Airbnb Ambassador Invitation

Why do you want to be an extra layer between the company and the host, be completely powerless and do it for FREE?!!

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Another framing is —there are going to be more hosts in your area with or without you. You can chose to have them as competition or maybe develop a positive relationship to share information & give each other referrals if you can’t accommodate a guest stay

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I think you can still receive the host referral fee when you assist someone. It is $360 USD in my area.

I am not ashamed. I’ve made good money this summer with my Airbnb bookings. Many others in this thread have too. There is wisdom to listing on more than one site but everyone needs to get at least one up and going to get the business started.

You do make a good point, another couple on my lake have a new listing that does not take pets, and they refer my place.

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It would appear that ambassadors are being used all over the company.
I just saw a posting elsewhere on someone waiting to be contacted by a safety ambassador. The usage of powerless ambassadors instead of employees with the ability to actually do something is just adding another layer of frustration to any host with an issue that needs dealing with.

I wonder why anyone would sign up to do this.

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I’m signing up. My reasons are:

  1. See what’s it’s about & maybe learn something
  2. New hosts are coming, may as well make friends (instead of foes)
  3. Possibly receiving new host referral fee
  4. I am a self-professed goodie-two shoes sap who embraces servant leadership so it fits in my value system
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My new host fee is 721 usd… but no I don’t know anyone who wants to go for it!
How do they decide how much to pay a host a new host referral fee, anyway?

Hmmm, get the barge pole out folks, seriously.

JF

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I don’t know how or why the amount is determined/varies. I’ve received it 2x by helping friends set up their listings. For me it was free money for something I was doing regardless.

By the amount of listings in the area. There are 19 entire homes available in my small town, I have 4 of them at 3 price points.
My occupancy runs at about 80%, but I don’t think there is much more capacity here. There are 2 new listings, in my view they are overpriced for the accommodation and I am watching them with interest.

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Looking forward to a report back as to what they want you to do. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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I had to look that up. Another version is, “ I wouldn’t touch that with a 10 foot pole.”

A barge pole is usually longer (8 to 18 feet) so I guess it is more serious. :sunglasses:

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We are dog friendly but not cat friendly and there’s a host in the neighborhood that takes cats so I send her all the cat people. But that’s also because she doesn’t annoy me like some of the other hosts in the area :slight_smile:

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@JJD I’m impressed that you actually know other hosts in your area. They come and go so fast here I’ve never had the chance. I guess that easy gig money is not so easy when you actually have to do it :joy::rofl::joy:

I have met a number of STR and BnB hosts. A solar energy guy, suggested I do short term and as I got into it, more relationships developed.

Is there a group of STR and BnB hosts in your area?

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Not so much here. Small island in SE North Carolina. There are not a lot of private rooms (which I have) and most of the stand alone homes are run by management companies for investors with disposable money I know a lot of people here but not any Airbnb hosts. I’m not a spring chicken and all my girlfriends think I’m nuts for letting strangers in my house. I love it and have had about two problems out of over 300 stays. I do a lot of direct bookings.

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@Annet3176
Thanks - I was about to look up that reference myself :face_with_monocle:

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Agree with the other comments here. It is amazing how customers, with a little flattery, fall over and over again for these companies outsourcing their customer service for free!

I’m not “in a community,” I’m in business. My time and knowledge are valuable. I contribute to this forum because I get a lot out of it, and besides this is where the STR cool kids hang out.

The forum managers here are monetizing with ads or whatever (they’re in business too!), but that’s transparent and non-annoying and not accompanied by kumbaya psychobabble, which is much appreciated.

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After a year of being a DogVacay host I was invited to a facebook group of 500 “Top Hosts.” Yeah, I was flattered. I also learned A LOT about dogs and hosting. Yes we gave DogVacay a lot of free advice but we also bitched a lot. I also was sent flowers twice and several other gift boxes of dog stuff.

After another year they invited a group of 8 hosts, 4 from the facebook group, 4 not, to their corporate headquarters in the LA area to a 3 day meeting to give them input on how to improve. They didn’t pay us but it was all expenses paid, they wined and dined us and we got a big basket of branded swag to take home. A year or two later the founder threw in the towel and sold the company to Rover dot com. Various subgroups migrated to other dog boarding facebook groups and I’m still a member of one. As for Rover, they never made me feel special and I’m pretty much on my own now.

In addition to the stuff I got over the years and what I learned I have been facebook friends with a handful of my fellow hosts and have met 6 of them in person on my travels. In short, I’ve made real friends by “working for free.” My experience with that group of “top hosts” led me to seek out a group of Airbnb hosts for a similar experience and led me here. I’ve also made friends here IRL.

Intrinsic rewards are still rewards and for some people have more value than extrinsic ones.

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