Website Services For Overlanders

[maximondo]

We are planning to set up a paid service that helps overlanders prepare for their trip by helping with the first step, by creating their own website and blog. We will offer a one click foolproof website set up, with all the features overlanders need (social media, maps, etc.), including a unique domain name. All on fast and reliable hosting and brought to you by a team of people who are actually overlanders.

For those who are about to set out on an epic adventure or those who have already done so, would you be (or would you have been) interested in this kind of paid service?

[maximondo]

I'm guessing nobody wants this kind of service??

Are you all tech savvy, you can produce a clean website that will hopefully entice sponsors and is very easy to maintain???

Im just doing market research and is hoping for some sort of answer - even if its just a no or if you have any questions about it!

Thanks in advance for any input!!

[colebatch]

I think its a good idea.

Even for the tech savvy, its a lot of work pulling all the bits together, and most if not many want at least a blog online for family and friends to follow them.

I know Jon Fox, the guy who normally does my websites, was thinking about offering a service like that, maybe more manual and customised. Not sure if he ever got around to it.

To make it commercially viable, you need to market to the higher budget travellers - they are the ones who will be prepared to actually SPEND MONEY on getting a website set up. To that end you will need to look beyond this website, which, deliberately or not, has ended up with quite a low budget focus. Low budget travellers trying to buy bikes for 1500 quid to go round the world, are not going to pay your bills. Also explore other sites and avenues that cater to a broader spectrum of bike travellers.

[estebangc]

I think it’s a good idea. IMO making your own website may be harder than going half RTW, so it may be great help if you want more than blogspot and others. So wish you the best luck. I think it all may be a matter of how much, in terms of a basic/cheaper package to a more customised one with many options.

Originally Posted by colebatch

I think its a good idea.
To make it commercially viable, you need to market to the higher budget travellers - they are the ones who will be prepared to actually SPEND MONEY on getting a website set up. To that end you will need to look beyond this website, which, deliberately or not, has ended up with quite a low budget focus. Low budget travellers trying to buy bikes for 1500 quid to go round the world, are not going to pay your bills. Also explore other sites and avenues that cater to a broader spectrum of bike travellers.

Walter, I partially agree with you, although only partially, so I will try put it in other (softer) terms: quite often people in HUBB tend to invest more on the trip than on the bike and furthermore, tend to stretch the money to keep the trip longer. So it may be truth in some cases (1500GBP ebay bike), but probably the total expenditure may be higher than the approach in other forums where people like to have a Dakar Rally bike just to ride in Montana or Colorado and that will be the longest adventure trip they undertake. Not better or worse, just a different approach to the ones' (to be found more easily here in HUBB) that will go RTW on a Yamaha YBR 125. [I have never gone RTW on a bike, so do not criticize any, but admire them all and just show my opinion]. But that’s a longer debate.

Well, Maximondo, it’s for sure these ones on the 125cc might not be the target, but others in HUBB may easily be, I think.

So, yes, as a business, I'd look for the cash and apart from other options, I would personally contact “Adventure Tour Companies” such as Globebusters and Globeriders and the like to offer them your service. Some of their clients may be interested and will definitely have the cash. It sounds less romantic, but more economically viable, as Walter very reasonably pointed. Add anything smelling to “brand new BMW”; that could also help if we profile possible clients (rather than Hero Honda riders).

My two cents.

Esteban

[itchyfeet38]

I fear it may be just too easy to do it for free...

I am a computer numpty but I managed to put together a website using yola. It may not be up to some people's standards but I was amazed with what could be achieved by using a template.

[Surfy]

Look at me, i guess i are one of the travellers with a higher budget - because i travel by 4x4.

I have setup a blogspot account - and have done some customisations.

I should make an blogheader and so on - but think - the content count.

So i would definitively dont pay for just a blog / website.

When you search for sponsors (marketing of website, stickers on the car) - and make a bundle - so that the marketing income is you for 30% - at sample - that could be a business.. Then so i dont have to pay you for a website..

You can offer a free website / blog / configuration - and earn the money of marketing. And this way you can also use free services who are available, like blogger...

[Mervifwdc]

I think a lot of folks who can manage to live on the road get very "self service" about a lot of things. And this probably includes their web sites, i.e. they like to do it themselves not just to save some money, but everyone has a very different feel about what they want as their web presence.

If someone wants to do it very cheaply, they just start a thread on the hub and keep andding posts. More than 1 does that, and it works well.

All that said, I think some folks would pay for a nice clean site, maps of their areas, track logs uploaded "made simple", handling photos "made simple". but I'm not sure who. If knew that, I'd be marketing my services to them too :-)

And it's not easy to do it for free, and have it all looking and feeling and performing as you want it. For exampe, I use Social Login, Sign On & Social Network Sharing | oneall.com plugins on my site to allow commenters to sign in using their facebook, google or linkedin accounts. This type of thing is not easy to get for free (at least, not all the time).

I spend about $150 per year on my site for hosting fees + plugin fees. I would probably spend $200 per year, but probably not more than that.

Hope that helps!

And since I drive a 4x4, does not mean I'm one of the "rich" ones? Not sure! i don't think the vehicle you use has any much bearing on the web presence that you might want. I've met cyclists with pretty snappy sites so.....

[grizzly7]

My wife and I decided we wanted to be able to work on a website offline, so bought some software (£10) and she built it. It worked well but when it grew it became obvious the software couldn't cope with that many dropdowns.

Then she bought Serif Webplus 10 for about £40 and started again. It worked much better, but the length of time needed to build each page, format, crop (and choose!) the photos etc all took a lot of time. Too much, a real big deal effort. So we ended up with an incomplete diary, but we like whats there.

The learning curve having never done that sort of thing before was quite steep, and some things that you discover as you go meant a few backward steps were required at times, but she can now build her own websites for her small businesses quite easily herself.

"Next time" maybe a blog would be a better balance, but many do that themselves? So having put in some effort I'm not sure what it would be worth paying for?

There must be plenty of European motorhomers that would be up for paying you though? There must be a market for it somewhere?!

[colebatch]

Originally Posted by Surfy

Look at me, i guess i are one of the travellers with a higher budget - because i travel by 4x4...

I stand corrected ... the car guys do typically have much larger budgets. Land Rover prep budgets alone are often as much as 50k or more.

But Estebans idea of Globebusters et al is a brilliant idea. Those guys are spending 20-30k on a holiday, and they will want to share it with friends and family.

Thats a strategy that will pay the bills.

[estebangc]

Originally Posted by colebatch

I stand corrected ... the car guys do typically have much larger budgets. Land Rover prep budgets alone are often as much as 50k or more.

But Estebans idea of Globebusters et al is a brilliant idea. Those guys are spending 20-30k on a holiday, and they will want to share it with friends and family.

Thats a strategy that will pay the bills.

Ouch, that's a lot to prep anything, definitely enough to afford any website maintenance.

Colebatch said it, it looks we are profiling the target customers: a) lots of cash and b) willing to outsource many services, like route planning (organized tours), visas, vehicle prepping... or website design. I would contact all the companies making huge and expensive trucks like UNICAT. They will be happy to offer such possible services to their customers, especially if that helps them to sell more satellite antennaes for global internet connection or tracking devices!

Several good templates, nice applications to track the trip in real time (private area for family/friends, not kidnappers), 3D maps (focus on Morocco and Tunis, not in Congo and Angola!), easy uploading of pics/videos and possibilities to "personalize" your website/blog (many compasses and scorpions in the background) and total customer support... Add different packages like "basic web/blog" (should sound "you poor fella") to "extreme overland" or "BMW special" (rich guys) and (some)people will want the most expensive.

I'm going to buy a couple of Euromillion tickets this week. "Extreme overland" sounds like the right package for me after I spend 800.000 € in a 6WD rolling mansion with 2 bikes in the garage and 1500 ltrs of petrol in the tanks...

[colebatch]

Originally Posted by estebangc

I'm going to buy a couple of Euromillion tickets this week. "Extreme overland" sounds like the right package for me after I spend 800.000 € in a 6WD rolling mansion with 2 bikes in the garage and 1500 ltrs of petrol in the tanks...

Jump on a vehicle ferry to iceland in summer ... see the proper wealthy folk going to go luxury 4WD and 6WDing there ... For that type of thing its reasonably common to hear of people spending 500,000 + EUR on vehicle prep for a one month holiday.

Now thats a market !!!

[STG06]

Wouldnt it be best if folks used Horizons - you know support Grant and Susan.
Stephen

[ozranger]

i agree with a lot of what the other people have said.

i could also see a market where you could offer a very low cost do it your self template style set up initially. then when people are travelling they could just send this straight to you and you handle the website for a higher cost. you handle maps photos blogs etc. a give people the ability to pay it off when they get back in installments. but could be difficult making sure people pay maybe.
just an idea