149. Working With Influencers To Showcase Your STR Listing with Elise Armitage

Elise Armitage had the good job and a fancy title at a big brand. Her future was laid out in clear steps, but something was missing. It took taking a month from her day job at Google to convince her to dive head first into her side hustle, What The Fab, a start-up fashion and beauty blog that’s grown into a full-on travel and lifestyle brand.

She walks us through the steps she took on her way to leaving her day job (Hint: six months of extensive planning) before we tackle a subject that’s growing more complex by the day: STRs and social media influencers. What’s appropriate? What’s fair? Who pays whom? All that good stuff.

SEO is a big piece of the puzzle that gets overlooked in all the flashiness of Instagram. True organic web content that ranks for keywords (cities, towns, parks) will always attract a much more targeted viewing audience, which translates to more bookings. Relying on the wide-open canvas of the Instagram timeline, you’re hoping to catch just the right person at just the right time – risky ambiguity that’s erased with first-page real estate on a targeted search result.

Elise’s story mirrors that of so many hosts, swapping out her blog for STR properties. We obsess and nurture them in our spare time, nights, weekends, and daydreams. But when is the right time to go all in? We hope this conversation helps open your eyes to what might be possible if you did the work and invested yourself, full-time, in a keystone listing, a group of properties, a brand, or any other passion project.

Resources:

• Best Sedona Airbnbs for an Incredible Sedona, AZ Vacation
• What The Fab: website
• Instagram: @wtfab
• Linkedin: Elise Armitage
• Visit thanksforvisiting.me/workshop to watch our Hosting Business Mastery Method workshop!
• #STRShareSunday: @lakeviewlanding