DC Cabin Collective Presents
Called to host
A 5-part strategic framework for vacation home hosts who aim to offer guests an elevated experience, sell-out your dates and turn your rental property into a thriving, fulfilling business.
Want to know the truth that no one's talking about in the vacation rental industry?
It takes more than a beautiful property and nice photos to stand out from the noise on booking platforms…
A booked-out calendar and the financial freedom you desire require a time-tested strategy to get your home chosen among the ocean of properties available on Airbnb, vrbo, and other hosting sites.
It's really about finding the right people, building brand recognition and trust, creating urgency, and then having a way to get in touch with them when you open up your calendar.
Whew - no biggie, right? Just add it to the (ever-growing) to-do list…
Maybe you're dreaming about investing in a vacation rental -
Or maybe you want to elevate the one you have or are dreaming of expanding your portfolio.
Either way, you want to do things the right way. You want to provide more than just a place for guests to lay their head at night….
You want to offer an experience, one that your guests will come back and remember with fondness for years to come. One that will keep them wanting to return to your space time and time again with their loved ones.
You don't want to be just another person entering this “trendy” business model.
You want to be the best at it in your location, with impeccable branding, top-dollar bookings, desirable amenities, and the happiest guests.
But nowadays, it’s not so easy. You can’t just have a nice place and think your calendar will sell out. I want to show you how to fill up your bookings while earning a significant income and leaving your guests with a vacation experience they’ll always treasure.
7M
The problem is you're not exactly alone in your endeavor. In 2022 around 14,000 new hosts joined Airbnb each month alone totaling 7million listings on the platform.
Not to be the bearer of bad news, but hosting sites are designed to favor guests, not hosts.
For you, that means hosting sites will advise you to drop your price so that they can have more volume booked on the platform.
They don’t care about your revenue.
The way to win in this business is booking guests
Yet, bookings are getting harder to come by with an influx of new listings, unprecedented travel trends, and talk of a recession. At first your new listing is prioritized in the algorithm and can be found on page 1, and things seem like they’re off to a great start.
But, slowly, your listing starts falling down the list, and pretty soon, even as a Superhost, you keep dropping until you’re so far down the list you barely have a shot at even getting in front of the people searching your location on Airbnb.
A word to the wise?
Do not participate in a race to the bottom of the barrel. The lower your rate, the lower the perceived value of the experience, and this results in an increase in likelihood of a bad guest.
So, what’s the alternative?
I'm so glad you asked.
That's where
CALLED TO HOST
comes in…
Get the 5-part, step-by-step guide to a vacation rental that commands top dollar, a calendar that’s easily booked well in advance, obsessed guests who can’t wait to return & a business that basically runs itself.
Yes, seriously. You can go from “just” another Airbnb listing, fighting for attention in a sea of 7 million listings, to a successful vacation rental host in control of your business, commanding the best rates with a booked out calendar, and attracting raving guests ready to visit again.
Truth: You should be in control of your business, your revenue, and your guest experience
(and not at the overbearing mercy of vacation
rental sites & their pushy algorithms.)
What would it look like if you had the exact, easy-to-follow formula to…
Carve out a space for your property in an increasingly flooded market that attracts guests eager to pay premium rates (and return over & over again)?
Eventually move your property away from hosting sites if you desire (without breaking any rules) and create a simple way to communicate with past & future guests?
Stay top of mind when your people are ready to book a vacation, so it’s you they think of first?
Create urgency and demand with your booking dates by strategically releasing dates in a way that has future guests jumping to book?
Scale and grow your vacation rental property business so that you can make the revenue you desire, and even turn this into your full-time job?
Yes, it's all possible, and the entire implement-as-you-go blueprint is finally available in our Called to Host guide.
We're ready to share all our secrets
After years of being asked about our vacation rental strategy
Purchase the Called to Host guide now for access to everything you need to know about hosting, marketing, and scaling your rental property!
Implement what you can, when you can, and build on it until you’re ultimately at that next level. Execute everything in a weekend, or take your time and go through each step in a month. Refresh your marketing plan and go through it every year, deepening and expanding on your strategy.
It’s a cyclical, repeatable system that all flows from step to step as you get better and stronger at hosting with heart, intention, and rock-solid strategy.
$197
exclusive pricing ends soon
You'll get…
The full 50+ page Called to Host guide and workbook
An option to add on 1 month voice messaging access and review with me as you make your way through the materials
Mad libs style grab and go copy with two years worth of content ideas
Plug and play swipe files to customize for your area so you never worry about what to say to attract people to you again
The exact roadmap calendar rollout strategy to create demand and urgency
Leading questions and space to dream to craft the business of your dreams on your terms
Hey, I'm
Caitlyn!
With my husband, Jeremy, we bought our first vacation property in 2018 with no savings or huge down payment, just a HELOC against our mortgage and the grit and determination to make this successful. Year one was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears—and a major learning curve. Utilizing decades of online marketing experience from past jobs, we booked out our calendar completely and had returning guests and a waitlist to book out the rest of our calendar an entire year in advance.
With a large influx of cash from those early bookings, we decided to go all in and buy cabin number two in 2019. We repeated this system of creating demand, strategically rolling out our calendar, and then using the surplus of cash flow to reinvest the next two years in two additional cabins… and plan to keep on going.
This year projects a 7-figure business and freedom from our day jobs, as we both plan to both pursue our rental properties full-time as our professions. Now, we’re showing you the exact steps we used to scale to this level in less than 5 years and deliver an elevated experience to our guests, and we want to be here to hold your hand along the way.
Step 1: Attract
Find and book your ideal guests with a timeless marketing & branding strategy, crafted from years of online marketing experience. You'll learn to…
Craft a memorable brand: What makes you different? What story are you telling? Give your guests a reason to stay with you other than just the four walls of your vacation home.
Carve out a niche in a crowded industry and attract the right guests turned raving fans (and repel those nightmare bookings that keep you up at night and wonder why you started this in the first place).
Curate an experience: What will you be known for? We’ll uncover it and make it known to your guests.
Work with photographers to capture the emotion and feeling you want your property to exude. Worried about having enough photography content? We’ve got the plan for you here, too.
Writing a high converting vacation rental property description (Madlibs style)
Step 2: CONVERT
Booking sites are a great place to start, and we want to get you set up for success there first—but it’s also important to capture guest info and convert them to a place you own. You'll learn to…
Get in touch OFF of Airbnb and other host sites, without breaking the rules (and what to do with guests’ contact info).
Harness a powerful yet simple email marketing strategy (which is something you own, unlike host site messaging portals) that will become the secret sauce to your success.
Curate an experience: What will you be known for? We’ll uncover it and make it known to your guests.
Easily write your marketing and email copy with Mad Libs-style grab-and-go messaging templates to make this part of the process fun (and fast).
Consistently keep in touch with guests, thanks to 2 years worth of email ideas to send to your list so you can automate your success and not let this become another one of those things you should do, but don’t get around to.
Step 3: RETAIN
Guest experience isn’t a one-and-done kind of thing—keep guests coming back and rebooking your place with a simple retainment strategy. You'll learn to…
Stay top of mind, so when your people are ready to book a vacation again, it’s you they think of first.
Speak right to the heart of your guests with plug-and-play swipe files to customize for your area so you never worry about what to say again to attract people to you again.
Build your list of future guests in your sleep the easy way (and on autopilot).
Show up in two places online to boost your visibility the most, and show up well. Because being in all the places isn’t feasible and can actually hurt your strategy when you start to lose momentum and consistency.
Identify and work with the right travel influencers to gain exposure to your property, new images, and build brand recognition.
Step 4: DEMAND
With our signature calendar rollout process, you’ll book out your available dates in no time (with an eager waitlist of potential back-up guests waiting for an open date).You'll learn to…
Create urgency and demand with your product: available dates.
Strategically release your dates in a way that has your future guests setting their alarm to book their date (and filling your calendar in a weekend).
Make your past guests feel like VIPs when they get first priority to new booking dates.
Execute a booking strategy with our exact roadmap (aka what we’ve done to sell out our booking calendars for 5 years now). I.e., what to say, when, and how (that you can copy and tweak).
Step 5: Uplevel
Whether you want to expand your empire or experience increased ROI on both your time and investment year over year, repeating and building upon this process is what’s going to get you there. You'll learn to…
Implement a phased approach that’s not overwhelming and allows you to take your time (remember, it’s taken us 5 years to reach the level we’ve reached—it’s a marathon, not a sprint).
Gradually move away from third-party hosting sites (if you desire) and instead utilize book-direct strategies to save both you AND your guests time, money, and stress.
Use your profits to reinvest back into your business and continue to build your high-yielding, guest-first rental legacy.
This is everything we've learned about growing, scaling, and expanding our rental property business on and off external host sites over the past 5 years, ready for you to implement starting today.
Client testimonials
TAKE ME BACK RETREATS
This workbook is so important and asks the right questions to stand out and create connection in a world that is lacking this. This helped me tell our story and bring personality to our brand.
Kate Quinn
While we would still consider ourselves in the dreamer phase (hoping to acquire our first property this year) having the proper foundation to set our business up for success was extremely important for us. Going through Called to Host and arming ourselves with Caitlyn's expertise has us excited and confident, knowing we will be creating a sought-after property. Caitlyn's ability to break down the concepts and strategies into pieces that are easy to understand makes this feel like something we will be able to achieve. If you are thinking of a rental property or already have one, Called to Host is a must-have resource to have in your tool belt.
LEAH - THE JAMES PLACE
Working with Caitlyn was the difference maker in launching my first vacation rental. We're on to year two and adding a 2nd property to our portfolio and I'm so thrilled to have her by my side while we build our dream business.
I'll leave you with this…
What is the opportunity cost of not taking action today and implementing these strategies?
What if this increased your bookings and revenue by 25% (or in my case by 50%... every single year for the past 5 years)? What would that mean for you, your business, your family, your lifestyle?
Could you invest in another property? Stop spending so much time stressing over the one you have? What would happen if this guide only got you 10 more bookings of your favorite all time guests next year? What would that be worth to you?
Let’s rise above the masses together, and build the legacy and business worthy of all the love, energy, and time you’ve poured into your vacation home.