1st of the Month Bonus Episode: Spring News, Updates & Insights from the Desks of Alex & Annie

Alex Husner  0:02  
Welcome to Alex & Annie: the real women of vacation rentals. I'm Alex. And I'm Annie. And this is Chloe.

Annie Holcombe  0:11  
Oh, another mascot for the show. Hello.

Alex Husner  0:16  
She says, Hey, everybody. If you're not on YouTube, we highly recommend you go over YouTube. Chloe is my new puppy dog that we got about two weeks ago. And she is five months old. She's a little Boston Terrier, just like our other two Beamer and Tito that we have. And she is in mommy's office today. And I've got babysitting duties, so we figured we would introduce her to the show. And yeah, she's a lot of fun. Having a lot of work. I forgot how much goes into it. But it's been awesome. So far. We're like having a baby. It really is. I mean, like, you can't let them out of your sight. It's a lot of chasing around. But I spend a lot of fun. It's been a lot of hours. She's precious.

Annie Holcombe  0:59  
Well, we're happy to have her in the family. Yeah, dog is always welcome. Exactly.

Alex Husner  1:03  
So this is our March 1, first of the month bonus episode. I know we say this every month. But it's just it's hard to believe we're now in the third month of 2024. Feels like we were just at Christmas last time that we recorded this years flying by. So we wanted to start by just kind of wanted to get your thoughts Andy and just kind of what I'm hearing in my market here in Myrtle Beach and from some other companies. But I think a hot topic right now is what's going on for pace. And you know how the year is looking in in Myrtle Beach market I've heard as low as 10%. Down and as high as 20%. Down. And you know, here we had a 55% increase in listings on Airbnb in 2023. Alone. So a lot, a lot of people that if that was has been their only strategy for bookings are just really starting to see the effects of that. But curious what you're hearing when you've got partners all over the country and world. But

Annie Holcombe  2:03  
yeah, so I think it's I think it's similar, probably about 15%, on average. So again, right kind of in the middle of what you're hearing. And again, a lot of the markets, Panama City Beach, they had a 50% increase in inventory. I think the largest two that I know of in the US were I think that it was in Texas, and the Phoenix Scottsdale market, they had over 100% increase in inventory. And so again, there's not any more people traveling and now that the international markets open back up, cruises are back online, I think that the you know, there's more even spread of people traveling, they're not going specifically to just domestic market. So I think it was expected. But you know, to your point, the people that have you know, as you said they built their land or their house on someone else's land as far as using Airbnb only, I mean that they're, they're in a spot now where they're competing against over a million listings. And now that Airbnb is really focused on kind of that CO hosting and still don't understand how that all works, but the CO hosting it just it muddies the waters, and it's just not you know, if for each market to try to put a plan together. If you're only dependent on one channel, then you are just going to be in a bad state if you don't figure something out pretty quickly.

Alex Husner  3:12  
Yeah, it's all about diversification, I think at this point and focusing on the things that you can truly can control. So looking at your past guests your email list, you know what you're doing for PPC for SEO for you know, Facebook ads, retargeting, really looking at that strategy. And I've gotten to speak with a lot of companies lately, some big some small, and I think the hard thing is for these smaller managers is they know they need to do all those things. But you can't get to if you're starting out or smaller, you know, it's not probably possible to do them all at the same time. But I think the advice that I've been giving most recently is get one of them, you know, start doing one of the direct booking initiatives and do it really well. And then start adding things in as you go as it makes financial sense, because a lot of these operators too, I mean, the bulk of the money is made June, July and August if you're in a beach market. And these aren't the months that it's easy to, you know, shell out a bunch of cash when you don't actually have revenue really coming in. So that's a tough thing to do. But just gotta get creative. I mean, use the list that you have, and the guests that already know you that's gonna be your best source of driving your own business and really be able to just wow them with the guest experience so that they remember to book with you when they come back. Yeah,

Annie Holcombe  4:26  
I think you know, again, a lot of people got in with a false sense of how this business actually works. Because we were they were riding the wave, the high wave, and now it's back down to again, normal what we would consider normal levels. I don't know that there's any normalcy at this point. But we have to understand that it's, there's, there's not any more people traveling, and you got twice as many, you know, rentals in most markets, like you got to be able to stand out. And the way to stand out is with service. And the way to stand out is not just by being on Instagram and having a flashy, you know, a flashy I got Instagrammable moments. Yeah, Bentley, Bentley, my favorite. I do think that, you know, there's a lot to be said for getting people's attention. And having that again, that clickable, that that clickbait moment on your social media. But is that sustainable? Is that going to drive occupancy? No, probably not. It's gonna, you know, it's going to attract people. But if they're not converting, then you're you're wasting your efforts.

Alex Husner  5:24  
Yeah. And one thing that I've noticed too, is that I keep asking people, okay, for the Airbnb bookings that you're getting, are you getting their email address one and two? How are you getting it? And I've heard from some they say, Yes, we send them our rental contract, which that has, you know, the place that they have to enter their email. And in my next question is okay, well, what are you doing with those emails? We actually aren't sending them anywhere. They're just in those rental contracts. So you really got to be looking at those things of like, okay, what is that strategy, because that is definitely the lowest hanging fruit of being able to collect that guest information, you know, whether you're doing it through a rental contract, or reaching out to the guests over the phone before they arrive, or in the home, but really thinking that process through from start to finish of like, what is the end goal? And, you know, being able to step through all those different points to get there?

Annie Holcombe  6:13  
Yeah, I think one thing that we've talked about kind of felt like it's a dead horse we've been beating for the last two years we've been doing the show is that there's just there's just so much lack of knowledge that's out there. And so many people don't know where to get the knowledge. And then there's people that are providing incorrect knowledge. So I think that actually segues into the next topic we want to talk about was the conferences that we're getting rid of started in the spring conference season. And that's a great source of information. It's a great source to network with other people. But you know, I do recognize that not everybody can go to every show. But if you can be engaged and at least join an association, so you can participate in the educational opportunities that they have outside of the conferences. I think that's important. And people need to be mindful of that. And I would say to everybody, if you see somebody in your market that's opened up a new business, don't look at them as a competitor that you want to brush aside, go help them, because the more you help them, and the more you direct them to the right information, the better operator that they're going to be in a better steward. They're going to be for the business. And so I think that helps us avoid some of those pitfalls of the regulations that are popping up in some markets, because some operators just don't know what they're doing. So on the topic of conferences, we've got those spring season starting up. So I think the first step on the agenda is spring Verma. Well, the spring room in Paris that's there, they're trying to resurrect the European conference, I hope it works out because one of the things that we've talked about is just, they don't have a good footprint in Europe. And I know like in talking with a lot of the context that I work with, and some of my team members that are in Europe, they don't they don't see Verma as a strong association. So I think there's a lot of work to be done there. Obviously, we want to help with that. But then we have the spring forum that's going to be in New Orleans, and we've got the Northwest VRP. That's going to be out in Boise and then the Vermont executive summit that's going to be down in I think Palm Beach this year. Right now.

Alex Husner  7:59  
It's in Boca Raton town. Yeah,

Annie Holcombe  8:01  
you'll be attending that right.

Alex Husner  8:03  
I will. Yeah, I'll be I won't be at the European one, unfortunately, wanted to make that work, but not going to make it this year. But definitely a spring Forum and the executive Summit. So definitely looking forward to both of those events. And it will be different for me this year being there, as just Alex justice, not a company with my own business, which is going to be exciting. And just looking forward to it. Yeah, I

Annie Holcombe  8:28  
think it'd be a great opportunity for you to network on a whole different level, though. Yeah,

Alex Husner  8:32  
yeah, for sure. And that's, you know, probably a good segue to, you know, kind of talk about a little bit about what I've discovered in this past month of, you know, what this new chapter looks like. And I'm really excited. I mean, this past month, just meeting with potential clients, and some that are moving forward as clients and just, you know, seeing what I knew was an issue out there, you know, companies that they either they don't have anybody in marketing, or they might have people in marketing, but they are not, they're just not asking their suppliers, the right connections, and putting together really, you know, the direct booking flywheel approach that I use for many years at Kondo world. So I'm really excited to start working with these companies and get them on that better path that we talked about, you know, building their house on their own land, and just having that 360 degree strategy of, you know, we're not just you know, the goal should never be to just maintain what you're doing, and not check the boxes of, yes, you're doing SEO, yes, you're doing PPC yesterday doing content. There's a bigger picture there. And I think, you know, the brands that do well in our space, moving mountains always comes to mind, Robin grayguns company, you know, they really have an approach that they're connecting all parts of their efforts in a way that is cohesive and is really distributing content well and making sure the brand is at the forefront of of their efforts. I think a lot of companies right now as far as their marketing is concerned. They're really focusing on on the properties. And I know that sounds crazy because of course, that's what we're doing, we're renting properties, but people go on vacation for the experience that they have for the memories that they're making with their friends and family. And I think that really gets lost in translation. And with so many properties now, on these different listing sites, it can be easy to just, you know, go that route of okay, I'm going to show up pretty Beach, I'm gonna show up pretty property. And that's why I need to include in my emails and in the different marketing I'm doing. But you know, our approach when I was at condo world for those 13 years was really to build an emotional connection with our guests. And we did that by putting our guests at the front at the forefront of our marketing, and just some really cool strategies with that, that I don't think enough companies are really utilizing. So this is going to be a lot of fun. I've had a great time so far, and just excited to see where this journey goes. Yeah, I'm

Annie Holcombe  10:51  
super proud of you. So it's a big step. And it was a you know, kind of a leap of faith, but it's a leap in the right direction. And it kind of goes along with, you know, kind of where we've focused the show on is trying to educate people and get people to go to go to the well and drink, you know, get get down there and get that information. And not think that this is a passive business, and people are starting to learn just how not passive it is. And I think that they do have to spend a little money and they do have to spend a little time paying attention to more of the details of just, you know, setting up the property, there's so many more parts of the business that I think people took for granted that could be automated, or maybe that they got the right technology, it would be an all in one solution. And that's just not the case. You can't do things, set it and forget it mentality with anything for marketing for distribution for revenue management, I think you've uncovered some of the you know, some of the pitfalls of that mindset. And you know, people are going to be very fortunate to have you come in and kind of help them dissect that. And, you know, along with you, there's some really great women leaders in the business that have kind of stepped into the space of the fractional kind of C suite leadership, you know, Michelle Marquis, we've got Donya skorulski, Rebecca Lombardo, and Jen Ford, and you guys are all offering very different pieces of knowledge that people typically wouldn't be able to afford. So I think it's going to take some of these smaller businesses that want to expand and grow, give them the right path and right footprint to be able to do that with so I can't wait to see how it all works out. So I know we're gonna follow that journey throughout the year and have the behind the scenes, the wins, the losses, the sideways movement, all the things that could possibly happen, we're gonna share them with everybody. Yeah, absolutely.

Alex Husner  12:33  
Hopefully, there's more wins and losses, there will be way more win. Yeah, for sure. And I, you know, one thing that I've noticed to a lot of companies, you know, when they you ask them about what they're doing for marketing, they go straight to well, I'm doing this homeowner acquisition, I'm doing this and it's like, you know, when you're really doing marketing, well, you're not just doing homeowner marketing, you're not just doing guest marketing, but the brand is what kind of elevates all of that together. So then you're able to do all of that. But you want to, obviously, make yourself the most well known and most respected player in your market. And there's a lot of different ways to do that. But, you know, that ties in the guests that ties in the owners, and it just really forms a cohesive approach that you're not looking at things in silos necessarily, but you're focused on what the long term growth plan is of that business. So it's going to be fun, I think in some of these opportunities, I'm engaging in its marketing, but it's also its business growth. I mean, it's different strategies for partnerships and things that they can be doing, that are going to leverage them in a way that their competition, you know, maybe isn't doing. I am very much a firm believer in how important and how effective it can be to be the first mover in a market on things. So that was definitely something that was ingrained in me very early on from Roy Kondo world, and you know, being being the first mover but also knowing at the end of the day, we had to track everything down to the penny on where our marketing was spent, and where it was then generating online and phone revenue. And Royce joke always was that ROI was just another way of spelling his name. And, you know, I learned so much from that. And I think the tracking side of things within our industry is really, it's pretty lackluster, you know, if you get $10,000 in PPC bookings, and you spent 5000, well, you're actually you're not making $10,000. So you really have to be looking at the gross profit per booking on the different sources that you're using your advertising, and when you see that things are working and they're coming back and they're, you know, turning into very profitable efforts, then that's when you can start adding in different things and more opportunities. So really excited to be able to connect the dots for these companies and prove or show that pathway to profitability. You know, Simon Lehman are good friend always says the profit profitability is the lifeblood of this industry. And you know, it's just super simple We're going to be always keeping an eye on that. Yeah.

Annie Holcombe  15:01  
So I'm, again, super proud of you. I'm excited to see where this goes. I know that you'd probably have more people wanting you to work for them than you could probably handle at this point. But you're you'll do great things. Yeah,

Alex Husner  15:13  
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Annie Holcombe  16:01  
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Alex Husner  16:03  
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Annie Holcombe  17:51  
ya know that that's going to be a good one. And like you said, it is near and dear to me that the Panhandle is, is my home. And I grew up in this business here. And it's just amazing to see what they've all accomplished and moved on to but I think that at the core of them, they all have good gut instincts on the way the business should be. And it's really always enjoy their take on stuff. And yeah, it should be an entertaining interview.

Alex Husner  18:15  
Absolutely. Absolutely. And we also have we've gathered the judges from the dorm battleground, we're calling this the battleground baddies. So we want to get we want to get the judges take. We've got Julie bird, Travis Wilburn and CJ Stam. They're going to be coming together to share their thoughts on the new technology and different things that were revealed during that battleground and their thoughts on it. So that's gonna be a really fun one as well.

Annie Holcombe  18:42  
I love to hear because they're all They're all very different operators and working in very different parts of not parts of the business, but different regions. It's interesting to hear, like how they came up with their questions, because I thought their line of questioning was really thoughtful in terms of asking one set, if you were an operator just starting out, or someone who had been in the business for a long time, it really covered all the spectrum of questions that somebody should be asking. So that should be really good. And then the next one I'm really excited about is the David Meltzer. I know we've been kind of teasing that for a little bit but that was your on the heels of your visit to him his mind was that mind kicks in they

Alex Husner  19:18  
call it mastermind.

Annie Holcombe  19:19  
I don't know. I can't Yeah, that's fine, doesn't roll off the tongue. But But on that, and just to really finally meet him, because he's a really interesting guy. And I think one of the things that I really love to watch about him and after you told me about your visit was that, you know, he really wants to provide a community for people to support each other. And that his thing is just everybody asking how they can help and how they can be of service and I think that's really important. It's not just a self serving message that he's putting out there and it's it's really great to see that you were able to participate in that and obviously meet the people that you did, and I'm just really excited to hear his story and, and how he came up with this program and how he's become this powerhouse that he is today. You Yeah,

Alex Husner  20:00  
yeah, no, it's gonna be great. I've listened to his content for the last couple years now. And it just it really speaks to me on a lot of levels. But I mean, he's all about authenticity at the end of the day. And like you said, I mean, asking, or how can you help somebody and, and just, you know, teaching the people that, you know, are part of these masterminds, like, ask for help. And I heard a different perspective on this over the weekend, that really resonated with me that, you know, a lot of people are shy to ask for help. But when you do ask for help, it's almost like whoever you've asked for something or just for insights or wisdom or, you know, ways to avoid the dummy taxes, he's, as he calls it, they become they become invested in your success, you know, and that is a really powerful thing that if you've helped somebody, one, it feels good helping people and, you know, they, they want to see you succeed. And if they can share some insights and knowledge with you that are gonna get you there faster, you've got somebody else in your corner that's rooting for you. And I think that just the energy that that Ken Cox is, is really a powerful thing. I mean, David ran the number one sports agency sports, one marketing for several years. With Lee Steinbrenner, the movie, Jerry Maguire was about his sports agency back in the day. So he's among the likes of a Gary Vee, or you know, these mega mega influencers that just have these incredible networks. And we've got to meet so many cool people through him. So far, he's connected us with Claude Silver, who is the Chief Heart Officer ch O, for Gary Vee enterprises, which she is going to be coming on our show, within the next couple of months also, and, you know, just people that I'd never would have been connected with, if I hadn't, you know, been invited to that event and said, Yes, and just took the leap of faith of I'm going to do it. And it was, it was so worth it. So that will be a fun one and it kind of outside of the industry. But one thing we have noticed is that a lot of the topics that really resonate with people on our show are about, you know, those types of things more about, you know, personal development and mindset. And it's so important, because I mean, you can have the best business in the world, the best marketing, the best revenue management, but behind that is, you know, the leader of that company, and it's so important to be, you know, continuously investing in yourself. And, you know, just being in the right frame of mind to be able to, you know, grow your business and your family and just and be happy. You know, at the end of the day, it's like, we only have so much time, and it's really important to make sure that you're taking care of yourself.

Annie Holcombe  22:27  
Yeah. And I think it speaks to like where we are in our careers in our lives. And we've realized, like, just surrounding yourself with people that, you know, gift, feed your energy, give you good energy just makes all the difference in the world. And so, again, super excited to hear his story and learn more about his his enterprise or his, his media. Yeah,

Alex Husner  22:47  
I mean, he's got he's grown. I mean, he has the podcast, but he has books. I mean, he does these masterminds, he's got coaching programs, and he's he's really turned it into a true media company. So a lot of different things he's shared with us and things and strategies for how we can grow our show, and just excited to learn more about that. But other other different things we've got going on. Speaking of the media company, so we actually we are in the very final phases of putting together our sponsorship program for the podcast for 2024, which included a few different things in in in the sponsorships and different opportunities for companies. We had a great time down in Florida about two months ago, where we did the on site activation with the 38 Beach girls and with Michael James, we want to be able to do more things like that, where we're able to go out and meet these managers and different ways for you know, the the suppliers that are, you know, really the technology and the driving force behind these companies that are helping them being able to grow just you know, being able to share those stories and those successes and it's gonna be a lot of fun. So we are finishing that up. Super, super excited. And last but not least, also we've got the breezeway event breezeways elevate conference that I've never I've never been to it. Have you ever been to it before?

Annie Holcombe  24:08  
I have not. I've always I've often seen them talking about it. And I've just seen the recent posts, and they've really put together a good collection of a good cross section of the industry, a lot of good, again, good minds, good leaders, people with really innovative ideas. I think they've done a good job putting that together. So I'm interested to see how it goes. And you got asked to be part of it. So that's very cool, too.

Alex Husner  24:30  
Yeah, I'm actually I'm hosting a panel about direct bookings, which is, you know, what I love to talk about and actually, we just had our pre call this morning and there's like over 2000 people that come to this online conference. It's huge. Yeah, I mean, like they've done an incredible job with this. And, you know, just as we were talking about earlier, I mean, not everybody has either the time or sometimes the money to be able to go to all these conferences and and some people that just don't even know about them, which has a whole nother as you want, it is it does make it a lot easier for some of these managers to be able to attend these really high quality content conferences and you know, for these suppliers like breezeway just makes a world of sense to be able to connect their customers with information. I mean, they're breezeways, a, you know, housekeeping and maintenance and task management app. But, you know, I'm talking about direct bookings. And there's a lot of other topics that are not just related to specifically what their app does, or their program. And I think it just it says a lot about them as a company and what they're trying to do to truly elevate the industry as a whole. So really excited to get to participate in that. And that's March the 19th to the 20th. And so anybody can sign up to go to it. You don't have to be a breezeway client necessarily, but I think that that would be that'd be one I'd put on the books if I was anybody listening. And we'll make sure to include a show notes link where you can register

Annie Holcombe  25:53  
and that one's all virtual, correct? Yep. All virtual. Yep. Yeah. And I'm actually I had forgotten I'm doing one next week. Hopefully. We just had Margo on the show. They're doing their connection Palooza, I think integration Palooza is what they're calling it. And it's, it's, it's, of course, with the jackets. It's very like disco thing. Oh, yeah, a lot of they've got a lot of different providers. And they're doing some OTAs. They're doing some revenue management, some different providers that they connect with through the whole week, next week. And so every day, there's a couple different sessions, and people will be presenting and have some trivia, and it's going to be fun, I'm actually meeting with Frank to kind of set my session up, but it should be it should be a good time. But I think, you know, people are cutting back on the the number of conferences that they're going to because they have gotten expensive. But that doesn't mean that there's not a lot of good content that's out there. And I think I feel like we will try to do a good job. And if we miss it, we want people to tell us, you know, what things are out there that we can share and promote and make sure that again, everybody has access to, to the information because they're there, whether you have one unit or 1000. Just because you can't go to a conference doesn't mean you should be it shouldn't be able to, to gain the knowledge. Yeah,

Alex Husner  27:01  
absolutely. Absolutely. It's a huge industry. And there's a lot of the population within our industry that they, you know, just don't go to these events. So anything like this where or hopefully is event where they can reach more people I think are just really needed and very much appreciated within the industry. Let's see anything else going on that we want to touch on today?

Annie Holcombe  27:20  
I don't think so. I mean, I think that's a lot for March, I feel Yeah, we're, you know, going into third month in the month of the year. And it's been the longest like six months that we've had, you know, yeah, we've done all we packed a lot into the first three months of the year. So we definitely

Alex Husner  27:34  
have we definitely have next month, we're gonna have some more exciting things to announce. So we're gonna look forward to that. And if anyone has any topics that you would like us to dive into this year, or in the coming few months, please reach out and let us know we love doing these panel type episodes like the ones we talked about with the OGs. And then the battleground. If anybody has any specific things or guests that you would love for us to interview, please reach out to us, you can go to our podcast, Alex and Danny podcast.com. Send us a message that way or on LinkedIn. So we're really excited to you know, continue to keep delivering this content. And luckily we have not missed a Wednesday in two years. Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. But until next time, everybody, thank you for tuning in and we hope you have a great month. We will see you in April.