Using Event Niches to Boost Your Hospitality Business

Welcome to the new episode of the Boostly podcast. This is the podcast that gives hosts the tools, the tactics, the trainings and most importantly, the confidence so you can go out there and get more direct bookings. My name is Liam Carolan. I'm Mark's co host and today we're going behind the host with another successful and interesting host from the short term rental industry. What I love about doing these episodes is that we get to meet people with different types of business. We're all in the same industry, but everybody's got a slightly different offering. We host all in unique ways, which is why it's so important to listen to podcasts like this, see what tips you can pick up and implement that into your own business. And today I'm excited because we've got Helen Christopher from Brook Ledge Cabins and Camping and Weddings is all that we're going to be talking about today. And also she is a soon to be best selling author with hospitable hosts. So it's a real honor to have her here. So welcome along. Helen, thanks for being here.

Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.

No worries. So I've given you obviously a brief introduction there, but if you can tell us about yourself, where the business is as well and what kind of model that you use.

Yes. So we're located in upstate New York. A lot of times when people think of New York, they think the big city. We are actually in the mountains on 60 acres, so a very rural area just outside of Saratoga Springs. And we have cabins, glamping tents and a lodge. And we host either guests individually, you can rent just one cabin or some families or events. They'll rent the entire place for an event such as a wedding. We also do corporate events where businesses will rent the entire place as a way to celebrate with their, their staff.

That's cool. And who do you find you tend to host? Is it, is it more families or is it people? I guess because New York's so close. Is that where most of your guests come from?

We do get quite a few guests from the city and New Jersey people who are looking to escape the city and disconnect. And we are getting a lot of younger couples, actually a lot of couples in their 20s and 30s that are just looking to take a break from their busy schedules.

That's cool. And do you find, is it very seasonal or is it like all year round for the cabins and the demand?

So it is definitely more popular in summertime, but in the wintertime we are really close to, to the snowmobile. Trails.

Nice.

So we do have snowmobilers that drive their sleds right up to the cabin. They can sleep for a weekend and then hop right back onto the trail. So we do have that, but it's more and more popular during the summer.

That's cool. That's cool. And tell me, how did you get into this business? Is this something which is new? Take me back before you did hospitality. And how did this come along?

Yes, I was actually a teacher for 17 years. I was a second grade teacher and. And we had gone to Brookledge. We had actually come here on the property about seven to 10 years ago. A friend of ours was getting married here. And Brookledge prior to that was a girls summer camp. So children would stay here for weeks at a time, kind of like a Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts kind of a thing. And at that time, when we attended a wedding here, it was no longer a summer camp. Two women had owned it and it was privately owned. And my husband and I just thought that the camp was gorgeous. It had all these unique features, things that you wouldn't have, you know, at a traditional place, such as pavilions and that type of a thing. And we just really enjoyed it. Fast forward seven years later and we see that Brookledge is for sale. We had no intentions of moving or buying it, but we just loved it so much. We loved the idea of having the space, yet you're only 15 minutes from Saratoga. So we put an offer in, it was accepted, and within two weeks, we moved into what was the nurse's office. At the time. It was 400 square feet. It was myself, my son, my husband, and our two dogs. And we quickly realized we need to make some modifications. And as soon as we moved in, we started working on the property. We started moving cabins around, updating the cabins, adding platforms for the glamping tents. We're currently finishing up the lodge, which will have its first wedding next month. So we're. We're moving quite along. But the original plan was not to host. I did discover Boostly and other podcasts that showed me that that was an option for a way to make money on the property. And once we started going, I realized I couldn't teach anymore because it was. It was doing very well and it was too challenging to do both at the same time. So I left teaching last June. It's not. It hasn't even been a year yet, and I've been doing this full time now.

Amazing. Congratulations. And it's one of the first times that we've Interviewed a host, and actually they've gone to the place as a kind of guest or somebody who's. Who's checking out the place and fell in love with it and then bought the place, as opposed to buying it as an investment initially. You know, like, as in, obviously you've bought it as an investment as well. But that's a really cool take on it, which. Which I didn't realize. So when it comes down to how long have you been doing this? I missed how long.

Yeah. So we've been here for two years.

Two years. Two years. And is there anything which your perceptions before you did this, what perceptions have changed over that? Two years?

So I thought if I just put the cabins on Airbnb, they would do everything for me and I'd be all set. And that is not the case. I discovered that I needed to market. I also realized I needed different avenues to allow guests to. I mean, guests would come and stay with us, and then they wouldn't book again. And it seems silly to have them book again right through Airbnb when they're already communicating with me. So there are some things I needed to make adjustments on. One of them was having guests being able to rebook or just book with me directly. And those are things that we've been focusing on, as well as hiring an amazing cleaning team. I didn't realize the turnovers, so we did hire an amazing, amazing person that helps us. But, yeah, those are the two things that I didn't realize. I didn't realize that it was going to be. I would have to do a little work because they make it sound like an Airbnb. Put it up and you're all set and you're successful and it's not the case.

That's cool. And what did you feel? I guess you've gone through that journey of buying the place, obviously, making all these changes. How has it felt from a mindset point of view? Has there been any kind of. I guess what would the challenge be? Would be. What challenges have you felt both mindset wise and, you know, just with the logistics and what are your success and wow moments so far?

Yeah. So as far as the mindset, there isn't. As a teacher, I had a set schedule, so I taught Monday through Friday. I got my weekends and my holidays and my summers off. And now this business really is 24 hours a day. So I have to have my phone available. I have to be available for the guests. So one of the mindset changes was setting time for me, like actually structuring that time and giving myself a day off and making sure that I am doing those fun things with my son. Yesterday we had a snow day. So, you know, taking the time to make those snowmen and doing that fun stuff and not always working. So that was a big shift for me was not having a set schedule and having to create that schedule.

That's cool. And what would you say the biggest wow moment so far? Things that you really either are proud of achieving or things which you go, wow, that's, you know, you look back and you go, that was a moment which really helped the business push forward.

Yeah, I'd say actually finding a way to have all of my lodging rent at the same time. So, for example, I had people reach out to me about having weddings. It didn't cross my mind that, that this would be a perfect venue for weddings. With that having weddings, having the events, that has allowed me to book everything at once for one fee. It helps me to plan everything out and makes it easier for my cleaning team because they know a start and a stop time. So having the events, that has been amazing. And I've even partnered with other. There are a lot of. In Canada, I'm sorry, in the United States, there are a lot of barn wedding venues. It's kind of a popular thing to get married in a barn here. And a lot of them don't have lodging. So I've partnered with some of the local places and say, hey, you know, if we're available, you can send your guests or your bridal party here. So that has been another nice thing is looking at businesses and seeing how we can partner together.

That's really cool and I really like that aspect of it. So two questions is come off the back of that. The first one is, how do you attract wedding parties and what's the sort of places that if I was a host that I would want to advertise on? Yeah, we'll go with that one first.

So it started word of mouth. I did begin with social media and start advertising that way. I've also scheduled photo shoots where we have different vendors come, they take pictures here, and then they can use the pictures to advertise for their own purposes. And so then that shows the vendors that I'm available. It also lets couples know that I'm available. And right now is actually a popular time. A lot of couples after Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's Day get engaged. So this is a time to be marketing to them and also going to wedding expos. They have big the conferences for People who are looking to get married. And that's one of the other things I've done to put ourselves out there.

That's cool. And is there any website or anywhere that you can advertise for just for weddings at all?

Yes, there are websites. There's the Wire, the Knot. Those are the popular ones. They are very pricey, like we're talking like thousands of dollars. But also there's a lot of local ones. You can do some of the things on social media, joining local groups, there's a lot of, you know, like wedding groups where you can do that. So social media has been helpful. Google Ads, Facebook ads, that type of thing also.

That's really cool.

And 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.

The second question coming off the the tactic that you found there or the niche that you've found there is how did you go about reaching out to these other, these venues, you know, the places where people are going to these barns and get married? How, how do you go about finding them and what's your pitch?

So what I did is I went online and I went right to Google and I typed in local wedding venues and I looked at all the venues that did not have lodging on site and I found a handful of them that were close by. Because we're in a rural area. If you had a bride and groom getting married at your facility, you would have to drive about 20 minutes for the nearest hotel. So having something within five minutes is really appealing and is a nice option to sell to couples when they come to their venue. So you're actually providing an upsell for them. What I did is I reached out to them and said, hey, I want to let you know that I can sleep anywhere from 20 to 25 guests here. We do allow couples to get married. If you're looking for extra lodging, can you add us as one of your preferred vendors? And that's what they do. A lot of wedding venues have programs they use kind of like in Short term rentals. We have a PMS system. Well in wedding, the wedding world they have what's called the CRM and you can add vendors there. And so what we did is we added and I even did it for couples that maybe didn't want people to stay on site but they wanted them close by. So I reached out to local Airbnbs or like other short term rentals and looked around to see what I could add to our CRM is also. But I just called them and they were ex. They were super excited. It doesn't cost them anything, but it's a way to increase your sales and also make it more desirable location for them for couples to get married.

That's cool. They say a rising tide, you know, raises all ships, don't they? And that's one of those things where as a collective the offerings more beneficial to the end user. And that's exactly what you've done there. And it's great to build these local networks because you never know when that'll come in handy with, you know, you just need a handyman or you just need an extra cleaner or something like that. These, these are the networks which, which to be around. Which is cool.

Absolutely.

You mentioned the tech. You mentioned both CRM and pms, which is your customer relationship management system and also your property management system. What tech do you use in your business and why?

Yes, so originally I was using hostfully, but since my CRM system Weave in allows for guests to make payments right directly through there using Stripe, I do everything through there now. So my guests, when they want to book, I just have a book through there. It allows me to have one, one spot to keep everything in order. Having, I mean a lot of our lodging is being rented at the same time. So that makes it easier as far as manageability. And this time of the year, because we're not doing weddings because it's quite cold, our wedding season will start up again in May or June. We right now are just kind of keeping track of them separately. But Weave in is the primary system we use which isn't super helpful unless you're doing weddings and events. But hostfully was, was great for just doing the. The lodging.

You know, you make a really great point though that because hospitality is so varied, the systems we need are unique to our business. They're pretty bespoke. That's why when somebody asks us hey, what's the best pms? We go, well, go and try out a few because it depends on what your specific needs of your business are. If you're managing, you might need reports. If you're doing events like you say, you might need some sort of CRM. What would be awesome in the future. And I still think tech is quite young. I think that this tech will come together where they need more of a CRM built in to, to a PMS with the event planning and that because it's a clear need as an example shown by your business. But it's really cool. And I'm going to go check out Weaven because just the fact that you can take stripe payments direct, that allows you to do exactly what you need to do which is get that direct booking via a channel, via your own website or via, you know, the social media, which is really cool.

So yeah, it does allow you to add documents and so you can have contracts and things signed right there, such as releases or if you're having like harmless agreements or things like that for the property. And it keeps everything in one chain as far as communication, which it makes it easy to refer to.

That's really cool. And is there any other tech in your business that you want to give a shout out or a mention to?

I mean that one right now has been my lifesaver. I have played with Breezeway as well as far as helping to manage my cleaning teams, but those have been the big ones for the most part.

That's cool. That's cool. Now one thing that you mentioned or that we mentioned at the start is that you're a hospitable host in the up and coming book. How does it feel first of all to have written a chapter within Hospitable Hosts and what are you excited about from it as well?

So I'll be totally honest, I come from a second grade teacher writing background so this was a big jump for me. It honestly was really nice to look back at our store to see how far we come and to see what we've accomplished and also to highlight our favorite guests. And that was one of the things that, you know, no one really tells you. You hear all the bad stories of being a short term rental host, but then there's these amazing opportunities that you have. So I, I'm really excited to see the book come out and see all the amazing hosts and their stories. I read the first book and I just, I just love that it gives you kind of like warm fuzzy feeling, you know, like it's a nice quick read and I really enjoyed it. So I'm excited to see it and to see what people think of, of this crazy journey that I'VE been on. But yeah, I'm just excited for it to be released.

It's one of the exciting things that I was surprised about with Hospitable Hosts is this the network it builds around you as well. You all of a sudden you've got these hosts from all over the globe come together in this project. And for those of you who are listening to this and don't know, go and check out hospitable hosts.com is a idea which came from somebody called Jody Sterling, who's a host, a short term rental host based here in the uk, in the south of the uk and she came up one day with this idea to get hosts from all over the world to tell their story. Because as we've said, hosts have got individual stories, individual businesses and it's good just to be able to highlight those. And also it's taken host to, like you say, Helen, who you may not have ever thought, hey, I'm going to be in a book, let alone what is likely to be as we, as we record this. We don't know it's going, going to be a bestseller, but it's likely to be a best selling book, which is going to be amazing. So, you know, I wish you all the best for, for becoming a best selling author, Helen, and it's exciting times ahead.

Thank you so much. I'm excited.

So what would be your top tips for other hosts? There'll be people listening to this who haven't got a hospitality business at the moment, who are thinking, you know, of getting into the space. What tips would you have for them? If you could just give them an insight into the hospitality in general and into your particular niche in general.

I get two. There's two things I would recommend. First. One is definitely building your network, your circle of people who are in this industry that doesn't have to be people close by. It can be through social media. It can be things such as, like hospitable hosts. I've met amazing people. I mean, I get to talk to people from Australia and all over the world. They have these amazing things that they're doing. So having that resource, that circle of people who've done it before you is valuable. The other thing is find your team. And what I mean by team, the people who are going to help you when the heater isn't working and you have guests checking in at 4 o'. Clock. Finding your team that's going to help you turn over those beds when you have guests coming, if you do quick turnovers, having that Support because you cannot do it by yourself. I thought I could. Turns out it can't. So having that team is valuable and having a backup to your team because things happen, you know, cards break down, family members get sick. So having those backups to help you is super important.

That's cool. And thank you for sharing, as you say, your network. You know, there's a saying which is your network is your net worth and it's just so, so important.

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 your niche, but could be in your location as well. Boostly has helped over 2, 000 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-Co.uk call and booking an appointment with one of our sales team.

What would be the future for your business?

Yeah, so the future right now is of completing the lodge. We have eight weddings booked this year, so we're pretty excited about that. Our goal is to get to 30 and it's, it's looking like that could be a possibility. As well as updating our glamping tent area, we are looking to add more of camp chapel type setup for a traditional ceremony spot. And we have bath houses. So the original summer camp bath houses are on the property and they have the like four, four stalls and then they have showers and they're all in one space. So I'm looking to update those because they're from 1970, but really just working on the property and keeping, keeping the history of it, people love that it was a summer camp. They love all of that kind of fun summertime stuff. So we're keeping those things but continuing the renovations on the property. I'm hoping we'll be done by the end of next year.

Amazing. I'm excited for you. And you know, at the end of the day, if people want to come and stay at those places, you've got an amazing website and we're going to share that in just a moment. But before we do, as we reach towards the end of these, we love to ask a couple of quick fire and some fun questions. So what would you consider your best skill or an area that you personally excel? At.

So my best skill is being able to go with the flow. So there's a disaster that happens. I am really good at, like, assessing the problem and then coming up with a solution. So that's been perfect for this business. And I said that was my best skill, but it's not like a super talent. I'm just able to get through it.

Oh, no, that's cool. That's cool. Who would be somebody living or not live anymore, who you'd invite to dinner? Famous person.

So I watched not too long ago, a documentary all about Marilyn Monroe, and I found her story just fascinating and just the way that she carried herself, things that she did. So I would love. I have so many questions for her, so I would love to have her over for dinner. She'd be one of my favorites.

Nice. Nice. I like that. Haven't seen that. I need to watch. I love documentaries. I'm a proper documentary junkie.

I love, love, love, love documentaries. I just love people and I love hearing their stories.

I've probably mentioned this one on a previous podcast, but the Richard Branson documentary, he just recorded one before he went up for his space program, he recorded what he thought potentially could be his last documentary. So that's one that's really worth checking out, but I will go and check out that Marilyn Monroe one as well. And yeah, one other question I've got for you is, so if you was to have a superpower, we'll go with that one. What superpower? And we're talking, you know, sort of the Avengers type. What superpower would you most like to have and why?

I'd like to fly. I would love to fly. I mean, it's such a basic one, but what a cool opportunity to just go wherever you want. Flying is so expensive, so I would just love to travel. I mean, that's. That's my thing. I love going places. So if you could just, like, hop up and go somewhere with your. Your luggage, like, how cool would that be? I would love that.

And where would you fly to?

Oh, I already know. I want to go to Italy.

Nice.

I want to go to Italy. Yes. Any place that, like, is well known for their pasta is. Is, you know, pretty good in my book.

My business partner just got back from there, and he said it was awesome. And, you know, there's like, active volcanoes you can walk up and stuff like that. So it's just.

It's just amazing. And I love the. I love anything around culture, so places like Italy I would love to see. Also, I'd love to Go back to France. I'd love to go to Australia. I mean, I've had an opportunity to talk to some people, you know, through the networking in Australia and it just seems like they have such, like an amazing, like, way of like living, like how they just kind of let things go and.

Chilled out, isn't it?

Yes, yes. So I would like to go and learn from them some more.

Nice. And talking about learning some more. One of the things you mentioned was you listened to podcasts and things like that. What resources would you recommend to people listening to? Go and check out either books or podcasts or things which have helped you on your journey?

Well, the Direct Booking playbook there, that was. That one was one of the ones. Hospitals actually was one of the first books that I grabbed not knowing I was going to be in it down the road.

Nice.

Those two are the first ones that I'd recommend. As far as podcast, you know, your podcast loosely has been very helpful as well as. Thanks for visiting is another one that I've listened to quite a bit. And those have been great resources to get started. And what's nice is when you have people that are on the podcast, it's okay to reach out to them. Like I would listen to people on the podcast and they would. Something would resonate or connect with them and I'd reach out to them. And everyone's been always great about answering questions and giving feedback. And I followed a lot of them on Facebook to see their. Their tips, tricks and their journey. And everyone's super, super supportive. It's not competitive. It's very welcoming. It's a very welcoming community.

It's the nice thing about the hospitality clan, really, isn't it?

And it is, yeah.

Talking about people reaching out. I'm sure there are people who have listened to this or want to reach out. They may have similar business or look to improve their scope with weddings and events, things like that. What's the best way to get in touch with first of all your business and come and see more about your business, but then also yourself personally? What is the best way to follow you?

Yeah, so we do have a website. Our website and social media handles are all the same. It's Brookledge ny. NY stands for New York. And we're pretty active on Instagram and I'm just starting in the TikTok world. I'm much older than most people that are on there, but I'm working on it. But Instagram and Facebook, those are our two that we're on in a consistent basis. And we do have stories and updates, so people enjoy following our story and seeing the crazy things. Yesterday, I was super excited because we got doors and a doorknob for the lodge. They're beautiful. I'm so excited.

I like it. And it's. One tip we have for everyone is just to document everything that you're excited about, everything you're doing. You mentioned the bath houses next year. You know, all that stuff becomes part of the story, doesn't it? So.

Yes. Yes.

That's cool. So, well, thank you so much. One of the last questions we always ask is, is there a mantra or a saying that really resonates with you?

Yeah. So actually it's from my mom, and the reason is I have a tendency to jump all in and then I want to do everything at once. So my mom is really great at saying, just take it one day at a time. One thing that you can do today. Kind of like that saying that take a small bite, not a huge one. So that's been a big one for me. I just look at what I can accomplish for the day, and all those little days add up to something pretty special.

Amazing. Well, thank you so much, Helen. This has been a pleasure having you on the Boost. Leave behind the host podcast. I'm sure people are going to reach out and obviously check out your website, check out your Instagram and your new TikTok. We'll see some TikTok dancers on there and stuff like that.

I don't know about the dancing, but we'll see. You never know.

Awesome. So thank you so much, too. If you've listened into this episode of the Boostly podcast, I know there's a lot of places you can put your attention, and I thank you for putting it with us. So that's it. Was there anything I missed, Helen, or any closing comments?

No, just if you have an idea and you decide to do something, go for it. You know, we. We only get one life, so might as well make it interesting. If it involves living in a nurse's office and, you know, having summer camp every day, go for it.

I love it. I love it. Thanks again. And that's bye for this episode.

Thank you so much, Leo.

Thanks.