Projects

Business Name
Smokies Rent Direct

Description of Services In 2006 Dave Baseler, owner of two vacation rental cabins in Gatlinburg, decided to manage his rentals himself instead of going through a management company. I had recently left my job to stay home with my young son, and offered to help Dave get his new business up and running. We brainstormed business name ideas, and we came up with “Smokies Rent Direct.”

I worked with a friend of ours to design our initial website, www.smokiesrentdirect.com. While I didn’t build that site, I quickly learned what web design entailed and created a site for one of the cabins, Smoky Mountain Tower, which I currently maintain and make design changes per Dave.

One of my first tasks was to learn how to accept payment. Researching different payment solutions, I set up a Merchant Account and a Payment Gateway for Dave’s customers to be able to pay online with their credit cards.

I also created a tracking system using MS Excel to record guest information and payment received. I set the spreadsheet up so Dave could easily extract the information he needs to see tax information, view nights rented, etc.

I managed the actual rentals for a time, taking phone calls and responding to e-mail inquiries from potential guests, maintaining the calendar, and paying the utility and contractor bills.

Contact me today to see how I can help you set up your business!