How Mark Hodgkiss increased his direct bookings

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Back to episode four four of series nine of the Boostly podcast. So for those of you that tune in for the first time, my name is Mark Simpson. I give the tools, the tactics, the training, but most importantly the confidence to host, to go and get their own bookings. And in season nine I have been focusing and featuring Team Boostly members and it's been amazing. I just want to thank everybody so far that has taken part and to everybody that has reached out and sent messages and sort of provided their feedback because Team Boostly goes more than the five people that you are seeing on these podcasts and you're going to see today and tomorrow, they go a lot further than the academy members. They go stretching as far as website clients, content creators, we've got lots of people. In fact We've got over 1000 team boosting members all over the world that are increasing their direct bookings and it is phenomenal to see today. I am very, very happy to showcase to you Mark Hotchkiss. Mark's got a business in Harrogate, Harrogate States. And I started chatting to Mark about a year ago now. He had a website which was the initial conversation. It was to get him a new website because he, he had a website with A channel manager which, as everybody knows, they don't do any good at all. And he, you know, he set it all up because it was easy, set it all up because it was straightforward. But, but now he wanted more, he wanted more direct bookings and we got chatting and we got together a website which worked well and then afterwards it was, mark, I want to do more with you. And this is where we basically went down this route and I'm just really excited to showcase Mark to you, to let him share his story and also as well tell him, you know, and to showcase to you how he found us, what was his experiences, what did he feel like the first impressions were and what have been the results on the other end. I will keep jumping in at time to time through this interview. Mark has pre recorded it, so I will jump in, but I just want to let everybody know, if you want to find out more about the Boostly Academy, you can go to boostlyacademy.com b o o S T L Y A C A d e m y.com or just head to boostly.co.uk, click on the Academy logo and you can go find out more if you would like to join mark and over 600 others in our private training group. So before anything else, please make sure you give Mark lots of love in the comments below. Not used to doing this, you know, talking to people and stuff. So please do show him a lot of love and I will hand you over to the fantastic, the amazing Mr. Mark Hotchkiss.

So some of the problems we were experiencing is the repeat but bookings and the booking direct. We had a really poor website which was a free templated version from our channel manager. So those were the issues that we were experiencing. Frustrations we were experiencing whilst trying to rectify those issues were just not really knowing where to go to get a new website. We were getting quoted 2000, 4000 pounds which we felt was a bit too much and yeah, just making a little.

Progress very quickly back in here. So Mark, like I said, came to us and he said, listen, need a website. I want to make sure that everything is going to make sure that we can increase our direct bookings. And so what we did is we've got three different website solutions. We've got the one where it is done with you, where we give you our WordPress template and you just fill in the gaps. We've got the one where we do it all for you, where literally you just hand it all over and just go, you know what guys you do it. And we've also got the one which is called multi properties. This is the one for property managers have got 5, 10 plus properties. So it was coming into the start of lockdown and Mark said, listen, I'm a lot of time on my hands, I do not mind doing it myself, I'm quite savvy, I can do all the things. So we started off on there and it was during this time and he will tell you himself, like, once we got doing the website and it looked great and all of the things, it got live, he was like, right, now I want to know how to get traffic to it. So the next bit of the video, I just asked Matt, like, what was the appeal? What did they do?

So we had the DIY website in the end because we were going into lockdown and had quite a lot of spare time on my hands. So not only have we got a great website as a result of it, I've also learnt how to change the website and make those tweaks myself, which is a really good skill to have. The videos that help you not only with the website but also in the Academy and the Vault have been brilliant and you can very much adopt a building blocks approach. So take things step by step and go at your own pace. There's also the Facebook groups to help you support any questions that you may have.

I send him a message back saying, what have you learned from being in the Academy? And you've got to bear in mind with this, is that Mark is a clever guy, he knows what he's talking about. He is somebody that just came in and just slotted straight in and there's only a couple of tweaks here and there. So, for example, one of the ones was how to convert a OTA booking into a direct one, which is a really being powerful one, learning little tactics and ticks on how to bring more traffic to the website, but also as well how to utilize social media. So I asked him this question. What have you seen as a benefit of being part of the Academy, being part of Team Boost?

Lee how do I know the Academy is working? It just feels like we're definitely taking steps in the right direction. The market has dropped off, we are still getting some bookings coming through. I'm being a lot more proactive on the OTAs as well as our website, but then concentrating on converting those bookings first made on the OTAs for direct bookings next time. Also got a lot more followers and more social engagement with local businesses as well. So being able to offer that to guests that book directly with vouchers at local restaurants we've got a lot more followers. Our website is really proud of the website and the whole branding that goes with Harrogate's days. We've got a lot more direct bookings and even large corporate bookings which where we've not been able to accommodate we've been able to pass on for a small commission.

So back to me one final time. I just want to say thank you to Mark for doing that. He is somebody like I say, who is just taken on board his skill level and he's just gone with it. The branding, the website, how to get traffic to it, how to get bookings from the OTAs but most importantly then how to convert them into direct. Even at the end there of being able to get big corporate bookings but then be able to spread it out around the local area is phenomenal. And again it's something that does testament to the guy. If you are watching this and if you want to join a community with more like minded people like Mark and everybody else that you will see feature in this podcast series, go to boostlyacademy.com please make sure that you go and give Mark some love in the comments and as always do go and promote your business. So if you've got a business, you've got a website hospitality business. Put it in the comments below. Give yourself a little bit of a promo. You never know who's going to be watching this. I'll be back for one more episode of this very special Boost Lee season. As always, thank you very much for tuning in and and I shall speak.

To you all soon.