Increase Your Airbnb Revenue With Better Guests In Just 5 Days

We don’t mean the ones that you see on TV or in magazines. We mean the real-life, everyday hosts who see consistent bookings and high ratings from their guests.

These are the ones that are booked all year round, without having to drop their prices or offer discounts, because they have mastered the art of hospitality.

Hotels have been doing it for years.

Their efficiency is so good that they have been able to consolidate as a global industry while cramming travelers on top of each other in tiny rooms to maximize profit.

But Airbnb (and other short-term rental services) have provided the opportunity for everyday people to tap into this lucrative market.

In the beginning, there was a golden age whereby everyone was able to make a killing just by listing their spare room or empty apartment on Airbnb.

But as more and more people figured out that they can end the 9-5 grind of traditional employment and become their own bosses, the market has become saturated.

Nowadays, there are over 6 million listings worldwide - a 20X increase in growth in only 9 years.

And along with all this competition comes a race to the bottom in pricing as occupancy rates decrease.

The changes in guest expectations aren't making matters any better either...

As the short-term rental market becomes more popular, hosts are seeing a massive decrease in the quality of their guests demanding more.

Cities and jurisdictions are implementing more regulations and restrictions on short-term rentals too.

And to top it off, the rise of professional property management companies and professional hosts has added to the saturation.

(These entities often manage multiple listings and can invest significantly more resources into marketing and optimizing their properties, making it challenging for individual hosts to compete.)

So how do you ensure that your listing is consistently booked within this new environment? How do you set yourself apart from the thousands of similar offerings in the same area?

How do you join the ranks of The Master Superhost?

By the time we got a clue, we were negative $10,000, in the hole. Our life savings gone in attempt at financial freedom with Airbnb.

In the beginning, we made the mistake of relying too much on the peak season, because that’s when people were travelling to our area more.

Bookings were filling up fast because of the events in our area, and building up our confidence that we were doing everything right.

But we weren't. It was an illusion...

Turns out, people weren’t booking our property because of our amazing hosting skills or beautiful space - they were booking because they didn't have any other choices since all the other Airbnbs were taken.

As soon as peak season ended, so did our bookings.

And it took us a while to figure out why.

Soon we discovered that it wasn’t just our listing that was the problem, but our entire market was slow; dying off to almost nothing during the off-season.

But we saw that there were a few listings still filling up their calendars, leaving table scraps for everyone else.

Their calendars were always full and they rarely had to drop their prices or offer discounts (in our case, as low as $30/night!)

What did they have that most hosts did not? Their marketing strategy was on point...

This idea wasn't just isolated to our area either.

When surveying our audience, we asked what made the biggest difference in the success of their short term rental businesses, and the answer was clear:

You could have the most beautiful, well-designed Airbnb in the world, but if you don’t know how to market it to get travelers to take action, your full potential will always be out of reach.

Marketing is central to your success, here's why:

Once we put together our own marketing strategy, everything changed.

Our bookings picked up. We were able to charge more for each night. The quality of our guests got better. And we were able to turn around that -$10,000 loss I mentioned earlier.

The biggest "AHA!" was when we realized this...

Instead, travelers are quickly scrolling around and tagging their favorites, opening up a bunch of browser tabs, and having discussions with their significant other about all of the different pros/cons each place has to offer.

Rarely is it ever a single aspect of your listing that "seals the deal."

We like to think of it as an ecosystem, with all the different parts working together to attract, convert, and retain guests.

The pictures. The description. The price. Your social media presence and reviews.

Each system by itself is not enough. But when you put them all together, it becomes a force multiplier.

A successful marketing strategy requires you to put yourself in your guest’s shoes and think about what they want.

It’s not enough to just have a beautiful listing – although that definitely helps. It’s not enough to have a great design or a beautiful looking brand.

Again, that helps too...

But what it really comes down to is knowing your audience, creating a space that caters to their needs and wants, and promoting your listing in the right places.

Because your potential guests are bombarded with choices, and it’s up to you to make sure that your listing stands out from the rest.

Now I'm not going to lie...

Marketing your short-term rental can be incredibly complicated if you let it - but it doesn't have to be.

Because if you give us just 5 days, we're going to share the fundamental steps that we used to get ourselves out of the deep end and into deep pockets with better guests at higher prices - which you can use too.

You don’t need to be a marketing expert or hire an expensive agency.

The good news is that you can do just about everything from the comfort of your own home, and we’re going to show you how.

The only question is: are you in or are you out?