It’s that time of the year when most of us start writing new year’s resolutions. And it won’t be any different for the start of the new decade. I’ve never been a fan of new year’s resolutions because it feels like a laundry list and causes me more stress than motivation.
Usually, when we set goals, if done the right way, we build in a plan. This works better for me because I need a tactical list on how to achieve a goal, and by being specific with the process, it gives me peace of mind that it is attainable IF I follow all the steps I define.
I realized that the same way I’ve been able to implement the process in my personal life and business, it can be transferable to any type of business, including… hospitality! Yes! Don’t look to the other side, I’m talking to you, host! As with any other business, you need to set goals for your Airbnb rental. Otherwise, how would you measure your success, and aim for higher and better results?
The day to day tasks of managing a short-term rental can sometimes make you lose focus of the main goal. And this happens to all of us on our different endeavors. That’s why it’s super important to write goals that will not stress us out but will, instead, motivate us. I will teach you how to apply it to goals aligned with the short-term rental business.
Defining goals
Let’s start by defining what SMART goals are. To ensure your goals are clearly defined and reachable, these should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based. When you plan your goals for 2020, be very specific! This might scare you, but it will also push you to work smarter towards your goals. Make sure to set a goal that can be measured, and measure your current state (it’s ok if that value is zero). This way, you can easily identify your growth, improvement or increase…
When you set this goal, be realistic… you want to push yourself, but also not set something that you cannot back up as it will later lead to frustration or discouragement. Make this goal relevant to you and understand why you need to reach it. A good strategy is to think how would your life look like when you achieve this goal. Finally, you need to set a timeframe. Goals need to have a deadline, otherwise they will most likely not get done!
Now that you understand how to set goals, I will give you some examples on short-term rental goals and how to plan to achieve them by breaking them down in small steps.
Goal : Increase Occupancy Rate of rental to 90% by July 2020.
What actions could we take to increase occupancy? Brainstorming, I came up with these three ideas:
Increase Marketing
Improve listing to rank higher on Airbnb searches
Improve branding and social media presence
Breaking down the goal to smaller steps
Let’s get specific with one of them and create smaller goals with actions that will help us achieve our main goal of increasing the occupancy rate.
Improve branding and social media
Every brand is using IG to promote their business or products, and Airbnb rentals are not the exception! By getting more followers, your property is being discovered by users that may potentially convert into guests.
Let’s create specific actions that can be done each in a shorter period (day, week) until, voila, without even noticing it, your occupancy is at 90%!
Create a logo for the STR rental in by [date] using Canva app.
Create an Instagram business profile by [date] – it should take you 5 mins, btw! Set your logo as your profile picture and add your Airbnb link in the website section
Create 3 sets of 20 hashtags to alternate within posts to reach different group of followers by [date]
Post 7 high quality pictures with an engaging caption per week. (Don’t forget to include your hashtags!)
Follow 5 relevant IG accounts per day (Relevant = local restaurants and shops, travel life, and other vacation rentals)
Spend 30 minutes engaging (commenting) with your followers on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
These are all actions that you can easily check off a list on a daily/weekly timeframe. You will feel less pressure by completing these small actions versus thinking everyday “I need an occupancy rate of 90%, ahhhhg I’m so far behind!” … day by day you will be achieving small but steady steps towards your main goal.
Remember, this is just an example of how you can break down a goal into small actions. Now it is your time to set your specific goal, and brainstorm on ways you can achieve it. Then make a list of what specific small actions you will be completing on a daily basis.
Click here to get your Goals Setting Worksheet for 2020!
Need help marketing your Airbnb on IG? Grab our Airbnb Social Media Strategy guide for a step-by-step process from creating a business account to having a thriving IG profile and engaged community.
Happy hosting!
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