How to book more guests

[Ruth1519]

Hello. I'm new to Airbnb. I had two separate bookings last month. Will someone help me figure out how to get more guests? I have lots of photos that illustrate my amenities. I think I need to go back to listing 2 rooms instead of one. Also need to know if I should change my setting to say I won't be here. 

[Ruth1519]

@Marie8425 I'm calling the hospitals tomorrow morning. Someone suggested calling the Ronald McDonald house too. Thank you SO much for your advice about this idea! I'm thinking about tapping into the traveling nurses, doctors idea. They would pay full rate. 

[Marie8425]

@Ruth1519 

The thing is too remember having a greet idea that helps people doesn't mean you have to sacrifice a profit.  No business is strong enough to help people for years unless the business is string paying expenses and supporting the creator.

Once you have established yourself in your niches.  Raising your base price as two advantages, applying the same discount you will earn a more comfortable level from your niche and as you build good review you will get requests outside your niche by not having too low of a base price there is a discouragement to trouble makers.

When people have a ingenie need they won't pay outrageous but their need is more important than price.

Looking at your photos I do see "Retreat"  You mentioning giving the couple the bigger bed that says "Retreat".

[Shannon992]

Hi @Ruth1519! Your listing is adorable but the pictures are dark. I would try taking better pictures. Bright and show off your adorable style! I think this will bring more guests. 

[Ruth1519]

@Shannon992 Hello! Will you tell me which pictures look dark to you? Because they all look well lit. 🙂 Thanks for saying my listing is adorable. 

[Shannon992]

Hi Ruth! All of them look dark except the ones taken outside. 
All of the pictures inside of your home. 

[Ruth1519]

Hi @Shannon992 Please take a look at my pictures. I saw what you meant. I edited some of the ones I thought were dark. Kindly ignore too dark picture of my kitchen. I edited it perfectly but couldn't find it anywhere. I'll take a new picture tomorrow. Some have mentioned to turn on more lights but the pictures are blurry when I do. But, I shall prevail! Thank you again for your great help. 

[Shannon992]

Try taking the pics when the sun is behind you. In other words…if the sun is shining right through a window & you take the pic straight on, it will look blurry. The lights on can also make pictures look blurry. Try the light bulbs they sell at Lowe’s. Daylight bulbs. The light is whiter & brighter. Less shadows. I have used a photographer type light. Take your pics back in each corner of the room. Also, camera should be low…waist height. So kneal down on the floor. You will see a huge difference!

[Ruth1519]

@Shannon992 hi! I re-took pictures yesterday as best as I could. Let me know what you think. 

[Shannon998]

Hi @Ruth1519 , your place is lovely.  I agree with Marie to get on a referral list from the hospital for those looking for a place to stay.  It also sounds like there are many events that take place in your area as far as the bike race, festivals and college events.  Is there a way you can advertise at the events so out-of-towners looking for a place to stay can find you?  Network with attraction owners in your area so they can refer you as well.

[Ruth1519]

Hi @Shannon998, thank you for saying my home is lovely. It was an absolute wreck when I bought it. I will check with the hospital near my home as well as others to get on their referral lists. Joining the Chamber of Commerce is what I really need to do. My listing will be featured in their book that is circulated throughout Michigan. In the meantime I need to have place cards printed to display at the Chamber of Commerce. They said 5,000 racers showed up for the annual bike race and they were inundated with calls from people looking for rooms. I'm the only Airbnb in my town and my home is 10 minutes away from the starting point for the race. There's another race in October. I've gotten place cards from area businesses to promote them. I just have to give them mine. I have theirs along with magazines of my area to show what's around to do. My friend had me share my listing with her to pass on to her realtor friends. Thanks for all your great advice! 

[Marie8425]

@Ruth1519 

Do a search on the boards too.  A biker wrote a great post that identified rentals bikers want.  Like storing the bike washing the bike.  I thought his info great

[Ruth1519]

Okay, great! What do you mean look on the boards? Where do I find those? As you can tell I am very new to all of this. Thank you for your support!

[Marie8425]

 @Ruth1519 

At the top left hand corner of your screen is a search bar  Put in bikes and filter.  I believe it was a biker asking for a new filter.  I thought his advice on amenities to have a way to identify good bikers rentals was excellent.

[Sarah5611]

Hi @Ruth1519 ! Your house and town look great.  Some simple changes I would make is to move all your town pictures to your guidebook and not your main listing.  Just have your home pictures there and I would change your cover photo to your beautiful home or to a picture of one of your bedrooms that shows the entire room with the window open and the sun shining in.  Don’t be discouraged you just need to keep doing your best and people will find you. 

[Ruth1519]

HI @Sarah5611  Thank you for your kind words about my home and my town. It's a small family friendly place to live. I need help figuring out how to make the guidebook. I'm not looking forward to calling Airbnb because it always turns into a hour plus conversation due to background noise, language barriers, etc. I changed the cover photo last night to one of the bedrooms and that's what I'm seeing. The bedrooms are both on the north side of the house so not too much sun but I will go back to turning on more lights and try again. Sometimes my camera takes weird pictures when the lights are on and then I have to turn the lights back off. Grrr..Thanks for your great advice!