“You never want to compete on price. You want to compete on experience.” — Brianna Amigo
In the world of short-term rentals, one thing is clear: good design isn’t just pretty—it’s profitable. On this episode of Booked Solid, Gil sat down with Brianna Amigo, founder of Brianna Michelle Interiors, to uncover how design directly impacts bookings, guest experience, and your bottom line. From her marketing roots to transforming over 300 properties nationwide, Brianna is leading a movement where curated spaces and outdoor amenities aren’t luxuries—they’re expectations.
Summary and Highlights
👤 Meet Brianna Amigo
Brianna is the founder and lead designer at Brianna Michelle Interiors, a Southern California-based firm specializing in short-term rental design. What started as a side hustle in 2019 quickly scaled after she identified a market gap: no one was designing with the guest and the investor in mind. With a background in corporate marketing, she fused aesthetic vision with ROI-focused strategy to help investors boost bookings through scroll-stopping, experience-rich properties.
🌟 Highlights from the Episode
🏡 Outdoor Spaces Drive Bookings
“Outdoor experiences really are sometimes the number one driver on why someone will book the property or not.”
Whether it’s pools, firepits, or pickleball courts, outdoor amenities can be the tipping point. Brianna emphasizes leveraging good weather and maximizing external space to stand out in competitive markets.
📈 Design Backed by Data
Before selecting a throw pillow or tile, Brianna conducts comp analysis: who are your competitors, what amenities are most common, and where are the gaps? Her approach merges creativity with cold hard numbers to ensure every design decision delivers ROI.
🌟 Refresh vs. Full Gut Renovation
Not every property needs a full remodel. Brianna advises against over-renovating, especially when holding costs and delays outweigh the return. Small cosmetic updates like new countertops or tiles can make a world of difference.
🪡 Underrated Investment: Experience
Many hosts splurge on amenities but skimp on essentials like kitchen stock, linens, or water pressure. Brianna argues these “invisible details” have a lasting impact on reviews and repeat bookings.
📅 Branding is the Next Frontier
Building on her marketing background, Brianna is now expanding services to include brand identity, websites, and social presence for hosts. Her goal: ensure that online brand experience matches the elevated in-person stay.
🔹 Rapid-Fire Wisdom
- On design vs. cost: Avoid investing blindly in trends—back it up with market data.
- On guest experience: “Do you have enough seating, beds, and dining space for the number of guests you list?” Comfort counts.
- On reinvesting: Many properties see a 30-50% increase in revenue after a design refresh.
📚 Book Recommendation
“The Let Them Theory” by Mel Robbins — A mindset book that helped Brianna silence imposter syndrome and stay focused on her entrepreneurial journey.
👤 Connect with Brianna Amigo
If you’re ready to transform your rental into a scroll-stopper that guests can’t resist, this episode is your blueprint. Listen now and start designing for ROI.
🚀 Ready to take control of your short-term rental success? Start your direct booking journey at CraftedStays.co.
Transcription
Brianna: Outdoor spaces. Outdoor experiences really are sometimes like the number one driver on why someone will book. The property or not, especially in markets where there is potentially really beautiful weather and you’re in Florida, there’s pool, a pool at the property, those stays, you wanna make sure you really maximize the potential that you have on the outside because it is a huge driving force.
Brianna: And when you see the amenities, the checkbox now that everyone has probably in their back pocket, a lot of them now are outdoor amenities because the, on the inside you can only do a few things. You can make sure you have. A game room, for instance, or a theater or a workout space or, or something that inside would be, you could implement.
Brianna: But on the outside, the kind of possibilities are a little bit more endless.
Gil: Hey folks. Welcome back to the book Solid Show, the podcast where we bring in top operators to discuss marketing, revenue management, and the guest experience to drive towards being booked solid. On today’s show, I have Brianna Amigo. She’s the founder of Brianna Michelle Interiors. It’s a great pleasure to have her on the show.
Gil: I think we’re starting to see this big rise where people are really investing into their stay. In this conversation, she actually talks about how she’s thinking about not just. Designing the interiors of her space, but really all the guest experiences and the different touch points. And we actually go into some of the services that she’s extending her services to, that starts to dig into digital marketing as well too.
Gil: So I’m really happy to have her on the show and really tap into kind of how she’s thinking about really the guest experience and what guests are expecting from here on out. So without further ado, let’s bring her in.
Gil: Hi, Brianna, welcome to the show.
Brianna: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Gil: It’s great to, it’s great to finally have you on. I know that we’ve been talking for a little while now, so it’s
Gil: really good to one chat again with you, and two, have you record on the show with us. Um, so excited to have you here. Um, Brianna, maybe to kick us off, do you mind giving folks an introduction on who you are?
Brianna: absolutely. I’m Brianna Amigo. I am the owner and founder of Brianna Michelle Interiors. And we are a short term rental, um, specific design business that is really focused about driving increased ROI with scroll stopping design. Um, that provides a really great five star guest experience.
Gil: That’s awesome. It’s amazing how the industry has changed, even like the last five years and maybe even more, even
Gil: more recently, but. I think like this whole industry of STR design a couple years back or maybe a half a decade back, it wasn’t that important, but it almost feels like now it’s become almost status quo that you don’t launch without really thinking about that.
Gil: I don’t know if you saw the same, and that’s kind of why you got into this.
Brianna: Yeah, exactly. So we, um, started working with investors in 2020. And back then there were really not a lot of designers in this space. Specific niched around short-term rentals. So I. Saw a huge gap in the market when it came to helping investors create incredible experiences through design. Um, so that’s why we decided to really kind of immerse ourselves in the industry and, um, niche the business around, uh, short-term rentals.
Gil: Yeah, so talk, talk to me a little bit about that. Tell, tell me a little bit more about you and kind of your progression towards starting the service in the first place.
Brianna: Yeah, absolutely. So my background is in marketing. I worked in corporate marketing for about nine years prior to deciding to go, um, down this rabbit hole of short-term rental design. Um, I started the business in 2019 while working my nine to five corporate marketing job, um, and really decided to do this as really a side kind of passion business, not thinking it would ever turn into what it is today.
Brianna: Um, and I loved marketing. I was really excited about figuring out ways that we could talk to consumers and attract certain demographics through creativity and messaging and consumer marketing. And even B2B marketing. And that’s when I realized that there’s a lot of that here when it comes to short-term rental design.
Brianna: So I could really apply a lot of those skills and the things that I’ve learned and through, um, my marketing experience and then apply it to our design business. I. Um, so kind of pairing my passion for design. Um, me and my husband, we purchased our two primary residences. One our first one and then our, now our second one.
Brianna: And we renovated these homes ourselves. And when we realized that we loved to do that process, we started offering that to friends and family. And it kind of snowballed into local clients here. We’re from Southern California, so we were able to help support, um, clients here. And eventually after working with several clients with renovation projects, primary residences, we were introduced to an investor couple that was starting to, um, you know, start, uh, start purchasing short-term rentals in, in Airbnbs.
Brianna: And so from there we were like, well, what is this space? We really needed to kind of, um, kind of dig deep on what is short-term rentals and what exactly are people looking for when they’re looking for a place to stay? And so from there we kind of immersed ourselves in the podcast, the books and YouTube videos, and realized that this was an entire industry that was kind of untapped from a design perspective.
Brianna: So that’s when we started really focusing on. Investors and targeting them when it came to finding clients was, you know, we were looking for investor clients that were investing in short-term rentals. Um, and now we’ve been able to design over 300 properties over the past few years, um, with, uh, you know, my, my team alongside, but it was really just myself in the beginning and my husband.
Brianna: Um, I worked with my, uh, now lead designer, um, Stephanie, who was with us right in the beginning too, and then it’s grown into what it is today, so it’s been really exciting.
Gil: Wow. So when you mentioned 2019, that’s when you started to pivot towards interior design. Was that in general or specifically niching down into the STR space.
Brianna: That was just in general, at that time, in 2020 is when we decided to niche down to short term rentals.
Gil: So that was pretty quick
Brianna: Yeah.
Gil: the span of the, the one year, and
Brianna: Right.
Gil: we all know what happened in 2020. That was a crazy year of its own.
Brianna: Great. And that’s when I would realize, well there needs to be support out there to these investors that are, you know, currently investing right now. It’s kind of a crazy time. Um, in 2021, we saw more kind of enter the market, and then in 2022, a lot of those original owners that had maybe properties that they bought in 2017 or 18 realized.
Brianna: What’s wrong with my property? It’s no longer performing well. And um, and then we saw a lot of like an uptick of people needing redesigns, refreshes, reinvestment into their properties.
Gil: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Are you seeing that more nowadays as well too in 2025 and, and I know a lot of has held back on new purchases. Have you seen still folks like thinking about, oh. My revenues from the last 12 months wasn’t as strong as the previous 12 months, and looking at the competition and figuring out that they need to reinvest into the home.
Gil: Have you seen like that uptick?
Brianna: Yes, absolutely. We see it all the time where. Clients have seen a downturn in numbers are coming to us to be, they’re at a crossroads. Do we, um, potentially sell this property or do we reinvest back into it because we see that there’s upside to be made? And so, um, yeah. We help and support clients all the time with getting their properties elevated, adding new amenities and new design strategy so that they compete, they can compete with the new competition in the market.
Gil: Yeah. What was, uh, what’s been your biggest learning kind of going through that entire transition from. first STR design back in 20 19,
Brianna: Right.
Gil: to, to now, like what’s one of the biggest learnings that you’ve done?
Brianna: I mean, I think it. We’ve, I’ve just evolved so much over time. Um, the increased importance has been a nice, like, boost in confidence that there we are, we hold so much value in this space because really, truly this is one of the one elements you never wanna compete on price or anything like that. You wanna compete on experience and.
Brianna: That is really the new reality of the short term rental space. So, um, that’s really been nice to see that kind of pivot and it’s been like less of us having to educate clients and like, why are, why should you invest in design now? It’s more so like, which designer makes the most sense for you and is the right fit for your, for your property?
Brianna: And that’s really the conversations we’re having more. So that’s, that’s been, um, a nice kind of transition and pivot in the mindset I think of investors. Um, but it’s become increasingly competitive and I feel like we’re, you know, a lot of the times I’ll see. Investors just throw anything to the wall, like spaghetti to the wall and see what sticks and see what works out.
Brianna: And I think when it comes down to it, we wanna make sure that every decision, every investment our clients are making has an ROI behind it and that there’s data to show that this is going to be worth the investment. So is that pickleball court really gonna drive the move the needle? Is that hot tub gonna drive?
Brianna: We we’re gonna make sure through the numbers that it will.
Gil: Yeah, that’s actually a really good point where I’m starting seeing data being used a ton more. And design is usually like you’re thinking about design from a. artistic perspective, but also from a data perspective as well too.
Brianna: Right.
Gil: it’s interesting to know that like data has not just touched revenue management and operations and all those things that you do, but now it’s also touching into design and kind of how you think about it. are some of the data points that you’re looking for when, when you’re thinking about a brand new project that you’re spinning off?
Brianna: Yeah, I mean, we do a full comp analysis in the market, so we’ll try to pinpoint who the top competitors are in your market. So if you’re purchasing a five bedroom home, we’re looking at all of the five bedroom comps in the area and trying to understand what their target demographic is when it comes to guests and, and people staying at their property.
Brianna: So figuring out what that, um. That percentage ratio is, is it families? Is it adult groups? Is it couples? You know, who is the target guest avatar? And then going down into understanding what’s their amenity strategy? What amenities do we see pop up the most in the market? And we kind of prioritize those amenities.
Brianna: Um, and then we just try to understand too, like what design elements are we seeing come up, you know, design styles that we see, uh, who are they targeting, what their amenities are, what their occupancy rate, um, is, as well as occupancy strategy. So for a five bedroom home, how many guests typically are those top competitors sleeping at the properties?
Brianna: Is it 12? Is it 16? If, is it mostly in the 14 to 16 range? Um, if so, that might be an indicator that our clients need to do something similar so that they can compete and make sure that they’re ticking all of those same boxes. But what’s missing in the market, using data also to define what the gaps are.
Brianna: So we always look at it from like, not what is everyone doing that’s great and we wanna do all the same things, but what do we see missing from this market? And that is what we’d like to really drive of like, Hey, have you thought about this? Because we think this would be a great X factor in your market to really stand out from the competition.
Gil: Yeah. That’s, that’s amazing. Like, remember even working with my first designer on it, and she wasn’t, she had done some SDR designs in the past. I was probably her like client doing it, but we never walked through the data of, of it all. And back then, when it was our first property, I didn’t know. to look for. Um, I knew that we have a four bedroom cabin. The, the average occupancy is X, the average revenue is y and just trying to figure out like, okay, how do we maximize that and bring looking design? We wanna get rid of all the bears in our cabin
Brianna: Yeah.
Gil: like, refresh things and make, make things a bit more midy. But then kind of also like two years down, uh, we, we reflected about. Really who’s staying at our property. We started to get to know the market a lot better. We understood who’s visiting there, how, what are they looking for, who’s staying. and a year and a half after we launched, we actually ended up doing a revision of it and add, adding more amenities onto it. And just the feedback from the guest has made a major difference on it. And we saw it where. were getting a lot more competitive in terms of what amenities it had, and it was a time for us to reinvest into it. But I, I think that had we not, and we would have fallen off the map on search at all altogether.
Brianna: Yeah. No, that’s great.
Gil: Yeah. I think thinking back like as you’re kind of walking through this, do you have any anecdotes or stories where someone was coming to you with a particular design and kind of vision on on it and you’re kind of walking them u using data and kind of the outcomes of like how much of a lift that has made.
Brianna: Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of our clients will come to us with like a, a specific vision that they have on the property of like maybe their personal style of preferences when it comes to, um, how to design the property. But what, um, often happens is the data might show something else. It might show that this is your actually target demographic and this is what they are attracted to in the market, and this is why their booking stays in the area.
Brianna: And because of that, I have to have conversations with, you know, this may not align with you and your personal desires, but this is what shows the marketability factor being in your market. So. Where, where, you know, how do you feel about that and are there some compromises on some of those personal checklist items?
Brianna: And we do that all the time. So we use data to help kind of kind of push the needle and like maybe getting them a little bit out of their comfort zone or having a honest conversation with potentially, we’ve had this happen where clients have come to us and they’re like. Uh, investing in Austin and they are, you know, coming in with, we do wanna attract adult groups, but we don’t wanna attract bachelorette stays or bachelor stays.
Brianna: And then we go through the data and we find out that’s exactly the demographic, that’s the reason why people are, are booking these properties is for those specific type, type of stays. And then just having that dialogue of this, are you okay with going that direction? And if so, you know, how do we wanna tweak that so you feel more comfortable with the liability of that and potentially the maintenance of that type of home.
Brianna: And so we, we make sure we have that kind of dialogue and we use data points to help kind of move, uh, move the client into the direction that we think is going to make the most sense from a strategic standpoint, so that they can perform the best in their market.
Gil: Yeah. And do you have any anecdotes of someone that has launched, with what they had or maybe they designed it themselves and they came back to you and saying like, I need some help, because it’s gotten a lot more competitive and what the contrast has been in terms of the revenue impact that ha it has.
Brianna: Yeah, no, absolutely. We see this all the time, so. We’ve had clients where they’ve DIYed their design, um, or they potentially purchased the property fully furnished and it was an existing short-term rental, and they thought that was like the easy way into the, um, into the property and they didn’t have to do any heavy lifting.
Brianna: But they find that if that, you know, original owner was already seeing a downturn in numbers, you’re gonna con continue to see that just because you’re kind of moving over ownership and hosting capabilities. Usually the, the needle’s not gonna move when it comes to, um, occupancy or driving a higher a DR at that point.
Brianna: So, um, what we have found that when clients come to us to reinvest and redesign and refresh, they typically see a 30 to 50% increase in revenue potential. So after they have those baseline numbers and they see what they’ve been able to achieve with their current design, and then when they implement a brand new fresh design when working with us, they’ll see that increase in in revenue.
Gil: I, I believe that I, I, I think like I was a bit shocked to hear that it was such, so high, but thinking through like even our own properties there, I’m comparing myself against kind of the average stays in the markets that we’re in, and we’re actually doing more than 50% difference in terms of revenues and. What our property was like, the condition it was at when we had originally purchased it. It’s a world of a
Brianna: Great. Right,
Gil: Yeah. And, and for us, like I think kind of going back to your point earlier about like nowadays the conversation is less about convincing someone that they need to spend more time and energy into design, and it’s more really making sure that they feel comfortable working with you and that’s where the conversations are at.
Gil: I, I think that’s absolutely true because when we first just, when we first purchased our property, we had already kind of budgeted. That we’re gonna be spending 60, $70,000 on just design alone.
Brianna: right.
Gil: so that conversation is like, really okay. If, if that’s the budget and that’s what we’re trying to do, is that one really the right amount to be spending given kind of the ROI lift that we want to have?
Brianna: Right,
Gil: in most cases, actually, in all of cases that we’ve done for all of our properties, it has paid itself already.
Brianna: right. Yeah. And that’s a great testament, you know, to the power of design, the power of amenities.
Gil: Yeah. Have you seen cases where people overspend on on their amenities or their designs?
Brianna: Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people, it’s like imposter syndrome. So if they see all of these like mega properties on on Instagram for instance, and they’re like, oh, I want that. I want the pickleball court, I want the outdoor bowling. I want the life-sized Jenga and chest and everything. I start to see a lot of clients be like, regardless of the data, I just want it all.
Brianna: And I and potentially also see this a lot too. I wanna fully gut renovate this property too. Not considering the fact that if you do that you’re increasing your holding costs, you’re increasing your just overall investment costs. ’cause you have to renovate the property and you’re putting your timeline into now somebody else’s hands.
Brianna: And a lot of the time, most often than not that those to timelines just kind of. Keep adding to and are delayed over and over and a lot of our clients are saying like, you’re probably right after. Once we, like, once they finish the project, we should have just done like more of a cosmetic renovation versus taking down walls, requesting permits from the county.
Brianna: All the things that may not make sense for a short term rental. It may make sense to add increased appreciation on the property, and I totally understand that from that perspective. But if you wanna get up and running as soon as possible, cash flowing as soon as possible may not make sense to reconfigure a kitchen because I’m not sure from a short term rental perspective, you’re gonna see the ROI.
Gil: Yeah. Yeah. I, I totally hear you there. I think the, the most that we’ve done at most of our properties in terms of the kitchen is not really breaking down the walls, but even like retiling re like actually putting in new countertops, I was actually surprised how inexpensive putting in new countertops
Brianna: Yeah,
Gil: is. And how much of a, a difference it feels when you’re in the space. It feels
Brianna: right,
Gil: You’re not looking at that linoleum or
Brianna: exactly.
Gil: um, yeah, it just feels a lot more modern and it feels a lot more premium there.
Brianna: A hundred percent. Yeah.
Gil: Yeah. I’ve, I’ve also noticed that a more often now, at least in some of the markets that I’m at. There’s been a lot more energy spent on the outside of the space as well too. It wasn’t like, I think people started off like really amenitize the inside and making sure the inside feels right. And then now I’m actually more recently starting to see people invest pretty heavily on the outside of the space.
Gil: I don’t know if you’ve seen the same in on your
Brianna: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You know, outdoor spaces, outdoor experiences. Really are sometimes like the number one driver on why someone will book the property or not. So, um, especially in markets where there is potentially really beautiful weather, you’re in Florida, there’s pool, a pool at the property, those stays, you wanna make sure you really maximize the potential that you have on the outside, um, because it is a huge driving force.
Brianna: And when you see the amenities. The, the checkbox now that everyone has probably in their back pocket, a lot of them now are outdoor amenities because the, on the inside you can only do a few things. You can make sure you have a game room, for instance, or a theater or a workout space or, or something that inside would be, uh, you could implement.
Brianna: But on the outside, the kind of possibilities are a little bit more endless.
Gil: Yeah, absolutely. I think that that’s actually where you can get a lot more unique in, in your space as well
Brianna: Right. Exactly.
Gil: Um, kind of speaking to that, like are there areas around the home or outside the home that you feel like people overspend on? And we talked a little bit about the kitchen and the removing walls, but like traditionally, have you seen people like typically overspend on certain areas, but, and then on the inverse, probably more interestingly, where people are actually underspending their, their, their revenue or their the, what they should be spending on.
Brianna: I think overspending. Again, I think it comes back, back to like potentially just wanting all of the outdoor amenities and not really looking at the data and really understanding if that’s gonna be a huge driving force to an increased A DR, for instance. And then where I see potentially where. You know, investors are spending maybe not enough in is the experience part.
Brianna: So I think it comes back down to we’re in this business for hospitality, and so making sure that the experience matches your photos and your, at the end of the day, your photos are your kind of marketing tool. That what’s, that’s what’s gonna drive them in. But what’s that experience when they get to the property?
Brianna: What, how are you equipping your kitchen? Is it fully stocked? Do you have really nice linens and mattresses? Do you have great towels? What are you doing from a coffee bar perspective? All of the little things I think really count when it comes to experience and that’s where I see a lot of like big investors maybe kind of skimp on that because they have all of the crazy things outside that they think make up for it.
Brianna: But if things aren’t, you know, great on the inside or working also just from like a maintenance perspective, is the house all operating well? Like is your water pressure great? All of the little things really do matter.
Gil: Yeah, I, I can totally understand that. Where an investor may come in and they have that vision of what they want the property to, to look and feel like, and they have that budget in mind, and I. Their mind is like, okay, how do I start to amenitize the place? But like, actually what you’re saying is no, take a step back and make sure your foundations are in the right
Brianna: Great.
Gil: that you took care of all the maintenance issues, the, the property feels like it’s well kept for
Brianna: Great.
Gil: what the home needs in order to really experience ification that they intend to intended to have there. that’s a really, really good point.
Brianna: Yeah.
Gil: Um, kind of on the experience side, can you talk to me a little bit about, um, kind of. As you have grown your business there and you’re thinking about how do you serve your clients, like what are the different ways that you’re approaching it, maybe even a bit differently than than others.
Gil: I.
Brianna: Yeah, I mean, I, I try to be really guest centric, so putting everything at the center of the guest experience, I think that’s really the most important. So I. You know, when we look at the data and we look at all of the things that might say, oh, you need 12 guests to stay at this property. I’ll look at it from the perspective of, can we comfortably sleep 12 people here?
Brianna: Do we have enough dining spots for 12 people at the table? Do we have enough, um, common spaces for 12 people to hang out and enjoying themselves? So guest comfort, um, and making sure that they’re comfortable is gonna be really key and important. The small touches that I kind of touched on earlier I think are, are kind of ways that we, um, differentiate in the market because we really like to focus on that.
Brianna: I mentioned a coffee bar. We always try to suggest like, Hey, we did some extra research on your market and we saw that there’s a local coffee shop down the street and they produce grounds and beans there. So have you thought of maybe ordering from there instead of, you know, K-cups or something instead?
Brianna: Just little enhancements like that that can really create an elevated stay. Um, also bespoke curated design. We really wanna focus on. Creating, uh, an experience that feels one of a kind so that we’re not really tied to any specific retailer or, um, place that we wanna source from because we don’t want the property to feel like a big box store, and that looks like the other Airbnb or short-term rental down the street, that it really does feel like a one of a kind stay so curated.
Brianna: Um, design curated sourcing of all of the pieces, and we’re kind of really tying a ton of things together. Local art, creating local touches throughout. Um, if you can find a local artist in your market too, and where you can include some of their artwork in your property. We’ve heard a lot of our clients recently doing that.
Brianna: I think that’s an awesome touch. Um, just ways that you can, again, tie back to the place that these guests have decided to visit so that they really feel like they are fully immersed in the market that they’re choosing to vacation in. So.
Gil: Yeah, I feel like there’s, there’s a big difference between staying at, instance, a, a hotel on a major chain versus in a short term rental where the, at least nowadays, the hosts that are really. on curating the entire experience from when you walk through the door to all the different touch points and moments that you may get within them.
Brianna: Right.
Gil: I want to touch on something that we talked about even before, recording, about kind of where you’re taking your own personal business now
Brianna: Yeah.
Gil: service that you’re thinking about. Can you, can you talk to folks about when, what, what you’re investing into and
Brianna: Yeah,
Gil: you’re thinking about serving your clients now?
Brianna: absolutely. So, you know, because I come from a marketing background, I think it was just a natural progression where we started, we were actually having clients ask us like, do you guys provide any branding or website services? Because. You guys provided such an incredible design, but now what happens to the online presence that we need to build out as well?
Brianna: And how do we make sure that’s consistent and cohesive with the amazing in-person experience that you’ve created? And so now what we’d like to start doing is providing those branding services where we can create a brand. We can create their logo, their color palette. Um, their font selections, all of the things that would tie back to the design and experience that we’ve created in person, as well as that web presence as well.
Brianna: Because I have that marketing background, I’m always kind of thinking of like ways we can integrate branding throughout the design as well. So we do that a lot as, um, as far as the in-person experience, so. Welcome books in-person, welcome books that are branded, branded mugs in the kitchen. Just branded elements that you can include that reminds the the guests where they’re staying.
Brianna: And then if we can actually create that online presence online where they have a really strong social media presence that links out to a custom website that feels really con cohesive with the rest of the experience. That’s what we would like to be able to serve our clients with without creating that value all the way through from in-person to online.
Brianna: Because at the end of the day, we know that what’s happening online is what’s going to drive your conversions. It’s what’s gonna drive people to your listing or your direct booking website, because that’s how we’re going to, you know, enable stays and get our, our clients the stays that they, they want.
Gil: Yeah, I can get a sense of you’re designing this place, you’re curating the entire stay there, and you’re trying to put in all these elements to really tie it back together and it almost feels like you wanna do more to serve your clients. And I, I’m guessing that’s kind of where the progression happened, where
Brianna: Right.
Gil: you’re, you’re not just helping them really curate all the furniture and the design and all the textiles and everything that goes into it, but you’re like, actually there’s this whole piece from my other life. That I want to bring back into your space and really bring it all together. And that’s kind of where the branding comes in into play, where walk away with that memory of that stay, but you also have this imprint of this brand that you can also reconnect with as well too. I, I don’t know if that’s kind of like, that’s kind of what you’re trying to try strive towards.
Brianna: Yeah, absolutely. You captured that perfectly and probably said it better than I could because that that really is what, what we’d like to do, and we’d like to position our clients in the best way where they can drive. A very successful business and a repeat business as well. You know, there. That’s something I feel like that’s not really talked a lot about and how do you drive repeat guests?
Brianna: You do that because of the relationship that you build with them online. So if you’re able to do that through an incredible branding presence and incredible website presence and making sure that your guest communication, you’re collecting those. Emails from all of your guests so that you can go and market to them later and let them know like, Hey, you have an opening this weekend that just opened up, and you’d love to fill that with someone who’s already stayed at your property before and can appreciate, um, all of the things that you’ve been able to provide there.
Brianna: That’s an incredible play that puts a lot of power back into the host and the investor’s hands.
Gil: Yeah, that’s, that’s amazing. And, and you, you’ve probably seen the same thing, but I think over in the last two, three years, we started to see this big push towards direct bookings, where almost in the past a lot of folks were relying on Airbnb and, and more recently, folks. Especially even this past few weeks about the whole policy changes that we’re hearing with Airbnb being a lot more stringent about what they will allow you to do to really bring folks kind of back into you.
Gil: They’re, they’re starting to see that thread, but I think hosts naturally are starting to feel like, oh, I can’t really rely on Airbnb solely to get all my bookings. I need to take control of it. I don’t know if you’re kind of seeing the same on your side.
Brianna: Yeah, a hundred percent. So we always encourage our clients to. Make sure that they are thinking about what’s their direct booking strategy. In addition to, of course, you know, maybe at first you’re getting up and running on Airbnb, but at, like you said, at a certain point when you get into your business and you wanna optimize it, you realize that you can’t a hundred percent rely on Airbnb to, to be able to drive a successful short-term rental business.
Brianna: So direct bookings have been increasingly a huge part of. What we like to talk about, what we like to focus in on, because we know that that’s gonna be a great driver for the client when they are, you know, looking for a way to potentially take some of those fees back, take some of the control back, have more control over that guest experience, um, that they’re putting in the hands of Airbnb or VRBO.
Gil: Yeah, and I think like as I think like fast forward and just seeing where folks are investing their time and energy and the traction that we’ve already seen with a lot of folks going direct and starting to build that engine on their own, I. I think the trend that I’m starting to see is that folks will continue to amenitize and really focus in on the experience and spend, probably even make that starting to be the norm where folks are thinking about Airbnbs not just as a place to stay, but really how to experience. Really curate experiences and naturally folks are going to build stronger bands. The hosts are gonna build stronger bands for themselves. And we’re gonna start to see this wave of folks really going direct more often and guests really actually getting really comfortable with booking direct. Um, and that’s kind of where like I see things trying to trend towards.
Brianna: Yeah, I, I think so too. And I think you’re probably right that there’s like, even from the guest standpoint, there’s like a perception of like maybe not as much trust with Airbnb because of all of the fees, because of all of the things that they tack on. And I think there’s almost like that perception that we have to remember that we can maybe capitalize on that and build that direct relationship as a host with that guest so that they know like that there’s this.
Brianna: Personal connection with the host that you’re in the best of hands and they’ve curated this experience for you, and they have a great direct booking platform that they, you can utilize to book your stay. Um, so I think it’s a, just a seamless transition transition that we’re seeing in the market and it’s, it’s great that you too are seeing it as well.
Gil: Yeah. On the marketing side, where do you see folks maybe. Uh, and we’ll kind of go, this kind of touches on some of the last, like, questions I have on the show, but where do you see folks really being able to gain more traction on their direct bookings? Like, what are they, what should they be investing that they’re not investing into now?
Gil: Or at least as a fundamental
Brianna: just from a direct booking perspective or.
Gil: bookings and branding perspective.
Brianna: Yeah, I mean, I think just in general, like not investing into, in those two things is, um, and maybe relying on, there’s some, you know, direct book booking platforms and not. Customizing them where it has a really custom, you know, designed approach so that they’re not feeling like a template, that you’re not bringing them over to another platform, that it feels really seamless with that overall experience.
Brianna: So I think investing in branding, creating a logo, colors, fonts, all of the things are super important. They might seem really small, but it does feel really. Cohesive with the rest of the experience that you’ve been able to provide, um, inside and at the property in person. And so that’s what I would say is just like the, the mere fact of like, you’re not investing in branding and web design, which is why I really think that’s why we’ve also wanted to come through with creating this add-on service was because we felt like it was a gap and that we’re not seeing a lot of our clients do that, or really any investors.
Brianna: Um. And if they are, it really just elevates the experience. You look at that property at a completely different light, like that’s a very. Curated experience that feels very elevated. Those hosts really took a lot of attention. Um, and to, to the details of that experience. And maybe that’s why I wanna stay here, versus like the one that’s just only listed on Airbnb and you can’t find them on social media.
Brianna: You don’t even know who the hosts are. They have a property management company. There’s no direct connection to that, um, to that property or the hosts that are hosting.
Gil: Yeah, you make a really good point. I, I think even I see it inside craft of days where. We have this platform that allows you to connect your PMS and pull in all the property information and then choose from a variety of different templates. And I find that folks will either really sink their teeth into it or they’ll do this.
Gil: The there bare been minimum. And I, I try to coach folks like, okay, we put in placeholder text in there, so you are inspired to know what to write in that area, but don’t. Keep the text there if it doesn’t really resonate with kind of what your brand is trying to represent there.
Brianna: Right.
Gil: to kind of push hosts to really invest into their direct booking sites, build additional pages, talk about yourself a bit more.
Gil: And then kinda like on the other side, I actually see hosts, actually this is probably. The growing kind of segment of our customer base is that folks are actually leaning in pretty heavily. They’ve already had their logo assets, they have their colors, and they’re coming to us and saying, actually, I wanna be able to change this.
Gil: Can I do this? Can I do that? And they’re actually pushing our platform into new limits where we’re thinking about, okay, how does that impact our roadmap? Now?
Brianna: Right,
Gil: do we make it much more flexible? Uh, how do we add in more configurability into our website so they can actually make it their their own, even if they’re starting from a template to start off with.
Brianna: right. Yeah.
Brianna: That’s a great, great. Pivot that you’re seeing in the market. ’cause that really makes a lot of sense from, uh, our perspective if we’re gonna be helping clients with branding and things like that, is that they can come equipped before coming to you, you know, with all of those assets ready to go.
Gil: Yeah. And then we’ve even, there’s actually a handful of clients, probably more recently, where they have such a big vision for their brand and they started to crystallize that. They sat down, really thought about the entire guest experience, and they’re coming to us and like Gil, like. What’s possible given this?
Gil: How do I make it? And we’re, we’re doing one, either brand new builds of custom websites based on kind of their vision or if they found something that kind of works within one of the existing templates. Like how do we actually, um, I. Customize that template towards them. So we’ve been doing a lot more white glove be kind of because of that, and that allows us to really strengthen our platform and give more capabilities to everybody else as we think about, okay, if we want the behavior to look like this, if we want the brand to look like this, if we want these footers to look like this, like it actually helps us kind of mold our product.
Gil: So
Brianna: Yeah.
Gil: yeah, we’re starting to see that that trend towards like people really focusing on their brand, but also on the other contrast side of like people now feeling like they need to get a website because it’s almost like. That’s the expectation.
Brianna: Right.
Gil: but I think like your encouragement and myself as well too is like, really, if you’re gonna get your website, do that for, for sure.
Gil: Get your web presence in there, but also dive into really understanding what your brand is, what you’re trying to communicate,
Brianna: Right.
Gil: really make sure that the brand is something that is very clear when you get on the page
Brianna: Mm-hmm.
Gil: walk away with actually really resonating with it.
Brianna: Right, exactly.
Gil: Awesome. Brian, we usually end the show with three questions.
Brianna: Okay.
Gil: First question, uh, what’s one book recommendation that you would have for me and the listeners here?
Brianna: Um, so I mean, I don’t read a lot of like industry specific. Um. Yes, I try, if I do read, I’m like reading like AAR and stuff. So that really is probably not for this audience, but the one that I just recently read that was around mindset that might be relevant is, um, the Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins. I’m sure you’ve heard of a lot of people reading that book, but, um, I think it’s, it’s just a nice reminder that, uh, you just kind of have to not be so, um.
Brianna: I guess impacted by what other people think. And I think especially as an entrepreneur, there’s a lot of that imposter syndrome that you work against every single day. And um, that book was really a nice read just because it felt like it was relevant to things that I struggle with as a, as a business owner.
Gil: I don’t think I have that one in my library, so I might have to pick that one up.
Brianna: Oh yeah, you should, you should.
Gil: is that one A? Is that one a good? Uh, so usually I consume books in three different formats. Hard copy on Kindle or Audible. one would you recommend for this one?
Brianna: I mean, I think, uh, a Kindle would probably be sufficient for this. I don’t think you need this in your collection of your life. I see you have a lot of books behind you. Um, but, um, it’s just a nice like book and probably one that you can pick up again if you ever are, you know, just struggling with certain things.
Gil: Yeah, I think that’s a good point. Like I find that like the physical books are the ones that are a lot more tactical,
Brianna: Yeah.
Gil: where I have to reference something or they have a framework in there. I find that. I buy a lot of books on Kindle and I’m like, oh, I wish I had a hard copy where I
Brianna: Yeah.
Gil: which page that framework was referenced. Um, and then Audible is like on the more like I would say like mindset, a lot of mindset books. I like hearing it on Audible. Um,
Brianna: that would be a really good one. Yeah,
Brianna: she has like a podcast as well. And, um, yeah, I think even an audible for, for this one would be a really great, great listen.
Gil: Awesome. right. Second question. What’s uh, one piece of mindset advice that you would give to someone that’s starting something completely new?
Brianna: I think just, Having a lot of faith in yourself. I think especially when you’re, you know, from my perspective, when I started our, my business, you’re making a huge bet on yourself. You’re, you’re making this big leap of faith. And there’s so much outside noise of all the things that could possibly go wrong, but really just trusting that you are extremely capable and you can absolutely do this and you can pivot and learn.
Brianna: And if it doesn’t work out just exactly how you want it to, just be ready to kind of ride the waves and pivot and be kind of scrappy when it comes. To making business decis decisions or pivots in your business. Um, so that would be my biggest piece of advice because everything that you’re starting new is always a little daunting.
Brianna: It’s always kind of a lot of, um, unexpected can come of it. Um, there’s sometimes where it can feel really hard and be like, did I make a mistake by going down this um, path? But usually it, the hard things are always really worthwhile. And so that’s what I have found as well, um, from my personal perspective.
Gil: and that definitely resonates with me as, as, as a founder, like it
Brianna: Yeah.
Gil: especially that first year. There’s a lot of it like, was this worth it?
Brianna: Great.
Gil: takes? It’s, it’s ex exclusively hard on the, on that first year
Brianna: Yeah.
Gil: have that traction yet. You don’t have that validation. But I think as time goes on, you, you, one, you tune kind of like. How you wanna approach things and like, kinda like you, you’ve tuned you wanna approach design and really niching down. But two, you then also get a lot of confidence in knowing that you’re actually adding value to people’s life. Um, and I think that that’s really the driver for people to kind of keep on moving forward.
Gil: But that first hurdle is really, really hard.
Brianna: It is. Yeah. And. I couldn’t say that better. I think it, it could be mentally taxing. So, you know, just also being kind to yourself too, like giving yourself a little bit of a break or a little bit of grace, because it’s gonna be hard. It’s not gonna, it’s not gonna be always, uh. An easy walk in the park.
Brianna: There’s a lot of things that could happen when it comes to business, but also lean on people that maybe you’re doing something better than you are and that you could learn from. Because really that network of people around you is really what’s going to make the darker times or the more times of feeling a little bit alone, less lonely, because a lot of people are going through very similar things.
Brianna: Um.
Gil: and, and I think that’s kind of like, I, I agree with you, but also on the inside it’s actually really hard to know like who to reach out to when you’re an entrepreneur because
Brianna: Yeah.
Gil: people’s problems are very different. Like even though like we both are entrepreneurs, it almost feels like have to train yourself to reach out to people. That you wouldn’t typically normally do because in a W2 you don’t have that problem. People are surround, people that are surrounding you are doing the same tasks or the
Brianna: Okay.
Gil: as you. So it’s very easy to have conversations about like, day is shitty. I have to deal with this client. But when you’re an entrepreneur, you don’t really know who you can really tap in there.
Brianna: Right. Yeah. And yeah, I think just taking that risk with even just like sending that message, being like, Hey, I just wanna know, like, do you experience something similar? And we, I’ve seen that recently in the design space where as designers I’ve seen a lot more collaboration, which has been really a breath of fresh air where we’re like, Hey, I don’t know why we’re not talking.
Brianna: We all do similar things. Let’s talk about what’s working, what’s not working, what are we seeing? How can we help each other? I think that’s really, um, the beauty of like the space is that even though there might be competing services and people in this space that do similar things in you, there’s a lane for everyone.
Brianna: There’s success to go around and we can’t serve all of, all of these investors. We all are different in our approaches. And so how can we just collaborate more and talk more? And I think that’s been nice to see, um, recently and like over the past year.
Gil: Yeah, I think I saw, I forgot who posted it. I saw a zoom call with
Brianna: I think
Brianna: changes. Yeah.
Gil: Yeah. It was amazing being able to see, and I know a bunch of, a bunch of a bunch of you folks, it was really
Brianna: Yeah.
Gil: see all you guys on the Zoom grid together and having a conversation. And kind of like, likewise, even in on the direct booking space myself, the folks from Hudson, Mark Simpson, we all got together and had a very similar call
Brianna: Yeah.
Gil: while ago.
Gil: Just really just getting to know each other and really understanding like, okay, how do we, where are you, where are your businesses focusing? Kind of how are you going? And really like how do we serve our customers better? Because we all, again, have like the same mission.
Brianna: Right,
Gil: and for us, I think like our unique thing is like, okay, how do we make. It easier for folks to really get comfortable with direct bookings and you can use any of our services, but like really like there’s like a bigger mission to it all.
Brianna: right. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah.
Gil: Awesome. Last question, what’s one piece of tactical advice that you would give to someone that’s either trying to start their direct booking engine or amplify it?
Brianna: I think, building that like personal connection with your guests, so I, I think I mentioned earlier, collecting those email addresses are, is really important. Um, being able to market to them in the future. Um, having them as they’re at the property tag your social media handle, like a little thing like that.
Brianna: Making sure in your guest communication, that’s a reminder that’s just always included so that they know that as they’re building all of their photos and content at your property, that they’re tagging your property and building and amplifying your social presence. Because at the end of the day, those are the drivers to how to get people to your direct booking website.
Brianna: So starting with building that like social media presence, relationship. Um, guess communication point would be my, my first, um, piece of advice,
Gil: Yeah, in in marketing we call that UGC user generated
Brianna: right?
Gil: How do you, maybe just slight tangent on that, like how do you encourage folks to actually want to tag or like just putting it out there, it’s kind of like mixed where if you have a unique state, maybe they’ll, they’ll tag you on there, but like how do you encourage folks to actually want to tag you?
Brianna: I mean, I think if they see that’s how they found your property, they know that that’s, you know, it’s like a fun place. It’s like almost like a geotag that, oh, I’m here in Santa Monica, but like, oh, but I’m here at this property in Santa Monica. Like, it feels a little bit more, um, just connected back to where they are and where they’re staying.
Brianna: Um, and it almost like if you have a, a strong social media presence. It creates like this, like aura, like I got to stay here. Like this is a really exclusive stay. It’s always booked. You know, that having that presence on social media is also, uh, like the virality of that I think is, um, a factor too. So I think just, um, building a.
Brianna: Uh, an experience that lends itself to be, that I think would be the first thing. Um, on our communication for our short-term rental property. We just included as far as our guest communication as reminders, but there’s no like incentive there. If they do, great, if they don’t, I. Then they don’t, but at least we’re reminding them that there is that presence there.
Brianna: That’s how you can stay connected. We’ll repost their stay we’ll, and especially if they’re like some sort of like micro or influencer themselves, they sometimes like that. They want you to be able to like share who’s staying at your property and who stayed there before and, and we, we can certainly do that.
Gil: Yeah, I, I, I would imagine kind of back to what you were mentioning earlier about the branding, when you have those branded mugs or your logos all around, those are actually touch points where they actually might want to tag.
Brianna: Right.
Gil: that mug that has your logo on there
Brianna: Yeah,
Gil: they’re starting to kind of connect with you a bit more.
Brianna: exactly. Yeah. And that’s why we, we pop them in soft, subtle ways throughout the property because we just wanna make sure that the experience lends itself to shareability, that they’re sharing.
Gil: I love that. I love that. Brianna, it was really good having you on the show
Brianna: Thank you.
Gil: how you’ve grown through the, through the years and how you’re thinking about really the services that you’re providing to your clients and constantly thinking about. do you serve your clients and really the guest experience that you’re trying to to curate as well.
Brianna: Yes. Well, thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed it.
Gil: Awesome. We’ll see you next time.
Brianna: Okay, sounds good.