Crystal Water Villas: A Model of Efficiency (and Success)
There's no mistake where Crystal Water Villas is located after just one glance at the company's LiveRez-powered website
Crystal Water Villas
Location: Gravois Mills, MO (Lake of the Ozarks)
Website: CrystalWaterVillas.com
QuickQuote: “Through social media and utilizing LiveRez’s SEO/SEM program, I’ve been able to eliminate the cost of advertising on sites like HomeAway and FlipKey and have not jeopardized in any way the number of reservations that have come through this year.”
Efficiency is Sherry Shippee’s best friend.
It’s allowed her to manage more than 30 lakefront vacation homes on Lake of the Ozarks all by herself. And her business, Crystal Water Villas, continues to grow 15 to 20 percent a year.
Her business is doing so well, in fact, that she recently was able to quit advertising on sites like HomeAway and FlipKey.
Wait. She manages more than 30 properties all by herself? Grows 15 to 20 percent a year? And doesn’t rely on HomeAway for her business? How does she do it?
VRMA East Speech: LiveRez is More Than Just Software
During LiveRez's Gold Sponsor speech at the 2012 Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) Eastern Seminar, Sales Manager Tyler Hurst talked about what partnership means to LiveRez. In a nutshell, Hurst said that LiveRez is more than just vacation rental software (the product) -- it's about the company's relationship with its more than 500 vacation rental manager partners from across the United States and beyond.
Hurst noted that this commitment to partnership is evident in the top five priorities of the company:
1. Serve our Property Manager Partners
2. Create World-Class Software Supported by a World-Class Organization
3. Build the LiveRez.com Network to Unlock New Revenue Streams for our Partners
4. Continue to be Industry Thought Leaders and Support the VRMA / Professional Managers
5. NEVER FORGET PRIORITY NO. 1
If you want to hear Tyler's complete speech, you can view the video below:
Learn More About LiveRez
LiveRez is the fastest growing vacation rental software provider for professional vacation rental managers. The company’s cloud-based, end-to-end platform offers fully integrated solutions for reservation management, trust accounting and online marketing, with high-ranking, high-conversion dynamic websites and an extensive affiliate marketing program. The company is a proud Gold Sponsor of the Vacation Rental Manager’s Association (VRMA).
Visit LiveRez.com to learn more:
The Story Behind Seabrook’s “Win a Beach House for a Year” Contest
Seabrook Cottage Rentals will be giving away a beach house for a year.
If you haven’t already heard, Seabrook Cottage Rentals, a LiveRez Partner, has just announced a huge content, “Win a Beach House for a Year!”
Over a seven-week period they’ll run a trivia contest educating travelers about tourism in Grays Harbor County and the town of Seabrook, Wash., a beachside community they are building from the ground up. Each answer is an entry into the contest. At end of the seven weeks, Seabrook will randomly choose 5 finalists. At a televised winner’s event, each finalist will be given a key to the beach house and one grand prize winner will receive a full year’s usage of a Seabrook Beach House (or $10,000 cash).
To further sweeten the deal, Seabrook will also randomly select a winner from each week’s trivia round to receive a two-night stay at Seabrook, every Friday on the Seabrook Blog.
LiveRez recently sat down with contest creator Chris Murphy, vice president of business development for Seabrook Land Company, to discuss the contest. In the following interview, Murphy talks about the inspiration behind the content and how he hopes to educate people about Seabrook and tourism in Grays Harbor County.
How Southern Comfort Cabin Rentals Uses its Vacation Rental Software to Boost its Business
C.J. Stam with his wife, Heather, and their son, Neil.
Southern Comfort Cabin Rentals
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Website: SouthernComfortCabinRentals.com
Quick Quote: “We’ve seen double-figure growth every year since we partnered with LiveRez.”
C.J. Stam of Southern Comfort Cabin Rentals may not be a mechanic by trade, but he’s good with tools – particularly his vacation rental software.
His creative use of the LiveRez platform has allowed his business to innovate a number of successful business practices that help keep Southern Comfort Cabin Rentals on the cutting edge.
You see, Stam manages around 40 North Georgia cabins rentals in the vicinity of Blue Ridge, an un-commercialized diamond in the rough less than a two-hour drive from the Atlanta airport. There is no shortage of activities to do in the area, and according to Stam, the town of Blue Ridge often acts as a base camp for adventure in the North Georgia Mountains.
To cater to the needs of his guests, Stam established the Blue Ridge Adventure Center and advertises it on his LiveRez website. With the LiveRez content management system, Stam can create and edit pages in real time (no programming experience required).
Cascade Vacation Rentals: Embracing Technology
Cascade Vacation Rentals has more than 80 properties listed on its LiveRez-powered website.
Cascade Vacation Rentals
Location: Tofte, MN
Website: LakeSuperiorRentals.com
Quick Quote: “If we’re at home or if we’re at the office or if we’re out visiting a site, being able to get the most up-to-date information at the time we need it is very important to us.”
Steve Surbaugh and Cascade Vacation Rentals are always on the move – both literally and figuratively.
The business manages more than 80 properties spread out over more than 100 miles off the north shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota – which means the company is constantly on the move visiting properties.
You may ask, “How is the business able to manage that many properties spread that far out?”
The answer, Surbaugh says, is the company’s commitment to staying ahead of the curve technologically. According to Surbaugh, you always have to be moving forward.
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.
Yet Another Reason to Rent from Professional Vacation Rental Managers
Last week TODAY aired a segment on a number of vacation rental scams, highlighting the importance of booking your vacation through a professional vacation rental manager.
Just last week TODAY highlighted yet another reason to rent from professional vacation rental managers. The segment (see video below) detailed a number of vacation rental scams where criminals listed and took payment to rent homes they did not own. In many cases, there was no way for the victims to recover their money, especially for those that wired funds or paid with a check.
Incidents like this have been widely reported in the news lately, stressing a growing concern about the security of renting vacation homes. The prevalence of these scams reinforces the importance of renting from professional vacation rental managers.
Steve Trover, CEO of All Star Vacation Homes in Orlando, FL, said that when researching vacation rentals, there are many things travelers can look for to feel confident in booking.
My Mountain Cabin Rentals: Customer Service the Old-Fashioned Way
The ability to take online bookings through its LiveRez-powered website allowed My Mountain Cabin Rentals to cut down their call volume 60 to 70 percent.
My Mountain Cabin Rentals of North Georgia
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Website: 1MyMountain.com
Quick Quote: “I attribute LiveRez to me being able to keep my doors open. And, more than just looking at green shoots of hope, we’re actually seeing success here.”
It’s a place where deer roam through back yards, where contracts are still based on hand shakes and where people are genuinely friendly and nice -- not because they want to sell you something, but because that’s who they are.
It’s a mountain-top community of about 1,500 acres, lined with cabins boasting amazing views and modern conveniences.
It’s only 90 minutes from Atlanta, GA, but resides in a completely different world, tucked away from the daily grind of every-day life.
It’s called My Mountain.
And if you’d like it to be your mountain for a day, a week or month, you should call Chris Middlebrook.
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