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/

Author Christopher Elliott had a blog post recently, titled: 12 Things You Shouldn’t Do in 2012. Everything he recommends is a well-placed word to the wise. You might think, here on The Timeshare Authority blog, we wouldn’t be quoting Elliott, who as a consumer advocate has been known to warn his readers about timeshare sales.

But frankly, we agree with many of the points Elliott raises in general and also in his new book, Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. To his credit, he doesn’t echo the often-said, never-correct message that all timeshares are bad, or that consumers are less than smart for buying them. Instead, he tells consumers not to buy timeshares (or anything else) under pressure. He goes so far as to say that in his opinion, buying timeshare can lead to regrets, but he points out there are reasons for these regrets:

• Timeshares come with fees. If you understand before you buy that your timeshare will be subject to an annual fee that will increase over time, and that other, additional fees can be placed on your timeshare over the years you own it, then you are going into your purchase as an educated buyer.
• Timeshares depreciate. You should understand this before you buy your timeshare. Depreciation doesn’t stop you from buying automobiles, electronics, or jewelry, but you won’t be happy if you buy timeshare expecting it to increase in value.
• Timeshares have rules. While Elliott calls these unreasonable rules, these rules probably fall more into the category of many other “unreasonable rules” such as those issued by airlines, hotels, restaurants, and other service industries. The rules are in place to enhance the way the product works for the greatest number of people using it. They won’t always work for everyone. There may be rules you don’t like or rules that don’t work for you. And if you buy timeshare expecting there to be no rules at all, you will be disappointed.

It’s this simple: when you buy a product that you haven’t researched, that you buy under pressure, and without fully understanding what you are buying, you can wind up with regrets. And this is true whether you are purchasing a timeshare, a television, or a toaster; it’s just that in most cases, your expenditure for the timeshare is much greater than it is for a TV and unlike a toaster, if you are truly dissatisfied, you can’t just walk to the trash and throw away your timeshare.

There is no one size fits all. It doesn’t exist in clothing, real estate, or consumer services and it certainly doesn’t apply when it comes to vacations and vacation ownership. When it comes to the truth about timeshares, don’t believe sales hype that isn’t logical and don’t believe negative criticisms that are the result of critics piling on a topic they don’t understand.

As Groucho Marx said, “Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?” … Do your own research before you buy timeshare. Understand the rules, investigate the fees, ask current and past owners, and take a timeshare rental vacation at the property where you are considering becoming an owner.

Over 80 percent of timeshare owners say they are satisfied with their purchase; many are so happy with one timeshare that they go on to purchase two, three, or more timeshares or timeshare resales. When it comes to timeshares, there really aren’t 12 things you shouldn’t do; there is only one. Don’t be an uneducated, impulsive buyer.

Yes, Sell My Timeshare NOW and Timeshare Broker Services have always been your best resource for last minute timeshare vacation rental hot deals, but in recent months these deals have gotten easier for you to explore and even hotter than ever before.

Featured on the homepage of www.sellmytimesharenow.com, Amazing Last Minute Deals are timeshare vacation rentals you can book and enjoy even at the very, very last minute. Because these timeshare rentals are listed chronologically, with the closest rental dates first, you can find a great deal—an amazing deal—on a vacation property, and start your holiday as soon as tomorrow, if you like.

AMAZING LAST MINUTE DEALS ARE:

• Easy to book and make vacation and travel planning simpler than ever.
• Offered by owners, resorts, agents, or HOAs that are highly anxious to book this timeshare rental for you.
• Available (typically) for a full 7-day, 6-night vacation but may also be negotiated for a shorter 2, 3 or 4-night vacation. Some may even be available as overnight rentals (you never know until you ask!).
• Offered at rock bottom rental prices yet are at all your favorite or soon-to-be favorite vacation destinations, with spacious accommodations and great amenities.
• Afford you the best deals out there for a luxury vacation at a discount price.
• Ready to rent NOW!

When you wonder how others afford those fabulous vacations you never seem to be able to take; here’s your answer: LAST MINUTE RENTAL DEALS from Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Do you have a timeshare advertised for sale or rent through Sell My Timeshare NOW? If so, we invite you… urge you… to visit our Facebook page and talk about it!

Here’s an example of what one Sell My Timeshare NOW client posted on our corporate Facebook page:

MONICA NARVAEZ

TIMESHARE FOR SALE OR RENT IN DOWNTOWN ORLANDO, FLORIDA, http://www.sellmytimesharenow.com/timeshares/index/

content/details/AdNumber/205367/ FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ANY QUESTIONS.

As quickly as a status update and at no additional cost to her, this timeshare owner expanded the visibility of her Westgate Lakes Resort and Spa Phase II timeshare for sale or rent ad. Because Monica included her SellMyTimeshareNOW.com Ad Number (# 205367) with a direct hyperlink to the ad, we can recognize her as our client, and are delighted to help her share her ad.

Other Facebook friends and visitors will use the ad number and hyperlink, which she included, to take them to the ad page on our Sell My Timeshare NOW website, which is the ad for her specific property. On that page, interested buyers and renters can learn more about the resort’s features and amenities. By taking a moment to post her timeshare ad on our Facebook page, Monica increased the exposure her timeshare for sale or rent will receive proportionally by the power of Facebook.

Do you have a Sell My Timeshare NOW ad for timeshare for sale or rent?

We encourage you to add it to our Facebook page. Just go to: https://www.facebook.com/SellMyTimeshareNOW.

Be sure you “Like” Us and then share the message of your timeshare resale or timeshare rental. Remember, you must include your valid Sell My Timeshare NOW ad number and/or hyperlink to that ad page or your ad will not remain in the publicly visible section of our Facebook page.

Like the idea? Please remember to “Like” us, too… Because we really like the idea of you adding your ad on our page!

The following article appears in this month’s issue of The Resort Trades and is republished here with their permission.  We hope you will also read it online or in their print publication.

Timeshare: 2012 means the need for more cowbell

By Jason Tremblay

Presuming that the prognostications for a year 2012 doomsday are in error, there is still much about the upcoming year that promises to be remarkable, even watershed in its impact on all our lives.

Here in the U.S., in 2012, we will elect (or re-elect) a president and for a while, we will discuss it daily – hourly. Other changes will happen that we will pay much less attention to because change has become so normal that we only notice if the changing stops. The IRS, the USGA, and the NCAA will all tinker with their rules and regulations, Apple will introduce yet another version of the iPhone, and Facebook will change a little or a lot, and most likely will change both a little AND a lot.

But what will the year 2012 mean to the timeshare industry? What will change in timeshare and vacation ownership sales, resales, and rentals?

The truth is, these are the wrong questions to ask. The better, more insightful questions are:

• What will 2012 bring for current timeshare owners that will make buying, owning, renting, and selling timeshare an easier, more flexible and more trustworthy process?

• And the far tougher question to answer; how do we get there from here, creating an owner-centric product and industry?

Timeshares: we are already behind

Much of the timeshare industry is just getting used to the idea that consumers buy and rent timeshare online. In 2011, online response to retail promotions (for all types of retail sales, not exclusively timeshare and vacation accommodations) increased by 33 percent over 2010. Consumer spending for online purchases in the first three quarters of 2011 was up 13 percent over the same period in the previous year. This translates to nearly $125 billion and that number does not include the seasonally strong sales of November and December 2011.

Just as many timeshare developers and others have finally come to grasp that search engines define user experience, 2012 will hit with the revelation that timeshare consumers, as Internet users, now define the search engine experience.

For a nanosecond in the timeline of Internet experience, businesses realized that content was king and were able to go for it. And just as we’ve all become vaguely comfortable with blogging, videoing, and otherwise creating Internet content, we are being presented with the reality that content creation has become secondary to content curation. We have become what Steven Rosenbaum, founder and CEO of magnify.net, describes as a “curation nation” where those who can quantify, parse, and categorize the surging data stream of content are fast becoming the definers of what succeeds and what fails in business today.

Pursued by data

Where once we went in search of data, data now searches for us. Social media brings a stream – a torrent – of information that follows us from our computers to our tablets to our phones, television sets, and automobiles. If you haven’t recently been through the appliance section at your local big box store, you may be surprised to learn that today’s refrigerators not only deliver ice and water to the door, but a touch screen data center with Internet access as well. Information now pursues us and remarkably, we like it that way.

In the past year, mobile Internet searches have quadrupled, and for many items, one in seven searches is now made from a mobile device. Users of smart phones have now downloaded apps nearly 11 billion times and the demand for mobile apps is not expected to peak until sometime in 2013 – that is unless nuances unfold to create even more demand for even more apps, which is of course entirely likely.

Set fire to the rulebook

The timeshare industry can be like other groups that strive to write and incessantly refine rulebooks by which to guide, govern and control their members/users and marketplaces. If we stick with that path, we will become annoying, misunderstood, and outdated. And if you troll around in public perception, listening to how often and how brutally timeshares and timeshare sales are the butt of some pretty pathetic jokes, then you may even come to the conclusion that the industry, as it stands, is already annoying, misunderstood, and outdated in the minds of many.

We have to step down as conductors. The world is changing almost faster than we can process the change. Timeshares are a truly great product, challenged only by questionable marketing and sales models.
Consumers are going to define how vacation ownership is used and enjoyed. Current owners and future buyers and renters will dictate the product, its terms, how we market it to them and even how it is bought, rented or sold.

We have to stop orchestrating. The bell is already tolling; this is the reality of business in the year 2012. Let’s embrace and respond to a new tune. Timeshares need more cowbell and the marketplace is playing our song.

In the midst of double digit unemployment and the most unstable US economy since the great Depression, gainfully employed people are walking away from their jobs.

Alexandra Levit, a former nationally-syndicated business and workplace columnist for The Wall Street Journal and the author of Blind Spots: The 10 Business Myths You Can’t Afford to Believe on Your New Path to Success, writes about this phenomenon in an article titled, “Good Culture Is In, Inflated Salaries Are Out.”

Ms. Levit says, “Employees at all levels—especially women—are stepping away from positions that will pay them the highest salary, and moving into ones that provide them a better quality of life.”

She goes on to explain that satisfaction with one’s life and one’s income really has little correlation by using the following example:  Certain  global surveys have asked people to rank how satisfied they are with their lives on a  scale from 1 to 7 with 1 being “not at all satisfied with my life” and 7 being “completely satisfied with my life”.

American multimillionaires ranked at an average score of 5.8, which doesn’t sound surprising one way or the other until you realize that the Masai people of Kenya, Africa, who live without electricity or water, and spend their lives herding cattle, also score 5.8.

Life is short and our days are precious. The security of a home, job, and savings are important. But so are the gifts we give ourselves in life … time with those we love, sunsets across quiet water and sunrise on the mountain top. You may never own a second home, or even a first. But do everything in your power to step back from your routine, to duck out of the rat race, every now and then.

So what if you can’t buy a cabin in the mountains? Buy a timeshare resale, load up your kids and the dog, and for one week a year be the “owners” of that mountain getaway. Perhaps your demands are so great you cannot take a week away from your job. That’s okay, too. Take a couple of days or a long weekend in a timeshare rental; you won’t even have to pay to eat out. Just get away. Take a holiday. Give yourself a break.

… Because you won’t find happiness in a paycheck or a bankbook. You’ll find it in the moments where you break free and create everlasting memories with those you love most.

“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” Thomas Jefferson

High-energy people often say, “You make your own luck.” As it turns out, researchers are proving that statement may be overwhelmingly accurate. Here’s how it works:

Expectation drives results. If you woke up this morning thinking, “oh no, it’s Friday the 13^th” then you may have set yourself up for bad luck and negative experiences. But if, on the other hand, you bounded out of bed this morning saying, “Thank goodness it’s Friday the 13^th, my lucky day!” then you very likely laid the groundwork for good luck and positive experiences.

Research proves that people who expect good results are more likely to receive them than are people who expect poor results. But this is less about your capability to control the universe and more about your beliefs driving your own self confidence, actions, and ultimately your success. As Professor Ben Fletcher, PhD, and  a specialist in the study of how behavioral changes improve your lot in life, explains, “It’s not that there’s some magic to any of this. Expectancy is a real driver of behavior.”

Lucky People Keep Getting Luckier

Lucky people expect positive results therefore they act in ways that set themselves up to experience these and other positive outcomes. When opportunities avail themselves, lucky people are open to seeing them. “Unlucky” people are often so focused on avoiding or dealing with misfortune they anticipate experiencing that they miss the open door of possibilities.

Dr. Richard Wiseman, author of The Luck Factor, tested the theory that unlucky people are essentially blinded to opportunity. He asked a group of test subjects to identify whether they were lucky or unlucky. Then he gave all of the subjects a copy of the same newspaper and asked them to count the photos in the paper. Published in the paper was also a large ad that said, “Tell the experimenter that you have seen this and win $250.”

The majority of the self-identified lucky people saw the ad; the majority of those who had identified themselves as unlucky, missed it.

How to be Lucky in Timeshares

With all the bad press about timeshare fraud, you could easily be deterred from taking advantage of the great deals in timeshare resales and timeshare rentals. In the process, you would miss some of the most affordable vacation options out there. You would wind up continuing to take your holidays in a crowded hotel room or on the pullout couch at Aunt Louise and Uncle Henry’s house. But isn’t it time you stop letting other people have all the good luck?

Get lucky by first doing your self-analysis of what really matters most to you in a vacation. Decide if you want luxury, entertainment, or a quiet retreat. Consider when you can be available to holiday… can you go any time of the year or are you restricted by work or school holidays? Decide whether you want to be able to leave your vacation ownership property to your heirs or whether you are just fine to use it and enjoy it now, without planning it as a bequest to your children. Lastly, think about how you like to vacation now and how those preferences will change over time. For instance, will your kids always love a theme park vacation or one day will they prefer to hit the ski slopes instead?

Now do your research. There are thousands of timeshare resorts available, of all sizes, locations, terms of ownership, and level of amenities. There are great deals in new timeshare and even better deals in timeshare resales and timeshare rentals.

Be lucky. Claim your own good fortune in the form of easy vacation planning, great experiences, wonderful memories, and time you spend relaxing, recharging, and reenergizing your life. Approach timeshares with your eyes wide open to all the opportunities.

After all, with 2012 being a year we hit the max number of Friday the 13ths, wouldn’t it be excellent is that just happened to be your lucky day?

Contact us at Sell My Timeshare NOW and Timeshare Broker Services. We will help you plan a fortuitous vacation experience for Friday, April 13, 2012; Friday July 13, 2012; or any other “lucky” day of the year.

More on the subject:

How To Make Your Own Luck a Fast Company Interview with Dr. Richard Wiseman on the topic of Luck.

As 2011 draws to a close, all of us at Sell My Timeshare NOW and Timeshare Broker Services wish you and your family a safe, peaceful, and joyous New Year’s Eve.

If you have been among the thousands of clients we have been privileged to serve this year, we thank for permitting us to help you. If you are considering finding out more about the opportunities of vacation ownership, or are looking to sell or rent timeshare real estate you currently own, we hope you will consider us.

We will do our very best to provide you the highest level of service in your timeshare or fractional transaction and we will do so with respect and integrity.

Across America and around the world, people will be welcoming in the new year with hope that 2012 brings  unity, prosperity and health to all. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.”

As 2011 nears its end and 2012 awaits, we thought we’d look back at the top 5 timeshare resales and rentals for the year.

These popular vacation resorts all earned their ranking in the top 5 based on the overall number of offers to buy or rent made through Timeshare Broker Services and SellMyTimeshareNOW.com listings and ads.

Four of the five top timeshares are coastal or island destinations although their beaches vary from the Caribbean to the Pacific. All five represent top names in vacation ownership, but it’s important to remember that there are thousands of other fabulous resorts that didn’t happen to make this year’s Top 5, but are just as ideal for your next vacation or getaway.

You are invited to view the Top 5 List revealed in the slides below and then to visit us at www.timesharebrokerservices.com or www.sellmytimesharenow.com to learn more about these 5 resorts as well as to peruse all the great vacation opportunities we offer.

Vacations matter. They clear our minds, restore our bodies, enhance our relationships and create lifelong memories to cherish. Along with your intent to lose weight, exercise more, save money, and clean the garage, how about adding a very positive intent to your 2012 Resolutions?

How about making this your year you finally start taking the vacation time you need, deserve and have so rightfully earned?

The number of reasons you may be (or should be) shopping for a vacation rental right now are numerous. Perhaps you are traveling for the holidays. Maybe you want to ring in 2012 in a very special place this year. You might simply be in seasonal overload and in search of a getaway. Or this could be the year you’ve decided to give a gift to create memories that last long after other gifts have been unwrapped and set aside.

But you may not realize that you can give (or enjoy) a vacation getaway so affordably by taking advantage of a timeshare rental.

Frankly, those of us in the timeshare industry and vacationers who have discovered the value of timeshare rentals are always amazed that so many smart travelers don’t know about the great deals in renting timeshares.

Timeshare Rentals Save You Money

There is no getting around it. Timeshare rentals are one of the most economical options for vacation accommodations.

Why?

Because current timeshare owners who cannot take advantage of their vacation ownership this year, and don’t plan to bank or exchange their timeshare, are typically thrilled to rent their timeshare unit. And the prices to rent timeshare can be very competitive. Owners recognize that renting their timeshare to you—at even a very low rate—brings in money to them, as opposed to leaving the unit unrented where the owner nets no funds at all.

The money you pay to enjoy someone else’s timeshare as a rental property is money that helps that person offset or even cover his cost of annual ownership fees. Timeshare rental is a win-win for both the owner and the vacationer enjoying the rental.

Timeshare Rentals are a Vacation Accommodations Upgrade

Sure, you and your family can vacation in a standard hotel room. You can sit on the bed and eat takeout food, washing your drinking glasses in the bathroom sink. When the kids want to watch that corny comedy movie for the zillionth time, you can put your pillow over your head and try to ignore it. And if your teenager ever gets out of the shower, you can have your turn in the bathroom you and the family are sharing. …Or you can rent timeshare and spread out and be comfortable.

Timeshares are designed to comfortably accommodate families, sleeping four, six, some even ten or twelve people. Many offer kitchens, dining tables, multiple bedrooms, multiple baths, and even multiple televisions. Often your timeshare unit will include a balcony or patio and many even have washers and dryers.

Why be cramped, why be crowded, and why do without the comforts of home when you can enjoy an affordably priced timeshare rental?

Timeshare Rentals are Easy to Book

Timeshare rentals have always been easy to schedule. You can search for your rental by destination, resort, activities you’d like to enjoy, rental price, or date. You can refine your search to include the number of bedrooms you require, the season, usage type, nearby amenities, even details as specific as whether your timeshare unit has a fireplace or a dishwasher.

Visit our last minute timeshare rentals, and you will be viewing vacation rentals that are available to you to book and enjoy within the next 21 days. Or plan long range by searching timeshare rentals, from an inventory of over 17,000 possibilities.

Timeshare rentals are easy to book, and with so many great destinations and amenities, they are even easier to enjoy. Best of all, you won’t believe how affordable the rates are.

So as you are wrapping up your holiday shopping list, why not add one item that is sure to become either a gift to remember for a lifetime, or the best present you ever gave yourself?