Behind the Stays

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How He Went from 0 to 500 Vacation Rentals in 5 Years Feb 15, 2023

Show notes

Meet Brooke Pfautz, founder and CEO of Vintory — a sales and marketing platform exclusively dedicated to helping professional vacation rental managers and short-term rental entrepreneurs grow their inventory.

Brooke built one of the largest mortgage banking firms in the DC Metro Area, but when the financial crisis of 2008 hit, Brooke began to reconsider what it was he wanted to do with his life.

After a serendipitous conversation with an investor-friend of his, Brooke decided that building a premier, boutique vacation rental company would serve as an exciting next chapter in his professional journey, so he founded “Vantage Resort Realty” and grew his company from 0 to 500 properties under management in just 5 years.

Tune in to hear the motivating story of:

How Brooke grew his company from zero-to-one
How he was one of the first management companies to use VRBO
What it was like in the Vacation Rental Management world when Airbnb first came onto the scene
And how we came across the idea that would ultimately lead him to found the first-ever marketing and sales platform designed to help hospitality entrepreneurs and real estate investors grow their portfolios.

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Guesty.

Will you do us a favor and thank Gusty for being a Behind the Stays sponsor by DM'ing them on Social Media or writing them a quick email?

While there are many property management softwares on the market, I always encourage our listeners to check out Guesty For Hosts.

Guesty's channel manager centralizes reservations across Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com to stay on top of your listings without having to hop back and forth between channels.

Guesty’s automation tools enable you to connect with guests in a meaningful, creative, and instant fashion.

Guesty’s new and improved Website Builder allows you to create your own branded booking website in just minutes…allowing you to grow your brand and increase your direct bookings.

And finally, Guesty is positioned well to grow with you. As your business grows, you can grow with Guesty For Pros, unlocking new features and offerings designed for larger portfolios.

So here’s the deal. If you’re an. STR host without a PMS system or a host looking at exploring a new one, I’ve got a treat for you.

The team at Guesty is giving Behind the Stays listeners and Sponstayneous subscribers $20 off an annual or monthly plan of Guesty For Hosts when they use the discount code “SPONSTAYNEOUS” when signing up for a free 14 day trial - no credit card, set up fee, or commitment required — and cancel anytime if you don't love it.
Guesty For Hosts — they’re the bestie of top-rated STR super hosts!

About the Show

Behind the Stays is brought to you twice a week by Sponstayneous — a free, biweekly newsletter that brings subscribers the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb.
You can subscribe, for free, at www.sponstayneous.com.

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

Marketing Mondays: Why You Need a Website for Your Airbnb — Even if You Don’t Have a Direct Booking Site. Feb 13, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to Marketing Mondays — a new, weekly segment on the Behind the Stays podcast that covers specific marketing strategies and tactics that Airbnb hosts and hospitality entrepreneurs can immediately use to promote their stays. On this second episode of this new Behind the Stays segment, Zach covers:

Why you should build a website for your Airbnb even if you don't have a direct booking site
How to start ranking
The CMSes that Airbnb hosts should consider building their websites on

Let us know what you think about this new segment by sending us a DM on Instagram @sponstayneous, shooting our founder a DM on Twitter, or sending him an email at zach@sponstayneous.com . Before we dive in, I want to quickly plug a product my team and I recently moved out of beta, called Ping, because I think a lot of y’all tuning into this chat will get real value from it! Ping is a simple plugin that lives on your website or direct booking site and integrates with you Airbnb calendar and notifies your fans and followers the minute there is a match between your home’s availability and their desired travel dates. Ping was designed specifically for hosts with unique stays that typically have limited availability. The insta stories y’all post about last minute cancellations is a great start, but what it you could also automatically Ping folks who’ve already expressed interest in the very dates that just opened up?! And that’s exactly what Ping does. All prospective guest data collected in Ping is available to you and if you purchase a premium plan you can integrate Ping directly with you Mail Chimp or Constant Contact accounts! Learn more at BnBping.com or shoot our founder Zach an email at zach@sponstayneous.com if you've got questions! About the Show Behind the Stays is brought to you twice a week by Sponstayneous — a free, biweekly newsletter that brings subscribers the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb. You can subscribe, for free, at www.sponstayneous.com. Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

How Will Smith’s Son, a Love for Movies, and Dropping Out of College Paved the Way for Levi Kelly to Build an Airbnb Tours YouTube Channel with 80 Millions Views Feb 10, 2023

Show notes

Meet Levi Kelly — a creator whose cabin tour videos have garnered nearly 80 millions views on YouTube.

Growing up, Levi used to goof around and shoot funny videos with his buddies and then edit them on the iMovie app on his phone. In high school he realized that shooting and editing video was more than just a hobby of his…it felt like something he was destined to do.

After successfully landing a few freelance clients in college, Levi came to the realization that he didn’t like paying tuition to be taught something he already knew how to do…so he dropped out of school to pursue video full time. And it was around this time where he posted his first tour of a tiny home on his YouTube channel.

Well Jaden Smith, Will Smith’s son, happened to see this video and share it on Twitter…and, well, it went viral. Tune in to hear the story behind how Levi used his love of storytelling to produce video tours of the world’s most incredible Airbnbs.

Watch Levi's Videos on YouTube

Follow Levi on Instagram

Explore Levi's website

This episode is brought to you by our friends at AirDNA.

I receive questions ALL the time from listeners who want to get started in STR investing and or who want to scale their portfolio on what resources I recommend they tap into.

Here are three reasons I always recommend an AirDNA subscription:

1. AirDNA offers the most accurate data platform in the industry and is trusted by small- and large-scale investors across the globe.

2. Their easy-to-use tools unlock access to millions of data points on any property, anywhere, so you can start your journey to financial freedom with confidence.

3. You can even enter any address in the world to find out how much it’d earn as a vacation rental — how cool is that?

If you’re interested in getting into the STR game or taking your game a bit more seriously, I’ve got some exciting news for you.

AirDNA is giving Behind the Stays listeners 20% off their first 3 months of any MarketMinder subscription or an additional 20% off any annual MarketMinder subscription.

Use the discount code BTS20 at checkout!

About the Show

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

How to Design an A-Frame on a Budget (That Still Gets Featured by HGTV) Feb 07, 2023

Show notes

Meet Whitney and Andrew Bradberry, the creators of the Front Range A-Frame in Bailey, Colorado, just an hour outside of Denver.

Whitney is a freelancer marketer by trade, and her husband Andrew is a firefighter paramedic.

Given their non-traditional jobs, the couple has always enjoyed tinkering on creative projects together.

Whitney’s father loved Colorado and it’s because of him that she fell in love with the mountains. So, when he passed away unexpectedly after a battle with cancer, the couple thought it would be fitting to honor his legacy by creating a space for others to enjoy in a place that meant so much to him.

In this episode of Behind the Stays Whitney and Andrew discuss:

The best YouTube channels to tap into for DIY projects
The affordable design decisions they made that landed them a feature by HGTV
How to build a simple, but website for your Airbnb that aligns with the brand strategy of your home

This episode is brought to you by Guest Guru.

Everyone’s talking about ChatGPT, but there’s a new AI tool that just hit the market that short-term rental hosts should care more about. Meet Guest Guru — the first, fully automated, AI-powered conversational tool for guest communications. Guest Guru integrates with your Airbnb or VRBO listing and automatically answers those questions like “what's the wifi password/", “where can I find the lockbox?”, and “can I bring my dog”, so you don’t have to. But get this…it does so by matching the tone and communication style of your guest. If they use emojis, Guest Guru will use emojis too. If they are a four-exclamation-points-per-sentence kinda person, well, Guest Guru will match or beat their enthusiasm. Now, you might be thinking this is to good to be true…or that Guest Guru can only answer BASIC questions…but that, friends, is where you’d be wrong. Guest Guru learns with every message you exchange with a guest or prospective guest. And once you answer a question like “what’s the best place near you to score all-you-can-eat breadsticks that isn’t Olive Garden?” once, Guest Guru will remember this query and be able to answer it, without pinging you, the next time one of your guests is a restaurant-chain hater. Anytime Guest Guru doesn’t know the answer to something, you’ll immediately receive an email and/or SMS text inviting you to jump into the conversation. Guest Guru is offering Behind the Stays listeners and Sponstayneous Host Members their first property TOTALLY free when you sign up at GuestGuru.ai and mention that you heard about them from us. Discover how AI can help alleviate you from answering the same dozen questions every guest asks so you can have more time to better your guest experience in other, more productive and rewarding ways. Sign up at GuestGuru.ai.

About the Show

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

Marketing Mondays: How to Best Leverage Influencers to Promote Your Airbnb (The Do’s and Don’ts) Feb 06, 2023

Show notes

On the first episode of this new Behind the Stays segment, Zach covers:

Why you should work with creators
A framework for how to discern who to work with and how to work with them
How creators can help you increase direct bookings
Ideas for how to partner with creators in unique ways

Let us know what you think about this new segment by sending us a DM on Instagram @sponstayneous, shooting our founder a DM on Twitter, or sending him an email at zach@sponstayneous.com

Before we dive in, I want to quickly plug a product my team and I recently moved out of beta, called Ping, because I think a lot of y’all tuning into this chat will get real value from it!

Ping is a simple plugin that lives on your website or direct booking site and integrates with you Airbnb calendar and notifies your fans and followers the minute there is a match between your home’s availability and their desired travel dates.

Ping was designed specifically for hosts with unique stays that typically have limited availability.

The insta stories y’all post about last minute cancellations is a great start, but what it you could also automatically Ping folks who’ve already expressed interest in the very dates that just opened up?!

And that’s exactly what Ping does. All prospective guest data collected in Ping is available to you and if you purchase a premium plan you can integrate Ping directly with you Mail Chimp or Constant Contact accounts!

Learn more at BnBping.com or shoot our founder Zach an email at zach@sponstayneous.com if you've got questions!

About the Show

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

How They Found, Bought, and Renovated an A-Frame in North Carolina for $250k Feb 03, 2023

Show notes

Meet Emily South — the creator of The Appalachian A-Frame in Sugar Grove, North Carolina just 20 minutes outside of downtown Boone.

Emily and her husband John are entrepreneurs. Emily is a yoga instructor and John owns and runs a production studio.

Given their non-traditional career paths, Emily and John don’t have some of the benefits one might expect from a 9-5 such as a 401k match or stock options.

As such, the couple has talked for years about what their retirement plan might look like and in 2019 they had finally agreed that a vacation home in the mountains would be a part of it.

In this episode Emily talks about how they found their A-Frame, — despite realtors not wanting to work with them given their limited budget —, what they spent to acquire the home, and how they used credit card points to help fund the renovations.

Alright, without further ado, get ready to meet Emily.

This episode is brought to you by our friends at AirDNA.

I receive questions ALL the time from listeners who want to get started in STR investing and or who want to scale their portfolio on what resources I recommend they tap into.

Here are three reasons I always recommend an AirDNA subscription:

1. AirDNA offers the most accurate data platform in the industry and is trusted by small- and large-scale investors across the globe.

2. Their easy-to-use tools unlock access to millions of data points on any property, anywhere, so you can start your journey to financial freedom with confidence.

3. You can even enter any address in the world to find out how much it’d earn as a vacation rental — how cool is that?

If you’re interested in getting into the STR game or taking your game a bit more seriously, I’ve got some exciting news for you.

AirDNA is giving Behind the Stays listeners 20% off their first 3 months of any MarketMinder subscription or an additional 20% off any annual MarketMinder subscription.

Use the discount code BTS20 at checkout!

About the Show

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

How a Breast Cancer Diagnosis Inspired Her to Build a Collection of Airbnb Cabins in Colorado Jan 31, 2023

Show notes

Meet Jamie Kraus, the creator of Chestnut Hill — a beautiful appointed home located 5 minutes from Main Street in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Jamie and her husband have three young adult sons and live in the great state of Texas. Growing up, Jamie would vacation in the Colorado mountains with her family and dreamed of one day owning a home in Breckenridge.

A few years ago, Jamie was diagnosed with breast cancer. After an arduous battle, she was, thankfully, able to survive the disease.

This life-altering event reminded Jamie that life is short — and that waiting to find her dream vacation until the timing just “felt right” was silly. Afterall, would it ever really feel right?

Tune in to hear the story behind how Jamie found her dream vacation home and, unexpectedly, a love for hospitality that inspired her to build an entire collection of escapes in one of the world’s most popular ski towns.

In this episode, Zach and Jamie discuss:

How to go from 0 - 4 properties in under 2 years
How to prioritize guest experience as a point of differentiation
When building a short-term-rental in an incredibly crowded market IS a good decision

This episode is brought to you by our friends at AirDNA.

I receive questions ALL the time from listeners who want to get started in STR investing and or who want to scale their portfolio on what resources I recommend they tap into.

Here are three reasons I always recommend an AirDNA subscription:

1. AirDNA offers the most accurate data platform in the industry and is trusted by small- and large-scale investors across the globe.

2. Their easy-to-use tools unlock access to millions of data points on any property, anywhere, so you can start your journey to financial freedom with confidence.

3. You can even enter any address in the world to find out how much it’d earn as a vacation rental — how cool is that?

If you’re interested in getting into the STR game or taking your game a bit more seriously, I’ve got some exciting news for you.

AirDNA is giving Behind the Stays listeners 20% off their first 3 months of any MarketMinder subscription or an additional 20% off any annual MarketMinder subscription.

Use the discount code BTS20 at checkout!

About the Show

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

How to Design Truly Unforgettable Airbnbs That Attract International Attention — The Story of Evergreen Cabins Jan 27, 2023

Show notes

Meet Chris Broomfield, the creator of Evergreen Cabins — one of Instagram’s favorite collections of luxurious cabin rentals in the Adirondacks.

Growing up, Chris loved to tinker. At the age of 14 he started building picnic tables and bar stools with his next door neighbor that he’d sell to local patrons.

It was at this young age that Chris realized he wanted to work for himself…that he wanted to be an entrepreneur.

Chris studied the art and science of building unique structures and has spent the better part of 25 years bringing absolutely stunning, terrifically memorable spaces to life.

Tune in to hear the motivational story of how Chris channeled his love of designing memorable homes into Evergreen Cabins — a portfolio of top-rated, luxurious, impeccably unique short-term rentals in the Adirondacks.

You can connect with Chris at:

Instagram - @Evergreen_Cabins
Email - adirondackevergreencabins@gmail.com
Facebook - EvergreenCabinsRentals
Linkedin - Evergreen Cabins, LLCWhatsApp - Evergreen Cabins

This episode is brought to you by our friends at The Host Co.

The Host Co. enables short-term rental host to build their own storefronts and offer amenities like late night snacks, massages, fresh flowers, grocery delivery, in-home shopping and much more.

The Host Co. makes it easy for guest to augment their stay with the products and services they need and makes it easy for STR hosts to make up to an additional $10k in ancillary revenue on each rental.

Hosts keep 93% of all sales and The Host Co. takes care of guest receipts, sales tax and payouts to you and vendors.

Create your free store today by visiting TheHost.co and be sure to tell the team their that you heard about them from Behind the Stays!

And, for a limited time, Behind the Stays listeners will get $30 back on their first sale when you use the discount code BTS30 at check out!

Behind the Stays Subscriber Survey — please take 5 minutes to complete this survey so that we know how we can make the show even better!

About the Show

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

How to Use Universal Design Concepts to Build an Accessible Airbnb — The Story of the Havarti Haus Jan 24, 2023

Show notes

Meet Tiffany Lund — the creator of The Havarti Haus, an accessible, Scandinavian-style retreat in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, opening in late 2023.

Tiffany and her family love to go on adventures — the outdoors has always been a place of restoration and reinvigoration for them.

Tiffany and her husband Jim have an incredible son named Morty. Morty, like his parents, loves the outdoors. He also loves the Boston Celtics and the Red Sox. Unlike his parents however, Morty has Cerebral palsy.

If you’ve ever traveled with a wheelchair, you may know how difficult it can be to find a place to stay - somewhere you can get through the door without having to traverse up steps or somewhere you can actually take a shower without jerry-rigging something or settling for a sponge bath.

Tiffany and Jim believe a place can be accessible and universally appealing to everyone. That is their dream. And they are watching it come to life with the building of Havarti Haus.

Tune in to the inspiring story of how Tiffany is using universal design concepts to drive the design decisions to simplify the travel experience for the mobility impaired.

Follow the Havarti Haus on Instagram

Discover the Havarti Haus' Website

This episode is brought to you by our friends at AirDNA.

I receive questions ALL the time from listeners who want to get started in STR investing and or who want to scale their portfolio on what resources I recommend they tap into.

Here are three reasons I always recommend an AirDNA subscription:

1. AirDNA offers the most accurate data platform in the industry and is trusted by small- and large-scale investors across the globe.

2. Their easy-to-use tools unlock access to millions of data points on any property, anywhere, so you can start your journey to financial freedom with confidence.

3. You can even enter any address in the world to find out how much it’d earn as a vacation rental — how cool is that?

If you’re interested in getting into the STR game or taking your game a bit more seriously, I’ve got some exciting news for you.

AirDNA is giving Behind the Stays listeners 20% off their first 3 months of any MarketMinder subscription or an additional 20% off any annual MarketMinder subscription.

Use the discount code BTS20 at checkout!

Behind the Stays Subscriber Survey — please take 5 minutes to complete this survey so that we know how we can make the show even better!

About the Show

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

How to Generate Millions of Views of Your Airbnb on YouTube — Meet Mike Iannetta Jan 20, 2023

Show notes

Meet Mike Iannetta, better known as Mike Will Travel, a YouTube creator and hospitality marketing specialist.

Mike started his first business at the age of 17. He raised $5,000 on Kickstarter to start what he thought would be the next big board shorts brand.

Now, the clothing line didn’t quite pan out, but it solidified for Mike that he wanted to spend his career starting and running his own businesses.

When Mike was in college, he studied abroad in Europe…and after traveling to a dozen countries over his four months abroad, he came back to the states convinced he had to find a way to travel as close to full time as possible.

So, Mike bought a camera and started messing around with shooting video. And, while he didn’t know the difference between shooting in 720, 1080, and 4k at the time, in just a few months, Mike would be traveling around the globe documenting his stays at some of the world’s most remarkable hotels and Airbnbs.

Tune in to hear the story of how Mike started his YouTube channel, how he generated his first 10 million views, and how he’s helped Airbnb hosts generate millions of new fans and followers for their homes on Instagram.

Subscribe to Mike's YouTube Channel

Follow Mike on Instagram

Explore Mike's Website

This episode is brought to you by our friends at The Host Co.

The Host Co. enables short-term rental host to build their own storefronts and offer amenities like late night snacks, massages, fresh flowers, grocery delivery, in-home shopping and much more.

Hosts keep 93% of all sales and The Host Co. takes care of guest receipts, sales tax and payouts to you and vendors.

Create your free store today by visiting TheHost.co and be sure to tell the team their that you heard about them from Behind the Stays!

And, for a limited time, Behind the Stays listeners will get $30 back on their first sale when you use the discount code BTS30 at check out!

Behind the Stays Subscriber Survey — please take 5 minutes to complete this survey so that we know how we can make the show even better!

About the Show

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

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