How Lee’s Passion For Boating With His Father Led to Full-Time Success with Boatsetter
Boatsetter Owner, Lee, has everything it takes to succeed as a power owner. His passion for boating started with his earliest memories with his father and has grown throughout the years as he has turned boat rentals with Boatsetter into his full-time job. Since joining Boatsetter in 2013, he now relies on three boats as a “business and source of income”.
Early memories with his father
Lee’s passion for boating started in his early childhood, as he grew up living on his father’s boat in Vietnam. “My relationship with boating started with my father. I lived on the boat with him for a while to help him on the water and that’s how I fell in love with it.”
He recalls leaving Vietnam on the same boat he lived on with his dad. “In 1980, we left Vietnam by boat to the Islands of Malaysia and from there we got sponsorship and came to the United States”. After arriving in Ohio, they later moved to Florida where he “became a boat owner at the age of 16” when his dad bought him his first boat. Lee looks back at his early boating days and laughs as he recalls putting his freshwater boat in saltwater- “It was a freshwater fishing boat. I didn’t know anything about freshwater boats, so I put it through a lot of saltwater and it got eaten up pretty fast.”
After “falling in love with fishing with his father”, Lee bought his first boat- an 18 ft. Sea Hunt Center Console. “Originally, I bought it for personal use but eventually sold it and moved to Vegas. I came back to Florida and you know when you live in Florida you need to own a boat, so I bought my second fishing boat and then I found Boatsetter.” After listing his 21 ft. Century fishing boat on Boatsetter, he decided to buy a deck boat to be able to market to families and larger groups, so he purchased his 24 ft. Hurricane and the rest is history!
Setting his listings up for success
As an experienced owner, Lee credits much of his great success and 430 completed bookings to his photos and a robust listing including features of his boats and in-depth descriptions for renters to see.
Lee utilizes the photos tool for his Hurricane to continuously add photos to his listing. To date, he has a total of 43 photos- highlighting the vessel, amenities, and renter experiences.”Photos are very important. They are the first thing people are looking at and the more you have, the better it is.” High-quality images and a lot of them, give renters the chance to visualize the type of day they are looking to have on the water.
As a boat owner that looks to Boatsetter to bring in as many booking requests as possible, Lee stresses the importance of having a compelling listing, which includes using the features and description tools. By using the features tool, owners are able to fill in their boat details and check off all of the amenities their boat has. “I think the feature tool is one of the best tools on the listing. Some people wonder if their pets are allowed or if there is a radio and the feature tool allows you to check those off.” In addition to boat features, using the description tool allows owners to fill in any rules specific to their boat. “Most renters read the description and book right away without questions.” Having a completed listing description will help ensure that more requests come through. It also has the added benefit of reducing the number of questions and messaging time with renters prior to booking requests.
As Lee looks towards a successful year, he credits his continued earnings to keeping an updated calendar and a powerful listing. His parting advice to fellow Boatsetter owners in making use of the tools and staying safe this season is to “Be patient. Launching boats can be stressful, so go out earlier than expected and take your time with rentals.”
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To make use of Boatsetter’s tool: Photos, navigate to your Owner Dashboard, click My Boats, select Manage Boat, select Edit Listing on the left sidebar, and scroll to Photos section at the bottom of the page. To upload photos, click Edit photos and click Upload more. To reorder your photos, select a photo and drag it to its new spot. To change your first photo, select a photo and drag it to the first spot. Don’t forget to save your changes.
To make use of Boatsetter’s tools: Features and Description, navigate to your Owner Dashboard, click My Boats, select Manage Boat, select Edit Listing on the left sidebar, and scroll to the Features and Description sections on the page. If adjustments are made, be sure to save your changes.
For more information on crafting your listing description, visit our Support Articles:
What Can And Cannot Be Included in my Listing?
What Are Boat Rules?
How Do I Add Amenities to My Listing?
