EP227: Airbnb Tips from an Austin Superhost
Summary
This article from Get Paid For Your Pad covers various aspects of STR revenue management and operational strategies, including the importance of scheduled pricing routines, understanding booking signals, and the strategic focus of CEOs in growing STR businesses. Hosts should pay attention to these insights to optimize pricing, understand market dynamics, and effectively manage their time and resources.
Key Insights
- •STR operators should not rely on last-minute demand as much as hotels can, due to booking windows and operational constraints like cleaning.
- •CEOs waste 30-50% of time on low-value activities, which becomes more dangerous as STR businesses grow.
- •Early bookings can indicate underpricing or upcoming events, requiring hosts to adjust their pricing strategy.
- •STR pricing is dramatically harder than hotel pricing due to product uniqueness, booking windows, and operational constraints.
- •The article emphasizes the importance of a daily and weekly pricing routine for effective revenue management, rather than relying on a single pricing rule.
Action Items
- ✓Identify the biggest bottlenecks in the STR business, recognizing that these bottlenecks shift as marketing, sales, and fulfillment scale.Effort: mediumImpact: high
- ✓Schedule time for daily and weekly pricing reviews to stay ahead of market trends and optimize revenue.Effort: lowImpact: medium
- ✓Review every booking to reveal pricing and demand signals and spot mistakes in minimum stays and pricing settings.Effort: lowImpact: medium
Tools & Resources
- →Get Paid For Your Pad: The article mentions Get Paid For Your Pad as the source.
- →Freewyld Foundry: The article mentions Freewyld Foundry as a resource for revenue reviews.
Watch Out For
- ⚠STR rate drops must be deeper near arrival compared to hotel practices.
- ⚠The biggest revenue mistake most STR operators make isn’t their pricing tool… but the lack of a daily and weekly pricing routine.
- ⚠Solving the wrong problems stalls growth even when demand is strong.
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