Bailing Out One Of Your Own

Ok so things aren’t looking pretty for airbnb right now. Following the shocking story of EJ’s vandalized home, Airbnb founder Brian Cheksy’s response on Techcrunch and another updated post from EJ, things have indeed blown out of control for the company with its happy, bright colors. As I read about the developments (or lack of them) online, I felt there were a few things, airbnb could do immediately, that might help.

1. Compensate
   Brian Cheksi stressed in his guest post that is a one-in-a-two-million-nights incident. This is true and so should their approach to handling it. If they enjoy the revenue that comes from those 2 million nights, then isn’t it reasonable to reach out to someone in their community who has suffered dearly from a few? EJ’s recovery from this will have many facets: she will need to heal emotionally, psychologically and build her entire life back. Financial compensation is the least Airbnb can do and they should do it right away. Diplomatic responses like “Once our host’s safety was secured, our attention moved to further strengthening our system.” just add fuel to the fire. Especially when EJ’s response to that has been crystal clear:

   My safety was secured by my own efforts. I arranged alternate accommodations, in the safety of a friend’s home. I arranged and paid for my own transportation while dislocated (with Airbnb’s assurances that this expense would be compensated – which it has not been). I contacted the police, and insisted on a visit from CSI to dust for prints. I called a locksmith and had my locks changed.

2. If you screwed up, be honest
   There will be repercussions for airbnb after this incident but they are walking into a serious public backlash if they continue to cover up the story by making fluffy public statements and – Jeses Christ -trying to get the poor lady to shut up. I mean really? There is no need to make it into a “PR” issue. Just deal with it like you would as a human being: with compassion, with honest intentions and with the genuine desire to help resolve the problem at hand. Everything airbnb has done till now reeks of propaganda to please investors. This is the time to live the “community” aspect of “community marketplace” that you so proudly tout yourself to be. Some of the biggest names in technology are led by humble people who aren’t afraid to say ‘We screwed up‘
3. Be transparent and communicate
   Not the best time for airbnb to be diplomatic and vague (infact it hasn’t been a good time ever since customers found their voice and a place to express it). While it all sound nice and dandy on paper to see a future course of action – feature enhancements, more support staff blah blah – it still doesn’t address the issue at hand.  In this moment airbnb should disclose what they know. “We’re working closely with the authorities” is not good enough when a distressed member is expressing her pain online. Airbnb should get specific: what have they done with regard to this specific case, who has been identified, what are the authorities saying exactly. The more vague they appear, the less they are likely to garner support. Also they should own this conversation and be the single source of all updates on their own blog. This will eliminate a lot of speculation.

Perhaps some skeptics will wonder if EJ’s story is really true? To which I can only quote one of the comments on her blogpost: ”Of all the things I could lie about, why would I choose this one?”

What are your views for dealing with a situation like this?

Image credit: One of the reasons social media interests me is that it offers companies the opportunity to foster real, genuine connections with its community, its extended family, if you may. And so this image to me represents just that: having each others’ back. Thank you Sean Flynn

If you’re a consumer facing business then having yourself  listed on Google Places will help in more ways than one. Google Places makes checking out businesses easy with well-detailed listings that serve as self-contained micro-sites of your business.

Are you wondering ‘Why bother with yet another online listing?’ or ‘What’s in it for me?’? Well, to start with, its Google. Creating your Google Places page will bring in better rankings when Google displays local search results. The listing with the map is one of the first thing sthat shows up when people search for businesses. That’s hard to manage on your own. Some other benefits are:

1. A free listing with all relevant information about your business. Yellowpage-sque but cooler
2. Access to analytics: data about the views and interactions with page
3. Opportunity to offer deals/coupons directly to customers

Create An Account

Go to www.google.com/placesforbusiness. You’ll be asked to sign in with your Google Account. Please consider which email you sign in with. You might want to share this account with others in the future so it is highly recommended not to sign in with your personal, primary gmail account. What I suggest to most clients is to create a generic account, which can be used to manage their social media presence everywhere., something like socialmedia@gmail.com or social@companyname.com

Google Places Listings

Add Your Business

Once signed in, you will be asked your location (country) and phone number and then be taken to the information page. Once again, consider which phone number to provide. Personal phone numbers are a no-no. To list more than 10 locations, there’s a “Bulk Upload” option. Click there and you will be taken through a step-by-step process of adding different business locations/listings .

Add The Meat

While filling the basic information is enough to be listed, it really helps to fill in as much as you can. Here are some of the details you will be asked to fill (imagine all the visibility and opportunities to spread the word!):

• Email
• Website
• Description: 200 words max so make it short but effective
• Service Area and location settings (for take-away and other services)
• Hours of operation
• Payment options
• Photos:  you can add upto 10 images
• Videos: upto 5 videos, from YouTube only though
• Additional details (parking etc)

Google Places Additional Information

Validate

You can choose between phone or snail mail to validate your listing. I’m surprised there’s no email option so stay close to that phone. The snail mail validation can take upto 2-3 weeks so its not good if you’re in a hurry (and I bet you are!) Google will contact you with a PIN. Enter this PIN into the listing page and only then the page will go live.

Google Places Validation

That’s it. You’re done! Congrats on upping your business’ chances of being discovered by a wider audience

Have you used Google Places? How was it for your business?