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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...
Sarah Bradford (of Sarah & Tim fame) recently shared with me I Illustrated National Parks In America Based On Their Worst Review And I Hope They Will Make You Laugh.
I'm an illustrator and I have always had a personal goal to draw all 62 US National Parks, but I wanted to find a unique twist for these poster designs. When I found that there are one-star reviews for every single park, the idea for Subpar Parks...
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Latest reply by - Karla
I have been thinking about this recently on a "review" level, based on reading about this Chinese restaurants responses to bad/dumb reviews I read awhile ago...
Lately I've found myself especially drawn to hotel and vacation rental photography that uses props or staged items to evoke a warm, welcoming scene or aspirational vignette.
With our exploration of "first mover" marketing plays, I have to think staged photography is right up there at the top of the "What doesn't currently exist in your market, but will become ubiquitous once someone starts doing it?" list don't...
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Latest reply by - RuthM
I have battled it out with a few of my team over the years about staging a photo to set the scene, vis. a more conventional real estate style of photography, which some are more...
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...
I just finished Dan Pink's The Power of Regret -- all about turning negative emotions into positive actionable lessons -- and the book includes this, one of my favorite quotes:
By understanding what people regret the most, we can understand what they value the most.
The book explains how "boldness" regrets ("things I didn't do") were almost 2x as common as action regrets (things I did).
And I couldn't help...
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Latest reply by - Sallie
I was always encouraged by my family to be an entrepreneur (like they all were) but devoted my most of my working life to a health care career instead. While not necessarily a regret, I do wish I would have embarked on my second career sooner.
Laboratory science was an academic and...
Content idea time!
IDEA: We're all familiar with the press pieces featuring THE TOP {insert adjective} VACATION RENTALS IN {insert destination}.
There are plenty of variations but for the sake of this post I'm referring to these pieces as "Top X." And typically, the author has little to no subject matter expertise. Sometimes companies being mentioned in the article are paying to be featured!
But these...
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Latest reply by - KarenB
You were asking "where to publish" a Top "XYZ" article... We are in the middle of writing one right now.... We are including some of our favorite competitors and also an AirBnB,, which I didn't think of, until Matt suggested it. It's all about...
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...
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...
Are you wondering if making your VR business more environmentally sustainable is relevant to you? then take a look at these two statistics from Booking.com 2019 Sustainable Travel Report
73% of global travellers intending to stay at least once in an eco-friendly or green...
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Latest reply by - Tarkan and Julia
Thanks so much for this Bob. We need to work harder on it and it’s very helpful to see all these suggestions in one place.
What do Japanese whiskey, oysters at a hardware store, and limited edition basketball jerseys have in common?
We'll get to that in a moment...
This week I had the chance to see many of you (@Megan C @MichelleR @Matthew @BrianO @BlakeM @AndyM @Nars @StacyW @GregoryF) at the NWVRP Conference in Oregon, where I featured an important new workshop titled First Mover Status, now available for your educational...
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Latest reply by - DMartinez
What specifically about your destination (to borrow a phrase from @Virginia) makes your heart race?
Actually, it's the fact that my heat is NOT racing, that makes Sea Ranch such a wonderful location...
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...
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/
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...
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...
This week's podcast interview features Graham Donoghue of Sykes Cottages which is the largest profitable vacation rental manager that I am aware of in the world. If you haven't listened to the episode, I would encourage you to do so here:
Graham references "the House Model" a few times and I asked him if I could share the diagram with our community. It is quite simply one of the most beautiful things I have...
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...
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...
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...
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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...
I stumbled into vacation rentals a few years ago and had no idea what I was doing. Yet, the transition wasn't too tricky coming from a hospitality background. What was difficult was the transition from amateur to professional.
My business partner and I got started with one...
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Latest reply by - KarenHunt
There are several great tidbits here that we will work into our business. We charge the same for housekeeping whether you rent for 3 days or 7 and have never had a complaint.
Our two homes are beach homes in Charleston...
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...
This message from a guest gave me the chills.
It made me wonder, have any members of this community had any supernatural reviews?
Here's the full Twitter thread...
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Latest reply by
- Matt Landau
That's an amazing review!
We have one house. I know it was one of the originals in our little Oregon Coast town. it was probably the home to many salty fisherman. We're a newer culture so the homes aren't that old..it probably dates the the...
Channel management might be the single biggest confusing and misunderstood topic I come across. Here are a number of the falsehoods I hear often:
“A PMS is not a channel manager”
“Channel Manager integration is superior to a PMS integration”
“You only need one Channel...
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Latest reply by - AlexN
Hi Terry: great article! I'd love some opinions on how much lift a channel manager can provide beyond direct bookings and the primary channel. In other words, if my primary...
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...
IDEA: Any vacation rental property can be made more “limited edition” with the introduction of a landmark feature: a structural, decorative, or recreational aspect of the home’s offering that is unique (in your competitive set), photogenic (for promotional purposes), and perhaps most importantly enjoyable for new and repeat guests.
ACTION: Ask yourself any of the following questions...
Are there any homes in...
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Latest reply by
- Matt Landau
Came across this Airbnb with a big swing front and center: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/28105905?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=3d6a85a3-81ac-4d55-bdc6-213307c09a2b
Wonderful...
Our next episode with Megan Carda of Lifestyle Properties drops this coming Thursday, March 10th.
Our industry is at a pivotal juncture.
Vacation rental demand at all-time high means...
New owners & managers need guidance and...
Guests need training or else...
Unrealistic expectations produce...
Bad actors who...
Tarnish the craft and contribute to unfair regulation in your region
Until our diverse community can agree on a common definition of "what makes us professional" -- our independence resembles not a...
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Latest reply by
- Sallie
When I started using our house as a vacation rental I was told at the get-go: Everything you put into this house must be considered as disposable inventory.
If it will break buy two, (maybe even 3 sets): one to have, one to replace...
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...
So, I’ll preface this with the comment that it’s a long post, but hopefully one that is valuable to this community. I try to be detailed enough that someone reading understands the principles of what I am saying, and then can agree or disagree, vs just giving some bullet...
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Latest reply by
- AlexC
Interestingly, I can make the argument that this writer is making the exact same mischaracterization of the "brands' consumers are buying as I am describing as a root of a lot of...
I had a guest who had booked us through VRBO a few years ago, had a great time, left a great review. They then rebooked the same way 5 years later. It dinged my ego :confused: . I worried if they didn't trust us. Turns out they didn't realize they could have booked directly...
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Latest reply by
- Sherry
With online agencies like AirBnB and VRBO dominating the vacation rental space, owners trying to develop independent properties face an uphill battle.
We asked the question: How comfortable are guests booking directly from the owner?
In August 2021, we ran a...
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.
The Accelerator Program
Each quarter, we choose vacation rental managers to join our 1-year, mentorship-driven accelerator, providing hands-on business building and access to our network.
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