What would you do with this Opportunity ?

HI,

this morning I was presented with an opportunity and Im not sure how to maximise the income from it - what would you do in this situation.

The owner of two hotels asked me to get her websites listed on as many hotel directories / travel sites as possible. And offered to pay me for doing so.

If I were to take one flat rate from her then it's done with and all Im doing is sending out emails to get her listed. However , I think there is an opportunity to get a continuous income from all bookings made in the future to her site from the sites I get her listed on.

I was thinking of trying to set up an affiliate link system so that when a directory sends a customer through their link, it also goes through mine before reaching the hotel. The directory gets the lions share and I get a small percentage.

This sounds like a good idea but I think that most hotel directories would prefer to take the booking themselves as they are then able to upsell other things, instead of just saying here's the link to the hotels website you can book there.

the other option is to become a middle man agent, so all the directories I get listed call me about the reservation, I say " Ill just check and call you back" I then call the hotel to check availability etc and call back the agent that fist called me.

this sounds ok but it means that I basically become an agent - constantly on the phone to the hotel etc, and I m not really up for that. Employing someone else to do it would cost about the same as the small cut Im getting for being in the middle.

If I was to make a deal with her , say she's offering 15% commission and I say that all agents I sign up get 10% commission rate and I then get 5% - there's no way for me to monitor the bookings etc and make sure she's paying me the right amount.

so, as you can see there is an opportunity for residual income, i just can't quite nail down how to go about it

any advice would be great.

Many thanks
Jon

 

Business owners are not going to want to pay a commission on all bookings. I'd suggest figuring out a flat rate you are comfortable with and getting it done and over with. Then you can move on to the next.

Cheers

 

Personally I would not want to be sitting in the middle of those bookings taking any phone calls, that just sounds like a job.

Any reason you wouldn't trust her to pay you, I mean the same really applies to any affiliate program including the big ones.

I always try to get residual commissions if I can and it seems like something you might as well as her about, just a matter of trust. I'd also do that in addition to some sort of upfront fee.

If that is a hurdle for them (or you) then I guess take a one time fee. Perhaps try to upsell a few extra services like SEO, building and managing an email list for them...

 

I suggest you put the mutual agreement in writing before you start.

 

I agree with seocracker. I think you must put the mutual agreement that can make both of side feel, that they can get the benefit of cooperation.

 

With these type of unexpected offer it is better to get the
fullest and mutual understanding between the two parties.

I will probably agree to these type of offer if I found satisfactory.

 

Opportunity knocks only once.

However, you need to think 100 times before making any decision. You need to think the long term effect of your decision and you need to weigh the situation.
I agree with them that you need to have an agreement, ask all the necessary information that you may need before coming up to any decision.

 

My idea would be to set up a separate website with a link to her site so that you can track the clicks to her site and charge by the lead.
Your site could be one big ad for her site. One page could be about the comfort and convenience of her hotel. One page about meeting and conference rooms and so on. The great thing about this is that if she doesn't pay you right you can turn her off and go to one of her competitors.
You would be driving traffic to your site and would be in full control. Good luck.

 

I would get it in writting and charge an upfront fee to place all those links.

If you do SEO for organic search I would explain to her that it takes work to keep a site high up in the SERPS and that you are willing to do it on a commission basis. If the site is not visible in the SERPS this may be the way to go. If it is a very profitable hotel you could offer an online only coupon code. There are many ways you can do this.

The problem with the hotel industry right now is bookings are way down and may of them are struggling. Trying to get a health commission may be difficult.