Today’s guest Bridgette Whitney is a 24-year-old AirBnB host, interior designer/stylist, and content creator who runs her businesses with her boyfriend, Blue Delgado. In this episode, we are talking all about having a unique design strategy for your property to increase bookings and create an all around more positive experience for your guests. And we’re not just talking about any kind of design - but truly eye popping scroll, stopping creative designs that help your space stand out.

Bridgette shares how she got started with AirBnB design through AirBnB arbitrage, to running her own design and styling business with her boyfriend, Blue. She gives great tips like how to find truly unique pieces and create photo opportunity moments in spaces she designs. Bridgette gives valuable insight into the unique things they do for clients to enhance the overall quality and attractiveness of the property, where she gets her inspiration from, and she even shares her pricing and social...

Welcome to another Ask Me Anything (Ask Us Anything?) episode! Each week we’ll answer your questions on STR, real estate, OTAs, and everything in between.

Anonymous STR Owner asks:

How do you manage to be so funny, beautiful, interesting, intelligent, and successful, all at the same time?

Since this question ended being a bit ambiguous, we’re going to parlay this into how guests’ Airbnb reviews – positive or negative – can help you improve your STR game.

Thanks to everyone who submitted questions. To hear your voice on the show and send a question to Sarah & Annette, visit Speakpipe.com/ThanksforvisitingAMA

Thanks for Visiting is produced by Crate Media.

It's time for #strsharesunday! Today we are sharing Two Bay Stay

Kara, you're crushing it And we were just at the same event. I don't know if we crossed paths, but hosts, do yourself a favor, go check out Kara's property.

These homes are beautifully designed! There is a fine, fine line between being well-designed and over-designed, and Kara has nailed it. They are curated enough where you can tell the amount of thought and effort went into them without being *too much,* you know? She has some amazing wallpaper in multiple places, and Kara, we need to know about your gorgeous plants! Are they real or fake?

We love the coffee station with the cups hanging from hooks on the wall, we love the bucket list, and we REALLY love the vinyl and cocktail corner. So she has vinyl records as art on the wall, on shelves, and then a little cocktail station, which is genius. And it looks like she's done a really nice job in a lot of the bedrooms, Similarly to that vinyl wall, she has a wall of...

Today we’re sharing five basic but essential cleaning tools that need to be available to not only your cleaning team, but to your guests. We chose these items because they are sneaky ones that we sometimes don’t see in properties, but highly recommend.

Most of these items only need to be purchased once, and don’t cost a ton of money. Think of them as investments in your property that will help your guest and allow them to keep your asset clean. There are ways to keep them out of sight of the guest if they don’t ever need to deal with them as well. And of course, if you've got any of these items that you love, let us know and we will share it with the masses so everyone can learn from you.

Remember, just because someone hasn’t mentioned it doesn't mean that they didn't think about it or want or need it during their stay. As always, learn from our mistakes!

 Resources:

• Microfibre Cloths
• Zep Reusable Bottle
• Multipurpose Cleaner
• Broom and Dust Pan
• ...

Welcome to another Ask Me Anything (Ask Us Anything?) episode! Each week we’ll answer your questions on STR, real estate, OTAs, and everything in between.

Carrie asks:

We have 14 properties that we own, but a friend is managing. We’re trying to decide if we should take over management for them. What should we consider?

Thanks to everyone who submitted questions. To hear your voice on the show and send a question to Sarah & Annette, visit Speakpipe.com/ThanksforvisitingAMA

Thanks for Visiting is produced by Crate Media.

In this #STRShareSunday remix, we’ve invited Hosting Business Mastery members to share some of their top takeaways from the recent Level Up Your Listing Summit. We had such great conversations at the event that we decided to share some of the top tips we all learned in this episode!

Topics we cover include: how to increase engagement on social media, as well as plan and manage your social media posting schedule, action items for revamping your short-term listing and the benefits of making improvements, maximizing your efforts by delegating or automating tasks no matter what scale your operation is, and short-term rental insurance umbrella policy and tax deduction takeaways that, even though are not sexy topics to talk about, are so important to understand.

This event reminded us that getting to live events and connecting with the hosting community is really important. We are working on bringing our live event back this year, so please be on the lookout for that.

In the...

Welcome to another Ask Me Anything (Ask Us Anything?) episode! Each week we’ll answer your questions on STR, real estate, OTAs, and everything in between.

Amelia (@EmersonFieldsVenue) asks:

Our wedding venue is preparing to host overnight stays. What is your advice on bedding and linens: do we buy multiples of something cheap & disposable to replace over time, or something durable that can be used repeatedly?

Thanks to everyone who submitted questions. To hear your voice on the show and send a question to Sarah & Annette, visit Speakpipe.com/ThanksforvisitingAMA

Thanks for Visiting is produced by Crate Media.

We’ve experienced some changes in our business lately, and we’re here to discuss all the details of these recent pivots; and explain why you should NEVER be afraid to pivot in your business.

Maybe you have a property that’s underperforming, or you’re managing properties for other owners with a difference of opinion on how things should be run. These small conflicts can add up and overtake your “mental mortgage,” which is something you absolutely need to protect.

Some decisions are bigger than the spreadsheet; they’re about instinct. Profit does not – and should not – drive every single decision you make. If you get that gut feeling that something needs to change, don’t wait too long – great entrepreneurs make decisions fast.

If you’re making changes in your business right now, please email us – we want to hear your pivoting story!

Resources:

• #STRShareSunday: @berrycreekbrokenbow

Thanks for Visiting is...

Welcome to another Ask Me Anything (Ask Us Anything?) episode! Each week we’ll answer your questions on STR, real estate, OTAs, and everything in between.

Christina asks:

My team and I are just starting the concept of our STR business from scratch. There are 3 of us, and we all have other full-time jobs. How should we split up the division of labor for each of us?

Thanks to everyone who submitted questions. To hear your voice on the show and send a question to Sarah & Annette, visit Speakpipe.com/ThanksforvisitingAMA

Thanks for Visiting is produced by Crate Media.

Ellen Yin is the founder & host of Cubicle to CEO®, a top 1% podcast and media platform creating financially transparent content, events, and education empowering entrepreneurs to pursue what's possible. Ellen quit her corporate job without a backup plan and bootstrapped her first $300 freelance project into over $2 million in revenue by age 28. Ellen has mentored more than 10,000 students through her online programs and also owns the Cubicle to CEO® Clubhouse, a women's coworking space in Salem, Oregon. Her work has been featured in Forbes, the Today Show, Yahoo Finance, and 100+ other publications.

Ellen has been considering entering the hospitality industry, and today she joins the show “STR-curious,” turning the questions around on us. We talk through her goals with short-term rentals, the importance of location, achieving an STR license, the metrics to consider when purchasing a property, and why you should be thinking about your exit strategy from the...