The Age of YouTube and Video Marketing
YouTube is a great source for vacation rental managers. As the second largest search engine on the Internet, it can get your properties more visibility. And, it's easy-to-use embed functions make posting these videos on your website a snap.
Did you know that YouTube.com is the second largest search engine on the Internet?
Many people don’t think of YouTube as a search engine, but with a mind-boggling amount of videos listed, it’s easy to see why so many people search it each day. (Quick Trivia: Google, the largest search engine on the Internet, owns YouTube).
Check out some of these other powerful statistics about YouTube:
- 48 hours of video are uploaded every minute, resulting in nearly 8 years of content uploaded every day
- Over 3 billion videos are viewed a day
- Users upload the equivalent of 240,000 full-length films every week
- More video is uploaded to YouTube in one month than the 3 major US networks created in 60 years
- YouTube is localized in 25 countries across 43 languages
- YouTube's demographic is broad: 18-54 years old
- YouTube reached over 700 billion playbacks in 2010
- 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month
- YouTube has more HD content than any other online video site
- Nearly 17 million people have connected their YouTube account to at least one social service (Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, Buzz, etc)
- 150 years of YouTube video are watched every day on Facebook and every minute more than 500 tweets contain YouTube links
- 100 million people take a social action on YouTube (likes, shares, comments, etc) every week
What is Facebook Timeline? And How Could it Affect Your Facebook Page?
This is an example of what the Timeline layout looks like on a Facebook profile. Rumor has it, this timeline format (or something like it) could be coming to Facebook business pages.
Update: Facebook announced today (Feb. 29) that they will be moving Fan pages to the Timeline format by March 30, 2012, and that business can voluntarily switch earlier.
Facebook recently introduced a new feature for profiles called a Timeline. Basically, Timeline is a new layout for your Facebook profile that makes it easier for people to see your activity on Facebook over the years. Facebook is officially pitching the new profile layout as a way to “tell your life story with a new kind of profile.”
The new design features a large image of the profile owner’s choosing that dominants the upper left-hand part of the page. To the right of it is a timeline that lets visitors skip back days, months and even years back in time to see your Facebook activity at that point in time. Profile owners can go back through their activity and highlight bigger moments (weddings, the birth of a child, etc.), which then appear more prominent in their activity feed.
Right now this feature is only available for personal Facebook profiles, but numerous sources are reporting that Facebook could beta test the Timeline layout for businesses as soon as late February 2012. What does this mean for your business?
If Timeline for business pages rolls out the same way as timeline for profiles, you may need to opt in to the new layout to get it. Facebook is still rolling out Timeline for profiles – you need to go to Facebook’s Timeline page and opt into it to make it active on your profile. It’s unclear if (or when) Facebook will change all Facebook profiles to the Timeline layout or if they will eventually force business pages to move to the Timeline format.
Until that time, if you’d like to learn more about Facebook Timeline, check out some of these recent articles:
- No Timeline Pages for Brands Yet, Facebook Says (via Mashable)
- Does Timeline Work For Facebook Business Pages? (via AllFacebook)
- 9 Ways to Prepare for Facebook’s Timeline for Business Pages (via Business2Community)
What do you think of Facebook’s new timeline? Would you use this format for your Facebook business page?
How Cloud-Based Vacation Rental Software Helps You Increase Efficiency and Save Money
Using cloud-based or web-based vacation rental software software can save your business time and money.
If you run a vacation rental business and you’re using software that needs to be installed on each user’s computer, cloud computing can be a godsend for your business.
There are many advantages to cloud computing, and we’re going to go over a few of the bigger ones in the following blog. These advantages all either help you increase your efficiency, save you money or both. But, before we get into the advantages of cloud computing, we need to explain the basics of it.
Cloud computing – or more specifically from a software standpoint, Software as a Service (SaaS) – is an emerging trend in how people store information and access software that has gained popularity with the increased availability of high-speed Internet. In a nutshell, cloud computing lets you store information online and access software online.
What to Consider When Evaluating Vacation Rental Software
Choosing vacation rental software is an important decision for your business. There are many things you should consider before making your decision.
Vacation rental software is a big choice for property managers – one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. If you're a property manager in today's competitive business environment, vacation rental software is not just a tool that's nice to have - it's an essential. The right software can save you time and money, and play a big role in increasing your bookings and growing your inventory. So, making the right choice can be essential to the success of your business.
Because many software providers require that you sign up for a pre-determined length of time - generally on annual contracts - it's important to know what you're getting into before you make the jump to one provider. Today's vacation rental software providers offer a broad range of features and services to their clients. So, it's essential to do your research to make sure you find a provider that offers the best overall value and the best fit for your business.
When considering specific software products, there are a number of questions you should ask before making a decision.
Why Do Vacation Rental Managers Switch to LiveRez?
LiveRez has many happy partners who have to switched from other software providers.
During the sales process, vacation rental managers always ask: “Why do managers switch to LiveRez?” It’s a great question, seeing as how LiveRez is the fastest growing vacation rental software company in the industry. Of course, this rapid growth wouldn’t have been possible without many of our partners making the switch to us from one of our competitors.
The purpose of this blog is to go over the major reasons why our partners have made the switch. So, without further ado, here’s the list.
QuickBooks
For the many managers that are tired of either doing their accounting manually or trying to deal with the sub-par accounting software that came with their system, LiveRez’s real-time integration with QuickBooks is a huge selling point. LiveRez is the only company in the industry with a real-time connection with QuickBooks, the world’s most popular and trusted accounting software.
Integrated Dynamic Websites
A lot of managers are tired of paying extra for their website, dealing with multiple companies (software, design, SEO, etc.), and then not having the ability to change their website when they want to. With LiveRez, you get a professionally-designed, high-ranking, high-conversion website with the industry’s best online booking capability – all as part of your start-up costs. Furthermore, with LiveRez’s content management system, you have the ability to change your website’s content whenever you want to – right from the back office. LiveRez is the only software in the industry that offers this level of end-to-end integration between its website and back office.
How LiveRez Partners Rank on Google
Ever wonder how LiveRez websites rank in Google? You might be thinking of switching to LiveRez but are worried how your search engine rankings will come out of the transition. But, the reality is, moving to a LiveRez website will likely help your search engine placement rather than hurt it.
Despite what some web designers and our competition might have you believe, LiveRez websites rank very well in search engines. But, instead of just telling you, we figured we’d show you.
You see, at LiveRez, we feel the proof is in the pudding. Here you go naysayers. Google us.
Meet “Puako Pattie”: Your Guide to a Luxury Vacation on Hawaii’s Big Island
Patricia Freeman, more commonly known on Hawaii's Big Island as "Puako Pattie," is the founder of Hawaii Vacation Rentals.
Hawaii Vacation Rentals
Location: Kamuela, HI
Website: VacationBigIsland.com
Quick Quote: “Because of LiveRez, I’m able to run my business on my own. I can run everything from wherever I am.”
On Hawaii’s Big Island, they call her “Puako Pattie.”
It’s a nick name she’s earned in her more than 30 years of experience in Hawaii’s real estate industry. A master in professional networking two decades before LinkedIn hit the web, Pattie Freeman, the owner and operator of Hawaii Vacation Rentals, can’t seem to go anywhere on the Big Island without running into someone she knows.
It’s these connections that make her so valuable to the many guests of the luxury vacation homes she manages.
“I have the kind of guests that like that one-on-one attention,” she said. “It’s a very personal touch that my company offers.”
You see, Freeman doesn’t just offer her guests luxury vacation homes; she offers them her many connections, as well. If a guest needs something or wants to do something when they visit, Freeman knows just who to put them in touch with.
Switching Software Providers Doesn’t Have to be a Hassle
Switching to a new vacation rental software platform doesn't have to be a hassle. If you want a software provider that offers a fast and convenient transition, check out LiveRez.
Are you one of those property managers that knows your business needs new vacation rental software, but just dreads the process of switching software?
Have you made one or more of these common excuses to yourself?
- I don’t have the time
- The transition will take too long
- It will be way too much work
- I’ll have to re-train all of my employees
- My software is sub-par, but it’s better than the risk of switching, no matter how great the reward
At LiveRez, we don’t blame you for being hesitant, because historically switching software providers has been a hassle. Switching to some providers takes months upon months (sometimes over a year), and some providers charge more than $10,000 in start-up costs.
But you shouldn’t have to settle for lengthy and expensive implementations, much less sub-par software. At LiveRez, we can get most companies live in 30 days or less. In fact, our record is three days.
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