Win in Direct Bookings by Going Niche with Adam and Deavon Peterson
On this episode we have Adam and Deavon Peterson, a couple that plays on each other’s strenghts. They own over 100 long-term-rental doors and 4 short-term-rentals. They went against the grain and purchased in non-mainstream vacation destinations and found a niche that has allowed them to outperform their investor peers. They walk us through their philosophy that lead them to major direct booking wins by serving a short-term-rental market that does not fit airbnb’s demographic. Podcast Summary Adam and Deavon have achieved success in the short-term rental business by leveraging Adam’s established fishing charter venture and targeting properties in areas renowned for fishing and outdoor activities. Their strategy revolves around catering specifically to anglers and outdoor enthusiasts, enabling them to drive direct bookings through focused marketing efforts. Key tactics include active participation in relevant Facebook groups, collaboration with local businesses such as other fishing charters, and hosting influencers and YouTubers at their properties to amplify their reach. Central to their success is the advice to pursue one’s passion and embrace it fully, rather than conforming to predetermined paths that may not align with one’s skills and interests. Adam encourages self-belief and perseverance in the face of challenges, emphasizing the importance of resilience. Deavon underscores the significance of supporting a partner’s aspirations, even when the route to success isn’t immediately clear. Their partnership thrives on the synergy between Adam’s visionary approach and Deavon’s practical implementation skills, illustrating how complementary mindsets can lead to success. In summary, Adam and Deavon have distinguished themselves by capitalizing on their expertise and passion for fishing and the outdoors, rather than attempting to compete directly in saturated vacation markets. Their unique approach has enabled them to carve out a niche and achieve notable success in the short-term rental industry, demonstrating the power of focusing on what one knows and loves. Essential Highlights Here are a few key takeaways from this podcast episode: Follow Adam and Deavon on instagram @southernparadisevacation Transcription We’ve even started marketing a lot on the different fishing groups on Facebook. We’ll send out our, through our direct booking website. We’re able to share that on a lot of different Facebook groups that maybe it doesn’t look as good coming from an Airbnb/VRBO sharing, but if you’re able to share it through a direct booking website and you put it out there and you say, hey, you know, here’s a way to reach me, you can book directly right here on our site. It also allows them to ask questions and, you know, Hey, if you’re on here, it says you might know a little bit more about parking and a little bit more about what we’re trying to do. And it started just popping off immediately, to where, it’s been steady. Our occupancy is over 80 percent in our off season, which is typically 30 to 40%. Welcome back to direct booking simplified. We break down the strategies and tactics to win in direct bookings. On today’s episode, we have Adam and Devon, their long term rental investors that turned short term rental. They currently have more than a hundred long term rentals and four short term rentals and starting to migrate their portfolio into more short term rentals. They went away from investing in mainstream markets and now has outpaced their peers. They leverage their passion in fishing to double their occupancies. Today, the walk us through how they think about investing into short term rentals and how they’re able to get more direct bookings. So let’s bring them in. Hey, A am Hey, Deavon. Hey, how’s it going? I’m, I’m doing well. How are you going? How are you guys? Great. Good We’re good. What’s what’s been up with you folks? Well, we are on a spring break with our little kiddos right now. So busier than usual running everybody here and there. And we just spent the weekend at one of our short term rentals enjoying, you know, enjoying all our hard work. So that was fun. Yeah. Did you guys have any Easter egg hunts and such? We did. We did. And we’re in South Louisiana. So we had the obligatory crawfish boil. I don’t think anybody else does, but I don’t think we have that in the city. We don’t have a top of the Easter egg on. Nice. Nice. That’s okay though. I love it I love it. Um, to kind of kick us off. Um, do you mind giving folks a brief introduction to both of yourselves? So Adam Peterson, we are, or I am a real estate investor. I left my W two job after 15 years, um, about two years ago. Um, I started investing in long term real estate, um, about 10 years ago. Um, we had built up to about a hundred doors, 150 doors, and then decided, but we started getting into the, um, started getting into short term rentals and we started, we really liked that space better. Um, so we started to almost trade up our long term rentals and a few short term rentals. Um, started with one, we’re up to four, uh, currently that we’re operating and working on, um, converting another, uh, long term rental that we’ve already owned into a short term rental, as well as another, um, short term rental that will go along with our fishing company, which we’ll talk more about in a little bit, but, um, so we’re working on five and six right now to, uh, get us moving. So it’s full time trying to move a hundred percent into short term real estate, along with, uh, a charter fishing operation. And I’m Deavon, I’m his wife. Uh, I still work full time as a nurse practitioner. Um, but I do most of our management for the short term rentals. I take care of more of the, like, email messaging. All of the more finite details out of his word, the dreamer, the big picture person, I kind of