Community Publishing Guidelines

The Host Report Community Publishing program exists to:

• Share practical, experience-based insights with short-term rental operators
• Strengthen relationships across the STR ecosystem
• Grow reach, backlinks, and audience for both the contributors and The Host Report
  ‍

This is a partnership built on mutual benefit:
‍

• Readers get valuable, practical insights from a wide range of experts to improve their STR operations
• Contributors build authority, gain backlinks, and grow their audience
• The Host Report strengthens its position as a trusted resource

We succeed when all three parties win.

Our north star question for every submission is simple:

Is this interesting and valuable for STR operators?

If the answer is yes, your story is probably a good fit.

By submitting an article for consideration, you agree to these Community Publishing Guidelines, as well as The Host Report's Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Advertising Policy.

‍

At this time, we welcome submissions from individuals including:

• Individual hosts
• Property managers
• Designers, consultants, technology vendors, and service providers who work with STR operators
• Investors, lenders, and educators with relevant experience in the category

Articles must be submitted under your real name. We do not accept pseudonyms. An individual may post on behalf of their company. In the future, we may roll out publishing under a brand name.

All submissions must include a LinkedIn profile to verify identity.

‍

Under our community publishing platform:

• Anyone can submit a story for consideration
• All stories are subject to editorial review before publication
• There is no guarantee of acceptance

We are especially interested in:

• News, market insights, or regulatory insights that matter to STR operators
• Concrete examples of how hosts and operators improved revenue, occupancy, guest experience, pricing power, reviews, etc.
• Operations, systems, and playbooks that reduce headaches and improve margins
• Case studies that are actually useful, not purely promotional

We do not maintain a rigid list of allowed or banned categories. If a submission clearly does not fit The Host Report's focus or standards, it may be rejected.

‍

Our editorial goal focuses on clarity and value. For the fastest approval and publishing, here are some general tips:

Length and Depth
‍

• Minimum length: about 400 words
• Typical length: around 500 words
• Longer is fine, as long as every section earns its place. No filler words just to make it look longer
  ‍

What Makes Great Content for The Host Report
‍

Strong submissions share these qualities:

Lead with unique value

• Share proprietary data, original research, or firsthand experience
• Provide specific numbers, examples, and actionable steps

Cite your sources

• Reference industry reports, studies, or authoritative sources
• Link to data and statistics you reference
• Give credit where credit is due

Demonstrate expertise without selling

• Your expertise should be evident in the quality of information, not in how much you promote yourself
• Case studies should teach, not advertise

Clarity and Value
‍

• Write clearly, with a tight, logical structure
• Avoid fluff written only to make the article longer
• Focus on what the reader can learn or do after reading
• Whenever possible, include specific numbers, examples, or steps

Voice and Tone
‍

• You should use your own voice
• Different voices are welcome, as long as the piece is clear, professional, and respectful

AI Usage
‍

• We will decline or remove content that appears to be AI-generated, generic, or low-value
• You are responsible for the accuracy, originality, and usefulness of the final article
• Articles containing em dashes or other dead giveaways of AI-generation will be closely scrutinized.

‍

We want contributors to benefit from publishing here, but the article must always be value first. We will not publish purely promotional articles.

Body Links
‍

Self-promotional links are limited in the article body. This means:

You may include ONE link maximum to your company homepage (e.g., linking your company name to www.yourcompany.com in your introduction)

Example of allowed: "Our team at [CompanyName] manages over 100 properties..." (linking CompanyName to www.company.com)

Not allowed:

• Links to product pages or service pages
• Affiliate links or tracking codes
• Promotions or CTA's

Example of NOT allowed: "We use [our pricing software] to optimize..." (linking to www.company.com/pricing-software)

You MAY include:

• Links to third-party industry resources, studies, and tools
• Links to authoritative sources that support your claims

Why this rule? The goal of the article is to provide value. If your article provides genuine value, readers will naturally want to learn more about you through your end-of-article CTA (see "End-of-Article CTA" section below). Cramming promotional links throughout the body signals the article is an ad, not valuable content.

For every claim or statistic you make, cite your source with a link when possible.

Anchor Text
‍

• Use natural anchors rather than spammy or exact-match phrases such as "best Airbnb revenue management software"
• We may edit anchor text for clarity and readability

Link Attributes
‍

The Host Report reserves the right to add, remove, or change link attributes such as nofollow at any time, at our sole discretion.

End-of-Article CTA
‍

We offer something that most contributor networks do not.

At the end of your article, you may include a call to action for your product, service, newsletter, or business.

We believe you earned that space by contributing a valuable article. But, the article must add enough value to keep the reader reading all the way to the end.

What's allowed:

• Brief description of your product, service, or newsletter (2-3 sentences max)
• One link to your website, product, or signup page
• Invitation to connect on LinkedIn or follow on social media
• Contact information

What's NOT allowed:

• Aggressive or unrealistic promises ("3X your revenue in 30 days!")
• Multiple competing CTAs or links
• Discount codes or time-sensitive offers
• Any content that would be prohibited in the main article
• Affiliate or tracking links
• Financial, legal, tax, or investment offers or solicitations

The CTA must be clearly separate from the main content and appear at the end. If a CTA violates these standards, we may edit or remove it.

FTC Disclosure Requirement

If your CTA or any links in your article promote your own products, services, or business, you must include a clear and conspicuous disclosure of your material connection in accordance with FTC guidelines.

For example, you might state:

• "I am the founder of [Company]"
• "My company, [Company], offers the product discussed in this article"
• "Disclosure: I work for [Company], which provides [service] to STR operators"

The Host Report reserves the right to add disclosure language to your article if we determine that your disclosures are inadequate.

For detailed FTC disclosure requirements, placement guidelines, and examples, please review our Advertising Policy.

‍

We will immediately reject or remove articles that contain:

Legal/Professional Advice:

• Legal, tax, or investment advice presented as recommendations
• Medical or health claims without proper disclaimers

Promotional Content:

• Articles written primarily to promote a product or service
• Discount codes, affiliate links, or special offers in the body
• Excessive brand mentions or product placements

Quality Issues:

• Clearly AI-generated content
• Plagiarized or duplicate content
• Content published elsewhere without substantial rewrites

Harmful Content:

• Personal attacks, defamation, or naming individuals negatively
• Discriminatory, hateful, or otherwise inappropriate content
• Misleading or false claims about competitors
• Health and safety claims for STRs that are speculative, irresponsible, or misleading

‍

Originality
‍

By submitting content, you represent and warrant that:

• The article is your original work, or you have all necessary rights and permissions to submit it
• The article does not infringe on any third-party copyrights, trademarks, or other rights
• You have properly attributed and quoted any third-party material you use

We reserve the right to remove content immediately if plagiarism or rights violations are discovered.

Ownership and License
‍

You retain ownership of your content.

Submission grants The Host Report a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to:

• Publish and distribute it on The Host Report website and related channels
• Use excerpts, headlines, and summaries in newsletters, emails, and social posts
• Create derivative works such as collections, highlights, and reports that reference or incorporate your article
• Edit, format, and adapt your article if necessary
• Store, archive, and back up your content as needed

This license continues even if the article is later updated, archived, or removed from public view.

Republishing Elsewhere
‍

• You are free to republish your article on your own site, blog, LinkedIn, Medium, or other platforms
• We encourage you to help promote by republishing on your own channels, and when you do, we'd appreciate a link back to the original article on The Host Report

‍

Editorial Review Process
‍

Each submission will receive one of three outcomes:

1. APPROVED

• Article meets our standards and will be scheduled for publication

2. REVISIONS NEEDED

• Article shows promise but needs improvements
• We will provide feedback on what needs to change

3. REJECTED

• Article doesn't align with our standards or audience needs
• Rejection decisions are final
• You may submit a different article in the future

What Happens After Approval
‍

• We may make minor edits for clarity, grammar, SEO, and formatting
• We may modify headlines, subheadings, or cover images
• Once published, we expect you to promote the article per Section 9

Editorial Rights
‍

The Host Report reserves the right to:

• Edit headlines, cover images, subheadings, formatting, and structure for clarity, consistency, and user experience
• Make minor language edits for grammar, readability, or alignment with our standards
• Update articles after publication to correct errors, refresh information, or improve clarity
• Add editor's notes or context where necessary
• Determine the placement and categorization of your article on our website (e.g., publishing under News, Education, or other site categories) at our sole discretion

Takedown Policy
‍

The Host Report may remove or unpublish any article, at any time, for any reason, including but not limited to:

• Legal concerns or third-party complaints
• Factual inaccuracies or outdated information
• Violations of these guidelines or our Terms of Service
• Misalignment with brand, audience, or editorial direction

These decisions are at our sole discretion.

‍

For every approved article, we will display:

• The author name you provide
• Your author photo
• A short bio of up to 75 words
• A LinkedIn link

Backlinks and Promotion
‍

To maximize mutual benefit, contributors are expected to:

• Share the article on at least one social media platform, website or blog.

Additionally you can:

• Add a backlink to your published article from your website, blog, or social media profiles
• Include a "Featured on The Host Report" badge on your website (we'll provide the badge)
• Reference the article in your newsletter if applicable
• Share insights from the article across your social channels

We track backlinks and social shares. Contributors who write great articles and actively promote their content, resulting in successful metrics will receive priority review for future submissions, featured placements, and additional promotion.

Important Note: While promotion is strongly encouraged, it is not a binding contractual obligation. Benefits for successful articles are provided at The Host Report's sole discretion and may be modified or discontinued at any time.

We will supply the badge image and basic usage suggestions upon article approval. The Host Report may update or replace the badge design over time.

‍

Submit all articles to: submissions@thehostreport.com

Each submission must include:

The Article:
‍

• Complete draft in Google Doc or Word format (preferred) or in email body
• Article title that clearly communicates the value/topic
• Article subtitle
• Word count between 350-1,500 words
• All sources cited with links where applicable
• Cover image suggestion along with image credit (optional - we may select a different image)
• Your proposed end of article call-to-action (must follow Section 5 guidelines)

Author Information:
‍

• Full name (no pseudonyms)
• LinkedIn profile URL (required for verification)
• Professional headshot (min 200x200px)
• Author bio (75 words maximum)

Incomplete submissions will be returned for revision before review begins.

‍

We track the performance of community content and contributors. High-performing contributors benefit from:

• Priority editorial review on future submissions
• Featured placement in our newsletter
• Social media promotion from The Host Report channels
• Invitation to exclusive contributor opportunities

We measure success by:

• Article page views and time-on-page
• Backlinks generated
• Social shares and engagement
• Reader feedback

By submitting content to our Community Publishing program, you acknowledge that The Host Report may track these performance metrics. This tracking is necessary for the operation of the program and helps us identify high-quality content and contributors. Any benefits provided to high-performing contributors are discretionary and may be modified or discontinued at any time.

For more information about how we collect and use contributor data, please review our Privacy Policy.

‍

By submitting an article to The Host Report for review, you:

• Acknowledge that you have read and understood these Community Publishing Guidelines
• Agree to be bound by these Guidelines, as well as The Host Report's Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Advertising Policy
• Represent and warrant that you have the rights and authority to grant the license described above
• Acknowledge that The Host Report may track the performance of your content as described in Section 11
• Understand that any benefits for high-performing contributors are discretionary and not guaranteed

The Host Report may update these Community Publishing Guidelines from time to time. Continued submission of content after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

Questions? Email us at submissions@thehostreport.com

‍