This is a Boostly Podcast YouTube episode (hosted by Mark Simpson) featuring guests Brian and Katie from "Overlooked to Overbooked." The episode explains how short-term rental owners can increase bookings by better defining and marketing their USP: (1) emphasize small differentiators (popcorn machine, fire pit, hammock, hot tub) to win tiebreakers; (2) highlight local attractions and act as an "ambassador" (best bike trails, museums, restaurants) to add perceived value; (3) consider whether features are common in your market and instead lean into more specific or niche appeals (e.g., themed decor for a fan group). The content mixes practical examples, host prompts, and audience engagement.
Chapters
Okay, everybody, welcome to the Boostly Podcast, where I like to give host just like you the tools, the tactics to training, and the confidence to get more bookings. I've got some special little videos to show you. So over about a month ago, I interviewed Brian and Katie from Overlooked to Overbooked. And a large part of the reason why you aren't getting bookings is because you aren't trying to appeal to your ideal guest. And there's so many ways that you are missing out on some things that you don't even realize. Number one, it could be your pictures, it could be the terminology that you're using, it could be. It could be a certain rearrangement of photographs on your listings. So I wanted to take this zoom call that we did with Brian and Katie, part of my coaching group, and I wanted to break it down into little segments and I wanted to post it in the daily podcast because it was so good. It's so good. So please do go and check out Brian and Katie from Overlooked to Overlooked. Go do a Google search for them and really pay attention to what you're going to get access to here in these short little daily segments of the Boostly podcast. I would love to know your feedback when you're listening and watching this. So leave a comment below@mymarkoostly.co.uk or oostleyuk on all of the socials. But for now, I'm gonna just flip my screen. You're gonna see Brian and Katie from Overlooked to Overbook talking about customer avatar photos and all of the above. Thank you so much for tuning in and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow for another episode.
Some of you are lucky enough to be right near a beach or to have a pool or a spectacular view. But not everyone is. And so that means that what you have to do to differentiate yourself and the changes that you might make to your place or what you want to emphasize about your place will be different depending on what your natural attributes are versus whether you are a nondescript two bedroom in Omaha, Nebraska. And you need to find a way to be different than everybody else who's just like that in Omaha, Nebraska.
Having a blast. Gonna get it on the Bruce Lee podcast. Bruce Lee, like Bruce Lee. Cause it's so hard and the tee is loosely making up those rhymes. Don't write it, just do it loosely. If you want my respect, you'll better put direct.
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Here are the words in the podcast. That's what comes next.
So this is a little chart here. Where in the middle are Some things above the line are things that you can emphasize that are outside of your rental, and below are things that you could actually do to modify your rental. So if you had. I'm going to just say boring, because I'm not talking about anybody in particular. If you had a boring place and you want to win customers from somebody else, you. You might get yourself a hammock or a hot tub or a fire pit or a popcorn machine or a projector. And it goes on and on. And those things can make a massive difference, especially if they're photographed. Well, in your sequence, I call it winning tiebreakers. You will not believe how often it was very, very rare that Katie and I would go someplace and it would be like one place that stood above all the rest, and we have to go there. It's usually you get it down to three or four or five, and then the price is about the same. And they're all in the same part of town and they all have good reviews and. Well, how am I going to pick amongst those five? Well, if it had a popcorn machine, I might pick that one because of that or just because of the fire pit. So one little thing can make a huge difference in putting you over the edge and winning some of those tiebreaker.
Again, just for the loop. And Nick's already done that. But what are you doing? And I'm not saying that anybody here has got a bar in place, but what are you doing that is in that middle line, like, popcorn machine. I love that fire pit. Nick's got a fire pit, hot tub, hammock. Like, what are you doing? Again, put it in the chat. And if you're not. Or are you getting any ideas here? Because this is amazing. Thank you. I'll hand you back.
We're going from the very. So sometimes we're going from a very broad. So beach and pool and things that will attract absolutely everyone to the very, very specific. Like, you could have a Star wars house or something. But so then Brian's going to continue with one of the problems being that, well, what if everybody has a beach? What if everybody has a pool like in Arizona? Suddenly a magnificent pool in the background in the backyard is not that it's not a luxury item anymore. Everybody got one.
So it's often overlooked. So you could. If you just work from your own perspective and say, what do I have that's an asset. You might end up looking like just another pool. So, Mark, I know you were a soccer coach. I'm a baseball guy. Who's your soccer team? Who Are you a fan of my.
Soccer team is Liverpool. And I know we've got a couple of Liverpool fans on this call as well.
Okay, so let's say that you were going to some vacation in the UK and you had it narrowed down to four or five places and they were all pretty similar, but one of them had a bunch of Liverpool stuff like signed autographed things on the wall or whatever. Is there a chance that that might put that one over the top and make the other ones kind of fade?
100% for me, but I guarantee if I do that my wife's not coming with me.
Okay, let's say it was a group of you and your Liverpool buddies that were looking for.
Yeah, 100%. 100%. I've actually got a signed copy of Steven Gerrard, the greatest ever Liverpool player, but my wife will not let me put it anywhere near the wall. So if it's like I go to a rental and it's got like that, then yeah, 100%, you've nailed it.
Right. And so if you look above that line sometimes, let's say that you are very restricted and there's not that much you can do internally to your actual place. Well now you can just kind of lean on your surroundings and you start thinking, why would somebody be coming to my town in the first place? What's nearby that? It's almost like you get credit for that thing if you do a good job of introducing it to your guests. So the museum existed independent of you. But if you're the one who highlights and showcases the museum and maybe you say, hey, there's big lines on Thursdays and Fridays, but Wednesday between three and five is a great time to go. All of a sudden now you are exalted in their mind. Like, wow, that guy got me inside scoop. Got me a special kind of experience at that museum that I wouldn't have experienced without their help. Same thing with bike trails. There might be 20 bike trails in your town, but if you're a biker too, and you, or even if you're not, if you did the research to find out the two best bike trails that people rave about are these two. So don't waste your time on the other eight, we know you're only here for a few days. We don't want you to have to do trial and error to find the best bike trail. I'm telling you, with the best bike trail. And that could extend to wineries or happy hours or sushi places. So you want to become that ambassador of the town kind of funnel the information that you know about your place so that they're just getting the best of the best, and they're giving you the credit for having saved them a lot of hassle and potential suffering to go through the stuff that's not quite as good.
Having a blast. Gonna get it on the Bruce Lee podcast. Bruce Lee, like Bruce Lee? Cause it's so hard and the tea is loose leaf Making up those rhymes. Don't write it, just do it loosely.
