What Would You Do If You Were Me?

Ok, before I unleash the next speaker and the topic that will be covered at the Vacation Rental World Summit, I need your feedback on this (and it’s very important)!

Think about the moment you put together your awesome rental business:

You probably made a pretty consistent investment to purchase property and you may have a mortgage to pay back.
You put your utmost care and passion into making it the nicest rental you could possibly offer to your guests, so you give them what they’re looking for, the holiday of a lifetime, and…
you get back happy guests in return that reward you for all the effort, the love and the passion you put in what you do.

At the same time you:

pay your investment back (and may look into extending the business as well)
fulfill your dreams and aspirations
make someone happy
and even make a little profit that allows you to keep doing what you’re doing best.

So it’s a win-win.

Now you get an inquiry that goes like this:

“Hey, I found your property online, it’s exactly what I need and what I’ve been looking for, and I’ve seen there is nothing else like that around…… can you give it to me for a week for free?”

What would you say?

This Keeps Me Up At Night

I’ve been having this dilemma with regards to the format of the Vacation Rental World Summit for quite some time and I must credit Matt Landau for sharing his thoughts with me that led me to write this post!
When you owners are in the process of setting your prices, you can go low, medium and high. Of course, low means more guests and high means less guests.

In launching the Summit this year I was faced with those 3 options (low, medium, high) + another option (free).

Now, I put together last year’s event, because there’s nothing similar addressing our pains and frustrations and I strongly believe that’s what we all need to make an impact on this industry while being successful with our respective businesses.

It cost a lot of time and money and it reached lots of owners and managers worldwide.

The thing is, I am a lot like you and while I’m a passionate dreamer and essentially a giver, I need to ensure I can keep doing what I do best, that is helping out people, while making a living too that justifies the time I neglect to my family and friends.
And while the equation means we’ll hardly get the reach of last year in terms of attendees for obvious reasons if we don’t go free, we cannot ensure a long life to the Summit and all its beneficial effects on countless owners and managers unless we charge a fee to attend.

So I asked myself: based on my costs and the potential benefits for everyone involved, you, each speaker and myself, what’s the best decision for me and what’s the best decision for the industry?

I can’t quote the dozens of emails I personally received after the Summit last year, from so many of you telling me how beneficial the Summit was to them and how their VR business has grown bringing them all sorts of rewards as a result of applying just a small part of what they learned.

(you can view some of the comments here if you want)

That said, I’ve been struggling to find the best way to reach the widest possible audience this year too, while asking for an investment on your end to sustain my efforts and those of all the speakers sharing their best tips and practices with you.

So my question to you is:

How much would you charge for an event that’s going to give attendees back ‘x’ times the amount they invested if they apply what they’re going to learn?

Please be honest, help me and all my friends help you better year after year and write your thoughts below. Thank you.

PS: If you haven’t watched the Summit last year and would like to take a peek at what’s in store for you this year, we plan to give you:

3 days of online education with 12 Industry experts, accomplished rentalpreneurs and trusted authorities in the industry that will share each, a 45 min to 1 hour enlightening brand new training session on how to get more bookings, streamline workflows, maximize rental income AND regain independence from big corporations.

Direct access to each presenter, as you can ask them your #1 question and solve your most pressing need.

Unlimited lifetime access to all recordings to watch at leisure, study every step and apply the teachings that suit your situation best.

Interaction with a community of likeminded, progressive rentalpreneurs, to address ongoing questions because we believe that more peers helping each other are way better than going solo.