Milestone: What I’ve learned in creating 100 episodes of the DBS Podcast

Hi. Today is a very special day. This is episode 100 of the direct booking success podcast. It's a great milestone for the podcast as it's now been live for the past two years. And I'm going to spill all the beans on everything I have learned by interviewing some of the most brilliant people in our industry.

So stick around and get ready for some great insight.

You are listening to the direct booking success podcast, bringing you all the information you need for your short term rental to stand out from the crowd. I'm your host, Jennn Boyles. As an owner and manager myself, I know how hard it can be to navigate the hospitality industry. I'm here to help so you too can have direct booking success. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Direction booking success podcast.

I'm Jenn, your host, and I'm super excited to be here with you today. This is episode 100. Wow. This is a huge milestone and this marks two years of producing an episode every single week. And I can't wait to tell you all I've learned in the process of producing the direct booking success podcast.

But first I want to share why I started this podcast in the first place. I'd been listening to podcasts for years and probably like you really enjoyed the personal connection with those who were speaking right into my ears. A few years ago I was looking for a way to reach more people and help them with their short term rental business. So the idea of using podcasting was very appealing, but I sure was intimidated with starting one. The main question being what if no one listens?

Thankfully I didn't have to be worried about that because it hit the top ten on Apple podcasts the week it was launched. Definitely a great way of marketing, but is not an easy one. It takes a lot of work to do a podcast and if you're trying to do it yourself then you need to have a lot of hours in the day. So let me walk you through how a typical podcast episode comes to be and then I'll get to all I've learned in the past two years of interviewing some of the greatest people in our industry. So putting together a solo episode like this one is definitely an easier option as I just need to decide on the topic, write up the script and record it.

Okay. When it's an interview episode, I need to think about who I'd like to speak with, who would bring great value to you, the listener, and who has something very interesting to say. I then have to contact them, you know, asking them to provide all their details, asking them if they're interested in appearing on the podcast. And I also ask them to book a couple of things into my calendar, the first being a pre-call where we go through what we're going to speak about and what they can expect of me. This is crucial. So we're both on the same page, and this is the same thing that the big talk show hosts do.

You know the Tonight show, the Late show, all these things. They have a pre call with a producer, not necessarily with the host, but with the producer to talk about what they're going to go through. There has to be some sort of conversation before they go live. And then I asked them to book a podcast episode recording spot. Now, once that recording has been done, okay, editing is needed to put that episode together.

And I know I've sort of skimmed over, editing takes time, and then you've got all your marketing assets. Of course, I'm really simplifying the process here a bit, but these are the steps that we take for every single episode, every week. Podcasting isn't for the faint hearted, but it is definitely addicting and so much fun. And the feedback I get in person and online really makes it worthwhile. But one thing I'm not good about, I'm great about asking you to leave a review and a rating for the podcast or to subscribe.

Okay? So if you're listening to this right now, please hit pause, go and subscribe. Leave a rating and a review where you're listening or watching. And if you aren't able to do this, head to Google. Leave a review there for me at direct booking success.

Please tell me what you're loving and what you'd like to see and hear about in the future. I'd really, really appreciate it. All right, let's go on to what I've learned while hosting this podcast for the past two years. One of the biggest things that I've learned is that marketing for direct bookings often falls to the bottom of the to do list. For many people.

When life and work get busy, one of the first things to go out of the window is marketing. And I get it. You are thinking, I'm busy, the bookings are good. You know, I don't need marketing right now. But this is where you're wrong.

Selling isn't needed when you have Apple bookings. Marketing is always needed. Why? Because marketing is looking to the future for periods when you don't have so many bookings. Times in the calendar when you are desperate for bookings.

If you wait until that time is right now, then you will find yourself selling like crazy to try and get bookings in any booking and nothing turns off those who follow you or previous guests and being sold to. So stop thinking that your marketing can wait until you're less busy. The opposite is what you should be doing. Marketing needs to be consistent. Always be pointed in the times of the calendar where you need more bookings.

This is not a nice to have. This is essential. Marketing is essential to your short term rental business if you want more bookings. And not only more bookings, but more direct bookings. Because getting more direct bookings means less problems, less parties, less mess, less issue, better guests, guests who are better fit for your property and what you're offering.

These are all the benefits of direct bookings, along with more control and more revenue. Something else I've learned when looking for people to bring into the podcast is the lack of diversity in our industry. And this is something that I'm keenly aware of when I see webinars and other online and in person events marketed on social media. And this is something I am trying my best to help change in our industry and I hope that comes across through the guests I have on the podcast, as well as speakers that I invite to share their expertise at my annual direct booking success summit. The funny thing is that there's actually more women working in this industry than men.

But the sad fact is that not as many women make it to the toe. That's for a variety of reasons. So I love seeing women entrepreneurs emerging in our space, whether they are running a property management company or building a community or a product to help property managers. If you are listening and you know of someone that would be perfect to connect with me, please contact me via Instagram directbookingsuccess and if you've ever listened to the direct booking success podcast before, you know that at the end of each interview I usually ask the question, what does direct booking success mean to you? I love hearing the answers because the word success is so subjective.

My idea of success might not be yours and yours might not be mine. Success means something different to everyone, and this is why the answers to this one question are so fascinating to me. The answers to this question have been diverse as the guests themselves in the past 100 episodes. However, a few themes have emerged and here are the top three. Number one is the ability to build a brand.

Take what Lisa Rose had to say on this topic. She said, creating or building a good brand, a brand that attracts your ideal guests like a magnet. And when they see it, they feel trust. They see professionalism and it's easy for them to book with you directly. Number two is the control having direct bookings ultimately brings.

And I think Yvonne Halling summed it up very nicely when she said having control over the flow of bookings into your hospitality business, being able to attract direct booking success on demand when you need them, not experience the feast and famine of the high season and low season, having peace and tranquility, peace of mind that you're not consistently on the search for more and more bookings. And number three is all about the guests, just like Sarah Sulkal said. She said the opportunity and privilege to provide my guests with the experience that I want to give them before they even booked, until they've checked out and passed that, until their next day or the next email they get from me to control every aspect of their stay and provide the experience that I want to. And as I come to the end of this milestone, episode 100, I'm going to ask myself the same question. What does direct booking success mean to me?

And my answer is that direct booking success means I can achieve the success I want. And so can you. Whether that is having a business that you can manage run your life as a mom, or being able to create job opportunities for others, or planning to sell your company in the future for millions, even if the definition of success changes in the years to come, that it's still your success. It relates directly to the business that you or I have created. And for that reason, you and I both can be incredibly proud of what we've achieved.

So thank you for listening and being on this journey with me for the past two years. And no matter if this is the first time you've listened to the direct booging success podcast or you've listened to other episodes, I'd love to know what you think. Please don't forget subscribe, but also to leave me a rating and review. And if you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and you want to go deeper into the direct booking strategies, please come and join my free Facebook group. I share daily tips and regularly share exclusive free training inside this community.

Search for the STR marketing hub on Facebook or head to the show notes for the link. Before I go today, I need to give a huge thank you to everyone who has appeared on the podcast. I wouldn't have made it to this milestone without you. In the next episode, I'm bringing you an interview with the founder of an emerging online travel agency in our space. And before you think that I've gone completely off brand, you need to hear his story and what he is creating for our industry.

I trust you'll be just as inspired as I am. Until then, please take action on the nuggets you've picked up during this episode and go out in search of your own direct booking success. Hey, thanks for listening to the direct booking success podcast. For more information about this episode and others, head to the website directbookingsuccess.com podcast. See you next time.