Hi everyone!

I spent the weekend suffering from allergies. Because I could not go outside without going into anaphylactic shock from the pollen, I sat inside all weekend and took advantage of the time to do some much needed maintenance on my vacation rental ads.

A few weeks back VRBO released two new features, Owner Profiles and Google Maps™. While one might think that writing about your background and your area would be a quick task to, it actually took me quite a bit of thought and time to get it all down.

When sitting down to try and figure out what to write in those empty boxes for the Owner Profiles, I thought about questions renters always ask me and also the things that mattered most to me when I was purchasing the properties. After I got my creative juices going, the words started to flow.

Sadly I don't have a picture of our family. My husband or I are always behind the camera so there's always someone missing from our photos. In lieu of leaving the photo spot blank, I decided to upload a photo of our dogs. (Update: VRBO rejected the photo of my dogs. Apparently the dogs cannot be “owners.” Going to have to find a photo I can use!)

And lastly, I had to position my property location and attractions on the map. So again, a blank slate! What in the world should I mark on the map? If I put too much it'll be overwhelming, too little and it's not very useful. So I had to find the right balance. What I did was marked a few of the nearby better-known restaurants, attractions and grocery stores.

Good luck setting up your own Owner Profiles and Google Maps™!

Christine

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What information would you include in your Owner Profile? "I too found out from VRBO that the picture must be of a human (or two). I tried submitting a picture of our beach sign and was rejected. Also, keep the copy to a reasonable length or the reader will have to click "more" to read. I found that I had one work on the "more" page!! " Bob M., Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island, FL, (HomeAway #183575, VRBO #70011, VacationRentals #21934).

Ten Personal Affects to Leave at Your Vacation Property Tips for which items to leave at your vacation rental home-- and which to leave behind.   The Importance of Clear Location Information Don't miss out on potential guests by omitting important location information in your listings   How to Create Unique Content on ALL of Your Vacation Rental Listings Learn how to get more results from the search engines and make the most of your marketing budget.   Top Ten Things Vacation Rental Owners Should Know About the Average Traveler What the typical traveler is looking for when they search for a vacation rental.

© Copyright 2009 Christine Karpinski, U.090420.AF