Free Content
FiltersLooking for new ideas? Tap into VRMB's massive database of free content, including our multimedia archive. Our weekly discussions on guest experience and growth are designed to inspire and delight.
- Founder, VRMB
Welcome to Season 9 of the Unlocked Podcast! Lukas Krause is part of a new generation of industry professionals bringing superpowers from other industries into our own. He’s running a large company in the space but focusing on small hospitality details. In this episode Matt and Lukas dive into the good, the bad and the ugly of our current high paced acquisitions cycle and talk about what it means to be a...
- Founder, VRMB
Prior to launching Season 9: Homerunners this week, Matt sat down with Breezeway founder and perennial Unlocked sponsor Jeremiah Gall to discuss highlights from last season and the state of the industry moving forward.
Episode One of Homerunners featuring Lukas Krause of Skyrun Vacation Rentals drops with the VRMB newsletter Thursday September 8th.
This episode is brought you by PointCentral...
- Founder, VRMB
I've known Matt Hoffman for what feels like an eternity. I remember talking to him back when I was running my vacation rental business in Panama in 2008 and his passion and enthusiasm for vacation rentals has not faded since...if anything they've sharpened.
Matt is the Senior Vice President and Product Leader at Kigo, which is a vacation rental management software company.
Our conversation about Matt's...
- Founder, VRMB
This week's podcast episode (embedded below) featuring @TomG of Mt. Laurel Chalets in Gatlinburg, TN includes a very special segment (starts at 11:05) about an idea Tom calls Hometown Heroes here's how it's described on his site:
Every hometown has its heroes. The unseen caregiver who is called to serve. An unlikely achiever who tackles obstacles with a can-do spirit. Perhaps it's the unsung champion who runs...
-
Latest reply by - Debi
Matt and I had a discussion about our Hometown Hero Contest on his podcast Unlocked back in May. We launched this pilot right after that and we are now naming our first round of winners. The fun is only...
- Founder, VRMB
Dana Young is one of those people who is just unyieldingly passionate about technology. But so are a lot of people. What makes Dana unique is the way he is applying that obsession -- specifically with voice activated devices -- to the vacation rental space. He got started in our industry managing a property with his mom. But the ramifications of his singular and relatively straightforward "Unlocked" tactic reach...
- Founder, VRMB
In this episode you'll get a taste of what's to come in the next season of Unlocked themed "First Mover Status" in which we'll interview owners and managers who are gaining HUGE advantages by being first to market with new innovations. But until then, enjoy this brief audio essay from Matt's visit to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Where he visited Robin Craigen of www.movingmountains.com
Link's Mentioned in...
- Founder, VRMB
As a follow-up to the popular discussion 8 Deep Adjustments To Your Listings, in this week's podcast featuring @Heather we talk about what is simultaneously the biggest challenge AND the biggest differentiator (when you solve it) for independent vacation rental marketers: standing out in a crowd. You can skip forward to 12:15 to hear that part of the discussion:
Heather talks about the classic graphics like...
-
Latest reply by - Robin
We Zigged - Moving Mountains is not a conventional name by any means, and this has served us well...
Our niche is Luxury - in the true sense of the word, and every time we have strayed from this we have learned that LUXURY is what our guests expect of us, and nothing less...
- Founder, VRMB
In this final episode of Season 8 we speak with the godmother of vacation rentals, Heather Bayer of the Vacation Rental Success podcast, which has featured more than 440 vacation rental innovators and given an enormous wealth of knowledge to our community. Heather recently sold her vacation rental business after twenty years and we dig into that process, the state of the industry, and how well she has been...
- Founder, VRMB
In this episode producer Stuart Hooper gives an update on progress at Mangofish Studios, an off the grid creative retreat center in Panama and talks to Matt about his recent article for Phocuswire.com on the challenge of scaling what cannot be scaled.
Phocuswire Aritcle: https://www.phocuswire.com/challenges-scaling-vacation-rentals?fbclid=IwAR131IU5NxRVFt3T_SxGb4Mgfl_IKRin0XMHX5QbGl-fyqv8MwX4DVDsVvM...
- Founder, VRMB
Victoria O'Connell is the creator of GoLightly, a home sharing platform for women. In this episode we dive into the genesis of the platform, talk about creating accountability and deep ties in a network and discuss broader concepts in niche marketing.
GoLightly: https://www.wegolightly.com
This episode is brought you by PointCentral: https://www.pointcentral.com/vrmb/ the leaders in smart home automation...
- Founder, VRMB
Tom Goodwin of Mountain Laurel Chalets in Gatlinburg, Tennessee is celebrating 50 years of making limited edition memories for guests. In this episode we dive into his direct marketing techniques, which are among the most holistic and comprehensive we have ever encountered.
Mountain Laurel Chalets: www.mtnlaurelchalets.com
Rue Bar Rue: https://www.ruebarue.com
Track: https://trackhs.com
Bomb Bomb...
- Founder, VRMB
Michael Skinner of Savvy Travels is a member of VRMB’s first accelerator cohort and in this episode we’ll take a look at achievements like his knowledge base and org chart. We also talk about retrofitting your business for better decision making.
Savvy Travels: https://www.savvytravels.co
Notion: https://www.notion.so
Taskrabbit: https://www.taskrabbit.com
OwnerRez: https://www.ownerreservations.com...
- Founder, VRMB
Kelly Hill of DoneRight Vacation Rentals/Casago Mcall has forged deep ties with her community and enjoys a sterling reputation but regulations have still come knocking. Her relationships give her a unique voice in the process and there is hope these decisions will be beneficial for the community and her business but the specter of unfair regulation always looms. We spoke with Kelly before and after critical...
- Founder, VRMB
Paul Waldschmidt of OwnerRez has spent the last ten years quietly building one of the best property management softwares in the industry. OwneRez barely advertises and yet they have a fiercely loyal customer base and are raved about in our private forum, VRMB Communities. In this episode we dive into innovation, pricing and loyalty with Paul and come away with some lessons we can all benefit from.
OwnerRez...
- Founder, VRMB
Miles Chew of Compass Resorts is a marketing manager in the high stakes destination of Destin, Florida. In this interview Miles and Matt talk about being a marketing manager inside a hospitality company and nerd out on the specifics that drive leads and bookings.
Compass Resorts: https://www.compassresorts.com
Fall Family Facebook Campaign...
- Founder, VRMB
This is a Quick Tips episode of Unlocked, where Matt shares actionable wisdom from VRMB Communities.
Not all listings are created equally. This week, the community discusses 8 deep adjustments that are designed to maximize bookings in a crowded listing site landscape.
Read the full thread, here: https://community.vrmb.com/threads/8-deep-adjustments-to-your-listings.5955/
- Founder, VRMB
This episode features Madeline List, a senior research analyst at Phocuswright, the leading travel industry research platform. Our nacesent vacation rental movement isn't always well understood by the broader travel industry and this is in part due to a lack of good data to explain the story of our rise.
Madeline is almost single-handedly changing that from a research perspective. Today's conversation...
- Founder, VRMB
After working in the industry for nearly a decade, Brittany Blackman started Breathe Easy Rentals in the crowded Destin, Florida market. She quickly gained a foothold by providing a no stress hospitality experience to guests and owners alike. In this episode Brittany also talks about heartfelt videos she has been sharing that have gained her a viral following and perspective on the business.
Breathe Easy...
- Founder, VRMB
Jeff Brown of Loma Homes is innvotating in a unique space within the vacation rental industry. In this episode we explore his themed home business, the tech used to power it, the bumps along the way and the money he uses to grow the business.
Loma Homes
TaskRabbit
Pricelab
Stayfi
Annversary Inn
This episode is brought you by PointCentral, the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway, the best in class...
- Founder, VRMB
We're in-between podcast seasons right now. So I thought it might be nice to use this platform to share something very important:
The Vacation Rental Advocacy Playbook:
http://www.vacationrentaladvocacy.com
It's a compilation of videos from advocacy specialists that can help you and your colleagues in your destination prepare for the worst.
You can also see the 20 videos I picked out and reviewed on the...
- Founder, VRMB
In this week's unlocked interview with @Virginia (embedding it below if you haven't listened) at 40:00 we begin talking about the kinds of properties that are in vogue and Virginia reveals that she now offers a teepee!
In the listing description she BEGS people NOT to come to her teepee ("Do NOT come to this teepee! The road is rough, grumpy neighbor, you have to use outhouse") and lots of people DON'T come...
-
Latest reply by - Karla
I am going to bypass the “if money is no object” part of the what I love about a place, so much makes my heart still race about Tropical Blessings that the money part almost seems irrelevant. Although I had some major doubts that my dream could or would come true for me, namely...
- Founder, VRMB
Virginia Ivy is a hospitality pioneer. From opening a music venue in a dead part of Memphis to starting her current vacation rental business in the Arkansas Ozarks, she has earned ‘first mover status’ many times over. She is now an integral part of a tourism oriented community and expanding into related businesses, but through it all she understands the best way to superb guest experience is to focus on the...
- Founder, VRMB
Megan Carda of Lifestyle Properties used her passion for her local community to build a network of connected businesses that opened the doors to Oregon's Wine Country. Not only does this create a rich guest experience, it drives business to the community and puts Megan lightyears ahead of the competition.
Lifestyle Properties of Oregon
Motivation for Conferences in 2022
RueBaRue
RueBaRue Guidebook for 'The...
- Founder, VRMB
Our next episode with Megan Carda of Lifestyle Properties drops this coming Thursday, March 10th.
- Founder, VRMB
Graham Donoghue is CEO of Sykes Cottages, arguably the largest profitable vacation rental management company in the world. He brings a unique perspective to our industry, having presided over some of the largest digital-led businesses across the UK. In this mega-episode Matt and Graham tackle how to build a team, how to wield data, how to buy and sell vacation rental companies and...nudgies.
Sykes Cottages...
- Founder, VRMB
Michelle Ruber of Shift Vacation Rentals has not only built a thriving vacation rental business with her own properties, she has turned passion for her community into a way to give back and enhance guest experience. The result is a kind of first-mover status that carves a deep moat around her business and earns social capital in the eyes of neighbors & employees.
GoFundMe for Rihab's family
Shift Vacation...
- Founder, VRMB
In this very special season finale episode of Unlocked with Matt Landau, our sponsor, Sean Miller of Point Central turns the microphone around on Matt and and asks the questions we've been waiting nearly sixty episodes to answer.
Everything from Matt's management past to his Vacation Rental Show future is revealed, along with a great deal of thinking and action items about the vacation rental industry itself...
- Founder, VRMB
Evelyn Badia is a New York City based, five-star, Airbnb superhost. Through her online community and podcast she helps people become better hosts and use those hosting skills to build better financial futures.
Evelyn and Matt have a history of banter when it comes to professionalism and the vacation rental industry and in this final episode of season 7, they dive into a less dependent future and explore the...
- Founder, VRMB
Travelnet Solutions Co-founder and CEO Ryan Bailey has been working since the early days of the internet to provide technology solutions for the hospitality industry. Their property management software Track has twice been named the software of the future by the VRMB Keystone awards.
In this episode, Matt sits down with Ryan to talk about building enterprise platforms, the rollups shaking the industry, and how...
- Founder, VRMB
Theo Kracke is a true vacation rental advocacy avenger. Fed up with unfair regulations in his home town of Santa Barbara, he sued the city and spent a great deal of his time and money to create precedent setting law that benefits owners and managers up and down the California coast. In Phoenix at the recent Streamline conference, Matt sat down with Theo to get his story.
VRMB Communities
STRSantaBarbara.org...
Welcome to VRMB!
I’m Matt Landau, the founder of this forum. It was created in 2016 when a group of us wanted a safe space to discuss our growing STR businesses.
Today, you can join our community of 1,000+ creative, thoughtful, and generous members who believe in a better future.
Spotlight
Discover "Unlocked: The Intermission" - a captivating 6-part podcast series featuring the individuals who have shaped Matt Landau's horseradish in the past 6 months.