| Q. | “Can I make changes to my listing?” | |
| A. | You can make changes at any time. Simply sign in to your Owner Dashboard and click “Edit Listing”. Remember to click “Save Changes” before leaving a listing you have updated. (If your property is also on AbacoCottage.com, within one to two business days, you will see your changes appear on that site as well.) | |
| Q. | “Can I make changes to basic page set-up?” | |
| A. | No, our templates are set up the way they are intentionally. We hope to present each property’s information in a consistent way for the ease of the renter. Descriptions, rates, headings and photos appear in the same place for every listing, so travelers can access the info quickly and conveniently. | |
| Q. | “How quickly can my listing be put online?” | |
| A. | Once you have paid and entered the minimum required fields (noted by an Asterix*), your listing is made live on the site. | |
| Q. | “Why do some photos on the Web look excellent, while others do not?” | |
| A. | Most owners find that the photo was poor due to diminished light or bad exposure levels. Polaroids, copies of photos, houses obscured by trees and shots taken at bad angles can all look poor on the Web. Photos submitted from a brochure, due to the 4-color printing process, result in cross-hatching or moire patterns. In these cases, we ask that you shoot a better photo and resubmit it. Best results come from a photograph taken on a digital camera as opposed to a scan or other source. Sunny days with plenty of blue sky in the background are great conditions for taking photos. We urge owners to constantly rephotograph their rental homes. The small amount of time spent on taking pictures pays big dividends in number of rentals. | |
| Q. | “How do I change my property thumbnail photo?” | |
| A. | Sign in to your Owner Dashboard and click “Edit Listing”. Scroll down to the Photos section. Click the “Select Image” button and a popup box will display your options. Select the photo you would like to include and upload it. The photo will then appear with the other photos you have already uploaded. If you would like to remove an old photo, simply click the black X on the photo to delete. Click the blue “Save Order” button below the photos and you’re done! The new photo will appear on your listing. If you would like to change the photo order, simply go back and drag the photos around to the order you would like. NOTE: the first photo on the left will be the main photo. | |
| Q. | “How can I maximize the effectiveness of my listing?” | |
| A. | There are a number of things you can do to stimulate bookings.1)Add more photos and/or update your photos - Using a digital camera, take updated photos of your property and the surrounding views. Properties with more photos do significantly better than properties with only a few.2)Refine your property title and description - Take advantage of all of the Additional Features box to better communicate what your property offers.3)Promote a Special Offer to catch last minute travelers or to highlight your property during slow periods. To learn more, see BlueDoorRentals’ Guide to Special Offers.
4)Increase online exposure for your property with a Featured Listing. To learn more contact us. 5) Get an Availability Calendar and keep it updated - This may be one of the most important features renters look for. Make sure all available and booked days are marked as such. If you host your availability calendar elsewhere, you can add a link to your listing that will direct renters to that calendar. If you don’t have a calendar click here to learn how to get one or contact us with any questions…we can help you set one up. 6)Keep your rental rates current and enter all rental rates at least 12 months in advance. |
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| Q. | “Why am I getting plenty of calls but no bookings?” | |
| A. | Perhaps your rental rate is too high. Compare with other owners in your area and bedroom size, just as the vacationers do. Our belief is that if you take any given ten rentals in an area, 3 will get 50% of the calls, 6 will split the remaining 50% and one will get very few. The main determinant? Price. | |
| Q. | “How do customer reviews work?” | |
| A. | On each listing there is a section for past visitors to leave a review of your rental. There is also a star rating out of a possible five stars. The average star rating will be visible on Google and boost your exposure and likeliness of people choosing your rental. These reviews always need to be approved by you in order to display on any listing. Click here to read more about reviews. |
| Q. | “How can I get through to a real person?” | |
| A. | Email us | |
