Are you a woman who is second-guessing her ability to be a successful Airbnb investor? Well, guess what? You need to fight your fear with facts, and stop getting in your own way!

Episode 111 of the Host Coach Airbnb Investing Podcast will help you do just that! A wife, mom, and mogul who generates 2 million dollars in short-term rental cash flow per year - unveils the success metrics of female Airbnb investors, the innate qualities women have that bolster our ability to be better hosts, and how to make your Airbnb listing a guest magnet using neurolinguistic programming.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• How much more women make as Airbnb hosts than men
• Why mixed investment teams are the most successful
• The biggest challenge facing women Airbnb investors & how to overcome it
• Why not to make real estate investment decisions with "consumer brain"
• Airbnb's new focus on personalization and how that impacts you
• How to make your Airbnb listing a "guest magnet"

Host Coach Airbnb Podcast Episode 111 Show Notes:

 Stacy, what is the biggest challenge you think women encounter as Airbnb investors?  

One of the biggest things that I see as challenges for women in this industry is actually not a lack of opportunity or a lack of expertise - it's the invisible load that they're carrying. Women  in this industry are not only juggling their short-term rentals,  but their jobs, their families, their, their households, they're playing chauffeur to their kiddos. I think it's the combination of all of that, that makes it especially challenging for women in the short term rental space.

Okay, so what do you think is the best way to overcome that challenge?

Well, I think first we have to identify the symptoms of the challenge. The symptoms often surface in analysis, paralysis, and also feeling isolated. Feeling like they're operating on an island. So, I think the first thing we need to do is actually identify how that surfacing in someone. And then also I think making sure that we are consistently  taking action even though  it feels challenging. So pushing through fear and pushing through the uncomfortableness, shall we say, if that's a word, I think is incredibly important so that you can stretch through that fear zone, get into the learning zone, where you're really, really able to make consistent and significant strides.

14th Airbnb investment, and we still have those moments where we're like, "oh my gosh, even though we have metrics, did we pick the  right one? And will people like this?" It's  scary, but you know, getting over the fear, pushing through the fear - like you said is exactly how you get to the successful side.

How did you end up in the short term rental industry in 2020?

What market were you in for those first two investments?

 Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, which is where a good portion of my portfolio still exists  today

The Story Behind $2 Million in Airbnb Cash Flow Per Year

Okay. And how did you reach that $2 million mark?

Well, a couple of key factors. First and foremost, having a specific goal. I'm all about identifying target outcomes and reverse engineering your path to them. So I had a very specific goal, revenue goals that I was looking to meet. How did I meet those revenue goals? I build action plans for goals, so making sure that I had an action plan set in place, and also focusing on some really important areas like people, processes, tech and systems. Those are really, really important factors when meeting any revenue goal, but especially a large seven figure revenue goal.

Myrtle  Beach is kind of famous for condos. Are you in the condo market there? Or more single family homes? 

Yeah, it is famous for condos, and I actually started buying there because I love buying ugly properties and making them beautiful... and I had so many options when it came to Myrtle Beach. So, most of my portfolio is made up of oceanfront condos. I also have a property management company in Myrtle Beach and manage single family homes as  well.

the  creative challenge to make the worst part of a property the best part! It's A exciting, and B usually it affords you the opportunity to get something rather inexpensively and then have maximum revenue and cash flow coming out of it. 

When To Invest in An Airbnb

Absolutely. You know, when I first started in short-term rentals, I was looking to be on the ocean for less than a  hundred grand  and I again, bought two condos and there were so many condos under a hundred grand at the time. If I would've known what the real estate market was going to do, I would've bought every condo known to man in Myrtle Beach!

We have similar thoughts about what we paid for our very first place. I think everybody in real estate has that moment at some point. All right, so I love women in business. I love women with big goals. I love even more women hitting those big goals. So $2 million in cash flow. How has that impacted your life?

Well, it obviously  has afforded me tremendous opportunities in my business, but I think what's actually impacted my life even more is the ability to help other people. I mean, to me, life is not about money and money, yes, it's great... but I think the true impact for me is having the opportunity to support other people in their journeys because that is incredibly rewarding and it fills my cup so much more than cash in the bank.

The Airbnb Opportunity

Airbnb coaching, right? We do it just because I like to say sometimes "I'm bad at keeping a secret." It's just so exciting to help change people's lives and help them go through the process. We often also say, "where's the deals for our generation?" This opportunity in a short term rental space, I believe is the deal - is the opportunity for our generation to really, you know, create wealth and financial  freedom.

I love all of our  success stories of our coaching clients, but most recently we have this adorable couple in their early twenties. He's a worship leader, she's a nurse, and they are on their second Airbnb investment and they are just stockpiling and leaning into it, so eventually when they do have a family, she can step back and stay home and still be managing their portfolio. And I just think it's such an amazing opportunity to have everything as a woman, as a parent, as a person, like having everything and architecting it in that way is just super cool.

And something to keep in mind, you know, there are two different sides to this business. There's the real estate investment side, and then there's the operational side. You can own a short-term rental without being a host, right? You can host a short-term rental without owning the property. And I also think that the flexibility with this industry provides so many, again, opportunities that are unique in and of  themselves. I completely agree.

Are Women Better Airbnb Investors Than Men

So, woman to woman, do you believe that women make better Airbnb investors than men? So I will tell you, there are metrics from Airbnb that show that women traditionally earn 10% more than men when it comes to revenue on Airbnb. There are also a far greater amount of Airbnb super hosts that are women versus  men. That being said, I want to be  very, very specific that I think women possess some traits that lead us to being great hosts.

There are two sides to this business. There's the real estate investment side and there's the hospitality side. I think that candidly, men probably have an easier time making investment decisions than their female counterparts. And  that's a big generalization. right? I hope I'm not ticking off any of your listeners here, but generally speaking, I think women probably second guess themselves more when it comes to making those investment  decisions with what property to acquire. That being  said, I think that women possess again, certain characteristics that make them, especially great hosts. We are nurturing by nature, and I think that really sets us up for success when it comes to hospitality.

The Power of Teams for Airbnb Investing

My hot take is back to the team. So many of my coaching clients are husband, wife, partner, girlfriend, boyfriend, and there are so many different roles that we have to play. From the analytics and pricing and operations and, and sometimes the guy is the one who's the numbers person. Sometimes it's the gal who's the numbers person. But just having two sets of brains is better than one.

I invest with my husband in real estate, however, it is really me, myself and I, when it comes to running our short-term rental business. He still works in a corporate setting. And so some women and some  men might be doing this solo without their spouse.  I think it's incredibly important to build a team from the get-go. So even if it's not your, your lifelong partner, when it comes to your spouse running your day-to-day operation, we have to be more than a team of one if we want to grow and scale.  That's great advice.

What other advice might you offer to individuals, teams that want to get started as short-term rental investors.

I  agree. You have to do your underwriting. If you can't underwrite it, it's all logic.There have been certain places that we have walked away from. One that didn't have running water it had a beautiful view, and no electricity. There are certain ones that even if you had all the  money in the world, it won't add up in  dollars and cents. So being business-minded and understanding, it's not just how you feel a place is going to be, but understanding exactly how much it costs now, how much you're going to put in, how long it's going to be off market while you're carrying that mortgage, and then what it's going to take to decorate it, list it, and how much that's going to cash flow out. You have to do that before you say yes.

Changes at Airbnb Headquarters

So things are quickly evolving I think, right now in the space. What kind of trends or developments do you see taking place in the Airbnb industry?

I was  actually just out at the Airbnb corporate offices a few weeks ago, and I had the distinct pleasure of sitting in on what's coming down the pike - what Airbnb is working on, and I was actually very refreshed when I left their corporate offices. So often Airbnb hosts can feel like Airbnb does not necessarily side with them  as the host, but it's often the sentiment that  Airbnb is siding with guests. And I walked away from that time at the corporate office realizing and recognizing that the people that work at Airbnb absolutely want the best for the guests as well as the host. So that was incredibly refreshing. I hope that hosts really start to see a shift with how they're interfacing and and how they feel that Airbnb is treating them.  Because I think that they absolutely have the best of intentions.

New Airbnb Trends

When it comes to trends, I know Airbnb is working very much on personalization. So a lot of you know, when we are looking to maximize revenue, we are looking to boost where we place in search results on the Airbnb platform. What I think is important to recognize, and this has come straight from  Airbnb, is that they are looking to personalize  search results. And so I think it is critical that we understand our value proposition for our Airbnb listing. So really making sure that we have a very strong listing, that we're providing tremendous value, when it comes to our pricing. I'm not here to say you need to be cheap, but there is a perception of quality and pricing and we need to make sure that they mirror each  other.

Can you give an example of personalization in search?

From the days of prior to me being in this industry, I worked in digital marketing. When you perform any sort of activity online, any website that you visit  is dropping cookies on your computer.  And what Airbnb is looking at are those cookies on your computer. So if they believe that you are a mom of young kids who are searching for diapers and strollers - when you look at a location and a set of dates, they might serve you a search result that favor families  with young kids because they are looking to have that person click and book, right? So it is absolutely a strategy to drive bookings. That being said, for so many years, we've all been taught that we just have to do some certain  things and we don't know the details behind Airbnb's  algorithm. I still don't know the details other than they look at over 800 factors when it comes to how you appear in search results. But one of the things that they are working on at its core is personalizing the search results to drive bookings for their hosts.

If you're listening, really think about who the avatar is staying in your place. And if you don't  know, start trying to figure it out looking at your  bookings. Interacting with your guests to figure out who they are. Look at your past reviews, your private feedback, what people really loved or wished was there, and just make it that much better. So Airbnb keeps sending people your way. It takes a little bit of work, but you can always just ask people what was it about our place that attracted you? 

Psychograpic Marketing to Your Guest Avatar

The other thing too, beyond amenities is understanding the psychographics of your avatar, right? So what are their decision making factors? What are they afraid of when they book a short term rental? How are they  factoring in different decisions? What emotional triggers do they have, and making sure that we're positioning a listing, not just providing the amenities, but positioning a listing so that again, you've got as much of a guest magnet as possible in that listing description.

That's a great word. Can you give me a quick example of a guest magnet that you use? Well, I don't have a specific word, but what I do is a deep analysis of my ideal guest, and I do have a different ideal guest for different properties, right? I do a deep analysis and  create an ideal guest avatar bible, which is  usually between 30 and 50 pages long. And it takes me about 20 minutes to do. I will take an existing listing if I'm working with an existing, listing or when I'm writing a new listing, I will utilize AI and have it help me to position the listing so that it again, as a  magnet through attraction marketing and NLP neurolinguistic programming so that we are actually again. Having our ideal guest reading that listing description and going, oh my  gosh! I have to  stay here!

That's awesome. Well, Stacey, this has been amazing. Thank you so much! Such great energy and insight. How can our audience get in touch with you if they have more questions or want to engage with you?

staceystjohn.com.

 So there you have it. You know why women and diverse teams are incredibly successful as Airbnb investors. You also learn how important it is to make your Airbnb listing a magnet for your ideal guests so you can get the most out of Airbnb's platform's trend towards personalization.

Keep listening to the Host Coach Show. We're here every Tuesday, sharing actionable expert advice systems and softwares to help you fast track the success of your Airbnb and achieve a life of financial freedom.

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