This Accidental Host Found Boostly and Grew Her Revenue by 254% In Less That 3 Years
Dana never planned to get into short-term rentals.
She and her husband wanted a garage for their home in Springfield, but building one from scratch wasn’t an option. So when the house behind theirs came up for sale (with a garage opening onto their alley), they did the “logical” thing:
“We bought a garage… and it came with a house.”
Overnight, they were the owners of a second home that they didn’t need.
She decided to turn the home into a short-term rental. But Dana quickly discovered:
- She knew nothing about STR pricing.
- She had no clue where to start with marketing.
- She had zero systems for attracting direct bookings.
So she did what most hosts do in her situation. She turned to the OTAs.
The OTA Trap
At first, getting on the OTAs seemed to work.
Her calendar was rarely empty. Bookings came in.
But the longer she stuck with them, the more she realised the truth:
That the OTAs were calling the shots, not her.
“I had to constantly appease the OTAs.”
Dana didn’t want to give 20%+ of her profits away to be told how she can interact with her guests.
But then she came across Boostly.
“I never would’ve gotten into Direct Bookings without Boostly.”
“Cheaper” Than Boostly?
Admittedly, Dana couldn’t afford a Boostly website right away.
So she hired someone who could do it “cheaper”.
But her website wasn’t what she wanted. Plus, she didn’t have any control over how to update or include what she wanted on the site. Her web designer wouldn’t even hand over her own data.
“I felt like I was being held hostage.”
And to top it all off, her website crashed!
And since she didn’t have a team to help, Dana lost bookings.
That’s when she realised it was time to go all in on Boostly.
Since Joining Boostly…
Dana had dabbled in a bunch of STR courses and programs before.
But Boostly opened her eyes to the fundamentals no one else mentioned, such as:
- How to properly define a customer avatar
- Why knowing who you’re serving affects how you price
- How to think beyond “just list on Airbnb and hope”
For the first time, she felt like she had a one-stop shop to become a successful STR business owner:
Dana’s STR business has only grown since joining Boostly.
She went from being solely reliant on the OTAs to 21% Direct Bookings.
She got back $3,008 in OTA fees every year.
She then used those profits to open 3 more properties — allowing her to grow her revenue from $24,000 to $84,000 in just 3 years.
And thanks to her Boostly website and support, there is nothing that can stop Dana from continuing to grow her business, get more direct bookings, and become the go-to STR choice in Springfield.
