Kaye Putnam

How to Turn Your Team Into an Owner Acquisition Engine

Annie Holcombe shares why trust beats price in owner acquisition, how to turn your entire team into brand ambassadors, and why telling owners hard truths upfront closes more deals than overpromising.

AI & Hospitality Risks to Pay Attention To

Ela Mezhiborsky shares how a Christmas Eve police raid on her STR property revealed a four-month fraud pattern and $20,000 in losses. Now, as AI makes fraud tools accessible to amateur criminals, she explains why traditional gut-feeling screening has become dangerous and which objective data points still protect operators.

AI Gives STR Hosts Unfair Advantage Over Competition

The future of Airbnb is AI-powered. Learn how to integrate artificial intelligence into your operations to move faster, make smarter decisions, and scale efficiently.

What 4.9-Rated Properties Do Differently (Based on Real Guest Reviews)

In this episode of Get Paid For Your Pad, Kaye Putnam (Head of Marketing at Freewyld and Freewyld Foundry) sits down with Eric Moeller, CEO of Freewyld and Freewyld Foundry, to break down what separates 4.9-star portfolios from the rest of the market. After Brian Chesky announced at the Airbnb Host Summit that the platform is moving toward incentivizing high-rated professional hosts and devaluing operators below 4.9, the stakes have never been higher. If you are an STR operator who wants to scale without sacrificing guest experience, earn higher ratings across a large portfolio, and understand exactly what drives five-star reviews at scale, this episode is essential. Kaye analyzed hundreds of 4.9-rated Airbnb listings to identify the four core attributes guests consistently call out after their stay. Eric shares real examples from Freewyld, their RPM clients managing hundreds of properties at 4.97, and the systems that make unreasonable hospitality scalable.

From Hurricane Loss to 70 Rentals: Scaling STR Business

In this episode of Get Paid For Your Pad, Kaye Putnam (Head of Marketing at Freewyld and Freewyld Foundry) sits down with Joe Prillaman, co-founder of Host Help, to unpack how a sudden hurricane wiped out nearly one-third of his STR portfolio in just two weeks, and why that crisis became the catalyst for scaling a professional short-term rental management company to nearly 70 properties. Joe shares the real story behind losing properties, facing fixed mortgages and team overhead, and making the hard decision to pivot from self-managing his own portfolio to managing homes for other owners. This conversation dives into the operational, emotional, and strategic realities of scaling an STR management business under pressure, without sacrificing quality, reviews, or long-term vision. If you are an STR operator or property manager navigating growth, team expansion, operational complexity, or unexpected disruptions, this episode offers practical insight into what actually breaks as portfolios scale, and what systems matter most to rebuild stronger.

Scaling to 100+ STR Units Without Compromising Quality

In this episode of Get Paid For Your Pad, Kaye Putnam (Head of Marketing at Freewyld and Freewyld Foundry) sits down with Troy Daily, CEO of Elevated Stays, to unpack what it actually takes to scale a short-term rental portfolio past 100 units without losing quality, control, or brand integrity. Operating in a highly seasonal market like Traverse City, Troy shares the operational decisions, leadership shifts, and system investments behind his growth from a small portfolio to managing more than 100 STR units. If you are an STR operator scaling quickly or planning to grow beyond 20, 50, or even 100 units, this episode is essential. Troy walks through the real challenges of growth: hiring the right people, building operational structure, maintaining quality standards, aligning with the right owners, and knowing when to say no to properties that don’t fit the brand. This conversation goes far beyond surface-level growth tactics and into what sustainable scale actually looks like. Get your free, personalized revenue report at FreewyldFoundry.com/report.

Advanced Airbnb Listing Lab

Learn how top hosts fill calendars and maximize profit with fully optimized listings.

Unlock the Email Marketing System Behind Our 41% Direct Bookings

Whether you're sitting on an email list you're not using… or haven't started collecting yet, this will show you exactly how to set up an effective, automated strategy that gets results.

Steal the Influencer Marketing Playbook Behind Our Direct Booking Growth

Want to work with influencers, but skip the guesswork? Grab the exact resources we use to align creators, set expectations, and turn posts into bookings. Built by operators, for operators.

How to Market Your Property Management Services to Homeowners (Without Competing on Price)

AI Guest Screening: Protect Your STR from Fraud | Expert Guide

How to Get 1,000+ Five-Star Reviews in Short-Term Rentals: A Blueprint from a 4.99-Rated Host

How to Get 1,000+ Five-Star Reviews in Short-Term Rentals: A Blueprint from a 4. 99-Rated Host The Real Secret Behind Exceptional Reviews If you're running a short-term rental, you already know that r

How to Scale Your STR Management Company: From Crisis to 70 Properties

Most companies dream of growth, but for HostHelp, it was a matter of survival. After losing a third of their portfolio to natural disasters, Joe Prillaman and Grant found a way to scale STR management

Host vs Brand: Which Airbnb Profile Strategy Drives More Short-Term Rental Bookings?

Should your Airbnb profile show your face or brand logo? Discover which short-term rental strategy converts better and builds long-term value.

How to Build a Content Army That 3X Your Direct Bookings (Without Paying $50K Per Post)

Discover how Mount built a content army of 38 creators from 10,000+ applicants, helping vacation rentals increase direct bookings by 180% while avoiding expensive influencer fees.