Will a free week in Florida work?

Tim Swank · 05-04-2003, 09:51 PM

I need some opinions, I am not a salon owner, I am an aspiring marketer. And right now I am doing some quick and dirty market research of my own on whether an idea I have has merit. Hopefully I am acting within the parameters of decency in asking, if not, I hope no one is offended. I really am trying to act within the rules.

Would salon owners entertain the idea of promoting a website that handles Florida vacation rentals if they could get some advertising of their own done, receive some basic market research and, depending on their successful booking rate from their clientele, get a free week in a nice vacation rental (house with pool, not condos) in return?

Some of these things would be done on a fee basis and in add-on packages, such as the advertising and market research, but the free vacation week would simply be in exchange for booking success.

I have been that business owner that only got to take one vacation every 5 years, I thought this might be interesting to other small-business owners. And if a person didn't want to use the week themselves, I thought it would be an excellent contest prize, get some promotional work done for very little out of pocket. Let's face it a certain percentage of a salon's customers are going to go on vacation anyway, this way salon owners could benefit from activities they wouldn't usually benefit from. And I think Florida is a great tie-in for tanning salons.

I would like to stress that I do not have this site ready yet, I just want to know if it seems like a good idea. Maybe I can fine tune it before I put rubber to the road.

This also is not one of those stupid, enter our contest and we will sell, sell, sell, sell you a timeshare while you are on vacation. I am dealing with individual vacation rental home owners who simply want to get their homes rented out, period.

Thanks.

_________________
A true companion is loving all the time, and is a brother born for when there is distress.

[ This Message was edited by: Tim Swank on 2003-05-04 21:04 ][ This Message was edited by: Tim Swank on 2003-05-04 23:56 ]

jungle kitty · 05-04-2003, 10:45 PM

Hmmm....sounds interesting...Not surehow successful it would be. I know that I personally would prefer to focus on my tanning as opposed to selling vacations. However, if you had something where we could promote flyers or something and have some type of code for when people book, that would be easier for the salon owner while still spreading word of mouth for vacation packages.
JK

Tim Swank · 05-05-2003, 12:53 AM

Actually JK that was exactly what I was thinking, downloadable one-sheet flyers that an independent operation could just put in the bag or hand out along with the receipt. Believe me, I understand about not wanting to get too far away from the core operation. Simple is best, once they coded in, right there on-screen could be a pop-up promo offer for the retailer so that the customer would have incentive to return to the original place of purchase. Everything else would be taken care of on my end.

razzmatanz · 05-07-2003, 11:37 AM

Idea is cool and can work but 1. you gotta know what your doing 2. its gotta be easy to use and 3. no hassles for the customers. What is your connection to the florida rental market? Have you done internet marketing for that market before and id some websites we can look at. Do you have a company that handles these houses? How long you been in the market doing this?

Tim Swank · 05-07-2003, 05:31 PM

Umm, razzmatanz, I am just getting started. Some areas are still wild and wooly and the vacation rental market in the US is one of them, as currently put together it is only about 30 years old, and people still prefer hotels to rentals. Frankly I would like to depart from the kind of internet marketing you are seeing for VR now, I think it is part of the problem. What kind of business are you in, if I may? Just to let me know what level of discussion we are having.

razzmatanz · 05-07-2003, 11:45 PM

Wassup wit dat, T? Like I said, what are your connections? Is ok not to have experience and ok if its timeshare - jus say so.

Tim Swank · 05-08-2003, 03:23 PM

I said up front it is not timeshares, I have a relationship I do not want to discuss because it would open the door to all sorts of competition before I have had the chance to set up, I am honest but I ain't dumb. This board is not the safest of places to open up about a project. I despise timeshares, I am ABSOLUTELY NOT talking timeshares, and I thought I did say twice, and in this post twice more, that I am just getting started. The people I am dealing with, about 1000 of them, have a home, that they pay a mortgage on to a bank, just like the rest of us, and rent them out when they are not using them, that is not a timeshare, they have 100% availability to themselves and 100% responsibility for the maintenance and management for their home, which is often a 3b/2ba or 4b/3ba home with a pool, spa, and real yard in a residential area.

Razzy, buddy, now that I have answered your posts twice could you answer mine once? Are you in business, been in business, or just like to talk business? No shame, just trying to figure out where you are coming from. By the way, been to Zippy's recent?

razzmatanz · 05-08-2003, 04:45 PM

Hey, chill, T. He mea iki. "Ain't" like Saddam is listening in to get your idea. As for your question, "been there done that". If you wanted some help, hey whatever I could do. Only a mainlander would ask about Zippy's. Try the chili, brotha. How long is the timeshare presentation?

Tim Swank · 05-08-2003, 06:39 PM

Razzy, thorougly chilled, as chilled as you get in 100 degree weather in Florida.

Well the timeshare presentation is exactly 0 minutes long. I have nothing to do with 'em, so whatever floats your boat, I can't say it any plainer. But I know I signed up at the mall for one of those timeshare come-ons and so did a lot of other people I saw, which made me believe people would be interested in a trip to Florida as a promotion. Especially if it was completely on the level.

Having had a several ideas swiped out from underneath me in other discussions not nearly as public as broadcasting it over the internet, I am a little guarded. I am a moderator on a board and we have several of these owners on it. I am just rrying to figure out a way for these small-business owners to benefit from a relationship with other small-business owners, because that is where my experience and loyalty lies. I don't like big operators that take advantage and try and kill all of us small-business people when they get greedy. I also have a responsibility to the board not to open up a big kettle of fish, so any further request for info is not going to be honored with a reply.

I don't know Zippy's was not anything I would like to eat as a mainlander, I preferred the sai-min, only an islander would think Zippy's chili was any good. Seeing as how that was a test of whether you were really from Hawaii, I reckon you pass. But I have a very high estimation of their strawberry milkshakes, not bad at all.

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05-04-2003, 09:51 PM	#1 (permalink)
Tim Swank Join Date: Mar 5 2003 Posts: 15 Rep Power: 0	I need some opinions, I am not a salon owner, I am an aspiring marketer. And right now I am doing some quick and dirty market research of my own on whether an idea I have has merit. Hopefully I am acting within the parameters of decency in asking, if not, I hope no one is offended. I really am trying to act within the rules. Would salon owners entertain the idea of promoting a website that handles Florida vacation rentals if they could get some advertising of their own done, receive some basic market research and, depending on their successful booking rate from their clientele, get a free week in a nice vacation rental (house with pool, not condos) in return? Some of these things would be done on a fee basis and in add-on packages, such as the advertising and market research, but the free vacation week would simply be in exchange for booking success. I have been that business owner that only got to take one vacation every 5 years, I thought this might be interesting to other small-business owners. And if a person didn't want to use the week themselves, I thought it would be an excellent contest prize, get some promotional work done for very little out of pocket. Let's face it a certain percentage of a salon's customers are going to go on vacation anyway, this way salon owners could benefit from activities they wouldn't usually benefit from. And I think Florida is a great tie-in for tanning salons. I would like to stress that I do not have this site ready yet, I just want to know if it seems like a good idea. Maybe I can fine tune it before I put rubber to the road. This also is not one of those stupid, enter our contest and we will sell, sell, sell, sell you a timeshare while you are on vacation. I am dealing with individual vacation rental home owners who simply want to get their homes rented out, period. Thanks. _________________ A true companion is loving all the time, and is a brother born for when there is distress. [ This Message was edited by: Tim Swank on 2003-05-04 21:04 ][ This Message was edited by: Tim Swank on 2003-05-04 23:56 ]

05-04-2003, 10:45 PM	#2 (permalink)
jungle kitty Join Date: Jan 8 2003 Location: DFW Posts: 466 Rep Power: 6	Hmmm....sounds interesting...Not surehow successful it would be. I know that I personally would prefer to focus on my tanning as opposed to selling vacations. However, if you had something where we could promote flyers or something and have some type of code for when people book, that would be easier for the salon owner while still spreading word of mouth for vacation packages. JK

05-05-2003, 12:53 AM	#3 (permalink)
Tim Swank Join Date: Mar 5 2003 Posts: 15 Rep Power: 0	Actually JK that was exactly what I was thinking, downloadable one-sheet flyers that an independent operation could just put in the bag or hand out along with the receipt. Believe me, I understand about not wanting to get too far away from the core operation. Simple is best, once they coded in, right there on-screen could be a pop-up promo offer for the retailer so that the customer would have incentive to return to the original place of purchase. Everything else would be taken care of on my end.

05-07-2003, 11:37 AM	#4 (permalink)
razzmatanz Join Date: May 6 2003 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	Idea is cool and can work but 1. you gotta know what your doing 2. its gotta be easy to use and 3. no hassles for the customers. What is your connection to the florida rental market? Have you done internet marketing for that market before and id some websites we can look at. Do you have a company that handles these houses? How long you been in the market doing this?

05-07-2003, 05:31 PM	#5 (permalink)
Tim Swank Join Date: Mar 5 2003 Posts: 15 Rep Power: 0	Umm, razzmatanz, I am just getting started. Some areas are still wild and wooly and the vacation rental market in the US is one of them, as currently put together it is only about 30 years old, and people still prefer hotels to rentals. Frankly I would like to depart from the kind of internet marketing you are seeing for VR now, I think it is part of the problem. What kind of business are you in, if I may? Just to let me know what level of discussion we are having.

05-07-2003, 11:45 PM	#6 (permalink)
razzmatanz Join Date: May 6 2003 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	Wassup wit dat, T? Like I said, what are your connections? Is ok not to have experience and ok if its timeshare - jus say so.

05-08-2003, 03:23 PM	#7 (permalink)
Tim Swank Join Date: Mar 5 2003 Posts: 15 Rep Power: 0	I said up front it is not timeshares, I have a relationship I do not want to discuss because it would open the door to all sorts of competition before I have had the chance to set up, I am honest but I ain't dumb. This board is not the safest of places to open up about a project. I despise timeshares, I am ABSOLUTELY NOT talking timeshares, and I thought I did say twice, and in this post twice more, that I am just getting started. The people I am dealing with, about 1000 of them, have a home, that they pay a mortgage on to a bank, just like the rest of us, and rent them out when they are not using them, that is not a timeshare, they have 100% availability to themselves and 100% responsibility for the maintenance and management for their home, which is often a 3b/2ba or 4b/3ba home with a pool, spa, and real yard in a residential area. Razzy, buddy, now that I have answered your posts twice could you answer mine once? Are you in business, been in business, or just like to talk business? No shame, just trying to figure out where you are coming from. By the way, been to Zippy's recent?

05-08-2003, 04:45 PM	#8 (permalink)
razzmatanz Join Date: May 6 2003 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	Hey, chill, T. He mea iki. "Ain't" like Saddam is listening in to get your idea. As for your question, "been there done that". If you wanted some help, hey whatever I could do. Only a mainlander would ask about Zippy's. Try the chili, brotha. How long is the timeshare presentation?

05-08-2003, 06:39 PM	#9 (permalink)
Tim Swank Join Date: Mar 5 2003 Posts: 15 Rep Power: 0	Razzy, thorougly chilled, as chilled as you get in 100 degree weather in Florida. Well the timeshare presentation is exactly 0 minutes long. I have nothing to do with 'em, so whatever floats your boat, I can't say it any plainer. But I know I signed up at the mall for one of those timeshare come-ons and so did a lot of other people I saw, which made me believe people would be interested in a trip to Florida as a promotion. Especially if it was completely on the level. Having had a several ideas swiped out from underneath me in other discussions not nearly as public as broadcasting it over the internet, I am a little guarded. I am a moderator on a board and we have several of these owners on it. I am just rrying to figure out a way for these small-business owners to benefit from a relationship with other small-business owners, because that is where my experience and loyalty lies. I don't like big operators that take advantage and try and kill all of us small-business people when they get greedy. I also have a responsibility to the board not to open up a big kettle of fish, so any further request for info is not going to be honored with a reply. I don't know Zippy's was not anything I would like to eat as a mainlander, I preferred the sai-min, only an islander would think Zippy's chili was any good. Seeing as how that was a test of whether you were really from Hawaii, I reckon you pass. But I have a very high estimation of their strawberry milkshakes, not bad at all.

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