The 5-Star Co-Host and Hassle Free RE

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Boostly podcast. This is the podcast that gives hosts the tools, the tactics, the training, but most importantly, we're going to help you with the confidence to go out there and get more direct bookings. Today we're going to be talking about how you can get more bookings, particularly how you can use referral groups and communities and how you can kind of use those to your advantage as a short term rental host. And the person who's going to help us with that is a short term rental host herself. She's also a recently published best selling co author of the book Hospitable Hosts Too. And I'm just really excited I've spoken to this person on social media. I'm really excited to find out more about her story and the things that she's doing that works well in her business that you can then do in your business as well. So I'll introduce myself first. My name is Liam, I'm Mark's co host and today we're going behind the host with Mel Creel. She, she's got a company called Beachfront Apartments in Sharkers Rock and we're in South Africa here. So this is going to be a really cool sort of bit of information from somewhere that we don't normally hear from in terms of the host. So I'm really excited today. So without further ado, welcome along Mel. Thank you for joining us today.

Oh, thank you Liam. Really honored to be here and super excited to catch up with you. Like you say, we've been chatting on social media for a while now and it's really nice to be able to chats in person.

Definitely, definitely. So for those who aren't familiar with yourself, if you can give yourself an introduction, anything you'd like to share and any information about your business that will really help to, to build up the picture of, of your kind of business in their mind.

Hey. Well, it really started I'm actually married to a farmer so we live on a farm and I had a bit of empty knee syndrome as most people do when their children move on to university and ultimately they've actually left the country, not in the uk. So I was finding really difficult to sort of found my place again. Needed a sense of purpose and really hospitality really found me I think like a lot of us, but it's just been the best thing I've ever done. It's, it's just opened doors to new friendships, new business opportunities. It just really has been such an awesome journey. And what's the Biggest takeaway for me so far is just the community that's around it. Like we always say that, you know, really are hospitable people right down to our core. So I'm really, really chuffed to be in this industry and it's just, it's overtaken my life. I absolutely love it. My husband rolls his eye when he sees me chatting to somebody because he knows it's going to be another hour before, you know, I come back. But I can't resist it and I just have grown so much through it. It's been an awesome, awesome time.

Awesome to hear and your business itself. So I don't know the location, what is the location like, why have you chosen that and what does your short term rental, Is it just the one at the moment or is there, is there a bunch of them that you look after?

I do have five on my website, two of which I own and two I do a profit share with the owner. We are located on the Dolphin coast of South Africa, which is kzn. It's warm water, it's not like Cape Town where you swim in the cold water. We've got warm waters, we got a tropical climate, so you pretty much can come to us all year round. So we definitely a destination point rather than just a seasonal one. My apartments are fortunately on the beach front, so hence the name. So I'm right in, you know, on the beach side and they direct access to the beach. Very secure, very well located as far as for families and for elderly and for everybody. It just, it really is a perfect location from that point of view and flights are easy and we've got an airport that's only 20 minutes away. So we often are on, on route. So people are either flying up from Cape Town, they stay with us and then go to the parks, you know, the Kruger park or something like that, or do it the other way around. So we are sort of on that, that route. So from, if you wanted to drive from us to Joburg or Johannesburg would be a six hour drive, from Cape Town would be a longer drive, it's about 20 hours. So I would suggest you would fly there. But we have flights that go out from Durban to all of these different destinations. So we right in the middle, put it this way, we sort of halfway between the two.

I was talking to Ron Jensen on the behind the Host podcast and we were talking about, about how important it is to have somewhere which is either a seasonal one that you understand or somewhere which is available all year round. And you just mentioned that Pretty much it's all year round. Is it for, for your accommodation?

Yes, definitely for our school holidays and we have our summer holiday in December. So our Christmas time, our, our New year is our busiest time and our Easter like coming up to now is a very busy time, so very popular time to travel. It's not as hot as it is in December, but then again, you know, for us cold water is probably, I mean, I'll put my toe into the pool and if it's not 25, I might not get in because it's not warm enough, you know. So yeah, we very spoiled from that point of view. Our winters are very mild. We don't get our rain in winter either. So, you know, you've got really nice days in winter and a lot of my internationals actually will come out then. It seems to be the, the timing for them. But a lot of expats will come as well because it's suitable for them to visit the friends and family and also for schooling. You know, it does coincide with that but pretty much all year round.

That's perfect. And you know, it sounds to me, I mean I've never, you know, honestly I've not considered traveling to South Africa and it just sounds like such a nice place in terms of the heat all year round and you know, sort of the warm water. You certainly selling it to me. It's a great time to sort of branch into the guest avatar. Who is it that you normally host? Does it tend to be more international travelers and if so, where from?

Initially it's been a bit of a mixed bag. Covid did throw a proper curveball for us then I was building up my internationals. Nasty and majority came from the uk. Australia is another big one and of course Germany. We have quite a big German community where actually I live, my husband's half German. So yeah, we have that as well. Some others as well from Europe, but not a lot. We tend to sort of have that main market. I know there's a lot of focus on attracting more internationals and we would love to have them back. But at the moment post Covid has been a bit slow from that point of view. And our own market, I think with our exchange rate, it's also throwing a little bit of a curveball there. So they are actually traveling within South Africa. So we have been busy. It's not that required at all. We are, you know, coming up to Easter, we fully booked. But yeah, on the whole it's been a bit of a mixed bag majority. Our own country and Africa. So you'll get people from Zimbabwe, from, you know, the rest of Africa coming. But yeah, a bit of a mixed flag.

That's cool. That's cool. And at the end of the day, I mean Covid has been such a challenge which I think we're all still riding the COVID staycation boom. Then another, you know, sort of locked at, you know, across the world. It's just has such an effect and really thrown things out having it for the last couple of years. So I think we're still quite a way away from what is normal travel, isn't it at the moment. So hopefully things will settle down. So before we dive more into some of the cool stuff we're going to be talking about today, which is the, you know, the referral groups and something that you've made which is short term rental made easy which, which I'm looking forward to talking about. Let's just dive into your new project which is hospitable host 2. So for those of you listening into the, the podcast or watching on the Facebook Live, Hospital Host two, I'm sure you've seen some posts because they are everywhere on Instagram and on social Media. Hospital Host 2 is a project by Jody Sterling which has got some amazing short term rental hosts from all over the world together in one book. This is the second edition and Mel is one of the authors in it and this book just went to bestseller in the last two days, is that correct?

Yeah, it has, yeah. We've done really well with it. It's, it's in three different categories and it's doing well. So yeah, amazing. It's been fantastic journey, honestly. The, the people that I've met through this and chatting and it's, I'm seeing them all now in the States and just thinking, oh my gosh, only I could be there, like I said to you earlier on. But it's just so you know, when you find somebody that talks the same language, I talk about my tribe and oh, I feel like I found my tribe. It's just so nice to be able to network with the same people who understand the language we speak and our passion behind it. So yeah, just so honored to be in the book.

It is hospitality in general is, is addictive and, and there's no clan like hospitable hosts in general. You know, I mean as, as I know from, from being part of it. For anybody listening, if you go onto Amazon and type in hospitable hosts to, you'll be able to get this book. I thoroughly recommend you do. I've started reading it. It only arrived two days ago. I've read Mel's chapter. I've read a few others. And if you just need. As we record this, we're actually. It's during the short term Rental wealth conference in Nashville where we're seeing everybody there. Well, I'm distracting myself from social media and so I don't get FOMO by, by reading these chapters, so feel free to do the same. So how does it feel, first of all, to be a bestselling author and how did it feel to write your chapter?

I think it's really sunk in it, to be totally honest. I think when I get to be with everybody and hear the excitement and see it, then maybe I actually feel like I'm a bestseller. Also at the moment, it doesn't quite feel like that. It's all just seems a little bit surreal. I'm getting there. It's there. I know it's written there.

Yeah, when, when you've got the. I'm just holding up to the camera. I don't know if it'll reverse it, but yeah, as soon as you see it in print. Yeah, you're. You're in the, you're in the book, which is amazing. And for the people listening, what can they expect from your. Your chapter? What. What do you share within the book and what do you want them to take away from. From your story?

I think my chapter was really about finding my sense of purpose, like I mentioned right at the beginning. And from that I learned that when I first bought the property, I was so concerned about pricing it and understanding the dynamics that I lost focus as to what was important. And I can't quite remember who I heard on one of the podcasts, but he talked about abundance and having abundance mindset. And once somebody absorbed that and got over the hurdle of trying to watch what my neighbor was doing and what everybody else was doing and just looked at what I was doing and then started to reach out and say, I actually reached out to the, the other host who's got basically a mirror property of my own and said, well, look, why don't we chat? Because I kind of saw her on Airbnb and she dropped her rate and I would drop my rate. And I was, we were playing this game and I thought, you know what? This is actually not working. Let's. Let's rather talk together. So my, my chapter talks about networking and reaching out to better, better hosts rather than just concentrating on getting the guests. The guests obviously come to you and it's important and it's important to retain them and build that relationship. But it's also important to have a relationship with the hosts and people in your own complex. Particularly because we do look out for each other and we do look after each other's guests that the one person isn't there. So it becomes a real collection of minds that think the same way. And also from that I learned to share my knowledge and not be, not hold it back because the more I shared, the more they shared. And so it became a much easier transfer of information and the whole process has been so much more rewarding through it. So I think it's a change of mindset. I think that was my biggest thing that I'd like people to, to take away is that you don't have to hold everything to yourself and think you can't share when actually the opposite is true. And the more you share, the more it comes your way.

Quick break from the podcast to let you know that the two boostly books that we brought out, the book Direct Playbook and the book Direct Blueprint are two of the top rated and the best selling in the hospitality category on Amazon for just two pounds you can grab both of those books right now the foundations and the structures that you need to put in place is in the blueprint. And then for 101 marketing tactics that is in the Playbook. So go and grab a copy on Amazon now just type in Book Direct Playbook or the book Direct Blueprint and we'll see you on the other side.

It's definitely, it definitely comes through and it's so true, isn't it, that think of it like a table that when there's only one pillar to the knowledge, you know, a table wouldn't stand up. But when you get meet these awesome hosts and these people around you, particularly in your local network, it's like having little extra legs on this table of support within hospitality for your local area. So it definitely comes through. And of course off the back of that you're getting asked more information and one thing that struck me in the chapter is that you love to share, you know, how to help, how to get people started on their short term rental journey. And that comes through very much so in the book and has helped you build even more connections. But also you've created this awesome referral group. So talk us through the referral group and how it came around and the benefits that it brings you now both I guess, you know, sort of in, in all the ways, all the benefits it can bring your benefits.

Basically, yeah, so the awesome host group was started really with a bunch of us, there were five of us, and we were just chatting about how we could share guests because we wanted to make sure that our guests, we couldn't accommodate them, that they would be accommodated within the same area because they, they're coming to us for a reason. They don't necessarily want to be 100km away where they don't have the same beaches and facilities that we offer. So instead of just saying sorry, we full and put the phone down. It was about, okay, let's share it, let's see if we can find somebody else accommodation in one of other people. So it was just, it started off very slowly initially and then word of mouth sort of spread and then we had more people joining. And that was when I found the dilemma of one, that some hosts were very protective of the guests. They were scared that their guests was going to book with me and not come back to them. So there was that hurdle to get over. And the other one that they were perhaps more takers than givers. So at that stage we hadn't actually monetized it. It was just really goodwill shared here she'd be. And when I started looking at it from, from the outside, I realized that some were very professional about how they wrote it out and said look, they've got this guest who wants accommodation where the other ones were just sort of forwarding on a, a message from somebody else. So it was very itty bitty. So I formalized it. So what happened is we, we have a set format as to how we, we share a guest. So it's, it's also by name in case somebody else gets the same request. It's not duplicated. And then also we agree that we only pay a commission to the host who referred it once they check out because we know that circumstances change and we don't want to be changing money backwards and forwards. So we incentivized it for the person who, who shares it. And you know, when you think about it, I'm doing my marketing or I'm putting advertising on the OTAs. I'm paying probably 15 to 20% commission anyway. So we halved it, we make it 10%. The marketing is still done by you. We reduce it even more for our peak time. So when we have our sort of race go up quite considerably during our Christmas and Easter time, we reduced it down to 5%. But it was just really, it wasn't really about the money. It was just about, about evening the plan. So everybody knows what set of rules to play by and that it's not. Not confused as to the expectations. And that has been. It has grown literally. I started it in 2019 and we are now 65 hosts with multiple properties. We must be close to the last count I did, and it's difficult to count, but I would say we close to the 350 mark as far as properties go. So it does vary. There are a few guest houses and there are a few B and B, but the majority are self catering, which is what I do. And. But sometimes I do actually have a guest who wants to stay only for a night and wants the bed and breakfast kind of option, so it hasn't been wasted.

I think it's such a good idea to do this, especially what that allows you to do. Like you say, instead of a guest ringing up and say, hey, have you got this? And you're just like, no, we haven't got availability, goodbye. They're not going to call again if that's our kind of answer as hosts. Whereas if we can say, hey, we're full, but I've got a network of hosts and, you know, I'm sure we'll be able to find you something locally, let's put you in touch with those people. You're being helpful to the guest, you're being helpful to the other host. Your cash flow enduring that and you're becoming what I'd call the key person of influence in your, in your local market. And what that will encourage the guest to do is to call you again next time or to effectively you get goodwill from the other hosts because you're bringing them business as well. So what advice would you have for somebody who is in a situation where they're in that kind of mindset, whereas they don't want to be referring people to other hosts or they're worried about sharing information and guests, what could they do, first of all, to help their mindset? And two, how do they reach out to these other hosts? How did you find people who would come and join this group? How did you kind of touch base and make contact?

I think the biggest thing to say to get past your mindset is that the guest so appreciates the gesture that even though they might stay with your neighbor, they're going to remember you. Your impact is much more than just accommodation. You know, being kind and being hospitable and being considerate and following up far exceeds everything else. So for me, it wasn't difficult finding the guests, the guests, even though they might not stay with me and I Referred them onto my neighbor, they remember me and they come back to me because they appreciate that person. You know, I think with our techno world, we so used to just, you know, searching on Google or going onto whatever platform to find accommodation, but you've got questions and that doesn't always get answered. So having a human to speak to makes such a difference, especially if you're under a time constraint or you've got particular needs. The pet industry here has gone through the roof, you know, and it's so difficult to find pet friendly places that are close to the beach and a friendly beach that allows the pets. So those are the kind of questions I often get. So it was easy to find those people because I'm a pet lover and, you know, we have things in common. And the first thing you do, you start sharing your pictures of your dogs. So it's very quick that you make friends with other hosts. And then what I did with the final host goes, is that I offered training, basically. I just, I said, look, I've got, I can give you a call if you want to chat. If you've got any questions, let them get to know me. I showed them what I do and if they had any questions, and then try to help if they had any questions. And a lot of the time it revolved around how to move off Airbnb to go into the OTAs, or how to take direct bookings and the paperwork behind it and the payment gateways and all these sort of things. So that started a workshop. So what I would do is, because I wanted the other hosts to meet each other, I would host a workshop every quarter and just everybody would come together and keep chatting and the same questions would arise and then I would address a particular topic. So that was the icebreaker. And once, you know, you get referred to from one person, they refer their friend or their family. You're not starting from, you know, zero. You're really on the pillar. You're really moving up the, the line. So it, it hasn't been difficult to be totally honest. And it, it kind of just finds me. I'm not actively looking for hosts. I will comment every now and then if I see on a, on a group that somebody's needing assistance and I'll offer my assistance if they take it up or they don't, it's, it's entirely up to them, but that's all free and there's no charge of that. And I love to be able to network with other hosts and we all feel the same journey. Somewhere along the line you either feel quite isolated initially, then you feel quite chaotic and now you want to look to now take on more properties. So you go through that journey and it's nice to be able to network the people that are talking the same language as you.

I think that's so important just to like you say, because it can be lonely in hospitality. So having a clan of hospitable hosts or with having a clan of people in short term rental in the same sort of going through the same sort of stuff that, that we are is, is just so important. Which is why we do things like this where we interview hosts and it's not always, you know, sort of sunshine and lollipops, is it? Sometimes hospitality can be tough. There's some, some tough decisions you have to make. And actually having a network to bounce these questions off is just so important. And it's one thing which I've got mention if, if anybody has not already come into the a free Facebook group called the Hospitality Community on Facebook, come and check us out. That is a place which Mark Simpson has got a kind of big Facebook group where you can come and talk to fellow hosts and share any worries and concerns in a nice safe environment. So I kind of feel we've got to understand where your business is. I kind of feel, you know, that networking has really worked for yourself and is something which we'd encourage other hosts to do to build these referral groups. And it makes sense to me how I've certainly got inspiration because we've got a local group here, but not everybody is on the same page with knowing how to do some of the stuff. So that workshops idea is fantastic. You know, it's really good. What I'd love to find more out about is two things. One, how did you get started in this business? You know, like, is hospitality new to yourself? What did you do before this? And how did you get the hospitality bug?

Sure. You know, when I reflect back I actually think I was all building up to this. I had my first job was with the bank and I was in foreign exchange, dealt with a lot of international visitors in forex and I had the same question keep coming up. So I created a flyer for my guests, one of the guest clients. So I really started with a sort of flyer and putting things together to get some sort of system. So the start was already there. So the marketing I had done, public relations background, so that was there. And then from that I married a farmer. Totally took me off track. I had no plans to get married. When I did, I Had plans to travel the world and do all sorts of things and yeah, love bits and the, the bug happened. So yeah, I, I married a farmer, moved to the country, gave up my high heels and changed to, to Wellington's and that was the start of a new journey. So yeah, I found myself on the farm, not really knowing quite what to do with myself as far as time goes. So my father in law was very kind and suggested I start a little poultry business that he had some experience in. So I thought, okay, how hard could this be? A few little chicks, you raise them and then you sell them again. Well, I nearly cooked them. That's. I didn't know the first night they were all like scattered to the side and I thought, oh my gosh, I don't know what I'm doing. So I started then already to empower myself with knowledge and the same sort of ethos has started, you know, carried all the way through to my, my short term rentals as well. So yeah, that journey was that. So that was my marketing and that's what I discovered. I like to do the packaging and my labels and the branding. So that was the start of that. And that progressed onto. When the children went to school. I was asked to do the, the branding for the new 150 celebration. So hence there it comes again. And after that was a health shop. So it was customer service which I had trained in any way when I was at the bank. So that was easy for me. And then really what happened was my daughter went to Stellenbosch University and I was going down to Little Town. I needed somewhere to stay. So I went on to Airbnb and that stage. It was quite early for us in South Africa. I know Airbnb has been around for a while, but it was, it was sort of new. We didn't really do that. And I found the most amazing host and she, I only ever stayed with her. No matter what I went. My daughter was there for three years and then in Cape Town, but I only ever stayed with her. She was my go to person and she convinced me that I needed to do this. So we had already bought a property on the, on the coast and we had given it to a property manager. So then I thought, okay, well let me give this a try. So I worked in conjunction with her. I said to her, look, if you, if you hadn't sold the nights by a certain date, normally two weeks before, could I have them back and I try and sell them. And that's where the momentum built. And you know, I Look, I look back now, it wasn't long that they had my property because I realized I could actually do this and I love the interaction with the guests. You know, when you, when you remove from it, you don't actually know how to make it better. So I was, it was important for me to get the feedback I needed to know were they, did they need more blankets, did they, did they like the coffee, you know, all the little things that they, they liked and what I could improve on. So I needed that feedback and I wasn't getting that with the property management. So it definitely worked for me far better when I took the control back myself and could really iron out any issues if they were. And also how to take it the next level to, to, to make myself different from, from my neighbor, you know, make sure that I was offering just those little extras and little surprises and giving them experiences and following up with what their needs were. So it kind of found me like all of us, I think it sort of like you said right at the beginning, it bites and it doesn't let go. It does and I absolutely love it.

If you're struggling on how to get direct bookings and overwhelmed on where to start, then I recommend you go and book in a call with Boostly and our team right now. We can walk you through exactly what we're offering, how we can help you and give you a portfolio of websites that we have worked with that are matching not only on niche but could be in your location as well. Boostly has helped over 2000 hospitality businesses all over the world increase their direct bookings. And if you are interested then all you need to do is go to Boostly. B O O s t l y.co.uk call and book in an appointment with one of our sales team.

What I like about that is, is first of all, you know you were a guest and you were inspired to do a short term rental because of the experience you had. Which is cool because you sort of start to realize that hey, this could be a business and there's kind of that wow kind of moment to find that out. And also the other thing that I liked is that you actually tried and there'll be people listening to this thinking about should I use a management company, should I do it myself? But actually you actually worked that out with the management company that hey, can I dip my toe in the water and can I try selling some of the nights? And that's what grew your belief, your passion for it. And of course that's when you got all the information from the guest directly. So it's not having to be filtered through a management company. All of a sudden you can make adaptions, changes to your listing really quick that will help your guests build that relationship. And ultimately, in the same way that you would only go and stay with your preferred host, certain guests will only come and stay with their preferred host, us, you know, as hospitality owners, which is amazing. So let's dive into the what you use within your business. So you mentioned your help other hosts. What are the top say to tech or software or things that you do within your business? I guess tricks that you do within your business, which you go, do you know what? I think this is what every host out there should be doing.

We are a number of ones. But I would say when I'm dealing with my group, the big thing is to know what to charge the rates is a big stumbling point tends to be that they all go and compare themselves to somebody else. And you're not necessarily, yes, it might be the same complex, but you're not necessarily comparing the same apartment to the other apartment. So it's important that you know where you fit in the market. So from that point of view, Price Labs has been amazing. I use them that. That is my, my number one go to. And then also I like to use Touchstay because I feel like, you know, you need to be able to give information to your guests and about your apartment and make it easy for them. The other thing of course is the referrals is to be able to get those referrals onto your website. So those are the sort of three key and I use repository for that they. So it's mainly those three Price Labs, touchstay and Reposa.

Awesome. And just for the people who are listening, obviously like you say, touchstay is an awesome guidebook, one to go and check out. It just means you can send this cool link and your guests can have all the information about your place. Say, and Rapunzel, is it the.

Yeah, I think Rapuzzo or Rapunzel. I'm not quite sure how you pronounce.

It, I'm not sure on that one. But Basically it's a WordPress plugin that will allow you to bring in all your awesome reviews. So all that real estate of great reviews, great testimonials that you as a host have already got on Airbnb, booking.com, vRBO, it'll allow you to pull in that information and display that on your website, which of course helps you to build trust. And ultimately the more Trust you've got the more likely they're going to book on your website instead of going back to Airbnb, especially with the better rates and that side of things. So really, really important. So what does the future look like for your business, Mel?

Oh, it's a good question. I have been thinking about this one actually. And as much as I would love to buy more properties, I think I've got, I think the bag of teaching other hosts have also. But me, I love being able to network with like minded people. So it's probably a bit of a, both sides. It's going to be two hats. Probably buying additional property and I do have some that I've got lined up and then also growing the actual training side where I can, you know, make a difference to other hosts so they don't have to struggle the way I did. And, and just listen, listen. Well, when I say listen up, maybe like smooth the path a little bit better because there's so much tech out there and you can get so overwhelmed when you first start out that you think, oh no, you can't possibly do this. And it's just maybe simplifying it and concentrating on, you know, certain things, getting your, your credibility on Facebook, making sure that your different platforms all speak the same language, that your, your voice is the same, making sure your, your ethos and your values come through. So these, these little things I, I love doing and I think helping others as much as I enjoy having my guests and they number one always. But I think it's a bit of a struggle, probably both sides.

That's exciting. And then I can, you know, it emanates from here is the, the hospitality, you know, the horse. Being a hospitable host is perfect for you because it really shows that you absolutely love this, this industry and what it has allowed you to do and also what it gives back. And we're not just talking monetary, but in terms of the guest experience, helping other hosts and, and doing that side of things. So forward to, to seeing what you do in the future. And of course we've agreed before this call that we're going to be at Nashville at some stage at the same time.

Absolutely. We're going to Nashville next year. Missing out too much.

Let's definitely do it. Everyone else is there. Why aren't we? Let's, let's make sure we're there. So as we bring these towards, towards a close, we love to just do a couple of fun questions. And one of the questions, Mel, I'd love to ask you is where in the world is the most interesting place? Where's somewhere that everybody listening to this should at least go and Google or even go on holiday to?

I wish I could say I was well traveled, Liam, but I'm not. Being at the bottom of Africa, it makes it very difficult to get around, so to say. I mean I've always had on my wish list to. To visit for example, Germany and I've always had a wish list to go to Europe and even the States. The States now would see Nashville and everything they're doing. It would be something I would love to do. So as far as the rest of the world, I can't give you too much because I haven't traveled a lot other than going to Australia and the UK mainly and our. Our local areas or neighboring countries. Mozambique, which we absolutely love going to our family. It's our go to place for our holidays mainly because it's. It's just. It's a drive which is part of the process. We able to sort of make the trek with the family. It's only a day's drive from where we live, but it's. It's that physical moving from one place to another place and we just love that. It's also on the beach. We 9 out of 10 times there's all our friends are there within big houses. So our children and our friends, we all meet up. So I would put Mozambique on my list if you haven't been there before. But of course our country, I mean this. We are so varied. I think a lot of internationals and I'm generalizing so excuse me here but you know, think we just got the animals and we just got Cape Town. There's a lot in between. There really is. And there's a wealth of culture, history, landscapes, you name it, activities. We know also delicious wine. Even here in kzn, we've also got our own wine roots, so there's lots on offer. But you need to come to South Africa, not to us go to visit Mozambique.

You know what, you're such a good ambassador for South Africa in general because I certainly, I mean like there's the saying, I'm based in Norfolk here in the UK and there's. There's a saying which is pretty much that nobody leaves Norfolk most of the time. But I'm certainly interested now in, in traveling to. To South Africa. I've. I've got a few friends who have been and absolutely love it. So yeah, definitely a good advert for, for South Africa. What would you recommend when it comes down to Either a book, a movie, or a podcast. Unfortunately, you can't say hospitable host too. But what would you recommend that everybody listening go and check out what has helped inspired you on your journey or something that you just find interesting? It can be hospitality. It doesn't have to be, but something, a resource that you've used that everybody should check out.

Yeah. I have been following Jean Bos. She does particularly about direct bookings, and that has been an inspiration for me. She does a summit once a year and she gets a whole lot of people together, from photographers to Instagram is to bloggers to all sorts. And I really have enjoyed her course. I've done it twice now. She's got another one coming up. But she also does podcasts and it's. It's very relevant for direct bookings. How to make sure that you're getting direct bookings and how to bring that to the fore. I see my battery's about to die. Liam. I hope I'm not okay. I hope I'm still going.

We're bringing it to a close anyway. And what was the name? Just so we can go and check her out on Instagram or her podcast, Jen Bos.

And it's direct booking success.

Awesome. We'll go and check that out. And so that brings us as, as the battery is dying, to the last question, which is have you got a mantra or a saying that really resonates with you, one that you'd like to share with the listeners?

Well, because I've got farming roots, I thought this one was quite appropriate that I would. I'd read to you because I. I had so many that I had to write it down. You harvest what you plant. So plant intentionally supplant good habits, good values, good work, good decisions, and you decide on which those are. So it's very much about what you put in with what you reap. I've also been making a very concerted effort to get up every morning and be grateful for what I have. I think we've all come through Covid with all our knocks and bumps along the way. So I'm grateful that's all over and that we've got to start again. And I think, you know, with gratitude brings abundance as well. And that ties in very much with how I believe in doing my business as well. I believe there's enough for everybody and sharing and helping other people actually brings you more. So it's really is gratitude and abundance is probably what I'm really about.

That's awesome. And I like the Fact, you're prepared with that quote as well. That's very good. So Mel, thank you so much for sharing your journey with us today on behind the Host podcast. I've really got a lot of inspiration out for this to go off and help with. We've already got a referral group but for anybody out there who hasn't definitely start to reach out to other hosts in local groups, go to network meetings and that side of things and how I can provide more value to them as a host is something which I've taken away from this and what I'll get obviously back out of that is hopefully the more referrals and goodwill ultimately, which is cool. And also just generally being a hospitable host. So what's the best way to get in touch with you? And you mentioned your course during this as well. How can people find out more about that?

Probably just Google me on Facebook, you know, just Melanie Creel. You'll get me on Facebook. All the the links are listed there and short term rental is one of them that's on there. LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram. I'm pretty much on my name or beachfront apartments in Sharper's Rock. By all means, anybody's welcome to contact me. Love to share some info and of course if you would like to visit South Africa, I can definitely recommend a good beach, beachside apartment for you.

I like it. Getting some promo in there. So yeah, that brings us to the end of this. This has been fun. Thank you so much Mel for, for doing this today and for spending your time with us any last years before we bring it to a close.

Well, I think you need to read the book if you haven't read the book. I've been sharing that with all my hosts as well and I know when I read the first one I couldn't put it down. So be prepared. You're not going to put it down and you get hooked on it and you just think you can resonate with so many people's stories. So I would really suggest everybody get out there and read the book, if not my chapter, somebody else's. There's lots to take from it and yeah, don't be an island. Reach out to, to your fellow hosts and work together. It's far better, it's far easier and you build a network.

It does sound very, very rewarding at the end of the day. So everybody listening, you can go check out on Amazon just hospitable hosts too and and purchase that book. Thank you for spending your time with Boostly today. And we know there's a lot of places you can put your attention, and we really thank you for putting it with us. So thanks very much. We'll see you on the next one.

Thanks, Liam.

Thank you.