15 Quick Fix Tips For Getting More Bookings on Your Orlando Vacation Home

We all like quick fixes right? Well here are 15 quick and easy changes you can make to your Orlando vacation rental and booking routine to increase your exposure and revenue this winter.

Top 20 Most Critical and Frequently Asked Questions About Buying and Owning an Orlando Vacation Home

1. Update Your photos!
There is nothing worse than outdated, bad angled pictures lurking around on your property website.  People will be booking your home solely based on the photos they see online.  You only get one chance at this so make it count.  The Flamingo thing to do would be to dip into your wallet a little and hire a professional Orlando real estate photographer to come in and snap some shots.  It’s an investment that will pay off in the end.

2. Expose Yourself!
Don’t be afraid to put your home out there. There are over 50 websites you can list your Orlando vacation rental home on to get some owner booking revenue coming in.  Consider the top three and take an ad out on those sites.  Again if your pictures are terrible than don’t waste the money but if the package looks good than by all means get it out there! One of my personal favorite sites for this is VRBO

3.  Start a Blog
Yes, I just told you to become a “blogger”.  This is by far the fastest and most cost effective way to start generating some exposure online.  It’s free to start a WordPress blog and if you do it correctly can generate a ton of new business and stir up interest in your Orlando vacation rental.  A great thing to do would be to blog about up and coming events in the Orlando area, any news or information about your vacation home neighborhood, any specials you are running and have a place where guests can leave comments and testimonials.  You can also link this to your property website.

Read Also: How To Get Your Own Bookings On Your Davenport Short Term Vacation Rental Home

4. Testimonials
Nothing speaks louder to a potential prospect than the voice of another satisfied guest. If you are not utilizing testimonials on your website/blog than you are missing out on a large market of people. Encourage your previous guests (the satisfied ones) to go onto your website/blog and leave you a testimonial on the testimonials page (which you should have in place already).  In all of your online advertising link back to this page so people can read them.

5. Love Your Competition
Who says you have to compete with the competition? There is more than enough business to go around for everyone and there is also power in high numbers.  Get with other owners of properties in your neighborhood and link your websites up.  What’s great is that they may have guests that are looking for specific dates that they already have booked but guess what, their “buddy” up the street has availability.  Many Orlando vacation home owners have even started neighborhood websites where all owners within the community advertise their home and they market the site together.

6. Build Your Database!
This is huge! Your Orlando vacation rental property is a business and should be treated like one.  Every person who contacts you in any way, shape or form is a potential booking.  You should be keeping a database of every email address that comes through your inbox inquiring about your Orlando vacation rental property.  Utilize this database when you are running specials and want to tell people about it.  You will be surprised how many people respond to specials that they may have not been interested in before.  Make sure you are using a program like Constant Contact that offers an unsubscribe option in your emails.  Nobody likes to be spammed.

Read Also: Little Known Ways To Get Your Orlando Vacation Home Sold Faster

7. Automate Yourself
If you’re like me you have a life and a family outside of work.  The last thing you want to be doing is be sitting around by your computer and waiting for booking requests to come in.  The downside to that is people want immediate responses to their questions and will go elsewhere if they do not get one. The easiest way to solve this problem is to set up an auto-responder on your email and within that responder let the customer know you will be getting back to them before the end of the business day.  You may also want to include a frequently asked questions list as well as some testimonials and a link to your site.

8. Consider Allowing Pets
Say What! Animals in MY vacation home!! I know it’s a big thing for many to allow owners with pets to stay in their Orlando vacation rental property BUT consider this: So many other owners feel the same way so imagine the amount of people who are looking for a place like yours that can’t find anything that allows pets.  Often time the first vacation rentals to book are the pet friendly ones. The extra booking revenue you earn from this should far outweigh the cost of having your carpets steam cleaned every other month. You can also charge extra for pets!

9. Game On!
Not everyone has a games room in their Orlando holiday villa and it’s costly to add one but one thing you can do to increase bookings is throw in a PlayStation or a Nintendo Wii. This will appeal to families traveling with children and in Orlando, that’s mainly your target market.

Read Also: Vital Steps You Must Take To Prepare Your Orlando Vacation Home For Bookings

10. Stock Up on The Tea. . . and don’t be cheap!
This may seem incredibly obvious and even most hotels do this but having a nice selection of good tea available to your guests when they arrive is a big deal! Don’t scrimp on the tea and buy the cheap Lipton stuff. . . Stock up on the good stuff from places like Teavana and even Starbucks.  This is a great feature to point out in your marketing.  It’s the small details like this that keep people coming back for more.

11. Offer Up Your Home To Realtors
Most Orlando Realtors who are vacation home specialists only work with out of town and country buyers. When they fly down for their inspection trip they will need a place to stay.  Offer your property up to their clients at a discounted rate.  If you get in with a busy enough office you can easily score an extra 5-10 bookings per year.  That can really fill in those gaps! Talk to your Realtor who sold you your vacation home property and let them know you’re interested in offering up your villa.

12. Secure The Net
Make sure your guests have access to a SECURED internet connection when they are staying at your Orlando villa.  Many guests staying in Orlando on holiday are already paranoid and scared of getting ripped off.  Some people, especially those traveling here form other countries, will feel much safer knowing they have internet access and it’s completely secured.  I for one am one of those people and I can assure you that being a computer geek has it’s perks!!

Read Also: Six Most Common Expenses Associated With Owning a Disney Area Vacation Home

13. Offer a Vacation Consultation
Who knows your home better than you? Chances are that you’ve been to Orlando on holiday several times and stayed at your property.  You know all the hot spots and by now should know many of the local spots as well.  Offer your guests a one on one phone consultation where you tell them all the inside information about the neighborhood, the town and the not so heavily advertised but oh so cool attractions they should hit up while they are here.  People love a personal experience and this one gesture could turn a one time booking into a lifetime guest.

14. It’s All In Your Name
Addresses are BORING! You don’t want to market your property as an address you want to name your property just like you would your pets or your kids. It needs a fun name that will be remembered by just about anyone browsing the web.  A name will make your property stand out from the others and almost instantly add credibility as an established vacation home.  I reemember one owner named her house “The Pineapple Palace”. I still remember that because it’s different and it’s fun.

15. Add a Hammock
This is about as black and white as it sounds.  People loves hammocks, especially when in Florida on vacation. I love hammocks even when I’m NOT on vacation so buy a hammock and put it in your backyard or if you have a large enough front porch that works too.  Make sure you take pictures of the hammock and use it in your marketing.  Hammocks rock! (Literally)