Are you worried that you are a victim of the #Airbnbust that is doing the rounds on social media? Have your bookings fallen off a cliff? Are you confused about the new algorithm and the updates that are going on at Airbnb? Let me give you things from my perspective plus some solutions to an empty booking calendar.
Let me start with a few baselines. Firstly, I do not believe that Airbnb is passive income. If you are treating this like a passive business and you are waiting for the bookings to come your way, then I have some tough love coming up. If you are worried this might trigger you, then consider yourself warned.
Secondly, if you found this post looking for the magic secret formula on how to have a passive income streams using STR, then you might be in the wrong place. You have my permission to stop reading this post and get on with your day.
If I haven’t scared you off, then buckle up as we are in for a ride.
Work getting you down?
I get it, sometimes work sucks. I too would love to be sitting under a palm tree drinking cocktails while watching my bank balance grow. But in the real world, these things don’t happen. Despite what gurus on YouTube promise if you buy their stuff.
For many hosts, 2020-2022 has been a wild ride of unbridled demand in short term rentals and real estate speculation.
But for some markets (yes I am looking at you North America) the bubble has burst. Hence the hashtag #airbnbust
There have been a few reasons for this but I won’t go into them here. I am more interested in solutions.
Mostly this demand bubble meant that lots of hosts entered the market during 2020-2022 and many hosts scaled their businesses to hundreds of generic listings. Hello market saturation…
There wasn’t much need for new hosts to figure out market trends, analyse the data or understand the buying triggers for customers as Airbnb was just so dang popular. There were many wannabe passive hosts who bought lovely properties, decorated them beautifully and just thought their job was done and they could passively just earn huge amounts of money.
WRONG
In 2023 you will NOT be able to just put up a generic listing on Airbnb and expect the money to pour in – no matter how lovely your photos are. The Airbnb algorithm is set up to really highlight those listings that have the X Factor or that are in high demand locations.
Don’t get me wrong, I do believe in automations and creating systems that make earning money easier, however, life as a Short Term Rental business owner, means you have to have your wits about you. You have to be dialled into your customers, your local market and your unique selling points. Yes this will take work, planning, strategy and action. But it isn’t rocket science – it is tried and tested marketing theory that dates back hundreds of years. Plus I am here to help you get there. But it isn’t a magic wand or an easy fix. Hashtag #realtalk
Some Back Story
I have been hosting since 2011. From this time until 2017/8 I was fully invested as an Airbnb host. I didn’t list on any other platform and I didn’t have my own booking system. My system was so passive and yet business was booming. Then we hit regulations and everything came to a screeching halt. I was not supported by Airbnb – none of us were. Unless I was a proper regulated business, I wouldn’t be able to list on Airbnb.
It was a cross-roads. I sense this is where many of you are now in this #airbnbust scenario. I could either pack it in or push forward. Many hosts in my community decided it was too hard and they would move into another market or business.
I saw this as an opportunity to get specialised, get educated and create a hospitality brand that would support my business. I made the decision to get serious.
This is when I started looking into marketing strategy, listing optimisation and alternative marketing channels for my listing. I spent time and energy figuring out what I wanted my business to look like. How much I wanted to work, who I wanted to serve and how I was going to attract and convert those customers. I got under the skin of my ideal guest and figured out what was important to them and why they made the choices they did.
Airbnb hides so much data about the guest and if you are fully automated and you never meet any of your customers you are likely to be really confused about why guests book with you in the first place.
Strategy Tip
If you don’t know anything about your guests, then you NEED to start talking to them. Find out what makes them tick, why they chose you, what value you offer FOR THEM. Ask questions, get curious. Knowledge is power and it will allow you to pivot and not be an #Airbnbust victim.
After 5+ years in the industry in 2018, it was fairly simple to draw on my knowledge and experience to reinvent my hosting business. I squeezed all the juice I can from Airbnb and their customers but I also needed more control over my business.
I built a direct booking website, I studied copywriting techniques and I built up my brand – Tokyo Family Stays. I leveraged this to create relationships with tour operators, relocation companies, corporate suppliers to really attract customers from multiple sources. Plus I built a database of past guest and created a regular email marketing system to get repeat bookings and referrals. So there is no single point of failure.
When the pandemic hit me hard in 2020, I was able to pivot again using the same strategies from 2018. Now it is nearly 2023, and my business is BOOMING again.
If you are relying on Airbnb to bring you 100% of your customers, you have a single point of failure. So when there is an algorithm change, a market change, a pandemic, a recovery – you are at the mercy of one marketing channel.
I have a ton of tips and tricks on how to keep your listing fresh and I can give you a full audit on your current listing and help you to NOT become one of the #Airbnbust victims!
But I cannot help you if you are not willing to take action.
Are you that person?
If it is all too hard and being an active host doesn’t interest you, then this is useful information as well. You can make different choices and go into a different industry. I give you permission to quit and do something that interests you. The WORST thing you can do is to sit around in despair waiting for something to change. Or waiting for your phone to ding….
IT WILL NOT. You have to take action.
This is tough love, But ask yourself what sort of business do you want? How do you want to work? What customers do you want to serve? Do you have what it takes? Reach out for a obligation free call or book in an audit or power hour today!
Welcome to the exclusive opportunity to chat with Tracey Northcott, a seven-figure Airbnb host. Spend an hour bouncing ideas, brainstorming, and picking each other’s brains to help elevate your short-term rental business.
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