We’re talking today about bringing all our first season topics together in the need and basic design of your Book Direct strategy and Book Direct website.

Who’s your ideal client? Don’t risk trying to be all things to all people. Focusing on who you want to serve and how is that reflected in your business strategy? What to do when client needs conflict with each other? The topic of today’s episode has us figuring out who we want to work with and why? How is this reflected in your brand identity and strategy? Don’t overlook revenue. Strategizing on the type of clients you want to reach is a big part of the revenue you’ll be able to deliver.

This episode is all about understanding vacation rentals emotionally versus intellectually. It means getting out of your office and experiencing the product/service like a Guest. If you can’t put yourself in the mind of the Guest, go be a Guest!Main discussion points:

1. A perspective shift when moving from Operator to Guest.

2. The three types of branding.

3. Emotions vs. Intellect in brand strategy.

4. The five types of empathy.

5. "Intermotional Empathy" - a new type of empathy specific to vacation rental management.

6. If you can't put yourself in the mind of a Guest, go be a Guest!

On this episode It’s all about scale, elite standards, and elitism. Are we differentiating correctly when we divide our industry according to scale of operations? Or should we differentiate based on elite standards of professional management regardless of scale? What standards should be common regardless of price point? Beware of crossing a fine line between elitism and elite standards when setting barriers for entry to an industry.

On this episode we’re getting further into product versus positioning, being strategic on where you market, and why.

1. What product does the OTA/Channel Manager provide, and why?

2. How is your product different to the OTA/Channel Manager?

3. Do you have a commodity product, or a brand?