I’ve been hosting for a while now and want to expand my business.
What are some books that go beyond the basics and actually teach you how to scale a STR business.
If there are blogs, we can’t let the links be posted here. The intention of this forum, which is privately funded by the way, is to connect hosts with other hosts directly.
If you want to scale up, why not subscribe to a service like @smartbnb.io offers?
Sorry, but is posting blog links forbidden on this forum? Never heard of that rule, Kona?
Yes… the owners have asked us to remove any links like that that take users to other places. Of course, there are exceptions. The reddit thread for example. But someone who just joined and posts their blog? No. Especially after he spammed it in a number of places here.
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There are TOS that people agree to when they join the forum. Of course, very few read them before they come to post their complaint about how guests don’t read…but I digress.
Under Responsibility of Contributors there are guidelines for posting links or material to the website that includes the following: the Content is not spam, is not machine- or randomly-generated, and does not contain unethical or unwanted commercial content designed to drive traffic to third party sites or boost the search engine rankings of third party sites, or to further unlawful acts (such as phishing) or mislead recipients as to the source of the material (such as spoofing);
As @konacoconutz said, it’s a no brainer when someone joins the forum and posts links to their blog to delete that link. For example, @Nym posted a summary of the Reddit but included a link to their blog. If they want to be a helpful member of the community they can summarize all they want, just leave off the link to drive traffic off the forum and onto their own site. There are some forum members for whom exceptions are made. These are longtime members who regularly contribute to this community, not people who just show up one day to do some self promotion. These exceptions are made on a case by case basis by a group of moderators who consult one another.
The forum is provided at no cost and the moderators are also volunteering their time. The owner @tom2 is using ads and links in a pinned post to offset the cost of hosting the forum. It’s inappropriate and a violation of the TOS for others to try to piggyback onto his site
@hypertokyo we moderators delete several such posts each day and in a number of cases the person who posts protests or apologizes but asks for an explanation. Since they agreed to the TOS we could just block them and move on but we usually explain. It’s not unusual for them to re-post after being warned or to look for another way to slip in their links. It’s starting to wear on our patience.
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@konacoconutz @KKC maybe instead of cancelling a post you can just ask the owner to update it according with the TOS.
I did a new post:
https://airhostsforum.com/t/reddit-ama-ask-me-anything-from-an-airbnb-case-manager/16782/15?source_topic_id=16862
and I hope that this time is complaint and can positively contribute to the discussion. If not just let me know and I will be happy to change it.
I do not sell anything in my blog and I just use it as a diary for keep me motivated (and my actions accountable) as host. In a past post i also mention (and link! ) to this forum as one of the leading resources for host. I do not post the link here for TOS reasons but you are welcome to visit the blog and see it by yourself.
Since blogs are frowned upon, I’ll keep it just to good books you would recommend
I have mixed feelings about this. We want to be fair. OTOH, posters have already been asked to post according to the TOS and they have agreed to do so. So I should do more work because the poster doesn’t want to do what they are supposed to do? I can’t get excited about that.
Thanks for making an effort to become a valuable member of the community.
Blogs aren’t frowned upon. There are some great ones including one by the co-owner of this forum.
http://blog.airhostsforum.com/
What is frowned upon is the owner of a competing blog creating a profile for the primary purpose of piggybacking on the membership and work of this forum.
Here is the typical MO of such a person. They create a profile and read and make a few posts so they reach the membership level that allows you to post links. Then they ask a question like “Anyone know a good blog/website/product?” Then in answer to their own question they post their own blog or affiliate product link so they can make money off of this forum community.
Maybe we prematurely nip some new posters in the bud but hey, you get what you pay for. 
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I realize you did not have a blog link attached the second time you did this, but once again, I ask you why you are summarizing something everyone here can read? I don’t understand the point. It’s redundant and annoying, especially when it’s been posted for the third or fourth time.
Some of the moderating we do is a case by case basis to make the forum more readable and smooth, even if is not a specific violation of the TOS.