If you not tuned in to it you may not know but you need to. The internet is how a large portion of the world now searches for and books their vacations. If you have a vacation rental property or several you must be advertising on the internet. Advertising on the internet can be very cost effective, especially in the long run. One way is to build a good website.

A website once built will not only offer a place for your potential renters to see more information, updates, rates, policies, availability, how to contact you, and most importantly they can book their stay and pay you.

I know what you saying, "I don't know how to build a website". That is where ivacationonline's group of web developers comes in. For a one time low fee they will build you a custom website for all of your properties, and it will be built with custom search engine optimization features so that your website can be easily indexed and found on all the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

Unlike advertising on Homeaway, VRBO, Vacation Rentals, you control everything on the site and how much you want to put on it. There are no separate charges for adding pictures, video, maps, pages, etc. You do not get a large bill every year like you do from the big vacation rental listing companies. There is a small annual hosting fee and that is all.

A website is a renters first chance to get a first impression of your property. With a clean, attractive, easy to use website your potential renter will know that they can rent from you with confidence.

To see a list of website templates and to get all the details of having your own website for all of your vacation properties please visit www.ivacationonline.com/Management_Templates.asp

School is almost out and summer time family vacations are being booked by the hundreds of thousands right now online. I know of many summer vacations that have been ruined because of last minute planning, or waiting to think that you can get a last minute deal.

In popular vacation destinations this is usually not the case. Popular beach or mountain areas only have so many so rooms, condos, and homes available and the best ones get booked up fast for a good reasons. Typically the owner that discounts his property extremely in peak periods does so for a reason. One reason for this can be a bad reputation for not taking care of his unit or some other reason.

There is the flip side of last minute deals as well and that is when owners raise the price of their units because demand is high and supply is low. You could end up paying much more to stay if you wait to book your stay 1 week before your planned trip versus booking it 4 months in advance.

Booking in advance is you best bet. This way you can be confident you will have a good place to stay at a good rate, and your deposit is often time refundable should you need to cancel. ivacationonline.com has a travel insurance that is available for a fee that will allow you to cancel for any reason and get your booking deposit refunded.

Many people think of ivacationonline.com as a website that offer vacation rental management software but do not realize that they are also one of the worlds premier website to renters to book short term and long term vacation rentals. They offer vacation rentals in all of the best vacation hot spots and have the best rental rates for these destinations. Stop by ivacationonline.com to check out the large list of rental properties available and book your next vacation through them

Details, Details, Details; Winning with a Vacation Rental by Owner

Today I wanted to go over what very successful owners are doing to stay successful!

I work with owners form all over the country with vacation rentals in many different areas. The underlying trait that the successful owners have is they pay attention to the details.

One of the most successful owners I know are Jay and Betty Coppic in Destin Florida. I have known Jay and Betty for about 5 years. They called me when they had one unit in Destin and were not very happy with the management company. I shared with them what I was doing to run this business on my own and they soon gave notice and left the management company. They have some rentals in one of my communities in Destin and they did so well with it they started to buy more. They now own 3 in the same complex.

They too love Destin like we do. They love it so much, they moved there and now live in a community near their rentals. So they now have a great advantage in this business. They can enter the units on a weekly basis and check on everything and keep the units in great condition.

The main reason I want to bring them up is the level of detail they put into this business is second to none! When I work with an owner that is not having success, I can see a trend of not putting in the time it takes to make this business work.

The old style of, "This is my second home, if you want to rent it, do what I say." Is out the door. As I always preach, this is a business. And if you are not running it like a business, you will suffer the economic consequences.

So now I see a direct relationship between owners like Jay and Betty, that take the time that is needed to run a great business and are VERY successful and owners that pay very little attention to it and they are not doing very well. So let me go into some detail so you can see what owners like Jay and Betty are doing to stay fully occupied and cash flowing their properties.

The devil is in the details! Jay takes great photos and uses them to "sell" his units. We could not agree more. Take as many pictures as possible. Use the Picasa Slide shows. Do what ever you can to show off your property. This takes time and the owners that take the time to do this are the ones seeing the benefits.

Advertise properly. You can not just throw up and ad on VRBO and complain that you are not 100% booked. The ad must be written correctly. Give details about everything. The bedrooms, the living rooms, inside, outside. You can not put too much detail on the web portals. The guest want to read all about a property, once they have interest.

Communicate with your guest. First owner that gets back to them, gets the business. Use this mentality and do not count on just emailing the guest and getting the bookings. CALL THEM ASAP!

Have all your policies in place and stick to them. Do not let the inmates run the asylum! You must know your policies and state them clearly on your sites and follow them. If you change your check in and check out time for every guest that ask, you will go crazy! Stick to your minimum day booking requirement. You need to run a successful business, you will also have to learn to say NO. NO, I do not allow pets. NO, I can not take a 2 day booking. NO, I do not rent to students under 25. NO is OK.

Follow up and stay in touch with your guest. This is rarely done. Getting someone to come back to your property is much better that trying to find a new prospect. They know you and your unit. They have been there. They are an easy sale. If you are not contacting them on a regular basis, they will forget who you are and end up booking with someone else next year.

Take the time to re-think your business. Take a few days or evenings and update all your sites. When is the last time you changed your copy on the web portals you advertise on? Keep it fresh.

Yes, this does take time, but if you start paying attention and run your properties like a business, the way Jay and Betty do in Destin, you too can be fully booked and cash flowing your units. Try it! You have no place to go but UP!