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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...
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...
I first learned the phrase "creative destruction" from my co-founder in Esperanza Social Venture Club (gang intervention program). Brief Aside: Building a demobilization program was new and uncharted territory. No one had done anything like this in Panama. So with little experience, we assembled a team, raised money, planned a pilot intervention program with Gang #1 and it went surprisingly well. So well in...
Creatively destroying my homeowner acquisition process as we speak. Up until Summer of 2020, onboarding a new owner was like...
I recently came across an insightful case study (attached) titled "From Niche to Movement to Mainstream" about the rise of the food truck movement (and hip hop). Reading it, I couldn't help but see the parallels with our work (and think about a similar discussion Can we copy the craft beer movement?)...here are some of the interesting nuggets I gleaned from the food truck PDF (attached): The catalyst for the...
@Dawn what a wonderfully relevant moment for the Hedgehog to make its return to the community. @TomG and @Lauren Madewell -- I'm curious (been thinking about your family...
I recently came across a scene from 'Sense of Place' Blue Ridge that I wanted to share because I know a lot of our members are thinking about staffing and team building. When I asked @CJ how he plans to grow, he says, "I'm going to invest in people." Watch it first... Investing in your people is one of the most impactful ways to allocate funds as a modern day vacation rental professional. If demands of the...
Here's the full episode in case anyone wants to see me jump off an abandoned boat after drinking moonshine: @Matt Landau this is my favorite Sense...
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...
I am currently visiting @Godfrey in Sun Valley, Idaho where the supply of vacation rental properties is so limited (and the demand for this destination so great) that property owners and managers need to be extra intentional about how they spend their time. To a degree, I think this focus is increasingly playing out across the world. Every activity falls somewhere on the profit spectrum, but which activities...
Here's a full interview so you can understand better: Thanks, as always, Matt! 👌
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...
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...
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...
Good property names stand out and inspire. Even cooler, good property names drive repeat and referral bookings! But bad property names disappear from our memories the moment we depart. Settling on great property names is tricky. I am recently going through this process with @MeganM about her new property in Cocoa Beach, FL. It's located on the Space Coast where Megan grew up (she had friends whose...
Whatever you do pick something that is easy to spell and easy to pronounce. Our property name is a marketing blunder. The name is...
Hospitality is one of the few sectors that customers touch, feel, experience, walk-into. Which makes us hyper-connected to our local communities. (We should really have a code of ethics, but I digress) And hyper-connected means disruptive: for better and for worse. Good disruption: guests spark the local economy, managers/hosts are closely tied to local causes and issues, business contributes as much (if not...
I posted this recently in a local FB STR group. Advocating for Short-Term Rentals: Keeping a Good Local Reputation The best defense is a good offense and we are our best advocates. There are so many benefits to having short-term rentals in the neighborhood, boons to neighbors...
I recently came across this quote (above) and realized how many of the most successful vacation rental pros I know are masters of leverage AND how many of the most knowledgable vacation rental pros I know could use leverage in fun new ways to thrive (however they may define that). So I wanted to begin a thread about using subject matter expertise as a "force multiplier" -- giving members the potential to lift...
Happy almost Independence Day everyone, First of all - I had to look up the word leverage as it pertained to business. Verb Leverage: use (something) to maximum advantage. "the organization needs to...
JPrugh
  • Lindsborg Vacation Rentals
I just agreed to lease one of our long-term extended-stay rentals to a local family who live about a one-minute walk away from Skönhuset (Swedish for "the nice house"). Our neighbor's son is terminally ill with four to eight weeks to live. Hospice (and a hospital bed) will be...
This week's discussion thread is perhaps more validation than motivation. On the heels of my friend Leyla's passing this week, I found myself reflecting on how often it is vacations together with friends/family that are the highlights of life...
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...
This week’s discussion all about niche marketing ideas comes directly from the golf course! @CJ sent me the following photo of a vacation rental owner who scatters golf balls with contact information around the backyard of his golf course-front vacation home in Georgia. This is a cheap, creative, and focused way of speaking directly to his target audience. QUESTIONS/COMMENTS Where are your niche guests...
What a great idea! A previous guest painted encouraging messages on small rocks and left them all over the farm - it was fun to find them. I always left them for...
Report of Survey results - includes questions. Can be used by VR managers to better understand guest behaviour in order to tailor property amenities / services to them.
Storm Watching is a creative marketing strategy by the destination of Tofino on Vancouver Island in British Columbia...turning lemons into lemonade...taking a low season and turning it into something new and aspirational. Stoke the fire, pull a chair up to the window, and snuggle into a down comforter to watch Mother Nature assault the land and sea outside your hotel window. Gale force winds whip the ocean into...
As a follow up to my April 20 post.....we opted to play up all the wonderful amenities inside our property and let this sell itself. The property, with or without higher water levels in our surrounding...
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...
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...
Hey @EBadia -- what do you think about the word “boutique” to describe what makes vacation rental companies great? Used in all of our marketing materials and in our day-to-day, could "boutique" successfully convey what makes vacation rental companies great in ways that other words (we've come up with) can not? Side Note: For those of you who haven't listened, Evelyn and I are on a mission to define the word...
I added the word "boutique" to my listing title on Airbnb when this thread first came out. My summer is filled. However, Airbnb has recently ELIMINATED titles in their listing search. I understand this is a new AI standard for them. Now, when searching you will...
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...
Upon just visiting @Debi @MichelleR @Megan C @Matthew and @BrianO in Oregon, I have settled on fresh local coffee as one of the lowest-hanging Limited Edition welcome gifts you can invest in. Consider approaching a local coffee shop about a partnership for the following reasons: Function: More than 50% of adults (ie. someone in almost every stay) will otherwise need to go out and buy coffee anyway. Fit...
I tried reaching out to a local roaster but the smallest bags they produce is 1/2 pound - way too much for a weekend stay for a 2 bedroom. Instead, I tried buying in bulk (5 pounds) and putting enough into individual bags for about 2 pots worth. I even went as far as creating...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...

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