social media

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!

Last week the Associate Press issued over 6 pages of guidelines for retweeting … 6 pages outlining how journalists should write or retweet the 140-character messages that Twitter carries. Had it been a tweet itself, the new AP Guidelines for Retweets would have run over the Twitter character limit by some 13,000 characters!

With the AP’s release, a hailstorm of Twitter-fire immediately ensued.

You see, the Associated Press was not only trying to coach journalists on how to appropriately include their opinions in their Tweets, it was also attempting to rewrite Twitter’s style protocol, saying:

“Retweets, like tweets, should not be written in a way that looks like you’re expressing a personal opinion on the issues of the day. A retweet with no comment of your own can easily be seen as a sign of approval of what you’re relaying.”

The new AP Twitter Guidelines for Retweets recommends that journalists separate the tag “RT” from the name of the account they are retweeting by including their own comments in between the two. The report uses the following example:

Instead of: RT @jonescampaign smith’s policies would destroy our schools

The new AP Guidelines call for: RT Jones campaign now denouncing smith on education:  @jonescampaign smith’s policies would destroy our schools

Critics of the guidelines pointed out that Twitter’s style protocol is Twitter’s to define and is not up to the Associated Press to rewrite or dictate.

The AP report then goes on to say, “Everyone who works for AP must be mindful that opinions he or she expresses may damage the AP’s reputation as an unbiased source of news.”

One can respect what the new AP Guidelines are attempting to do. Yet in a skeptical world, perhaps only the media itself still clings to the ideal of an unbiased media. Others have long ago lost any notion that journalists or the agencies they represent can present content that is free from a reflection of their personal experiences, opinions, and interpretations.

Timeshare and the Tools of Twitter

Search Twitter for “timeshare” or “#timeshare” and it is clear that how the industry and consumers are treating timesharing in the Twitterscape takes many different forms.

Some timeshare companies, including @BluegreenTweets @WelkResorts and @Innseason (to name only a few), do a wonderful job of tweeting a steady stream of event updates at or near Bluegreen timeshare resorts; Welk Resorts, and InnSeason Resorts. Ironically, they rarely if ever include the word “timeshare” in their tweets.

Other notable timeshare tweeters include @marriottvacclub, that mixes Marriott Vacation Club resort news, events, and customer service responses via their Twitter communications.

As an industry, timeshares and vacation ownership clearly don’t have all the fine points of twitter worked out. Sadly, the twitter stream is awash with spammy tweets about timeshare and promises to rescue, save, salvage, heal, and liberate timeshare owners from their timeshares.

But the timeshare industry, much like the Associated Press, can’t issue an ultimatum saying: “Everyone affiliated with timeshares must be mindful that opinions he or she expresses may damage the reputation of vacation ownership as a great option for memorable family vacations.”

Timeshare Companies are not Helpless; We have Options

As recently spearheaded by ARDA and VacationBetter.org, the reliable, legitimate, and dedicated companies of the timeshare industry have to make Twitter and other social media platforms “awash” with the true and positive message of timesharing. We have to encourage and inspire timeshare owners and renters to communicate their message as happy owners and happy renters.

We have to post the positive statistics of our industry, which have an immensely high owner satisfaction rate. We have to tell how timeshares make a vacation lifestyle possible for millions and share the positive impact our industry has on economies at  many levels.

The real truth of timeshares won’t be unbiased, because those who love it, often do so with great passion, but it will be sincere and it is a message that desperately needs to be told, retold, tweeted, posted, retweeted and shared.

You’ll find our tweets at @vacationhotdeal.

Last week was one of those ‘weeks’. They happen sometimes and when they do, they can cause you to question people and perhaps the world in general.

Timeshare Takedown in Orlando

The offices of a business in Orlando that called itself a timeshare company were raided on Wednesday. Their crime? A scam we have all heard about too many times before: they promised to sell timeshares that people no longer wanted; took money for their services; and had no intention of selling or even attempting to sell the properties.

Yet when the SWAT officers made the arrests, they weren’t hauling away grizzled, seasoned criminals. Instead, they arrested four young adults between the ages of 19 and 27. If you follow this link to an Orlando Sentinel article, you will see that the individuals arrested look like they could be your kid brother, little sister, or perhaps your own young adult children. And it is hard to say which part of the story is sadder, the victims defrauded and bilked of cash or the young lives thrown away by four people who chose to use their energy, passion and skill in earning an illegal living rather than building careers, advancing their future and contributing to the world in legitimate ways.

Social Media Mistake

The situation in Egypt and other areas of the Middle East is frightening, tragic, and probably nearly impossible to comprehend by all of us who go about our safe and peaceful lives thousands of miles away. But as the tensions have heightened and the dangers increased, we have all felt concern and compassion for the innocent people whose lives are being upended by the tumult—sentiments many have shared and discussed via different social media platforms.

…Except for Kenneth Cole, the legendary shoe and clothing manufacturer. In a move that makes the average person shudder, and marketing gurus cringe, Kenneth Cole tweeted, “Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online… -KC.”

Let’s give him credit that he simply didn’t realize how callous his statements would sound when glibly applied to the violence currently going on in Egypt. And yet how do you justify attempting to create materialistic gain or recognition by parodying human suffering?

In Cole’s defense, he did later delete the tweet and offered a public apology on Facebook.

But Before You Lose All Faith in Humankind

Last week there was a bit of news that should leave us all feeling more hopeful: “Fifth Third Bancorp, the large regional Midwestern bank, announces it has repaid the $3.4 billion taxpayer bailout it received.”

It was a story that didn’t get as much attention as it deserved, but then sometimes it is hard to be heard over SWAT raids and a twitterer who puts his foot—complete with a fine leather Kenneth Cole shoe—squarely into his mouth.

Fifth Third Bancorp is a large regional bank that received money in the federal government’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, known as TARP. Last week, Fifth Third repurchased 136,320 shares of the preferred stock that the Treasury received as ‘collateral’ as part of the December 2008 bailout. As part of the deal, the bank has also paid the government more than $340 million in dividends.

Although Fifth Third is not completely out from under its obligation to the US Government (and the US people), their repayment goes a long way to helping restore public confidence in the financial system. Kevin Kabat, president and chief executive officer of Fifth Third, issued a statement saying, “Redemption of TARP represents another important milestone for Fifth Third. We appreciate that U.S. taxpayers made an investment in our company at that time, and we are pleased to be able to return that investment to them.”

Repayment of debt owed demonstrates fiscal responsibility. More importantly, it reminds us that for every bad business move we hear about in the news, there are endless acts of honesty, integrity, and ethics demonstrated every day by companies both large and small. While bad news tends to be what makes the headlines, the good news is responsibility, accountability, and concern for others is actually what keeps companies running, people employed, and goods or services being delivered daily.