Notes on brand, search and booking direct, for places worth traveling for.

Guests leave direct booking sites when they can't find what they need. Here are the seven pages that do Airbnb's job for you, and the one most hosts skip.

Vrbo moves most hosts to a single 12% commission on October 29. Here's what it costs a $600 night, who it hits hardest, and what to check before you change your rates.

Guests planning a special stay search the town, the view and the occasion. Here's where those searches end up, and how your own site gets a seat at the table.

At $600 a night, Airbnb keeps about $93. Here's what the 15.5% host fee costs two homes a year, and how a custom site built for search wins some of it back.

Most businesses work hard to get people in the door, then forget to give them a reason to like it there. Empathy is the cheapest loyalty program there is.

Cleopatra managed her image like a brand two thousand years before anyone called it that. What her story teaches about reputation, and how hard it is to repaint one.

Blackbeard won most fights without firing a shot. The name, the look and the flag did the work. A branding lesson from the most feared pirate in the Caribbean.