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​For businesses and individuals who need
top-notch copy and content marketing . . .
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​SANDY WALKER WRITES . . . a blog

What Airbnb Guests Appreciate: Content Challenge #7

2/7/2022

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bookshelf and accessories
As I mentioned in an earlier Content Challenge post, my husband and I listed an efficiency apartment on Airbnb almost 6 years ago. As hosts, we’ve discovered both pros and cons of utilizing Airbnb or another vacation rental platform. Through our contact with hundreds of guests, we’ve also learned what Airbnb guests appreciate. Today's Content (Marketing) Challenge shares those discoveries. ​

What Do You Appreciate As a Guest?

Keurig machine, coffee pods and snacks
In our experience, Airbnb guests, and travelers who use other sites, appreciate things that enhance their stay and meet their expectations. If you travel regularly, you’ll probably be able to mentally check off several items before you read my list.

All three of our units sit on the same property as our home. So, we usually get to chat with our guests. We place a guest book in each unit, and we carefully read all of the feedback our guests leave on the Airbnb site. After combining all that feedback, we’ve determined that these factors are what our Airbnb guests value the most:

A Clean Place

Guests expect vacation rentals to be clean. We do our own cleaning and follow a regimen. We wash all the linens, bed pillows, and throw pillows every time. We disinfect the furniture and  wipe down cabinets. The bathroom gets a thorough scrubbing, too. We do our best to ensure each unit is thoroughly cleaned for every guest. 

Since some people have a very acute sense of smell, we ensure each unit smells clean, too. My favorite cleanser is my favorite because it cleans well and smells good. 

We’re not perfect. A few times, we’ve missed the mark. When that happened, we apologized sincerely and improved the next time.
​

Comments about how clean our places are top the list of what our guests appreciate.

Friendly Hosts

Remarks about how friendly my husband and I are weigh in as a close second. We don’t consider ourselves particularly outgoing or gregarious, but guests seem to. They appreciate being welcomed and like the fact that we are accessible if something goes wrong, but give them their space otherwise. 
​

Surprisingly, some people who we didn’t meet face-to-face commented that we were friendly. They based their opinions solely on our text communications with them. 

A Spot That Matches the Pictures and Description

Our first venture into online vacation rentals occurred several years ago when we booked a “secluded” cabin via VRBO for two nights. The listing was new to VRBO, and so were we, so we asked a couple of questions. Was the bathroom furnished with toilet paper? Was there reliable Wi-Fi? We were assured that both were available. 

When we arrived at the “secluded” cabin, we discovered that it was 20 yards from the owner’s home and shared the same driveway. The scenic woodland pictures in the listing were obviously taken from the only side of the house adjacent to a clump of trees. There was no toilet paper in the bathroom, and the Wi-Fi didn’t work at all.  

We were frustrated but gracious. We swept up sawdust we found in the corners and left things neater than we found them. Our reward? The owner kept our security deposit claiming that we had arrived with a dog. (Any dog he saw was a figment of his imagination.)


​We determined not to surprise our guests like we were surprised. We update pictures if we change furnishings and change our listing descriptions when they need to be updated. Our guests appreciate the fact that our listings match their expectations.

Extra Amenities

Apartment bathroom with turquoise accents
Our guests occasionally comment on some of the little amenities they find. They appreciate the shampoo, conditioner, and disposable razors we provide. The hand-made coasters, classic books, well-stocked cupboards, and the bowl filled with snacks all receive kudos. The pitcher of filtered water pleases folks with an eye to sustainability.

Unique Features

We grow a small “Simon and Garfunkle herb garden” with parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, in addition to mint and lavender. We keep a flock of hens in the backyard. The yard is also home to several fruit trees. Year-round I have something growing in a small greenhouse out back. Most of the time, we have at least one working beehive. 

Additionally, when we installed solar panels, we added an EV charger for any guests driving an electric car. To date, we haven’t hosted any guests who needed one, but hope springs eternal.


​Many of our guests comment about one or more of these features, especially folks who value the
sustainability aspects of raising chickens, keeping bees, and gardening.  We regularly have guests who visit our chickens, snip a slip of rosemary or mint, ask to peek into the greenhouse, or admire the beehive activity from a distance. Guests like these features that set our location apart from other suburban settings.

Takeaways

Green backyard

In a nutshell, here’s what guests appreciate:
  • A clean place
  • Friendly hosts
  • A spot that matches the pictures and the  description
  • Thoughtful amenities
  • Unique features​

Today's YACHT Call-to-Action

Here's today's content marketing, no-strings-attached CTA:
​ 

You Accept the CHallenge, Too!
If you host travelers on Airbnb or a similar site, does your experience agree with ours? Would you add any items to the list?
If you don’t host travelers, How do you serve the public or other clients? Could you list the features that matter to the people you serve? Would your list be based on information they provided or on your best guesses? 

​Happy Monday! I welcome your feedback.
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Raising Backyard Chickens: Content Challenge #3

2/2/2022

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Picture
In addition to an old dog, we keep a small flock of backyard chickens. Actually, we keep only hens. Roosters are too noisy for our 3/4-acre lot with homes around it; most real roosters aren't like Foghorn Leghorn. They don't wait patiently until dawn to crow. Instead, they are apt to sound off before dawn, after dawn, and several times throughout the day. That's hard on neighbors. 
Our little flock of backyard chickens is the focus for Content Challenge #3 Since this is a content challenge--and content marketing stresses creating and sharing valuable information--this content challenge shares 3 advantages of raising chickens.  As usual, I'll close with a YACHT--a CTA designed to help us all.​

Advantages of Raising Backyard Chickens

Before I list the advantages of raising chickens in your backyard, let me admit something obvious--not everyone will be able to do so. City and county zoning ordinances, HOA bylaws, and other government edicts often forbid the raising of any domestic livestock. Our county used to. Additionally, even if you could do so legally, you may not have the space for even the smallest coop. If you're in that category, please read on anyway.  Much of the content will apply to you even if you don't have your own flock.
​
With that caveat out of the way, let's talk chicken.
Picture of 12 fresh green and brown eggs
The green eggs are laid by Ameraucana chickens. We also have Buff Orpingtons and New Hampshire Whites.

Delicious Fresh Eggs

​​Fresh eggs taste better. 
Remember last summer when you sliced a homegrown tomato and added a piece to your sandwich? If it was fresh-picked, you probably noted how much better it tasted than the one you purchased in the grocery store. The contrast between a fresh egg and a store-bought egg isn't as stark, but it's there. Fresh eggs taste better. 

Fresh eggs are much . . . fresher.  Duh, but hear me out. By law, farmers have up to 30 days to get an egg from the hen that laid it to the egg carton. Once in the carton, the egg can be sold for up to 30 days. So, if you pick up a dozen eggs with a "Use By" date just a few days away, you could be buying eggs that are almost 2 months old! That's part of the reason that fresh eggs taste better. 

Laying hens are treated better in backyard flocks. I'm not trying to bash commercial egg producers. However, the industry has a reputation for keeping hens in tiny, barren cages that barely allow them to stretch their legs or wings. Most backyard flocks have at least a sizeable coop in which the birds can move around. Many--including ours--also have fenced areas outside. As a result, backyard hens live better lives.
Young man holding a chicken

Sustainability

Sustainability is a buzzword that's applied to situations both globally and individually. What's the word mean on both levels? How does keeping a small flock of hens in your backyard help you live more sustainably? 

According to a United Nations committee report, global sustainability is “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Global sustainability focuses on how nations enact laws that protect or destroy Earth's resources and how responsibly they use those resources.

In contrast, individual sus
tainability has a down-home flavor focused on what on individuals or families can do to minimize their effect on the environment.  Raising chickens is one aspect of down-home sustainability. Other popular activities include gardening, composting and beekeeping.   

Here are specific ways in which raising backyard chickens helps families live more sustainably:
  • Chickens are living compost bins. They love to eat fruit and vegetable peels, grass clippings, and other selected scraps. You don't want to overload their diet with these things, but you can significantly reduce the number of food scraps that you put in the garbage.
  • Chickens produce fertilizer. Chicken manure makes excellent fertilizer for your garden. It contains lots of nitrogen as well as moderate amounts of potassium and phosphorus. NOTE: You can kill your garden plants if you use it straight, so learn about using chicken manure as fertilizer before you try it. 

Life Lessons

Raising chickens teaches children--and adults--valuable life lessons. Here are a few of them:
  • Responsibility. Chickens must have food and water every day. They need a clean spot to lay eggs, and they benefit from interaction with people. Someone needs to make sure they have all these things. Young children may need help with waterers or feeders, but they can tend to nesting boxes, gather eggs, and help socialize your flock.
  • "Birds and Bees."  I won't go into detail, but raising chickens provides an easy way to teach children why our hens can lay many eggs, but they can't hatch out chicks if we don't keep roosters.  Surprisingly, we've encountered some adults who don't understand this.
  • Death is a part of life.  Even though we're careful, we've lost chickens to dogs and raccoons as well as disease and injury.  Death is a part of animal husbandry. It's a hard lesson, especially when we realize that one of our actions inadvertently put our hens at risk. However, we can't eliminate all danger and still allow our flock to live normally.  

If you'd like to learn more about chickens and backyard flocks, I recommend you go to the website for the Murray McMurray Hatchery  and request a free catalog. (The link is at the top right of their homepage.) The catalog contains a wealth of details about chickens and backyard flocks. It is well-written and full of fun photos, too. I read ours from cover to cover every year. 

Picture

Today's YACHT CTA

Here's today's content marketing, no-strings-attached CTA geared to benefit every reader: 
You Accept the CHallenge, Too! If you could start your own little flock, I encourage you to at least consider doing so. Read the sources I've linked. Talk to someone who raises chickens. 

If that's not a possibility, consider buying fresh eggs from a local market or someone you know. You'll pay a little more, but you'll be eating fresh eggs that taste better and are laid by a hen that isn't confined to a cage.  


Watch for tomorrow's Content Challenge. Drop me a comment if you have questions.
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    I'm Sandy . . . 

    I write crisp, accurate, engaging copy and content marketing for B2B and B2C clients. Calling on degrees in marketing and accounting combined with over 20 years of teaching experience, I write for clients  that represent industries as diverse as SaaS, woodcarving tools, private education, life transitions, accounting advisory services, and residential and commercial real estate.  

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