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I’m enjoying being a host ambassador. I’ve got 3 builds in process so (3x$375) $1,050 coming.
I had 5 but lost 1 because he wanted to list in an area I know is zoned no STR & talked another out of STR.
The common thread with my three are they are women either retired or will retire in next 5 years, planning to move (or lives in) Myrtle Beach area and wants to have a STR for additional retirement income. MY PEOPLE!
The one I talked out of STR, lives in California. She is looking for STR property in South Carolina. I connected her with the Realtor I’ve used for 3 properties. The potential host is coming to SC to look at properties in a month or so. Properties sell so quickly, if she sees either the property to STR or retire to, I encouraged her to buy it when she sees it. We talked about the work involved with STR & the high demand long term rental market and for a while she is long distance. Because of demand she could rent either out long term and get a reasonable return.
The Host Ambassador has disappointing access to the the new 10-step create & host a new listing screens. Airbnb has a quick & easy tool for creating a bare bones listing. E & I snoozed her listing until we could add meaningful content & correct pricing for off-season, peak season, & off-season >30 night rentals.
After the new host receives a booking, the first guest stays, & pays, Airbnb will forward payment to me. This must happen within 6 months of going live.
Although I signed up several months ago to be a host ambassador willing to answer questions for any host asking Airbnb for “Ask a Superhost” support, NO ONE has messaged or called. So those folks worrying about being free help for Airbnb, it isn’t happening. The demand isn’t there.
Same thing…they supposedly sent an email welcoming me to the program with my dedicated access link & information. I didn’t receive it. It may have gone to my spam mail. I contacted them on twitter, they sent information again. You may have it now & not know it. Select “Switch to hosting”, Select “refer a host” Look at tabs at top, one may be Ambassador tools or something similar.
Update: one of my new host’s listing is almost ready. Her daughter is taking the pictures & she will be ready to start hosting next week! She’s been very complimentary & has said many times, she had no idea the things she would need to consider.
Host #2. I’ve severed communication. She was unusual but I committed to help her get her listing up. I asked her, “have you hosted on Airbnb before?” Her-“No, never”. She has an active listing in Philadelphia.
She refused to provide Airbnb with the required tax payer information (to comply with new USA laws) and told me that for us to continue working together was politically incorrect (?) she looked me up on Facebook and we just can’t work together. I post NOTHING political on Facebook but I do have a “I’ve been vaccinated” banner.
It takes all kinds….
Overall it has been good experience. I’m incredibly excited about Eileen’s listing going live soon!
@Annet3176 I had someone send me an inquiry who wants to buy a place not far from me (very similar stats as my place). I told them how to find me and they have messaged via social media. I don’t mind giving some pointers, but I don’t think I’m willing to handhold at the ambassador level. I’m trying to figure out how to say that nicely. I did mention I would send a referral link they can use if they decide to move forward and they find me helpful. Thoughts?
I did look at the AP info and it’s more than I want to do. That requirement to help 2 people a month seems like a lot (unless I read that wrong).
Airbnb says that but they don’t mean it. I don’t think anyone can assist 2 a month.
In the past 6 months, I’ve had several starts that didn’t make it to the “new host uses dedicated build link of the ambassador”. Only 1 got that far.
She went live & got her first booking last week.
Based upon how much time I’ve spent with her, I’m earning about $3/hour! That’s ok. I’ve helped 2 other hosts get started for much less. The benefit to me is getting to know another host in my market.
I prefer having not quite a team but a host support network so we can help each other with referrals, cleaning service & maintenance resources.
Sure you can send them the host referral link.
To give your new host additional resources to answer their questions, you can suggest they join a local host Facebook group or here.
Food for thought: to manage your time investment give them support resources of host groups they can join & offer to review their listing after they build it & suggest they look at your listing as a source for pricing, availability, description etc. Then invest a couple hours reviewing her listing.
By offering them permission to use your listing it is supportive. If they are smart, they are going to look at yours & other close by listings & use them as formats anyway.
Yeah, I earn zero dollars an hour here and field regular whining about me. That’s fine, it’s a lot like what I did as a teacher. I think I made about $3 doing that. LOL.
I spoke with her today. She’s such a nice, pleasant young woman. I offered all of the above plus I’m willing to walk it when it’s ready and gave her some some important local timing and licensing info.
She’s a go-getter so doesn’t need the handholding of an ambassador. She’s already done a lot of research. I like her and look forward to supporting her endeavor.
I did tell her I’d send her a referral link (later, when she’s really ready - doesn’t own the property yet) that she can choose to use or not, if, in the end, she felt I really was helpful to her.
True story. My upstairs neighbor listed on Airbnb. I thought, “Oh good, maybe we can collaborate especially on snowbird rentals.” It is not uncommon for 2 or 3 couples to rent in the same area so they can easily visit.
Imagine my surprise when I read his listing description and it was word.for.word.mine. And included some of my community pictures.
I did an inquiry and said I appreciated imitation is the highest form of flattery, he may wish to change his unit description to be his own words so people didn’t confuse the listings.
He didn’t like my suggestion. That host relationship never got past the first communication. Which was ok because he did some things as a host I couldn’t condone.
Later in the parking lot, we met. He informed me I had copied his description, he had paid a fellow to build his Airbnb listing for him. I just chuckled, “I hope you didn’t pay him much because my listing has been live for 5 years with pretty much the same description the entire time.”
I genuinely appreciate new hosts contacting real hosts about starting their business. There are too many self-professed Airbnb experts who will gladly charge a fee to give the new host the benefit of the vast knowledge they’ve gained in their 9 months of hosting.
@Annet3176, you have me dying over her. Great response! What a fool (sorry to say that of a fellow host) to pay for that and not even see/check that (1) it was not plagiarized and (2) not to even know/notice how long you, his direct competition, had been around (which is super easy to do).
Within a few months of listing on Airbnb I found a listing that had clearly copied much of the text from my listing. It was like a high schooler plagiarizing, he just changed a few words here and there and left out some sentences that obviously didn’t fit. Pretty amazing to do that for a house several miles from mine.
I also sent an an inquiry and told him I noticed and would he please write his own description. I wasn’t hostile, I was matter of fact but he reacted, predictably, negatively. He also denied doing it. I told him I’d complain to Airbnb, and I did flag his listing. He changed it a little after awhile but didn’t stay in business long. I think he was military and probably got moved to another place.
Now text being copied on the internet is so common that I don’t know how one even determines who orginally wrote something.
My plagiarizer stayed in business about 2 years then sold out. He had poor reviews which did not surprise me, thus didn’t stay booked.
You know if someone isn’t willing to do the work to “sell their bookings” maybe it’s an indicator they are unwilling to do the work to run an STR. We all know it is WORK.
Much better than the, “Get the f$&@ away from me!” I said to someone else (wine was involved). Not my finest moment. I don’t regret it, that person had pushed me too far & had been warned.
Airbnb is probably the easiest job I’ve ever had. It’s neck in neck with the auto parts store job I had. That’s not to say it’s not work but there’s a combination of things that make a person suited to a job. If you have a job that requires reading and writing and you’re not good at reading and writing then you won’t enjoy it. I told the guy that I understood that maybe he didn’t think he was a good writer so he should just take my text. LOL. Maybe he felt insulted. Shoot, I’m terrible at math and it’s embarassing but I own it.
Too funny, I got blocked from an Airbnb Facebook group for mentioning the Airbnb Host Ambassador program!
There is a rule about not selling services. In my post, I said they should find a host in their area so I wasn’t even talking about me plus it was FREE.
The irony is-I was blocked from a Airbnb host group for mentioning Airbnb services. Something ain’t right…
But you are getting paid by Airbnb to help out new hosts. I think there’s a certain amount of resentment from other hosts who have been helping out other hosts on forums for years, simply out of goodwill, and not getting paid for it. Can you understand that?
for you.
