Curious about this $385billion company and have the question: how does Airbnb make money?
This is a question that many people ask, especially that this huge company itself neither owns nor operates any hotel or property.
This leads many people to believe that they themselves can start a company that operates in the same way and generates revenue the same way like Airbnb does.
How realistic are these dreams, and if they were possible to achieve, then how can you start your own “mini-Airbnb” website or app and make money with the same model?
These questions and more, I will be answering in this short article, so, bear with me till the end.
How Does Airbnb Make Money?
Airbnb makes money and generates revenue through the affiliate marketing model, which means that the company refers tenants to property owners or service providers, and it gets a commission for every reservation that happens through its website or app.
For example, if someone books a villa in Bali for a week, and pays the owner $500, Airbnb will get a commission of around – ($75-$100) on that reservation, which will be paid by the owner.
This is how affiliate marketing works by connecting the vendor (property owner) with the customer (tenant), in exchange for a commission.
This is the same way how Booking.com makes money, but Airbnb offers more options as it also lists services and experiences like retreats, classes (cooking, yoga, art, …etc.), trips (hiking, trekking, climbing, camping, …etc.) and so on, in addition to the hotels and homes that people can rent.
And that my friend, is how Airbnb app and website makes money and generates profit, and this is one of the best way of making money online, and that’s why I will tell you how to do it in the following sections.
Can You Generate Income Online with The Same Way Followed by Airbnb?
Of course!
Millions of people from almost every country in the world generate their income through affiliate marketing, because it’s one of the most passive ways of making money online.
And best of all, you can start an affiliate marketing business at almost any scale, no matter how small it was.
You don’t have to create a complicated website, hire coders and experts, do lots of marketing and branding like Airbnb does in order to make money with the same method.
I will tell you in the last few sections below where to find what you need in order to start from scratch. Don’t worry!
Actually, you can start a simple website (that doesn’t require coding or any experience) and start making commissions with the same way in the scale of one country, a state or even one city or town!
For example, you can create a simple website about Texas or about Austin that would act as a mini-online guide about the city, created relevant content to what people are searching for different stuff in the state or city.
And in your content, you could recommend the best service providers in the area such as hotels, restaurants (Italian, Mexican, Vegan, …etc.), food delivery services, lawyers, accountants, …etc., and you would get a commission if someone buys one of the services you recommend on your website.
Even better, with affiliate marketing, you can create a website about any niche. It doesn’t have to be related to hospitality and travel.
For example, I have a website that is related to Mediterranean cooking, another one about jumping higher for sports, and a third one about creating income online for engineers.
And in each website, I recommend relevant products and services that the website visitors would be interested in buying.
For example, on the Mediterranean cooking site, I recommend a software that creates a custom Mediterranean diet plan based on someone’s age, gender, body, food preferences, …etc.
And on the Jumping site, I recommend a video course that teaches sport practitioners how to jump higher.
And so on.
I don’t have to make your affiliate website a copy of the Airbnb website and app in order to make money with the same method they utilize, this is just an option.
Actually, you can make your website about a city or town, and then recommend properties and experiences that are listed on Airbnb itself, and if someone goes from your website to Airbnb.com and books one of the services there, you get a commission from Airbnb itself.
This means that you will act as a sub-affiliate, while Airbnb remains that main affiliate.
And again, this works for almost everyone and you make money with the same method as Airbnb even if you where a total beginner with the online business world.
More on this in the next section:
3 Simple Steps to Make Money with Your Mini-Airbnb.com Website
1 – Decide What Audience You Want to Serve
In other words, you need to choose a niche for your affiliate marketing business.
This is the group of people that is more likely to be interested in many things that you recommend through your website.
This could be people interested in visiting a certain city or country on vacation or to move in, parents whose kids learn tennis or basketball, pregnant women looking for online Yoga classes that suit them, and so on.
2 – Create Your “Mini-Airbnb” Website
Now that you know who your audience is, you need to create a simple WordPress website that doesn’t require any coding or technical knowledge, just like the one you are on right now.
Don’t be scared, I will tell you in the next section where you can start an affiliate website in 30 seconds without any technical hassle.
3 – Start Creating Content That Recommends Relevant Products & Services to Your Audience
And on this website, you start creating helpful content based on what your audience searches on Google and other search engines.
For example, if you want to make your website about Austin, you might create your content to target people who want to visit the city from other places, either on vacation, or maybe they want to move in and start living there. And you can recommend to them services such as restaurants, classes, hotels, lawyers, …etc.
And you would get paid from these service providers and property owners through what is called an affiliate program.
Even better, you can rely on Airbnb itself and apply to become their “sub-affiliate”, and place banners and links on your website that will take people to the Airbnb website and book what they want there, and Airbnb will pay you part of the commission they will get from the owner or service provider.
And if your affiliate website is about Tennis, you can target parents who are looking for the best gear for their kids, or looking for video courses that teach the basic skills and drills, and you can recommend what you find as an affiliate and make a commission everytime someone buys what you recommend.
And so on.
And with these three, easy-to-follow steps, you can create your “mini-Airbnb.com” website and start making money in the same way they make money with.
And if you are interested in starting with affiliate marketing, and I encourage you to do so, but you are confused about how to start, then don’t worry!
In the following section, you will learn where you can find all the necessary training, tools and support in order to start making money online exactly like Airbnb makes its money.
The One Place to Go & Start Your Own Airbnb-Model Business (Start in 5 Minutes from Now!)
As I mentioned earlier, I encourage you to start an online business that makes you money with the same way that Airbnb.com makes money.
And to do so properly, you need the following three items:
- You need the step-by-step affiliate marketing training.
- You need the best affiliate tools and the easy website builder that doesn’t require experience or technical knowledge.
- You need the amazing support from expert and other online entrepreneurs who would help you in every step that you take.
And the good news is that I have already found all of these three things in one place, which is the same place where I learned how to build my affiliate business and make money with it like Airbnb app and website do.
And this amazing place is called Wealthy Affiliate, the #1 place that help you become a successful affiliate marketer.
This place provides you with all what you need in order to start and grow your affiliate business from scratch, and without prior experience.
The detailed training, the premium web hosting for your website with a premium support, the advanced research and content creation tools, and most important; the amazing community support from around 2 million internet entrepreneurs who have already been where you are now!
Literally, all of what you need in one place for an affordable cost.
And even better, there’s a free Starter membership plan that you can get in order to try the platform before you pay anything.
So,
If you are really interested in learning exactly how Airbnb makes money and want to start your business and make money with the same model, then you can check my Wealthy Affiliate review here in order to learn more about what this place and what it offers.
At least, start with the free membership plan, and you will get the first level of the training (10 lessons) completely for free. This will help you understand how this Airbnb monetization model works very well.
And after that, you can decide if you want to join the paid membership plan and save the time on yourself by learning from the best in the industry.
Conclusion
I hope you found my article helpful and you understood how Airbnb.com makes money online through the affiliate marketing model.
If you are interested in starting your own semi-Airbnb business that makes you money the same way, then you can go with my recommended place in the previous section above.
And if you still have any questions about anything in this article or about how Airbnb generates revenue and profit, then please, leave it in the comments’ section below and I will be happy to help you out 🙂