Considering I used a YouTube video in a previous post; not to mention Google bought YouTube for $1.65B in stock I’m guessing everyone knows about them. If for some reason you’ve never heard of YouTube, below is a little description:
About YouTube
Founded in February 2005, YouTube is a consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and across the Internet through websites, blogs, and e-mail. YouTube currently delivers more than 100 million video views every day with 65,000 new videos uploaded daily and it has quickly become the leading destination on the Internet for video entertainment.
Why should I use this site?
Beyond the obvious, that video can be more telling of a vacation destination than pictures, YouTube has the viral effect. You can post, embed, share videos with anyone. It’s very easy. Check out the two videos below:
This family vacation has been viewed by more than 14,000 people.
This video highlights a condo rental on the Gulf of Mexico and has been viewed by more than 7,000 viewers.
The rental owners even put links to their property profiles:
Being in the travel and leisure industry, I’m often asked how I get the best airfares. I’ve got a few tools that are definitely worth using. Today I’ll feature Farecast. If you haven’t been there then you’ve probably booked too early or too late. Get on it!
Farecast.com is the smart travel search site that helps you buy with confidence. Launched in 2006, Farecast.com empowers you to Know When to Buy with airfare predictions and know where to stay with the hotel Rate Key™.
Farecast was recognized as one of Web 2.0’s “Best Travel Sites,” one of PC World’s 20 Most Innovative Products, “Best of What’s New” by Popular Science, one of TIME Magazine’s “50 Coolest Websites” and one of the “Best Trip Planning Tools” by Business Week readers. Farecast is headquartered in Seattle, WA.
I’ve dropped in a screen shot that demonstrates the prediction tool. It’s quite handy.
The video below features Mike Fridgen, marketing guru at Farecast. He explains more about Farecast and it’s features. I’d recommend skipping through the first 30 seconds as they set up the presentation. Side note, Mike also has a blog on Travel Start Ups. Maybe we’ll see The Society there in the upcoming months.
Today I’m going to highlight del.icio.us, a “social bookmarks manager.” By using these bookmarklets, you can add bookmarks to your list and categorize them, making it easy for you and others to easily find the best on the web.
Check out this video, it does a great job at describing the site:
Why should I use this site?
I think the video does a great job explaining why it’s good to use. But since I’m assuming you’re running a property management company, there are even a few more reasons. For instance, you can see how many others have book marked your site. As of 10/17/07 427 people have bookmarked and tagged www.homeaway.com with the tag “vacationrentals” and 1118 people have bookmarked www.VRBO.com.
In addition to tracking others, you can create feeds from your top tags. Example: if you tag all the restaurants in your community “restaurants” you can then display them in a feed. This link shows you how to share/display the rss feed [click here].
A tag is a word you use to describe/categorize a bookmark. Instead of using folders, you make up tags when you need them and you can use as many as you like. It’s a better way to organize your bookmarks (and other things) and a great way to discover interesting things on the Web.
What is this Web .20? I’m not too sure either but I’m pretty sure they meant Web 2.0. After all, Web 2.0 is the hype right? It’s received so much hype that many of those across the country, especially those west of Oakland are tired of hearing about it. I know those at Wired magazine wouldn’t be sad to see it never in print again. Of course, the techies have been talking about it since 2001. For those still trying to grasp this phenom check out Tim O’Reilly’s definition:
Web 2.0 is the network as platform, spanning all connected devices; Web 2.0 applications are those that make the most of the intrinsic advantages of that platform: delivering software as a continually-updated service that gets better the more people use it, consuming and remixing data from multiple sources, including individual users, while providing their own data and services in a form that allows remixing by others, creating network effects through an “architecture of participation,” and going beyond the page metaphor of Web 1.0 to deliver rich user experiences.
Back to my point, this week at the Vacation Rental Management Association’s (VRMA) annual conference many ambiguous “Web 2.0” terms were thrown around and I’m pretty sure most of the attendees left feeling a bit overwhelmed. After all, there wasn’t much talk about how Web 2.0 or any of the new web technologies would really help them rent properties and increase their profits.
So I’ll try to help. Over the next few days I’ll highlight some communities and features that should help property managers out. You’ll learn more about Delicious, YouTube, Flickr and more. For those tech savvy individuals reading this, please don’t laugh. Many people are beginning to learn the power of the online community.
With the conclusion of RezFest 2007 in Aspen, CO, we are very excited.The industry continues to move forward technologically which should unlock the potential marketplace value that exists.One thing that was clear is property managers are proactively seeking new online tools to rent properties. As with any industry, there are innovators and traditionalists and the vacation rental industry is no different. It was apparent at RezFest some property managers embrace the shift to online booking, advertising, listing, etc. while others find that what has worked in the past still suits their business model.
Of course the driving factor in all this is the guest who expects to be able to search for vacation rentals and find meaningful results. Not to mention find information on local activities, prior guest reviews and suggestions. This topic was a prominent topic in the keynote address given by Travelocity’s former CEO, Terry Jones.He outlined the changes in the online travel world and what it means for the property management industry. Mr. Jones addressed the 300-plus property managers in attendance by saying, “…people aren’t renting your properties solely to stay in the home, they rent your property because it’s in proximity to local activities they want to engage in.” Without the aid of an online presence that offers activity search tools that guests demand, property managers lacking in this area will find themselves on the outside looking in.
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