I subscribe to his blog and podcast because I'm interested in moving beyond income solely from the rental of my cottages toward other things to create additional income from our vacation rental web sites.

This makes vacation rental staging an important and integral part of a marketing strategy, and also makes it challenging.

Your vacation rental is a valuable asset and I am sure you have spent a lot of time on making the property perfect for your guests, and that you want to keep it that way. Letting your cottage to strangers has associated risks.

So, when I came across Alan Egan's, Rent More Weeks and his campaign to persuade owners to upgrade their listing and site images I was intrigued, and downloaded his free Vacation Rental Marketing Guide.

The benefits of adopting sustainable practices in vacation rentals are apparent on several levels. Creating energy efficiency in appliances, lighting and heating is more cost effective; it gives an opportunity to educate rental guests on your green initiatives, and creates a marketing opportunity.

Since my cottage is on a river that would be great for paddling, it got me thinking about this as a new niche market for attracting vacation rental clients.