The Host HQ addresses a need for holistic info — here’s how we’re doing it, and what we’re doing next
The Host HQ is a Chicago-based independent media outlet to help Airbnb hosts navigate rules and taxes, learn from each other, and optimize their business. Visit us at thehosthq.com and follow us on Medium to see what we’re doing behind the scenes.
The Host HQ is a work in progress, and intentionally so. We’re exploring innovative ways to develop a media product, and we’re doing it by identifying clear information needs in our target users and using those insights to guide us. In this case, we want to help Airbnb hosts in Chicago be better at their work by empowering them with information.
For the first three weeks of our project, we connected and empathized with local hosts to identify their pain points. Then we came up with a few potential solutions for them.
Instead of picking one of those ideas and running with it, we went back to the drawing board. Now we’re inspired to be building something entirely new. Here’s why we backtracked, and how it actually served as a step forward.
Step 1: Initial inspiration
As we previously described in this blog, we started out by interviewing hosts to gain key insights and then came up with three potential product ideas. Two were online tools and resources to help Airbnb hosts navigate legal and financial landscapes, respectively. The third aimed to create an offline support community that offers workshops and educational events.
For each idea, we were intentional to address the local community so we could address the legislation, regulations, taxes and culture specific to Chicago.
We took these isolated product ideas back to users to determine how important these pain points were. Because the complexities we addressed represent only part of the hosting experience, we decided on a more holistic approach to encompass what being an Airbnb host is really like.
Step 2: Introducing The Host HQ
Airbnb hosting, we found, is much like a running one’s own mini hotel business. This places a lot of weight on the shoulders of individual hosts. Attention to detail matters, as well as considering how to brand and market the listings. But not a lot of institutional help or resources exist, especially at the local level. We see this as a common thread for many in the sharing economy.
This need for information and support has spawned the creation of Airbnb host communities from small neighborhood meetings to global online forums. Information is scattered across these communities and parsing through them for relevant pieces can be time-intensive. This is where our current product concept, The Host HQ, comes in.
We envision The Host HQ as a three-part media product: a content website, a newsletter and a platform for product and service recommendations. All three parts are designed to empower Airbnb hosts, serving as a place for hosts to keep tabs on information verified by other hosts.
Another key aspect of The Host HQ is localization. Recognizing that each neighborhood is a different slice of a city, the curation of information will also have to be categorized accordingly. Here is how we see each branch of our product functioning as its minimum viable stage.
The website
Everyone on The Host HQ team has been trained as journalists, and we hope to stay true to the journalistic mission of empowering audiences. Our reporting aims to accurately deliver the voices and experiences of Airbnb hosts and relevant parties as we strive to make The Host HQ a clarifying, professional resource.
We also want to encourage reader participation by making ourselves available for inquiries. If enough hosts express concern or confusion about a certain issue through our contact form, we will investigate and deliver verified information. In addition, hosts willing to share their tips and tricks with other hosts can do so by submitting their own blog posts.
The newsletter
Being an Airbnb host means juggling multiple responsibilities and commitments at once. That’s why we want to make relevant content as easy as possible to access. Our newsletter provides updates on new and noteworthy stories not just from us, but from across the web so hosts can spend less time and energy parsing through the sea of information.
The platform
In an additional effort to empower hosts with verified information, the third aspect of The Host HQ involves a product recommendation platform. Inspired by Yelp and Angie’s List, we hope to create an environment where hosts can recommend, rate, verify and review Airbnb-adjacent services such as professional legal and accounting resources, cleaning, masonry and other hospitality-related help. With a local twist, hosts can find service providers closest to them that are verified by trustworthy insiders — their peers.
The product platform hints at a business model opportunity to make our content creation sustainable. While we might want to steer away from direct corporate sponsorships to maintain editorial integrity, affiliate marketing — earning a commission for every click from our website that leads to a purchase — is a tactic used by many review sites that we may consider.
Step 3: What’s next
Rather than making decisions solely based on how feasible it is for us to build, we want to ensure the product we create is something our users actually need. The current version of The Host HQ will likely not be the final version; we would actually prefer that it not be. We plan to keep returning to users to make sure the concept aligns with their needs before putting the time and effort into building the product. Collecting host reactions for the platform aspect of The Host HQ in this sense is especially important for us.
Meanwhile, our reporters will continue to write and experiment with stories told in different formats and angles.
Product development will occur somewhat in tandem with the concept testing and content iteration process, as the insights from each round of user interviews will guide our design decisions. By mid-June, we will be ready with a business pitch and a demonstrable, content-rich prototype that we hope creates value for today’s hosts.
Stay tuned for more updates from The Host HQ team, and visit us at theHostHQ.com.
