@Linda426 , yes, the inquries I get hardly ever turn into booking requests. I get inquiries like, is your place available for such and such dates, when our calendar clearly indicates they are available. Puzzles me, but I write back immediately, yes it is, and I add one or two welcoming sentences. never hear another word....
I had one inquiry a while ago, asking me for my address. as I was on the computer when it came in, I answered immediately, very nice, that the green circle on the map really adequately represents my listing, and that I would be happy to have them as guests. Within a few seconds of sending off my message, there comes the notice that the guest has found a lodging elsewhere. They couldn't even wait 3 minutes for me to answer? felt like a complete waste of my time.
I like to try out @Kate157 's suggestion that not pushing the pre-approval button actually leads to more bookings than doing the pre-approval. But then, one is forced by Airbnb to activate one of the buttons, either pre-approval or decline,otherwise it doesn't count as a response. (seems to be a fairly new thing...) My hunch is that doing too many declines in a row bumps down the visibility of one's listing. Just happened to me when I declined 3 peeps in a row, and I got bumped from page 1 to page 4.