Here at Sell My Timeshare NOW and Timeshare Broker Services, we feel like we’re having our own version of Super Bowl advertising excitement. We’ve launched our second new ad this week, which appears in print in The Resort Trades magazine, (page 37) in the February issue.

As you see in the ad, our message is simple and transparent.

“WHEN THE SOLUTION TO RESALES IS CRYSTAL CLEAR.

Transparency, reliability, and a proven track record of sales.”

Sell My Timeshare NOW and Timeshare Broker Services

(877) 815-4227 and (877) 884 9577

jaybade@sellmytimesharenow.com

We want to make it crystal clear where we stand on timeshare resale and rental services. As Vacation Hotdeal Companies, Inc, we offer services that target the many different types of timeshare needs.

SellMyTimeshareNOW.com is the recognized industry leader in by-owner timeshare resale and timeshare rental advertising and brokerage sales. Timeshare Broker Services is one of the most respected names in the business, providing brokerage services for buying or renting timeshare. And Vacation Property Solutions offers customized resale and rental solutions for timeshare developers, HOAs, and management companies.

…all delivered with our fullest commitment to quality service our clients can rely on.

Please look for this ad in The Resort Trades and other timeshare and vacation ownership publications.

The following article by Jason Tremblay is published here with the permission of The Resort Trades. Please visit their website to read more: www.theresorttrades.com

New Commerce and the Timeshare Buyer

The next timeshare buyer may never stop at an OPC kiosk. He or she may ignore the invitation that came in the mail offering a free weekend at a desirable resort, and is likely to let the sales calls from the developer go to voice mail … and stay there.

In a marketplace that is changing faster than most businesses can keep pace, the next wave of timeshare buyers will buy or rent in different ways, for different reasons, and via different transactional processes than any segment of shoppers – for any type of product – has done in the past. From shopping to reading books to selecting restaurants, consumers are making buying decisions in ways the business world has never before experienced. In the U.S. alone, some 80 percent of people have personal Internet access, with many others making use of an employer, friend or relative’s Internet service. But that barely scratches the surface of what new commerce means to timeshare. Just as the business world begins to get a handle on e-commerce, along comes “m-commerce” (buying on a mobile device) and “t-commerce” (buying on a tablet device). While at first glance these may all seem to be the same process, they are in fact, each a distinctly unique shopping and buying experience.

M-commerce, and to a lesser degree, t-commerce, gives consumers the capability to simultaneously interact with a business both in person and online. Buyers can use online coupons, tickets and discounts directly from their phone at an event, service location, or storefront. The potential to deliver targeted coupons and invitations to consumers because the consumer’s mobile phone has communicated that he or she is in the neighborhood of your resort is not futuristic stuff; it is already a reality.

Consider the dramatic consumer pattern changes that were evidenced in holiday shopping this past year, 2011. Where once the dawning of Christmas morning brought holiday shopping to a quiet pause, today’s connectivity has given rise to stores and businesses where the doors never close, the virtual sales staff never clocks out, and the transactions never stop. On Christmas Day alone, the dollar amount of purchases made over mobile devices was up nearly 173 percent over the sales transaction numbers for Christmas Day 2010. A total of 7 percent of all purchases made online on that day were t-commerce transactions, made specifically on iPads; 6.5 percent were m-commerce, made on iPhones. And these numbers only look at a portion of what was happening, with Android and other devices not accounted for in this research.

A website that offers an effective and enticing user experience is critical for most types of business. But almost overnight the visibility and usability of your site has become only a piece of the marketing paradigm. Some online businesses are reporting as much as 50 percent of their transactions occurring via a tablet or mobile device, a serious challenge when you consider that the functionality of many websites does not translate well, if at all, for mobile or tablet users.

And as much as the user experience is different from one type of Internet access device to another, so are the metrics for measuring their effectiveness. In the same way that page views and clicks must be measured for computer users, so must a consumer’s swipes and taps (what many refer to as “smudges and swipes”) be measured in t-commerce.

Yet the shifting sands of commerce involve more than the technology by which clients and prospective customers will reach us and we will reach them. Consumers do not use their phones and tablets in the same way they use desktop computers, nor do they access them under the same circumstances or for the same reasons. New commerce technology takes business into consumer’s lives at the most intimate of levels. Your next timeshare buyer may be curled up in bed surfing your inventory via a tablet. He or she may be accessing your mobile site while sitting in the doctor’s waiting room. Your opportunity to sell to this buyer may happen at midnight or on Christmas morning and the odds are high that neither you nor your sales team will have the opportunity to be personally involved with the transaction until it has reached its final stages, if then.

Business focus must be as much on creating a “personal” experience for consumers as on the technology behind the experience. Measuring clicks, taps, smudges and swipes is not enough. Business cannot lose sight of the human element. While the future of timeshare sales may lie in electronic exchanges in which the seller and buyer never make eye contact and never shake hands on their deal, this heightens the requisite that businesses find ways to make online engagement feel sincere, warm, personable and trustworthy.

As the technologies of new commerce evolve, timeshare sales, resales and rentals find themselves uniquely positioned. While there is strength and market depth in selling additional timeshare to those who already own the product, the vast breadth of the buying market for timeshares lies in consumers who have never owned a timeshare. In a world where there’s very little new for most consumers, timeshares are uncharted waters and a foreign, or at least misunderstood product in the eyes of most potential buyers.

As author and visionary Seth Godin recently blogged, “… teaching people to buy anything for the first time is a revolutionary concept. Campbell’s soup is almost never bought for the first time. It is a replacement purchase. No one switches to Campbell’s either. They buy it because their mom did.”

No can of soup, timeshares are much more a can of worms, and the timeshare industry has its work cut out for it. The industry’s future must be pinned on selling a reinvigorated timeshare product via an assortment of new commerce technologies to both the returning market and the revolutionary first time buyer.

(from Volume 26, No.2 February 5, 2012, The Resort Trades)

This could be your sweetest Valentine’s Day ever if you and your sweetie plan a getaway to Bluegreen timeshare’s The Suites at Hershey.

Spend Valentine’s Day at a romantic destination where the air is fragrant with chocolate. The community of Hershey, Pennsylvania, home to The Hershey Company, Bluegreen timeshare’s The Suites at Hershey, and all the chocolate-themed magic of Hersheypark, is known as the sweetest place on earth. Relaxing at Bluegreen’s The Suites at Hershey makes all that sweetness even sweeter.

Enjoy spacious, modern two-bedroom, two-bath accommodations, with kitchen and dining area. Explore the countryside of rural Pennsylvania, historic sites, charming shopping and dining venues and, of course, everything chocolate at Hersheypark. With a year-round indoor pool, seasonal outdoor pool, fitness center, comfy beds and romantic fireplaces, you and your Valentine can relax and enjoy your getaway or bring along all your “little Valentines” for a family fun vacation.

Great deals are available in Bluegreen timeshare and Bluegreen timeshare resales and rentals.

More Bluegreen timeshare and The Suites at Hershey news from The Timeshare Authority blog:

• Chocolate-ly Goodness, The Suites at Hershey Bluegreen Timeshare
• Bluegreens Hershey Timeshare Resort Hosting Fans of WWE SmackDown
• A Chocolate Flavored Timeshare Vacation
• Hershey Timeshares and Chocolate—It’s All Good News
• Cool Technology for Bluegreen Timeshare Owners, Good Move for the Industry

Bluegreen’s The Suites at Hershey are among an elite number of timeshare resorts that carry the RCI Gold Crown property designation.

It’s often the little things that matter most … and too often it’s the little things that slip through the cracks in business, ignored as companies focus on regulations, margins, and profitability.

So when Marriott Vacation Club timeshare asked its headquarters for a clever way for guests and timeshare owners to say, “Do Not Disturb,” they were giving attention to a little detail, that turned out to matter a lot. Their request yielded a series of door tags with twenty unique, appealing designs. The design shown in the photo here, complete with sheep, is “Still Counting,” which when you think about it, is a lot warmer and friendlier message than the traditional: Do Not Disturb.

Currently in use at 27 of Marriott Vacation Club’s North American timeshare resorts, the door tags are proving to be highly popular with vacationers. Marriott timeshare spokesperson James Woelbern says, “We found that our owners and rental guests like the signs so much, we end up replacing them often. We take it as a compliment.”

And it’s a well earned compliment, because for a miniscule cost difference between using a standardized door tag or creating charming customized tags, Marriott timeshare has created a way to differentiate itself  in a large, competitive marketplace.

If the tags make a guest smile then they are effective and beneficial. If they go home with guests and Marriott timeshare owners then they serve as a small bond between that person or family and a positive timeshare vacation experience. And if visitors see the tags in homes of Marriott owners, then the most powerful type of peer-to-peer marketing endorsement is inevitable as one friend shares with another, “Isn’t that cute? We brought it back from our last Marriott timeshare vacation. Did I tell you what a great time we had…”

C.A.R.E. (Cooperative Association of Resort Exchangers), a trade association that provides opportunities for vacation fulfillment and exchanges and for revenue enhancement through increased networking opportunities, announces that the American Resort Development Association has joined C.A.R.E. as an Associate member.

ARDA president and CEO, Howard Nusbaum says, “ARDA looks forward to sharing valuable industry information with C.A.R.E. members through increased opportunities. While we’ve participated in C.A.R.E. events in the past, becoming an Associate Member will enable ARDA to educate a broader audience about the policies that impact owners and efforts the industry is taking to protect the integrity of the product and the value of vacation ownership.”

Alain Carr, C.A.R.E. president says, “It is a great honor to welcome ARDA as a new member of our organization during my tenure as C.A.R.E.’s president. C.A.R.E. appreciates the participation of Howard Nusbaum and Jason Gamel at our conferences this past year, and C.A.R.E. has benefited from the knowledge and insight in our industry that they were generous enough to share with us. Because C.A.R.E.’s values are directly in line with ARDA’s, C.A.R.E. has always been a strong supporter of ARDA and has been directly responsible for many C.A.R.E. member companies becoming and maintaining memberships with ARDA. Reciprocally, ARDA has been extremely supportive of C.A.R.E. and our efforts to deliver outstanding vacation services to owners and members. We are very excited that ARDA is now a member of C.A.R.E. and we look forward to their continued support and dedication.”

C.A.R.E.’s membership is comprised of developers, wholesalers, travel clubs, HOA’s, timeshare resorts, and management and exchange companies. Its member companies offer inventory at over 2500 properties and service over one million vacation owners and members. For more information, visit www.care-online.org.

We are excited to share with you our company’s new ad, which appeared for the first time in the February 2012 issue of Developments Magazine from the American Resort Development Association (ARDA).

As the ad explains, we offer:

“Timeshare Resales You Can Say YES To.”

Because we’ve taken care of the “no’s”

No upfront fees.

No strings attached.

No kidding.

We deliver proven resort resale and rental solutions, customized to meet your needs and your high standard of customer care.

Your business. Your way. From a company you can trust.

We are proud of the ad, proud of what we accomplished since our founding in 2003–very proud of the customers we’ve served and the relationships we’ve built.

We wanted to take this opportunity to share this message with you, to invite you to watch for this advertisement and others we’ve produced that will be appearing this year in timeshare and vacation ownership industry publications.

And most of all, we want to invite you to do just what the ad suggests: Contact us at 317-213-2553 and find out more about how we help timeshare buyers, renters, sellers, developers, HOAs, resellers, and others who have inventory and seek to buy, rent, or sell timeshare.

…no kidding.

Read this month’s issue of Developments here: http://www.nxtbook.com/ygsreprints/ygs/g24005arda_dev_feb12/

With Signature Sponsors committed for the 2012 ARDA World Convention, excitement for the event continues to grow. Already over 3,000 attendees from some 35 countries worldwide are scheduled to attend, including international development organizations from around the world.

This year’s Signature Sponsors include: Holiday Inn Club Vacations, Interval International, Starwood Vacation Ownership, Hilton Grand Vacations Company, Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp., Capital One, HSI (Holiday Systems International), ICE, RCI, ResortCom International, TimeShareWare, and Wyndham Vacation Ownership.

Howard Nusbaum, ARDA president and CEO says, “We are grateful for the support we receive from our Signature Sponsors. These companies enable us to offer high-quality speakers and events, educational sessions, and networking opportunities at the largest timeshare event in the world.”

Scheduled for the Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, April 1-5, the 2012 ARDA World Convention and Exposition will bring a new, more globally focused outreach to the timeshare, fractional, and vacation ownership industry’s signature conference.

The schedule will feature several events that have become a tradition at the annual ARDA Conference, including:

• The RCI/AIF Open Golf Tournament at Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort, featuring the longest course in Nevada.
• Interval International’s annual “Party with a Cause” from which all ticket proceeds benefit the ARDA International Foundation, supporting and promoting the industry with research, education, and outreach.
• The ARDA Awards Gala, sponsored by Holiday Systems International (HSI), with formal dinner, presentation of the annual ARDA Awards, and live entertainment by comedian Tom Papa.

Visit this link to learn more about the 2012 ARDA World Convention and Exposition.

Last week Florida’s Timeshare Resale Accountability Act passed the Business and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee on Tuesday with a 14-0 vote. On Thursday, the bill’s Senate counterpart, SB 1408, received unanimous approval from the Regulated Industries Committee.

Rep. Eric Eisnaugle, R-Orlando, sponsors HB 1001. SB 1408 is sponsored by Sen. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando.

The bill has the support of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as well as that of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA).

Among other requisites, the proposed bill would prohibit a timeshare sales company from telling timeshare owners it has a buyer lined up unless the reseller provides the current timeshare owner with the name, address and telephone number of the potential buyer. The bill also provides for an “unwaivable right to cancel” within 10 days of a timeshare sale.

Uniform guidelines for timeshare resale services are much needed, and if structured fairly, should enhance the industry and strengthen consumer confidence in the product.

Previous news on The Timeshare Authority related to the proposed new Florida timeshare laws:

Timeshare resales: History will keep repeating itself until we finally get it right

Today in Timeshare from The Resort Trades

ARDA Supports the Proposed Florida Timeshare Resale Accountability Act

The facts speak for themselves. The following statistics are based on research from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and relate to the global tourism industry, which includes hotels, timeshare, travel, and all services related to tourism and hospitality.

• One American job is created for every 35 international visitors to the US.
• Impact of travel and tourism on the global gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to rise by 4.2 percent annually to US $9.226 trillion by 2021.
• Visitor exports—that’s the amount visitors spend in a given foreign country—will increase by 6.6 percent annually through 2021, rising to US $1.789 billion by 2021.
• In New York City alone, Brazilians tourists spent a total of $1.63 billion in 2011. Italians tourists spent $1.1 billion; Canadian tourists spent $1.27 billion and visitors to the Big Apple from the United Kingdom spent $1.42 billion. (Source: NYC & Co., the city’s tourism board.)
• Globally, over the next ten years, tourism is projected to add an additional 69 million net jobs to the world’s employment picture.

Your next timeshare vacation or holiday is good for your mental and physical well-being. It’s good for your employer because you return to work rejuvenated and more productive. Vacations and holidays are good for building bonds and strengthening relationships among those who share the experience. And tourism and travel are powerful tools for helping to restore the global economic picture.

An independent study conducted by Penn Schoen Berland on behalf of Marriott International was released this past week. The study surveyed over a thousand world travelers and thought leaders from Germany, Spain, Brazil, China, France, India, the United Kingdom and the US.

The results showed:

77 percent felt “the more people experience other countries and cultures, the more peace will spread.”

Describing our times as a “Golden Age of Travel,” Arne Sorenson, Marriott International’s CEO-elect and current president, reflects, “Travel opens up your mind (and) your heart … This survey shows it is also a powerful form of soft diplomacy in the world today.” Adding that Marriott applauds President Obama’s announcement to reform US visa and entry systems to welcome more international visitors, Sorenson said he believes, “… opportunities to do business and travel abroad are opening up like never before.” (See: Obama in Orlando With Plans to Boost International Tourism).

Timeshares Make it Easier to Explore the World

When you own timeshare, travel planning gets easier. You’ve made the commitment that travel, vacationing, leisure and exploring the world are important in your life. You’ve picked timeshare ownership with timeshare exchange or perhaps membership in a timeshare exchange service to enhance your commitment.

Timeshare owners can explore the world knowing that they have preplanned for accommodations where they will feel safe and comfortable, which makes their international travel planning simpler. With timeshare ownership it becomes easier to focus on the trip ahead; your energy is not consumed by tracking down hotels or condo rentals. Even those who rent timeshare benefit because timeshare rentals, whether in the US or abroad, afford some of the most competitively priced vacation and travel accommodations in the world today.

As part of the vast tourism industry, timeshares provide jobs worldwide, enriching the lives of individuals and families, supporting local economies, and strengthening  local and regional tax revenues. But far beyond the contribution of timeshare to the world’s economic picture are the more important factors of enhancing and encouraging travel and exploration of cultures and countries—they make it easier for people to open their eyes and subsequently their hearts.
As Mark Penn, CEO of Penn Schoen Berland and CEO of Burson-Marsteller explains,  “International travelers advance people’s understanding of different cultures and reinforce all that we as humans have in common with each other.”

Timeshares can, in fact, make a big world seem a whole lot smaller.