How to Make Your Airbnb Listing More Profitable With Better Photos, Storytelling, and Guest Experience

Brigham Blackham (00:00)
Eventually, you’re going to make it so you have more money, which is more income, but you’ll also be able to create more impact and influence. That’s what storytelling does.

Create influence, impact, and income. Because you’re providing something of value to them. And the higher the perceived value, the more you can charge for it. If you don’t have high perceived value, you’re going to be a commodity.

Dylan Silver (01:51)
Hey folks, welcome back to the show. Today we’re joined by Brigham Blackham, author of Storyhook Method, international speaker and founder of StayBnB. Brigham combines storytelling with short-term rental strategy, bringing over six years as an Airbnb super host. He focuses on helping hosts stand out in crowded markets by using narrative branding and guest experience to drive higher bookings and stronger returns. Brigham, welcome to the show.

Brigham Blackham (02:17)
Dylan, what a pleasure to be here. Thank you so much for having me. It is gonna be a great conversation. I’m glad to be here.

Dylan Silver (02:23)
What led you to combine storytelling with the STR space?

Brigham Blackham (02:28)
Ooh, this is something that I think everyone can learn from. When you’re sharing a story, it is inviting those that are listening to become a part of what it is that you’re doing. Whenever I’m putting up photos on my short-term rentals, I think, how can I invite the guest to, every time they see this picture, feel like they want to be in that unit? It’s kind of like if you’re talking to a realtor when they’re saying, hey, this is what…

the house is like, if they can paint the picture of possibilities for people, they can say, this is where your kids are gonna play. This is the room that you’re going to be able to decorate and make it look perfect for that nursery. As soon as they envision themselves in there, everything shifts for them because now they’re part of that story. And it’s seamlessly connected with my background as a theater practitioner, as an author, and as a Mandarin Chinese teacher, I know how to take really complicated things, simplify them so that others get value from that experience.

It really help people that have something that they wanna say be able to do it.

Dylan Silver (03:25)
Ni hao ma.

Brigham Blackham (03:26)
我很好,谢谢。

Dylan Silver (03:27)
How’d you learn Mandarin?

Brigham Blackham (03:29)
That’s a great question. When I was 19 years old, I served a mission for my church in Taiwan. That means for two years I went and knocking doors, I was connecting with people on the streets, and I got very functionally fluent in Mandarin. And then when I came home, I was like, I love this language so much, I want to teach it. And as I went through the process of not just mastery, but being able to master it to the point that I can share it with somebody else,

I discovered that storytelling was the through line that made it so that I could increase my memory, make it easier for others to understand me. And then it was way more fun to learn words because you could do this on a very micro scale with an individual word, or you could do it on a macro scale saying, I’ve got these 30 words that are random. What if I put them into a story and now I can remember one of them? I can remember all of them. It’s a massive hack anytime you’re learning to incorporate storytelling and narrative structure.

You can do the same thing in your short-term rentals.

Dylan Silver (04:23)
Yeah.

I’ve actually heard this for memory strategies about this idea of like a home where you place items that you’re trying to remember in certain areas of the home, like a doorway. Even if you’re trying to remember terminology, you’d be like, I’m gonna look up and I’ll see, you know, whichever term that you’re trying to memorize. Now, if we, yeah.

Brigham Blackham (04:26)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Absolutely.

Yeah, so this is called a memory palace. Absolutely, that is something that

has been done for thousands of years. And as you attach a story to that, not just in your physical location, then there’s going to be more motivation for you to remember it. And it’s easier for you to say, I was here and now I went here. Why did I go there? And then you have a story to attach it. All that a story is, so that those that are maybe not narrative geeks like myself, it’s just the way you create meaning.

The whole reason that you go do something or go away from something. That’s what a story is.

Dylan Silver (05:11)
Can you walk through a specific short-term rental listing that was improved and what was done to change it and what happened afterwards?

Brigham Blackham (05:20)
Beautiful. A few months ago, I put up a unit that is an E from Utah. It is a stunning unit that from the window, you can actually see Snow College. If you’ve ever been to Utah, you know there’s beautiful mountains there and you can see the S of Snow College on the mountain from the window. So when I was putting all of this unit together, I said, how can I incorporate Snow College, which is one of my main demographics that I want to attract people that are coming there to visit family, watch theater productions.

And I said, how can I make this as attractive as possible, as clean as possible, and then hint that we’re really close to Snow College? So I even named the unit Miss Snow, which was my mother’s nod, in the 70s she was Miss Snow College, which is a beauty pageant. And then my sister was too. So one of the things with that is you very intentionally put your photographs together so that you tell a picture story.

almost like as you’re walking through it, you’re like, I can see myself in this unit. I can see myself going to the plays. I can see myself going to the concerts, connecting with the football or the different sporting events. And it makes it a seamless experience before they even step in the unit. Because as soon as they step in the unit, they’re like, this is what I envisioned. And whatever you say, this is what the promise is. If you can over-deliver that, suddenly there is a great review that’s going to be coming.

And as someone that’s had over 750 five-star reviews over the last six years, I know that if you don’t ask for a review, you don’t get it typically. But if you over-deliver on value and the narrative that you give them, that story, is something that they wanna go share with other people. Like, when I came into that unit, the walls were pristine, everything was clean, it made me feel at home. I felt like I could breathe. It was easy to check in, check out. Those types of experiences make it so that…

Every time that your guest shows up in that unit, they feel at ease. There’s less stress and that’s what creates a great review and it creates repeat business.

Dylan Silver (07:16)
How do you structure that to incorporate photos in the storytelling along with that?

Brigham Blackham (08:11)
This is a great hack. If you have never put together a listing before, when you are describing the unit, most people struggle with this. They’ll say, I am 45 minutes to or from whatever the highlight location is. If you do that little thing to say, hey, I’m from there, then you’re

allowing them in their mind to picture themselves at the location of the high attraction, but not at your unit. But if you say, it’s 45 minutes to that location, just that one little word shift will make it so that they can picture themselves in your unit. And then as far as simplifying your language, make it so that they’re describing very clearly what the experience is and the feelings, because people purchase based on feelings.

and even the tactile experience of things. If you only describe the features, they don’t see the benefits. But if you describe the benefits of what that means for them, it changes everything. Let me give you a concrete example. One of the ways that I describe people coming and staying in my units is, hey, do you like to have smelly luggage when you get home? Do you like to be able to take out that or unzip your bag and then just get a whiff of just…

Dirty laundry. Yeah, if you stay in a hotel, there’s a high likelihood that’s how your experience going home is. But if you stay in a short-term rental like mine, we have very high-end, nice in-unit laundry machines. You can wash your clothes before you go home. So when you unzip that bag, you feel refreshed. You don’t have more work to do at home. That’s just one of the ways you paint that picture in their head. And they say, wow, I can see myself doing that now. And they increase the level of their experience because of the way you framed it.

Dylan Silver (09:48)
Now, how much of this as well is storytelling while they’re there? Is that a possibility? And the reason why I ask this is because I’ve heard of people offering like concierge services, cleaning, recommendations, kind of continuing to stay in touch. Do you believe in that? And what’s your feedback on that as a whole? I know that’s a long question.

Brigham Blackham (09:55)
Mm-hmm.

Hmm.

No,

you’re good. What I hear this is, how do I provide the best experience possible for my guest? You say what your expectation is with the photos. That’s the most important thing. If you don’t have good photos, you will not get booked. I’m sorry. That’s really difficult to get booked if you have poor photos. But if you can put a very clean, best foot forward in your photos, that sets the expectation of what they’re going to see. And then you don’t just meet their expectation, you increase it by the way that you interact in your automated messaging.

saying this is what we’re going to be able to do. When you’re checking out tomorrow, here’s how that process goes. And as you walk them through the experience, it allows them to feel confident. One of the things that I am very excited about is I am a confidence expert. And the way you do that is by sharing stories and experiences of other people that matter. Here’s another great tip for you. If you’re building out your unit and you’ve been doing this for a while, you will have a handful of

wonderful testimonials or words that other people have said about your unit. If all you’re doing is bragging about yourself, that doesn’t feel right. However, if you say, we’re the best in the world because this is what everyone else is saying, and then you’d quote what they say, it feels very different and you’re creating third-party testimonials. A lot of times people, the only times they read are when they’re interested in a specific amenity.

So you only have a few seconds to catch their attention and then prove that it’s something that’s valuable for them.

Dylan Silver (11:30)
Hmm.

Brigham Blackham (12:12)
In reality, oh, one second. In reality, what that looks like is I take a small snippet of the benefits that people experience from testimonials. I don’t do the whole paragraph testimonial. I’ll take like one little snippet. It’s like, I finally was able to have clean clothes that made me feel refreshed. That little thing, and then I put the person’s name after I’ve described the unit. And then it’s not coming from me.

Dylan Silver (12:11)
Now, when someone

Brigham Blackham (12:33)
it’s coming from a guest experience and that increases your credibility, makes it easier for others to book it and then it makes it easier for them to say, I want that type of experience too. Go ahead, Dylan.

Dylan Silver (12:42)
When someone lands on a listing, you mentioned you’ve got a couple of moments to captivate their attention, What are maybe the first one, two, or three elements that determine whether they click on somewhere else or whether they stay on potentially a book?

Brigham Blackham (12:45)
you

The simplest way to say that is how do I attract an eyeball to look at my photos if you have a photo that is not attractive even though the amenity is really wonderful You can actually dissuade people from clicking on it. So you have to think what is my money shot? What is the way that I Demonstrate and show the lifestyle that they get to experience see themselves in that story rather than ⁓

If you pick up a brand new person and they are throwing up their room online, they probably don’t have good lighting, maybe they took it with their cell phone, you’ll see the walls, even if they’re white, might be yellow. They have dark curtains, they have no bedspread. There’s different things that will immediately say, you know what, I’m not even gonna click on the next photo, they’ll just swipe. But if you open up that picture and they’re like,

Wow, this is inviting me in because it’s clean, it’s well lit, it’s easy to understand, there’s not a lot of clutter. That’s one of the things that people sometimes forget is if you declutter your space, take a lot of your own personal knickknacks and tchotchkes out of the mix and make it as easy for them to see themselves in the unit as possible. That allows them to experience what it might be like when they step inside your unit. Does that make sense?

Dylan Silver (14:11)
Do you see that implementing all of these tactics allows people to potentially charge more per night?

Brigham Blackham (14:18)
Absolutely. If you can’t tell a good story, think of it like this. I have kids, I have four little kids, they love Lego. If you dump out a bin of Legos and they are strewn everywhere, watch your feet because you might step on them, hurt. you look at this and you’re putting these Legos together, maybe you build a wall and you’re like, okay, I’ve got eight or ten bricks stacked high. There’s not much of a story there. But as soon as you put that there and you have different characters and maybe you have somebody on top shooting arrows,

Suddenly you have a story and the way that that’s created is even more valuable. And then you say, well, that’s cool, but what if we built it into something like the up house and you put it together, now there is even more nostalgia attached to it. You have a story attached to it. So everything that goes into that will increase the value of the blocks. This is one of the things that saved Lego in the early days was aligning themselves with stories that mattered.

If you can align your unit with the things that matter to your guest, they will say, thank you for thinking of me. Thank you for putting the USB ports where I need to charge all my phones. Thank you for thinking of a place that I can actually store my luggage that’s not on the floor, having those little luggage racks. They’re like 30 or 40 bucks, but those little details, if you have enough of those in there, it takes a lot of the stress off of your people.

Dylan Silver (15:24)
Yeah.

Brigham Blackham (15:38)
And I’m someone that is focused on business class, family friendly. What that means is I want to make sure that if I have to go do my podcast in my unit, it’s easy for me to do. So I have plenty of places that I can plug in the three or four things that I need to have plugged in for my podcast. And then how comfortable is it for my kids to be there? If it’s really comfortable for me, it’s going to be comfortable for other people that I want to attract. And I prioritize cleanliness so I don’t do dark colored

anything as far as bedding. I make sure it’s clean, pristine. I do triple sheeting as well, which is another layer of really engaging that extra level of professionalism. And when you can demonstrate that through your photos and through other people’s experiences, like those testimonials I brought up, it makes it easier for those that want to potentially book your unit to feel comfortable and confident that they’re going to have an experience just like other people.

Dylan Silver (16:28)
Now, if someone is looking to, in their first seven days, implement these systems, what can they reasonably expect to happen over the next month or two?

Brigham Blackham (17:22)
When you say implement these systems, you’re saying put in testimonials, make their photos as beautiful as possible. Let’s pretend like you just got your professional photos down, you staged them beautifully. You can expect more inquiries from people and depending on how your systems are set up and the way that you respond to guests, more bookings that come from that. Also, you’ll be able to see that when others are interested in your unit, it’s not just in the…

photos, they want to understand why do they need to be at your unit and not somebody else’s. And if you’ve positioned yourself in a way that allows you to be credible and you’ve promoted yourself in a way that allows others to say, wow, he knows what he’s talking about or she knows what she’s talking about, I’m going to be able to have a great experience there.

Eventually, you’re going to make it so you have more money, which is more income, but you’ll also be able to create more impact and influence. That’s what storytelling does.

Create influence, impact, and income. Because you’re providing something of value to them. And the higher the perceived value, the more you can charge for it. If you don’t have high perceived value, you’re going to be a commodity.

Just like those Lego bricks that aren’t constructed in a story. As soon as you’ve put it into a story, just like that uphouse, now instead of those blocks that probably were three or four dollars worth of blocks, they can charge 40 or $50 for a set because it’s the uphouse. That’s the difference between having a really well put together unit

Dylan Silver (18:39)
Yeah.

Brigham Blackham (18:41)
that tells a complete through line of what your experience is going to be from the beginning all the way to the end, what to expect, and transferring that confidence from yourself to the guest.

Dylan Silver (18:51)
We are coming up on time here, Brigham. Any new projects that you’re working on and then what’s the best way for folks to reach out to you or your team?

Brigham Blackham (18:59)
Absolutely. Well, you said any new projects as of right now, one of the things that I’m super proud of is this book, The Story Hook Method. It came out in January on 31st. It has been so impactful for so many people. I wanna get it in more people’s hands. And as far as a new project, this is the companion work ship or workbook that’s going along with it. So what this does for you and what this book does for you is it allows you to take your ideas, your lived experiences,

develop intellectual property in storytelling form and be able to distribute it through podcasts, blogs, books, however it is that you publish it. But what this does for you in reality is it helps you create confidence from the inside. Independent of any other source, you can say, this is why I know this works because I’ve experienced it. And then you have the words to say it concisely, simply so that other people can understand you. Because a lot of people have great things to say, they’ve had amazing experiences.

but they don’t always know how to say it. And that’s what the story hook method does for you. It helps you be more compelling as a communicator and be able to deliver value just like you were giving someone a gold coin. Hey, if I was going to give you a gold coin, if it was, let’s say this coin is worth five grand, but I say, you know what? I’m going to give you $5,000 worth of value. You only have to pay $1,000. How many people are going to say, absolutely, let’s do this?

anyone that sees the value. And the way you increase perceived value is through your storytelling. It makes it as simple as possible and as easy for others to understand what you are talking about. And what this does for you is it simplifies your communication into story form. makes it easier for you to remember. So if you have a lot of data that you have to get through, you’re going to be able to compress it into a story that allows other people to connect deeply with you and have real heart-to-heart conversations.

And then because you understand the frameworks, you can actually extract stories like testimonials from other people, just like what I demonstrated with the way you’re putting in testimonials and little mini micro stories into your listing photographs. All of those different things you can get from understanding the Story Hook method. And I hope that if you are interested enough to do that, I’ll give you a free book. I’ll put it in the show notes with you, It’s brigamb.com.

That gives you the three reasons stage fright costs and why you must fix it. When I say stage fright, this is anytime someone wants to talk with you and you are like, I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to frame this. Anytime you struggle to open your mouth, that’s what stage fright is. Not just for those that are actors, not just for those that are on stage performing. Anytime you have something that is a value to say, but you don’t know how to frame it so that others see the value in it.

That’s why you’d want that book. And this one’s for free. So definitely get that on my website and you’ll get it in the show notes. BrighamB.com/3. That’s how you connect with me. Thank you so much for having me on today, Dylan. And it was a pleasure to connect with you.

Dylan Silver (21:46)
Thanks for coming on Brigham. Thank you very much.

Brigham Blackham (21:48)
Absolutely.

God bless.