Friends of mine used to ask me about making money on Airbnb and if this gonna be your question too let me tell you the true story since the beginning. I work as a wedding photographer since 2009 and shoot beautiful couple around the globe who put trust on me in pre wedding, wedding, and portrait session. What I love for focusing my services on destination wedding photography niche is because I could learn how all the professional work and put them self as a global people who can run their business to help as many as people who need their services around the world.
In fact there is another important reasons or even the most important one why I run this business and start making money on Airbnb.
Because I could took my wife to see how beautiful this world is!
I will stop this introduction because you can easily see my works on portfolio or even learn photography from me on this page! What I’m going to share today is how I making money on Airbnb and earn over than $10,000 a year as an extra income just by investing $10 of my wedding photographer’s fee at the beginning.
Why I Love Investing My Photographer’s Fee in Property Business
All people know and I sure that you already know that investing money on property is a damn good business, but what I don’t want to do is spending my time by become a property agent or broker instead spend a good time with my camera and lens to capturing all the beautiful moments.
Personally I kind of person who love to talk and meet new people no matter where I am so back when I study in a high school I just wondering and said to my mom that,
“Mom, seems to be cool if one day we could have a HOTEL BUSINESS!
Sadly, my mom is passed away in 2011 and she never sees how I could run a small hotel chain business in 3 different properties. I keep this dream inside my heart till one day, a good friend of mine who run a start up company named, Andy, told me that I could start small hotel business just by renting my free space on Airbnb.
It such brilliant idea because for sure I have a free space in my house and I don’t need to spend much money for renting a building or buying an old property and do some improvement for the facade and interior that will cost a lot of money.
If you want to ask me why I love to investing my money on property business than I could you share 3 (three) good points for you down here.
1 – Property Never Dies
I think property is one cool business that always make people getting rich over and over again. Personally, I never see people getting poor by running a property business instead they using money to buy ridiculous things that they don’t need just to impress people, or thet felt in a drugs or any bad situations.
Through this business people could choose some options to earn money from property business such as:
- Renting the property for weekly, monthly, or annually
- Selling the property to another people, OR
- Become a broker and help people who looking for property buildings, OR
- Use the property and MONETIZE it in some business, and this is WHAT I DID
My mom asked me to help her running a property business since I’m in a high school so when I’m 17, we together renting 29 “poor” rooms and earn $15 to $20 monthly from each room, so cheap because here I live in Yogyakarta, a small city of Indonesia. It is cool because now I could earn a small commission by helping my mom and earn about $200 annually which is not so bad for high school student.
Than we have a financial crisis due to bad business cashflow system so we must sell the house in 2010
2 – I Just Feel “Pretty Damn Cool” If I Could Have a Hotel
15 years ago I met a humble guy in a motivational seminar till I know that those guy owned a hotel. He walks up so confident with his black 5 series BMW including black suit and shining shoes. I see this guy got a lot of smile (because I sure that he got million dollar money on the bank) and I said to my self that,
One day, I will have one too!
This dream bring me do whatever I could to realize my dream, so in 2013 I start my first guest house with 2 rooms, than in 2014 I run my second property also with 2 rooms, than at the end of 2018 I run my third property with 7 rooms and as a bonus I got plenty good space that I could use for small coffee shop.
Let me tell you a secret,
I start all those 3 property business just by investing $10 of my photographer’s fee to by vertical blind to covering a window!
So now I still running a photography business, pushing my self to visit as many as country in this planet together with my wife and kids and spend a good time with my guest during my free time, what a life that I really want!
3 – New People Everyday, Means New Knowledge Every Seconds
Both me and my wife are coming from an ordinary family and as a kid from a parent who work for 9 to 5 job with regular salary than we couldn’t have any chance to travel around the world as what our friends in Australia and Europe had.
Nina my wife, is already get her part time job in an interior furniture store when we were in a college so through this job she can meet so many international buyers who make her dreaming to visit her buyer’s country one day. In other part my mom is not that rich so she can’t bring me to go to holiday to such beautiful countries like Paris, Switzerland, or Melbourne just like what my cousins had.
By running 3 guest house in Airbnb since 2013 I sure that we together already serve over than 1000 guest around the world. If you check on Worldmeters than you could see that there are 195 countries in this planet so I sure that we already serve guests from over than 40 countries worldwide. For ordinary couple like us who don’t go abroad so often, meet over than thousands guests within 7 years make us dreaming to be able to travel around the world one day and spend a good time in a new place that we never had before.
This phenomena finally challenged us to move to Melbourne in 2021 so I can learn and shoot more in photography than hosting our next thousands guest worldwide in our 4th hotel so we can learn better.
There is a humble words that I could share to you related to my life, I know that you might thinking in a different way which is FINE FOR US and I WISH YOU HAVE A GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR LIFE, but if this kind words could inspire you as well than I will thank God very much,
“For sure both me and my wife love money so much and YES we’re making good money here in Indonesia. But, WE LOVE EXPERIENCE better and we believe that there is SOMETHING COOL out there that we could achieve if we THINK BIGGER!”
Why Airbnb?
I’ve been rejected by Agoda in 2014 because they think my house doesn’t look like a hotel or may be just a humble words from telling us that our home is poor and ugly. Till now I think only Airbnb who open their heart to receiving me as an ordinary poor guy who dreaming to have a hotel chain someday.
I know you might running your airbnb business too but there are few things that I could share why I love airbnb better at this time,
- They deliver me a guest who pure a TRAVELER and not just someone who have money and go abroad
- Majority of Airbnb guest will have VERY GOOD MANNER
- All the guest are LOVE TO TALK, this is way more important because I can learn something from them
- Airbnb PROTECT ME as a host with some money guarantee if someone destroy my properties or amenities
- Airbnb give two way system both for us and the guest to write a review, this is FAIR!
Do I open mind to other platform in the next future? Sure I WILL!
I am working so hard to reach my dream of having luxury resorts which come with majestic view like what I had in Bali and Maldives. Here I’m not just meet my guest and have a breakfast together like before but I hope, I could helping them to held a wedding celebration with good hospitality and “luxury” view.
My Airbnb Journey Story
Knowing that Richard Branson live on his private island named Necker Island together with his guests while running his business worldwide is my own dream too. I think it also cool to live in my own hotel while I saw my staffs deliver great services and hospitality to all my guest, just like now, but in way more beautiful looking properties.
This is what I’m doing back in 2013 when I start my 1st guest house. It was FUN and till where I belong I always happy to host someone to live in my house and hoping one day I could host someone in my own resorts!
In my eBook “Airbnb Be A Host” both in ENGLISH version and INDONESIA version, I personally share about how I start this business just by investing $10 of my photographer’s fee. I also telling all my readers about how I save my auntie’s life at the age of 60 where she got lack of financial condition just by signing in her house in Airbnb under my system.
I hope you got inspire you with it!
Let Me Inspire You with This Opportunity!
I already told you that running a property business is a damn cool business and I focusing my self to USE THE PROPERTY for running another business that I love. Through this post I just want to let you know that if you could think bigger than where you belong than there is something cool that you can achieve.
As a wedding photographer I saw so many beautiful hotel and resorts around the globe where people can passing by, stay in, get some lunch, and even celebrate their glorious wedding. Somehow they also can provide good vacation to their parents, kids, or brothers so in my opinion having a resort chain seems to be cool and one thing that I know, it still good business even now all of us are suffering through this pandemic crisis.
Here in Airbnb I met thousand of people from around the world who visiting Indonesia and now I dreaming to have a destination wedding resort so I can host not only people who want to stay for vacation but also million couple who gonna celebrate their big day, it might take a long roads but I sure I can make it one day!
This post is not about how much money that I earn because someone out there earn way more than me but what I’m going to say is,
INVESTING SMALL AMOUNT of your money to something that you love will really change your life, I personally investing $10 of my photographer’s fee to make this dream happen, and NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!
I hope you can get inspire with this “making money on airbnb” inspiration so whenever you own a free space on your home than you can also use it to earn extra income for you and the whole family. At the end of this story I will let you watch my video below so you can see what I do in daily life and how I run this small hotel to be my future investment.