This is Richard Fertig - founder of
ShortTermRentalSecrets.com. Today
we're going to talk about the importance
of the thumbnail that which is that
first image that you select and how it's
critical to you getting more bookings.
I'm actually going to Los Angeles
tomorrow I'd like to stay in an Airbnb
and for purposes of this educational
video we're going to go through what I'm
looking at and what I'm thinking about
as I booked my Airbnb for tomorrow. So
I've put in my search criteria and here
the thumbnails. The first two are perfect
example of what it is that I'm talking
about. On the left here you'll see a
bright airy wide shot that's filled with
sun. You can see nice comfortable seating -
area that's really inviting. On the right
hand side here it's really hard to tell.
It's a very tight shot of a couch and
throw pillows in particular. It doesn't
seem very hospitable or big or bright
although it very well might be if they
zoomed out. I can see in the back here
that there's a nice-looking European
kitchen and so maybe that would catch my
eye. So this room here might be as
nice or nicer than the one here but you
couldn't tell it from the thumbnail so
as a result of that I think this one
will likely book far less than this one
now in this particular case. There is a
price difference but that's not really
the primary driver. I think that the
photos and what the owners have selected
is actually helping in this case and has
room for improvement in this case. If we
scroll down a little bit, the next series
here the one on the left here you can
tell that they've gone through some
effort to color-coordinate. You can see
yellow flowers with yellow stools and
yellow chairs and yellow pillows and the
the hanging television. But what's
interesting to me looking at this - it
doesn't look very inviting, it looks a
little bit dark. Maybe they should turn
on all the lights when they photograph
it, maybe they should change the f-stops
that they're getting more light in there.
This room may well be very bright and
either they took it at the wrong time of
day or they didn't use the right camera
settings but this looks a little bit
dark and therefore has room for
improvement in making it more appealing.
On the right hand side here this is kind
of interesting and you know it sort of
depends on what you're trying to do. When
you showcase that you have a pool and
you don't show anything about the
property basically what you're doing is
saying if you don't have any time to
spend or interest or its weather that
doesn't allow for swimming then don't
click on this. If you do have interest in
swimming or it's nice sunny weather or
whatever then go ahead and click and
learn more, but you're automatically
reducing the number of interested
parties by some pretty significant
portion maybe even as many as half. And
another tip is even in Los Angeles there
are weather cycles that would be more
seasonal for swimming appropriate versus
less seasonal we're swimming pools
become less important. So if this
homeowner is really on top of their game
and they're changing the thumbnail and
putting the photo when it's appropriate
then that's great. But if they just put
it there, set it forget it and they're
leaving it in the winter months where
it's colder they may not be renting
nearly as much as they ought to. The
final two that I want to talk about
today is the one here on the left. You
can see it's a beautiful photo of
all of downtown Los Angeles.
Floor-to-ceiling windows. Again, it looks
like they're photographing maybe the
kitchen counter or dining room table.
It's really hard to tell but it's all
about the view and for people that are
interested in the view that'll be
wonderful but it's really hard to tell
what the living space is. Where as the
one on the right here, while the view
isn't nearly as exciting, I can sort of
get drawn into the room and I can see
what it is that I'll be doing I'll be
sitting on this couch, I'll be having
breakfast over there, there's a
television it looks pretty big, looks
like it has a sound bar so surround
sound if I'm watching a football game
or something. So the point is we all know
the adage that a photo says replaces a
thousand words in this particular case
the difference between the right
thumbnail and the wrong thumbnail could
be the difference between your business
generating you know twenty five percent
of its capability or two hundred percent
of what you think it could do. Please go
ahead and subscribe to this channel will
be coming out with more content all the
time and for that we thank you very much.
Have a great day!