Yesterday Inc. Magazine announced their Inc. 5000 list, and SellMyTimeshareNOW.com is proud to be part of this very special, business elite. Until last year, Inc. published their highly respected Inc. 500 list, but starting in 2007, they expanded the list to include the 5000 fastest growing, privately held businesses in America.

SellMyTimeshareNOW.com ranked in several categories on the 2008 Inc. 5000:

• Number 2 fastest growing business in the state of New Hampshire.
• Number 21 in the Top 100 Businesses in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH metro area.
• Number 44 in the Top 100 Advertising & Marketing Companies in the US.
• Number 637 in the Top 5000 fastest growing businesses in the US, out of more than 7 million companies overall.

SellMyTimeshareNOW.com is Part of an Elite Group

Founded just 5 years ago, this marks the first year SellMyTimeshareNOW.com has been eligible for consideration for Inc.’s prestigious list. Since 2004, our business growth has been 520.9 percent, with revenues of $1.1 million in 2004, which grew to $7.0 million by 2007. At the time we were considered for the Inc. 5000 list, SellMyTimeshareNOW.com had 112 employees, having increased from our original 3 employees back when we first started. Our staff growth continues, and today we have over 130 people employed by our company.

In our Inc 5000 profile, they state that two reasons for our growth are the fact that we recognized there was previously no efficient way for timeshare owners to sell timeshare or for prospective timeshare buyers to buy or rent timeshare. They also identify that our consistently superb placement on Google and other search engines gets us over a million hits per month and leads to about $7 million in offers to buy or rent timeshare each week.

How our Timeshare Resales Company Made the Inc. 5000 List

In order to be considered for the 2008 Inc. 5000 list, a company must have had at least $200,000 in revenue in 2004, and $2 million in 2007. All companies recognized by Inc. are US based, privately held, independent, for profit companies, which are not subsidiaries or division of other companies, as of December 31, 2007.

An interesting note is that industries reporting the highest median revenue are the travel industry with $38.8 million, followed by financial services, logistics, government services, and energy. The top five largest industries ranked included the category SellMyTimeshareNOW.com falls into, which is Advertising & Marketing with 361 companies, while IT Services was the number one largest category with 579 companies.

What it Means to SellMyTimeshareNOW.com to be Honored by Inc. 5000

At a time when the US economy is shaky and the daily financial news looks bleak, SellMyTimeshareNOW.com is very proud to be part of the solution to getting this country back on solid financial footing. The companies that made the Inc. 5000 list report aggregate revenue of $185 billion and they have created more than 826,033 jobs since the companies were founded. It feels very good to all of us at SellMyTimeshareNOW.com to be part of the economic “good news”.

Our company started out as a vision that we first mapped out on a paper napkin, and with a tremendous amount of hard work and careful business planning, we have thrived and grown, despite the challenging economy. Our daily objective is to help timeshare owners sell or rent their timeshare easily and efficiently, while at the same time offering a vast inventory of timeshare resales and timeshare rentals to prospective buyers. When timeshare owners sell timeshare they no longer use, and a new family gains the pleasure of vacation ownership at an affordable price, we have done something pretty remarkable to make the lives of both the timeshare seller and the timeshare buyer a little better.

And the only thing that I can think of that is more exciting for SellMyTimeshareNOW.com than how far we’ve come in the past 5 years, is to think about what lies ahead for tomorrow.

Last October, SellMyTimeshareNOW.com launched our ‘Rental Assist‘ program to make it easier than ever to rent timeshare. Rental Assist offers in-house client matching for timeshare renters and available timeshare rentals. Peter Emery is the manager of Rental Assist and our dedicated staff has increased from two to nine employees already, with more expansion expected over the next six months.

Why all the interest in renting timeshare?

Apparently a lot of people are realizing that renting a timeshare is an incredible way to vacation. Timeshare units are more spacious than hotels, prices are better, and the selection of available locations and dates makes it practically impossible not to find your perfect vacation accommodations. But renting timeshare is a win-win. In these tight economic times, when some timeshare owners are opting not to vacation this year, being able to rent their timeshare helps them offset the cost of owning timeshare, while holding on to it to use for their own vacations in the future.

Timeshare Rentals at SellMyTimeshareNOW.com

Don’t just take my word for how much the interest in renting timeshare is growing; the numbers speak for themselves. In our Rental Assist program, at the end of the second quarter 2009, 23,086 offers to rent timeshare had been received by SellMyTimeshareNOW.com. This represents an increase of 179 percent over the same quarter year-to-date figures last year. And the dollar amount of these offers was $29,922,343 - a figure that shows a 175 percent increase over the same quarter in 2007, and in fact, surpasses SellMyTimeshareNOW.com’s 2007 year-end total.

So are you ready to rent great vacation lodging at a luxurious timeshare resort? Pour yourself another cup of coffee or a nice, cool drink and from the comfort of your computer, peruse the incredible inventory of timeshare rentals available through SellMyTimeshareNOW.com.

Follow this link to read our most recent press release about timeshare Rental Assist at SellMyTimeshareNOW.com.

When you travel, you have several options for lodging, in addition to the alternative of renting timeshare. All of these choices come with both pros and cons.

Nothing saves vacation dollars quite like staying with relatives, and depending upon the situation, this can be a great way to spend time with people you perhaps don’t see as often as you would like. But spending your vacation in someone else’s home, where their schedules and plans will greatly impact your own, can be like a lot like a summer movie, starring you instead of Chevy Chase. Besides, unless you have lots of accommodating friends and family, or the ones you have relocate like nomads, spending every vacation in the same location can quickly lose its appeal.

For the motivated economizer, there are also lodging opportunities at hostels, fire watch towers, and even college dormitories, but will you be able to find such deals, when and where you need them? Will they meet your needs, and most importantly, will you feel like you are on a vacation while staying there?

Traveling like a movie star and renting a private home can be a very luxurious option, but unless a domestic staff comes with the deal, or you are bringing your butler, you can expect to be pretty much on your own during your stay. If you need anything, there is no one at the front desk to assist you and forget about courtesy tee times and supervised activities for the kids. Besides, staying at a private residence or vacation condo is often a bit of a gamble, unless you have rented there before. Your landlord’s idea of spacious, well appointed, and convenient to local attractions may differ vastly from your own. This leads us to the reason that so many people choose to stay in hotels or motels when they travel.

Hotel and motel lodging is available almost everywhere. Easy to book, easy to find, hotel lodging is relatively predictable. However, as everyone knows, or learns the hard way, cleanliness, quality, and safety can vary enormously from property to property, even though hotels may be owned or managed as part of the same chain.

The Timeshare Rental Solution

Timeshare rentals are more predictable than renting a private vacation home or condo. You can largely rely on the on-site timeshare management to ensure the standard of safety, cleanliness, and service at the resort. Timeshare management, after all, must answer to the timeshare owners at that resort, in a way that demands a different type of accountability than a motel or hotel has with its transient guests. And for many of the same reasons that people want to buy timeshare, they also want to rent it. Timeshare resorts typically offer an abundance of amenities, good security features, and roomy accommodations.

With the economy tight and gas costing more and more each week, this may not be the year you buy timeshare. But there has never been a better time to rent one. Rent timeshare and learn firsthand if timesharing is right for you. Check out a resort, enjoy a vacation, and pay less and get more than you do at a hotel.

The opportunities in timeshare rentals are excellent and with the choices available through Sell My Timeshare NOW, you are bound to find one that is just right for your vacation needs and budget.

Interval International has introduced the Dream Vacation Week certification program. With their affiliate, Worldwide Vacation & Travel Inc., II is using the program as an incentive package designed for timeshare developers. The idea is that the program will generate timeshare resort tours or can be used by timeshare developers to enhance the proposition of their non-buyer programs.

Not Limited to Timeshare Resort Developers

The Dream Vacation program is being put to use by other industries besides timeshare companies. Lending Tree, the Home Loan Center, and Match.com for example, are just a few of the businesses that are giving away Dream Vacation Week certificates as part of their loyalty and incentives programs.

Dream Vacations Weeks are not free. Even after you earn an incentive reward through one of the participating companies, you still must pay a timeshare rental fee. You can book timeshare rental stays for your Dream Vacation Week in 7-day intervals only, and you should expect the offerings during peak travel times and at high-demand locations to be limited.

But if you receive a Dream Vacation Week certificate as a benefit for taking out a home mortgage, or as part of your membership in Interval International, it is an opportunity to enjoy a timeshare vacation at a discount price. It is also is great way to gain a firsthand perspective on a timeshare resort before you buy timeshare resales there.

You Don’t Have to Buy a New House to Enjoy Good Deals on Timeshare Rentals

If you earn a Dream Vacation Week certificate, you have an opportunity to enjoy 7 days in a great timeshare rental at prices starting around $600 (and up), depending on the timeshare unit’s size and location. But you don’t have to refinance your home or sign up for an online dating service just to enjoy an excellent price on a timeshare rental.

Sell My Timeshare NOW has a huge inventory of timeshare rentals, at prices and locations that are just as good as those you will see though incentive programs. Timeshare owners sometimes rent timeshare just to cover or offset their annual timeshare ownership membership fees or taxes, which means that the opportunity to enjoy a seriously discounted timeshare stay in a Sell My Timeshare NOW timeshare rental are just amazing. You can take a timeshare vacation, for the number of days you prefer to rent, staying in a timeshare unit and vacation destination that fits your vacation wants and needs.

It’s not a dream. The great deals in timeshare rentals are very, very real and they are available every day at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Last week ATA Airlines stopped flying. The week before, Aloha Airlines shut down. Air Bus is gone, Oasis Air liquidated, and Champion Air has announced it will cease operations on May 31. Sun Country Airlines says it will lay off 45 of its 156 pilots for the summer, cutting back by 30 percent. Other airlines talk about layoffs, cutbacks, and rising ticket prices.

According to The International Air Transport Association (IATA), between the soaring cost of fuel and consumers forced to cut back on spending, 2008 will be a very tough year for the airlines. In light of this, IATA has twice downgraded its industry profit expectations for 2008.

So what will these changes mean for timeshare owners and the way people use their timeshare weeks?

Timeshare Weeks and the Airline Cutbacks

Airline cutbacks could impact specific timeshare vacation destinations. Aloha Airlines and ATA Airlines were only two of several airlines providing service to Hawaii, but they were both economy-priced providers. For people who were barely squeaking the cost of their annual vacation trip into their family budget, before the price of gas and groceries went through the roof, the shutdown of budget airlines could be the final straw.

Yet tourism experts are not predicting that Hawaii, or any other single destination, will be hit unduly by a decline in vacationers. People may vacation differently than they have in the past, staying closer to home, steering clear of high-priced restaurants, or vacationing for fewer days, but most people will still find a way to enjoy some much-needed R & R.

A Tight Economy May Lead to Timeshare Exchange or Timeshare Resales

With the price of fuel driving up the cost of transportation, many timeshare owners will no doubt opt to exchange their timeshare weeks for vacation time at a timeshare resort closer to home. Other timeshare owners may choose to bank their timeshare weeks, hoping that next year funds will be more readily available. Still other timeshare owners may seek to resell timeshare, just to be out from under the cost of maintenance fees and annual expenses.

Before You Sell Timeshare, Consider This Option

Before you do anything, check out your options. Just because this may be a tough year for you to vacation, don’t assume that everyone is dealing with the same issues. There are people in certain career fields who are actually benefitting from the US economy’s problems. In addition, there are some international tourists whose money has never been stronger against the US dollar.

You may find that renting your timeshare unit is a perfect solution. You can hold on to your timeshare resort property, yet typically receive enough money when you rent timeshare to pay your timeshare unit’s annual expenses. If your timeshare is already paid for, and you are not making monthly payments on it, then it really makes a lot of sense to use it as a timeshare rental until your personal budget or schedule loosens up and you can enjoy a timeshare vacation again. Even if you owe money on your timeshare unit, you may decide that it is worthwhile to rent timeshare, holding on to the timeshare unit you have already spent hard earned cash to own.

The bottom line is that you have options. And the timeshare resales and timeshare rentals specialists at Sell My Timeshare NOW can help you decide which options are right for you. Don’t be too quick to throw in the towel; just because some airlines, mortgage companies, or home owners who were already overextended have called it quits doesn’t necessarily mean that you are headed for your own financial crash and burn.

Sell My Timeshare NOW has launched a new program called, “Rental Assist.”

Many vacationers and travelers already know that renting timeshare is an excellent way to enjoy spacious accommodations at great resorts. After all, why not stay in a timeshare where you are likely to have a full kitchen (sometimes with in-suite washers and dryers) and dining space for the family? Instead of renting multiple hotel or motel rooms, why not rent a timeshare that sleeps four, six, even eight or ten? Most families today no longer share one bathroom and one TV at home, so why do it when you go on vacation?

Renting timeshare is a true win-win for both the timeshare renter and the timeshare owner who uses his vacation property as a rental. If you cannot use your timeshare right now, and you can’t or don’t wish to bank it, then it only makes sense to use it as a timeshare rental. Timeshare owners offset some of the ongoing costs of owning timeshare. Vacationers who want to rent rather than buy timeshare, get to enjoy the accommodations and amenities of a luxurious timeshare resort.

Renting Timeshare at Sell My Timeshare NOW

So far this year, offers to rent timeshare at Sell My Timeshare NOW have exceeded $18 million—and remember that is not money that goes to a timeshare developer, a timeshare management company, or even to us at Sell My Timeshare NOW—this is money that goes straight to the person or couple that owns the timeshare.

But Rental Assist is only going to make renting timeshare even better. We are taking our timeshare rental services to the next level by offering in-house matching services for timeshare owners who want to use their timeshare as a rental and vacationers who want to enjoy renting timeshare at competitive prices.

If you’d like to find out more about Rental Assist, call our timeshare specialist at: (877) 815-4227

Visit our website at www.sellmytimesharenow.com

Or read our newest press release on Rental Assist from Sell My Timeshare NOW.

With NASCAR enthusiasts now one of the fastest growing sports fan bases in the country, more timeshare owners see potential to use their timeshare vacation property themselves or rent it to other fans during the big races.

Who is staying in your Texas timeshare to watch NASCAR’s Samsung 500 on Sunday at the Texas Motor Speedway? Who is scheduled in your Arizona timeshare to see the Subway Fresh Fit 500 next week, or in your Alabama timeshare the week after that for the Aaron’s 499?

NASCAR is one of the fastest growing spectator sports in the US and their fans are some of the most loyal. But have you ever tried to get a hotel or motel room within a 150-mile radius of Talladega, Alabama on a race weekend? It can’t be done, and the same is true for accommodations in many of the cities that host NASCAR events.

So if you follow the races or know someone who does, don’t overlook timeshare rentals or timeshare exchanges for your lodging. While many big names in corporate America spend a lot of money to promote themselves to NASCAR fans, hotels (other than Holiday Inn) and timeshare companies have not been known for paying to advertise their logos on the uniforms and cars of NASCAR drivers. But I predict this may be changing. You see, women (already comprising some 40 percent of race fans) are the fastest growing segment of the NASCAR fan base. And while camping in the infield or the parking lot may have been acceptable when NASCAR was primarily a guy’s sport, as racing becomes more and more of a shared family pastime, look for hoteliers and timeshare companies to start paying attention to this expanding market.

Earlier this spring, Super 8 ® Motels, part of Wyndham Worldwide Resorts and timeshares, announced that they have signed an agreement with Petty Enterprises to become the official lodging partner and associate sponsor of the Number 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge that Bobby Labonte drives. You may have already noticed the Super 8 logo on Labonte’s car and his uniform this season.

To help you coordinate your timeshare vacation schedule with the upcoming NASCAR season, here is a list of the official events scheduled in 2007:

• April 15 2007 Samsung 500 Texas Motor Speedway
• April 21 2007 Subway Fresh Fit 500 Phoenix International Raceway
• April 29 2007 Aaron’s 499 Talladega Superspeedway
• May 05 2007 Crown Royal Presents Jim Stewart 400 Richmond Int. Raceway
• May 12 2007 Dodge Avenger 500 Darlington Raceway
• May 19 2007 Nextel All-Star Challenge Lowe’s Motor Speedway
• May 27 2007 Coca-Cola 600 Lowe’s Motor Speedway
• June 03 2007 Dover 400 Dover International Speedway
• June 10 2007 Pocono 500 Pocono Raceway
• June 17 2007 Citizens Bank 400 Michigan International Speedway
• June 24 2007 Toyota/SaveMart 350 Infineon Raceway
• July 01 2007 Lenox Industrial Tools 300 New Hampshire International Speedway
• July 07 2007 Pepsi 400 Daytona International Speedway
• July 15 2007 USG Sheetrock 400 Chicagoland Speedway
• July 29 2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• August 05 2007 Pennsylvania 500 Pocono Raceway
• August 12 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup at the Glen; Watkins Glen International
• August 19 2007 3M Performance 400 Michigan International Speedway
• August 25 2007 Sharpie 500 Bristol Motor Speedway
• September 02 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series 500 California Speedway
• September 08 2007 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Richmond International Raceway
• September 16 2007 Sylvania 300 New Hampshire International Speedway
• September 23 2007 Dover 400 Dover International Speedway
• September 30 2007 Kansas 400 Kansas Speedway
• October 07 2007 UAW-Ford 500 Talladega Superspeedway
• October 13 2007 Bank of America 500 Lowe’s Motor Speedway
• October 21 2007 Subway 500 Martinsville Speedway
• October 28 2007 Georgia 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway
• October 04 2007 Dickies 500 Texas Motor Speedway
• November 11 2007 Checker Auto Parts 500 Pennzoil Phoenix International Raceway
• November 18 2007 Ford 400 Homestead-Miami Speedway

Not able to use your timeshare every year? Consider renting your timeshare!

According to a 2003 survey*, 85% of timeshare owners are happy with their timeshare purchase. However, the same survey also indicates that 26% actually use their time.

Why this discrepancy?

It is likely that the average timeshare owner can’t find the time for a week-long vacation every year. A hectic work schedule or the complications of family life can play havoc with a timeshare owner’s vacation plans.

There is always the option of exchanging a timeshare for a more convenient week, but if you simply can’t get away, this often adds up to a different unused timeshare in a different location. We have heard stories from our clients who have had the same timeshare week for ten years or more and never had an opportunity to use it. A situation like this would seem less worrisome were it not for the (often) high initial price of the timeshare unit itself, coupled with maintenance fees and other non-recoverable expenses.

Many timeshare owners who aren’t using their timeshare look for ways to alleviate this financial burden. Often, we suggest that an owner rent his or her unused timeshare. For instance, if the yearly fees owed on a timeshare property amount to $600.00, and the expense associated with advertising the timeshare for rent is $399.00, renting this property for $1000.00 covers the required expenses.

Timeshare weeks vary in value, depending on the particular week in question as well as the desirability of the resort. In order to adequately determine a timeshare’s value, one has to take these factors into account.

Subsequent rentals of this property (assuming that the asking price and the fees remain the same), can yield $400.00 profit for the timeshare owner. This makes more sense than simply paying for a timeshare one is never going to use.

Thinking of renting your timeshare? SellMyTimeshareNOW offers a free market value survey for your timeshare rental property. Our advertising executives will suggest a price based on the current market value of your timeshare, compared against similar timeshare rentals. This will enable you to price your timeshare competitively and still feel confident that you are getting your money’s worth.

*Source:
Ragatz Associates Resort Timesharing Worldwide and in the United States
2003 Edition Summary Report
Ragatz Associates Resort Timesharing in the United States
2003 Edition Summary Report 8/03