There are two types of spectacular photos that every owner/manager needs in his or her marketing portfolio:
1) Photos of your rental itself
I have covered a number of case studies in which folks have turned their VR business around with professional photos of the property:
> I Can't Stop Looking At This VR Photo
> Teena Kulakowski Does A “180” On Photos
> Amy Firmani Is Blown Away By Professional Photoshoot
> Debbie Martin Crushes It With New Images
> PROOF: How Much Are Good VR Photos Worth?
2) Photos of your region
Perhaps equally important are images of the area, especially for guests who have not visited before.
And since most of us are not professional photographers (nor do we have the time), I wanted to share a solution that takes about 30 minutes (and is actually pretty fun).
The steps are super simple:
> Visit Flickr.com
> Search the name of your destination (city followed by state)
> In the “License” drop down menu, select “Creative Commons License” (so you don’t get sued)
> Go through and download any photo you think accurately reflects your region
> Put the images in a slideshow
> Bonus: For each image, add a short blurb relating to your rental (“This beach is only a 5 minute walk from our front door!” or “Enjoy a sunset like this from our deck!”)
There’s nothing quite like having an incredible fleet of images to promote your area.
And thanks to Flickr, you don’t need a professional photographer (or even any money) to make it happen.
Matt Landau is the Founder of the Vacation Rental Software Blog (the largest free database of vacation rental marketing articles online) and VRLeap (an online marketplace for tools and services for vacation rental owners up to 90% OFF).
