#269 - How to Boost Rental Revenue with Direct Bookings - Ollie Laing

In this episode of Living Off Rentals, we’re joined by UK-based short-term rental investor Ollie Laing, who’s cracked the code on direct bookings. While most hosts rely heavily on platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com, Ollie generates over 50% of his revenue from direct bookings through his own website. In this episode, he shares exactly how he does it. He also talks about some of the key lessons he’s learned while building a successful vacation rental business, including how he manages properties remotely, his go-to tactics for driving direct bookings, and the strategies he uses to mitigate risk. Enjoy the show! Key Takeaways: [01:59] How Ollie started in short-term rentals [05:11] Owning your properties vs managing others [11:37] Mitigating problems in short-term rentals [15:06] Ollie on remote management of properties [21:21] About SuiteOp [26:19] Tactics for getting direct bookings [32:21] Mitigating the risk for direct bookings [35:55] His advice for people starting their rental business [43:56] Connect with Ollie Laing Guest Links: Website: https://www.perfectbooking.co.uk/  Show Links: Living Off Rentals YouTube Channel – youtube.com/c/LivingOffRentals  Living Off Rentals YouTube Podcast Channel - youtube.com/c/LivingOffRentalsPodcast  Living Off Rentals Facebook Group – facebook.com/groups/livingoffrentals  Living Off Rentals Website – https://www.livingoffrentals.com/  Living Off Rentals Instagram – instagram.com/livingoffrentals  Living Off Rentals TikTok – tiktok.com/@livingoffrentals