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Get some feedback on your site or ad from other rental owners and techies. Also a library of online resources so you can make DIY improvements to your web presence.
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Alan Knighting
Posts: 4120
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:26 am
Location: Monflanquin, Lot-et-Garonne, France

Post by Alan Knighting »

Brian wrote:I'm not selling the property, I'm selling her.
I’ve obviously got it all wrong. I thought you were trying to sell a short break in a holiday property but it transpires you are actually trying to sell an otherwise unknown TV presenter.

Your Rates Page quotes property rental prices as “Nightly $120 for up to 7 persons and $10 per head per additional person”. It doesn’t mention how much the rental is per night for the presenter you say you are selling. Is her rental a matter of negotiation and what do I get for what I pay?
Brian
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:51 pm
Location: Bohol Philippines
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Post by Brian »

All resorts do this and in different ways, you guys do to with amped up descriptions and touched up photos that exaggerate the property. This holier than thou attitude is disingenuous and you guys are holding me to a standard you yourselves don't meet.

And yeah Alan you *did* get it wrong. I can see you don't know a single thing about marketing, if you'd knock it off with your cynicism and hypocrisy, you might actually learn something. Breakthrough! Pretty girls help sell thing! Genius!
"To young men contemplating a voyage I say go." -Joshua Slocum
Brian
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:51 pm
Location: Bohol Philippines
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Post by Brian »

I'm leaving this forum. I can't stand hypocrites and moralizers. Good look with your photoshopping people and you "Luxurious" Villas and "Sublime" views of "Verdant hillsides."

Bye!
"To young men contemplating a voyage I say go." -Joshua Slocum
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Giddy Goat
Posts: 9054
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2005 7:38 am
Location: UK
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Post by Giddy Goat »

I think it's a question of degree when talking about promoting a property - it's one thing to take the best possible photo, and if you're unlucky with the weather on the day and it's not convenient to return when the weather's better, to photoshop the sky - but to take an image of somewhere on the other side of the world is a bit of a quantum leap. :lol: Good luck with your rentals Brian and let's hope none of your guests is disappointed when they arrive!
Last edited by Giddy Goat on Wed Mar 19, 2008 5:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be
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enid
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Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2004 4:47 pm
Location: Labretonie France
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Post by enid »

Your video obviously aroused a lot of interest. It would have been interesting to see more of the commercials you have produced that could help make your point. The problem for me is that an obviously professionally produced video added on to a very average web site doesn't produce a state of the art web site. Putting your web site up for review is pointless unless you are going to take into account the views of the reviewers - even if you subsequently reject their advice.

The people who post on this site have an enormous wealth of experience of holiday rentals - they can't all be wrong about how to best attract clients.
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paolo
Posts: 3885
Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2004 1:18 pm
Location: Provence, France
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Post by paolo »

Brian wrote:you guys do too with amped up descriptions and touched up photos that exaggerate the property.
You haven't been to my house, or anyone else's, so that is a strange assumption to make. The most common reaction when people arrive at my house is "It's so much better than the website!". With yours it may be "It's nothing like the website!"
Paolo
Lay My Hat
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Jimbo
Posts: 3582
Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:41 am
Location: Charente Maritime

Post by Jimbo »

"To young men contemplating a voyage I say go."
And so Brian went. Which is a pity because I thought this topic was shaping up nicely into an interesting debate and Brian had a different take to most of us - which is always good. And it was valuable to have a rental owner from other than the usual locations. But you can't have a discussion with somebody who isn't prepared to stand his ground. So it's back to the photoshopping for me!

Jim
ravetildon
Posts: 205
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2005 2:11 am
Location: I love Travel! - We Are Based Around San Francisco, California

info

Post by ravetildon »

It is an interesting take on it tho. He's selling the amazing people you get when you arrive...

Definitely something to think about. I think I'd stick with filming an island where I lived tho for sure, unless maybe I put in a disclaimer. But that would probably take away form the video.
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

I agree, it was interesting, and he sort-of stood his ground, but neither convincingly, nor pleasantly in the end. And I don't know about on your PCs folks, but on my Mac the image quality was disappointingly blurred.

See you in Photoshop then Jim! :D
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be
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Rocket Rab
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Re: info

Post by Rocket Rab »

ravetildon wrote:It is an interesting take on it tho. He's selling the amazing people you get when you arrive...
:shock: Is he really? That is indeed an interesting take - I thought we were all in the business of selling rental homes...?
ravetildon
Posts: 205
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2005 2:11 am
Location: I love Travel! - We Are Based Around San Francisco, California

Re: info

Post by ravetildon »

I thought we were all in the business of selling rental homes...?
No, I don't think we are in the business of selling rental homes at all. We are in the experience business.

The amazing conversations your going to have with your family, your going to find a new found connection to your lover, the amazing dinners your going to have on the beach watching the sun go down, etc, etc....

[/quote]
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Rocket Rab
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Re: info

Post by Rocket Rab »

ravetildon wrote:No, I don't think we are in the business of selling rental homes at all. We are in the experience business.
That's a good point, RTD, and on this, I agree with you 100%. Obviously, we're each of us selling different experiences, but yes, you've got to sell the dream....
Brian
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:51 pm
Location: Bohol Philippines
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Paulo is a hypocrite

Post by Brian »

paolo wrote:
Brian wrote:you guys do too with amped up descriptions and touched up photos that exaggerate the property.
You haven't been to my house, or anyone else's, so that is a strange assumption to make. The most common reaction when people arrive at my house is "It's so much better than the website!". With yours it may be "It's nothing like the website!"
No assumptions, I've seen your website, and right out of the gate we get:
The Luberon region of Provence is France at its finest: spectacular countryside of vineyards and orchards; fascinating 'perched' hill-top villages; outstanding natural produce; and the light of van Gogh and Cezanne. This site aims to distill the whole of the Luberon, and recommend the best Provence vacation rentals too.
"Finest"? says who? you? HYPE

"Fascinating" villages? What's so fascinating? Probably like any village in France. HYPE HYPE HYPE

"Spectacular" countryside? What so spectacular? looks like any french countryside to me. MORE hype and exaggeration from Paolo.

"Light of Van Gogh"? Are you in France or Tahiti? This is a ludicrous line my friend. It's meaningless fluff intended to evoke a feeling of status and culture and sophistication. STay at Paolo's and you can be elegant too! Lining up behind Van Gogh hoping some of that cache rubs off and ends up as Euros in your bank account eh? Gee that sounds a bit like using a pretty hostess hoping some of her physical beauty in turn reflects back on my property. Welcome to the world of advertising Paolo, you've been living in it all along. You're not aboove it, you're IN it.

This is why I don't like you Paolo, you judge others, make snide comments/ sarcasm when you're doing exactly the same thing. You're hypocrite Paolo. I also like your photoshopping Paolo, what version are you using? good work.

Also, your claim that a dilapidated pier in the background is seducing people to my Villa is ludicrous. If I had time I'd paint that pier out, but I just don't have the time. There's nothing glamorous about an old pier Paolo, it's not infrastructure, it's an eyesore.

And Enid, I think your site is boring too. REALLY boring. How do you like them apples?

Great the way you guys treat newcomers here, I hate to imagine how you treat your guests. What do you do paulo, rummage through their luggage to make sure they don't have any inappropriate literature? I never would have signed up if I'd known this place was moderated by the Italian Doctor Laura. Now I know. Big mistake!
"To young men contemplating a voyage I say go." -Joshua Slocum
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Jimbo
Posts: 3582
Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:41 am
Location: Charente Maritime

Post by Jimbo »

Brian wrote (Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:20 pm):
I'm leaving this forum. Bye!
Brian wrote (Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 12:11 am):
I'm back! (or words to that effect - apologies to Arnie).
The first time that you flounce off a forum, it's kinda cool. 'Goodbye brain-dead pygmies' and all that stuff. But, when you come back for another pop, it sort of destroys the effect. Brian - if you gotta go - go now!

Jim

PS: Who the **** is Italian Doctor Laura?
A-two
Posts: 2091
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 10:05 am
Location: USA

Post by A-two »

Uh oh....now someone is in trouble..... :roll:

Brian has made the classic mistake of treating a factual documentary as if it's fictional drama. Film making is a language, and he's used the wrong one, which is frowned upon in the industry. That's why people go to film school. Folks who do book this villa will feel betrayed and mislead when they find out. If he's lucky, they won't sue. And find out they will, because the CA-for-Philippines shots are not sufficiently generic in nature to get away with it, they are shot too wide. I watched it again, and picked up a few problem areas:

1. The coastline with buildings is clearly visible, especially in the walking shot. Since it's not a James Bond movie, where anything goes, documentary convention would require a subtitle over that to say "California" , or it is understood to be the location that is being described. That's a no no in the language of documentary film making.

2. "Come to the Philippines" implies the narrator is there, otherwise it would be "Go to the Philippines". Again, this would be OK in a drama setting, or as a voice over narration, but is unacceptable where the narrator is in a clearly visible landscape.

3. The girl hanging off a rock ready to jump into the water while talking about the beautiful waters of the Philippines implies this is a photo of a girl in that location.

I'm fine with the interwoven stock photos of animal, bike, masseuse. These are all generic in nature.

I sense that what I am looking at here is a product from a technician who knows how to press buttons, but does not have the benefit of any professional production training. That would be fine is he hadn't crossed a major boundary line. It's extremely controversial to make a "Docudrama" in any situation, but for a vacation rental, which is basically tourism, it's pretty scary that anyone would even think it's acceptable to do this.

For video editing software, I recommend Windows Movie Maker as a very good place to start. It comes as standard on many PCs these days, you may even have it and not realize. You can certainly do everything that Brian has done here, and a lot more besides, it's really surprisingly good. My only criticism is that it can't handle high def, but for websites, that's not really an issue anyway.

For players to embed in a website, I use youtube of course, also I like Splashcast.net, both free. My camera is about as close to professional quality as you can get, but at home movie price - around $800. It's a Canon HV 20 and it shoots High Definition wide screen. The quality is amazing.

Finally, I notice that Brian did learn something here though....his sky is now blue, although it does look rather fake, which fits right in with the overall style. :roll:
Last edited by A-two on Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:27 am, edited 2 times in total.
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