Join us as we dive deep with Al and Elissa of Rather Be Properties. From 4 to 30+ properties in just a year, they share their journey of rapid growth while maintaining a focus on five-star hospitality. Learn about their innovative approaches to direct bookings, influencer partnerships, and balancing business scaling with family life. Discover how they're playing the long game in the short-term rental space, one 'rather be' experience at a time.

Follow Rather Be Properties on Instagram @rather.be.properties

In this episode, let's join DJ Fornelli as he shares his unconventional path to success, including the risks he took, the mindset shifts he made, and the power of building the right team. Let's discover how his 10-key boutique hotel, Yara Palm Springs, achieved 65% direct booking rate through strategic branding and influencer partnerships. Whether you're a seasoned investor or just starting out, DJ's insights on perseverance, personal growth, and work-life balance will inspire you to reach new heights as a host and entrepreneur.

Follow DJ on Instagram - @davidjfornelli & @yarapalmsprings

In this episode, we learn which tactics work for Dave to drive direct bookings. After trying many different tactics, Dave figured out how to reliably get a steady stream of direct bookings by using a simple tactic: calling the guest.

He’s able to build relationships, understand the guest’s visit frequency, and secure the next stay should they come back to the area.

Join us on this episode to dive deep into how Dave grew his portfolio and how he’s able to win in direct bookings.

Follow Dave on Instagram:

@nokistays

@davegoodfellowofficial

We have the honor of interviewing Tracey Northcott from Tokyo Family Stays about how she delivers her guest experiences and how that translates to more direct bookings. Tracey walks us through how she thinks about the entire booking journey and how she can deliver the best guest experience beyond just a great place to stay. Her mindset has led to a sustainable book-direct business from repeat guests and strong word of mouth.

Connect with Tracey through:

Power hour with Tracey/Listing Audit

Vision statement worksheet 

Join us as we chat with Chris Jeub, the Glamping Guy. Chris has built a portfolio of glamping sites and has slowly increased from 3% direct bookings to up to 50% direct bookings by leveraging simple tactics such as delivering a great guest experience, working on his SEO, running ads, and posting on Facebook groups. Chris walks us through his journey from relying on Airbnb for most of his revenues to sustaining a healthy business with direct bookings.

You can connect with Chris by visiting his website:

https://glampingguy.com/

Welcome to this week's podcast with Alex Husner, former CMO of Condo-World, CEO of Directly Alex, and podcast host of Alex & Annie. Alex shows us how large property management companies invest in marketing and tactics smaller property managers can deploy to build their brands. She breaks down the components within her marketing flywheel.

Want to connect with Alex, find her here:

https://www.instagram.com/alexohusner/

https://www.alexandanniepodcast.com/

https://directlyalex.com/

Interested in joining happy guests? Here's Alex's referral link for our podcast guests.

https://www.happyguestreferrals.com/simplified

On this episode, we get to do a collaborative interview with Michael Chang from STR Like the Best. In this two-way interview, Michael Chang leads us through his mindset of making short-term-rental investing approachable to anyone that's committed. We talk through his technology stack that he uses to manage his rentals, and areas where he's upgrading to improve his direct booking rate.

On this episode, we have Rose Tipka. While she is listed on the OTAs, she emphasizes the importance of diversifying your revenues across multiple channels, including your own direct bookings. She uses good, old, marketing tactics to fill her. calendar. Today she breaks down where she focuses her energy and how she executes her marketing strategy.

In this episode, Lindsey Rodriguez from Stay Booked breaks down why investing in your marketing is crucial and how to get more repeat bookings with effective email campaigns.

Instagram: @lindzrodriguez

Webpage: https://stay-booked.com

On this episode, we have Tara Bergstrom. She’s a short-term host in multiple markets and has leveraged social media and a 5-star experience to gain more direct bookings.