$2,800 in Direct Bookings in 32 days….and 4 years: A Cautionary Tale for Thriving Hosts
Jeremy was sold on his Boostly website 4 years ago, when he was charmed by Mark on a bus after a property conference.
(Jeremy and Boostly CEO, Mark Simpson)
He quickly scaled to 5 properties, but despite having his Boostly website…
Jeremy still got most of his bookings via the OTAs.
“It makes me uneasy that 90% of my bookings come from Airbnb.”
Still, Jeremy had his concerns.
He'd heard the stories of someone falsely claiming bed bugs and the host having their listings shut down – which can take a month to get back.
For someone like Jeremy with five listings, that’s a lot of revenue.
Then there’s the Review Games you play:
⚠️👆🏻THIS is why you need to go all in on Direct Bookings ⚠️👆🏻
“I hate playing that game with guests.”
Jeremy had a guest who kept parking on the grass, which violates his rental certificate rules.
He kept texting him to move the car.
But the guest wouldn’t listen.
Jeremy didn’t know what to do.
If he did nothing, he could lose profits from having to repair damages.
If he pushed too hard, he might get a bad review and ruin his reputation.
Talk about being between a rock and a…pain in the ass guest.
There’s a popular saying: “The customer is always right.”
But experienced hosts like Jeremy know what rubbish this is.
Sometimes guests are wrong.
Sometimes they game the system.
And sometimes they convince Airbnb to refund them — leaving you out of pocket and ruining your reputation.
Direct bookings put an end to those games.
It’s like Jeremy said:
“I think if they’re my guests — people who stayed before, who I’ve built a relationship with — I can screen better. And those are the people I want coming back to book direct.”
Jeremy knew the importance of direct bookings.
He knew the risks of relying on the OTAs.
Which begs the question:
Why hadn’t he done anything to change his situation?
The simple answer:
Time.
Jeremy was doing all the management himself.
He also has another job.
He couldn’t focus on doing something new.
… but then he had a baby.
Suddenly, the daily grind of answering guest messages across four properties wasn’t sustainable.
“I can’t do this daily communication anymore.”
So he hired a small team of VAs. Getting them up to speed took nearly six months, but he finally had room to breathe, think, and forward plan.
That’s when he made the decision to finally focus on direct bookings.
In his first month, he made $2,800 in direct bookings.
Sure, $2,800 in direct bookings might not be life-changing money.
But it was $2,800 more than he’d made in the last 5 years as a host.
That was all the proof needed to go all in on Direct Bookings.
Jeremy is projected to increase direct bookings from 0% to 20% this year.
And then to 40% over the next 3-4 years.
So he can finally be in full control of his revenue, guests, and success.
Jeremy’s story is inspirational and cautionary.
Inspirational because he’s built a thriving property business.
Cautionary because it’s hard not to wonder just how much in OTA fees he could’ve saved and how much security he could have if he’d taken Direct Bookings seriously three years ago.
But like they say:
The best time to plant a tree was 4 years and 32 days ago…
The second-best time to plant a tree is today.
Jeremy has finally taken that leap into Direct Bookings.
Will you? If so, you’re going to need a website to send them to.