New to hosting.

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Ashley1441
Level 2
Houston, TX

New to hosting.

Hello, my name is Ashley.

I am new to hosting and I started my first listing the end of May. I am having trouble with booking and I feel like I’ve tried so much and I am getting no where. Any tips or suggestions to gain more attention and bookings to my listing? 

Thank you! 

1 Best Answer
Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Ashley1441 

 

Yes, agree with @Sudsrung0 .

 

I'm not saying the photo is bad per se, but maybe not the right choice for an Airbnb profile. You do not want to attract the wrong kind of guest. You need to protect yourself and stay safe.

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14 Replies 14
Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

@Ashley1441 

 

May i suggest to change profile picture ?

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Ashley1441 

 

I agree with @Emiel1 . Your listing photos overall are quite nice (I would take a photo with the toilet seat down rather than up though) but your profile photo is a bit problematic. Happy to go into more details, but maybe PM me.

Sudsrung0
Level 10
Rawai, Thailand

Nice photo, but wrong photo for Airbnb maybe draw the wrong attention, 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Ashley1441 

 

Yes, agree with @Sudsrung0 .

 

I'm not saying the photo is bad per se, but maybe not the right choice for an Airbnb profile. You do not want to attract the wrong kind of guest. You need to protect yourself and stay safe.

I didn’t see it in that way, but I totally agree. Is just a selfie picture okay? Or what exactly do you think I should  lean more towards?

@Ashley1441 The one you have changed it to is not very clear, try again

I thought my first profile picture wasn’t enough or the right one so I changed it to this one lol. What would you suggest for a profile picture setting? 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Ashley1441 

 

Personally, I think your new profile photo is fine.

 

I guess a photo where you are smiling would seem more welcoming to guests, but I don't think it's strictly necessary. Mine is a smiling headshot, but the fact that I have sunglasses on and my hair up is no coincidence! I was a bit younger when I started hosting and I did not want to give away too much about my appearance. 

Ashley1441
Level 2
Houston, TX

I was able to change my profile picture and I am wondering if there is anything else anyone would suggest. Thank you guys! 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Ashley1441 

 

In your description, you state: "NO parties/events", but underneath that, you have written "Open concept kitchen, stock with pots, pans, and utensils ready for you to host your gathering."

 

The word gathering bothers me. You have the kind of place that may well attract partiers, so I would do all I can to avoid that. When you say gathering, do you mean only the guests who have booked? In that case, just end that bit with utensils and take out the last bit.

 

If you mean it's okay for guests to have visitors and entertain, are you sure about that? What a guest claims was 'just having a few friends and family over' can very swiftly escalate into a party, angry neighbours, damage to your lovely apartment and maybe even being delisted by Airbnb. Just don't go there. Be absolutely crystal clear that no one outside of the booked guests are allowed in the listing. No visitors etc.

 

In your getting around section, you give distances in times. Are these driving times? Public transport? Does traffic vary according to the time of day. Be specific about what you mean and also, it's a good idea to include actual distances to avoid confusion. I used to just say I was a five minute walk from the station, but then had a guest complain that it was ten minutes. I guess she was a slow walker! Some guests have said it is only three...

 

Other than that, your listing looks well written to me.

 

Your listing looks nice and bright and very well presented and the photos are good quality. Just two things:

 

- Toilet seat down!

- Remember the first five photos are the ones that show on the listing landing page before guests choose to click on more photos or not, so make sure these are the ones that really count and show five different areas or aspects that you think best self the listing. At the moment, you have two of the kitchen and three of the living area. 

Thank you so much for your feed back, I’ll definitely fix all of these. I appreciate it. Thank you again! 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Ashley1441 

 

No problem. 

 

PS I meant toilet lid (not seat) down. It just looks much nicer that way.

Yeah I totally understand what you meant! 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Ashley1441 

 

Also, do not take it too personally if you are not getting a lot of bookings. As I mentioned to you earlier, a lot of us aren't since Airbnb's Summer Release came out (you can read more about that by searching the CC for that as well as 'categories', as there is plenty of discussion about it).

 

I can't comment on your pricing as I know nothing about that in your area, but your listing looks great, so I think it should attract plenty of guests if Airbnb could just sort out its glitchy search algorithm.