Private Tour Guides - Word of mouth marketing

Hello to all you private tour guides looking to increase business. Lets discuss today the free and all important marketing tool - "Word of Mouth" which is a form of viral marketing.


Q. How does a private tour guide create word of mouth?
It is all about creating a point of conversation that your client will have to tell their friends and family when they return home.

People love to tell everyone about their holiday and travel adventures - especially when they have something funny or exciting to say. So be creative and think of something cool, exciting and different during your tour. Give the client something to talk about!

*********Some Examples
1. Bring the client to a unique and very local cafe or restaurant. Even the family home for a coffee if both parties are comfortable with that.
2. Give the client a small but personal gift. Be creative and it does not have to cost much e.g. a card, a local fruit/veg to try etc
3. Funny stories on the venues included in the tour the client could not easily read about.

As a private tour guide you need to stand out to get the top ratings and comments from your clients. This will then propel you to more and more bookings....

Cheers
Dave C

Local Tour Guides increase booking rates

The topic to discuss this week is how can local tour guides being booked on-line increase their booking rate? Increased booking rates means more income.

Two methods local tour guides are using are -
1. The local tour guide updates an availability calendar so it is clear to the client when the local tour guide is available. A client will not be impressed if they make requests for your time and find out you are not available (people use the internet to save time when booking local tour guides)
2. Local tour guides also report higher bookings once they have estabhlished a user rating. This rating gives the local tour guide an advantage above other guides. Rated guides are trusted guides.

Can you think of other methods tour guides can increase on-line booking rates?

Chief Exploring Officer
David Cunningham

Local Tour Guides - Getting more business

This week I would like to discuss and get feedback on how local tour guides can get more work and therefore income.

Tour guides can join with a local travel agent
Tour guides can join websites e.g. www.ourexplorer.com
Tour guides can market directly themselves in hotels, tourist information offices etc

All these options carry advantages and disadvantages varying from cost of commission, cost of entry and volume of business received.

I would like to hear from tour guides on their experiences with the three sources above?

Should we market tours to the locals?

Yesterday I experienced a fantastic local tour guide experience in my home city of Sydney, Australia. I booked a tour guide, Cooee Coogee, to gain insight and local wisdom about the new area I had moved into just 1 year ago.

I learnt so many interesting facts on Coogee to retell over the BBQ or in the pub. As I now walk around the area after the tour guide experience, I feel more informed and that the area is more interesting now to me.

So should a local tour guide market to the locals?

Tour Guide payment methods

Tour Guides need to ensure a fast, easy and low cost metod of getting paid.
The best option for many local private tour guides in our explorer is payment via cash. Cash on delivery when the local guide meets the client is the best way and lowest cost way to get paid.

But in what currency is preferred?
Is paypal a safer method rather than the tour guide carrying cash?

let ourexplorer.com know your thoughts today......