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- Founder, VRMB
Reviews (whether entered online or handwritten) are important in our industry because they provide validation (feedback loops that make sure you're on the right path) and purpose (that what you are doing really matters).
@Todd's thread a while back about how to make a housekeeper cry and @Rocio suggesting travelers write "love letters" to housekeeping (because they mean the world), got me thinking about a...
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Latest reply by - Andy McNulty
LOVE this Matt. Genuinely I do, I don't use CAPS often. I'm going to raise this on our management team meeting today, maybe one person in the team writes a review of one other...
“Long before Walmart starting pushing into South Texas, H-E-B began studying the company’s success, and it adapted the productivity loop to its own business. They anticipated Walmart’s arrival and they cut the advantage that Walmart has over every other retail chain. H-E-B is...
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Latest reply by - JPrugh
A few years ago, Lindsborg’s family-owned grocery store stopped Walmart in their tracks and probably saved our town in many ways. Here’s what happened.
One of their brands is the Walmart...
- Founder, VRMB
IDEA: I recently learned the word “strip mining” which destroys landscapes when trees, plants, topsoil are cleared. This leads to erosion when the rain washes away the loose soil until the foundation is gone. OK, I didn’t only just learn the word (I’d heard it before).
But only recently did I learn it as a metaphor for what can happen to our ecosystem if we don’t work together to protect and preserve our trees...
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Latest reply by - Debi
At Host2Host we were just developing a monthly Host Tea program when the pandemic descended upon us. The intention was to have a different member host a tea at their property. We wanted to gather, share our enthusiasm for hosting and introduce potential new members to our...
Aloha Community,
This is Kim Johnston, @TerryC Craven’s daughter. I am writing on behalf of my mom because internet access in Lahaina is not back up at the moment.
Our property management company has been in business for over 40 years and we are located on Maui in the...
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Latest reply by - AMiller
Hi from Maine. We in Maine are sending positive thoughts. How about traveling nurses? We are having a statewide vr meeting sept. 12. What can we do to help?
- Founder, VRMB
Lots of air quotes in the title of this thread -- because the definitions of all these things are blurry.
Have you heard about my home state of Florida's "Live Local Act," which aims to help combat the lack of affordable housing by incentivizing new construction through tax breaks?
The Live Local Act allows developers to get around height and density restrictions like those in historic areas.
Such as my...
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Latest reply by - Dana
It's important to address the affordable housing issue with practical solutions, and that may look like reevaluating our...
- Founder, VRMB
IDEA: All great vacation rental marketing materials need to be freshened up once in a while. Said softly, out-of-date marketing means you are not benefiting from of all improvements since. Said more strongly, out-of-date marketing could be false or misleading.
ACTION: Eliminate old or stale marketing from your portfolio by setting a reminder once a year to freshen up your listing site descriptions, blog posts...
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Latest reply by - Mark
I love the concept of “fresh eyes”. What does a person that sees your property for the first time see?
@BrendaS - This was...
- Founder, VRMB
Homewood Suites Is Coming to Town!
IDEA: Imagine Homewood Suites by Hilton has just announced they are opening down the street from your property(s). For a long time we compared our vacation rentals to traditional hotels. But now traditional hotels are starting to look a lot like our vacation rentals.
"Homewood Suites by Hilton combines spacious suites, complimentary amenities, and friendly staff to offer the...
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Latest reply by - Sherry
Thank you so much for this. This has been on my mind lately but in a different form. We need to showcase our value AND raise our rates because we keep getting guests who are not our target market. Note to self .... We will not join in the race to the...
- Founder, VRMB
Sometimes, great initiatives need to be shut down because they are not sustainable.
Which is a difficult pill to swallow, especially when you're passionate (read: stubborn) about something and you badly want it to work.
But it's the truth: as vacation rental innovators we test out lots of ideas...some work, others don't...and then some (the really "special" ones LOL) are both amazing and unsustainable.
What...
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Latest reply by - DeborahL
I love this. I love what you guys have done, I love the lack of a plan (and the honesty to say it, but that is the reality...
- Founder, VRMB
With shrinking margins becoming a real concern (it seems like every new service takes a piece of the pie) owners and managers can compensate by either increasing profit or decreasing costs. This post is about decreasing costs in the form of a "profit center" -- a strategic way to leverage economies of scale.
A profit center is a division of a vacation rental business that reduces a previous cost by effectively...
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Latest reply by - Nancy
I absolutely hate leakage especially when it affects my guest's experience.
Looking for ways to increase your dollar per transaction by looking outside of the four walls of your rental is the...
- Founder, VRMB
IDEA: Make people feel special. The best hospitality organizations in the world do this intentionally. One way is through process: having procedural steps to ensure that every guest (not just the VIPs) feels special. Another way is through one-off decisions: individualized choices that a team member exercises to achieve the same goal.
ACTION: Ask yourself before your next interaction with a guest, "how can I...
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Latest reply by - JamesO
Just look at all the calories you burned doing all the shoveling? I guess Vacasa may get a kickback from the local restaurants to get the guests very hungry.....
We are all in the vacation business. Our job is to not mess up our...
- Founder, VRMB
IDEA: This past week I had dinner at Red Rooster in Miami: the chef Marcus Samuelsson (from tv show Chopped) channels his Ethiopian roots, making for a most remarkable blend of spice and flavor (said in my best food critic voice).
The waitress seated us and before getting our drinks pointed out that one item on the menu (the 3-day braised ox tail) was almost out. As seen on ‘the best thing I ever ate,’ this fire...
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Latest reply by - ToonTownRob
P.S. There is one call to action that is more powerful than just about any other. Click here to find out what it is!
So what is the one call to action that is more powerful than any other? It's something that the prospect doesn't have to do business...
- Founder, VRMB
This past week I visited Matt @Durrette who is often accidentally referred to as "Matt Cozi."
This is simultaneously not weird (COZI is the name of Matt’s property management company in Texas Hill Country) but also very weird seeing as though his last name is clearly stated Durrette and yet people continue call him Matt Cozi. (People like me continue to call him Matt COZI.)
Matt runs COZiVR with his wife Jenna...
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Latest reply by - Jeff_I
My brain exploded when I read 27 pieces of tech! I think there is also some secret sauce in the Cozi equation with Matt. I've met a ton of PM / STR operators and sometimes people just stand out. Maybe this dovetails into the "no jerks" culture a bit, but I think it goes further than that too...
- Founder, VRMB
IDEA: Vacation rental marketing is like the local pond where people catch fish. Take care of your pond today -- keep it clean, manage plants, control algae, and throw back fish that are too small) -- and the pond will sustain you all for a while. But forget about the pond's health and everyone's fishing eventually dries up.
ACTION: Do a quick 'audit' on your marketing portfolio to make sure that for each...
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Latest reply by - RichardC
If a guest has a problem while staying with us, we not only sort out the problem as quickly as we can, but we send a gift approximately two...
- Founder, VRMB
IDEA
What makes our vacation rental movement strong is the combined powers of many different stakeholders. We are strongest when each owner/manager is aware of his or her role in the industry: confident in their place, harnessing their unique strengths, and focused on their plan. After pouring over 9+ years of vacation rental research, we have found there are 5 primary "archetypes" or kinds of vacation rental...
- Founder, VRMB
Welcome back to the How to Save Your Vacation Rental Business show! To tease the impending launch of Season 3 and to get a sense of the state of advocacy right now, Dana and Matt sat down with a panel from across the industry for a live recording session on where we are and whats coming in Season 3.
This was recorded a few hours ago as the 2022 VRMA International Conference came to a close.
The first episode...
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Latest reply by - JanS
@Dana just wanted to say I have heard from several people (most recently @JanS) who all are beginning to think about advocacy in unique new ways because of these efforts :)
What a meaningful round...
- Founder, VRMB
Have you ever discovered a food or artist or product or service or website that changed your life?
Something you tried and then pretty much can't ever go back?
For me, here are some recent ones:
Breville espresso machine (I may not ever again pay $5 for an espresso)
Inflatable exercise ball instead of office chair (completely reversed my bad posture)
Weighted blanket (weighted blanket)
The funny thing about...
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Latest reply by
- Matt Landau
I'm a huge fan of creating efficiencies.
This is such a perfect way of putting it!
- Founder, VRMB
Hello community members based on your feedback from previous demos, @Terry and I invited @BobG to demo Cleanyst: www.cleanyst.com
What is it? In my words, it's an eco-conscious system that allows you to make your own consumables (soap, shampoo, dish soap...etc). Both Terry and I are getting a kit to test it out. Will update this thread with our feedback.
0:22 Explanation
7:28 Demonstration
19:37 Q&A
You can...
- Founder, VRMB
Welcome to the Homerunners Shorts, a curated series of family-owned, locally-based, specialized vacation rental experiences to spark your next adventure. All businesses featured are family-owned, locally-based, and specialized in a particular niche.
In this series, meet @LanceS @TimJohnson and the team from Seaside Vacations!
The waters around the island of Chincoteague Virginia offer a wealth of adventure...
- Founder, VRMB
Vtrips is one of the fastest growing companies in our industry and its leader, Steve Milo, has advocacy in mind with every aquisiton he makes. In this episode we dive into his advocacy masterplan, talk about what he looks for in a destination and see how we can apply it to our scorecard. We also hear from Amy Gaster and Dusty Church who are working with Vtrips on Tybee Island to save vacation rentals there...
- Founder, VRMB
In this episode, @BrianO discusses the impact of health on our teams and networks after a personal wake-up call. Tune in to hear his perspective on how to prioritize well-being and the well-being of your team in what is often a fast-paced work environment.
This episode is brought you by PointCentral: https://www.pointcentral.com/vrmb/ the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway...
- Founder, VRMB
In this episode we sit down with Lino Maldonado, the CEO of BeHome247, to discuss where the industry is headed in 2023. Lino also offers advice on how to navigate the changing landscape of life and capitalize on new opportunities.
This episode is brought you by PointCentral: https://www.pointcentral.com/vrmb/ the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway, https://www.breezeway.io/vrmb the best in class...
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Latest reply by - Terry
Great podcast.
Takeaways:
18:00 minute mark > Do way more in the PMS which I have been saying since /2018.
24:00 minute mark > PMS...
Hey Inner Circle, Happy Friday!
It's not midweek but this section seems an appropriate spot for this to land.
There are lots of inspiring people out there (thank you Matt!) and I’m sure you have your own personal list. Rich Roll is on mine. He has an amazing story and a...
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Latest reply by
- Matt Landau
Wow, really love this sentiment.
The methodical nature of working focused and persistently for years to hone a specialty...
- Founder, VRMB
Last week I had the pleasure of stopping through Savannah, Georgia to meet Corey Jones of Lucky Savannah, a boutique vacation rental fleet of 200+ restored properties in the historic downtown and nearby Little Tybee Island.
Upon checking in to The Metropolitan -- easily one of the most limited edition vacation rentals I have ever seen -- Corey told me about Mrs. Wilkes, which is maybe the most iconic restaurant...
- Founder, VRMB
This week's discussion -- featuring anecdotes from the world of horse racing and illegal weed -- argues that markets shouldn't bet against relationships.
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Latest reply by - StacyW
Love the connections you made above Matt! Since Covid I refuse to do business with people I can't speak with (like booking.com). I think when you...
- Founder, VRMB
This week's tip comes from @Jed in VRMB's Accelerator Program where we walk managers through the foundational elements (step by step) for creating a company that lasts. We're accepting applicants for our next cohort beginning this month~!
Here's one of your instructors @LindaS and I talking about the power of realtors...
Local realtors can be a great source of leads. Local realtors are trusted by their...
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Latest reply by - LindaS
When you create strong relationships with realtors you not only receive referrals from them when...
- 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...
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Latest reply by - Robin
We Zigged - Moving Mountains is not a conventional name by any means, and this has served us well...
Our...
- Founder, VRMB
Season 2 of The Vacation Rental Show is presented by Booking.com.
Click here to go Behind the Booking with Matt and learn more about listing your property, or to see other episodes: http://book.i.ng/6003TE4wX
This episode of The Vacation Rental Show with Matt Landau explores Bali through the eyes of local vacation rental professional Mailie Green of Global Villas, LTD.
In this episode, Matt ventures to...
- Founder, VRMB
- Founder, VRMB
- Founder, VRMB
Michelle "MJ" Boyle is a patented inventor, the Hostess of the Tiny House Podcast, founder and creator of My Tiny House Village, Oregon Teardrop Rentals, and My Tiny Creekside Retreat. In this episode Matt and MJ explore the rushes and reversals inherit in Homerunning...from hitting a niche market at just the right time to real adversity shutting you down.
This episode is brought you by PointCentral...
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Latest reply by
- Debi
Great podcast, Matt! Michelle is one of my favorite people! It was she who introduced me to the...
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.