The hospitality industry is growing exponentially - as of May 2020, data shows that 14,000 new hosts are joining the platform each month. For you, host, this means that competition is only getting stronger, and to stand out, you need to exceed in every aspect of your business: design, customer experience, and marketing. It’s not enough to have a solid 5-star rental with a superhost status, you also need to provide unique experiences for your guests to enjoy. That is exactly what Atlist provides for hosts: an opportunity to stand out from your competitors while earning some extra money. This platform allows you to create a customized webpage to upsell guests’ experiences, and provide some extra amenities that your guests will surely appreciate.
The benefits
I continuously emphasize the fact that a vacation rental is a business. And as a business, you must identify different sources of revenue, and alternate ways to increase your profit.
You’ve already made a huge investment in staging, maintaining, and running your property for short-term renting. Your foundation is already established, but this shouldn’t be all! There are multiple ways that you can generate additional revenue and improve your guests’ experience and overall satisfaction. Atlist provides the means for achieving this - your job is to get creative and craft services and packages that your ideal guests would enjoy!
The process
I collaborated with That Yellow Door, one of my favorite rentals on Instagram, to create their customized Atlist webpage. That Yellow Door has an amazing brand and has done an excellent job developing a cohesive Instagram profile. Having a solid fan base, what better way to make their experience even more special than offering curated packages for them to enjoy? Atlist makes it super easy and convenient.
The first step is to personalize your webpage. Atlist allows you to include your logo and a hero image to match your brand, which you may know I’m an advocate for! You can add a phrase or description that is particular to the experience you provide for your guests. That Yellow Door is all about having fun and relaxing - I mean, they have an air hockey table, a pool with floaties, and even a floaty for your drink… so “Celebrate, relax, have fun!” seemed appropriate.
Lace’s tip: don’t be like me. Read the instructions - they have size limits for the images to provide a better user experience. If you try to upload a huge image, as I did, you will receive an error. However, the Atlist support almost immediately contacted me notifying how to fix it.
The fun begins at the second step: creating your posts - Atlist’s way of referring to your packages/services. That Yellow Door wanted to provide their guests delicious treats as a welcome snack - perfect to satisfy the hunger after a long flight. They wanted to offer a pre-stocked fridge for those that do not want to waste any of their adventure-time shopping for groceries but want to have enough options to satisfy cravings before heading out to explore. And finally, a wine, cheese, and chocolate pairing to celebrate, or end the night on a sweet note. These are not the only options, though! There are plenty of templates you can use for services like photoshoots, car wash, private massages, surprise party decoration, floral arrangements, among others.
Once you name your package, you add a short description and get into the specifics of what’s included and why, and even a “heads up”, if needed. One option I appreciated was the drop-down menu to include options. We allow the guests to select their preference between white or red wine, and dietary needs such as gluten-free, or food allergies.
The third step, which I enjoyed a lot, was selecting the image for your post. I am big on maintaining your brand in every platform you use and I wanted to provide That Yellow Door a webpage that reflected the amazing job they’ve done with their branding. Atlist provides two options for this: you can upload your pictures, or you can select from their image library. And, oh my, are their photos exquisite! I was so happy to find high-quality pictures for all of the posts with a pop of yellow to match the brand.
Finally, the most important step - connecting your bank account information to get paid! Atlist uses Stripe for payment processing, which is super safe and easy to use on both the host and guest ends.
The cost
The two most popular options are the Independent subscription - for the DIYers that can take the time to customize the templates at $9/month, and the Professional subscription - for those that prefer a done-for-me and dedicated support for a $300 one-time fee and $9/month. However, if you use my exclusive and limited code MINTSTR you get 50% off the independent or professional plans.
Overall, the process was very straightforward, even for those that are not super “techy”. As with any new platform, I had some questions on how to complete some steps but the Atlist team responsiveness was exceptional!
Are you ready to get started? Join today and start creating unique experiences for your guests, an opportunity to stand out, and the extra income to enjoy!