Focus on the guest. What does the guest base his rating on?
- Main photo
- Title
- The photo of the host's profile
- Price
- The number of reviews, unless you have just landed on AIRBNB.
Let the images speak. The photos communicate more than your words: the photos must be beautiful. The description of the house is often not read at all, unfortunate event, so that the guest expectations will be different, making you lose your good mood, but certainly the photos will be watched.
Main photo. It depends on what you consider to be the "wow factor": it is the cornerstone of the perfect ad.
Internal / external photos. Clean and tidy house. No film set from “The Texas chainsaw massacre”. At least a couple of photos for each room photographed from multiple angles at handle height. Highlight the details, the household appliances: the washing machine, the decorated doors etc. Label your photos.
The title. The title should intrigue, be fresh and informal, it should not sound sappy or schizophrenic: no "Secret love nest neighboringly far", but "Bright house in the heart of Rome", fast indexing in the main search engines.
The profile photo. Be recognizable. Possibly in full close-up. Nobody books the house of Charles Manson or Hannibal the cannibal.
Description. Be synthetic. Show the host with who is talking, who will share the spaces, who will take care of him. Write two lines that talk about you. Be, in short, real, true.
Such information shall be appropiately:
° where your house is located;
° if the house has security systems (carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers, etc.);
° check-in and check-out times;
° prices per night, possibly competitive, but without selling off: do not rely on AIRBNB. It takes some time to figure out which is the perfect price to attract better guests and at the same time be competitive;
° the reservation;
° the calendar.
At this point, informally describe your accommodation and its rules of use.
Do not wave too many exaggerated and hyperbolic praises on your home: you run the risk of being taken for a salesman who wants to sell at all costs. Never treat guests as customers: you do not sell a product, you offer a unique and imperfect experience, in a unique and different place that has been prepared by someone real - even if managed by a portal - that offers a more intense, unconventional human contact that the guest will never experience in a hundred-room hotel . What makes AIRBNB so special? The fact that the guests live in a place as native townies rather than as tourists.
Try to establish immediately an authentic relationship with the guest, forgetting for a while the economic aspect. If you are at the beginning of your adventure with AIRBNB do not hesitate to say it: it’s a good way to be nice and honest: "Hi, I'm Emily, I’m very new to AIRBNB and I'd love to host you at my house, I'm sure you’ll be fine".
Be honest. Notify guests of defects, malfunctions: if the oven does not work, write it down. The simple truth is the only kindness.
Highlight the strength points of your home: for example, the proximity to the subway, the confectionery shop around the corner where you can buy a tray of assorted pastries. They represent the solid base of a fragile building of uncertain fate: your first ad, written without arrogance and false modesty, filled with timid words of wisdom. Impossible to enclose them in a formula.
The field under the title is perhaps the most important of all: it will decide your destiny. Fate is coming. But no fear, for you’ll be confident, calm and ready to welcome it.