You have questions. I have receipts.

A direct booking is a reservation made on your own website, by phone or by email, instead of through Airbnb, Vrbo or another OTA. You keep the fee the platform would have taken, and you keep the guest's contact details. That second part matters more: a guest you can email again is a guest who can book again without paying anyone a commission.

More than most operators realize. A typical host fee runs about 15%, Airbnb's host-only fee is 15.5%, Vrbo runs around 12%, and niche OTAs often charge about 10%. Multiply last year's OTA revenue by your rate and you have the number. Try the 0.15 test calculator to see yours in seconds.

Usually not. OTAs are good at introducing new guests to you. The problem is relying on them for every booking, including repeat guests who already know you. The goal is to let OTAs handle discovery while your own website, email and guest data handle everything after the first stay.

It depends on your property type, your market and where you're starting. ReTreet Resort went from 100% OTA-dependent to 93% direct over time, without paid search ads. Most operators make their first real gains by moving repeat guests and referrals to direct.

Vacation and short-term rental operators growing beyond a single property, boutique resorts, glamping and unique-stay brands, and property management companies that want to reduce OTA dependence across a portfolio. See consulting.

A strategy call ($250) is one focused session on your biggest question. The Profit Audit is two calls that find where bookings and margin are leaking, then set up a weekly view of what to fix. Consulting is ongoing work to build the direct-booking system with you.

My consulting is built for operators past the one-listing stage. If you have one cabin, the free 5-day course Stop Renting Your Guests will give you more value per dollar (it's free) than a consulting contract would.

No. I build the strategy and systems: positioning, direct-booking flow, guest data and creator programs. If you need content, Content That Books Direct matches properties with vetted creators, with pairings guaranteed within 90 days.

They can, when the program is built for bookings instead of likes. At ReTreet Resort, a creator system on a $30,000 annual budget produced about 600 leads a month and helped the resort reach 93% direct bookings. The difference is vetting creators, giving them a clear framework and tracking what each one brings in.

For most rentals, micro-creators. Their audiences trust them, they cost less, and their content keeps working long after it's posted. I cover this in my Micro-Creators and the Trust Economy workshop.

They rely on what they can read and verify about you: clear descriptions of who your property is for, consistent details across the web, reviews, and mentions in articles and press. If your website only shows beds and photos, AI tools have little to work with.

Agentic search is when an AI assistant researches, compares and sometimes books travel for someone. You don't need to panic. You do need your property to be easy for these tools to understand, which mostly means doing the basics of clarity and consistency well. The ROI Blog covers this often.

A free 5-day email course. Each email covers one leak in your booking system, starting with the 0.15 test and ending with the playbook behind ReTreet's 93% direct bookings. Sign up below.

No. You get five emails, one a day, then the occasional useful note. Every email has a one-click unsubscribe.

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