Your listing on WineryInn.com will allow thousands of visitors to view your property on the site. However, turning site visitors into paying guests is easier with a fresh, attractive listing and good follow-up to inquiries. Here are some hints that have helped many WineryInn.com advertisers increase the success rates.

1. Creating Your Listing

Creating high-quality writing and photography requires time and effort, but experience shows that good copy and compelling photos improve rental bookings.

Write Clear, Concise Copy

The WineryInn.com advertising format provides space for up to 100 words of copy. Organizing the most important ideas first is critical. Think of your listing as a pyramid, with the key points first and details added as you progress.

• Headline - this should capture attention and include words that a person would use to find your property using a search engine. The headline should be short, and well-crafted while summarizing the type of property and its most important selling feature. For example, "Charming cottage within walk of winery." Or "Log cabin at Ski Area Shuttle stop."
• Property Description - this provides a more detailed description. Include location, accommodations, proximity to attractions, and most compelling features, such as fireplace, outdoor beach shower, details about the location, rental rates, and a checklist of accommodations and amenities.
• Further Details - here is where you can add small details that set your property apart but are not covered in the top of the listing. You can fill in the bottom of the page and even purchase an additional extra page of text if you wish. Remember that your photographs will also provide a good look at the property and Internet visitors prefer not to read volumes of text, so shorter is better. It helps to include a Guest Book section as well, so you can add compliments from previous guests.
• Consistency - be sure to be consistent in your copy! Contradictions -- quoting four bedrooms in the text and entering one double and two twin bedded rooms in the amenities page -- will lead to confusion and concerns about other potential inaccuracies in your listing. It's a good idea to draft copy in your word processing package first. When you are satisfied with it, cut and paste the text into the appropriate text boxes on the input screen.

Style:

• Use Standard Capitalization - capitalize the first word of a sentence, place names, and proper nouns. Otherwise, use lower-case letters for all words. Do not use all capital letters for headlines! In internet etiquette, this is the equivalent of shouting.
• Write Short, but Clear Complete Sentences - the length of copy in each section is restricted at the beginning of the listing because Web site visitors will not read extensive copy when they first visit a listing. If you capture visitors' interest with a compelling headline and short description, it is more likely that they will read on. There is plenty of space in the rest of the listing format and to date, no advertiser has been unable to fully describe his or her property.
• Avoid Abbreviations - unlike newspaper classified listings, an Internet listing is not charged by the number of characters. Have fun describing the real benefits and pleasures of staying at your property.
• Use Plain English - remember that people of all nationalities will read your listing and English may be their second language. Avoid slang, jargon, colloquialisms or abbreviations they may not understand.
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Choose great photos

A picture is worth a thousand words and the Internet is a visual medium. Photographs are the most important selling features of your listing. You can use a professional photographer, but most of the photos on WineryInn.com are taken by the owners themselves.

The quality of your photos is very important to potential renters!

Follow these guidelines for the best quality photos.

• Upload photographs automatically. For details on how to upload photos, refer to the WineryInn.com Guide to Loading Photographs

Quote Realistic Rental Rates

• Keep rental rates clear, simple, and realistic. You can view a number of properties that are similar to yours and quickly determine a competitive rate.
• Keep rate bands simple six or seven should adequately cover different seasons
• The less expensive property of two apparently similar properties will be booked first. If filling your bookings early is important, quote lower rates.
• If your rate is higher than other properties in your area, be sure that photos and copy communicate the value of a higher price, better location, more comprehensive facilities, extraordinary quality of furnishing, or other special features.
• You can also start the season with higher prices and reduce them later in the season, or run special offers at any time.

Confirm the Accuracy of Your Contact Information

Be sure that your email address, telephone, fax, and mobile telephone numbers are correct. Once your listing is live, send yourself an e-mail inquiry to confirm that you correctly receive booking inquiries. If you move, or spend time away from your contact location, you can change your contact information at any time.

Use Appropriate Extra Services

• Extra photos: Photos are FREE on WineryInn.com. You can display unlimited photos.

Fill in all the boxes

Your listing will not go live on the site unless it has all the key information and at least one photo of the property. See Setting up your listing. However it is important to fill as many of the text boxes as is appropriate - don't forget the "Guest Book" in the further details. Also, please click all the appropriate property/location/activity boxes as these will determine whether your property will appear in certain searches.

2. Maintaining your listing

Unlike print advertisements, which cannot be changed once they are published, it is easy to update your WineryInn.com listing. Keeping the listing fresh and assuring that photos are current enables you to test or fine-tune your descriptions for improving the number of rental inquiries you receive. It also enables you to assure that current availability and rental rate information is accurate.

Update and Confirm Property Availability

It is essential that you update or confirm your availability regularly to prevent misleading potential renters and to assure that your property appears near the top of the search results as often as possible.

Changes made to your property's availability are reflected immediately. For example, if you book the week of June 1-6, your property listing will immediately show that it is booked for that week. This helps ensure that prospective renters have an accurate understanding of your property's availability when they check the chart.

Properties delivered in search results are listed by those with the most recently confirmed availability first. However, while the availability chart will be immediately updated, it may take the WineryInn.com system at least 30 minutes to re-order search results lists to reflect the change in availability. And to prevent abuse of the system, properties only go to the top of the search results if more than seven days have elapsed since the availability was last updated or confirmed. This means every property has the opportunity to go to the top of the relevant search results no more than once a week.

If you wish to update your property's availability after seven days have elapsed, even though these is no actual change to the availability, you can do so. Re-enter the availability for at least one day and confirm it by clicking the "Update" button. Simply clicking "Update" will not correctly update the listing.

Please do not mark your dates as available if they are booked. If people do have flexibility on dates, they will not use the availability feature. But if you mark your property as available when it is actually booked, then you will be wasting the time and money of a potential customer who contacts you, as well as undermining the credibility of the whole site. If WineryInn.com suspects that an advertiser is marking a booked property as available, the site reserves the right to take action to prevent it.

Eliminate "Unknown Availability"

It is important that you change the availability from the default status of "Unknown." If your availability is left as "Unknown," your property will appear on the search results in searches for those dates but at the bottom of the list, after all available properties. Always check to ensure that there are no gray "unknown" boxes on your availability chart.

Keep rental rates current

You can enter rental rates as often as you like -- up to two years in advance. The rates you enter are specific to dates in a given year. If all the rental rates you have entered have expired, no rates will appear in the search results or in your listing. This is another good reason to ensure that your rental rates are kept current!

Refresh copy and photos

You can update the copy in your listing at any time, at no charge. This is often worthwhile. For example, you may find that inquiries consistently ask the same question about your property. Change your listing to include the information people are seeking. You may add a new facility, discover a great attraction in your area, or receive a glowing comment for your guest book. All of these items can be easily added to your text. It is also a good idea to refresh your photos -- especially after you redecorate, change furniture, or as gardens grow or change with the seasons. This attention to detail provides guests with a much better picture of what they might expect during a stay.

3. Responding to Renter Inquiries

People who visit WineryInn.com send an average of two inquiries. A fast, professional response can help ensure that your property is the one they book.

Reply Promptly

The Internet is an immediate medium and Internet users tend to expect immediate response from their inquiries. One reason that WineryInn.com does not offer online booking is because advertisers and the site visitors usually prefer to make contact with each other, ask questions, and feel comfortable with each other before booking. Therefore, the faster you reply to inquiries, the more important you will make the renter feel, and the more likely you are to get the booking.

Supply Extra Information

It is a good idea to include well-written follow-up details with your response to email inquires. At this stage, people are interested in your property and extra bits of information will influence their decision. For example, you might mention a wonderful seasonal feature, the opening of a new restaurant or attraction, or a new addition or upgrade to the property. Information that increases their familiarity with the area or piques interest significantly affects a booking decision.

Be Enthusiastic

Show genuine interest in the winery lover and enthusiasm for your investment. If you are not enthusiastic about the delights of your property, you cannot expect other people to want to rent it. Be patient and courteous, even if the answer to a question is already given on your listing. Sometimes people feel more comfortable hearing facts again and hearing them from the owner, even though they can read the listing.

Create. Update. Radiate Enthusiasm.

Marketing success depends largely on your willingness to take a little time to portray your property in its best light and follow up enthusiastically with inquiries. As you continue in your business, you will undoubtedly learn other tips and techniques for providing a delightful stay for your guests. We at WineryInn.com wish you success and hope that these tips will help you experience success more quickly.