powerhouse, and controls a vast network of authoritative online channels. Collectively, a portion of them linked the anchor text “Miserable Failure” to George Bush’s Whitehouse homepage, yielding his site as that the top result.

Google later changed its algorithms to correct the issue, and to identify and discount unnatural links (such as mass general directory submissions). Keep these 3 rules in mind when link building

Vary Anchor Text – Stay focused, but deviate your anchor text every few links, and in some cases just use a direct link to your website i.e. www.yoursite.com. *Make sure your anchor text selection is a larger consideration of your overall SEO strategy and keyword selection
Use Deep Links – remember most of the valuable information on your website is NOT on your homepage. Link to the pages that matter.
Work with sites of Topical Relevance – Chances are, a site completely unrelated to yours would never naturally link to you. So work with site of relevant content, it will be more meaningful to both parties.

All Juiced Up – Link Builder’s Intermediate Addition

sam@bookt.com

In our original link building blog “Drink Milk, Build Links” we published a starter’s guide to help you understand the importance of building links and making them advantageous to your overall SEO strategy. Once you understand link building fundamentals including how to spot a good linking site candidate, it’s important to study performance variables on a more granular level. Now that you are undertaking your own link building initiatives, start focusing on link “juice”.

Quality over Quantity – The old adage could not be more perfect with regards to link building. A quality link coming from a PR4+ site with related content (topical relevance) carries a significant amount of link juice compared to a general directory link submission. Link juice rules are largely hypothetical, but general link strength can be approximated by referencing this link strength analysis chart. Focus your initiatives on building quality inbound links to your site; your efforts will be more efficient, and the effects will be long lasting.

Quantify Your Links Correctly – It’s as simple as this – 1 link from 100 sites is more powerful than 100 links from 1 site. Typically, the first link (or the best link) from a site is all that counts. Once you have received that link, you are already receiving link juice and support from that site. Do not place value or emphasis on receiving additional links from that source as they will be less meaningful. Go out and find yourself some fresh juice!

Your Juice – Yes, your site has juice too… use it smart and sparingly. Each internal and external link you place on your site will dilute each link’s juice further. When you link to an inner page on your website from your homepage, you are funneling juice. This in essence will send Page Rank through to your inner pages which will make them more prominent in the search engine indexes. Be cautious when linking out from your homepage, this will decrease the strength of other links on your homepage (including those to your own site!), again, make sure the arrangement is advantageous.

Deep Linking –Deep linking is important for a variety of reasons, but here we are focused on the juice. Deep links are inbound links pointing to any of your website pages, besides your homepage. Doing so will help you drive external juice directly to some of your most important inner pages e.g. rental search, or property management pages if you are in the vacation rental industry. Deep links, accompanied by inner page linking on your own site is a powerful combination for funneling Page Rank and building web presence deep within your site.

Art Deco Hotel, Century South Beach, Offers Historical Rates for 70 Year Anniversary

Who knew a 26-room Miami Beach boutique hotel exists right across from the beach, South of Fifth Street, and just blocks from some of the best restaurants, landmarks and attractions that this town has to offer! The Century boasts easy access to Prime 112, Nikki Beach, Joe's Stone Crab, and the new South Pointe Park with Smith & Wollensky nestled in the middle. This boutique gem, built by Art Deco legend Henry Hohauser, celebrates their 70 Year Anniversary with a $70 rate special good through the end of October, bookable online via promo code '70for70' at www.centurysouthbeach.com. West Tucker has been at the helm of the hotel's management since 2003. The Century has enjoyed repeat guests who come back for the personalized service, meticulously clean and tastefully decorated rooms, luxurious fine linens and fabulous location. So, what precisely has caused the Century to continue to fly under the traveler’s radar? How does a property enjoying so many advantages suffer from a lack of awareness problem? Bookt took a hard look at the Century. Their conclusions: in today's hospitality landscape, 45% of travelers book directly on a hotel's website and do their research via the search engines with Google ranking #1. The Century had the fine product at a great value but lacked the necessary excellent presence online. Their website did not effectively attract and keep viewers on their site and the Hotel was no where to be found on the search engines. That is when Bookt approached them to make an online success story out of this beautiful -- and underrepresented -- hotel find. Bookt is a local Miami company specializing in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Booking Engine Platforms, Website Design and Online Marketing. We took a good look at the Century, systems they had in place, objectives for the future, and their target market and created an online solution just for them. Bookt designed a site that captured the essence of the classic Art Deco property by incorporating photos of the lobby with the original terrazzo floors, the classic facade that has won numerous awards from the Miami Design Preservation League, and of course, nightlife attractions and the beach with golden sand and turquoise waters. Bookt oversaw all of the website pages and text to ensure that The Century received the maximum exposure on the search engines. Let's face it, if the traveler can't find your hotel on the web, then a pretty site is pretty useless! The One Stop Shop Approach - if you provide all the information clearly and accurately in one place, there is no reason to search elsewhere. The Century enjoys excellent reviews on TripAdvisor and since 22% of travelers consult TripAdvisor before making a vacation decision, Bookt incorporated a TripAdvisor feed & button right on Century's homepage. Add in weather & flight information, area attractions with pictures and links and the viewer has one thing left to do, book. The new Century South Beach site offers multiple places to book with an easy, no-stress system, leading to a higher booking conversion, a happy customer and a happy hotel proprietor. Now the rates- if you offer rates that are too high relative to your competition, none of the tools Bookt put in place will matter. The Century South Beach gets that and continually offers their guests and VIP clients, special rates. Since, 7 in 10 people say they will stay in less expensive hotels due to the current economy, The Century is ahead of the game. So celebrate 70 Years with a $70 rate special at The Century where you can party like an animal but still sleep like an angel. Details may be found at www.centurysouthbeach.com.

FVRMA "Summer Special" Offer from Bookt!

joel@bookt.com

Do the math! It all adds up! FVRMA + Bookt = Online Success! Bookt Packages:

Market Leader: $9900 | Summer Special = $7920 Pro Office: $5900 | Summer Special = $4720 Standard $3900 | Summer Special = $3120 Starter: $1900 | Summer Special = $1520

There has never been a better time for Vacation Rental Managers to Get Bookt! Bookt is a proud FVRMA Member and we look forward to seeing you in Sandestin. If you are not attending, call us at 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email joel@bookt.com for a free, no-obligation chat and demo. All FVRMA Members can take part in "Summer Special" pricing. Ends on August 17th, after the FVRMA Meeting in Sandestin!

Free Competitive Website Analysis for Vacation Rental Managers

joel@bookt.com

You may be familiar with the term CMA from the Real Estate world; it means Comparative Market Analysis and it’s an expert evaluation of a home's present value based on specific local market data – including the competition.

At Bookt we do a CWA, a Competitive Website Analysis for the Vacation Rental world. This is a free service and objective assessment of your website’s “value” including how you compare to your local competition.

Your free CWA includes analyses on:

· Design:

→ Is your website’s look and feel dated or contemporary?

→ Is the design professional or does it look homemade?

→ Does it resonate with vacation shoppers?

→ Is it as welcoming and tangible as your competition?

· Home page:

→ Is your home page informative?

→ Does it create a targeted context for vacation shoppers?

→ Are there multiple entry points for evaluating and booking your rental properties?

· Site organization and navigation:

→ Is your site’s flow intuitive and easy to traverse?

→ Is your site’s navigation consistent from page to page?

→ Do all pages link to your booking functionality?

→ Is booking via a direct-route or through pop-ups/redirections?

· Calls to action:

→ Are action-labels clearly displayed and above the fold?

→ Do you make it easy for vacation shoppers to complete a transaction?

· Search and search results:

→ Can your website be searched?

→ Are search results organized and deliver on expectations?

→ Are search results given relevance weightings and provide context?

· Credibility and trust factors:

→ Does your site’s workflow create a “trusted bond” with vacation shoppers?

→ Does your site engender a secure-feeling about a transaction?

· Performance:

→ Is your site well optimized?

→ Does your content/keywords match what vacation shoppers are searching for?

→ How do you compare to your competition with regard to Search Results?

· Lead capture and conversion:

→ Does your website contain a “back-end” Command & Control center w/ CRM?

→ Can you see what your staff is doing and how fast they follow-up?

→ Can you see where your leads are coming from and how this ties into your SEO?

The Bookt Team has been creating award-winning Vacation Rental and Real Estate websites and Online Success for our global clients since 2001.

Your CWA is provided to you at no cost and without obligation as an objective “second opinion” from the website experts at Bookt.

Order yours today by calling 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email joel@bookt.com today.

Vacation Rental Trend Report - 2009

sam@bookt.com

Is Your Website Ready for 2009?

"Even as other parts of the travel industry are projecting a slow 2009, the vacation rental industry – worth $24 billion - is poised for growth, even during the slow economic conditions that we are experiencing in the US and worldwide. So what is driving this trend?" Read the Full Trend Report Is your site ready for 2009? Take the Site Score Test

Travel Weekly & Bookt

sam@bookt.com

In January 2009, Bookt's President Rob Kall sat down with Travel Weekly's Jeri Clausing to discuss the Vacation Rental boom - an industry which has recently surpassed $24 Billion.

"When you have a lack of branding, what that really means is there is a bigger issue of trust. The problem with owner to consumer sites, is that you never really know what you are getting," said Rob Kall President of Bookt.com, which developes websites and other technology for the vacation-rental industry. "You might be renting a place where the owner is not there, and the faucet breaks and you are stuck."

Read the full story on Page 19 of Travel Weekly.

Bookt is Hiring - Sales & Marketing Exec

rob@bookt.com

Please check out this job posting if you are interested in joining our South Florida team as a sales and marketing executive: http://www.bookt.com/AboutUs/WorkatBookt.aspx

Seen Any Good Vacation Rental Movies Lately?

joel@bookt.com

There is still time to have a BLOCKBUSTER SUMMER! There is plenty of Summer left for you to Get Bookt!

Please call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email us at: joel@bookt.com. Free Popcorn included!

Drink Milk, Build Links

sam@bookt.com

By: Sam Marks

Link Building is a practice commonly regarded to carry a heavy weight when considering many aspects of Search Engine Optimization. If one were to consider Google’s ranking algorithms as a democracy, inbound links would be the people’s vote. Google views inbound links as community support. The more links, and the overall strength of the sites that provide them, the more weight it carries. While best practice on-site optimization can often be applied during your sites development, Link Building (off site optimization) should be viewed as a marathon…and one that few often run.

Tip 1. Develop a medium for bartering.

You probably are connected with your local chamber of commerce, service directories, and dozens of local business owners in your market area. Use these connections as a starting point to your link building campaigns. Reach out to these contacts and ask for a link first, then if needed, barter. To avoid paying for inbound links, develop a means for a link exchange (reciprocal link). As travel website owner, you can offer inclusion in the local attraction directory or on a special link page. For especially important link partners (see below how to determine their importance) consider adding a link in the footer of your site.* Read more in Tip 4.

Tip 2. Stay in Theme.

When strategizing your link building campaigns, it is important to factor in the relevance of a target site’s content to that of your own. In the Vacation Rental space, you want to primarily target travel and location related sites, such as: localized accommodation directories, local attractions, parks and museums, restaurants, golf clubs, and your chamber of commerce. A word of warning: Buying links from “Link Farms” will not do you any good, and may actually hurt your ranking.

Tip 3. Get Anchored.

When acquiring an inbound link, run a keyword analysis to determine the phrase to use in the anchor text E.g. It is more powerful to have your link as “Our preferred Key West Vacation Rentals” than “for vacation rentals in Key West click here”. Although both may achieve similar click through rates, the later carries far more weight in SEO. Make sure you have established 2-3 keyword phrases that you want to rank well in, and apply one in your anchor text.

Tip 4. Make it Advantageous. When you know exactly what you want, it’s that much easier. Think about inbound link placements logically; you want your link in the best piece of site real estate as possible. Before corresponding with the website owner you wish to obtain a link from, look at their site structure and develop a strategy to obtain a link that works to your advantage. Understanding the strength of and inbound link will go a long way when determining if you are getting the better end of a deal. Use this sample scorecard for practice.

*check your site’s Page Rank here

Read More about Search Engine Optimization

Read the next addition on inbound link juice

Bookt Launches New Corporate Website

sam@bookt.com

In celebration of the newly launched Bookt corp website, we have released 2 tools to help Vacation Rental and Resort Managers gain an edge in 2009.

Is your website going to be competitive in this advancing industry? Find out now by taking our interactive 10 question site test!

Sample questions:

- Has your site been search engine optimized and does every property you manage have its own page?

- Is your site catering to an international audience with automatic translation of units and currency?

Get Your Site Score Now

In addition to receiving your site score, we are announcing the release of the industry's 10 Secrets Report as a free PDF download.

Bookt is a comprehensive web service and technology provider for the global vacation rental and resort industry. To learn more about how Bookt can help your business achieve higher conversions and more online bookings, review our collection of services at http://www.bookt.com/

Get Bookt – Lead Processing

sam@bookt.com

To be successful in 2009, you must have an effective strategy for capturing leads. Consider a hypothetical; if your conversion rate (the percentage of site visitors that actually become a booking) is 1%, you probably have an additional 2%-5% of visitors who are interested in booking but leave your site for various reasons. These SHOULD be captured as leads and followed up with by one of your reservation agents. To capture leads effectively in 2009, apply these rules:

1. Provide multiple contact points. Simply having a Contact Us page in no longer sufficient. Supply contact forms, email addresses and/or a phone number on your property detail pages. This allows visitors to ask a quick question while they are still looking and interested in the property in front of them. The second they navigate away from that property, they have already forgotten many of its attributes.

2. Separate guest information collection. It is often intimidating to come across a payment screen with 15+ fields of information needing your attention. Break your payment screens into 2 pages. First, on page 1, grab the guest information. Then, on page 2, collect the payment information. If the user decides to “abandon” the payment screen, you have already captured that hot lead. Then simply call and close!

3. Stay Organized. Capturing leads is fruitless if you are not tracking and organizing them in an effective manner. Feed your leads into a database in real time; it is imperative that you respond to leads within 30 minutes to catch the consumer in their browse and compare mode. When a lead is processed, it is also important to track and itemize correspondence into Response Method, Date/Time, Result, Responding Agent, and Next Steps. This will help you make your process more efficient in the future. Work on capturing and processing leads and watch your conversions rates grow in 2009! Read More about Lead Processing

“Poker” Analogy for Vacation Rental Managers

joel@bookt.com

I am a BIG fan of Texas Hold‘em Poker and watch it sometimes on the Travel Channel. There are some amazing women and men players from around the world and I find it interesting to observe their play, and I really do learn a lot from just watching. The other day in a “demo” meeting I used a Poker analogy when speaking with a terrific husband and wife Property Manager team. The situation is that they have a stunning website but it does not have the booking, SEO and lead capture/conversion features that would help them better manage their business and book many more reservations online. Further, this East Coast Vacation Rental Co is in a very “high-end” market area and these two and their staff provide 5 Star Concierge services and really stand-out in their Market Area with beautiful inventory and the BEST customer care money can buy.

The problem is – while they are great players, have great skills and great properties – they are always “out of position” and are losing loads of business hands because of it. They not only get very little Internet traffic because of the lack of Search Engine Optimization, but when they do get site visitors, their online tools are sub-par and hardly performing, so travel shoppers just move on to another site and book their vacations there.

Again – they are great poker players but they are not well-positioned to capture and convert online vacation travel shoppers and get a “Full House” so to speak.

Are you GREAT but you are OUT OF POSITION? Are you a splendid Vacation Rental Management Company but missing opportunities online even though your properties and service are “The Nuts!” Bookt can help you before you go nuts! Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email us at: joel@bookt.com.

There has never been a better time to Get in Position with the Online Travel Shopper and Get Bookt with a Full House!

Vacation Rental Managers – Call to Action!

joel@bookt.com

This morning I received a “call to action” email from VRMA. It seems disinformation continues to flow about the Vacation Rental Industry and I for one am ready, willing and able to take a place on the front line of this battlefield.

To all Vacation Rental Managers – stand strong and unified!

1) Read Douglas Quinby’s response letter to the New York Times 2) Read my Reply and reply on your own – recommended by VRMA 3) Publicize your Success Stories online and in print 4) Attend local, state-wide and national Industry events/conferences and collaborate with colleagues 5) Continue to reach for higher and higher standards leading to even greater vacation-renter satisfaction!

Together we are stronger and a powerful force of information. We will never silence the critics. So... Unity! Opportunity! Community!

Please let me know if I can help you in any way. Thank you.

Very best regards,

Joel Fellman Director of Vacation Rental Solutions www.bookt.com

Direct: 305-760-4576 Ext. 934 Toll-Free: 1-800-941-0868 Email: joel@bookt.com Skype: joelfellman LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/joelfellmanbookt Twitter: bookt_solid

P.S. I have organized all of my blog posts by topic and purpose and keep this list updated. To see, click on: Vacation Rental Blog Topics for Vacation Rental Managers

Bookt Launches Bookt Connect

sam@bookt.com

Why Bookt Connect? No man is an island,” is an old saying and it applies to your online business as well. Bookt Connect was designed to solve some very common problems that Vacation Rental Managers face. How do I maximize my exposure in multiple online channels while minimizing double entry and over booking problems?

Bookt LLC, a web solutions company specializing in providing sophisticated Vacation Rental web technologies, announced the release of their anticipated Bookt Connect.The Bookt team was able to showcase their new platform addition at the most recent VRMA conference in Chandler, Arizona. This new service is the latest addition in a comprehensive platform designed for vacation rental managers to capitalize on the fragmented yet booming industry. Bookt Connect is a data synchronizing system that allows vacation rental managers to syndicate their rental inventory to many type of online portals and tightly integrate their website inventory and online booking engine with 3rd party reservations systems. Capitalizing on the Boom It’s no secret that the vacation rental industry is booming right along side of the internet. However, efficient and strategic online marketing has become a constant struggle for many. It is no surprise to hear how many VR managers are cutting offline advertising and looking to gain exposure using innovative internet marketing tactics. With over 80% of complete travel bookings now done online, it is imperative that web presence and optimization is at the forefront of your overall marketing strategy. The Birth of the Portal Vintage portals such as Yahoo have always harnessed a following of loyal users who take advantage of the comprehensive information from a variety of diverse sources. The presentation of this valuable, unified information reduces web browsing. Niche portals often take advantage of this concept and apply it to specific markets and information. Expedia, Orbitz, and Hotwire are all portals that are specific to the travel industry, providing destination reviews, weather and flight information, and of course travel bookings. More specifically, Flipkey.com, Homeaway.com, VacationRentals.com, and Bidavilla.com are all portals that are geared strictly to the global vacation rental industry. What does Bookt Connect mean for Vacation Rental Mangers? Bookt Connect provides a bi-direction data feed to these portals, as well as reservation systems. This means that your entire property inventory is fed to these portals where they receive exposure and bookings. Until now, it was common for VR managers to manage their properties on each portal through a site specific extranet. Bookt Connect allow you to make 1 change in your control panel, which is then reflected everywhere your properties are listed. The new API was design by Bookt’s development team to minimize tedious data entry for managers while capitalizing on the VR industry boom!

SEO STILL KING

sam@bookt.com

As internet usage grows and evolves, the fact remains that SEO commonly remains the forefront of online marketing strategies. With search being the 2nd most popular application on the web behind communication, it is the Organic Search Engine’s and Directory’s daunting challenge to properly index (making a blue print) of the internet and all of its content. The difference to business and website owners is that some are paying top dollar to take advantage of this surging traffic; which is predicted to equate to a $25 Billion industry by 2011. With Search algorithms constantly changing and an exponential increase in new websites, SEO has developed into a dynamic art that requires experience, wisdom and of course trial and error.

It is not enough anymore to just understand SEO and its basic application. It takes inline strategies that are consistent through all delivery points to maximize your results. Metaphorically speaking, when applying SEO techniques, some use a hatchet; grossly compromising your sites aesthetic design and user appeal by keyword stuffing and placing titles and text where they feel web crawlers will find them. On the other hand, proper SEO is done with a scalpel: seamlessly integrating SEO concepts into a well structured, consumer friendly design that will maximize your overall exposure where it counts. Understanding your business’s environment, market, and target consumers are also a fundamental part when crafting your SEO strategy, which is ever so prevalent in the Vacation Rental industry.

For those who are who are seeking tools and SEO techniques specific to the Vacation Rental Industry, please read the Bookt SEO White Pages

Keywords – A Key To Online Success

sam@bookt.com

1. Know the basics

Keyword selection is a fundamental element of your overall online marketing strategy. Proper keyword selection allows you to foster free and qualified traffic from search engines. The majority of words found in the content of your website will eventually be indexed and stored in massive databases. The search engines rank your site based on calculated algorithms, derived of many factors including your sites keywords which can be found in your text, Meta tags, and image tags, and URL.

2. Define your audience

The basic premise behind keyword selection is “know your audience”. What solution does your website provide? Well, if you are in the Vacation Rentals business then you are helping people find the perfect lodging for their exciting getaway. Now you need to know how to target these people based on characteristics such as environment, demographics, and corporate competencies. Another important factor is “know your competition”. By knowing your competition locally, nationally, and world wide, you can choose keywords that separate you from the pack.

3. Stay targeted. It’s all about the niche

You do not want to optimize your website for individual keywords such as “vacation”. If your keywords are to general, they will most likely be lost in millions of competing websites across the web. Rather, target keyword phrases such as “Aruba Vacation Rentals” or “Aruba Property Managers”. You also want to take advantage of common keyword misspellings, and niche keyword phrases to target an audience with far less competition

4. Take continuous action

You know your business better than anyone else. If you can understand your industry and competitors, you should be able to create continuous improvements to you search engine page ranks. Bookt’s platform provides automated SEO tools to limit your labor and maximize your websites efficiency. Through various measures such as automated feeds, Meta tag positioning, alt tags, and keyword density analysis, you and your Bookt Success Manager can make sure your web pages are optimized to their full potential and differentiate you from competition.

Be Analytical

sam@bookt.com

Often times the success of re-launching a website lies in the understanding past traffic analytics. With the right tracking strategy, internal site analytics can hold the once undisclosed secret to your websites successes or failures. Applying this knowledge, you can reconstruct your sites content and navigation to optimize their return on every visitor. Unique Visitor Unique Visitor is a statistic describing a unit of traffic to a website, usually counting each visitor only once during a time frame. As a site owner, Unique Visitors is a good metric for tracking your sites overall web presence. To advertisers it is important because it gauges the amount of people their ad will likely have an impression on (taking returning visitors out of the equation). Unique Visitors are tracked in two ways: 1. Requiring a log-in to the site, capturing that visitors identity, or 2. Placing a cookie on each visitor’s computer, and writing that cookie to a database. Bounce Rate A bounce occurs when a website visitor leaves a page or a site without visiting other pages. Bounce rate is directly correlated to the ease of navigation and strength of content found on your landing page (typically your homepage). A bounce is registered by: 1. Closing a open window or tab 2. Typing a new URL 3. Clicking the “Back” button 4. Session Timeout (usually 30 mins) Frankly, a high bounce rate (90%) means that site visitors do not find your offering meaningful, or that your navigation is vague. A low bounce rate (10%) means that visitors ARE enticed and wish to click through. Use bounce rate to adjust your site’s design and content, and make sure that your marketing reflects your offering found on related landing pages. Page Views Page Views are the request to load a single page on a website. It is one of the best, if not the most, important metric to advertising companies. When launching a new site, make it a top priority to increase page views. This can be the single measurement to gauge the effectiveness of a new website. More page views per visitor means more involved traffic, ultimately leading to more sales and obviously a lower bounce rate. High, average page views generally means; easy and relevant navigation, meaningful content, and a strategic hook to encourage more site browsing. Abandonment Abandonment is one of the most significant metrics that is often unattended to. It is the scenario of someone starting the Checkout/Buy process on your site and abandoning before the sale is registered. Typically this occurs when a visitor has the intent to order your product or service, but is turnoff by one of the processes. Unnecessary information fields, additional taxes or fees, or just a lousy looking shopping cart can encourage abandonment. It is important to retain early contact information so that your team can follow up on these leads. Focus on cleaning up the checkout process and making it stress free for consumers and you will increase your unique sales.

Bookt Team Update

rob@bookt.com

I have some truly exciting news to tell you about: We are nearing the completion of our first set of beta customers and have spent almost a year perfecting the Bookt Technology Platform. In a nutshell it allows us to build highly sophisticated vacation rental websites (w/ the same capabilities as Expedia and Hotels.com ) for our customers in a very rapid and cost effective way. It comes w/ a Control Panel application that allows them to track and manage their properties, leads, bookings and marketing activities. We also have far reaching plans of connecting our customer’s inventory w/ major travel industry portals (read more on http://www.bookt.com/).

The Bookt Team is growing: Ben Strum is Bookt’s new Vice President of Technology and will play an important part as a member of Bookt’s Executive Team and Board.

I have known Ben for over 10 years and have enormous respect for his technical and business skills. They say that as a manager you should always try to hire someone for a role who is better than yourself. In this case I believe I have done just that. Besides 15+ years as a technology leader, Ben has founded the company ThinkTron, obtained a Master of Science from Columbia University and developed large scale websites and embedded systems for Fortune 500 companies. He has also done cutting edge research related to the travel industry’s pricing methodology. I am very proud to call Ben our new partner!

In addition I wanted to introduce two other key team members: Sam Marks – Success Manager and Roy Vella – Art Director.

As Success Manager, Sam is responsible for our clients’ success in launching and running their new Bookt solutions. Sam is a young Web 2.0 social network entrepreneur who is perfectly suited for the role. In 2005, while a student at Florida State University, he founded http://www.thegreekfaces.com/, which became an instant success with over 17,000 members within 3 months of launch. After selling his company he became marketing director for http://www.college.com/. Sam also has extensive SEO and project management skills.

Roy is an extremely talented graphic designer and illustrator, for some samples of his work for Bookt, look here and here. I had the pleasure of working w/ Roy a few years ago at eNeighborhoods, where he designed part of http://www.remax.com/, the second most visited real estate website in the US. In addition Roy has over ten years of experience as a graphic designer but still manages to be a really fun & cool guy (guess who these people are?).

With a fantastic team, a fully funded company and a solid core platform; we are taking our first steps into the travel industry arena. We’ll be launching a PR campaign centered around our customers’ success and attending industry events in the fall. Please reach out to us if you want to find out more or if you know someone in the industry who might be interested in what we are doing.

Is your site Empathetic?

rob@bookt.com

Empathetic (ĕm'pə-thĕt'ĭk) adjective Cognizant of and comprehending the needs, feelings, problems, and views of others

As Dale Carnegie said in the classic How to make friends and influence people, “Success in dealing with people depends on an empathetic grasp of their viewpoint...” Believe it or not the same is true on the web and it applies to your website.

Ask Yourself

Put yourself in your potential customer’s position. What are their concerns, what are they looking for? How can they achieve their objectives as easily and painlessly as possible?

Take Specific Action

Then design your site around those needs. Here are some specific examples on how you can improve your site to be more empathetic.

Need	*Site Design Solution*
Booker wants spouse’s input before reserving a unit.	Make it easy to email a full property brochure to a friend
Booker is nervous that you may be a fly-by-night operation	Have a professionally designed site with rental terms and contact info easily accessible from every page
Booker is looking for a very specific type of property	Make 1-click searches w/ associated images from your home page for golf homes, ski-in/out properties or pet-friendly homes.
Booker is wants to be right next to a famous landmark – e.g. a beach	Plot all your properties and landmarks on an interactive map that updates automatically as the user searches your site
Booker is used to the how Expedia and hotels.com display their rates	Provide an easy to understand rate as a part of the search result. When renting multi-bedroom villas and condos, break down the rate automatically per bed room for an apples to apples comparison

(The standard Bookt site package has all the features/solutions outlined above) Insight from our Customers’ Customers

At Bookt we pay a lot of attention to our customer’s customer. We look at data, both from suggestion boxes and forwarded feedback, but also through our logs and databases. By doing that we have found what makes an effective site (you guessed it – one that is empathetic to their needs), vs. sites that work less well (sites focused on gimmicks or irrelevant information).

We’re Here to Help

As always, we are more than happy to discuss what aspects of a site could make it more attractive to your potential customers. Feel free to contact us or read more about your online success on www.bookt.com.

All VoIPed Up

rob@bookt.com

Have you heard the term VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and wondered what it is? Very simplified, it is making phone calls over the internet. This is hardly new and there are a lot of services out there. Some, like Vonage and Skype are more geared towards consumers, but there are also a lot of new services that offer “Virtual PBX” capabilities. In other words a complete business phone system, hosted in a data center. All you need is an internet connection (a regular DSL or cable connection works fine if your office is not too big) and a set of IP phones. An IP phone looks and feels like a regular business handset and can be bought for less than $100.

So why would you consider a VoIP for your reservation office?

Better service and rates than from your local Telco
No complicated and expensive equipment to manage in your office
The next generation capabilities that comes from integrating voice with the rest of your business systems

Better service and rates than from your local Telco

Have you ever called your phone company? It’s always a hassle isn’t it? Especially if you need them to come out to make changes to your phone lines. Simplify by just ordering one thing – the internet connection. What rate are you paying for your long distance and toll free lines? Both can be had for significantly less than $0.05/minute these days.

No complicated and expensive equipment to manage in your office

In one of my previous companies, I was responsible for our phone system. I used to dread setting up or changing extensions when we had new employees (which happened pretty frequently in a growing start up). It inevitably involved calling some “phone guy” to come out or trying to figure it out by entering in a bunch of codes in a handset from an extremely thick manual (complicated even for someone with a Computer Science degree...). These days all I need to do is connect another phone to the network (they even have Wi-Fi enabled phones now) and making a change in the web based control panel of our VoIP Provider. At Bookt we use the OnSip system by Junction Network. For less than $50/month you can have Voicemail, Auto Attendant and Hunt groups for a small office. We have used their system now for 8 months and are very happy with the service.

The next generation capabilities that comes from integrating Voice with the rest of your business systems

As a technology guy, this is the most exciting aspect of VoIP for me. Because many VoIP providers offer what’s called an API (Application Programming Interface), it is possible to integrate the phone system with the rest of your business systems. Some examples are:

Unique toll free numbers for each marketing channel When you can provision new phone numbers online in minutes, it’s very easy and affordable to make a new toll free number for each marketing channel. With the online call record reports can then easily measure how many calls each channel generated and thereby determine its effectiveness

Screen Pops on incoming calls Just like regular phone systems, VoIP systems have Caller ID. When someone calls your office, wouldn’t it be great if your rep had all known information in front of them in their reservation system when they answered? E.g. name and phone number for a new prospect or the entire reservation history for a repeat guest. It’s all possible if you integrate your back office with your phone system.

Bookt wants to know what your experiences with different phone systems have been and what the ultimate killer app would be for you. Either leave a comment or contact us.

The First Post

rob@bookt.com

The Bookt Blog has been launched. Here you will find information about marketing and technology for the Vacation Rental Industry These entries are also available on www.bookt.com