Photographs are one of the biggest things that can make a listing shine, or get buried under better performing listings.

So, let's get started.

The purpose of great photos is to help people fall in love with your home.

People buy with their heart and justify the purchase with their logic.

So, photos and words have to work together.

Unless it's a business or medical trip, this is a splurge. A treat. So, you have to woo them with spectacular photos. 

Unless you have exceptional photo and staging skills, this is a job for the pros. 

You want to look for a photographer who is skilled at arcitectural, real estate, or ideally, vacation rental photography.

Here are some tips if you are taking your own.

Think hard about your thumbnail, or as some people call it, the Hero Photo. 

Look for photos that have high contrast. 

Photos. 

If you've ever shopped for anything online, you know how important photos are. Which one would you choose to stay at? 

Quality matters. In fact, so does quantity. 

I am planning on staying in Playa del Carmen, MX, for a month this winter. Some of the photos people post are terrible! Or, they have 30 outdoor shots, and only 3 interior of the condo - leaving me with too many questions.

Do I take the time to give them feedback? No, like everyone else, I just click to the next one. There's almost always a next one. One that has great photos! 

You need to have great photos, too. 

So, unless you are super skilled with staging and interior vacation rental photography, I'm going to say you need to hire a professional. 

A lot of us are do it yourselfers. We expect to be able to figure it out. 

What if you not spending a couple of hundred dollars costs you thousands?

Put a different way, what if I said someone will give you $2000 in exchange for $200? Would you take that deal? All day long! 

So, line up a photographer. 

Why are you still here? Go book a photographer. Unless...your place isn't ready. Then, you need my course - 

Captions are unearthed gold in your Airbnb listing. 

This is where we arrange the photos in a cohesive order and wax poetic about each one.

A quick copy lesson, there are features - a half bath in the basement games room

And benefits

"Why go upstairs when you have this beauty, plus this modern half bath is an extra space to get ready for the day."

NOW - you can see the value in that half bath, via the caption.

Captions are a great place to help people take a virtual tour of your home, as well as your local area.

For instance, if you are not on the beach, don't have your thumbnail, or hero photo be the beach. Instead, use these general area photos to enhance your listing, by putting the location in context.

"The beach at Playa del Carmen is just a 10 minute walk (0.7 miles) and has a public restroom and a kite surfing shop."

You're letting them know this isn't roll out of bed and onto the sand situation, but also highlighting some of the positives. 

We are getting SO CLOSE to opening your virtual home to millions of travelers.

Now, there's a trick here. It seems like many times, once you hit "Publish" that all of your settings default to pro-traveler. Check in whenever they want, no qualifiers for instant book.

So, I want you to hit "Publish" then IMMEDIATELY turn it back to 

Now, let's go through and check out the options and figure out what's best for you.

But first, let's go back to why you are doing this course - success. 

So, unless you time it perfectly, don't expect to make big money off of your first few guests. 

The goal is to get them to take a risk on an untested property and to GET REVIEWS. Reviews make you real. 

Airbnb is continually updating their website and settings, so let's just use this section as a guide. 

Everything that is on the check list is something that people can select.