Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 9th. Not Prepared? Don’t fear — ozarkz.com is here to help.
Brunch abounds at the Lake of the Ozarks for Mother’s Day this year! Treat Mom to something other than soggy Corn Flakes on her special day. The following places are offering Mother’s Day brunch Sunday, May 9th:
The Country Club Hotel & Spa, Lake Ozark, MO
Inn at Grand Glaize, Osage Beach, MO
Lodge of Four Seasons, Lake Ozark, MO (Make a reservation ahead of time if you’re going for this one.)
Resort at Port Arrowhead, Lake Ozark, MO
Tan-Tar-A, Osage Beach, MO (Because there’s nothing Mom wants to do more than visit a water park on Mother’s Day… On second thought, why not take the kids to the water park and send mom to the Wind Jammer spa for a little rest and relaxation?
Speaking of spas, Spa Shiki is another top notch option for a massage, facial, manicure or pedicure. Spa Shiki was rated in the top two midwestern spas by Travel + Leisure magazine. Ooo la la!
If you want to go the flower route, try one of these Lake of the Ozarks florists:
Janine’s Flowers & Gifts, 1044 Main St., Osage Beach (573) 348-1014
Toby’s Florist, 846 E. Highway 42, Lake Ozark (573)348-2000
Lake Florist and Gifts, 242 South Main Street, Laurie (573) 374-2210
Looking to do something different for Mom this year? Try one of these unique ideas:
Surprise her with a gift certificate or cash to spend any way she wants to at the Osage Beach Premium Outlets or The Landing on Main Street, both of which are on Hwy 54 in Osage Beach.
Pack a picnic and have lunch or dinner while enjoying the beautiful scenery at the Lake of the Ozarks State Park, located at Hwy 42 & Lake of the Ozarks State Park Glaize, Osage Beach. Don’t forget your swimsuits–the Lake of the Ozarks State Park has a beach!
Try a dinner or lunch cruise with Celebration Cruises in Osage Beach.
… and it doesn’t particularly matter if it’s the Lake of the Ozarks Maps and Vacation Rental site, out of a house and into a new one, or from an office with a so-so view to one that looks out over the park. For starters, you have to go through everything you’ve so conveniently hidden in boxes and “stored” under the eaves. Invariably you learn that you own a lot of crap, and – nice though it is to purge yourself of it – you still had managed to accumulate it (crap) along the way. Then there comes the boxing, which isn’t so bad assuming that the purging was thorough. Unfortunately, this is promptly followed by the dreaded moving of the boxes into the truck …
Flashback. July 2003. Middle-of-nowhere, Illinois. 173 degrees Farenheit. 90% humidity. No breeze. On third (top) floor of the apartment building. Building sits at the bottom of the hill. Parking lot situated 200 yards away and about 15 yards worth of ascent. Stairs. Can’t use a dolly. Boxes “reclaimed” from Barnes & Noble (some of them courtesy of dumpster diving) and neighbors. 19 foot truck. HUNDREDS OF BOXES. HUNDREDS OF TRIPS.
We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies as we trekked across half the US on the way to North Carolina for graduate school. I drove the 19′ U-Haul with our Jeep Grand Cherokee on a trailer, the car stuffed to the gills with more stuff (crap), topped with a car carrier filled with more stuff (crap), topped with four ladderback chairs, with a mountain bike precariously perched at the very top. It was all lashed together with orange and black rope, so it looked classy. Amy driving her Jeep Wrangler behind the U-Haul. It’s filled with more stuff.
Flashback continued. On the interstate doing 75 mph. 70 miles into our 1000 mile trip. Amy over the walkie talkie: “The Jeep (on the trailer) is rocking. Is it supposed to do that?” Exit at next ramp. Look in disbelief at front tire straps that are no longer securing front wheels. Tighten it. Feels Secure. Decide to drive to next exit and re-check. Damn. Loose again. Find out where the f$@& the closest U-Haul store is and go 30 miles out of our way to get there. Had been rented a bogus trailer. They swap it out for us. We lose 4 hours travel time on day 1. Still in awe that the Grand Cherokee stayed on the trailer those first 70 miles.
I know that tale is relevant only in the tangential sense that it’s about moving, but I like the story and had never put it into words, and so it seemed appropriate to do so now. Still, moving a website – though less backbreaking than moving boxes – is no easy task. It is, however, for the best as www.lake-of-the-ozark.com could carry this venture no further. As you don’t get too many opportunities to put on a new face, there are other changes accompanying the name refresh, and hopefully they’ll contribute to a better user experience.
But it’s still not very much fun.
After what has effectively been a month away from this Lake of the Ozarks venture, things are finally rolling again. Granted, the writing quality has deteriorated significantly since the witty conversations with GoogleBot, but people are actually finding this site via search and visiting, looking mostly for “ozarks map with mile markers.” Point is, we now have customers. And, though I had previously said that this site would stay ug-ly for some time, it’s time for a change.
I suppose this is what writers (real writers, mind you) refer to as “writer’s block.” Seated comfortably in front of the computer screen, a steaming cup of black coffee to my left and the soft glow of the morning sun streaming in through the open windows, I cannot help but continue to stare at a blank screen. Every now and again a wonderful first line appears from thin air, as though divined by the Gods, only to transform itself into mediocrity the minute those very words are captured.
My wife is what I would consider a “real writer.” Unlike myself, with a background firmly rooted in the sciences and finance, her background is in literature, post-modern literary criticism, materialist feminism and the politics of discourse, the condition of postmodernity and the paralysis thereof, and other pretentious sounding words strung together so as to impart an air of importance. (As an aside, when did a liberal arts education abandon classicism and well-roundedness in favor of these made up phrases?) Though she’s now more apt to write about her experiences baiting, capturing, and filming squirrels than she is to dissect Carlyle’s Sartor Resartus, she is, undoubtedly, a writer.
So I’m no poet. Fine by me; that was never a dream of mine. All I’d like to do is be able to sit down each morning and write a single post, 500 words in length, that somehow or other would advance the objectives that this Lake of the Ozarks site. Shouldn’t be too hard, right? Comment upon the news, speak of the obstacles in entrepreneurship, provide fresh analysis on the dynamics of the market, announce new services, etc. Well, right now there isn’t any news that would be of significant interest to non-Camdenton County residents, I have written at length about the missteps I’ve taken along the road, and this site doesn’t currently have any new services to announce (in large part because there are no services). The fresh analysis, however, is an idea with merit.
A definition:
re·miss (r
-m
)
adj.1. Lax in attending to duty; negligent.2. Exhibiting carelessness or slackness.
[Middle English, from Latin remissus, past participle of remittere, to remit, slacken; see remit.]
It’s appropriate that today’s post begin with this definition, for what better way to describe the past 3 weeks other than “exhibiting carelessness or slackness.” 3 weeks, you ask? Yep, that’s how long it’s been since I last posted (March 31, Zpring is the Zeazon of Renewal). 19 days to be precise, but those two days are trivial relative to the 19. Granted, lots of things have happened in the last 19 days that have hindered my ability to grow this Lake of the Ozarks venture; consider:
- In-Law Invasion, April 1 – April 7. I’m lucky in that I married into a great family of literate and internet-faring people. And that’s all I have to say on the matter.
- Masters Practice Round, April 5-6. Awesome, awesome, beautiful, and awesome. Thanks Mel & Papa R.
- Family Vacation, April 8 – 13. Island in the gulf, poor cell reception, no internet access, secluded beach, empty pool, giant bottle of gin. Thanks to Papa R & ZsaZsa.
- Business trip, April 15-16. Washington D.C., and not even the fun part.
All the same, I’ve definitely been remiss in my responsibility (to myself) to grow this site out and see what can become of it.
As far as branding goes, www.lake-of-the-ozark.com leaves a lot to be desired. There’s nothing particularly unique or memorable about it, there are three hyphens, and the ’s’ is omitted from Ozarks. Not exactly putting the proverbial best foot forward.
Fortunately, spring is the season of renewal. Look for the remade home to this venture in April of 2010.
Ever wanted to know exactly how many Lake of the Ozarks Vacation Rentals there are? Or what the mix is between condo rental units and home rental units? How about the distribution of nights rented per year (with an accompanying look at rightly rates)? Or just maybe you’re interested in finding out what percentage of the vacation rentals on the lake have boat slips available so as to better differentiate your property.
Despite a rather thorough search, we’ve yet to come across any answers to these questions. And while that’s not entirely surprising, it is among the information that every vacation rental owner and their agent ought to have at their fingertips. They ought also know whether, in aggregate, advertising ROI is higher on VRBO.com or VacationRentals.com and what the exact ROI figure is for each. They ought know if it’s PMG or CIA Rentals who drives not only more rentals, but more income revenue to the owner on an after-fee/commission basis. They ought know how much of an increase in rental volume a 10% decrease in nightly rate drives (known as the demand elasticity).
Along with the Lake Ozarks Map complete with GPS coordinates for each of the mile markers and dozens of establishments (the latter part is still in development), delivering actionable information like this into the hands of Ozarks vacation rental owners is among the key to-do’s for this venture during the 2010 season. As such, a research and analysis plan has been developed and an Ozarks Vacation Rental Survey is in the works to detail answers to these and other critical questions.
That’s our role … now let’s talk about your role. What can you do? A few things:
- If there are any specific questions regarding the Lake of the Ozarks vacation rental industry that you’ve been dying to know but unable to answer, shoot us an email via the contact form to see if we can incorporate it into the research plan.
- If you are among the owners contacted to be included in our research, we ask that you please help us out and submit your information in a timely manner. We’re doing our best to keep the questionnaire manageable so that it can be completed in 15 minutes or less, and we think you’ll find the results of our analysis well worth 15 minutes of your time.
- To test a sampling methodology (for use in future years), we’ll also be randomly asking certain participants to invite other owners to participate in the vacation rental research. If you are among the lucky few, please take the opportunity to do so.
To show our appreciation to our respondents, we’ve decided to give (as in gratis, free) the results to those who participate and share their data. Granted, this wasn’t a very difficult decision to come to. All the same, we believe strongly that to optimize the performance of your business (large or small, your Lake of the Ozarks vacation rental condo or house is an income-producing property) requires that you have access to the best information. And that’s our reasoning behind offering this service; look for it, The Lake of the Ozarks Vacation Rental Survey, in the Spring of 2010.
I like newsprint. Magazines are good, too, but they possess neither the ease nor the elegance offered by newspapers. I could spend hours with a single issue, particularly if there happens to be a hot pot of coffee nearby, a comfortable patio chair overlooking the water, and the sounds of birds chirping in the morning. A bit idyllic, but perhaps one of my favorite ways to spend a morning.
I suppose this fondness began as a young child, for I have great memories of reading the newspaper with my Dad and — when ALL the family was together — of the adults sitting around my Grandparents’ table, reading the paper, passing the sections back and forth, drinking coffee and/or Bloody Mary’s, and finishing the Sunday crossword puzzle. It’s the sight we kids would wake to (along with the aroma of homemade cinnamon rolls) and join, waiting our turn for the comics and the Sports page.
I’ve thus become a bit of a newspaper connoisseur. Like wines, the quality varies from publication to publication and is dependent on the vintage. Hand me a Wall Street Journal any day of the week (save for Sundays … there is no Sunday issue) and I’m a happy man. The Omaha World Herald (the publication I grew up with) is also a good read with real articles and solid local content. Unfortunately, my current paper, The News & Observer, is a waste of the paper its printed on. Add in the fact that we get the Durham edition and I don’t even subscribe. Its a travesty that a metro area as large as Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill doesn’t have a decent paper. Fortunately, the weekly Triangle Business Journal picks up the slack, at least as far as local economic news is concerned.
A similar train of thought sent me on a quest to locate the Lake of the Ozarks Business Journal, and the quest was a brief one. Published by Benne Publishing, Inc., LOBJ is a monthly that can be viewed online. Despite there being a few articles of interest, I must admit to being underwhelmed. A lot of that has to do with the mix of articles in the March issue (admittedly not the greatest month for events newsworthiness in the Ozarks) and a content-to-total ratio (total number of pages less the advertisement whole-page-equivalents, all divided by the total number of pages) of 23%. Though not a very good first impression, I do intend to return and read again.
With any luck, it’ll be the hard copy as I look out over the main channel MM19.
Over the next few posts, we’ll be taking a look a the economics of Lake of the Ozarks Vacation Rentals. Though we’ll go into deeper detail at a future point for our subscribers, the objective here is to take a quick look at some of the numbers as one might expect to find at the Lake. Like most financial analyses, we begin with a look at revenue.
By far the simplest of the elements to both construct and comprehend, let us begin by discussing the two drivers that determine the annual revenue generating ability of a vacation rental. The first of these is the number of nights the vacation rental property will be rented to revenue-generating customers per year. Employing the simplest of sensitivity analysis styles, let us give Nights Per Year, NPY, the values [15,40,65] where 40 nights per year is the point estimate and 15 / 65 nights represent the 10th and 90th percentile expected values (akin to the minimum and maximum). The other key determinant of revenue is Nightly Rate, NR, and let us assume that it averages $200 per night after seasonal rates and discounts are factored in. Given those values, it follows that:
- The expected annual revenue (50th percentile value) is $200 x 40 = $8,000
- The minimum annual revenue (10th percentile value) is $200 x 15 = $3,000
- The maximum annual revenue (90th percentile value) is $200 x 65 = $13,000
The significant thing to take away here is the huge disparity in possible top-line outcomes. If were were to hold the 40 NPY constant and instead give NR the values [150, 200, 250], annual revenues calculate as:
- The expected annual revenue (50th percentile value) is $200 x 40 = $8,000
- The minimum annual revenue (10th percentile value) is $100 x 40 = $4,000
- The maximum annual revenue (90th percentile value) is $300 x 40 = $12,000
The disparity is again rather significant, but the final revenue is not quite as sensitive to the expected NR range as it is to the NPY variable. That, coupled with the fact that nightly rate is more a function of property specifics (location, size, amenities, etc.), leaves the property owner with one clear lever to pull to generate more revenue out of his or her income-producing vacation rental. That is not to imply that a property owner shouldn’t invest the time or money to determine the correct nightly rate, but rather that getting close on the rate and then spending that time and money on marketing efforts to rent the unit for additional nights (some of whom will become repeat customers and thus offer an ongoing revenue stream) may be the more profitable tactic. As alluded to earlier, these tactics will be discussed in greater detail at a future point.
Up next: Variable Expenses.
Finally, the Lake of the Ozarks Vacation Rentals page has been indexed and appears in the results. Not for the term “vacation rentals” or having anything to do with the Ozarks, but rather for the term “lake-of-the-ozark.com.”
Interestingly, the top page for the “lake of the ozarks vacation rentals” phrase continues to be the test page coming in around 190th (I heard that chuckle … back off), up from 230th ten days ago. The analytical part of me would very much like to keep track of all the quantitative jazz (number of links, external domains, pages indexed, SEOmoz grading of on-page elements, SER placement, etc.) and run a regression analysis to determine the effect of each of these elements. Better yet, this same part of me is interested in allowing webmasters to submit their own data, thus largely increasing the sample size, and then running the analysis. Interesting and probably worthwhile, but not worthwhile relative to this Lake of the Ozarks venture.
Tangential to this conversation is the lack of external linkage to this site. Sure, I bribed my wife into adding me to the footer of her jack-assery and pseudo-vegetarian blogs, but that’s about it. It doesn’t help that this thing is still in the dark, but it also doesn’t help that I’ve not made it a priority. I’ve found a few places to create back-links, and I’ve even found a couple of sites whose content is pretty darn good and deserve a shout-out (there’ll be dedicated posts for these, but here’s a quick preview: www.lakehistory.info … nice work, Mr. Gillespie). But there’s a big difference between research/analysis and execution, and I need to be moving into execution mode.
It’s Saturday, going to hit 77 degrees today, and I’m off to a college baseball game. Not quite coving out in the Lake of the Ozarks State Park, floating about with some new friends, and enjoying a cold one, but it’s still an awfully damn good way to spend a day.