As a vacation rental professional, you’re probably very familiar with networking. You use networking to spread the word about your business, gain referral business, recruit talent, and learn from others’ experiences. In today’s internet-focused world, it’s just as important to network online as it is to network offline. Online networking includes building relationships with vacation rental professionals that have successful blogs and a strong professional presence in social networks. To get you started with online networking, here are five talented vacation rental industry influencers we recommend following!
Alan Egan
Alan Egan is the CEO and Director of RentMoreWeeks.com. He is also an attraction marketing specialist, a great photographer, and a talented vacation rental professional. Alan has been remarkably successful with Google+ along with many other social networks. He actively participates in many LinkedIn groups, posting useful articles and providing helpful advice for other vacation rental professionals.
Heather Bayer
Heather Bayer is the owner of CottageLINK Rental Management and runs CottageBlogger.com. With over 25 years of experience in the industry, Heather is a must-follow for the latest vacation rental trends and standards. Heather focuses on improving industry standards and regularly posts articles about her experiences in the industry. Needs tips on how to dip your feet into the industry? Heather is the go-to pro!
Eric Mason
Eric Mason is a travel industry professional and vacation rental expert with over 20 years of experience in the industry. Currently, he brings cloud-based distribution solutions to the international holiday rental/vacation rental marketplace making it easier for suppliers and channels to do business with each other. He is a must-follow, especially if you are looking to expand your international vacation rental business. Eric regularly provides helpful advice via LinkedIn groups and on Twitter.
Andrew McConnell
As founder of VacationFutures, Andrew is quickly becoming a standout leader on social media. His business focuses on vacation home auctioning, a growing industry within vacation rentals. Andrew is very active on LinkedIn, providing insights into the newest trends of the vacation rental industry. If you’re interested in vacation rental auctions, Andrew would be a great resource for information.
Thibault Masson
Thibault Masson is the Founder of Fashion Fox Luxury Vacation Rentals and Villa Rentals. His rentals are located in St. Barths, Bali and Paris. He also runs SaintBarth.com and RealBali.com, which are websites meant to educate tourists on those areas. His marketing strategy is a great example of how providing helpful information to your target audience can lead to bookings! Active on Linkedin, Google + and Twitter, Thibault is a must-follow for international vacation rental knowledge.
- Blogs: SaintBarth.com, RealBali.com
- Google+
Why Engage with Influencers?
- You will learn A LOT about ways to be successful in your industry, especially when it comes to online marketing. Industry influencers are living examples of how to use the internet to benefit business.
- If you provide information that is truly valuable, industry influencers may share your blog and social posts with their networks. This can help increase website traffic, your social media audience, and even search engine rankings.
- You may one day become an industry influencer yourself!
Tips for Building Relationships with Influencers
- Reach out to them in a social network and introduce yourself as a fellow vacation rental professional who appreciates the helpful information they provide.
- Frequent their blogs and share information they post within your social networks
- Share their social media posts within your social networks.
- Share helpful, original information on your own blog and within your own social networks. This should be valuable information that other industry professionals would want to share with their networks.
- As with all networking, your online relationships need to be mutually beneficial. If you produce information that is valuable enough, they will share it with their networks without you needing to ask. Be careful not to abuse your relationships with influencers by constantly asking them to promote you.
Do you have any additional tips for connecting with influencers? Share them in the comments below. 
Another good one is Richard Vaughton, in the UK. I find his thoughts and posts very well thought out and reasonable, even when the discussions get hot.
Thanks Liz! For anyone wondering how to follow Richard Vaughton, check out his Linkedin account! http://www.linkedin.com/in/labstream