Boost Your Short-Term Rental Business with Dave Cordner’s Expert Video Marketing Techniques

00:00:32 - Jenn Boyles

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Direct Booking Success. I'm Jenn Boyles, your host. And today I have with me Dave Cordner. So hi, Dave, good to see you.

00:00:44 - Dave Cordner

Thank you for having me.

00:00:45 - Jenn Boyles

It's great to see you and have your awesome Belfast accent. Let's start by asking you to tell us a bit about who you are and what you do.

00:00:56 - Dave Cordner

Yeah. So? I'm Dave. I'm the founder of Central Belfast Apartments. We're a property management company based in Belfast and we have just over 70 units. And I love to shine about this city. As well as that, I'm also an author on my latest book, Short Term Rental Revolution. Got to number one on Amazon. And I also coach people on how to set up and scale service, accommodation, property management, short term rental businesses.

00:01:22 - Jenn Boyles

Brian, we're going to get into all those things. First I want to know something that I don't know about you is how you got into this business in the first place.

00:01:32 - Dave Cordner

So I was really lucky in a way. My mom and dad had a couple of properties about 15 years ago, maybe a little bit longer, actually, long before airbnb existed or it was really anything happening in Belfast, tourism wise. But they had these called holiday lets back then and I sort of just used to help them out, so I would deal with all the soft things. So I would clean the properties for a few quid, meet the guests when they would go on holiday, and I just really got the buzz for it. So I could sort of see the inner workings of it from a young age. Well, at a young age, I was probably mid 20s, but at a younger age, I could see what was required in the business before I had actually made any decision to get into it. I think that's maybe the key difference with some people, particularly those who come from traditional property investing backgrounds, they see short term rentals as an easy passive income stream, whereas I was very much aware of what it entailed.

00:02:31 - Jenn Boyles

Yeah, don't get me started on the whole passive thing. This will turn into a different episode.

00:02:39 - Dave Cordner

Yeah. So it didn't really scare me. I knew what was involved, I knew I liked meeting the guests and I was really passionate about Belfast and showcasing it and showing them around and things, so it sort of just didn't scare me. And I got my first property in 2014, started doing things my own way then. Really liked being my own boss and yeah, in 2015, got my second and then I sort of switched into the property management side and obviously my parents were the first clients so they wanted to retire for a second time around. First client, I managed theirs and once I saw I could manage theirs, I thought I could manage anyone so that's how we've sort of grown to the size that we are now.

00:03:19 - Jenn Boyles

That's great. So the first couple of properties you.

00:03:21 - Dave Cordner

Bought yeah, and I thought I bought one in 2014, one in 2015 and I really sort of changed things up and once I got into it I realized but the work involved in doing everything yourself. I started housekeepers and PMS systems and leading companies and stuff like that so then I suppose I just started leveraging other people's properties, sort of grew our portfolio and earned income but in length.

00:03:49 - Jenn Boyles

That you learnt on your family's business but also your own. You see people nowadays where we could really go on a different we could go on a completely rant episode here about but trying out this business on somebody else's property is not what you want to start off with?

00:04:08 - Dave Cordner

No. Well, I mean, it was good for me to learn the sort of shop floor tasks, such as cleaning and meeting the guests and literally cleaning the toilets and changing the beds to learn what was involved. But then, obviously, my parents had their own way of doing things. And when I got mine, I thought, well, why are we doing it this way? Why are we doing it this way? I'd like to try this. I'd like to buy this sort of property. I'd like to paint this color, do these things differently. And that's when you sort of see those gains and see those changes and yeah, it was an exciting time sometimes. Look back there, that was a very easy time to purchase the scale that we've got. T nine, nostalgia, all that.

00:04:48 - Jenn Boyles

How many properties are you managing now?

00:04:50 - Dave Cordner

So over 70 units at the minute and that ranges between rooms that we let out in guest houses all the way up to five bedroom penthouses in the city center. So a real mix of everything, everything's in Belfast, as I say, it's a city that I'm really passionate about, I love promoting it and my mission to make it one of the hottest cities in the world to visit. I think we think we'll maybe get some people there and visit Belfast and the tourism bodies call me like the unofficial ambassador of Belfast, but I can see it. Yeah, I just love promoting it. It doesn't get the recognition it deserves in the world. We're a small city, but it's got a big personality.

00:05:26 - Jenn Boyles

Well, you know that I lived in Northern Ireland for a few years and Belfast is amazing. It's culturally rich, it's just a lovely place. And I use you as an example sometimes with my clients because of what you do. And this is why I've got you on here today. Because one thing that you do, you do a lot of things well, but one thing that I love about you is your promotion of Belfast using video. And I love watching it, I love seeing what you're doing. Can you tell us a bit about how that sort of started using videos?

00:06:09 - Dave Cordner

I know it's hard and I'm sure people are still saying it like, video is the future, video is the key, you need to be making video. And I've been wanting to do it for years and it was always like anything difficult and a bit stress inducing, I'll just put it off for a rainy day, I'll do that later, I'll do that later. Then COVID came and obviously that was the biggest rainiest day ever. Well, I have to sort of do it now. Plus it helped that I sort of felt like I was going to get an even better advantage because all the visits to Belfast, Ireland, tourism, Northern Ireland, all their marketing budget was just switched off. No one was doing anything with regards to travel, so I thought, I saw an opportunity and thought, if I start doing video, no one else is doing it, particularly in Belfast, so I'll be seen by a lot more people. And that is sort of what happened. So at the start, I was just doing trial and error, no one was really watching them, but I was getting better every time and eventually then one went a little bit viral and I was sort of hooked on them, but it's sort of grown. I started off, I'm in Belfast, so I was doing best bars, restaurants, walks, experiences, best Guinness in Belfast, tough job. And then I moved on to start interviewing sort of local celebrities, local well known faces around the city, and they're naive and all the tourists, so spot tourists, and I lost. Sure, if you're in Spain, you can spot the Irish people, or if you're in America, you can spot whatever. Yeah, you can just spot them. So I would just go up to them and interview them and find out about their experiences and I love doing that and I love showcasing that to the people back home as well, because in Belfast and Northern Ireland, we're quite self deprecating and we might often think, why would anyone come here? And you live so close to something, you don't recognize the value of it, see and hear it from external people. I love the people, I love the scenery or I love that it's so small, everything that surrounds it. I'm trying to change that narrative in the local people's heads, as well as other potential visitors.

00:08:11 - Jenn Boyles

Well, I used to live on the north coast there and near the Giants Causeway, so to me, that is just like it's natural, it's a wonder, it's amazing. And I've been told it's just a pile of rocks. That is the mindset of people from northern Ireland. It's just rocks. Why are you so interested in it? It's not just rocks, so I can totally see that and I love that. That's sort of a secondary benefit of showcasing Belfast for you.

00:08:40 - Dave Cordner

Yeah, and I think when I speak to a lot of other property managers or short term rental owners who want to make videos, they almost say the same thing. What can I make a video about? And will you live on them? Say it's. You live down the north coast, there's like so many great beaches there. You could talk about seafood, restaurants, walks, things to do for families. It's like a mountain of value that you're standing on, but when you're standing at the top, all you can see is all the other mountains. You don't realize what you've already got on your doorstep that you can share about and that people are looking at your mountain. Go, I'd love to be over there.

00:09:14 - Jenn Boyles

Yeah, no, that's great. But it's also that we look at OTAs as sort of our competitors sometimes and we look at what they've got, but the thing is, what they don't have is that local knowledge? And then I think, no, yeah, there's no substance there, they're just a booking platform. So we can really stand out by showcasing our local area, becoming that local expert, which you have done expertly in Belfast, you really have not trust.

00:09:48 - Dave Cordner

I think that sort of validate, especially if the owner or someone in the business is fierce about it. People can actually see fierce people. There's a much more connection there. People build a lot more trust with people as opposed to a fierce list brand or logo that you can put on the OTAs.

00:10:07 - Jenn Boyles

Yeah, well, I just know if I know anyone coming to Belfast, I'd give them your website.

00:10:11 - Dave Cordner

Thank you.

00:10:12 - Jenn Boyles

You are Belfast to me. And my cousins came over, was it last month, and did a whole tour around and of course they came to me and said, where should we stay? And I said, well, go stay with Dave and Belfast. I think they thought I was sending them to your house. But anyway, I then clarified, go and look on his website and decide where you want to stay and book with him, but that's where you need to go.

00:10:37 - Dave Cordner

Thank you.

00:10:38 - Jenn Boyles

Oh, you're welcome. So these videos, how are they playing into your marketing? How is it working, connection with bookings and the business?

00:10:48 - Dave Cordner

So it works in a number of ways. So for a start, because it's made on the videos, it does sort of raise my profile in terms of my network in the city, in the country. It has definitely helped in growing our portfolio because we manage these properties on behalf of our clients and we get a lot of people who can see the effort that I'm putting in to fill their properties effectively and want to work with us. And certainly it gives off the edge where other property management companies in terms of guests. Yeah, we get significant inquiries through all of our social media platforms about coming to stay and it's very easy to link in the bio. Go and check it out. We have a direct booking engine there and it's great. In the last twelve months we've done over 250,000 pounds worth of direct bookings and we've got some serious hits on our website as well. And you can see where they come from in terms of Instagram, Facebook. And another good thing about these videos I always feel is there's a lot of, particularly in my company in Ireland, there's a lot of love Ireland Facebook pages, little groups where people are actually talking communities and like, I want to go to it's mainly Americans, you know, I want to come there, I'm coming to Ireland. Where should I stay in Belfast? And to have videos that you can just be like, oh, here's the top ten things to do when you're in Belfast. That just drops the massive value you're given to someone you wouldn't necessarily have otherwise. You should maybe have a blog or something like that, or just come and say, come and look at our website. But if they say a picture speaks 1000 words, 10,000, well, yeah, but you're giving them value.

00:12:31 - Jenn Boyles

You're not saying, hey, come to my website, stay with me. You're saying, here, here are the places to go. And then sort of that call to action at the end is head to our website after they value it.

00:12:42 - Dave Cordner

And another thing I'd like to say is the videos of the properties never do as well. Experiential here's the best wasp, or here's longest, they're flying in Ireland or whatever, those always do much better because those are people, you're creating the demand, you're creating the demand for people that you're educating them about what they can do there. Everyone knows you're going to have good properties otherwise. So unless you've got something unreal, like a tree house or something phenomenal, the videos of the properties, which you should always do, never do as well as the actual experiential things. But it's all about generating that demand and that interest. And people know this business is a short term rental business. They'll direct them right to your website.

00:13:32 - Jenn Boyles

So if somebody's listening to this right now and they're going, oh, I feel so inspired, of course we're going to link to your social platforms and your YouTube and that in the show notes so they can go check you out. But if they're feeling inspired, what would you say? Tell them what to do.

00:13:49 - Dave Cordner

Okay, so there's three points. The first point is your first videos will be shit, that's where I live. They will be rubbish, but because they're rubbish, no one will watch them. So you don't have to worry about anyone seeing them. Okay? Like if you look back through all nine, you sprite back to the start, you'll see me. It's mainly just me and my kids messing around, doing silly videos, but each time I did them, I got slightly better at filming them, editing them and presenting them. So don't worry about it, worrying that it's bad and people are going to look at it. No one will watch it if it's bad. Number two is you will only get better by putting the reps in, by making the content consistently, because you'll find out what your audience responds to and what they don't, they're going to get you feedback, not just in terms of watch time and shares, likes and follows, but also comments. They will literally say, oh, you should do a video on this place, or can you do a video here? But you're only going to get better by putting the reps in and producing content on a regular basis. And then the third point is that the best time to start is now. Don't wait to get a new fancy camera. Don't wait to read a book on how to make the best videos or attend another seminar. It's just procrastination. It's the fear that it's awkward to be on camera. It is awkward, but you will only get better by doing it. So I think for most people who want to be video, it's been rattling around in their head for a long time and has been putting it off. These things, you know, are important, but they're not urgent, so it's easy to put off. But think, if you imagine you had started six months ago, how good would your content be tonight? How many reps have you done? How much video would you already produce at that time? How many direct bookings could that have been secured? How many inquiries? How much could you have grown your network in terms of thinking about it this way? If you go and do a video in a restaurant near your property, if you show that video to that restaurant, they're going to share it on all of their platforms. Brand reach is going to grow even further. And imagine doing that with walks, experiences, cafes, everything. It's a massive opportunity to get your brand out there in front of so many more people. So I think, yes, it's scary. I was scared too, at the start, but it's only through constantly doing it that you're going to get more confident.

00:16:09 - Jenn Boyles

And confident, yeah, well, you've shown and we can look through your channels and see what you've created with it. And that's with just keeping going, isn't it? You've just kept going at it.

00:16:21 - Dave Cordner

Yeah, because they were shit. Some of them still are supposed to do stuff, this is brilliant. And like I say, you just get that constant feedback and it'll be like, well, no one actually cares about that thing that you thought was really important, but then you'll do some other swing thing and it'll be like, mind blowing. So Visit Belfast actually asked me to produce some content for them because they could see what we were doing was a bit more edgy, maybe, than the sort of corporate tourism body thing. And the first video we did for them did nearly a million views on their TikTok. And it was as simple as we were at the Christmas market in Belfast on the day it opened. There's a big queue. I think it was at the end of November, the very start of December, and the video was simply me just asking people in the queue, have you got your Christmas tree up yet? Have you got your Christmas tree up yet? And it was like a 32nd video, but it did nearly a million views. This is it. You just don't know. But it was going to explode. So, yeah, TikTok is another important thing I would talk about. Everyone's used to Instagram and Facebook and maybe YouTube, but TikTok for me is the future of video and all sorts of social media.

00:17:30 - Jenn Boyles

Yeah.

00:17:31 - Dave Cordner

The organic reach from that platform is phenomenal, and I think a lot of the other platforms try to copy it. So we say, if you're going to start on one thing this year, go on TikTok.

00:17:44 - Jenn Boyles

Yeah. There's not an age limit, is there?

00:17:46 - Dave Cordner

No. Well, see, when I started, I thought it was just for young people being dances or, like, funny, petty. But, like, 75% of all TikTok users over 20 are still really young. It is young. It is young. But, no, I thought it would have been the opposite. I thought 2070 5% would have been under 20.

00:18:06 - Jenn Boyles

Right, got you. Yeah.

00:18:08 - Dave Cordner

So it's still seen as a very new platform and there's still massive opportunities there for businesses to get on there, particularly like short term rental businesses like ours that do have lots of things that are pleasant to see, like walks and restaurants and food. We're lucky that we have a lot of stuff. We're not like a personal trainer where all our videos are just going to be in the gym, some crypto guy who's just going to be talking head. We have lots of things, lots of content, lots of ways to increase demand for our properties in our area.

00:18:41 - Jenn Boyles

Yeah. And if you get stuck for ideas, just think about what your guests are doing. What are your guests doing when they come to you? And those are the things that you can start showcasing.

00:18:51 - Dave Cordner

Absolutely. Because they're going to be searching for those anyway. The other thing is TikTok indexes on Google. So if someone is searching, best things to do in Belfast, our videos will show up in Google. So it's better than a blog because you're driving people to much more value than potentially a blog or even just your website.

00:19:12 - Jenn Boyles

Great. Okay. Now, I could talk about this all day with you, but there is something else I want to talk to you about. And that is your book. So congratulations. Number one on Amazon Bestseller.

00:19:24 - Dave Cordner

Thank you.

00:19:25 - Jenn Boyles

We just came out. Was that last month? Was it this month?

00:19:28 - Dave Cordner

It's basically a long time ago. It was only just last month, maybe three weeks ago.

00:19:33 - Jenn Boyles

Yeah. Well, congratulations to that. So tell us. It's the short term rental revolution now, and I've already told you this, I haven't read the entire thing, but I've read bits and pieces. And what I love about it is that it's a real starter guide.

00:19:48 - Dave Cordner

Yeah. So I was constantly getting people and I suppose I felt it myself at the start as well, of just being overwhelmed with all the things that it's a lot of players to spend, especially when you're starting out. I think we talked off camera, this is not a passive income property strategy, it's a hospitality business. So even the hats you have to wear, revenue manager, admin security, there's a lot of customer service, there's a lot of plates to spend that it can be overwhelming. And I spoke to a lot of property investors who want to make the shift and get that and it was apparent that the mindset they had was a completely different one. So I wanted to sort of distill it down into five sort of five fundamental things that every aspect of the business can be put down too. So they're all five P's. So the first one is property, which might seem obvious, but it's about where the property is located, what size it should be, how you should decorate it. The second is promotion. So where do you get the bookings from, including direct bookings? What should you list on? Talk about video content in there as well. How do you get bookings? Basically the third is people, what to actually expect from guests. So I was very excited for my first set of guests in the property that I owned. I'd met hundreds and hundreds of guests previously from my parents, so I didn't really have any fear there. Whereas I think for a lot of people, those first set of guests are exciting but terrifying as well.

00:21:21 - Jenn Boyles

It's almost like a make it or break it kind of moment. A lot of people, yeah.

00:21:26 - Dave Cordner

So I was excited for mine, but I sort of knew what color was, what to expect. The fourth P is, again, when I think so many people don't think about when they get started, which is processes. So how to systemize the business so it doesn't take over your life and become a 24/7 job that you grow resentful of. And again, I felt myself slipping into that right at the start. And the fifth then is protection. So we all know there are some very bad guests out there that we want to keep out of our places and it's about how to spot them and stop them. And then there's actually a 6th section in there, a bonus section about mindset. So getting into that entrepreneurial mindset of continuous improvement, of looking at ways to look after yourself and focus on the long term strategy. It's been great if you ask how long it took me to write, probably took me a year to write the actual thing but probably 15 years to get the experience, to know what to put in it. And I find it helps to distill down and make it just a bit clearer for people who are getting started on what they need to think about, not just the way getting started, it's scaling as well. So with one property you can model through and it'll be straightforward enough. But if you really want to set yourself up on the right footing to have the capacity to grow, then yeah, I think you really should read this book.

00:22:44 - Jenn Boyles

Another peak could be profit as well there.

00:22:47 - Dave Cordner

Well, if you get those five right, the profit comes. Trying to chase the profit is maybe not always not the best returns because you can cut corners and things, but trying to do everything the right way. And that's what the sort of tagline on the book is. Trying to set it up the right way because you can try to cut corners, get the wrong property, not decorate it, not invest as much as you want, take any old booking, not treat the guests the right way. That will all increase your profit in the short term but long term you're going to be in trouble.

00:23:23 - Jenn Boyles

And I loved that sort of bonus section at the back about becoming an entrepreneur because there will be people who come to this, come into short term rentals from a corporate background or being an employee and having your own business is such a different mindset.

00:23:41 - Dave Cordner

It's scary. And I knew I wanted to have my own business whenever I was younger my whole life when I was working another job. But I think some people started as just a side hustle. They just want the money on the side. Maybe not realize the potential that the short term rentals can bring you financially. Like when I had two I was making more, way more than my full time job. So it was a sort of easy decision in a way to say well, I'm going to leave work and focus on this full time. But at the same time it is scary because it's all on you. Then if you get a bit lazy or make a few mistakes then that money dries up. No one's calling to pay your paycheck at the end of the month. So it's hopefully something for everyone. If you want to get going this full time then this is the book for you and if you just want a side hustle, well then this is going to enable you to set the thing up without feeling completely overwhelmed and unable to do both. I run the business and work at the same time.

00:24:42 - Jenn Boyles

I think it also shows the need for us as coaches. You're helping people, I'm helping people. There's many other people out there that have set up to help others in this business.

00:24:56 - Dave Cordner

Yeah, and I think people do need help. I was lucky that I had this sort of apprenticeship in the family business, but a lot of people don't and I see the complete fear in people. So there's sort of two different types of people. There's one who is scared to get started and therefore never does, and perfectly good properties, they'll pass them by because what's not perfect or it's not right, but it really is procrastination. Then there are others who get started, jump right in, have no idea what's coming for them, and then whenever the stuff does start happening, they panic. So people do need help. There were no coaches or books back then when I started. So I think I love helping people and I love these first steps into the unknown for people where everything can be the smallest thing potentially in our eyes can be a massive problem for someone. It's nice to just be able to calm them and say, okay, don't worry, listen, this is how you do it, this is how you change it. This system, the easy system, because we've been there and we've been through it. So, yeah, I get a lot from that. Love it.

00:26:02 - Jenn Boyles

Yeah, and I can see that. And I think you're in a perfect place to showcase what you can do with your business. Now, I can't not let you go until I ask you, what does direct booking success mean to you?

00:26:17 - Dave Cordner

So, for us, it means that we're doing well in Megan Belfast, a hot city to visit. It means people are finding us through our videos and we're growing our brand. It means more people come into our city on the granular level. It means less of a reliance on the OTAs, which I say in my book, and I make no apologies for it, but they care about themselves first, guests second and us last. As property owners, we're bottom of the fridge in their eyes, so we need to wrestle back control from them and they are a necessary evil. Maybe evil is a strong word, but they are necessary. The brand reach from them is huge, but we need to be diverting some of that income that we pay their commission on and putting that into a much more long term, sustainable, authentic sort of brand recognition that will convert into direct bookings.

00:27:12 - Jenn Boyles

Great, well, thank you, Dave, so much. Like I said, I'm going to put these links in the show notes, but where can listeners connect with you?

00:27:21 - Dave Cordner

So I'm a bit complicated. I've got two profiles for everything. So I've got our central Belfast Department's profiles, solid Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and you'll find all our sort of guest face and videos. If you want to know the best Guinness in Belfast, that's the place. To go. Likewise, all the other bits and pieces, guest tourist interviews and whatever. But then I have another that's sort of aimed at short term rental managers and people who are running these businesses. And I've sold airbnb, Coach. Airbnb is the phrase that I do not like, but it is a phrase that is the common vernacular. So airbnb Coach again. Or TikTok, Instagram, facebook and YouTube, actually. Or if you just want to get a mixture of both, you can connect me on LinkedIn.

00:28:03 - Jenn Boyles

Well, I'll put those links in the show notes. Thanks so much, Dave, for coming on.

00:28:08 - Dave Cordner

Thank you very much.