Reasons you need to have a professional branding and listing audit.

Do you wonder why some listings stand out on the Airbnb & STR marketplace and others don’t? 

Infuriating isn’t it? 

You know you have potential but despite this and putting your best foot forward, you keep getting knocked back? Perhaps it is time for a branding and listing audit.

If you can answer yes to any of these questions then this post is for you:

1. You’re not making enough money
2. You’re not getting the right guests
3. Your calendar is empty or too full (both are a problem)
4. You’re giving things away for free that you can be charging for
5. Your copywriting is not showing the benefits
6. You’re not showing up in the top page of the search
7. You don’t know the secret sections to the platform dashboard 
8. Your boundaries are not clear
9. Guests are consistently asking basic questions
10. You don’t know the time saving workflows 

Reasons you need to have a professional branding and listing audit

An audit is laser-focused attention on your brand, your listing and your positioning will give you an honest understanding of how the market sees you. 

Do you see what I see? 

I look at different listings in different market niches every day. I should be able to see in an instant who you are attracting. From the photos to the copywriting to the amenities. I would love the opportunity to check out your listing and give you some feedback.

Sure you could ask your friends or family to look at your listing for you. They will give you their loving and supportive spin on things. But they are not your ideal or target guests. 

Even if you choose to go it alone or have a different person to audit for you, it is a great idea and here is why.

Fresh Eyes

You know your place better than anybody and the things that you see are not the same as what a pair of fresh eyes will see. Your eyes will gloss over the cables dangling in your photos or you won’t see the blurry ones. Or what you think is the best “hero” photo is maybe not the best one that will attract your ideal guest. 

Too close to it and doing it all

You’re a busy host – I so understand where you’re at. You are doing all the things, juggling all the balls and wearing all the hats.

There are so many moving parts when running a short term rental. 

Firstly, there is the set up which takes a million different decisions and weighing up options and costs. Agonising over the decor and placement of furniture. You have all the effort of keeping the utilities set up and working, the maintenance, the cleaning. It is more than running your own household which you are often running too. A thousand thankless tasks that are dull but necessary. 

Then you have to write the listing and manage the marketing which is a completely different skill set. You have to step out of your own body and into the body of your guest.

Pricing?

This is a HUGE HUGE topic and gives hosts a ton of stress. Should you be undercutting the Airbnb down the road? That is the first instinct of most hosts but there are so many other reasons that people will book your place and price is usually way down on the list of priorities. 

Cost price, market price or value pricing? 

Trust me on this…. Do you know what your value is? What are you bringing to your guests? This is what you should be charging. Not just covering costs plus an X factor which is what many hosts do.

Knowing your VALUE means that you rise above the competitive race to the bottom on pricing. It is a big mindset shift but it is very powerful in charging what you are worth.

Add on monetization opportunities

Are you giving things away for free that you can be charging for? I can see where you can be squeezing additional cash from each booking. 

Copy writing

Features vs benefits then talk about the benefits of the benefit.

The biggest problem that I see with copy writing is that the hosts talk about the features of their listing. I get it, you are proud of your listing and you want to talk about it. But the guest wants to know how they fit into your space. How they will feel when they wake up and sip coffee on your deck overlooking the lake. It is less about what you have and more about what you offer. 

Different platforms

Argh – why are they all so different? You are needing somebody to demystify all of the different sections, options and policies.

Algorithm

The mysterious black box that determines who sees our listings on the searching. I know how to keep teaching the algorithm to put your listing at the top of search results. 

I will cover all these and more in an Audit. It will be a laser focus on you, your hosting style, your listing, your ideal guest – basically the hosting sweet spot where your business will be amazing. 

How to book

Think you may need a listing and branding audit? Book in here.

Talking with hosts and viewing listing photos is not just my job but it is my passion. I can see very quickly the sorts of guests you are attracting and if you are also leaving money on the table which is why I offer a professional listing and branding Audit to clients.

I will ask for a few questions before our meeting so I can do some research in advance. Then we can really dig into your listing, market and pricing and find that hidden gold.

This is an investment into your business but the payoff in additional revenue, add-on sales, cost reduction and confidence in your product is huge.

I only have a few spots per week left before the end of the year, so check the calendar or drop me an email.

_{disclaimer: We may receive a small introduction fee from vendors. This will not affect any prices that you are charged. But I will only recommend vendors that I know and love and ones that I have used for myself as a customer.}