08. Lesson: tile by tile.
The way I like to think about it is to pretend your house story is a beautiful book and you’ve taken that book and you cut out each sentence, you scrunch it up and pop them all into a big jar and shake them up. Every time you post, you’re pulling out one little sentence, and you’re telling that story to somebody. I like to pretend they’re sitting across the table from me and I’m reading them that sentence, telling them what it means to me.
{ E 8.1 - Write two A4 pages about your fantasy dream day at your property. It’s not what’s real, it’s your house story. No screaming kids, no butter in the vegemite — this is the dream. Be extremely detailed in your story — what are the smells, the temperature, what are the activities you’re doing — tell me everything and spare nothing. Now, once that’s done, cut those sentences up, scrunch ‘em up, and put them into a beautiful little vessel on your work space.}
{ E 8.2 - Pull one of your scrunched up story sentences out, at random, and use that as inspiration, or write that exact sentence, or use the sentence to trigger a story, or pretend you’re telling that story to your very best friend in a post on instagram. Use one of your pictures, or another, to post and share. When you do, be sure to use #thehostingmasterclass and tag @thehostingmasterclass so I can see it. }
TIP! People get nervous about saying stuff online, but just imagine you’re talking to your best friend. Use conversational language, flowery and poetic is too distant and difficult for people to always connect with. Pick a person you’re talking to and it will always be beautifully intimate, special, and real. Here’s an example about me talking about my desk way back in Chapter 00.
“If I were pushed to tell you one true thing about me, it would be that I can’t sit still. I’d tell you that so you wouldn’t be surprised when I pack up my little suitcase after a week and leave. In my 20’s I’d ponder if maybe I was running away from something, but my mum always reminds me I’ve been running, or maybe the right words are, looking around with gusto, all my life. I first ran away from home aged 18 months, and my attempts to leave by aged 5 were lost track off. I left home as soon as I legally could (16), and left Australia as soon as I financially could (19)…. But the point I’m making is my ‘desk’ at most, has always been notes on the back of a receipt, photos on the walls for teams, and emails to myself. Here’s the visuals I used to explain to the team whilst we were filming this class. Bits of a desk pulled out of a backpack.”
…another TIP! I really like to end my posts with a question, as if I am really talking to someone and this is their invitation to respond. For example, perhaps I could have ended my past post with …
“ … tell me about your desk, I’d love to know.”
08. Lesson: behind the scenes: stories.
You should use the ‘stories’ feature as much as you use posts, and you should consider them akin to the behind the scenes of a movie, or the chance to see what’s going on while the author writes the novel.
For example: You can tell stories about other businesses or friends and what they’re doing. These aren’t directly part of your story, but they’re connected to it. This could be sharing that you’re taking this class, or sharing some beautiful work from someone you met online. Stories are really great for telling the tiny moments and things in-between. It’s a wonderful chance to expand the breadth of your brand, showing that there is a human behind your property and home and a personality that goes with that property.
Personally, I like to think of stories as a chance to have a lot more fun with social media and I give myself permission to break away from my house story and brand. Since it goes away in 24 hours, it’s not as precious and it gives my followers a wonderful chance for a richer experience with me and ‘Captains Rest’.
{ E 8.3 - Your task is to do a story about your sentence jar. Maybe you pull a sentence and then do a series of stories about that sentence and what it means, etc. }
08. Lesson: another approach.
Because we’re all human, we all think about things differently. For some people, they might struggle with the ‘house story’ or might not have a house story you can yet believe in. So another approach we can take is through you as a person and the expression of your house and your story through who you are. I had a funny email the other day where somebody told me they were working on their house story question about values and they thought they meant their own values and they went ahead and filled that out accordingly, then they realised I was talking about the values of their holiday property. When they went back to amend, they realised they were one and the same. Often, you’ll realise that your ‘house story’ is a version of you so if you are struggling with your house story, step back and look at you, then find a version of you that you would want to tell.
One of my favorite activities is to sit down and write a list of things that I am and things I am not. It’s a lovely reminder of things you may have forgotten.
I am.
I am authentic, no matter what
I love timeless interiors
I am vulnerable and honest
Ocean going and sailing
I am in love with the West Coast of Tasmania
I am supportive of other people
I love velvet, wood, wine and whiskey
I love poems and oil paintings
I am f**king romantic
Books, ducks, weather, history and storytelling
Grainy film photos and polaroids
I am not.
Brands and paid advertising
On trend
Synthetic materials
Selling anything
For family or those on a budget
A convenient stay
Shiny, bright, crisp interiors
Clean cut
Current affairs
Netflix and chill
{ E 8.4 - Create your own list of ‘I Am’ and ‘I Am Nots’. Walk away from your computer for this one, walk away from everything and sit by yourself to create your list. }
{ E 8.5 - Every day for a week, do one post and one story that embodies some element of who you are from your list. Use our hashtags and tags, and commit to posting every day this week, sharing who you are. }
Falling in love & sharing your dreams.
I want to share with you a few of the ‘I Am’ lists from some of my other students so that you can see the breadth of what this exercise can encompass. While you read them, think about the type of accounts these lists would create, how beautiful they are and how true they are to themselves in them. Then ask yourself if you would follow that account, dreaming about booking a stay there, and (I’m sure) you would say yes.
Jane: I am — Australian water colour landscapes and poetry, summer holiday memories on the beach as a child, conversations with close friends, timeless. I am not: latest design trends, fast consumerism, eating out on holidays.
Romany: I am — proud of my region, show-casing locally grown food, apples and baked goods. Slow cooking in my Aga, books in front of the fire, home cooked dinners with my family, watching the mist over the mountains and spotting local wild life. I am not — quick holidays and major tourism attractions, for a convenient stay.
Fran: In love with the quirkiness of my region and my family history here. A classic and nostalgic beach side holiday, full of character, laughing and charm. I am not — following trends or trying to be something I am not, keeping up with the rest of the world.
{ E 8.6 - Read and reflect on these lists and ask yourself why. How do they feel to you? Why and what do you like? What resonates and rings true? }
08. Lesson: some practicals.
Now that we really understand what we should be posting, we want to talk about your images and what to post.
So far, we have already covered photography and you know how to take your photos (or how to hire someone to do it for you), so here are a few more thoughts on where to get great images for your instagram:
Your guests who have stayed. Always ask them after their stay, You don’t want to hassle them while they’re there.
Landscape and lifestyle photographers in your area, showcasing your region.
You can always swap with a photographer you love for a free stay for some photos.
Make a commitment to yourself so that whenever you stay, you shoot a library’s worth of fresh content. Change the flowers, spruce things up, etc.
08. Lesson: Growing your account.
Now that you’ve got your head around what you should be doing for social media and who you want to be on there, let’s work on growing your account and getting in front of more people, so you can tell your story and they will book your place. The scientist in me has found three ways anyone can do this, that works — any other strategy, at this time, is'n’t worth wasting your time on.
Tip! One thing I really want you to take from this class is to only put your time, effort, and money into things that will really make you money; and to not try things that other people tell you you should be doing, especially when they generate no real affect.
Your three strategies.
Influencers - this can be anybody whom you enjoy what they do. Chefs, photographers, models, creatives, makers, storytellers — anyone. Essentially what you’re trying to do is to find people who have an audience who would like what you have. For example, if you have a cabin in the mountains, asking a bikini model from the city might not be the best idea because her followers may not be interested in your offering. How it works, is that you reach out and if they ever want to come, they would be very welcome. When you’re starting out, you’re really going to need to contact around 50 - 100 people because potentially only 5% will be able to make it to your property due to their own timing and travel expenses, etc. My rule of thumb is at least 2 influencers per month in your first year, and then one per month forever, no matter how good you’re doing. At some point, the tide will turn from you having to invite people, to people asking you and you get to decide on who you are going to say ‘yes’ to based on their alignment to your ‘I Am’ list. When people are asking you, don’t just look at how many followers they have, but how many people engage with their posts as this is a potential sign for how much reach and stick your property would have with their followers. You do this by clicking on their posts and seeing how many people ‘like’ and ‘comment’. If you don’t feel like it’s the right fit for you, always be kind, polite and gracious. I usually say something along the lines of that all my press spots for the year have been filled and you don’t have any press stays available currently. Always be kind and polite to everyone just because what they are doing doesn’t align with you, doesn’t mean you can’t be kind and have good relationships. It takes a lot of time and energy for someone to reach out to you and, who knows, you may start something else down the line that they will be right for.
One last thought… never directly ask them for anything or make clear expectations. Leave them alone to post stories, or images, as they feel they want. Don’t give them any specific instructions or expectations — you’ll find you probably get far more by not. Friends of mine have told me about experiences where they have essentially been bullied into posting more and more and more and it doesn’t ever leave a good taste in anyone’s mouth. The rule of thumb here is to be ‘gracious and kind’, never ask for anything, and don’t have any expectations.
Competitions! - Another great avenue of growth is by reaching the friends of likeminded followers. Usually people in the same friendship groups have the same likes and aesthetic tastes so chances are they may be keen. When you run a competition, it’s best to keep it simple — tag one to three friends who might also like to stay, etc. It’s also best to team up with larger accounts, and have them run the competition on your behalf. For example “2 night stay at Captains Rest plus a bed full of linen!”. That way you are exposed to a larger audience, and you are not subject to any spam accounts or the pitfalls that come with running competitions online.
Hashtags - I was resistant to using them for so long because I felt like it was so much selling and marketing, which is not what I want to do — but once I started using them, I realised I was reaching people I hadn’t connected to previously and they were people who wanted to actually book my property. When trying to find your hashtags and the ones you want to use, you can go to big accounts who have a similar demographic and market and just copy and paste theirs. Eventually you’ll create a list of hashtags that work for you and, through more use and exposure on the platform, you’ll start to understand what you want to use and what works. I recommend having a different set of hashtags for different topics. I like to make sure I have about three different themes I am weaving throughout my ‘Captains Rest’ platform, and I use specific sets of hashtags as they relate to each of these themes. You can copy and paste these hashtags into the notes section of your phone for easy access.
08. Lesson: brand partnerships.
A really clever way to grow is to partner up with homeware type brands, like rugs, taps, linens, candles, hand soaps, etc. for competitions, photo shoots, giveaways, product photography, and more. This way your house is getting into their feeds. Of course you can tag their products whenever you post, as well. It’s easier now than ever to connect with brands you like on instagram and to offer your space as a location for them. Again, it may take reaching out to a few before something begins to happen.
08. Just so they’re all in one spot: here are your exercises
E 8.1 - Write two A4 pages about your fantasy dream day at your property. It’s not what’s real, it’s your house story. No screaming kids, no butter in the honey jar — this is the dream. Now, once that’s done, cut those sentences up, scrunch them up, and put them into a beautiful little vessel on your work space. Be extremely detailed in your story — what are the smells, the temperature, what are the activities you’re doing — tell me everything and spare nothing.
E 8.2 - Pull one of your scrunched up story sentences out at random and use that as inspiration, or write that exact sentence, use the sentence to trigger a story, or pretend you’re telling that story to your very best friend in a post on Instagram. Use one of your pictures, or another, just post and tell your story. When you post, be sure to use ‘#thehostingmasterclass’ and ‘#thm08’ and tag ‘@thehostingmasterclass’ so we can see it.
E 8.3 - Your task is to do a story about your sentence jar. Maybe you pull a sentence and then do a series of stories about that sentence and what it means, etc.
E 8.4 - Create your own list of ‘I Am’ and ‘I Am Nots’. Walk away from your computer for this one, walk away from everything and sit by yourself to create your list.
E 8.5 - Every day for a week, do one post and one story that embodies some element of who you are from your list. Use our hashtags and tags, and commit to posting every day this week, sharing who you are.
E 8.6 - Read and reflect on these lists and ask yourself why. How do they feel to you? Why and what do you like? What resonates and rings true?
