Redefining the Rental Property Marketplace Using Social Media – Part 2 – A Conversation with Caroline Allison of Viscape

Do you love to travel? I do and have had the opportunity to set foot on four of the seven continents and will touch all seven before I leave this planet. Caroline Allison has a similar passion for travel, so much that she created Viscape to help people connect and become better educated about the places they are going.

Viscape is social marketplace for travelers, owners, and real estate professionals to come together to network, exchange ideas, conduct business, meet and organize trips around vacation properties and second homes.

I recently had a chance to interview her and discuss her lessons learned as a small business owner and the state of the travel industry. Here is a transcript of part two of our two-part interview:

Steve: Switching gears a bit, I would like to talk about entrepreneurship in general. What has been some of your biggest successes in building this company over the last few years?
Caroline: Viscape is growing exponentially.  We are growing our membership organically and we have had unbelievable growth in a very short time.

Viscape is my third company.  I’ve been working on it for more than two years, but we only went live 3 months ago.  We’re already generating revenue.  People love our concept.  I just have a hunch that Viscape is going to be a roaring success!

Steve: Since we all must fail in order succeed at our highest potential, what are mistakes you have made that you would impart on those entrepreneurs looking to start a business but afraid of failure?
Caroline: Fail forward fast.  I live by this daily.  We all make mistakes.  But its only by learning from our mistakes that we switch gears and make better decisions.

Steve: As we close the interview you have a great new way for people to become travelogues and global travelers. What is the program you are launching?
Caroline: What a great question, Steve!  Yes, we do!!!  On our site, people can be their own travel writers — share stories and post pictures about their trips!  It is such a cool way to share with your friends and with other Viscapers.  Plus, we have an extra added bonus where if you write an incredible review, you have a shot at winning our “Be a travel writer” contest.  First prize gets to go to Key West or Belize and second prize gets to go to an East Coast destination with the Viscape crew.  The details are on the “My Sweet Viscape” blog at http://blog.viscape.com.  You can get tips for how to write a great review.