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First of all, I just wanna say thank you to all of you, because of you I and others have been able to inform myself/themselves of many things I/we didn’t know before thanks to the participation and replies I’ve received on some of the Topics I have created previously. Because of this I’ve noticed that some of you have really great writing skills (some of us like me are not really good at that ) and was wondering if you are willing to help us create Canned messages with the most common things you get asked and things you would add in your Home Rules or description. I believe that by creating this, it will help everyone in this community to grow and get better on their listings, including the possibility of de-escalating situation that could turn bad by responding in the best appropriate way.
With this I thank you in advance and looking forward to your participation. Here’s a few of the ones I have found to be good and of course thank you to those who wrote it.
“Video Surveillance cameras monitor the exterior of our home. Footage remains private and may be used for liability reasons and to monitor occupancy and other policies noted here. It in no way infringes upon the expectation of privacy in these public areas. To disable or obscure the cameras is prohibited and may result in eviction without refund.” By @CanadianHost
We have installed exterior cameras for security purposes, and to monitor that our rental policies are upheld By @CanadianHost
When someone wants you to call them instead of messaging through ABB system:
"Hello Name, I am not able to see the phone number you left on the message. AirBnB hides that information until a booking has been made. I am able to answer any and all questions you have about the property prior to booking to ensure it is a right fit for you and your family.
If you are struggling with your copy for your listing and other marketing. You can also ask a copywriter to quote you to help with your copy. There are some on here, or others that promote themselves as helping in this area.
There are several on here, myself included, who have spent lifetimes creating good written copy, and will gladly respond to someone’s specific requests. However, I for one don’t want to just sit down and write a response for every conceivable situation and just let these responses be stored somewhere.
I’m also not sure I like the idea of our responses being “curated” and possibly removed for someone’s blog or book. Not saying you have that purpose, but we have unfortunately seen that here in the past.
Why don’t we just stick to the good old fashioned forum question-and-response format?
Ken, me too. As a professional writer for 30 plus years, I sometimes have a hard time with well meaning friends who want to lean on me for free writing. Right now I am fighting off a friend who wants to take me to lunch so I can “collaborate” on her book. I don’t even bother telling these people that no, you don’t write a book first and then shop for a publisher, or that I can’t donate my time on their memoir, or that it’s next to impossible for even established writers to get a book contract or anything about the whole procedure. I just say, sure send two sample chapters and I’ll look them over. (And they never ever get that far!) I also refer them to a vanity press on the island. Usually that takes care of it …but not always!
If you were a dentist, would you love it if friends came in expecting free crowns? If you were a realtor would you do all the work of selling my house for free?
This is how I make my living. I don’t work for free. I don’t do it as a hobby. I only have so much time to sell, and I can’t spend it helping friends or acquaintances write memoirs or resumes. (I only do resumes for my sons or immediate family). I have limited my writing clients to established clients, or large corporate clients. I will never do another mom and pop.
Off on a tangent, but Ken’s response made me remember I have a friend badgering me right now for free book help.
I agree with @konacoconutz and @KenH the number of times I have had people ask me to ‘look over something’, ‘give it a little tweak’ or write something from scratch.
Luckily I haven’t had a friend ask me to collaborate on a book yet, but I am sure the day will come.
A good copyriter can be worth their weight in gold for those who aren’t confident or experienced writers. It’s not just about the copy but being able to bring out key benefits and looking at how you differentiate one product or service from another.
That’s why I suggested @mikelowrey looked at some as an option if he needed help with his listing content.
Of course I agree with you here but speaking as an experienced copywriter, I can state unequivocally, the mom and pop clients are the absolute worst—they often horrified at the price and either try to micromanage you because they don’t understand the professional/creative process, or they hire you, and you do they work, and they just “forget” to pay you… (I am dealing with that right now! Again another “friend”… ) So I have made a rule to never ever accept the mom and pops. They just don’t get what you do and it’s not worth the headache or hassle. However I am sure if someone looking for copywriting went on Fivver or upwork they might be able to find someone. (I actually hate those sites, but that is another discussion for another day!)
Thanks for chiming in, My intention was just to help people like me (soon to be host) to gather and adjust the messages to their situation. I came to find out about people like you thanks to @Helsi and I totally understand your point. If I need something specific, I know who to go now
Very true. Like in the previous post, I just wanted to help but in this case, like everywhere, there is always one that would take it for a personal profit type of thing and i don’t agree with that. Thanks again Kona.
There are a fair few of us professional writers on here. But I think many of us wouldn’t help with copy around Airbnb listings for the reason @konacoconutz outlined.
However there are websites that specialise in this and promise the earth. But from the copy on their own sites I wouldn’t have much confidence.
Blame the memory of an old woman but I can’t remember the name of someone here who writes a travel blog/magazine. Not sure if she would help?
It is not a bad idea to have some canned response for the most basic things.
I have mine for the upcoming reservation, check-in instructions, airport transfer, check-out and those sort of things but still I use them as a template to copy into the message and adapt them to what the guest has asked me. Sometimes I add more things, other times I cut off some unnecessary text.
I know that there are some sites that handle messaging automatization and although I think it will pay for the time you waste messaging with your guest, it might also disconnect yourself for what your guests are looking for when they book a bnb. As a guest, I wouldn’t feel myself much well taking into consideration if the responses I got, are the same as others got. Guests are not all the same and you need to adapt your answers to their needs. You want to make them feel there is a “human” on the other side reading and answering their concerns, not just a dummy automatic messaging system.
) and was wondering if you are willing to help us create Canned messages with the most common things you get asked and things you would add in your Home Rules or description. I believe that by creating this, it will help everyone in this community to grow and get better on their listings, including the possibility of de-escalating situation that could turn bad by responding in the best appropriate way.
but speaking as an experienced copywriter, I can state unequivocally, the mom and pop clients are the absolute worst—they often horrified at the price and either try to micromanage you because they don’t understand the professional/creative process, or they hire you, and you do they work, and they just “forget” to pay you… (I am dealing with that right now! Again another “friend”… ) So I have made a rule to never ever accept the mom and pops. They just don’t get what you do and it’s not worth the headache or hassle. However I am sure if someone looking for copywriting went on Fivver or upwork they might be able to find someone. (I actually hate those sites, but that is another discussion for another day!)