Podcast http://traffic.libsyn.com/cottageblogger/VRS070_-_March_Madness_Mash_Up_with.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS Another month, another Mashup with Matt and in this one we cover a lot of ground, from Matt’s vacation in Mexico (in a rental of course), my recent weekend at the Cottage Life Show in Toronto, a shout out to an Ontario owner, the Inner Circle and a Twitter rant. If you follow Matt’s Vacation Rental Marketing blog you’ll know he’s been on vacation recently and had a wonderful week at a rental villa in Tulum, Mexico. Being so immersed in the business, we tend to analyse every action an owner takes, from their website to the ways they communicate, and while Matt was researching and booking his vacation place, he shared his experience with his Inner Circle members. There was a great response with their collective wisdom on how best to present information to potential guests, and it furthered my belief that this private group is a wise investment. Tweet: #MarchMadness #VacationRental #Mashup @CottageGuru @BookMoreNights http://ctt.ec/1c9Lo+ My weekend involved three days on our agency booth at the Cottage Life Show where I met a variety of current and would-be cottage owners, most of whom are now seeing rental as an integral part of their ownership strategy. One of them, Dean Curtis, is a long-time podcast listener and it was great to meet and talk to another owner who appreciates the changing nature of cottage rental in Ontario. Dean and I are discussing the potential of an Association bringing owners and agencies together in this part of the world and I am excited at the prospect of getting this underway. We also answered Dean’s question about whether he should play music on his web site and I really liked Matt’s measured and reasoned response. Matt recently wrote a blog post called The Theory of Change and we explored this in a little more detail. Although it may sound a little like a sales pitch for his Inner Circle (which I fully endorse by the way), it’s more of a discussion about the power of collective wisdom to develop some very creative marketing strategies. I had a bit of a Twitter rant as I’ve got a tad annoyed recently with the constant output of self-promotion from some owners and agencies so I created a download – 6 Twitter Rules for Vacation Rental Owners. Please help yourself. GET YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD HERE And here’s how to pitch a media gig in 140 characters: Finally, I shared a Gary Vaynerchuck (@garyvee) tweet where he simply said, ‘What can I do for you today?’. What he did was a cracking surprise. Matt has challenged us all to do something similar – a random act of kindness – and share it here. Let’s all do something today. Here’s a few links Casa Aquamarine Serenity Vacation Rentals El Otro Lado 3 Social Media Strategies to Steal from Gary Vaynerchuck Matt’s Esperanza Project
