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[00:00:00] Sarah: Hello. Welcome back for another great episode. My name is Sarah Karakaian.

[00:00:04] Annette: I am Annette Grant. And together we are–

[00:00:06] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.

[00:00:07] Sarah: Let’s start this episode like we do each and every week, and that is showcasing one of you, incredible hosts, who is going to our website, strshare.com, sharing as much as you can about your short-term rental so we can share it with our hosting world here on the podcast, to our email list, and of course on Sundays on our Instagram channel. Annette, who are we sharing this week?

[00:00:27] Annette: This week, we are sharing Hiwassee River Retreat. Check the show notes, but it’s H-I-W-A-S-S-E-E River Retreat, and get your notepads out because there is some good stuff. Number one, we talk about this often. In their highlight reel, the very first highlight, they have their loyalty program. They have a loyalty program for guests that visit for their second visit, third visit, fourth visit, fifth visit. They’re complimentary things that they provide. So if you’ve been trying to figure out a loyalty program, look no further

[00:01:05] Sarah: What are some examples?

[00:01:07] Annette: The second visit is a complimentary romance package. Bow wow wow. 100-dollar value. The third visit, complimentary romantic package plus a s’mores kit. 125-dollar value. Fourth visit, romance package, s’mores kit, and a T-shirt. Oh, they’re going to do the marketing for you. Genius. So just keep going. The loyalty program goes on and on.

[00:01:34] Sarah: So good.

[00:01:35] Annette: And then next, here’s what I want you to do because they have an absolute masterclass in upselling. The one thing I want to tell you is this is an adults-only riverfront retreat with luxury amenities and a mini wedding chapel. Y’all, they are charging $100 for two hours in a treehouse bathtub.

[00:01:55] Sarah: Wait, so you could not stay there and take just take a bath?

[00:01:58] Annette: You cannot stay there. If you’re not a guest, it’s 200 for two hours. If you’re a guest, it’s $100 for two hours. That is an amazing ROI on a bathtub.

[00:02:09] Sarah: Yes, it is.

[00:02:10] Annette: But I want you to not only look at that. There are so many upsell opportunities that they are taking advantage of in this couples retreat environment. So if you go to their Instagram, go to their link in bio. Takes you to their website. It has that loyalty program, but they also have enhancements. Romance package, $100. So it’s silk rose petals, LED candles, and chocolates.

[00:02:36] Hosts, if someone says, “We’re coming for our anniversary,” upsell them on this. LED candles, you use those over and over again. A couple of roses, some chocolates. They have firewood bundle, a lover’s gift set, s’mores kit.

[00:02:52] This one, anyone can participate in. It’s the happiest birthday. They do balloons, a sampler cheesecake platter, and a birthday candle. This is $100. But do you know that people are going to take you up on this offer? We know. We just had an upsell session in our membership, and we had hosts that are doing this–

[00:03:12] Sarah: For free.

[00:03:12] Annette: Actually, it’s not just for free. They’re actually losing money by doing this. They’re paying for it. If in the messaging, someone says, we’re coming for anniversary, we’re coming for a birthday, we’re coming for X, Y, Z, before you even create the package, say, “Oh, we have a birthday package. Are you interested?” And you can create it when the opportunity comes up.

[00:03:34] But I want you to look at the Hiawassee River Retreat and all of their upsells. I think they are absolutely crushing it. And that treetop bathtub idea, brilliant. And I know there’s some other hosts that rent out maybe their sauna hourly, that isn’t just guests, depending on the location and how your place is set up. But there are ways to really profit as much as possible off of your property and go above and beyond and give them an experience that other host might not be, or hotels

[00:04:07] Sarah: Yes. And if you think about it too. Hotels, if you want to use their spa, obviously the tub in the property is one thing, but if it’s a special feature– [Inaudible] here hosts already saying, “Right, but I just want to be able to offer it to my guests for free. I want to be included.” Hey, if that works for your business model and you’re still in your revenue and you’re hitting your goals, by all means.

[00:04:30] But I think this is a really good thing to think about ways to– like Annette always says, we have limited inventory. We have 365 days to sell. And honestly, if you’re selling all those days, you’re probably priced too low. So there’s other ways that you can still have great value on your stay. And then if a guest wants to invest in a little something extra, that’s their decision to do so.

[00:04:48] Annette: Yes. And so if you have upsells that you are crushing it with, please DM or email us so we can share it with other people on the show. Or if you are crushing it with your upsells and you want to be a guest on the show and do a master class for other hosts, let us know. All right, Sarah. Let’s get into today’s episode.

[00:05:04] Sarah: All right. So unless you’ve been under a rock, you know that Airbnb released their 2024 Winter Release. So all the new things that they’ve added to their app and their desktop portal for hosts and as a traveler. And we wanted to unpack the biggest announcement, which is co-host network. This is not the first time they’ve done this. Annette and I, we remember the first time they did this back in the day.

[00:05:33] Annette: I was a co-host. I was helping people on the weekends. I was helping people full-time, doing a portion. I would get a portion at every reservation.

[00:05:40] Sarah: I didn’t know this.

[00:05:41] Annette: You didn’t?

[00:05:43] Sarah: No. Just random people?

[00:05:44] Annette: No. That Circus House, I was a co-host, and you could set a percentage back in the day and get a percentage of each and every reservation. I was helping to co-host, but I could get– I forget what the percentage was, but I actually got paid out via Airbnb. Helped him on that. That was a full-time co-hosting gig through the marketplace. I actually met him and started that through the marketplace.

[00:06:12] And then, I actually met a doctor in town, but they went back and forth between two properties a lot. So I would help her when she was out of town. So I was temporary with her. It was interesting. And honestly, it was so long ago, I can’t remember all the nuances there. But it was fun because I was already co-hosting when I had gotten started, but I put myself on the platform and started to see what else was out there.

[00:06:43] Sarah: I put myself in the platform. I just remember some weird hosts reach out.

[00:06:47] Annette: Yeah. Some people wanted me to change the bed or clean. It was weird.

[00:06:51] Sarah: Well, for me, I just, I don’t remember exactly, but the introduction of the host and what they wanted me to do just seemed off color. I don’t know. So I was getting better leads through my Instagram DM, so I didn’t give it much of a chance. And then all of a sudden it disappeared. So the opportunity to participate in their original co-host, I don’t think they called it the network at that point, but then they stopped doing it. The thing after that was their lucks. And remember–

[00:07:16] Annette: Airbnb Plus. And I applied for that and got– well, they wanted me to make some changes, but then there were some things about Airbnb Plus, which is now no longer. Yeah.

[00:07:25] Sarah: So who knows if the second time the co-host network is going to make it.

[00:07:30] Annette: But we know why they’re doing this. Again, Airbnb wants every house everywhere to be on the platform. So they want to take out any friction for someone that is interested in hosting, but doesn’t have the time, maybe doesn’t have the experience. They want to make it easier for people to host. And that’s what they think the co-host marketplace is going to do.

[00:07:53] Sarah: And I want to share with you that Annette and I just took a deep dive, we’ll spare you, into the co-host network terms and conditions, which that’s always a really fun place to visit and really dive into.

[00:08:06] Annette: I do think one of the most interesting things, there are more requirements to be a co-host than the actual host, which is interesting, but one of them is you must be within a 60-mile radius of the property. So I think that is very, very interesting because right now you don’t need to be anywhere near your property, and you can host. But for co-hosting, that is one of the biggest stipulations is you do need to be within 60 miles radius.

[00:08:32] And I don’t know if they’re taking that off your home address. I’m sure they are. But that is one thing that is for sure. And also, we’re trying to go through the onboarding process right now too. There’s some stipulations when you apply, and you actually do need to have an onboarding call. It’s like this 30-minute call. I don’t know what that looks like. We’re trying to do that to find more for you.

[00:08:50] Sarah: Or a video.

[00:08:51] Annette: But that doesn’t exist with just hosting. So very interesting.

[00:08:55] Sarah: Yeah, that is interesting. I do want to point out that the services you can offer, first of all, if you read the T’s and C’s, Airbnb essentially says, like, listen, “All we’re doing is connecting the host with this “co-host,” and everything else is up to you.” What you’re saying about Paul and know it all, or it’s between y’all.

[00:09:13] Annette: Their name is Paul. It’s between y’all. Or no, my name’s Paul. It’s between y’all.

[00:09:17] Sarah: That’s essentially what their T’s and C’s are saying. They’re like, “Hey–“

[00:09:20] Annette: Oh yeah. My name’s Paul. It’s between y’all. Whatever goes down, goes down. We are not a part of it. We have zero skin in this game.

[00:09:28] Sarah: No. If you know this, if we are wrong at this, I just want to admit we didn’t see anything in the T’s and C’s about this, but I don’t believe Airbnb is making any money off of this. You know at platforms, I’m just going to call it Turno, that’s how you can find a cleaner. And how Turno makes money is they want to keep you on their platform, and when you rehire the cleaner, you pay them on the platform and they take a little service fee from that. I don’t think Airbnb is doing that here.

[00:09:53] And with their co-host network, one of those services you can offer is cleaning and maintenance. So, okay, you get to find someone who you see their reviews, how long they’ve been hosting, and you have to have, I think it’s over a 4.8.

[00:10:10] Annette: Eight.

[00:10:11] Sarah: So you have to be good at this thing.

[00:10:14] Annette: Yeah. And it’s 100 days, 3 reservations, 12 reservations in the last year, or 100 days.

[00:10:25] Sarah: So although I am a co-host, I’m always growing my team. We’re actually looking for a co-host. I don’t call them a co-host. I call them an inspector right now. And so I was like, “Annette, I’m just going to see what this is like. And this is very interesting.

[00:10:37] So of course, me being me, I reached out to the most highly-rated, been on the platform, the longest co-host, and just engage in conversation. And instead of offering up his services, he offered up his mother-in-law. He was like, let me ask my mother-in-law to see if she wants to help you. And I was like, “Wait. Dude, you’re supposed to be the one.”

[00:10:56] Annette: And by the way, Airbnb, your vetting process is really working. It’ll definitely be interesting, but we will definitely have a follow-up episode. We’re on the wait list now because you get waitlisted to be on. We’ve had some other hosts that are also being waitlisted to be officially approved, which it’ll be interesting how that gets saturated and what goes on there.

[00:11:19] Sarah: So here’s the cool thing though. Let’s talk about the opportunity here for you. We’ll talk about both sides of the coin, looking for a co-host and being a co-host. If you’ve been interested in putting your toe in the water in terms of just making some side cash and getting to work more in this industry, maybe you don’t have enough money to buy a property right now, or whatever the case may be, you want to add some– I’m even thinking about offering– I know that we’re applying to be on it, but offering it up, and I don’t know. Let’s see. Will I find my next client there into my co-hosting business?

[00:11:53] The co-host can manage a range of tasks, listing creation, listing management, pricing and availability, guest communication and reservations, on-site guest support, cleaning and maintenance, interior design and styling, obtaining permits and handling specialty offerings.

[00:12:12] And in Airbnb’s T’s and C’s, you can tell them how much you cost to your services. You can get paid however you want. You can get paid in the app, but you don’t have to. So that’s really cool too. It’s really just this marketplace, this network of qualified individuals.

[00:12:30] Annette: Yeah. And I think it’s genius because we have so many people all the time, like, “How do I find new clients for my co-hosting business?” You’re going to have direct access. We all love how Airbnb can market our properties. So they’re going to be helping market your services to new hosts, to current hosts.

[00:12:51] It’s just going to be interesting on how the whole thing pans out. The one thing that we’ve seen, I was trying to get some qualifying, facts here, but I couldn’t find the exact thing that I wanted, but I do not think if you’re a professional property management company, they’re letting you advertise on the platform. I’m going to have to really drill down and figure that out. But Sarah and I are going to go through the reps a little bit more here and see if we can get all the info for you.

[00:13:24] Sarah: Well, it’s interesting. Some people, when you start your listing, you can choose to put your business name or your personal name and whether it’s your face or your business logo.

[00:13:34] Annette: Wait, it also says hospitality coaching you can offer up.

[00:13:38] Sarah: Well, Airbnb has their ambassador program.

[00:13:41] Annette: But sky’s the limit, I guess, on what a co-host is.

[00:13:45] Sarah: Yeah.

[00:13:46] Annette: Very interesting.

[00:13:47] Sarah: Literally, you can do whatever you want. But you have to get approved. First of all, when I “applied”, I had to put where I’m at and my phone number, and then I immediately got an email that I’m on “wait list.” So I think it’s just their process of making sure, again, you meet those standards of qualifying you as having experience, which as I’m looking for an inspector right now, I posted on Craigslist. I posted on Indeed. I posted on my Instagram stories. I had my current inspector share with her network.

[00:14:18] But this is really cool because, again, the sky’s the limit in terms of what you have the person do. I don’t have to get nervous like with Turno, I have to pay on their platform. Airbnb’s like, “No, pay them however you want. Have your own agreements in place. It’s up to you to make sure that you have that 1099 relationship or that employee relationship.” It really is. They’re just making it easy to find someone that is qualified.

[00:14:46] Now, let’s talk about if you are a co-host. Again, it’s saving you money from marketing yourself and starting up a whole business. You do want to understand that when you are entering someone’s property and you’re doing work on their behalf, you might want to look into some coverage for yourself.

[00:15:06] If you slip and fall on their stairs, do they have a lot of insurance companies? A business, if an individual hires a 1099 or independent contractor, they require that independent contractor to be insured themselves. So on both sides of the coin, you want to make sure that you understand how that would work.

[00:15:25] Annette: Liability side.

[00:15:26] Sarah: Yeah. Because if you get hurt as a co-host and you’re like, “Well, the person who had me go on their property,” I don’t know. You may not be able to claim any sort of damages or what have you. Again, Airbnb, if you read the T’s and C’s are like, “Hey, this is between you two.” So it’s really just a network, like they call it.

[00:15:47] Annette: I think they identify themselves.

[00:15:49] Sarah: Indemnify. Yeah. So we encourage you to explore the co-host network and take advantage of the features. Try it out. If we know anything from Airbnb, they’re going to tweak this. What they do now in terms of this video that you have to either watch or hop on a call, whatever that is, who knows if that’ll stick around? Who knows?

[00:16:12] Annette: Yeah, it’ll definitely ebb and flow and change, but definitely worth giving a try. There’s a few other updates. The messaging was updated. So if you’re traveling, you can just see your messages while you’re traveling. What were the other options there, Sarah?

[00:16:31] Sarah: New quick replies. I’m excited about, you can edit your message, and you can unsend it. Which, we’ve all been there, wanting to unsend things. You can customize your earning reports on Airbnb, filter by income stream, and easily view when payouts are on the way. Again, remember, this is just as it relates to your bookings that you get on Airbnb.

[00:16:53] And when you plan a trip, whether you’re traveling and booking an Airbnb or just so you know how your guests are finding you, now more than ever, make sure you’re staying– we actually talked about this at the Vacation Rental Managers Association Conference we just got back from, VRMA.

[00:17:12] Airbnb’s amenities, you know how you can go in there and check whether you have an amenity or not, and then sometimes you can add even more details like, yes, you have a coffee maker. What kind of coffee maker do you offer? Is it a Keurig? Is it a Chemex? All the different things. And sometimes you’ll go back in, and it’ll be unchecked, or there’ll be something new that you can add.

[00:17:29] So I actually have a reoccurring task for myself to go in there every two weeks and just peruse it on a couple of different listings to see, did something change? Am I showing up? Because Airbnb is making the filtering process and how a short-term rental stands out on their platform even more easy to see. The examples they give are personalized highlights to give you the lowdown as a traveler.

[00:17:53] Annette: Things that matter, baby essentials, garden view. Is it perfect for families? Really helping you curate and design your perfect trip.

[00:18:01] Sarah: And they pull that data from the amenities that you select on the listing. So again, if you have not been in your amenities section on Airbnb in quite some time, or if you’re like me on a PMS, when I’m in Hostfully, the different amenities option there, they’ll tell you whether it’s just a Hostfully amenity, an Airbnb amenity, Booking.com, VRBO.

[00:18:21] Yes, I go in there, and I make sure that all looks good, but I will still go directly in the app, in the Airbnb app, and make sure everything is communicating as it should. I trust nothing and no one per usual. You know what I want to happen? I’m just going to put this out there.

[00:18:35] Annette: Okay.

[00:18:36] Sarah: As a host, it would be cool if I could post a help wanted to a co-host.

[00:18:43] Annette: Oh yeah.

[00:18:44] Sarah: So that I don’t have to message–

[00:18:46] Annette: They’re out reaching to you versus–

[00:18:48] Sarah: So that I don’t have to message all the– because I have very specific wants and needs. Yeah.

[00:18:53] Annette: I see what you’re saying. I like that. I like that too. I think the other last-minute thing, speaking of the last thing on the upgrades, is they have that last minute feature that’s coming up too, looking for last minutes stays. I think it’s on that filter.

[00:19:11] Sarah: Airbnb owns HotelsTonight, right? The app.

[00:19:14] Annette: Mm-hmm.

[00:19:15] Sarah: If you guys have never used it, it’s Annette’s favorite thing to on.

[00:19:17] Annette: We’ll put the link in the show notes. I really do. And hey, it’s great for you as hosts to just, from time to time, pop in there and see what the rates are for last minute travelers that are looking to book in your area. It’s a good thing to check out.

[00:19:32] Sarah: Yeah. And right now, I was just on it actually, because I’m going to Nashville, and I don’t think put short-term rentals on HotelsTonight. It is strictly hotels. So I wonder if this is Airbnb’s attempt to get even more last minutey, because we– okay, we also learned this at VRMA, at the conference we just went to, that, data is showing that pretty much US wide, and I don’t know if you’re feeling it in other countries too, if you’re listening in, the booking window is getting much shorter than it used to be.

[00:20:03] And the different data companies that were reporting this at VRMA are essentially saying that this tightening of from when someone goes on the app and actually books is getting shorter because people are hanging out their pocketbooks a little tighter, especially in the uncertainty of the economy and the election coming up in the US. Even if you don’t live in the US, we all know an election in the US can affect other countries and other marketplaces.

[00:20:26] So when people go on to book for short-term rentals on Airbnb, they are ready to buy in most cases because they got to book fast and make that decision fast. So decided they can afford it and want to spend money, they most likely are going to make a decision.

[00:20:39] Annette: Yeah. And that last minute trip is popping up. Look at places you can book right away. And it’s apply the instant book feature. If you have not started to use instant book yet, please, we implore you, turn on instant book.

[00:20:51] Sarah: All right. Well, I’m excited to see how this matures and unfolds. Everyone out there listening, if you try this out, if you are already on it, will you slide into our DMs, let us know how it’s going for you? What insights do you have to share? We’ll do a little update because I think this is really going to be interesting, especially as we’re getting out of that COVID era of not being able to stay in hotels.

[00:21:16] Everyone was on the short-term rental Airbnb train, and now we’re getting out of it a little bit. You have to work a little bit harder to get those bookings, and people are seeing how much work goes into making a short-term rental successful. I think if you have the time to help someone out, it is the co-host era.

[00:21:33] Annette: Agreed.

[00:21:34] Sarah: And there is going to be plenty of opportunity for you to help people out, earn some side money, grow your co-hosting business for free. Again, it’s like how we always say how Instagram is free marketing. Airbnb, as a co-host, they are giving you the person who needs what you have to offer for free. Incredible. With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.

[00:21:58] Annette: I am Annette Grant. And together we are–

[00:22:00] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.

[00:22:01] Sarah: Talk to you next time.