Sara and Tony Robinson, California-based short-term rental owners, broadcasted their advice on building anAirbnb empire, from how to deal with nightmare guests to renovations between two individual accounts.
In the last two years, a couple who call themselves the "Real Estate Robinsons" left their jobs to manage 22 active vacation-rental properties in Tennessee and California full-time. The homes together make over one million dollars a year fromAirbnb. The revenue was confirmed by documents.
They said they're turning their backs on both sites.
Tony told Insider that he and his wife want a little bit more control over how they operate their business.
The move comes as hosts in some areas complain that bookings have slowed and as market data shows an increased number ofAirbnbs nationwide that has outpaced increases in traveler demand Some hosts are changing to medium or long term rentals.
The Robinsons want at least 75% of their guests to reserve their vacations via their personal website. They can get more of the minimum booking fee from hosts on every transaction.
The Robinsons fear relying solely on big companies for their business because they could one day disagree with policies or changes. The couple said that they will not delist their 22 active properties fromAirbnb entirely, but will instead embark on an aggressive push to lure direct bookings.
Six of the ways they will do it were broken down.
The Robinsons will purchase a system that captures guests' email addresses when they log on to the internet during their stay.
It's against the law for hosts to give guests a direct booking link on the platform, and it's against the law for conversations to be moved off the platform.
The policy will be circumvented by the plan which is common in the industry. They can use the email addresses captured to follow up with guests after a successful stay, and give them the chance to book directly the next time for a slight discount.
The Robinsons plan to give away a free night's stay in exchange for posts about their experiences on social media. Sara said in their video that she once worked for a fast-fashion brand called Fashion Nova and saw the power of micro-influencers, people with under 50,000 followers, who posted photos and videos of the clothes. The Robinsons want to show off their properties to travelers.
The Robinsons will pay for advertisements on social-media sites to get people to their website. The ability to scale this advertising is important to the couple as it allows them to ramp up advertising during slower times of the year.
The couple is going to set up a separate account on the social media site to show off their rental properties. Local landmarks, shops, and restaurants will be tagged in the photos they post. There is a direct-booking link found in the bio account and other places.
The Robinsons want to create more YouTube accounts so they can show off their activities in the local markets. The Robinsons said that they can connect with users who might be searching for "things to do in Joshua Tree."
The Robinsons said that they can direct internet users to their direct-booking site if they choose to use a blogs. Future visitors could be brought in by posts about vegan restaurants or sunset hikes.
They said that every short-term-rental host could easily duplicate these strategies.
Tony said that businesses will benefit from having a presence on social media.
The couple said it might be hard for newcomers to avoid Vrbo and Airbnb completely.
The Robinsons said they have an advantage because of their large social-media following.
It would be difficult for a new host to get a decently filled calendar without using something like Vrbo, according to the couple.
Any host can implement their steps at the beginning. It's possible for hosts to start thinking about building a platform early on.
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