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267. The Key to Direct Booking Success with Kerri Gibson · Thanks For Visiting

0:00
Sarah: SEGMENT GAP
0:00
Hello.
0:01
Welcome back to another great week.
0:02
My name is Sarah Karakaian.
0:03
Annette: I am Annette Grant, and together we are--
0:05
Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
0:06
Sarah: Let's kick this episode off like we do every week, and it's sharing one
0:09
of you, our loyal listeners, who's using our hashtag on Instagram #STRShareSunday.
0:14
If you use it, we will find you, and we will share you here on the pod.
0:17
Annette, who are we sharing this week?
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Annette: This week we are sharing @littlewolflodge.
0:22
Again, @littlewolflodge.
0:24
They are from Crestline, California, and it is a 1930s cabin.
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I want to go through a couple things that I love.
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One of them is that they have a fireplace in not only the main
0:37
gathering area but also in the primary bedroom, and they're original.
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I do think that they have installed electric logs, but still an amazing thing
0:47
that you don't see very often in the primary bedroom in the short-term rental.
0:52
So looks very luxurious.
0:54
Another thing that I love that they have done in their listing, I was
0:58
appreciative of, they said they take organization and aesthetically pleasing
1:03
very seriously around here, and the picture is of their kitchen utensils.
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And I love it because they have all black, I'm going to say silverware, but I guess
1:13
it's not silverware if it's all black.
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But yeah.
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Wait, I don't know.
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Now I'm confused.
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Sarah: Utensils.
1:19
Annette: Okay.
1:19
Utensils.
1:19
Thank you.
1:20
I was like, well, I don't know.
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It's double tasking there.
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It's not only showing you that they do care about the aesthetics, but
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what they're equipping the kitchen with, because it has all their plates
1:29
and bowls, all their glassware.
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I just really liked them weaving that in a simple post.
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And they just have some really great use, and I've not seen this
1:38
as much in some Instagram profiles.
1:41
They've used the mirrors in their home to take reflections
1:46
of what else is in the room.
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It's just something interesting I haven't really seen used that much,
1:52
and I really enjoyed it on their feed.
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So well done @littlewolflodge.
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Check them out.
1:58
Give them some love, and use our hashtag so we can give you some love.
2:01
Sarah: Yeah.
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Really well done.
2:03
Okay, so we're going to get into today's episode, and listeners, get ready.
2:09
We're going to interview a woman who left behind her corporate career for
2:15
hosting, which while it's hard to do, we've heard that story before.
2:20
But here's a story you haven't heard, is she made it her priority
2:24
to get 70% direct booking.
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Let's hear how she did it.
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Today we have Kerri Gibson, who is a CPA who spent the first 22 years of her
2:34
career in international technology and development for tax and accounting firms.
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So she likes numbers, and now she's got this short-term rental, and she's
2:44
obsessed, dare we say, with direct bookings and the power of her brand.
2:49
Kerri, welcome to the show.
2:51
Kerri: Hi, ladies.
2:52
Thank you so much for having me.
2:54
This is a highlight.
2:55
I have a little crush on both of you and your show, so I'm delighted to here.
2:59
Annette: Um, well, we have a crush on your direct booking percentage,
3:04
and so I think all of our listeners are going to be crushing hard too.
3:07
But Kerri, could you take us back a little ways to your CPA days
3:12
and how you've transferred into the short-term rental industry?
3:16
We want to get the background.
3:18
Kerri: Certainly.
3:20
I think, like many of us in the short-term rental industry, my path
3:25
here was very winding and not clear, and ended up here unexpectedly.
3:30
As you said, I started my career as a CPA, which I knew right away wasn't for me.
3:35
I love numbers, but the traditional CPA role, so I ended up in technology back
3:40
when software and financial technology was really new, so I was-- they hired
3:45
me, and they were like, okay, taxes.
3:47
It's important.
3:47
We don't know what we're going to do with you, but let's go.
3:50
So I worked for a startup for 10 years, and then I joined
3:55
an international multi-billion dollar company, I think in 2010.
4:01
So this was about 10 years into my career, and so going from a small
4:05
startup to a huge international company was a big deal for me.
4:10
I was a little overwhelmed at first, but in both parts, both of these
4:14
jobs, I actually liaised with the government, which to me is the
4:17
crowning jewel of my corporate career.
4:19
I love the government relations work so much, which obviously, with
4:23
everything going on in the industry now with regulation, has helped us out.
4:26
But I actually helped create some of the first bridges between the
4:31
financial software industry and the IRS Department of Treasury.
4:35
And I actually was an advisor to the Obama administration when they
4:38
implemented Obamacare, the ACA Act.
4:41
It was really, really cool.
4:43
I got invited to the White House twice to testify on the impact of the
4:47
implementation of the law into the tax system, which was-- I kept my little
4:51
name plates, of course, Kerri Gibson, Walters Clore, White House invite.
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So I worked there for seven years, and it was super interesting and
5:01
super fun, but super intense.
5:03
Like I said, international, it was just going 24/7, no time off, waking
5:08
up for meetings all hours of the night.
5:09
And along the way, I lost myself.
5:12
And I just hit a point of burnout.
5:14
You hear people say burnout, but it's a real thing.
5:19
And I knew when I had my moment, I was like, this is not the path
5:22
that I want my life to end up in.
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And I knew that, and I had my moment.
5:26
And so it was in January of 2017, on a Friday afternoon, I
5:30
said, I have to make a change.
5:33
And I spent my weekend writing my resignation letter, and
5:37
turned it in on Monday.
5:39
And I did work out a two-month notice because I was an executive.
5:42
It was not something you could just walk away from.
5:44
And so, yeah.
5:45
That was the end of that milestone, that point of my career.
5:49
And honestly, when I left, I had zero clue what I was going to do.
5:52
Annette: Oh, I was going to say, did you know like, hey, I went on this vacation.
5:56
I found the spot.
5:57
You really had no next step.
5:59
Kerri: No next step.
6:01
And that was part of what scared me for so long in making the change
6:05
because I'd been talking about it with my husband and business partner for a
6:08
few years, and he had encouraged me.
6:10
We actually worked for the same company.
6:11
He worked for the Canadian division, and I worked for the US division.
6:15
So he knew a lot of the pressure I was under.
6:18
I had read an article, I think it was in Fast Company, that
6:20
said, when you go, go, go.
6:22
When you know you need to make a change, you often have to walk
6:25
away to give your time to decide what that change is going to be.
6:28
Because before that, all I had heard was, don't make a change until
6:32
you know what you're going to do.
6:33
It's going to kill your career.
6:34
And so I was paralyzed a bit by that fear of like, okay, everyone says it's easier
6:40
to get a job when you have another job.
6:43
I knew I didn't want that.
6:44
So yeah, that article in Fast Company really inspired me.
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I actually had it on my bedside for quite a while.
6:50
But when I left, I just knew something else had to be out there.
6:54
But my first step was to just rest and relax.
6:57
The amount of black yoga pants in my laundry for a month after was shocking.
7:05
So the first thing I did-- actually, I had moved to Quebec in 2015 full-time,
7:10
and I was living in an area where French is the primary language.
7:14
So out of cultural and social responsibility, I moved to
7:17
France for three months, and, uh, learned French, which was amazing.
7:22
It's not a hard way to sacrifice yourself, but that was really cool.
7:25
I did learn French, and I really focused on that and just resting
7:29
and healing while I was there.
7:30
When I came back, still had no idea what I was going to do.
7:33
And we bought a house that was in the same neighborhood we lived
7:36
at with the idea of flipping it.
7:37
That, okay, I'm going to do this.
7:38
I'll work with a contractor, and I'm going to think about what comes
7:41
next, um, while I'm doing this.
7:43
Because I'm just not a sit around person, at all.
7:46
Honestly, I don't think I Netflix binged at all.
7:48
Not one time during my sabbatical, which is sad.
7:53
So yes, I started that.
7:54
So it was really therapeutic.
7:55
We were doing the renovation, which I found I loved, but at the
7:57
same time, I was also doing a lot of self-discovery and exploring.
8:01
Simon Sinek's book, Know Your Why, was just like, oh my God.
8:05
I still listen to it over and over.
8:08
And then Gary Chapman's Five Love Languages really helped me sit down and
8:13
think about myself and who I was, because I had lost my values along the way.
8:18
Um, my personal values, I was so out of touch with them.
8:21
So at the end of about, I think it was at nine months, the house was done.
8:26
I was attached to the house, and we live in an area where STR is legal,
8:31
and so I said, let's go for it.
8:34
So we flipped it into a short-term rental.
8:37
And what I found during this year and the process in getting into
8:42
STR is that it really aligned with my core values, which was so
8:46
surprising because I'd taken the time.
8:48
But we found we had a knack for design and decor, and for renovating.
8:53
Taking something old that had such a soul that had just been let go and
8:58
creating something beautiful out of it with a new character and a new chapter
9:02
of its life was just really fulfilling.
9:05
And then I found in the hospitality part-- one of my level
9:08
languages is acts of service.
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And from my time in corporate of being burned out and knowing how important
9:15
my vacations were to me, to be able to provide something for people where they
9:20
could walk in and be like, this is it.
9:22
This is vacation.
9:24
I really feel that I can spend time in here.
9:27
I feel relaxed right away and create moments with my family and friends.
9:31
And still, that's what means the most to me.
9:32
When people, I guess, say to me, Kerri, I felt like I was really connected with
9:36
my family, my friends, everything was just what we needed, that fills my heart
9:41
and soul more than anything, because I know how hard it is to get those moments
9:46
in our super crazy fast-paced lives.
9:48
Annette: I want to ask a question about numbers because it sounded
9:51
like you bought your first property with the intention of flipping it.
9:56
So I'm sure you were doing a lot of the numbers based on flipping this property.
10:00
You made it sound like it was a very quick decision, like, oh, we're
10:03
just going to short-term rent it.
10:04
But talk us through, you and your husband and business
10:07
partner-- was it a quick decision?
10:10
Did you run the numbers of like, wait, we were anticipating flipping it, getting
10:13
these funds, maybe buying another?
10:14
Talk us through the numbers and the discussions of putting it on the
10:18
market versus keeping it yourself.
10:21
Kerri: Yeah.
10:21
So before we actually even bought the house and before we flipped
10:27
it, I had my Excel sheets.
10:29
I was running scenarios left and right.
10:33
Constantly, while we were renovating it, I was watching the markets to
10:37
see where prices were at, how much, because we actually got the house
10:42
for a really, really good deal with someone who had started a renovation.
10:45
And the house was completely destroyed on the inside, and they were
10:48
overwhelmed and just wanted out of it.
10:49
So we were able to come in at a really rock bottom price and take
10:53
it off their hands, actually within hours of it hitting the market.
10:57
Um, we moved really fast because we had talked about it on and off, but when this
11:01
one hit the market, I called Phillip, and I was like, we have to buy this house.
11:05
And he looked at it, and he was like, yes, we do.
11:07
He is like, call the realtor.
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And I called the realtor, and we put an offer in front of her within a few hours.
11:12
And so yeah, it was literally on the market.
11:14
I saw it at 7:00 PM, and we had it off the market by 7:00 AM the next day.
11:19
Sarah: This is the beauty of chatting with your partner.
11:22
I know there's a lot of people listening out there who maybe haven't
11:25
dove in yet, and so you always wonder what that first step is, and it's
11:29
doing that work of knowing what market you want to be in and why.
11:33
What does the perfect scenario look like?
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We call that the buy box.
11:37
What's in your buy box?
11:38
That way when you shared it with your partner, he saw right away, like, oh
11:41
my gosh, this aligns perfectly with what you and I have been talking about.
11:44
Kerri: Yes.
11:44
Sarah: I'm sure aesthetically, numbers-wise, the whole thing.
11:47
And then you get to be that person who you're always mad at when you
11:51
put an offer and they beat you to it.
11:53
You know what I mean?
11:53
Because you're there first, and it's strong.
11:56
Kerri: Yeah.
11:56
I will say for the first three to four that we bought, yes.
12:00
People were so mad at us because we got people really-- we got a reputation for
12:05
just being the hoarders of the area.
12:08
Annette: That's okay.
12:09
Kerri: Because yeah, there were other people-- we're in a
12:12
short-term rental-friendly area.
12:14
It's a four-season rental.
12:15
They know the where.
12:17
I am two kilometers from the second tallest ski mountain in
12:21
Quebec and five kilometers from the biggest lake in Quebec, which
12:27
has a huge water sports, boating.
12:31
It's amazing.
12:32
Sarah: I want to put you on the spot.
12:33
So listeners, we did not ask Kerri these questions before we hopped on, so this
12:36
is not fair to her, but I want to her.
12:38
So Kerri, if you don't know, just say, I'm not sure.
12:40
So what does your market look like?
12:41
How are your properties performing?
12:43
Are they high cash flowing?
12:45
Was the cash-on-cash return ridiculous?
12:47
Does it continue to be that way?
12:49
Any numbers you can give us in terms of actual performance
12:53
over the past few years?
12:55
Kerri: Gosh.
12:55
Yeah, so I almost feel it's not fair just because of where we are.
13:02
So when I first started renting, it was towards the end of 2018.
13:07
So we were just starting out in 2018, building our
13:09
properties, launching in 2019.
13:11
So we were renting for about a year and a half, and I would say we were newbies.
13:14
I was learning the market.
13:15
I was not on my pricing game.
13:18
I was constantly running my Excel spreadsheets, looking at the
13:20
competition, really just learning.
13:23
And then we had COVID, and here, we were shut down.
13:28
Completely shut down for three months.
13:30
So I feel like that first year and a half I was really building up and leading.
13:34
And I would say our numbers weren't great at that point because I was still
13:39
trying to get the credibility, get the experience, and learn the market.
13:44
So yeah, I didn't have my pricing strategies in place, and I didn't know
13:48
the rotation of the seasonality, and when people booked, and how far in advance.
13:52
But then COVID hit.
13:54
And oh my goodness, because we are a drive to location from Montreal,
13:57
Quebec City, Toronto, Ottawa, we did not have a day off for two years.
14:02
So we cash flowed incredibly well.
14:06
Really, really well.
14:07
I would say well over a 100%, because our nightly rates were-- people
14:12
were taking whatever day they could get, um, to get out of the city.
14:16
And there was no such thing as low season and shoulder season.
14:19
We were glad when restrictions started letting up because us and
14:23
our team, we were just exhausted.
14:25
And it stayed like that through April of this year.
14:28
And then we're seeing the same thing as everybody else.
14:30
It's like the brakes hit, and we're right back into the trends of pre-COVID, which
14:36
most of my experience in that is coming back because I had looked at all the
14:40
tourism sites and gathered all the data there, which is how I was trying to figure
14:45
my own strategies when we first started.
14:47
So I'm able to look back and see, okay.
14:49
Because at first, in May, I was like, oh my god, oh my god.
14:52
Who's going back to the corporate world?
14:53
We're going to have to rock-paper-scissor this one out.
14:56
And it's just started picking up.
14:58
So I think for us, we are back in what's going to be a regular flow
15:04
of reservations, and timing, and shoulder season, and low season.
15:07
And we have to learn that.
15:08
I have to adopt my cashflow strategies.
15:11
I have to adopt my perception for when reservations are going to come in.
15:14
All of that has to change.
15:16
And I'm looking back at historical data from the tourism sites
15:19
to really help me with that.
15:21
And that's really just been the past month where I was like, okay, where I
15:25
started digging those numbers out again, just to give myself a better feeling.
15:29
And it's true.
15:29
We're mirroring.
15:30
So like right now, we're heading into summer, and reservations, the past
15:34
two weeks have just been nonstop.
15:36
So we're picking back up, and we're starting to get back our US
15:40
and international guests as well.
15:42
So we cash flowed really well, but I don't think it's a fair
15:44
comparison going forward.
15:45
I'm going to learn a lot in the next year.
15:47
So let's chat again this time next year.
15:50
Annette: I want to unpack something you said really quickly before we carry on.
15:53
You said something, that you go on to tourism sites to look at historical
15:58
data, I think is what you said there.
16:00
Can you explain to us what you're lookingfor?
16:02
Kerri: Definitely.
16:03
Yes.
16:04
The government sites often out there, the tourism board, so I use Statistics Canada.
16:08
I use Statistics Quebec, and then Statistics Eastern Townships, which
16:12
is the region that we're located in.
16:14
So federal, province, and then region.
16:17
And so because of my knowledge of government organizations from my whole
16:21
entire career, I've always worked with the IRS Department of Treasury,
16:26
I know that there's all this data that's out there, and I knew it had
16:29
to be the same for this industry.
16:30
So before we even bought the first house to flip, I was
16:36
looking at bed and breakfast.
16:38
Everybody's dream.
16:39
Though that business case made no sense anyway, I sliced and diced
16:45
it in the community we were in.
16:46
So that's when I started going out and looking like, what is working?
16:50
Um, once we were flipping this house.
16:52
So that's the first place I went, was to tourism Canada, and then into
16:56
tourism Quebec, and there is a ton of data out there, and it was, especially
17:02
at the Quebec level, really well broken out not only by accommodation
17:06
but accommodation type, from five-star hotel down to rest at camping.
17:11
So I was able to get right in there for our region and our type.
17:15
So there is more information out there, I think, than people are aware of, because
17:19
this is how budgets are set in government.
17:21
They have to make their case just like anyone else.
17:24
And so to prove their case, they have to have the numbers.
17:26
And so those numbers are available to anybody if you just want to start digging.
17:30
Annette: Kerri.
17:31
Sarah: Thisisgood.
17:33
Annette: Yeah.
17:33
I want to hang out with you, but then I'm like, oh, what's goingon with your head?
17:38
I'm like, we're going to all the stats.
17:39
No, that's a great-- I just wanted to bring that-- you just glossed over it
17:44
because it's part of your activity, but I wanted our listeners to know that too.
17:48
So we flip this house, we hold onto it, your cash-- I know you also said your
17:55
husband is no longer working corporate.
17:57
Take us through after that house goes live.
17:59
What are the next steps to you guys completely changing
18:02
yet pivoting your whole lives?
18:05
Kerri: Certainly.
18:05
So we took it live, and right after we bought it, another
18:10
chalet came on the market.
18:11
And so our next series of houses, our next two after that actually never even hit
18:17
the market because people started calling us and saying, the neighbors and others,
18:22
hey, we're going to sell this chalet.
18:23
Do you want to buy it?
18:24
And we jumped on both of them right away.
18:27
When we jumped on them, I had no idea.
18:29
So all of a sudden, I went from having one that was on the
18:32
market to two right behind it.
18:35
And in this time, my husband changed jobs and actually moved to Vancouver.
18:38
So I'm prepping all of these chalets, including our house
18:41
that we once lived in for rental.
18:44
So we had our chalet, and the one that we had just done, and then one that
18:49
was in okay shape that I was able to furnish at the time, and another one
18:53
that was another complete disaster.
18:56
When I took down the first wall, squirrel party for years.
19:00
Yeah.
19:01
My husband was working in Vancouver.
19:03
I was doing the back and forth, but I was really focused on getting as many
19:08
properties as we could up and going, because here's the thing, the other place
19:12
where we're at, it's a sound investment.
19:14
I already knew that because where we're located, between the mountains and the
19:19
lakes, and it's one of the most known vacation areas in Canada, I'm always
19:24
going to be able to sell these houses.
19:26
Especially, I was buying them at rock bottom prices because
19:29
they were in horrible shape.
19:32
So with me doing the work and working with contractors, we
19:34
slowly built up to an inventory of four over the next three years.
19:39
And then my husband moved back to Montreal.
19:43
His business, the company he worked for transferred him
19:46
back there, and COVID hits.
19:49
And so we moved back into one of our chalets, and he was just so unhappy.
19:55
And the opportunity came up.
19:58
The fallout is they decided to sell the branch of the business he was
20:01
working for, and they offered him a buyout package, and he jumped on it.
20:06
Annette: That's awesome.
20:07
Kerri: Yeah.
20:08
So he jumped on it, and so the thought was, you know what, he's going to
20:11
spend the next six months to a year.
20:12
We're going to ride out COVID and see how it goes.
20:15
And we acquired another chalet during COVID, as it was going on.
20:19
So that was number six.
20:21
And he and I actually fully renovated that one top to bottom by ourselves,
20:25
because in addition to being a finance person, he's also a very handy person.
20:29
He says if he had a career do-over, he would be an architect.
20:32
But he learned how to do everything.
20:33
And some of his friends are in contracting and construction,
20:36
and they really mentored us.
20:37
And of course, we hire out electric and plumbing, but as far as all of the work
20:42
of just building and decorating, the non-technical stuff, we really jumped
20:47
in and did that together, and we found that we worked pretty well together,
20:51
our design aesthetic at that point.
20:53
Like you said, we've been doing it three or four years.
20:55
He was always having input to what I was doing.
20:57
And this is not all hunky dory.
20:59
We had some pretty big explosions where it was like, I'm not giving in.
21:02
This is what I want.
21:04
But we've also found when we compromise our two ideas together is where we
21:07
get the beauty of what we've done.
21:09
But yeah, so after that one, we're like, we think we can do this?
21:13
To be very upfront, though, the houses were-- that was the beginning of COVID.
21:18
We were just starting to cashflow because of COVID, and we knew that we had to
21:23
make a significant shift in our lives and how we spent money because we were,
21:29
for the first time in our lives, going to have no regular salary coming in.
21:34
So that required us to redo a personal look too of like, how
21:37
do we live our lives personally?
21:38
Where do we spend our money in order to we can give this a shot?
21:42
So we did a lot of adjusting of how we spend money, where we
21:45
put our money on the extras that we have, those types of things.
21:49
We like to say we traded money for happiness because we truly did, but it has
21:53
come with a fair amount of sacrifice, and learning, and starting over in some ways,
21:59
but it's come with a lot of happiness, and leading, and creating our own path.
22:03
AD MARKER
22:04
Sarah: Speaking of money, really quick, because we have so many other questions
22:07
to ask you too about where you're at now.
22:08
But when it came to buying all these houses, how were
22:11
you doing that financially?
22:13
Was it because of the lucrative corporate careers?
22:17
Were you guys paying all cash?
22:19
Did you have a private money lender?
22:20
How did you guys do that?
22:22
Kerri: So the first couple were cash.
22:25
We both did have lucrative corporate careers.
22:27
He was still working.
22:28
So the first two we bought with cash and paid for the renovations out of pocket.
22:35
Again, we save on that significantly by me being involved.
22:38
And then Philip was also working on the weekends when he lived and was here.
22:42
So we were able to save a significant amount doing that.
22:44
We are now at the point where we have a combination of bank
22:48
lenders and private investors.
22:51
But we've paid off all the private investors, so now we have two that
22:57
are fully paid for out of pocket.
22:59
And then we have four that we fully paid for the renovations,
23:01
but we have a mortgage.
23:03
We put 20% down, and then we have a mortgage on the rest.
23:07
For us, going forward, because we are out of the personal cash that
23:10
we want to invest in this, we don't want to touch retirement and those
23:13
types of things, so we'll either be pulling equity out of the houses or
23:17
going the private investment route.
23:19
We have people all the time asking if they can invest.
23:23
We'll have to think about both of them, to be straightforward.
23:25
I love that we drive and make a 100% of the decisions ourselves.
23:29
And anytime you bring in a partner, no matter who they are, family,
23:33
friend, that dynamic shifts.
23:36
Phillip's actually out right now finishing up the last bathroom
23:39
renovation for one of our chalets.
23:41
And then the six that we have on the market are just rocking and
23:43
rolling, complete cash flowing now.
23:45
No more renovations.
23:47
So we have some big financial decisions to make this year as well.
23:50
Annette: I'm going to ask a very naive question here.
23:52
Your chalets, is there something that defines it as a chalet?
23:57
Is there something about the home that "it's now a chalet"?
24:02
Kerri: Yes, thereis.
24:03
Annette: Whatisthat?
24:04
Helpme.
24:04
Kerri: It's architecturally.
24:05
So the design of the back half of the house is sloped.
24:09
It's like the back half of the house is an A-frame, but the front is not.
24:13
So our houses, the back is a 100% slope down to the ground, and then the front is
24:19
just a slope to the first level windows.
24:21
Annette: Okay.
24:22
And would you buy outside of a chalet, or is that in your buy
24:26
box like, it has to be a chalet?
24:28
Kerri: It is not in the buy box.
24:31
So it was at the beginning because we actually live in the neighborhood.
24:35
We don't live next to any of them, so we're close to all of them.
24:38
So literally, we can ride our e-bike if we need to go service
24:41
the chalet, which is really nice.
24:43
My team is really close.
24:45
But it is not a requirement anymore.
24:47
And in fact, we're looking at different options right now.
24:50
Right now the properties here are so hot because of COVID.
24:54
And while the rest of the market's cooling, it's not here.
24:57
We almost have to go out of our buy box and redefine our brand and how we make
25:01
it fit in because our brand's really become quite well known in the area.
25:06
So if we did something else that didn't align with it, we'd almost
25:10
have to start a different company.
25:11
Annette: That's what I was going to ask because it is your brand name.
25:13
So let's talk about, you've got these listings up.
25:17
Your direct booking, let's get into that a little bit.
25:20
Did you even know about direct booking when you got started?
25:23
Were you just on the OTAs?
25:25
Let's spill the tea on how you got to the 70%, because I know our listeners
25:30
want to know, and we want to know.
25:34
Kerri: So I started out on the OTAs like everybody, because at first, I had no
25:38
idea if this was even going to be a thing.
25:40
I'd done all my research to see.
25:41
But yes, I started out on the OTAs, plus I was renovating the chalets.
25:45
I did not have the capacity or the bandwidth to even really think about it.
25:50
I don't even know how I knew how, but I knew direct booking
25:52
was an option from the get go.
25:55
So I was like, first I'm going to see if this is even a thing before I pay any
25:59
attention to this concept of direct book.
26:02
When I knew it was going to be a thing, I immediately became intent
26:06
on direct book because one thing, coming from my corporate background,
26:10
you don't want to ever build your house on someone else's lane.
26:13
I know that is such an overused phrase right now, but it is so important.
26:18
If you build something good and successful, and then someone else
26:21
comes along and says, I'm going to use that for something else, you've
26:23
got no recourse except the unpack it.
26:26
And so I fully, 100%, believe in guiding your own destiny
26:31
and building your own business.
26:33
Even when I was in corporate, when I was looking at new products to develop,
26:35
I was looking at the buy build partner.
26:39
To build, you might partner to get you off and get you to market faster, but at
26:43
the same time, you need to be building to have your own solution that you own
26:48
because at any point in time, any of the OTAs, but most notably Airbnb, they can
26:53
switch up their strategy at any point in time, and you're held hostage to that.
26:58
Like right now, they've got this huge focus on going back to
27:00
rooms in people's houses, back to their roots, so they're saying.
27:04
And so you never ever know.
27:05
And the vacation rental industry is changing so much.
27:10
Airbnb's going to react the way they're going to react, and they can also decide
27:14
at any point in time to pull your listing for, honestly, no good reason, just based
27:19
off of word of mouth of someone else.
27:21
And so I just refused to put my heart and soul into building something that
27:25
someone else has the right to take away.
27:28
So yeah, that was just firmly instilled in me, is that I
27:32
needed to own my own business.
27:33
Annette: What were the steps?
27:35
Take us back to you starting this.
27:37
Give our listeners some digestible next steps for them.
27:40
They are only on Airbnb right now.
27:42
What would you advise them to do?
27:45
What can they do that's digestible for them to take action?
27:49
Kerri: So a direct book strategy is not just about having a website.
27:54
I want to emphasize that because a lot of people, I think, they'll
27:56
build a website, and they will come, and that's simply not the case.
28:00
There is a lot that goes into the strategy of having it.
28:04
Not only do you need to have a website, you also need to have a
28:07
verified Google Business Profile.
28:10
You need to start your social strengths, and you need to have good
28:14
content that will drive all that in.
28:16
Now, back to your question that said where you start, that's all very overwhelming.
28:21
I've been doing this for five years, and there's still steps that I haven't
28:24
completely finished and going through.
28:26
So I would say the first thing to do is to write out your set of requirements
28:33
of what you need and a digital presence.
28:37
And I'll be honest, a lot of these things I got, I was
28:39
like, I know I need a website.
28:41
I know I need a way to collect payment.
28:44
I know I need a reservation system that goes with it.
28:47
But do you know how I built most of my requirements because I didn't know
28:49
that much about direct booking sites?
28:51
I went to all of the vendor sites and started reading about what
28:54
they did, and I built a spreadsheet that had all of the different
28:58
capabilities that they had on there.
29:00
And then I identified the vendor, and then I was able to align with
29:07
where I knew I wanted to take my business with complete independence.
29:10
So I knew I wanted to be independent of the OTAs, that I wanted to be able to
29:16
provide guests a digital experience, and that I needed a channel manager and a PMS.
29:21
Those were my basics right there.
29:23
And so when I was going through that, it was very young market.
29:27
This was 2018.
29:29
So the most important thing to me at that point was roadmap.
29:32
I have to say, if I was reevaluating right now, there's some really powerful
29:38
tools out there that my process, I think would be a bit different.
29:43
But I ended up going-- for me, the vendor I chose, I have not regretted.
29:48
And the biggest reason I haven't regretted them is because they
29:51
checked all my initial boxes.
29:53
PMS, CMS, website, and payment processing, and reservation system.
29:57
And they continue to innovate and release updates.
30:00
And the other thing is, for me, customer support.
30:04
They rock.
30:06
They were also the best during my interview process and my
30:09
demo processes with answering questions and getting there.
30:12
And they haven't let me down on that.
30:13
So I think the first thing, because there's so many options out there, is
30:18
getting familiar with what's out there, creating that list, and then identifying
30:21
where you want to take your business.
30:23
For me, this was going to be my full-time business income where I was going.
30:26
So I needed something that was going to be a very robust tool and that had
30:31
a very robust marketplace eventually.
30:34
My website, when I started, was very basic.
30:41
I mean, it was like, here's the properties, book.
30:43
There was nothing fluffy about it at all.
30:45
And you can't start fluffy.
30:47
Fluffy comes with time.
30:48
All of the activities that go around it, the telling of the story.
30:52
All of that comes with time.
30:55
But the most important I thing I did after that that I think gets
30:58
overlooked a lot is getting verified your Google Business Profile.
31:02
That establishes you as, I own this land.
31:05
I own this property.
31:06
I'm a real business.
31:08
And so then, because any website you're going to get, it's going to need to
31:12
be verified by Google, so getting that process out of the way, you're
31:16
already an established business, especially if you can start getting
31:19
reviews there, even before you have a website asking guests that were
31:22
very near and dear, hey, will you go leave me a review, helped out a lot.
31:27
And then I would say just starting the social streams.
31:29
And that was-- I had a Facebook page for six months.
31:33
My husband was like, this is ridiculous.
31:38
Annette: That's okay.Yeah.
31:40
Step by step.
31:41
Sarah: So I've got a ton of questions for you that I hope our listeners are
31:45
also asking, so I can satiate them.
31:47
Okay.
31:48
Let's talk about Google.
31:48
You have more than one property.
31:50
Do you have Google for business for each individual property, or
31:54
is it for your umbrella brand?
31:57
Start with that.
31:58
What did you decide was right for you?
32:00
Kerri: So I have two Google Business Profiles.
32:04
Three chalets are on one street, and three chalets are in another.
32:07
So the three on each road that are close by are under one umbrella.
32:12
The reason that is is that I personally would have a different one for each chalet
32:18
if I could, but Google wouldn't let me because they were so close together.
32:23
They were like, no, no, no, this is the same business.
32:25
So I was able to do different ones.
32:27
And the reason I would do them all differently if I could is
32:31
because that's how many times you show up on the Google map.
32:33
When you type in Google, chalet for rent in Orford, I would have six
32:37
properties showing up instead of two.
32:39
Sarah: Interesting.
32:39
Yeah, I like that.
32:41
And then when it comes to-- Yes, you had your channel manager, and your
32:47
digital presence, and a really basic website, and a way to collect money,
32:51
but you have a 70% direct booking rate.
32:53
And you said that you were cash flowing like crazy, so
32:56
your occupancy was up there.
32:59
What do you think the biggest driver for conversions were for you?
33:02
Was it inviting past guests to come back?
33:04
Was it the Google search and just having the chalet be in the name?
33:08
What was that thing that converted lookers into bookers?
33:11
Kerri: We have a 40% return guest rate.
33:14
The lowest hanging fruit anytime you build a direct book site is
33:17
return guests and referral guests.
33:20
So those are people that are more than likely going to book.
33:24
All they need is a place is to pay now, book now.
33:27
So the fanciness doesn't matter to them because they've either experienced it or
33:32
they've heard from someone that's raving about it and you have to experience it.
33:37
I think the next thing after that converted was our Google Business
33:41
Profile because people were just going and looking from everywhere,
33:45
and they were typing chalets for rent or chalets for rent Easter Townships.
33:48
And at the time, we were one of the very few Google verified that was not a hotel,
33:54
and all of the hotels were closed down.
33:57
So the only thing that could rent then was standalone establishments
34:01
like short-term rentals.
34:02
So that was definitely a huge converter for us.
34:05
Then as I built out our social, one thing that COVID allowed me to do was
34:12
I collaborated with micro-influencers in the area who created content.
34:18
And I say micro-influencers because they specialize in the region.
34:23
So it's not a huge influencer that has people from all over the world
34:27
following whose chances of ending up right here are pretty slim to none.
34:32
So some local influencers.
34:35
We're an outdoor area, so skiing and outdoor sports.
34:38
We're dog-friendly.
34:39
People with dogs.
34:40
So collaborating with them.
34:42
And they came in, and they created the content.
34:45
They created the post, the socials.
34:47
We created the experience.
34:48
So that's how we actually skyrocketed our social, was with micro-influencers.
34:55
And the stick rate is really high because they're micro-influencers,
34:59
and they're people that actually are interested in the brand.
35:03
So you'll see a lot of times people, after an influencer or giveaway, your followings
35:07
will skyrocket, and then they plummet.
35:09
We don't have that because we tend to stick locally.
35:13
I'm branching that strategy out into Ontario and New England
35:17
right now as people are full back into their travel habits.
35:22
So that has been-- I know there's a lot of disagreement out there about influencers,
35:27
but absolutely, for me, they work.
35:30
And again, it's micro-influencers.
35:32
It's people who speak to your niche.
35:34
Annette: So the listeners, we're hearing that, but give us an
35:37
idea of is it 2,000 followers?
35:40
Is it 10,000?
35:41
What are you defining?
35:42
Where did you see that success?
35:43
Can you give us actual numbers around micro?
35:46
Kerri: Yes.
35:47
So I do everything from 3,000.
35:50
I had a journalist who does dog-friendly content creation here this past weekend.
35:56
Three months ago, I had over a 100,000 followers.
36:00
Actually, was hooked up through our local tourism.
36:04
They connected me with her.
36:05
So if you guys want to talk about getting involved in local tourism boards.
36:08
So I would say my sweet spot, though, for where they hit is probably around
36:14
the 50, 60,000 is where I'll hit most.
36:17
But honestly, I've had some at 15 and 20,000 that also did really, really well.
36:22
Annette: Thanks for defining that because 50 to 60, when I think micro, I think
36:27
more of the 3,000, not the 50, 60.
36:28
Sarah: But also I think micro comes into two.
36:31
Who is their reach?
36:32
So yes, the number of followers, and of course, that engagement rate.
36:36
But also, for us, if it's Columbus tourism or Columbus dog content, that micro, in
36:44
terms of reach, it sounds like you were super concentrated on literally your area.
36:51
Kerri: And my niche.
36:52
I know who my guests are and why they're coming to me.
36:55
I have to say, on my first collaboration, I was nervous as heck.
36:57
But I'm like, what am I giving up?
36:59
A couple of nights stay?
37:00
And it was amazing.
37:02
They still create content for me now.
37:03
For me, there's a dual purpose when I do a collaboration, and it is either
37:09
reach of their social or their content.
37:11
They create beautiful visuals.
37:14
And I think that's one of the reasons our website also converts very well
37:18
now, past Google and all, is because we have beautiful pictures and video on
37:23
there that we've invested in over time.
37:27
You could put the most beautiful scene in the world in front of me, and it would
37:30
look like a hippopotamus took the picture.
37:32
So I know I can't do it, so--
37:34
Annette: Stick to the spreadsheets, Kerri.
37:35
Stick to the spreadsheets.
37:37
Kerri: Right.
37:37
Exactly.
37:39
I know.
37:40
Annette: Yeah.
37:41
You're not snapping any photos.
37:43
You just said you know your client and you know what they're looking for.
37:46
Let's talk about your brand and who wants to enjoy the Hygge.
37:50
Kerri: I put a lot of thought into who I wanted to serve because
37:53
in our area, we have everything from value to high-end lux, and
37:59
neither one of those speaks to me.
38:00
In fact, the word luxury just makes my skin crawl.
38:03
It makes me think of high maintenance people who you can never please.
38:06
I know that's not it, but that's how I feel, and I wanted to avoid that word in
38:11
my marketing as much as I possibly can.
38:14
But I knew I wanted to look for people who-- for where they were staying was as
38:20
much of the experience of the vacation.
38:22
It's not just a place to sleep, but a place they intend to hang out.
38:26
People who want to enjoy the outdoors, and whatever realm that speaks, because
38:30
not only do we have a ton of outdoor activities, we also have beaches.
38:34
We have amazing Nordic spas.
38:36
We have live music.
38:38
But people who being in the outdoors is good for their soul, where they
38:42
want to stay as an experience, they do tend-- we're in the upper 75 percentile
38:48
of the market as far as pricing goes.
38:50
So they're not price sensitive, and they tend to be people with either no kids
38:58
or older kids because they're coming to do an activity, get out and about.
39:03
We're in the mountains.
39:05
Pushing a stroller up the biking trail or up the-- is not a whole lot of fun.
39:10
So we tend to start seeing people in the middle part of their career
39:15
who are high stress, getting away, and the outsides is their go-to.
39:21
Sarah: That's such a hot tip, Kerri, for everyone listening, because
39:24
I feel like we feel like we have to-- you know what I'm saying?
39:28
We feel like we have to use certain trigger words to get someone's attention.
39:32
But it's like you don't want just anyone's attention because if they come and stay
39:35
with you and they don't have a good time, that reflects on your reviews,
39:38
whether it's on Google or the OTA.
39:40
So because I stayed at places or I-- back in the day, when we used to do
39:43
consulting, and people would use the word luxury in their listing, and you're
39:46
like, this is so far away from luxury.
39:49
It's not bad.
39:51
Sometimes it was bad.
39:51
Annette: But you could just tell they were using the word.
39:53
Sarah: Yeah.
39:53
It's like, this is not luxury.
39:55
And so you're going to attract these people, and it's not going to be
39:57
a good situation for either party.
39:59
And I love that you're giving permission to say you don't have to
40:02
be luxury in order to be successful.
40:04
You can be who you are.
40:05
Attract who wants to stay there, and it's going to be a match made in
40:08
heaven, and they're going to love it.
40:11
Kerri: I love the way you say that.
40:12
Yes.
40:12
That is 100% the case.
40:15
I think exactly what you're saying, one of the keys to being
40:18
successful in hospitality is being authentic to who you are and the
40:23
experience you want to provide.
40:24
And don't shy away from it.
40:26
I'm very clear on what we do and don't provide, and what
40:30
the experience is going to be.
40:32
And if I'm talking to someone on the phone or emailing, and they're asking
40:35
for an experience that I don't provide, I have a very good relationship with
40:40
all the other short-terms around here.
40:41
I will happily refer them to someone else because I want
40:45
them to have an amazing time.
40:46
And just because I'm not a fit this time doesn't mean three vacations down
40:49
the line I am not the right fit for the group that they're having come.
40:53
But yeah, the last thing I want is a guest to come and to fall
40:57
short because we were not clear on who we are and what we provide.
41:02
Annette: What don't you?
41:04
What are the most common things you're like, no, don't provide that?
41:07
Not going to, and they do choose someone else.
41:10
Kerri: Spas.
41:12
Outdoor hot tubs.
41:13
Annette: Ooh, none of the chalets have hot tubs or spas?
41:16
Kerri: No.
41:17
Sarah: She's still killingit.
41:19
Annette: I want to know.
41:20
What's the spreadsheet say though if you installed them?
41:23
Sarah: But sometimes it doesn't matter.
41:25
Annette: I'm just asking.
41:25
Yeah.
41:25
What does the spreadsheet say?
41:26
Kerri: Thespreadsheet says that I will make more revenue.
41:30
The off spreadsheet says I will lose the credibility I have in the
41:36
community and with the local government to create an experience that honors
41:42
the culture and the spirit here.
41:44
Annette: That's why everything doesn't fit in a spreadsheet.
41:46
I lovethat.
41:47
Kerri: It doesn't.
41:47
It doesn't.
41:48
And this is another thing I am very clear on.
41:51
We're in nature, but we're a community of 288 ski chalets
41:57
that were built in the 1960s.
41:59
It's a very iconic place in Quebec.
42:02
Everybody knows the chalet boat, the place with the orange roof.
42:04
So when you look at our pictures, you'll see everything has the orange chalet roof.
42:09
You're going to see your neighbors.
42:10
You're going to hear your neighbors if everyone's outside having
42:13
a barbecue at the same time.
42:15
And yeah, you can expect to have a community experience because
42:18
we're very walk and dog-friendly.
42:19
Everybody's always out.
42:21
So it is a little community, and we choose not to have hot tubs because of
42:26
the noise factor with it being so close.
42:30
And many of our chalets, one step aside, also has a retired person who
42:33
lives next door that doesn't want to hear someone who, while not partying
42:37
at 11:00 PM, is out in the hot tub, is loud, having a beer, talking with
42:40
their people, and noise escalates.
42:43
And we're very clear.
42:44
And when people ask, we say we don't have spas, and when they
42:46
ask why not, we tell them that.
42:48
They're like, oh, I get that.
42:49
That makes sense.
42:51
And I would say that's probably-- we do have people
42:54
say, but we really want to spa.
42:55
And I'll say, great.
42:57
And I will tell them people that I know that do have spas, but I'll also
43:00
tell you those people have neighbors that make their lives not fun as soon
43:04
as there's too much noise at 11:00 PM.
43:06
Sarah: Well, you said you left your other job to find happiness.
43:09
So also it's like, yes, you'll make more money, but if that impacts
43:12
your happiness too, and being a business owner, it's like, heck yeah.
43:16
You get to make that decision.
43:17
And you know what you're missing out on, but you don't care.
43:20
You know what I mean?
43:22
Those are the perks of being a business owner that I don't
43:24
know that we lean into enough.
43:26
Kerri: I agree.
43:27
Sarah: We could talk business all day.
43:28
I have one-- it's a big question because it could be a whole episode in itself.
43:31
Talk to us about how you leverage your email marketing.
43:34
How big of a component is that for you and your conversions, inviting guests back?
43:40
And if you could, just real quick, what do those sequences
43:43
look like after a guest stays?
43:44
Do you touch them every month?
43:46
What does that look like?
43:47
Kerri: So to be fully transparent, it needs to be bigger.
43:50
We're really focused on-- right now, we have around a 1,000 email addresses.
43:56
The biggest way that we have been collecting is through cards that we leave
44:00
in the chalet that says, sign up for our email list and get 10% off, and they can
44:04
leave their email and we sign them up.
44:06
Or they were already guests, or they come to our website.
44:08
They can, of course, sign up on our website.
44:10
We have the subscribe here.
44:11
But really with the cards, we're trying to get at the OTA guests or the
44:16
guests that didn't book that was there.
44:19
But we are in the process, hopefully, it goes live next week, of launching Enso.
44:23
And one of its components is the email collection, like a StayFi.
44:27
So really being able to elevate that.
44:29
Right now, we email them once a month, and we don't like the spam.
44:37
So our once a month email has a chalet spotlight.
44:40
So we talk about something we've been doing with the chalets.
44:43
We have a local activity spotlight.
44:45
So we highlight whether it's the cross country ski trails are open or, hey, boat
44:48
season has started, whatever it may be.
44:50
And then we highlight a local business, something to do near the chalet.
44:55
So they really feel like they're getting a taste of the region
44:57
because, for us, they come here for the region, not just for the chalet.
45:00
And so the more we can talk about their more inclusive
45:04
experience, the better it is.
45:06
We do email once in a while when we have a promo or a special, but I want
45:11
to grow that email list, and I want to be more consistent with emails because
45:18
it's not the biggest conversion.
45:19
It could be.
45:21
It converts when we send a promo.
45:23
Sarah: Mm-hmm.
45:24
Kerri: But yeah, I can 100% be doing more of that.
45:27
We've been collecting email addresses for two years now, and so that is one of our
45:32
strategies this year is to increase that.
45:33
Because that's the only thing that you own, your email, your podcast.
45:39
Everything else is owned by someone else that can choose to do something different.
45:45
They can choose to deactivate your account.
45:47
I have an amazing friend who provides the candles for our chalets.
45:50
Over 10,000 followers.
45:51
She still doesn't know why Instagram killed her account.
45:53
She had to start all over.
45:55
So your email address, your podcasts, your owned assets are really important, and I
46:01
need to do more with building those up.
46:03
Sarah: You're crushing it, Kerri.
46:05
Annette: What is your paid marketing budget?
46:07
What percentage of your revenue are you spending on that?
46:11
Kerri: So I'm spending $500 a month right now.
46:14
Annette: Oh, shegave us straight.Love it.
46:16
Kerri: Yeah.
46:16
$500 a month split equally right now between Google and
46:20
Meta, Facebook, Instagram.
46:22
And right now it's high because I'm leading into-- right now is summer
46:27
season, people still booking for that, or last minute, but we're also
46:31
starting to get bookings for ski season.
46:33
That is the other benefit to the new planning, the new ebbs and flows of post
46:37
COVID travel, is people are getting more comfortable with booking further out.
46:41
So we are having more demand for ski season that we've never had before.
46:45
I only took reservation six months in advance.
46:47
I recently opened the calendar for nine months in advance because of that reason.
46:52
It'll go down during low booking season.
46:54
September, October, and April, May, I have learned-- for reservation,
46:59
I'll probably take it down.
47:00
Oh, and one thing that we just did, I'm super excited about is we just took
47:04
out a print ad in one of the biggest health and wellness magazines in Quebec.
47:09
That was--
47:09
Annette: You'regoing to have to let us know how that goes.
47:12
Kerri: Yeah, so I am going to be able to because I have a QR code on the ad
47:17
inside and then on the emails that they send out for all of their-- because
47:20
we're on the front cover, on the inside.
47:22
That was quite an investment.
47:24
But it's our target market.
47:25
It's one of our official business partners.
47:27
And so even from all the email communications that-- it all goes to
47:30
the same landing page you can only get to from clicking on a link or QR code.
47:33
So I'm going to be able to track whether ornotthatworks.
47:35
Annette: Exactly your return on investment.
47:37
Love that.
47:39
Sarah: That's amazing.
47:39
Annette: You were just very diligent on doing your due diligence before you
47:43
chose the direct booking, your PMS, CMS.
47:45
Who did you choose?
47:46
People are probably like, she just said the vendor.
47:48
Who is the vendor?
47:50
Kerri: Lodgify.
47:51
Annette: Okay.
47:51
We want to share that because I know they're like, wait a second.
47:54
You did all this research, and you're beaming about it.
47:56
So we want to make sure that we gave that.
47:58
Kerri: I don't regret my choice with them.
48:01
There's so many like Hostfully, and so many that have come along since that I
48:05
know are absolutely crushing it too that I would definitely be giving a fair eye
48:09
to if I were making the decision today.
48:12
But Lodgify is the hub of our business.
48:15
And so for me to untangle Lodgify, for me to use a software, it
48:19
has to plug in to Lodgify.
48:21
And right now, I would have to back everything out.
48:24
It would just be a nightmare.
48:25
And my experience with them is so great.
48:27
I have no reason to leave them, to even look anywhere else.
48:30
Annette: Yeah.
48:30
No, but I love what you just said because a lot of people want to jump platform
48:35
to platform, and you got to sink your teeth in, learn it, and then, like
48:39
you said, untangling, it can't be fun.
48:41
The third and last question is like, we need to come hang out
48:45
and see these chalets in person.
48:48
We're super thankful that you've been on the show, but we need to
48:50
bring ourselves to you now, since you've shared our time with us.
48:53
Sarah: Is that a question or a demand?
48:54
Annette: It's both.
48:55
It's both.
48:57
Kerri: I would love to have you guys and your families, so anytime.
49:03
You just let me know, and we'll find you a chalet.
49:06
Sarah: Let's get other people--
49:07
Annette: We'llbook direct.
49:08
Sarah: Yes.
49:08
Look at other people booking direct.
49:10
Where can people reach out to you if they want to talk more business?
49:13
They want to book a stay in this-- I don't even like outdoors and I'm
49:17
interested in seeing your area.
49:18
So where can they find out more about you?
49:21
Kerri: Hey, Sarah, we have wineries too.
49:22
We're on the wine route.
49:24
We're on the cheese route.
49:25
We're on the French [Inaudible] route.
49:27
So like I said, it's not just an outdoor-- I didn't hit on those at all.
49:30
We have everything.
49:33
Annette: I mean, Kerri, you've got impressive direct booking, but I feel
49:35
like you are in the sweet spot of world.
49:37
Sarah: No, and now I want to invest in Kerri.
49:40
Kerri, you knew what you were doing.
49:42
So yeah.
49:43
Kerri: Just to add this little icing on top of the cake, our region was named
49:47
one of the top 52 places to visit in the world by the New York Times this year.
49:51
Annette: Congrats.
49:51
Kerri: We are pretty amazing.
49:53
So come.
49:53
Come see us in the Eastern Township.
49:55
So I am so passionate about this, and I love, love, love helping others.
50:00
So please, anyone, don't hesitate to send me questions.
50:03
There's our website, and so our email address is on there,
50:05
so it's just info@chalets.
50:09
Chalets with an S.
50:10
Hygge, H-Y-G-G-E.
50:12
I'm sorry, I'm saying it in French in my head, trying to do it in, uh, English.
50:19
And then our Instagram handle's the same, @chalets_hygge.
50:24
And then same for Facebook and YouTube as well.
50:28
And so hopefully, soon Pinterest.
50:29
It's my new, uh, passion, my new interest.
50:32
Sarah: Yes.
50:33
Pinterest is a good interest.
50:34
So we will, of course, put all those in the show notes, listeners.
50:37
So if you're driving, if you're on the treadmill, if you're
50:39
in the shower, don't youworry.
50:40
Annette: If you'recleaning toilets at your short-term rental.
50:41
Sarah: Cleaning toilets, folding fitted sheets.
50:44
I hope you're folding them the way--
50:45
Annette: Wrestling with a duvet.
50:47
Sarah: Annette and I showed you on Instagram.
50:48
We had those in the show notes.
50:49
Thank you so much for your time.
50:51
With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.
50:53
Annette: I'm Annette Grant, and together we are--
50:54
Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
50:55
Sarah: We'll talk to you next time.