The Airbnb Secret No One Talks About – Boost Your Profits 4X!

[00:00:00] Liam: Hi, welcome to the Boostly podcast. This is the podcast that gives hosts the tools, the tactics, the training, and most importantly, the confidence so you can go out there and get more direct bookings. We do a behind the host series on this podcast where we can dive in to the innovative world of short term rentals, and we're going to dive in with somebody who has got experience that you need to know about.

[00:00:20] Liam: Today, we've got Mike Sebastian. He's the founder of, uh, Hideaways, the hideaways. Uh, he transitioned from a high flying marketing career to revolutionize short term rentals by creating unforgettable vacation experiences. And you'll need, if you're listening to this on the podcast, you will need to go and check out some of his places.

[00:00:39] Liam: I've checked them out and they look absolutely amazing. So join us as we explore the ins and the outs of transforming, forming these properties and how to manage a thriving rental business in general. So Mike, thank you for joining us.

[00:00:53] Mike: Absolutely. It's good to be

[00:00:54] Liam: here. So, as we start the discussion, what's one, uh, thing that you'd like everybody listening to this to take away from this chat we're about to have?

[00:01:03] Mike: Man, there's so many things. I think the biggest for me would be the value of standing out the value of being unique and not, I think everybody has the fear that they're going to go there, excuse me, they get the natural fear where they're going to go in and set this place up and they want to appeal to everybody because if they don't, they exclude people.

[00:01:21] Mike: But in reality, I believe I think the hideaways and build your hideaways. Uh, teams believe that if you exclude people by focusing on one target market, you will double, triple, quadruple the profits that you make on that rental.

[00:01:35] Liam: A hundred percent. And, and if you're listening to this thinking, well, how do I transform this property to maximize it?

[00:01:41] Liam: And we were just talking about this before we hit record, how you can take the same property and you can. You really average in the market, or you can actually transform it to actually be one of the best in the market. It's just all about, uh, how you create something which stands out and, uh, employing the experience and techniques that we're going to be talking about that you can also do within your short term rental, if you listen till the end of this podcast.

[00:02:04] Liam: So I guess the first question. Uh, well, the first thing that we should really start with is, can you just give us an overview of the hideaways, uh, tell us about your inspiration for starting the business and what sets your approach apart in the short term rental market?

[00:02:18] Mike: Absolutely. So we tend to lean towards smaller rentals in National Park type markets.

[00:02:25] Mike: Uh, that's just been our niche. You can do this anywhere. You can do it downtown, big city, saturated markets. It doesn't matter. I would almost say that some of those are a little easier because there's more tourism. And if you're getting the attention for those, then it makes it good. But, uh, but our thing is, is basically.

[00:02:40] Mike: Find a way to be unique for your target market. So question one would be who's the person that you're going after, right? We go as far as like a 28 year old female and her boyfriend that want to rest versus that want to be active hiking, that kind of thing. And we gear our houses specifically towards that individual and then we market to those people to bring them in from all over the country, all over the world if they see him.

[00:03:03] Mike: Um, But having those things that stand out for that target market and the word unique, I think, is what scares people in that, because it's an ambiguous term and it's different in every single market for every single target audience that you want to bring there. So our biggest right now is in the Red River Gorge area of Kentucky.

[00:03:20] Mike: And it's a big hiking, rock climbing, adventure, outdoors type market. And there's the age range of people that go there is from 25 to 60, you know, probably a little bit higher even, but there. Uh, we pick subsets of target audiences for each house that we build in there. And then we find unique aspects for the audience and with the geography that we were given.

[00:03:41] Mike: So like one of our houses is a little two bed, one bath, 420 square foot where we were trying to install or going to install a hot tub. And we were out there working with our contractor. Looking at ways to put it and wrap it and do all these fun things with it. And he said, why don't we just put it on top of the boulder?

[00:03:56] Mike: And we all kind of looked up at this 30 foot boulder that we had, and we built this like big walkway that goes up and overlooks the entire valley and whatnot. And we turned a two bed, one bath that was making about two 15 on a weekend for ADR for a weekend and getting about 50 percent occupancy to upwards of 620 ADR.

[00:04:15] Mike: Yeah. For 70 percent occupancy for the peak season.

[00:04:18] Liam: Nice. That would be the sort of idea wherever I suggested that to like somebody. They're just like, nah, don't be crazy. It is the crazy ideas that puts you on the map. And this is where obviously I can hear that you've identified your target market, which is something that we're so keen on doing.

[00:04:36] Liam: And to the fact where you've even gone. To the next stage of like, what exactly are people going to want to feel? What are they going to want to do, uh, during their stay, um, with your marketing expertise, I think it's really important for the listeners to understand the background in marketing. Can you just talk us through a two minute kind of rundown of, of the switch from marketing into the STR world and what lessons you brought with you from that?

[00:04:59] Mike: Absolutely. I'll say it's a, it's a breath of fresh air and relaxing to be in the STR world from the marketing space. The marketing, I feel like everything changes almost every single night. You've got all these different, uh, algorithms that you're competing with and nobody wants to tell you what they are.

[00:05:15] Mike: You've got different rules. You got other players coming in and everybody has to be right at the top. And if you, as I was growing that company, I had it for about 10 years before I sold it in 2023. Um, but as I was growing that company, I would try and build out these systems and processes. And what I found is as soon as an algorithm would change or Facebook would update on your phone or any of those things would happen, everything that I had built was essentially null and void, right?

[00:05:38] Mike: So I had to go redo all that says kind of one step forward, one step back, one step forward, one step back all the time. Um, but I loved building systems and I loved learning how to make those algorithms. Uh, happy essentially, right? How to get them to favor me and the stuff that we were trying to do. So I got good at that over a decade.

[00:05:55] Mike: I got a little burnt out with it and I wanted to invest some of the cash that I had in real estate found the short term rental side. I had been a bartender and caterer for a long time. So I had some hospitality experience. So I tested out the short term rental side and just fell in love with it. And wound up from 2021 until today it's 25 went from zero to 19 houses that we currently have all in the short term mental space except for two, just because they're geographically far away.

[00:06:22] Mike: Um, but yeah, it's been great and I will say bringing. The marketing knowledge into the short term rental space, I feel like puts me 10 years ahead of everyone in the short term rental space because most of the people that we've met with and talked to, they throw it on Airbnb and hope for the best, right?

[00:06:40] Mike: I think it's pretty like it's going to satisfy a couple people. And in reality, we we've reframed the way that we do our business now where. The TikTok and Instagram customers don't have price comparison. So when they see the reel, they see the experience, the emotion of the person being there enjoying our rental.

[00:06:58] Mike: They think to themselves, I have to go there, right? There isn't another one next door. They don't even know what the location offers yet. They're just like, I have to see myself there and be seen there. And what that's done is that's filled over half of our calendar with these premium tier reservations.

[00:07:13] Mike: And then we use Airbnb and Vrbo to backfill the rest of the calendar, if you will, as it gets a little bit closer to check in time.

[00:07:22] Liam: I love that. There's so many different threads there that I can follow, particularly a couple which I want to dive into, which is First of all, the move from marketing into hospitality for a less, um, you know, it's less full on.

[00:07:36] Liam: And often when we're talking to hosts, you've got people going in one of two ways, even they've been in a retail hospitality market, you know, really busy industries and they go to, you know, start to manage STRs and they're actually going, do you know what? I much prefer this. But anybody who's worked in an office who goes into STR, like, Oh my God, to do that kind of like, um, I feel the same as you that I've, I've got background in, in retail and ultimately I feel that, you know what, no matter how much pressure you sometimes feel under as a host, that ultimately I'm glad I'm not doing my previous career.

[00:08:09] Liam: And, you know, and so that is, um, that's, that's one big thing. The other thing I wanted to pick up on just, there is the fact that you're talking about. The emotional connection, uh, you know, like where these days, if you've got that marketing experience and for people listening to podcasts like this and, uh, for doing training and, and actually looking at it like a business and not just throwing it on an OTA and hoping for the best, which I think was like, say the done thing.

[00:08:37] Liam: Um, You know, five, 10 years ago, people, people could get away with doing that. And that would probably work. That would make you a fair bit of money. Now approaching it from a business point of view and actually actively marketing it and having the knowledge of, of marketing is a big plus. So this is what we want people, uh, listening to, to this, to really, um, take away and, and also to, to go and implement within their business.

[00:08:59] Liam: So my question would be for you is walk us through the process of how do you decide a property that you find is right for your brand and for the values and the things that you're looking for? What are the essential elements that you consider would be right for your, uh, your, your brand?

[00:09:19] Mike: Yeah, this, it is a That's a process.

[00:09:22] Mike: The things that stand out, I'll say they differ a little bit for the target market and differ a little bit for the geographic region that you're in. Like, I just finished an hour before this, walking through two, uh, eight bedroom, big, like, pup hook courses, everything, uh, short term rentals in Louisville, Kentucky.

[00:09:37] Mike: A friend of mine had and redid, and he was showing me, and they're just vastly different versus mine that are in Red River Gorge. The people that come there, the reasons that they're there are very different. That plays in directly, but the underlying themes that we go for are, can the house be transformed into some sort of like secret room, game room, outdoor activity?

[00:09:59] Mike: Um, is there a location to do a hot tub that's more than just a hot tub, right? And the, the way that we come up with those is essentially research on the market and then research on the audience and figure out what our baseline is going to be. So you, you know, in the, in the gorge, you have to have a hot tub.

[00:10:15] Mike: You have to have a deck area for outdoor eating. You have, so that's our base, right? That doesn't get you unique. It gets you to the minimum. And then what we look at is how can we change the things that we implement there, right? So can we wrap the hot tub? Can we put a deck on it? up on a boulder, those kinds of things, or can we add other things, right?

[00:10:33] Mike: There's no pickleball courts in the gorge other than one at an RV park that. You have to be in there to get to, right? So can you add a pickleball court and be the only place that has a pickleball court? And then if you have that, can you put fencing and a mural up around it to make it pop in photos?

[00:10:47] Mike: Those kinds of things. Um, it is very much a deep dive into that listing with that audience that we do with all the people that we work with to find out what the unique thing is. If you will, but the biggest thing for us, it's me and one other business partner that do all of the heavy lifting on that side, and that's two people out of however many millions of people that are going to see it.

[00:11:09] Mike: Like our last Instagram real, I think got 14 million views. That's a lot of opinions. Right. There's a whole lot of opinions that people are going to have on that. So our thing is let's put this concept together and then let's reach out to people and have them vote. So again, leaning back on that marketing experience, we'll run Facebook campaigns that are just reach campaigns or engagement campaigns to see.

[00:11:31] Mike: How many people are actually engaging with the two different versions of what we created? And say, Hey, I think for our target audience, who we can very clearly define in a Facebook ad, this is the way that we should go. And then what we'll do is execute that on the property. Um, but I have found in the past year, I will say, uh, we found that building is.

[00:11:53] Mike: Significantly easier than finding properties that actually have those features in them. You can transform any property. Our, us personally recently, because we've got such good relationships with builders. We've actually just started building, I think we have seven under development right now. That are all built out of silos, or up on hills, or you name it.

[00:12:11] Mike: And, and that has been, um. It's been able for us to take the unique aspect to a whole different level because the house is actually constructed from our vision instead of transformed into it.

[00:12:21] Liam: I love the fact that you are doing that market research and big numbers, amazing, uh, amazing work and that number of people to see it.

[00:12:29] Liam: So ultimately these are properties that you know, the, you've done the research, you've found what would work, but before actually creating it, you're putting it out there in front of people to see, uh, how, how much they are engaging with it to, to actually how much they want it basically. And then once you've got that, uh, that data, you're then going, well, now I know exactly what I've got to create.

[00:12:52] Liam: I'd like to say, then it's. I guess finding the right property. And we talked about this briefly before we recorded that ultimately there's so many properties out there, which are okay, which people reach out to you with saying, well, you know, can you, will this property work? Will this do, and how do you decide, is it a property which we could build and make it out of, or is it a, um, is it something where you would rather.

[00:13:19] Liam: Um, are we talking from ground up, or is it always a conversion basically

[00:13:24] Mike: for ours personally has been ground up. Um, there's, there's a process of everybody learning this and including myself for me and for Jordan, my business partner when we started these. Both of us got terrible investments, got in the short term rental space, but we're going to kill this.

[00:13:40] Mike: It's going to be great. My, both of our wives designed everything and they did a fantastic job, but we did not have the education, the knowledge, anything that we do now about what stands up. So we did what everyone else does. We said, this is our market, but we're going to open it up to these people just in case, right?

[00:13:54] Mike: And then we had a generic run of the mill house that did generic run of the mill numbers. So as we transitioned into more unique boulder, what we saw is our, our revenue and our profits just went higher and higher and higher. So learning that, having the confidence that we have now and understanding the markets that we're in, it gives us the confidence to say, look, I'm going to take this piece of dirt, right?

[00:14:17] Mike: Or in our case, these boulders, these cliffs, and I'm going to build houses around. And that's exactly what we're doing now is from. Scratch from nothing, right? There's no electric, no power, no septic, nothing out there. It's just dirt or creek or rocks or whatever, and it's been there since prehistoric times, and we are building on there, uh, the houses that we want to see.

[00:14:37] Mike: Those have had the, easily the most bang for our buck, right? They're very affordable, typically cheaper than Buying to build these houses that we're doing because they're small, you know, two ones, one ones, those kind of thing. Um, but I will say the people that we're working with have not had that experience yet And there's a learning curve that people whether they say they're not going to go through it or not They have to go through it right because they see that first that first proposal and i'm like this is the renovation This is what we want to do This is the furniture that we want to use and it's you know 30 40 50 thousand dollars sometimes on a house that doesn't need a whole lot of work according to them and I know that if we do that, it'll crush it.

[00:15:14] Mike: It's 100, 150, 000 STR annually, right? But if we don't do that, then you're sitting back in that, you know, 50, 60 range and, and it's just getting them on board. So for the things that we build, it's going to be dirt ground up, right? We're, we're building everything from scratch for the thing, people that we're working with on the consulting coaching side.

[00:15:35] Mike: We're working with their process. We're saying this is what I think you should do. If you're not willing to do this, let's scale it back a little bit. And what we'll do is we'll leave that for now. And then in a year, we'll do some more. And getting them on board with that is something they can chew up.

[00:15:48] Liam: I like that.

[00:15:49] Liam: And thank you. That's a really solid answer. You mentioned you do the coaching and that side of things, and there'll be people who are listening to this going, well, I can't start, you know, from the ground up. I haven't got the option or the funds to do that. What would you say to those people about if they've got an existing STR, which is your, your, your run of the mill?

[00:16:09] Liam: You know, STR that they could put in some features or some color, or what, what, what is the first thing that they should do? Should they really be considering, um, what amenities or what they can put into their existing one, or should they be looking at something else?

[00:16:25] Mike: No, we, we call it unique stacking, right?

[00:16:27] Mike: So if you can take one thing to make it more unique and highlight that you'll see a little bump in revenue. If you take that, that bump in revenue and go over here and do something slightly more, um, start small. If you've got something that's up and running and you just want it to do slightly better, start small.

[00:16:40] Mike: Do a mural wall or take something and wrap an area of what you have already. Like if you've got a hot tub outside, can you add one of those like big step decks, right? And put a little barbecue behind it and then get your photos redone and have that look, you know, really quality. Um, we are, Currently doing, excuse me, some deep dives with a couple people to essentially, like, do that exactly where it's like, here's your, you know, 500 option, here's your 2, 000 option, and here's your 20, 000 option for what we believe you should do.

[00:17:11] Mike: But I will say for every single person out there, if you have an existing rental, export your reviews. Put them into Chad, GPT, and then start asking questions about your market. What age do you think this, these people are the average target market that we've got people that are staying with us, right? Is it a 20 year old female or 55 year old man?

[00:17:29] Mike: And those are going to very much change the direction that you go with. The colors, the amenities, the, you know, wherever it is that you're going to add on. And anybody that's got over, you know, I'd say 20, 30 reviews is going to be able to, to get a pretty good understanding of who's staying at the house.

[00:17:46] Mike: And that would be the first, you know, direction that we're going to go towards families, towards men, towards women, towards couples, towards whatever that looks like is going to steer where that conversation goes to.

[00:17:57] Liam: I like that. That's a great tip. So take the reviews off the OTAs, Google or wherever they are, put them into chat GPT, ask it some marketing based questions like, Hey, what do people like about my properties?

[00:18:08] Liam: What are people saying? What are the themes? And, and to start your kind of persona and avatar building from there, which will then help you to choose other things that you say, color schemes, furniture, uh, design and that side of things, which is cool. I like that. Yes. Yes. So. I see that you've, you've, you've grown a great portfolio there.

[00:18:31] Liam: Um, is there a team behind your business? And if so, who was your first hire and why?

[00:18:38] Mike: There's a team, I'd say there's a team that is my business. I, I'm fortunate enough to stand out here and talk about these things, but they are just amazing at what they do. So we, when I left the marketing agency, I had a Rolodex of people that I was excited to work with and some that I wasn't.

[00:18:54] Mike: So we, I took a couple of them. From the marketing agency to roll over into this. Um, and then I, the first house that I ever purchased was in coordination with my mom. So my mom and I actually became business partners on that business. And then Jordan and I met in a mastermind. So there are four of us today that are full time.

[00:19:14] Mike: And then there's assistance from all of our families and spouses. And then we've had a couple of VAs in and out, uh, as busy season comes in to help out with some of the customer service.

[00:19:23] Liam: Nice. Nice. I mean, it's, yeah, I like that. My team is my business because it's so true without, without having good people.

[00:19:29] Liam: Uh, how do we do what we need to do, which is super cool. So what's been the biggest win and the biggest challenge so far on your journey?

[00:19:38] Mike: Cool. That's good. Um, the biggest win, I'm going to say that the addition, we got 100 percent increase in gross revenue from that one hot tub increase that were hot tub amount that we did.

[00:19:53] Mike: So that has propelled us. It increased. In one year, it increased the value of the property to get an 88, 000 cashout, which is, was unheard of. There's no reason that I should have no projections that would have said that. Uh, so what we've done is we're actually implementing the second and third unique hot tub builds right now.

[00:20:11] Mike: So that was one of the biggest wins. As well as, um, the biggest challenge was getting a loan for our silo houses. Um, that was a conversation with 47 different lenders, uh, that took 11 months to come to fruition. Um, but finally was able to close. It's a 2. 1 million build to build six unique silo houses and create this village, uh, in the gorge, which should go live July and August.

[00:20:37] Mike: So. That was also a win once it, once it finished, uh, but because of the challenge that it was to get all that lined up.

[00:20:45] Liam: Hey, that's determination. That is some solid determination. Can you imagine if you just was like the first one I went to, he said no. So I just didn't do the project. You know what I mean?

[00:20:52] Liam: Yes. Um, it is, you've got to have thick skin in, in any industry, haven't you? But particularly when you're looking to, to get lending for, um, big projects and ultimately things which start off as little thoughts in our head, which. Become real and, uh, can create some great income and you mentioned about that hot tub.

[00:21:09] Liam: It reminds me of, um, not to the same degree, but there's, there's a host over here in the UK. Her name is Laura from Muse Escapes. And, um, I remember seeing a gold bathtub, uh, as in gold, golden, golden bathtub, something like that, but it was in one of her short stay apartments. And now when I think of her brand, I think of that.

[00:21:28] Liam: And now when I think of your brand, I'm thinking of this hot tub on a boulder. And, and you do need, uh, from a marketing point of view, you need these kind of wow things to be really stand out. I got quite lucky when I started doing, um, management where one of my, uh, clients basically has got rooftop garden and in the UK, you don't really get rooftop gardens, you know, like, and you've got this spiral staircase in this converted factory, which you have to go up and then you're on top of one of the best views of, of, of the city.

[00:21:56] Liam: That's cool. Um, I, I didn't know how lucky I was, but I was like, Hey, this is more popular. This, this makes more money than like my three bed houses being a one bed apartment because it's got this awesome, uh, awesome aspect to it. And it really, uh, gets people drawn in and that's exactly what these features features do.

[00:22:14] Liam: Isn't it? So that's very cool. Yeah,

[00:22:16] Mike: absolutely.

[00:22:17] Liam: So looking ahead, um, what is the next major goal or, um, aspiration? Is there any kind of, uh, technologies or, um, strategies that you're looking to implement or try within the business? What, what comes next?

[00:22:32] Mike: So we are technologies and the strategy is yes, the technology is less.

[00:22:37] Mike: So we've had quite a few people reach out about trying to partner with our current, uh, platform that we've got and build all of it with AI. And personally, like I love using AI. I would not let it control my business yet. Um, so I'm, I'm a little bit more hesitant on the technology front. We have really good automation set up, uh, through like manual automations that I build through Zapier and high level and whatnot.

[00:22:59] Mike: And those have been working fantastic. So I think we're going to let that similar, like kind of where it is right now, and then use some of the great things that those guys build in the future once they're, they're fleshed out. Um, but for our strategies, we have two big projects that we're taking on right now on the.

[00:23:14] Mike: owner side, right? The host side. Uh, what we're looking at is there's a development, the first development that we've done, uh, that's actually going live, uh, in March. So a couple of days, um, and that is, uh, 29 units or 29 lots that we're going to try and do between 650 and a thousand square foot, 29 different builds that are all unique in their own right.

[00:23:36] Mike: So there'll be containers, there'll be. Hey, friends, there'll be everything in between. Um, and what we're doing is building partnerships with people right now to get those designed. And then we're challenging ourselves to create all of those to be super unique based on the geography and the target markets that we're going for.

[00:23:52] Mike: Um, so that would be number one. The second is we actually just launched. We're really excited for this another challenge that doesn't involve quite as much investment to do three full day workshops with people that want to do this. Let's say hosts that have enough money to build something else, but they're not quite sure where to go.

[00:24:09] Mike: So what we're doing is these three full day workshops to take them from, you know, I know I want something unique to this is what I'm gonna build and this is where I'm going to build it and start to finish in one day. Kind of put all of that together. They won't have their architecture drawings, but it'll, it'll be enough to say, okay, I do step one, step two, step three, and then start building after this.

[00:24:29] Mike: So those two things we're, we're really excited about. I think it's the, the challenge. That gets Jordan and I like, can we really come up with this thing that's going to, you know, a one bedroom place for couples that'll break through 120, 000 a year. So

[00:24:44] Liam: that's, that's cool. And especially the help and other people, because you've found this market, which, um, which works, I speak to so many hosts or I guess not so much host, but second homeowners where they've just sold an investment because, you know, They've either come in some money or some inheritance and they're like, Hey, what do I do with this money?

[00:25:01] Liam: And it is, um, people are very in that mindset of, Oh, I'll just get a, uh, buy refurbish, you know, and refinance, or, or I'll just get a second house and just see how it goes. Whereas it sounds to me as though for the people who. They want to do something with it and actually know they want to do with something that works to get in touch, uh, learn more about this model and, um, to, to do what effectively you've got there and to, to partner up.

[00:25:27] Liam: That sounds really, that sounds really interesting and really cool. So, um. Excited for, uh, I'm excited for you. And certainly for everybody who's listening to this, like I say, you're going to need to go and check out the images, um, on the website and just go and check out, um, Mike's, uh, business. Cause it's, it's super cool.

[00:25:45] Liam: I really like what you're doing. I love the fact that you're testing these markets before. Um, before really diving, uh, you know, and, and investing and, and this is what most people do, right? They invest and then they see if the market comes along, which is, is completely bad. I'm

[00:25:59] Mike: in that bucket too. That's exactly how we started until we figured out that there was a little bit less expensive way to figure it out first.

[00:26:07] Mike: So,

[00:26:08] Liam: I guess that brings us to the last two questions, which is, we talk about travel a lot, where do you like to travel and, uh, why, where is the place that you, um, you've enjoyed going to the most, where is the, the kind of wish list destination?

[00:26:22] Mike: Oh, good, that's good. Um, enjoy going to the most, that's a challenging question for me.

[00:26:27] Mike: I, I moved here last July. And for 13 months prior to that, I lived in an RV and we were never in the same place for more than three days. So I've, I've been quite a few places around and I love all of them for each of their own reasons. Um, I have a lot of friends and family that I don't get to see in San Diego.

[00:26:45] Mike: And then I have a lot of friends and family in North Carolina that I don't get to see frequently. So I would say those two places on opposite ends of the country are my most frequent and some of my favorites. Um, places that I've never been, I, I would say like any of the exotic islands I've been to Hawaii and that's it.

[00:27:01] Mike: But, but the Fiji's the Tahiti's and the Maldives and all those, I've never been to any of those. And I, I think it would be fun specifically from like, just to see what they're doing in the hospitality space, but also it'd be a fantastic vacation to go out there.

[00:27:16] Liam: So if there's any hosts from Fiji or from some of these places, get in touch with Mike and maybe you can you can learn from him and do a discount for him to come and stay in these places.

[00:27:28] Liam: There we

[00:27:28] Mike: go. There we go.

[00:27:30] Liam: So, Mike, is there anything that you'd like to cover that we haven't covered? If not, we'll, we'll dive in and share how we can all get in touch.

[00:27:38] Mike: I think that's it. We went through a bunch. I'm excited for it. I just, there's just money to be made in that space. I think people should know, be bold.

[00:27:48] Liam: A hundred percent. And this is, uh, it leaves us with, um, first of all, I'm going to ask you, how do we get in touch? Where, where do we, as the hosts go and find out more about your business, but then I'd love you to end with a mantra or a guiding principle that's kind of served you throughout life, uh, whether it's just a saying or something that you, you kind of believe or something that you want.

[00:28:11] Liam: Somebody to, to really come away from this feeling inspired by your journey.

[00:28:18] Mike: In terms of, in terms of outreach, uh, buildyourhideaway. com is where we have everything. So our, our brand is the hideaways. We've got the hideaways. co for our guests, but buildyourhideaway. com is what, uh, where we do all of our consulting, coaching information.

[00:28:34] Mike: I've got a newsletter that I've put a ton of work into every week. So you can find all of that there. Um, and then I've got a bunch of social channels that's linked on there as well. So there will

[00:28:42] Liam: be links around the, um, around however you listen to this. So if you listen to this on the podcast, uh, when safe to do so you can stop and check out the link, or if you're watching this on YouTube, it'll be somewhere underneath me as you watch this.

[00:28:55] Liam: Um, so yeah, thank you so much, Mike, for, for coming on and for, for sharing your journey behind the host of, I feel inspired by this personally, because, uh, just that moment of It's about creating something and creating something special. It's what gets me excited. You know, it is something which as hosts and as entrepreneurs, it's about creating something which wasn't there, making the metaphysical physical and, and, uh, turning it into a profitable business.

[00:29:21] Liam: So. I'll pass the mic back over to you to, uh, to take us out. What is the kind of thing that you'd like to leave people with, with thinking from this podcast?

[00:29:30] Mike: I think for me, it's the idea of attention. You know, in 2025, it's never been harder to capture attention, but also never been easier to capture attention because there's so many things vying for it.

[00:29:43] Mike: There's such a low barrier to entry to get it. But because of that, when you do it right, You can get the attention of this this audience. These people's millions of people that would be interested in your place and willing to pay a lot of money for it and giving them that value. So just really focusing everything that you're doing on how that's going to gain the attention of your next, you know, 5 guests.

[00:30:06] Liam: I completely agree. You know, this, uh, they say money follows attention as well, don't they? So it is. Yeah. Yeah. It's so, so true. So thank you, Mike. Thanks again for, for coming on the boosty podcast, uh, for you listening to this. If you've got value from this episode and you'd like to share it with somebody else to share the link.

[00:30:21] Liam: to the episode. If you'd like to continue this conversation in a group, a Facebook group, you can come across to the hospitality Facebook group on Facebook. And, uh, we'll, we can chat about anything direct bookends, hospitality or Mike's journey on there. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you on the next one.

[00:30:39] Liam: Bye for now.