Michelangelo Matteoda

In an age of ever-expanding digital interconnectivity, hotel digital marketing professionals must adapt to changing customer demands.

But the best in the business aren’t satisfied to just adapt. And they would rather lead than follow, by surprising and delighting clients with daring and imaginative initiatives.

The top hotel companies know how to shape customer preferences better than anyone, which helps to explain their immense success. Hotel managers and marketing experts everywhere can learn a lot from their example and must learn from their example if they expect to ride the digital wave to glory.

Best practices in hotel digital marketing are changing on the fly. And here are five you should be up to speed on, along with fascinating examples of how the world’s most prestigious hotel chains are putting them into action.

1. Embracing digital media with gusto.

Example: Marriot International’s Travel Brilliantly digital magazine.

Travel Brilliantly began as a website targeted at millennials. It has now evolved into a sleek digital magazine that caters to the desires of travelers seeking new adventures, new perspectives, and new vistas.

Diverse in long-form content, Marriot’s quarterly digital publication features interviews with prominent thinkers from various walks of life. It discusses emerging trends in travel, introduces specific hotel innovations, and offers fresh contributions from partner companies like the art/tech company VSCO and the media organization TED. Each issue is organized around a single theme that challenges travelers to rethink their old assumptions. And to also reimagine what is possible, in a world where new experiences are always just beyond the horizon.

Travel Brilliantly Marriot is marketing the entire travel experience to younger clients and anyone else looking to explore unchartered territories. In doing so Marriot is repositioning itself as a “smart travel” resource. It’s expanding the scope of its expertise and giving potential clients good reasons to return to their Travel Brilliantly site.

2. Letting the customer come to you (or at least letting them think they’re coming to you).

Example: Hyatt’s Google Lightbox Ad campaign.

In response to surveys that suggested problems reaching female business travelers, Hyatt launched an ambitious video advertising campaign. This took place across multiple digital platforms with the help of Google Lightbox Ads. When viewers hold their cursors over a Lightbox Ad for two seconds, it blooms to cover the full screen. It creates a memorable visual experience with a brand-specific message that entertains even as it informs.

So far Hyatt’s approach has proven wildly successful. And they’ve surpassed the industry average with a 2.8 percent engagement rate on their Lightbox video packages. Using this aggressive yet unobtrusive hotel digital marketing strategy, Hyatt has expanded its demographic reach as desired. They offer carefully customized content in an opt-in/opt-out format that puts the customer in the driver’s seat.

That feeling of autonomy and personal choice only strengthens the impact of well-crafted advertising. They have eliminated the normal resistance a customer might feel when confronted with obvious marketing tactics.

3. Marketing digital convenience in a package format.

Example: Hilton’s HHonors loyalty program plus complementary app.

If greater convenience is what hotel customers seek, why not give it to them in a fully streamlined package? That’s what the fine folks at Hilton Hotels & Resorts have done, with their HHonors customer loyalty program plus accompanying app.

To help spread the good word about its amazing benefits, Hilton supported the HHonors rollout in 2016 with a ‘Stop Clicking Around’ informational campaign. And this introduced travelers to the ease and convenience of direct booking. ‘What’s good for us is good for you’ was the message of this campaign, and as of early 2017 Hilton was snaring an average of one new enrollee every three seconds.

But the HHonors initiative was only part of Hilton’s plan to market a smoother customer experience. In conjunction with their HHonors enrollment, clients can download an associated app that lets them choose specific rooms, check-in, and check-out remotely and even open their hotel rooms with the app’s digital key.

Nothing offered in the Hilton HHonors program is overly exotic by modern industry standards. But they’ve gotten a jump on the competition by packaging digital benefits together, and that syncretic approach to customer service is one of the best ways to make an impression on the discriminating digital-age traveler.

4. Never forgetting that travelers prioritize the destination over the accommodation.

Example: Choice Hotel’s Travel Top 6 Guide for European tourists.

European travelers can explore the continent’s most popular and desirable destinations from the comfort of their own homes by visiting Choice Hotels’ Travel Top 6 online tourism hub.

To begin their adventures, Travel Top 6 visitors can simply click on a photograph of Rome, London, Frankfurt, Cannes, Vienna, Budapest or two dozen other well-known tourist meccas. Before their eyes, a menu of options will appear that will introduce them to the spectacular sights, sounds, tastes, smells and overall ambiance of their chosen location.

Direct booking options are readily available on each travel destination page, entirely appropriate since Choice has facilities in each city, village or region.

Choice Hotels’ centralized model for browsing is perfect for European vacationers. But it provides an ideal template for smart hotel marketers everywhere who want to market their locations in addition to their facilities. Choice is building brand loyalty by anticipating its customers’ traveling preferences and catering to them profusely, and there’s nothing to stop any other hotel from doing the same.

5. Never put limits on what the technology can do—and what you can do with it.

Example: InterContinental’s experiment in virtual reality.

Even the biggest hotel companies can’t offer accommodations everywhere in the world.

But InterContinental Hotels Group has found a way to work around that problem. Or more specifically, the technology to work around that problem: virtual reality. As a result, visitors to several InterContinental properties in China can now enjoy a fully immersive virtual reality experience. And this can be done in a special gaming and entertainment zone or from the privacy of their own rooms.

Hype and techno-wizardry aside, virtual tourism and entertainment will never be a substitute for the real thing. But as a three-dimensional supplement, it can bring unprecedented depth and breadth to the travel experience—and offer a ridiculous bounty of marketing opportunities to those smart enough (like InterContinental) to jump on the train before it hits full speed.

Virtual tourism in many ways is the final frontier, and InterContinental is boldly going where no one has gone before. This pilot project will break new ground in hotel digital marketing, and the sky is the limit on what InterContinental can accomplish as they blend and bend their best digital marketing strategies to accommodate the brave new virtual world.

Hotel Digital Marketing: Finding the Winning Edge

In each of our five examples, these hotel giants evaluated customer preferences and expectations. They then devised strategies not to meet them, but exceed them. Innovation means staying one step ahead of the game, and the best way to do that is to rewrite the rules as the game progresses.

In hotel marketing, being proactive and inventive always equals success. That formula can make a winner out of any marketing professional regardless of the size or reputation of the hotel that employs them.

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What do hotels need to understand about content marketing?

The bare bones of content marketing is obviously about publishing and distributing content online to a targeted audience, but it gets much more complex than that. Major considerations have to be given to what type of content is used and for who, when and how often content is produced, as well as what results hotels can expect to see.

Ben believes content marketing is very much a patience game.

“The most important thing is to be realistic with your expectations. Content marketing will not drive any results for at least three months,” he says. “Secondly, hotels need someone who understands search engine optimisation (SEO), social media marketing, email marketing, and the value of channel providers who know the industry and can create lasting relationships.”

“Hotels must also pay attention to the marketing metrics that content marketing provides. Every piece of content should be driving new customers to your hotel – if it doesn’t, then change it. If it does, keep doing it.”

Once established, a content marketing strategy can be very effective, although Ben stresses each hotel will be unique in how they approach it.

“There’s a number of strategies that can work very well,” he states. “But they depend on the hotel itself; its digital properties (including website, email relationships, strength of social media channels) and what exactly the hotel is trying to do. However, generally these techniques present a good repeatable path towards driving high-value customers. The greatest thing about content marketing is that it is low-cost, measurable, repeatable, and it builds upon itself. Once the foundation is in place, customers roll in at increasing rates.”

What is holding some hotels back from achieving optimal results?

Developing and maintaining a content marketing strategy can seem like hard work, too much at times for some hoteliers. Seemingly easier options to drive traffic and bookings may present themselves, but Ben remarks these may not be your best option.

“From our conversations in the industry, we assume that many independent hotel owners are resolved to ride the coattails of Groupon and other more established channel providers. We certainly respect the value and the reach of these providers, but we also look at the total margin that they take and we see a lot of hotels that are on what we call the ‘Groupon Treadmill’ – meaning their hotel continues to get by, but 

“When we start shifting the balance from 60% Groupon down to 45% Groupon and then eventually down to 20%, there’s a lot of cash flow hotels can then use to tackle capital improvements or upgrade the facility.”

Often it may also be a case of independent hoteliers lacking the knowledge to lure customers via a content marketing strategy, instead relying on providers such as Groupon. But there are simple ways to change that situation.

What are some useful content marketing recommendations for hoteliers?

Whether you’re just starting out or have been at it a while, concentrating on becoming very good at simple strategies is always a good option. For instance, maintaining a blog on on your hotel website is a no brainer. Ben agrees, saying it’s a great help in getting your hotel found via Google.

“If your hotel is in a popular tourist area (such as Palm Springs, California), it would make sense for you to post a blog on different restaurants to try in Palm Springs. We like to look at a website as a repository of all of the unanswered questions potential customers may have. Answer those questions accurately and often and you’ll start to see new customers coming in your door.”

There are various forms of content your hotel can use. High-quality images, videos, written copy, virtual reality, social media etc. all have value in engaging potential customers.

According to Ben, however, there is still one thing which trumps them all.

“Our research has shown that the most powerful path to new customers is to continue exploring new search terms for relevance and brand fit,” he advises. “Once we find these opportunities, we put the terms on our client’s website. This approach generates a lot more search traffic for the client. While there is awareness value in imagery and video – few things have surpassed the conversion performance of search marketing.”

This is why it’s so vital to be conscious of collecting and analysing customer and prospective guest data. For Ben, any modern business that isn’t utilising data is missing out.

“In some ways, customer data is the untapped economic potential of the 21st century,” he states. “It tells you who your customer is, why they are your customer, what they are looking for, and how you can stay connected with them in the future. Hotels that harness customer data to drive more-personal guest experiences are likely to have the most loyal customers and will see the new revenue streams.”

“The best method to achieve this is to build out a data management plan, which includes where and how customer data can be captured and utilised to drive more business results. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but getting started collecting, managing, and using data is a great journey for any business in the 21st century.”

There’s also merit in capitalising on user-generated content and making sure your hotel is marketing specifically to target segments.

“User-generated content has a tonne of potential,” says Ben. “Hotels should be looking at user-generated content through the same lens that they look at all marketing channels. First and foremost, what can we start doing with it today that can help us and secondly, what do we need to build holistically to use it more aggressively in the future?”

“As for demographics, content certainly engages different segments on different levels. Making sure that your message is being delivered to the right audience through the right channels is important. That said, the concepts of reaching an audience (regardless of their demographics) is very much the same – speak in their language and solve their problems. Do this consistently and you’ll be on a good path, whether you’re serving millennials or baby boomers,” he finishes.

1. Go live with a great website

Your website is the most important distribution for your business and the crux of any good online marketing strategy. No matter which hotel marketing tactic has directed a potential customer to your website, this is the place where people can learn more about your individual business and decide whether or not to book a stay with you. It’s also the only online distribution channel where you can generate direct online sales, so it’s crucial your website has a booking engine to handle self-service reservations. As more internet users rely solely on their smartphones and tablets, a mobile friendly website is necessity these days.

2. Follow the SEO staples

There’s no point in having a website if its difficult for potential customers to find via their preferred search engine. Make sure you’re following SEO (Search Engine Optimization) online marketing basics like ensuring your content is rich and relevant, with strong keywords and keyword combinations that give your website the best chance of being clicked upon. Consider likely search terms when planning your hotel marketing SEO campaigns and don’t forget to combine your main keywords with strong secondary ones like the name of your local neighbourhood or district.

3. Differentiate yourself from the rest

To really contend with the competition, your hotel needs to offer something unique and distinctly different to entice potential guests. Your hotel marketing campaign needs to be equally individual. Quality customer care needs to be at the core of everything in the hotel and hospitality industry. Going that extra mile for your guests can yield massive returns. Make sure you’re doing something different, from providing customers with a little treat at check-in, to nabbing local press and PR connections to shine a light on hotel marketing events.

4. Get recommended by real authority

One surefire way of securing new customers is to get your hotel listed with local tourist offices. Whether it’s a printed flyer in a bricks and mortar office, or a prominent link on a local tourism website, you’re guaranteed to take premier listing over many rival competitors. If you’re looking to appeal to the business traveller, nearby convention and exhibition centres are also a great place to promote your hotel. It’s also worth talking to local marketing and event companies in the region as many of these may only offer part-package deals to their own customers, meaning you can cover the accommodation needs and bolster your bookings in quieter seasons.

5. Promote yourself with online travel agencies

In the modern digital age, no hotel can secure regular business without capitalising on online travel agencies and travel brokers. A simple listing can generate thousands of bookings in the long-term, but it’s worth remembering that each time a booking is generated through such an agency, a commission will be applied. Never rely solely on online travel agencies when it comes to your hotel marketing efforts, ensuring such websites are used to generate additional sales, rather replace your direct sales efforts entirely.

6. Global Distribution Systems

A Global Distribution System (GDS) is a network that enables automated transactions between travel service providers (airlines, hotels, cruises and car rental) and travel agencies. When connecting your hotel to a GDS provider your hotel can be booked via hundreds of travel agencies worldwide. You can also use such systems to target specific travellers, including those venturing from home turf on business.

7. Appoint a sales rep and reap the rewards

When it comes to hotel marketing, you should always take best practice in hospitality out into the field when promoting your business. If a local business is regularly recommending you to potential customers, make sure you’re maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship with strong incentives. Appointing a dedicated sales representative is definitely worth considering for hotel businesses looking to expand. Any good rep should be taking stock of potential companies in the area worth making a connection with, while ongoing procurement efforts to lock down new partnerships should be at the forefront of any hotel marketing effort.

8. Get savvy with social media

If you’re not utilizing social media in your online hotel marketing campaign, start now. It’s free to create accounts with the likes of FaceBook, Twitter, FourSquare, Instagram and YouTube and it’s never been easier to create dynamic social media pages in moments. However, there’s no point launching a social media presence if you don’t mean to maintain it. Make sure you’ve got at least one person appointed to keeping your hotel marketing social media message live and engaging. Fresh content is pivotal, so make sure you’ve got a content delivery schedule. If you’re strapped for time to create new content, consider launching a hotel blog you can link back to from your social pages regularly.

9. Keep an eye on reviews and recommendations

A great review can earn you a new customer. A poor review can cost you hundreds. Try to encourage better reviews and recommendations from previous guests by engaging them after checking out. Your hotel could feature dozens, if not hundreds of times on review websites, so you need to ensure that each page is loaded with positive reviews and complimentary content. Monitor reviews on the most popular sites, taking note of any bad reviews and engaging dissatisfied guests with helpful and constructive feedback. Neutralise negative feedback wherever you can.

Hospitality Marketing Strategies

Since the technological revolution of the world nearly 20-years ago now, the nature of marketing and how we locate brands and services has changed entirely. What used to be “cold-calling” is now messaging on Instagram, direct messaging on Twitter or email marketing.

We’re cognizant of the ever-changing nature of hospitality and travel marketing strategies in our world today, which is why we offer a fusion of marketing solutions, digital marketing support, and social media marketing campaigns, catered perfectly to fit your brand.

Blogger Engagement

One of the most effective ways of getting content on your hotel or restaurant location out into the world is through blogging. Travel blogs are easily liked, commented, and shared on social media with thousands of readers in a matter of minutes. Not to mention, people use social media correctly to locate blogs today. Consumers want free information, and your blog is the place they’re going to find it. Our company offers high-scale blogging content curating, editing, and posting, with unique content that will improve your SEO rankings.

Custom Brand Campaigns

It’s no secret the competition is stiff out there today. To outshine your competitors, you need custom brand campaigns that are creative, original, and engaging. We design custom campaigns for a variety of social media and other blogging channels on your behalf. Our team formulates the campaign idea, develops it through graphic expression and copyediting, and pushes it out into the world on your behalf. We then measure the results and ensure the campaign is continually performing.

Influencer Engagement

Social media has given rise to an entirely new group of individuals with powerful marketing capabilities. Influencers can be everyday people that have mastered their niche on Instagram. Those with 100k, 1 million, and even 5 million followers can significantly affect consumer’s behavior and purchasing decisions. We collaborate with the industry’s leading travel influencers to give your brand greater exposure.

International Media Opportunities

The nature of the tourism industry means you need to get your hotel’s name out into the world, far away from your home location. One timelessly effective way to do that is through international PR opportunities. Quite simply, as your PR agency, we work on your behalf to develop press, pitch it to journalists, and secure your exposure in newspapers, blogs, websites, TV, radio, and the list goes on.

Local Partnership Opportunities

Every travel excursion is about more than the hotel, brand, or tour company. By partnering with other businesses around you like high-end restaurants, flower shops, luxury phtographers, and local vendors you’ll be able to offer your guests the whole package. We work to develop connections with you and valuable business owners that can provide something to your guests.

Marketing Partnership Strategies

Pairing up with other people in your niche industry and working together on marketing strategies is incredibly popular today. Many brands host co-giveaways to engage consumers for both of their operations. We research and recommend marketing partnership strategies that will be beneficial to your business in the long run.

Measurable Results

ROI matters, and we’re here to prove it to you. We provide measurable results regarding all of our marketing services, and take the time to go over the numbers, impressions, and clicks moving forward. We want to work with you to make sure the best possible strategies are being executed for your operation.

Media Networking

As a travel and hospitality public relations firm, media networking is one of our specialties. We’ve worked hard to accumulate a reputable list of reporters with big-time media outlets that can get your hotel or travel company the exposure it deserves. We are always building media lists and nurturing our contacts to ensure favorable coverage time and time again.

Strategic Consultancy

And of course, for everything else you desire from us, we provide strategic consultancy on everything related to hospitality and travel marketing strategies. Whether it’s campaign ideas for Live Video on Facebook, or chasing down a reporter at a newspaper halfway around the world, we’re here to provide 24-7 communication, support, and success for you and your operation.

Airbnb split payment is simplifying guest’s experience without having to get involved in embarrassing payment conversation between friends.

Do you hesitate to ask your friend to go Dutch on a bill? Have you found yourself tongue-tied on a date while splitting the bill?

Airbnb has recently introduced a system that takes the awkwardness out of fun-lodging.

Now, you can book a room on Airbnb and have the total fee split among you travel buddies without having to put your foot in your mouth. By using the new split-payment system, you can book a listing on airbnb and have it equally paid by your travel partners.

It is as simple as a snap of a finger, all you need to do is book the listing that you like. Once you select a listing, Airbnb split payment grants you with 72 hours to settle the bill amongst your friends. At the end of three days, if all your travel partners including you, make the payment, your dates are locked. However, the maximum number of people that the payment can be divided into is 16.

Alternatively, if none of your partners pay, Airbnb split payment does not instantly cancel the booking but offers a maximum 24 hours stretch for you to pay the whole amount. So the crucial check-in dates are not lost and is still available if you choose to confirm the reservation.

Therefore, instead of you having to seek each buddy to pay for the reservation, Airbnb draws an invoice and split the cost equally.

Payments amount can be split equally or at a proportion of your choice

By default Airbnb split payment the total amount equally amongst the number of companions. However, it does offer an option to adjust the payment differently. For instance, if one of the couple decides to pay more in comparison to the other then such a partner may double their payment.
This happens for instance when you have an apartment with different rooms.

An alternative to third party booker

In order to cater to the gaping demand by corporate travelers, Airbnb also started to offer a different variation of payment option. Under this system, a designated person can book on behalf of someone else. Such person is called Booker within Airbnb platform.

A booker is the point of contact at the initial stages of a reservation namely; reservation request, introduction, and payment for the reservation. Once this is complete, the onus shifts to the person on whose behalf the listing has been reserved also known as a guest.

At this point, booker and guest join the message room with the host. Therefore creating a three-way communication channel.

Alternatively, if you’re a host, you’ll have the titles ‘booked by’ and ‘booked for’ differently appear in your chat interface linked to the concerned listing. This makes management of reservation by the corporation as easy as pie.

However, this option was stopped in some countries due to the fact that Airbnb claims its platform is based on trust and people booking on the behalf of someone else will break the trust circle.

On the other hand business travel it is still available, therefore, for instance, a manager assistant can book for his manager, paying with the company credit card.

Airbnb users have doubled since the launch of split payment settlement

Considering the stats, split payment option has been a successful move for Airbnb. At the beta stage, this payment settlement system drove new users to the platform. Out of the 30% of booking that used split payment, there were tens and hundreds of new users who joined the platform.

Being the consumer-centric brand Airbnb is, its founder Brian Chesky instantly incorporated the split-payment because of a tweet exchange he had with one of Airbnb user. In one of his super popular tweet dated December 26th 2016, Brian Chesky asked this question to his followers.

With only less than a year after this tweet, Airbnb launched split payment that made cost-sharing convenient and graceful.

What was the secret sauce in making split payment a reality in 11 months?

In order to speed up the developmental process of split payment, Airbnb made a major acquisition in February 2017. Tilt, a social payment start-up app that specialized in peer-to-peer money transfer, and it was acquired by Airbnb. Investors at Tilt were grateful and counted their blessings which came in the form of unexpectedly large-sum of acquisition money.

What further sweetened the deal was money because tens of millions of dollar were paid only to ensure employee retention. From the onset of this acquisition, it was clear that Airbnb split payment was headed for the kill. Like most acquisition where the team is replaced, existing team was retained. Departments were operational and functional as if it were before the acquisition.

In the end the strategy seems to have paid off.

What are the implication for hosts?

Basically, Airbnb hosts, who have to deal with this group buy system they have a booking left on hold for a longer period that the 24 hours, as it happens for singular booking. On the other hand it may bring many advantages to property owners who has big apartments or expensive one. To sum up this split payment on option on Airbnb can definitely increase the sum of the money exchanged in every transaction within the platform.

It seems Airbnb has tons of ace up its sleeve, let’s see what’s next?

Truly, Airbnb is a company that exploded into fast-track growth because of its aggressive drive. It turned over new leaves on its track, and also left no stones unturned when it came to innovation. This millennial focused start-up never failed to up the ante while causing disruption.

This short-term rental secret is barely legal, now you can make massive money too

Did you know short-term rental can make you wealthy?

Many private-millionaire landlords have their property rented on short-term lease over long-term. Do you know why? Yes, you’re right. Because the bank-roll from short-term rental trumps long-term rental in virtually every locale.

Long-term rental locks your rental property for longer periods. Your tenants will normally extend their stay over 12 months. Terminating a contract before the contracted date may attract penalty that can strip you off your money if a jiffy.

Short-term rental is easy to hack and the fastest method to build a profitable business. A prominently located property will attract masses of tourist who wish to experience the city like a local. Unlike long-term rentals, where negotiations is complex and takes ages to complete.

As you read through this recently discovered fact that uncovers the truth of property rental business, you’ll be spellbound to know that you could make more money in less than half the lease period of a long-term rental system.

How do we know this? In an article posted by curbed.com from San Francisco area, there were startling revelation relating to rental cost. Prior to kick-off at Super-bowl at San Francisco, the prices for 3 days accommodation in Russian Hill 3 bedroom was walloping at $17000. Yes, you read it right. That’s how short-term rental landlords are raking in the dough.

In addition long term rent rental often requires renovation adjustments and you often results in more commitment and legal issues involved rather than a short term rental.

Today many multi-sided platforms they manage to have to decrease the risk of renting to minimum level for landlords and real estate companies.

Here’s a Cheat-sheet for a short-term rental business-owner

Although not all that glitters is gold for everybody, there are certain caveats to short-term renting. If you follow my advice word-by-word, you’ll surely build a mega-successful rental business in no time.

1. In every country, city, or state, there are legal implication that you must be aware of. Like certain states require you to obtain a license to lease your property for less than 30 days. It is best you contact your local lawyer to get legal assistance before you start-out.
2. Next, you’ll have to feel the pulse of rental business in your locality. You can get a classified newspaper from the central newsstand and look at prices of apartments that are similar to your rental property with a keen eye. Circle the relevant rental charges, add all of them and divide it by the number of listings (circles that you made). This is the run-of-the-mill price that you can demand.
3. Another simple but fiercely-effective step is to go to airbnb’s website and look for competing prices. Look for the crown-jewel in every listing, especially the wildly popular apartments. Does the listing has private pool, or tennis court, or perhaps barbecue-backyard? Moreover, analyse the offers and make one that is better than it. An offer they can’t refuse. Are the kitchen fully-stocked? If not, then you offer a full-stocked kitchen along with bathroom essentials and artwork that will greatly enhance guest experience.
4. You can dramatically spike your rental revenue by tactfully marketing your property. By reading guest review on Airbnb or other sites, you can study the class of tourist/visitors that frequent your city. For instance, San Francisco attracts Super-Bowl fan in flock of millions during the first week of February. Most of the land-lord adorn their listing as per the super-bowl theme to make guest have a one-of-kind experience.
5. What this means is that you can attract a throng of guest to your listing as   well. All you have to do is strategically theme you property in your city’s or country’s most ravishing festival, season or fiesta. Online channel are often cheaper and more effective but being offline at some certain point can be way more effective.

By doing this, you’ll rise head and shoulders above 90% of your competing rental business owner.

Again, you do not want be jack of all trade rather master of just one. If your locale boasts of slew of tourist attractions, you should ideally choose only one and gain a magic touch for it. Being popular for singular event can drive revenue faster.

6)  Like everybody else, you are in the rental business to make money, that’s why it’s best you make an expense sheet for fixed and variable expenses that erodes revenue.
You can ask an accountant to prepare the expense and revenue sheet to draw up exact profit from the business.

An accountant can do more than just billing and computation. You can rest on your laurels after employing an actuary because your taxes and returns are taken care of. As long as you’re within the confines of legal boundaries and keep these tips in your mind, you can safely grow your business into a money-churning machine.

Once you get the wheels turning, you must include in this financial plan the occupancy rate. What is an occupancy rate?
It is how many days or months in year is your apartment occupied by guests. In a year there shall be certain months (February—in case of Superbowl) when you will experience a surge in demand.

How much time in percentage your property should be occupied so that you do not lose money? Make discount ad or promotion according to your forecast.

Pro-Tip: Always have a fixed minimum price before you even start-out with the rental business. This will ensure that you stay above the line of cost at all times, for safeguarding yourself against hagglers and people asking for discount

It is always good to know how much you can be flexible on price before losing money.

Short-term rental business has its share of wealth that you as a landlord can massively cash-in. All you need to do hit the nail on the head when it comes to marketing and pricing to watch your profits shoot through the roof.

Never lose a dollar on your Airbnb by putting together an easy-to-use system

Are you renting several properties? Do you have them listed on multiple rental website? Is it stressful to keep track of dozens of booking? Did you disheartened your guest because of overbooking?

If you said yes any of the questions, you’re in for a million-dollar advice. Your problem ends now. You can easily accommodate every guest and rake in lots of money while gaining a superstar reputation on Airbnb or any other platform.

I get mails from readers who repeatedly ask me this question. One host from Airbnb, let’s call him Billy, had his listings posted on many other rental sites including booking.com, homestay and others. He faces a deadlock when two guests from different platforms booked the same listing for identical dates. Guess what happened?

A bird in hand is worth two in the bush

You might have guessed it right. In order to welcome both the guest, he tried convincing them to change their check-in dates. When one of them didn’t budge he negotiated with the other. Since none of them were flexible with their dates, our host was secretly wishing to have them both stay in his room by asking them to change their check-in date. He was stuck in a delightful dilemma, instead of at least accommodating one guest at his desired convenience; he lost both of them to this dilemma.

As you see, he lost a booking because of conflicting check-in dates for the same listing. This loss in booking could potentially lead to millions of dollar in lifetime value from that lost client. Many like Billy have this predicament on a daily basis and this guide helps to allay dilemma. A must guide for anyone seeking to smartly manage their listing and get the most bookings without losing a dollar.

Synchronize your calendar’s right now to have a self-growing bank balance

How does synchronizing benefit you? When you integrate your calendar, you end having a powerful tool to micro-manage booking. When this happens, a booking that you confirm on Airbnb automatically locks those specific dates on the corresponding booking website. Similarly, Airbnb listing gets blocked for those days that it has been booked on other platforms.

If Billy had been synchronizing his calendar from day one, the first guest who confirmed the booking on one platform gained the exclusivity for those days on other listing websites as well. Billy would not have landed in a tight spot because the successive guest would be electronically restricted from booking for reserved slot in the calendar.

As a result, Billy makes money on his listing by renting it every day without conflicting check-ins. Which also means he can easily provide extra-ordinary service to his guest and build a rockstar reputation on the platform by catering to clients one by one.

Integrate your calendar in few minutes and become a top-renter on Airbnb

iCal is your go-to calendar app for uniform integration across every platform. Like you’d expect from a personal secretary, iCal helps you by syncing every listing you have on a singular platform. Its versatility and ubiquitous applicability makes it extremely proficient in setting up an online calendar that manages most, if not all business day-to-day operations.

Services relating to online calendar, client-mailing, scheduling is now possible through your smart-phone. Even Google calendar can be merged with iCal and it can be shared to users who do not have access to your check-front account.

It is similar to having a personal secretary who notifies you in advance. To set up an iCal account all you need to do is sign up and copy the link generated in it within other platforms where you’ve listed your property. To learn the installation and set-up of a fully-functional iCal app, read this step-by-step guide rolled out by check-front.

The beauty of Airbnb lies in its website. A person who is a novice computer user or is computer-challenged can easily set up his listing on multiple website without a hassle. Here’s a step by step guide to synchronizing your calendar for your online renting business:

Calendar Importing

As the name suggests, calendar importing is updating your Airbnb booking dates as per the calendar from external website and applications. You can connect it with Google Calendar, Booking.com, Homestay or VRBO. In order to set the ball rolling, here’s what you ought to do:

1. Go to manage listing on Airbnb.
2. Choose the listing that you wish to integrate and click Manage Listing.
3. Select Availability tab from above your listing preview.
4. Go to Availability setting tab on the top right corner of your calendar.
5. Under the main tab Sync Calendars, select the sub-tab Import Calendar.
6. Paste your calendars URL in the Airbnb Calendar URL list.
7. Name your calendar.
8. Select Import calendar.

Calendar Exporting

Calendar export from Airbnb helps you to transpose information and data relating to occupancy and reservations from Airbnb to other websites. Its best that you do both in order for the integration of operate without any glitch.

1. Go to manage listing on Airbnb
2. Find the listing you’d like to edit and select manage listing.
3. Select availability from above your listing preview.
4. Under Sync calendars, select Export Calendar.
5. A link shall be generated by Airbnb, copy it to iCal application.

Become an immaculate micro-manager of your listing!

It is advisable for every host to have their calendar set up with iCal. You can never go wrong with calendar integration because it works like your personal assistant. For instance, if a guest wishes to make a reservation on your listing, iCal integration provides real-time update on its availability.

So it completely eliminates any conflict. Which means you don’t end up like Billy and instead offer a flawless user experience to your potential guest. To become a hot-shot airbnb entrepreneur, it is essential to treat your listing as a professional business to make the most from it.

Let us know your experience in the comments below!

How do you make massive money from your short-term rental property?
Are you looking for the most profitable platform for publishing your listings? Here’s your exclusive guide to strategically publish your listing on high-traffic websites to get maximum visibility. Since you already know a smartly managed short-term rental business trumps long-term rental business every single time, here’s a powerful tip on how to turn your business into a mega success.

Minimize the risk: Publishing on different platforms

Do you find yourself biting your nails when opting for the right rental website? Many business owners tend to mindlessly publish on several websites leading to chaos, redundant reservation, and client mismanagement.

Instead of moving the needle they end up digging their own grave! What you should do instead is to target websites that attract host of warm relevant traffic to skim the cream of the crop. As you read on, I’ll share with you the list of top 50 sites that should instantly turn your listing super-profitable.

Before you publish your listing on a website, you should watch out for the kind of traffic that frequents it. Not only the quantity matter but also the quality. For instance, if you want to go mainstream you can never go wrong with Airbnb; it attracts tons of interested travelers who wish to wander the world like a local. Most of the guests who use Airbnb are from different walks of life. Some people who fly during Christmas, or any holiday season, or sports club fans who are visiting for the match or Digital nomads who work while traveling and so on.

Whereas in Home-stay, guests typically are students who go abroad on an exchange program and stay in a shared accommodation. Most of the times, the guests enter in collaborative consumption, in which not necessarily money is exchanged in return of services (also known as barter economy or gift economy). Do keep in mind that when you put out your listing here, you’re ideally sharing your house with a guest and cannot rent it individually.

Why publishing on many listings in never a fully automated process?

Publishing on multiple sites isn’t all that easy. Most websites limit the number of images and words you can use for description. In such a case, the infamous style of copy and pasting does not work. Keep your eyes open for sites that support embedding videos in the listing, because there are publishers that prohibit video uploads. Here’s a tool that digs deeper into the traffic, frequency and commonly used keywords on a website.

How to get more visibility for your listing?

Ideally, your home-website should become the stepping stone to publishing elsewhere. This gives you the advantage of promoting your listing using the keywords that relate the most to your locality. By targeting the search query relating to listing in your area, you’ll attract swarms of visitors. Moreover, you’re not bound by the restrictions imposed by third-party platforms.

Another simple yet a million-dollar tip is to get your listing published on a specialty website. What’s a specialty website?
It’s government board that promotes special interests. Is your house located near a scuba-diving site? Or is your listing close to a golf course? Then in such cases, you can maximize your occupancy and also not have to worry about screening as the most of the guests that you’ll encounter will be certified enthusiast.

How to choose the price when the listing in on multiple platforms?

Alright now that you clearly know how to choose the ideal listing sites, it’s time to take a look at the existing price trend. It is as simple as ABC to get the best rent pay-out.
All you need to do is browse through few of the properties, filter them on the basis of price from lowest to highest. Compare the size and price, then place your property slightly higher, if you’ve got better accessibility and amenity. Otherwise on lower spectrum, if you’re offering a vanilla experience.

Never quote a dirt-cheap price just to jumpstart your business, because you’ll invite trouble more often than not. After all, it’s your business and you must treat it like one by carefully considering the cost of photography, listing fees, set-up cost and hosting charges. Decide on a bottom line price and always, always quote it higher than your total expenses.

Learn the rules of the publishers, because you’re here to make bank. Airbnb is the kingpin of short-term rental business and you’re bound to rake in a lot of profits from here because it does not cost a penny to publish. Another visitor-rich yet tacky-looking website is craigslist that you cannot afford to miss. It is flooded with landlords and tenants, you should let the long-term tenant settle at the bottom to scoop short-term visitor off the top. There are few notable sites that should be on your mind to increase your visibility online.

Manage your listings like Dr. Octopus with this secret app!

As you garner momentum or once the ball sets into motion, it’s time you put your manager’s cap and administer the listing by synchronizing all of them. Wait, what exactly does synchronizing mean in this case? Right! It may sound complex but it’s simple, easy and highly effective.

It’s integrating the reservation across every publisher on a single calendar application. As a result of this, you don’t fall in a soup because you’ll have the calendar pro-actively giving you updates based on the reservation made on various website. No conflicting check-ins, no more infuriated guests.

One last takeaway from this guide before I leave. Listing on multiple platforms may be tempting, but you’re the best judge on which publisher best suits your apartment’s profile. Always read the major terms & conditions before going live on a platform to minimize mishaps.
There are certain sites that take a cut of the listed price for the transaction occurring within the platform which is yet another point to keep in mind while pricing your listing.