How to Use Your Next Booking to Make A LOT of New Bookings

Leverage: [lev-er-ij] (noun) the use of a small initial investment, credit, or borrowed funds to gain a very high return in relation to one’s investment (source http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/leverage)

Would you like to use ONE successful fishing trip or hunting trip as a means of winning a LOT more customers?  Read on to see how you can use leverage to your marketing advantage.

Take LOTS of Pictures

When people are trying to determine if they want to use your services, they want to get a feel for everything.  People are interested in the lodge, the food, the equipment and of course the property.  If you are a fishing guide then you should have lots of pics of your boat, tackle and the waters you frequent.  Include some pics of happy people holding a nice catch.

If you are a hunting outfitter, then you will have more targets for your pictures.  You can take pics of the lodge, the hunting ground, the cooler where game is stored, the vehicles used to transport people out to the field and of course the hunting grounds.  Once again, have lots of pics of smiling faces with their recent trophy.

Video Will SELL You to New Prospects

Want to know a little secret about video?  People are sick and tired of advertisements.  BUT, people love to be genuinely informed and want to see success.  So give it to them.  Get a cheap mini camcorder and record as much as you can on your next outing.  Explain what you are doing along the way.  For fishing guides, hold up the tackle, talk about the weather and the season.  Take video of the cast and retrieve, explaining why you are doing certain things at a certain time.  Finally, when the client hooks a fish, film as much as you can.

For hunting guides, do the same thing.  Explain about the animal’s tendencies during the current weather conditions.  Explain why you are setting up in a certain space.  Talk about the techniques being used (calls, rattles, decoys, etc.) and the success you have had in the past with the techniques.  When your client cuts down on a trophy, get it on film.  With one of the small camcorders you can be ready at a moment’s notice to get everything in action.

Putting It All Together

Now that you have some pictures and videos of a successful outing, you can start broadcasting the information in lots of different ways.  Obviously, you can write up a quick summary and put it on your website, including links to the pictures and video.  You can put snippets of the video on YouTube and other video sites in order to gain new leads.  The same can be done with a handful of pics on photo sharing sites.  Take your notes, along with some diagrams and photos, and make a slide show.  Post the slide show to a site like Slide Share.  Notify people via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ about the recent outing.  If you are taking advantage of a text message marketing service, you can send out a short text to past clients and new prospects about the new video and photos.  All of this information, links and media can come from ONE booking.  And it can lead to a BUNCH of new bookings.  IF you leverage it correctly.

P.S.  Looking for a way to stay in touch with past clients?  Have you considered using text message marketing?  It is a great way to keep you in front of your customers and it is SUPER cheap.  You can get started with a FREE month here.

Fishing Guides and Hunting Guides Can Generate Revenue WITHOUT New Clients

Fishing Guides and Hunting Guides Can Generate Revenue WITHOUT New Clients

The lifeblood of any business is generating income that exceeds expenses.  A retail business has to sell enough products to offset their cost of goods as well as their various expenses.  A service business has to book enough clients in order to pay their expenses and make a profit.  However, with a service it seems the business owner is always trading time for money.  But there are ways that a fishing guide or a hunting outfitter can make money without booking a new client.  Here are just a few examples.

Sell Your Knowledge

One way to turn a profit is by putting your knowledge up for sale.  Consider a fishing guide for an example.  A guide has to know where to look for fish at varying times of the year and what type of strategy to use in order to land quality fish. Scouting bodies of water, paying attention to the season and weather conditions all play a part in finding fish.  If you could put that information down in the form of a series of videos, along with a written transcript, you could likely sell it to some of your past clients. Many of your clients would like to know how to look for fish in their local lakes and rivers and would be glad to pay for that kind of information.

Rent Out Your Space

If you have a large piece of land for your hunting operation you could consider renting out some of the area.  Local archery tournaments or dog field trials would love to use a piece of prime wilderness to conduct their competition.  If you have a large banquet hall or similar type of meeting area then you could contact the local chapter of Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, National Wild Turkey Federation or Quail Unlimited and offer your space for an upcoming banquet.  This would open doors to future clients since they could see your facilities and get a firsthand feel for your location.

Use Celebrity Attractions

The great thing about hunters and anglers is their willingness to share information that will help somebody else.  With the explosion in recent years of cable channels based on hunting and fishing there are a lot of new “celebrities” for the outdoor world.  Many of these people would love a chance to come to your facility to promote their show or products.  They might charge a fee, but at the same time most of your past clients and people from the surrounding area would pay for a chance to see some of the folks featured on weekly television.  You could contact the local boat and ATV dealers and ask them to sponsor part of the event along with showcasing some of their new products.  Think of it as miniature hunting and fishing expo held right at your location.

If you are a fishing guide or a hunting outfitter looking for additional ways to make money, consider some of these ideas.  You could find that it is easier and just as profitable when compared to your primary means of making income.

P.S.  Do you have an idea for some knowledge you could sell?  Sign up for our free giveaway and I will write the sales letter for you, free of charge.  This could be a great way to earn some passive income from your years of experience.  Find out the details here.