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AtTheBlue.com at Blue Heron Resort
By Libby Rogers
Published: 04/22/18
Topics: Hood Canal, Timeshares, Vacation, Vacation Rentals
Comments: 0
YourShare.biz, which offers resort and owner direct vacation rental bookings for timeshare properties announced today that it has opened a new website AtTheBlue.com for the Blue Heron Condos on Washington State's pristine Hood Canal.
Participating homes are advertised on the custom built full ecommerce website at BlueHeronHolidays.com and on hundreds of prominent websites worldwide such as VRBO, Booking.com, AirBnB, Expedia and more.
For a century the Southwest corner of Washington State, the Southeast corner of Hood Canal has been the private get away for the rich and famous of Seattle's and Western Washington State including such luminaries as Bill Gates and the Nordstrom retail family.
Four decades ago, a stunningly beautiful condo resort complex was built and named Blue Heron after the magnificent birds so abundant in the area. The Blue Heron Resort features 26 one, two and three bedroom townhomes surrounding a large lawn common area, complete with towering evergreen trees.
At its center is a large year-round pool, hot tub, community center, lounge, sports facilities, gym and sauna. But folks flock to Blue Heron for its own private beach just across the State Route 106. There owners and guests can launch a boat, pick oysters, go water skiing and swim in the crystal clear salt water.
Owners at this resort get an impressive eight weeks use per year and get full weeks every sixth week of the year. With so many weeks to choose, owners can put their unused dates into the Yourshare program and get great income for dates that previously went unused.
Yourshare's innovative program offers greater marketing than most timeshare resorts can accomplish and they do it for a lower commission fee. Owners only pay a fee when their dates are booked. There is no enrollment fee, a long term contract is not required and Yourshare handles all details such as advertising, reservations phones, guest and owner services.
AtTheBlue.com allows guests to discover one of the Northwest's most stunning locations for family getaways and romantic rendezvous. Now they can book instantly online at great rates and friendly service.
For the resort itself, every guest becomes a possible new owner in a majestic Northwest resort which most did not know existed. Now, they can try it by renting before buying into the membership.
To book online go to AtTheBlue.com or call 360-614-3191 open every day of the year.
Author: Libby Rogers – Author, MayPartners Public Relations
Blog #: 0587 – 04/22/18Sponsor: YourShare.biz – Yourshare.biz makes it easy for guests to find quality timeshare vacation rentals, for owners to rent out unused weeks, and for resorts to generate income and attract buyers for their available weeks. Everyone wins with these well maintained properties in attractive locations. – http://YourShare.biz
Grading Vacation Rentals on the Curve
By Wm. May
Published: 10/01/16
Topics: AirBnB, Vacation Rental Association, Vacation Rentals
Comments: 0

A long time AirBnB hosts with multiple properties all with 4.5 or higher average ratings, recently complained that he received an online warning from AirBnB that his listings might be delisted if the average goes below a grade of 4.
Research has showed that average ratings on AirBnB are a full one star higher than the number of stars for homes on HomeAway.com.
Could this mean that only the better homes are listed on AirBnB? A random view of homes in most areas show even a wider variety of rentals than on other vacation rental listing sites.
Another factor is that AirBnB lists individual rooms or guest suites within a home, and these are uncommon on HomeAway websites. A constant reading of AirBnB forums such as AirHostsForum.com, reveals that the horror stories of in-house rentals can be even more rancorous with hosts and guests often very unhappy with each other.
There are rooms that stink, and guests that are stinkers. There are places that would make most guests gag - a trailer in someone's back yard? A Tee Pee with no bathroom handy? A sleeping bag under a tree?
In most U.S. High Schools, teachers often grade students on what is called "The Curve." This is a philosophy that posits not all students perform the same. Some study diligently, some do not. Some have greater native intelligence and some do not. Therefore, the grades within a given set of students should be spread often in a graph looking something like this.
A = 10%
B = 20%
C = 50%
D = 20%
F = 10%
** The actual percentages can vary by teacher, but the general proportions are similar.
Most teachers never understand that a usual class size of 20 to 30 students is not a wide enough sample to allow the curve to be valid within that class. But, the concept does seem to be applicable to other matrixes.
50% of hotels are adequate (and not luxury)
50% of drives obey the speed limit
50% of employees do adequate work.
50% of diners leave an appropriate tip.
Most teachers also never admit that the success of students is greatly dependent on the teacher. Some instructors explain things very well, some offer extra help and some are expert motivators. But, we have all had teachers who were lazy, rude, or bad communicators.
So how come AirBnB seems to think that 100% of its guests must get a grade of A or A minus?
If their goal is to drive up quality and guest relations, that is a wonderful idea. But if their goal is a scaling system on which guests can determine the quality of a home, then they have it all wrong.
More likely, Airbnb's warnings to the hosts of homes is intended to fool guests into thinking that every home is a luxury place, every destinations is truly unique and bookings on AirBnB will ensure a perfect vacation. All of that is simply to increase bookings and fill Airbnb's pockets.
Any intelligent person knows that it can rain at the beach, have crappy snow at a ski resort, or that a home may not be as big as you dreamed even if you got a bargain price. A better solution would be to truly rate homes with an overall system that better informs guests of the variety of homes, quality, location, size and other factors.
And that would result in homes being graded on the curve.
Author: Wm. May, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0511 – 10/01/16
Expert Says Photos Best Return on Investment
By Joseph Romain
Published: 02/01/15
Topics: Marketing, Photography, Vacation Rentals
Comments: 0
In a recent blog post on his website VacationRentalMarketingBlog.com, Matt Landau proclaims professional photos to be the most effective marketing tools to increase bookings and revenue.
Landau says, "When you have limited resources, you must examine the return on investment (ROI) of everything you do." He then lists the Top 10 cost-effective Vacation Rental Marketing Activities.
Number one on his list is professional photos which he illustrates by providing a cost versus benefit graph clearly showing photos as the best investment.
Other steps, such as building a private website, increasing your paid listing rank, soliciting reviews and trying to speak with guests by phone also are beneficial.
While hiring a professional photographer is indeed a good idea, to this day many professionals have still not discovered or mastered the art of creating High Dynamic Range (HDR) photos.
Without that even the best cameras, a photographic education and lots of experience prohibit the photographer from creating truly accurate photos such as those HDR can create.
HDR photos are not easy and they are not cheap, but the benefit of having compelling and accurate photos attracts more guests, more bookings and more revenue.
Landau posits an analogy about whether a government should invest $10,000 to cure ten Malaria patients or the same amount to save a single AIDS patient. Tough call of course, but it illustrates that spending money on great photos is by far the most cost efficient treatment for vacation rental marketing.
Matt Landau is the Founder of the Vacation Rental Marketing Blog, an online resource for vacation rental owners and managers. He is also the owner of Los Cuatro Tulipanes vacation rentals in Panama, and a columnist for HomeAway and FlipKey, the world's two largest vacation rental marketplaces.
http://www.vacationrentalmarketingblog.com/top_10/
Author: Joseph Romain – Creative Director, Signatour Photo Team
Blog #: 0003 – 02/01/15
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