Matt's Picks

I use the term "lifestyle brand" to describe a vacation rental business whose marketing leads not with the property, but the vibes (or lifestyle) guests experience when staying there. You can immediately feel a lifestyle vacation rental brand when you come in contact with it. For instance, @Kristi and Starship Landing Retreat. The property itself is still there. But it's not the centerpiece of the photography...
We enjoyed the atmosphere and provenance of the cabin itself, but most notable (aside from the gorgeous hill country views) was the experience of walking through the...
Note: Thanks to @ToonTownRob for posting this mini-revelation about the power of starting your email responses with a twist. It inspired this week's Motivation (and I decided to record it in podcast form too below). Listing sites like Airbnb and Vrbo rank as the top pound-for-pound allocation of your time to generate inquiries. All the various listing sites make up Stage 1 of Listing Site Independence...
#3 from the Guest point of view. We wanted to rent a dog-friendly house in a specific beach community for three months during winter 2023. We're two adults and two golden retrievers. I first looked for local...
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! 👌
My mother is a brain scientist who has earned an incredible array of accolades over the last few decades. Becoming a scientist wasn't common for women in her generation so (with the help of great mentors) she chose to blaze her own trail. My father was a shopkeeper whose family business served as a keystone to the community of Princeton, New Jersey his entire adult life (he has since retired and the shop...
From the young age of two, my family begin hosting exchange students from all over the world. My mom was a HS teacher and my father was the friendliest human you could ever meet! I also recall many students hanging at the house as well. Looking back, it was...
Once you've come to grips with the fact that few employees will likely ever have the same level of passion or commitment that you do, you turn to the next best thing: "How can I best incentivize them to reach their full potential and KEEP them at my business?" I wanted to start a thread of some great ideas I've learned in the last few weeks of attending conferences, with the hope that YOU can jump in and...
We profit share with everyone in the office and offer holiday bonuses, great health benefits, sick and vacation time and all the usual good stuff PLUS, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are always half days but paid as full days. We do everything we can to accommodate family-related...
Adam Norko
  • Travel Advantage Network
Every restaurant was closed at 9:00 PM. Phoenix airport shuts down early. Rather than a couple barstools and industry gossip, we settled into stiff airport seats to talk shop. I started in the vacation rental industry in 2008 as a Marketing Director on the Outer Banks. I...
FYI Fractional ownership is being outlawed in many communities for fear of becoming a version of Timeshares in the very expensive neighborhood (which in CA is just about anywhere). A new gizmo for your list: a combo noise AND CIGARETTE/WEED SMOKE DETECTOR. From the...
Hello community members, I'm sharing with you my big trend for independent owners and managers in 2022, along with links to all mentioned resources below. Please use the thread below to share any trends you believe are worth doubling down on... Resources Mentioned: Vacasa has gone public [Skift] Matt Roberts on Unlocked Carl Shepherd on Unlocked The Agile Approach PDF Keystone Awards (software suggestions)...
In Vacasa's quest for more more more properties, they are going to run smack into the regulatory issues we are all...
This week Matt and Jed Stevens of Koloa Kai detail a six-step program for building a sustainable and profitable vacation rental business and soft-launch the VRMB Accelerator Program. [UPDATE] Official Accelerator Program Sign-Up Page For more information, send a direct message to @Jed This episode is brought to you by Point Central, the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway, the best-in-class property...
[UPDATE 05/12/23] Official Accelerator Program Sign-Up Page
Our quest to quantify vacation rental advocacy health continues in Episode 2 with Linda Curry of Arizonans for Responsible Tourism! Arizona is as good of an environment for short term rentals right now as any we've seen in the United States. (Though, as Matt cautions, we shouldn't assume the score of a destination before really digging into our research.) If we can pinpoint what is working in Arizona, we'll...
In this episode Dana and Matt discuss our progress so far this season and talk about what the scorecard really means. Matt shares audience questions on how the scorecard will be used, we dive into some lessons from the first three episodes and talk about what is to come as we look ahead to bill creation, lawsuits, measuring public sentiment and how to keep score. This season is made possible by Minut and...

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