Step 3: Get Known By Google
Your brand is cohesive and recognizable. Your rentals have great reviews. Your business is running smoothly. So, what’s next? You need to get your business out there to more people. Both your brand and your name should pop up after a quick Google search. This gives your business more credibility, and helps new customers find you easily. But getting some visibility on the internet isn’t a short and simple process- plan for it to take nine to twelve months. You can’t just make a website and hope for the best, so here are some ways to get your brand out there online:
1. Media Mentions Overview
Get yourself (and your brand) out there! The first step to becoming recognizable on the Internet is media mentions. This includes interviews, podcasts, social media posts, and more. Any time your brand is mentioned or publicized, keep track of it. You’ll be able to use this media down the line to help you get more and bigger stories, and the more you’re mentioned the more “Google-able” both you and your brand will be. Keep reading to see different types of media and tips on how to get publicity from them!
2. Interviews
Interviews can take shape in many different forms: podcasts, TV, print media, Instagram Lives, and more. Welcome all of them, they can all help you. To prepare for interviews, think about what you’d like to talk about and write notes if you think it’ll help you stay on track. Don’t write out what you’d like to say word for word- this can sound forced when you’re actually speaking during the interview, and it makes small talk and questions from the interviewer awkward. If you think it will help ease your nerves, ask the host of the podcast what you’ll be speaking on. The hosts are there to help you sound good and learn from you, so don’t stress about it! Interviews will get your brand out there, but most tend to focus on you. This is a good thing, because it lets you show off your knowledge and makes your business seem more trustworthy without feeling like an ad.
3. Podcasts and TV
Podcasts are an easy way to get free publicity that people will love to listen to. There are tons of podcasts out there for almost any subject you can think of, and most podcasts will provide information on how to apply, or at least provide contact information on their website. One helpful resource to find podcasts is listennotes.com. It’s a podcast search engine that allows you to search for podcasts or episodes on a specific topic or by a specific host. It’ll also tell you about the podcast, where to listen to it, and how popular it is. When you’re looking for podcasts to apply to, there are two main things to look for: when the last episode was released, and if any of the episodes are interviews. If the podcast hasn’t done any interviews, odds are they won’t want to have you on. And if it hasn’t released an episode in a while it’s probably best to move on. After you’ve determined that the podcast is recent and does interviews, check the podcast’s website for any guidelines for your pitch. Some podcasts have specific requirements for their applicants, and it’s best to save your time and look for them up front. To apply to TV shows, use similar steps as when you’re applying to a podcast.
4. Print Media
Print media includes papers, magazines, and books, paper or digital. One resource for finding articles to be featured in is HARO (Help A Reporter Out.) If you sign up for HARO (which is free!) you get three emails a day. Each email consists of inquiries from reporters who have an article in need of information from an expert. Each inquiry is a brief summary of what the reporter is looking for, as well as when responses are due and an anonymous email to respond to.
If writing a book is intimidating to you, look for books that are a collection of stories. You can write a chapter or even less, get published, and get some recognition. These collaborative books also often give you the opportunity to network with others in your industry.
5. Personal Brand Site
One of the most important things you can have is a website. Websites allow you to tell the world what you’d like to say, unlike many podcasts and articles where you might not be speaking on exactly what you wanted to. Having a website can make you more profit due to avoiding third-party booking site fees. And, on top of that, by having a website, customers will easily see multiple of your properties instead of one, inspiring future trips and additional bookings. Popping up on Google is great for your business, but only if there’s something that you want people to see.
6. Social Media
Social media is the easiest way on this list to gain visibility online. But you can’t just make an Instagram account and never think about it again. Posting regularly and interacting with your followers will help your account get more popular. Also make sure to post a mix of pictures, reels, and stories. If you’re on a podcast, in an article, or get any other kind of publicity, post about it and tag them.
Don’t just post anything you feel like. With every post, consider your brand’s values. Think about your color scheme, fonts, and aesthetic that you’d like it to have, and stick with it. One tool that can help your page have the look you’re going for is Canva, which you can use for free.
7. Revenue Streams
Your website is the best way for you to monetize all of your publicity, and there are multiple ways to do this. Most obviously, guests can book directly through your website. Offering add-ons for their stay at an additional cost is another way to optimize your profit. You can also offer other paid features for your website: you could have paid downloadable PDFs with tips and tricks for tourists, paid calls with you where you advise new hosts, or many other things. Ads are another option, as long as you make sure that you don’t have so many that it makes your site unpleasant to use.
Writing or being part of a book is another way to make some money. You get publicity, and you get a portion of the profits.
In Conclusion…
The more visibility your brand gets, the more bookings you’ll get and the more profits you’ll be able to make. When you’re aiming to make your brand (and you) pop up after a quick Google, you need to remember that no one method will work. It takes a combination of as many kinds of publicity as you can get to get as recognizable as you’d like to be. Consistency is key. It will take a lot of time (and some money) to “get Google-able,” but the payoffs will be even more than you expected!
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