In June I had a full calendar, since then, hardly any bookin...
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In June I had a full calendar, since then, hardly any bookings. I'm wondering if somethings is wrong with my place, or are pe...
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I would appreciate some help. I am new and learning as I go along.
Thanks!
hi @Andrea5800 welcome!
first things: photos. Not good at all.
too low res, most of them
Your first pic is your Hero image, it sets the tone for your whole listing. It's got all manner of things wrong with it. Your first 5 pics are the important ones, that people cycle through whilst still in map mode.
You have mostly verticals, these are not a good idea, and don't showcase real estate spaces well. A few verts are fine for details pics, but generally professional hosts avoid them completely.
there's a lot of superflous pics of the local area, sunsets and the like, that are low quality happy snaps and not doing you any favours, they are just saying "low quality" because you didn't think professional photography was worth the expense.... it leads a guest to ask, what else might you be not bothering with?
And you know that taking images off the internet is stealing, right? go to Unsplash and type in your region and you'll probably find nice images that are free to use for your airbnb listing.
Your styling and everything else looks really great, great furniture, professional looking bed making, but your photos are seriously letting you down.
You could probably beef up your section on additional house rules. Don't worry, guests will do things that will prompt you to make new rules. 😆 (I had to make a rule about not driving too fast on the farm after a guest scared a kangaroo who ran into a fence and knocked itself unconscious! oh dear) You might need to put some captain obvious rules about pool use, but those can also go into your guest manual in situ. There's 2 places for rules, one is the basic stuff they need to know as part of the accepting the booking (no smoking, no pets, no babies whatever) and then there's the nitty gritty rules that are specific to their stay like, hey don't leave the doors open in summer and invite all the bugs inside, or, don't leave the a/c on when you leave the house, don't go into that paddock and taunt the 1T bull... you know, obvious stuff that guests do anyway. 🙂 Are we allowed to set a minimum age? Thought that was a grey area but I completely understand. The price seems a bit low but I don't know your region, i'm sure you've done your research in this regard.
All the best, once you get the photos sorted i'm sure you'll do well.
Thank you so much for your great advice! You are extremely helpful.
I agree about better quality pictures. I did not know about using other photos. I will remove them and go to Unsplash. I never heard of Unsplash but I am still wet behind the ears.
I just raised my prices a little higher. We are in the off season here. I thought if I have my prices a little lower, people will return during the in season. We shall see!
I am going to work on my rule. I need to put together a handbook. How do you go up a Level? Is there somewhere I can find this information?
Thanks again!
Andrea
Excellent advice from @Gillian166 as always.
RE the levels, they are just reflective of how much you contribute here on this forum and have no impact/relevance to your listing or host status outside of the CC at all, so don't worry about that.
@Andrea5800 I should really send you to a proper stock site, as that's part of what I do for a living, instead of sending you to the freebie place!
And word of warning to anyone: don't use free pics that contain recognisable people. stock photos have model releases, Unsplash photos do not.
And +1 to the Guest Manual. You can have a digital version but I like to have a real book in the cottage, and you can go crazy with all sorts of info in there that a guest can choose to read. they still won't read it of course, and you'll field questions that are answered in the manual, but that's hospo 😊 I have a bunch of answers ready to go in Quick Replies, so it's not too troubling.
I like the real book idea. I always liked when I rented a home and there was a book with local information. I also loved when they had a guest book for the guests to write down what they did while there. It was always fun to read what other guests wrote.
I have to utilize quick replies.
Thanks!
PS do you know anyone who is into photography? Maybe a friend or family member who is a keen amateur photographer could help you out here.
If not, it is worth investing in professional photos. I know some hosts offer a free stay in exchange for photos, so that's something you could consider. Just make sure if you do that, that it's someone experienced in interiors photography with the right lenses, lighting etc.
Great idea. I do know someone who is into photography.
Thanks for letting me know what the levels are all about. I went from a one to a two and I was wondering what I did. LOL!
I always say the best guys for photo's are the real estate guys,
Who ever you choose take a look at the work, I had some guy B/S me years ago
I let him take shots of my villa I never used a one of them.