BNB Host Support Blog

Coaching Blog S1 Episode 39 - Mark's Expert Tips: Enhancing Your Airbnb Listing - Mo's masterclass

Written by Mark Smith | Feb 21, 2024 6:19:36 AM
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This video is a a detailed critique and analysis of a property listing on Airbnb, presumably conducted by a professional or experienced host named Mark Smith.
 
The video was recorded on February 8, 2024.
 
Mark Smith provides a comprehensive review of the property listing, focusing on various aspects such as the title, photos, amenities, booking policies, and host profile. He offers constructive feedback and suggestions for improvement throughout the video. Key points from the analysis include:
1. Photos: Mark emphasizes the importance of high-quality photos, suggesting the host use captions as a ranking tool, turn on lights for better illumination, and declutter spaces for a cleaner look. He also recommends the host to consider the orientation of the photos (portrait vs landscape) based on how most people view listings.
2. Amenities: He suggests the host to conduct a Wi-Fi speed test and highlight amenities like a hot tub and EV charger. He also mentions the importance of having a carbon monoxide detector for attracting corporate travelers.
3. Booking Policies: Mark advises against allowing one-night stays due to the cleaning costs involved. He also recommends offering instant booking for verified guests and considering a longer stay discount.
4. Host Profile: He suggests the host to add more personal information to their profile to help guests connect with them.
5. Location: Mark recommends mentioning the property's proximity to key locations (like shops or train stations) in the title.
6. Cleaning Charge: He suggests considering a cleaning charge or absorbing it in the case of longer stays.
 
Overall, Mark Smith's analysis is thorough and constructive, providing valuable insights for the host to improve their Airbnb listing.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Transcript:

 
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hey Mo Mark Smith here um today is Thursday the 8th of February uh 2024 we're just going to have a look at your listing and give it a critique and see where we can improve it if we can improve it at all and uh just give you some thoughts overall um not sure about the uh heading uh most uh most departments are for finished um so um let's see about the creative juices um

is yeah I don't know enough about your your property yet so um okay now this is a photo tour that's very good um and many um many new hosts don't do the well don't know that there is a photo to this is uh perfect so um you do need captions though uh well you can put captions in and that's a ranking tool um you could probably take this photo with um these lights on and in fact if you go to the uh complete guide to hosting which I'm sure I sent you the link to um there are some uh professional tips on how to make them the best um I mean yes it is uh it is what did you say a fully furnished modern apartment yes that that would I mean it's it's quite stylish um so um just move me over here uh and then we can find the arrow so um if you could um just work on the light um that's a tip uh this is probably your foyer um um and this is a bit messy so um um and look yeah I think you I think you could uh you could um benefit from uh just a little tidy up of these uh you look like you're quite high up in the building so again none of the lights are on and if you don't need that sticker there I'm not sure I would have it there I don't know that I'd have this on the counter but I definitely would have a knife block um on the counter and uh if you've got a espresso machine uh pop that on the counter um you don't want them cluttered but um yes see this [Music] one okay um I think I'd have okay so the order the first four the first four oops so you got two um photos of the kitchen which I don't especially like um I put maybe one photo uh but the first four photo photos are are critically important and how you've arranged this particular photo um it's uh what's called landscape so none of these really suit um suit looking on one of these most people look on one of these in portrait mode yet all of these are taken in landscape mode so um I I yeah I get rid of um get rid of this from your first four um oops uh this yeah it looks a little too domestic and very domestic I think it can improve that so read up the U the tips on the complete guide to hosting uh this is a less effective photo because doesn't show that there's a balcony um whereas the first photo clearly shows that uh yeah there's something Outdoors [Music]

um I mean yes it's interesting because um this is interesting because you know you can see that basically in the entire floor plan how do you got a floor plan um that might be uh something worthwhile to put in um and for yeah so if you've got a floor plan pop that in um you could always set this table as well um and take a a photo yeah so bedroom photos probably should be um probably I don't know how you've managed to not be in this photo um so that's kind of interesting how you managed to avoid being in that photo uh you do have quite nice um uh quite stylish uh bed um you know blankets and throws and all of that um you could declutter this a little bit um and is this what a guest is going to um see so

um you could put Tails here um and clean ones you know some nice white ones and again maybe just declutter this just a fraction um but I mean it shows what guests we'll be getting um yeah so 100% go through the tips that are in the um uh in the complete guide to hosting on those Pro tips I think around about here probably the next one would be an appropriate place to put the foyer photos uh yep that's a garage so that's interesting [Music]

um okay security so uh and air conditioning so again we can see what that is um all right um so I guess that you're in quite a modern complex I don't know anything about Cornerstone but um uh I guess the fact that you've pulled that in is um suggesting that someone could Google Cornerstone and find out about the building uh hot tub so there was no photo of the hot tub um I would put one of those in um and even with the captions um I think I was telling you yes you do want to put in captions uh even if you put in the word hot tub I mean it's very very obvious um andbb algorithm can see oh you got a hot tub um uh but putting in the hot tub the word hot tub as a caption uh does uh prompts the guest but it also prompts the algorithm oh okay um rank this above something else that doesn't have a hot tub and in your building my guess is that uh everyone has access to the hot tub but um someone that's searching for a hot tub uh let's let's see if well yeah it must be mentioned as one of the um the amenities uh so in the ameni

in the amenities uh you do want to do a speed test um on the Airbnb app on a mobile phone you go to amenities and find uh Wi-Fi and then you can do a speed test and it will say I you know you get 99 megabits per second or or you get 19 or whatever and typically you know two properties are the same one can see aess can see you've got 100 and uh someone else is getting 20 they probably and if the prices are the same they Pro or even if yours is just a fraction dearer uh they may well stay at yours rather than uh someone else's so well you're letting people do one night stays um I wouldn't do that um let's see yeah um so there's no minimum so you're like a motel uh there's no cleaning charge um and um so there's nothing to discourage people from taking short stays or not taking longer stays so um let's see let's see uh if you take a 39 it's still the same rate

um so this is letting uh us book fire five uh infants so that's interesting um let's go and have a look at your cancellation policy um having a carbon monoxide detector will put you in U as being available for someone that um for someone that uh books uh staff trips and um uh these uh corporate travel arrangers uh often will pay more um than other ones uh but corporate Travelers probably would care about um the cancellation policy so I booked for the 14th to the 17th let's just change clear those dates and see what

um save that and see whether you give a a longer state discount so no longer stay discount uh although you've got this special offer because you're all new uh okay so you do allow people to cancel up until 5 days ahead so that's that's good that's a flexible um pretty flexible Arrangement um so that's probably going to help you a carbon monoxide detector would help you again to get more uh more uh corporate visits request to book so you're not a instant uh uh an instant booking so I don't actually know let's say I'm I've got uh if you're what's if if you're what's called you've got government ID and you're verified with your identity then probably I would allow people to book instantly um I would absolutely allow people to book instantly but you're not doing that so um people have to wait and can I book yours and you know when will they get back to me uh I can book this other one get an instant answer so um do a speed test um get a carbon monoxide detector um it's usually no single level home um you've got an EV charger okay that's good it's actually very good um oh okay carbon monoxide alarm okay excellent beautiful love it um so that's one of the things I look at um you could put in your title something about the location you know are you close to this mosque uh are you close to uh the train station um um you look like you are reasonably are you close to shops um all of those sorts of things um now there's there's absolutely nothing about you you here Mo uh oh mo lives in Melbourne but we don't know anything else about you Mo so

um uh put in something about you um about your profile so people can connect with you um check in uh 2 to 10 uh I I would put three and check out uh 10:00 a.m. I think um so overall uh the you know I think your listing looks pretty good there's a few things that you can improve um and let's get um let's get onto those photos I think I think that will make a big difference and um maybe a cleaning charge um but maybe you can offer people a longer Day discount so um you're not charging the cleaning charge but um uh if someone stays for three nights will maybe you'd absorb the cleaning charge um and you're probably going to have to I mean yes if if someone stays for one night and you're in Melbourne uh I'm guessing you're you're paying someone to come and uh change the uh change the sheets and clean the property and you're probably not going to get much change out of 100 bucks for that so you're charging 168 so um I'd think about whether the returns are worthwhile while on a one night day and I'd suggest they're not so um please have a look at that and um if you want to communicate with me by all means do so um through the Airbnb app or uh give me a call anytime 130012 snow many thanks bye
 
 
 

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