Earlier this year I interviewed Rex Brown of Holiday Rental Mastery in Melbourne and he shared his excitement at the success of his Airbnb listing in booking his city apartment.

A few months later, Jasper Ribbers promoted his new book, Get Paid for Your Pad – a host's guide to Airbnb.

And now, this week I had the pleasure of talking with Glenn Cooley, who is the founder and moderator of the New Host forum on Airbnb.

I've learned a lot about this platform from these three experienced Airbnb'ers as well as some interesting articles from Skift, the travel intelligence company.

Airbnb has been a true disruptor in travel, and we’ll continue to keep a close watch as it matures into a broader industry player. — Jason Clampet, Skift

@gglennc joins @cottageguru to discuss his role as the ‘New Host' forum moderator with #airbnb. Take a look here

Recently, vacation rental marketing expert Matt Landau wrote a brilliant summary of his view on the corporate cloaking of customer data by the San Fransisco-based company.  Matt turned over a fair share of the comments to Glenn, who in his short time with Airbnb has carved himself out a role as a platform expert (he is not employed by Airbnb). Glenn tells the story of how he went from the heady theatrical world of Cirque Du Soleil as stage manager for Las Vegas and Hollywood shows, to personifying the sharing economy in his beloved city of Los Angeles.  He shares his insights into Airbnb, its past, present and future trends, and finishes by giving us five tips on how to be successful in the Airbnb space. We talked about:

• the differences between Airbnb and the traditional listing sites
• the similarities between stage management and ‘opening the house' to preparing for guest arrival
• How traditional listing sites are more ‘real estate' while Airbnb offers an ‘experience'
• The qualities of an Airbnb host
• Why it's important to understand how the system works before jumping in
• the importance of great beds and why Glenn is ‘a disciple of the church of Mercedes Brennan!'
• how and why to initiate the feedback loop

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Sites mentioned:

Airbnb Host Info VRS021 – Successful Owner Series – Rex Brown

VRS029 – How to Get Paid for Your Pad – Jasper Ribbers

6 Ways Airbnb Change Hospitality and the Vacation Rental Industry

…And this is why Matt’s not talking about Airbnb – Matt Landau

Mercedes Brennan, 1ChicRetreat and Sexy Bedrooms

Where you can find Glenn:

Website

Twitter

Facebook

Google+

LinkedIN