Marketing - Recruit or Outsource?

[Instabus]

Hi all,

I am finally currently launching my new service to minibus and coach operators called Instabus. It's been a long time in the making!
But I am unsure how best to proceed when it comes to marketing.

My focus right now is on sales to get my suppliers on board. Without the suppliers there is no business. But I also now must market my business to the end users so that we generate leads for these suppliers. I have no other staff but I am ready to move into an office for this purpose. Alternatively, I can look at remote workers.

My question for you now however is with a marketing budget of £3,500 per month, would you recruit a marketing executive full time or would you use an agency?
I have lots of marketing ideas and plans but do not have the time in the day to implement them. A marketing executive would do this and hopefully come up with their own creative solutions. An agency I expect would do this too but what would be better value for money?

 

[NickGrogan]

What does instabus actually do?

I have lots of marketing ideas and plans but do not have the time in the day to implement them.

What are you doing in the business? Surely marketing is the most important thing, as you have neither suppliers nor customers at the moment.

What does your business plan say?

 

[Annoying Donkey]

What does instabus actually do?


What are you doing in the business? Surely marketing is the most important thing, as you have neither suppliers nor customers at the moment.

What does your business plan say?

Isn't it obvious from the name...

Oh...!

 

[fisicx]

Umm… it doesn’t work. Looked up my location and got a load of irrelevant results.

And it’s slooooow….

If you want to get people on board the website needs a lot of work.

If I Google for local providers I get much better results.

 

[Instabus]

What does instabus actually do?


What are you doing in the business? Surely marketing is the most important thing, as you have neither suppliers nor customers at the moment.

What does your business plan say?

It's a minibus and coach travel directory and booking service.

The business plan has taken me to this point and is on track.
It was always the case that I would need to first get the suppliers on board and that process has begun.
I have been marketing my business primarily to the suppliers for the past year and now I am carrying out my sales process (alone) to onboard these businesses with a paid subscription to the directory.

My business plan states that as suppliers come on board, I need to commence marketing to customers looking to book coaches in the areas where the suppliers are located. I am currently doing this with Google Ads and SEO which has been ongoing for a year and is helping my site climb the local search rankings around the UK.

The problem that I have is that I currently have no staff and am trying to decide if I should take someone on as a marketer. I need to focus on the supplier onboarding and I don't have the time to also do the marketing.

So back to the question. Would I be best to recruit for this role or outsource to a freelancer or agency?

 

[Instabus]

Umm… it doesn’t work. Looked up my location and got a load of irrelevant results.

And it’s slooooow….

If you want to get people on board the website needs a lot of work.

If I Google for local providers I get much better results.

It does work. But if you have found something that you don't think does then please forward me the details so I can investigate.
Please elaborate on what you perceive to be 'irrelevant results'.

I understand that the website requires improvements and I'm working on that.
But that isn't what I am looking to discuss in this thread.
People are coming on board so I'm unconcerned about the website's current incarnation.

And I would counter your statement about Googling for local providers. You might think you get better results but you don't. Most of the results you see are for brokers and agencies based in a central UK call centre, rather than genuine operators with their own vehicles. My site is the only place where you will find verified local operators and have confidence that you are dealing with them directly and not paying an inflated broker price.

This is one of the main angles for my upcoming marketing campaigns.

So, to recruit or to outsource?

 

[fisicx]

It does work. But if you have found something that you don't think does then please forward me the details so I can investigate.

Website reviews are for full members. There are way too many things need to fixing.

And I would counter your statement about Googling for local providers.

When I used your site the top result wasn't within the search radius and the map location was wrong. I've just searched Google and those in the map-pack are all local businesses. Which is what I wanted.

But to answer your question: outsource. But it's probably too late now as you should have been working on a marketing strategy long before building the website.

The car club I belong to needed a minibus a couple of months back. Did a Google search, saw an operator with good reviews and picked up the phone. Start to finish took less time than it would to fill in the form on your site.

The way people research and find things has changed over the last few years. The whole concept of a directory is almost redundant as it adds another layer between the customer and supplier which isn't needed any more as there are too many other channels where people can find local services.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Have you considered doing the marketing yourself in order to control the costs
You might want to direct your budget towards PPC and onsite SEO

 

[fisicx]

Have you considered doing the marketing yourself in order to control the costs
You might want to direct your budget towards PPC and onsite SEO

The problem is you will always see local providers in the map pack. It's the goto place for so many local services. That and nextdoor, facebook, parish magazines, flyers through the door and people using the same company they did last time.

Why would you want to search google and choose to look in a directory when the local mini-bus company is already in front of you in the serps.

 

[Mark T Jones]

On your initial question, I'd start by talking with a real marketing person - that is to say one who understands research and strategy, not some idiot that tells you all about the 'best' medium without understanding your business.

That process itself can be very revealing and might save you a fortune in random, pointless activity.

In the meantime, give some deep thought to why your target customer is and what you are actually offering them

 

[Instabus]

Website reviews are for full members. There are way too many things need to fixing.



When I used your site the top result wasn't within the search radius and the map location was wrong. I've just searched Google and those in the map-pack are all local businesses. Which is what I wanted.

But to answer your question: outsource. But it's probably too late now as you should have been working on a marketing strategy long before building the website.

The car club I belong to needed a minibus a couple of months back. Did a Google search, saw an operator with good reviews and picked up the phone. Start to finish took less time than it would to fill in the form on your site.

The way people research and find things has changed over the last few years. The whole concept of a directory is almost redundant as it adds another layer between the customer and supplier which isn't needed any more as there are too many other channels where people can find local services.

Your negativity in this forum over the years never ceases to surprise me. I understand and always welcome constructive criticism headed in my direction but your tendency to hijack many posts and focus on being critical of just about everything is tedious and off-putting.

I asked a specific question and eventually received your response of which I welcome.
But please... credit where credit is due and save the criticisms for the right time.
I have started a business from scratch when I diversified from my minibus and coach hire business (own coaches and drivers) during Covid. I've identified industry-wide problems (whole-heartedly agreed to by the operators I have spoken with) and come up with a variety of solutions, most of which you won't have seen from your brief visit to my website.

And no, it's not too late to market my business (again, why so negative??).
Now is the perfect time to spread the word about Instabus as people begin to make plans for 2023 which will involve hiring a coach or a minibus. I have the suppliers coming on board and now I just need to find them more enquiries. I say 'more' because the marketing I have done so far is already bringing some enquiries through.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Yeh I had no idea you were from the industry the bloke yesterday had a crap idea because he once drove a van and suddenly, he knew more than everyone else. Hence the attack mode of the membership

It's not for me but young people love uber and your probably onto something here the marketing budget maybe tight for large national coverage

 

[Instabus]

Have you considered doing the marketing yourself in order to control the costs
You might want to direct your budget towards PPC and onsite SEO

I am doing some of the marketing myself and I have a couple of freelancers who have been working on SEO (for over a year) and PPC (more recent).

But it's other marketing activities that I need to put some resources to now. For example, I want to launch campaigns across social media to reach people who are going to a major event next year (music festival, sports event, etc) and will be booking minibus or coach transport. All events taking place throughout the UK would need to be researched and from where the group travel is likely to originate from. Then social media posts/ads would need to be created, etc. I simply don't have the time or skills to do this myself.

 

[Instabus]

The problem is you will always see local providers in the map pack. It's the goto place for so many local services. That and nextdoor, facebook, parish magazines, flyers through the door and people using the same company they did last time.

Why would you want to search google and choose to look in a directory when the local mini-bus company is already in front of you in the serps.

I recall when I first discussed this idea in these forums that you pounced on it with the same lack of understanding.

You say that you always see local providers in the map pack. Well unfortunately this is misguided. You see what you believe to be local companies but mostly they are not. They are brokers who then farm out the bookings at inflated prices to any old rust bucket for profit. The brokers dominate my industry and the operators have had enough of that.

Part of my job is going to be to educate the public on the importance of not using a broker and booking directly. That is the message that I need to get out there but if you choose not to listen, then there's nothing I can do about that.

 

[Instabus]

On your initial question, I'd start by talking with a real marketing person - that is to say one who understands research and strategy, not some idiot that tells you all about the 'best' medium without understanding your business.

That process itself can be very revealing and might save you a fortune in random, pointless activity.

In the meantime, give some deep thought to why your target customer is and what you are actually offering them

Yes, I absolutely agree. And where do you suggest that I find this real marketing person?
I've given plenty of deep thought to my target market, and in fact have over a decade of data on these demographics from operating my own minibus and coach hire business. I know what the customers want and I know what the operators want. But now I need to implement these strategies and develop more.
But would that come from a marketing graduate to employ full time, or would I find a freelance marketer. Where would I find the latter?

 

[fisicx]

You say that you always see local providers in the map pack. Well unfortunately this is misguided. You see what you believe to be local companies but mostly they are not. They are brokers who then farm out the bookings at inflated prices to any old rust bucket for profit. The brokers dominate my industry and the operators have had enough of that.

Maybe where you are but I see the local firms where I live. I've seen their vehicles around town.

Maybe it is a lack of understanding but people looking to hire will use the map-pack over a directory. Unless your directory is the top listing below the map pack people won't know you exist. And even then - you will look just like all those other brokers.

I don't have a problem with what you are trying to do - I think it's a great idea. But it's execution where it's gone awry - people don't use directories the way they used to. In fact most directories are seen as misleading.

But if you want a recomendation for help with marketing these are my choices:

Insite Web Ltd

UK Business Forums profile page for Paul Carmen

www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk

Acme Inc

UK Business Forums profile page for Annoying Donkey

www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk

AllUpHere

UK Business Forums profile page for AllUpHere

www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

The answer to the original question is YES!

However, you need to work out what you want done. Does the staff member plan and manage the work, or implement it? Do you tell the agency what you want or let them tell you what you need?

You could employ someone part time and get them to manage an agency.

This question should have been sorted out at the planning stage and basic conversations with suppliers or candidates completed.

BTW, you want to focus on finding suppliers to sign up, but how do you reach them? Marketing!

 

[fisicx]

This question should have been sorted out at the planning stage and basic conversations with suppliers or candidates completed.

Agreed. Marketing planning should have started as soon as the idea emergered. It's quite likely the right marketing person will want to start again. It's possible the current site isn't even needed (I can think of at least two alternate ways to attract punters).

 

[NickGrogan]

The brokers dominate my industry and the operators have had enough of that.

Part of my job is going to be to educate the public on the importance of not using a broker and booking directly.

If the operators stopped working with the brokers, they'd soon disappear.

How is your site different from a broker - apart from needing more work from the buyer?

In answer to your question, neither. As a new business, you need to be very close to the marketing to understand what works and why, employing a grad or someone offshore isn't going to work.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I recall when I first discussed this idea in these forums that you pounced on it with the same lack of understanding.

You say that you always see local providers in the map pack. Well unfortunately this is misguided. You see what you believe to be local companies but mostly they are not. They are brokers who then farm out the bookings at inflated prices to any old rust bucket for profit. The brokers dominate my industry and the operators have had enough of that.
Part of my job is going to be to educate the public on the importance of not using a broker and booking directly. That is the message that I need to get out there but if you choose not to listen, then there's nothing I can do about that.

'Educating the public' is probably the toughest job in marketing!

 

[Paul Carmen]

Thanks for the recommendation @fisicx. Hello @Instabus, without knowing your marketing plan and what research you've undertaken it's really difficult for anyone to answer your questions properly.

If you've got a thoroughly researched and well thought out marketing plan; e.g. you know your customer base (not the bus companies), what they search for and where, plus why they'd use your site over the map pack, organic results, booking companies etc, then this should give you the basic answers.

If you have that in place you can create a plan from that; e.g. get a junior employee in, outsource copy, asset creation, PPC, SEO etc to freelancers and have the junior employee manage it. You probably will have to increase your budget, as junior marketing execs tend to jump ship for better pay once they have experience, unless you reward them.

However, if you need that person to have a broad range of marketing skills and expertise, then they are going to want a big salary to pay for their experience/expertise, and they could easily cost you the £3,500 a month you have as a budget.

If you need help with all the marketing details, most agencies will want to do all, or at least most major bits of it. The reality is it's too much hassle otherwise, as there are too many fingers in the pie.

We drive leads for companies based on targeted goals in circumstances like yours, but tend to manage the whole process, or at least have total control over large sections, as our team have experience and expertise in web design, copy, PPC, SEO etc.

 

[fisicx]

Another reason to outsource to a proper marketing agency is they will make sure your SEO is done properly. Whoever you are employing isn't doing a very good job. Google gives you a performance score of 25/100 and the basic SEO elements haven't been sorted.

 

[Instabus]

Thanks for the recommendation @fisicx. Hello @Instabus, without knowing your marketing plan and what research you've undertaken it's really difficult for anyone to answer your questions properly.

If you've got a thoroughly researched and well thought out marketing plan; e.g. you know your customer base (not the bus companies), what they search for and where, plus why they'd use your site over the map pack, organic results, booking companies etc, then this should give you the basic answers.

If you have that in place you can create a plan from that; e.g. get a junior employee in, outsource copy, asset creation, PPC, SEO etc to freelancers and have the junior employee manage it. You probably will have to increase your budget, as junior marketing execs tend to jump ship for better pay once they have experience, unless you reward them.

However, if you need that person to have a broad range of marketing skills and expertise, then they are going to want a big salary to pay for their experience/expertise, and they could easily cost you the £3,500 a month you have as a budget.

If you need help with all the marketing details, most agencies will want to do all, or at least most major bits of it. The reality is it's too much hassle otherwise, as there are too many fingers in the pie.

We drive leads for companies based on targeted goals in circumstances like yours, but tend to manage the whole process, or at least have total control over large sections, as our team have experience and expertise in web design, copy, PPC, SEO etc.

Thanks for your detailed response.
I have spoken with some marketing agencies over the past couple of days and it's clear that they would want to manage the whole process, as you say.

I have marketing ideas but no real strategy and I think I would benefit from working with an agency who can develop a comprehensive strategy. Of of the agencies I spoke with openly said that they would create a blueprint that I would be free to take and implement myself with freelancers should I decide that was best.

 

[Instabus]

Another reason to outsource to a proper marketing agency is they will make sure your SEO is done properly. Whoever you are employing isn't doing a very good job. Google gives you a performance score of 25/100 and the basic SEO elements haven't been sorted.

Which performance score is this you are referring to? Page Speed Insights?

 

[fisicx]

Which performance score is this you are referring to? Page Speed Insights?

Yes:

PageSpeed Insights

pagespeed.web.dev

Just tested again and it's down to 23/100. It's unlikely you will get much higher because of how the site is built and the cheap shared hosting you are using.

If you want this to work you really need to be on a dedicated server. And you need to think about your site architecture. Elementor and woocommerce is not a good combination.

 

[fisicx]

I have spoken with some marketing agencies over the past couple of days and it's clear that they would want to manage the whole process, as you say.

Which almost certainly means starting over with a new site. Right now it's not a directory. It looks and feel no different to those broker sites you say nobody wants to deal with.

 

[brandvine]

What are the economics of the business?

I can see the operator listings range between free and £99 + VAT pm.

Do you get any further revenue based off bookings?

The reason I ask is that your cost per acquisition for something like this is going to be pretty high.

Do you know what you can spend to acquire a booking? That will dictate how you proceed.

 

[Peak District SEO]

Hi all,

I am finally currently launching my new service to minibus and coach operators called Instabus. It's been a long time in the making!
But I am unsure how best to proceed when it comes to marketing.

My focus right now is on sales to get my suppliers on board. Without the suppliers there is no business. But I also now must market my business to the end users so that we generate leads for these suppliers. I have no other staff but I am ready to move into an office for this purpose. Alternatively, I can look at remote workers.

My question for you now however is with a marketing budget of £3,500 per month, would you recruit a marketing executive full time or would you use an agency?
I have lots of marketing ideas and plans but do not have the time in the day to implement them. A marketing executive would do this and hopefully come up with their own creative solutions. An agency I expect would do this too but what would be better value for money?

Hi, Phil here from Peak District SEO. I think my answer might be a bit predictable but I'll offer it and let you decide.


So you have 42k marketing budget per year. It sounds like a lot, but you have to factor in how you want to spend it.

Let's say you run online Ads on Google and Facebook to get the leads up....
If you spent £100 per day that's 35k of your budget right there.

If you hire someone in the house...they REALLY have to be the right person. Because whatever you pay them is gonna be a huge chunk of your budget.

How much profit is there in your product/Service?

1) ---Hire a young person---
Hire a kid and you'll get no expertise but hopefully some enthusiasm.
let's say start them at 17k - that leaves you with just 25 k if you ignore "on costs". Such as nat insurance, computer for them, benefits, seat, desk office heating etc.

2) --Hire an Agency----
An agency has no additional costs, no NI, no office perks etc, but their hourly rate will be eyewatering compared to the small rate you'd pay a kid. Still, you'd be paying for the experience and knowledge. You'll be looking at £20-£90 ph

Agency fees are gonna be between £200 - 3K per month
You can afford 3k per month...that's 36k per year, leaving you with just 6k to spend on the ad budget.

Any agency you hire will need to be billing about 500 a month to ensure..you have a fair amount of their time but that leaves you enough budget for your ads. 500 x12 is just 6k per year, 1k per month still isn't terrible when you consider the return.

3)--Hire Freelancer--
Freelancers are great value for money, but they are also high-risk. Freelancers can to go missing in action, and that's why we never use them, except for piece work.

You could probably hire a freelancer for £20 per hour. Or someone overseas for cheaper, but again, is it worth the risk?


So..what's better value for money.?

Not option 1, it will be a headache getting someone with the skills cheaply enough.
Not option 3, just not solid enough IMO. You need someone who's reputation hinges on the work.

An affordable agency looks like the best bet. Meet them, meet several... discuss your goals, discuss your expectations, ask for a road map of how they will achieve your goals.

If they give it "the big I am:, steer clear, if they spend more on cakes and coffee than practical gear and value-adding, steer clear.


Hope that helps a bit?

 

[Uwe (Invoiceberry)]

I think it's a tough industry, with companies such as gettransfer.com having seemingly huge budgets for Google Ads. However, with the right SEO and maybe targeting niche areas you have the best chance.

From a minibus/bus company perspective, I want to know that your site gets enough traffic, ranks high for my region and would get me some contact form requests or link clicks. Otherwise, I am less likely to pay for the listing. At the end of the day, £10-100/month for a listing should get me some customers in return.

I think right now the most important is to get as many high quality operators listed on your site, to optimise SEO, to target niche markets and to get a few case studies. I wouldn't focus on revenue right now. Once the above things are done you ca start charging.

I agree with what some of the others have said above, either get a young person who's enthusiastic and willing to learn or you'll need to outsource it. The budget doesn't sound like it's enough to go crazy on paid ads and agencies. But it;s definitely enough to get started and to make an impact.

 

[NickGrogan]

You say that you always see local providers in the map pack. Well unfortunately this is misguided. You see what you believe to be local companies but mostly they are not. They are brokers who then farm out the bookings at inflated prices to any old rust bucket for profit. The brokers dominate my industry and the operators have had enough of that.

Part of my job is going to be to educate the public on the importance of not using a broker and booking directly. That is the message that I need to get out there but if you choose not to listen, then there's nothing I can do about that.

Your goal is to teach people not to trust the results that Google gives, but to trust the results in your directory - which if you base your plan on SEO and content, they will have found through Google.

Trying to get people not to trust google doesn't seem like the best plan.

How is your site different from a broker?

 

[Peak District SEO]

Your goal is to teach people not to trust the results that Google gives, but to trust the results in your directory - which if you base your plan on SEO and content, they will have found through Google.

Trying to get people not to trust google doesn't seem like the best plan.

How is your site different from a broker?

The OP does have a point here. At the moment, broker sites and directories are again dominating local searches. BAR the map pack. This is Google's error. What we need to collectively do as business owners try to better respond to customer questions via our websites.

The E.A.T part of the Google Algo is determining that broker sites are offering the best information for customers.

- It isn't that we 'cant trust Google' more that to win against google you have to play their game.

 

[Instabus]

Yes:

PageSpeed Insights

pagespeed.web.dev

Just tested again and it's down to 23/100. It's unlikely you will get much higher because of how the site is built and the cheap shared hosting you are using.

If you want this to work you really need to be on a dedicated server. And you need to think about your site architecture. Elementor and woocommerce is not a good combination.

I'm not using cheap hosting, I have a dedicated server. The site speed issues are resolvable at server level and will be done very soon.

 

[fisicx]

I'm not using cheap hosting, I have a dedicated server. The site speed issues are resolvable at server level and will be done very soon.

Not so sure about that. The issues are with the site architecture not your server. If it is a dedicated server there are config problems as well. Whois reports there are 200+ sites in your IP.

Anyway even if you do get the site speed sorted there are all the issues others have posted above. Right now it looks and feels just like all those broker sites. If you stopped being a directory it would be a good start.

 

[Instabus]

What are the economics of the business?

I can see the operator listings range between free and £99 + VAT pm.

Do you get any further revenue based off bookings?

The reason I ask is that your cost per acquisition for something like this is going to be pretty high.

Do you know what you can spend to acquire a booking? That will dictate how you proceed.

There are two income streams into the business.
The first is from the directory listing subscription packages. This is simply a mechanism to onboard the operators, some of whom will become suppliers for the second income stream.

When customers make an enquiry through the site by using the Send to All feature (sends their enquiry to every listing owner within 20 miles of their pickup location), Instabus also receives this enquiry. If there are any suppliers who have stated their availability for a vehicle and driver in a location away from their base, they also receive this enquiry via Instabus. If the customer accepts a quotation from these suppliers, then the booking goes through Instabus and we take a 20% commission. Bookings that the operator makes via direct contact through their listing are made directly with the operator and are not subject to this commission.

I can spend £30 per booking acquired. This sees my £3,500 marketing budget generating 120 supplier bookings per month by month 6 where I break even, and return a profit thereafter. By month 12, I will only need to spend £16 per booking

 

[Instabus]

Hi, Phil here from Peak District SEO. I think my answer might be a bit predictable but I'll offer it and let you decide.


So you have 42k marketing budget per year. It sounds like a lot, but you have to factor in how you want to spend it.

Let's say you run online Ads on Google and Facebook to get the leads up....
If you spent £100 per day that's 35k of your budget right there.

If you hire someone in the house...they REALLY have to be the right person. Because whatever you pay them is gonna be a huge chunk of your budget.

How much profit is there in your product/Service?

1) ---Hire a young person---
Hire a kid and you'll get no expertise but hopefully some enthusiasm.
let's say start them at 17k - that leaves you with just 25 k if you ignore "on costs". Such as nat insurance, computer for them, benefits, seat, desk office heating etc.

2) --Hire an Agency----
An agency has no additional costs, no NI, no office perks etc, but their hourly rate will be eyewatering compared to the small rate you'd pay a kid. Still, you'd be paying for the experience and knowledge. You'll be looking at £20-£90 ph

Agency fees are gonna be between £200 - 3K per month
You can afford 3k per month...that's 36k per year, leaving you with just 6k to spend on the ad budget.

Any agency you hire will need to be billing about 500 a month to ensure..you have a fair amount of their time but that leaves you enough budget for your ads. 500 x12 is just 6k per year, 1k per month still isn't terrible when you consider the return.

3)--Hire Freelancer--
Freelancers are great value for money, but they are also high-risk. Freelancers can to go missing in action, and that's why we never use them, except for piece work.

You could probably hire a freelancer for £20 per hour. Or someone overseas for cheaper, but again, is it worth the risk?


So..what's better value for money.?

Not option 1, it will be a headache getting someone with the skills cheaply enough.
Not option 3, just not solid enough IMO. You need someone who's reputation hinges on the work.

An affordable agency looks like the best bet. Meet them, meet several... discuss your goals, discuss your expectations, ask for a road map of how they will achieve your goals.

If they give it "the big I am:, steer clear, if they spend more on cakes and coffee than practical gear and value-adding, steer clear.


Hope that helps a bit?

Hi Phil,

Thanks very much for your analytical response to my question.
I was struggling with the thought of recruiting someone in-house for the reasons you have stated. I felt like it would be pretty difficult to find someone great and would probably waste a lot of time and money in trying to find the right person.
Freelancers are also a risk and having worked with them in the past, I can vouch for that. So I am now leaning towards using an agency.

 

[Peak District SEO]

Hi Phil,

Thanks very much for your analytical response to my question.
I was struggling with the thought of recruiting someone in-house for the reasons you have stated. I felt like it would be pretty difficult to find someone great and would probably waste a lot of time and money in trying to find the right person.
Freelancers are also a risk and having worked with them in the past, I can vouch for that. So I am now leaning towards using an agency.

Glad to have helped in a small way. Just shout up if you want some more advice.

 

[Instabus]

I think it's a tough industry, with companies such as gettransfer.com having seemingly huge budgets for Google Ads. However, with the right SEO and maybe targeting niche areas you have the best chance.

From a minibus/bus company perspective, I want to know that your site gets enough traffic, ranks high for my region and would get me some contact form requests or link clicks. Otherwise, I am less likely to pay for the listing. At the end of the day, £10-100/month for a listing should get me some customers in return.

I think right now the most important is to get as many high quality operators listed on your site, to optimise SEO, to target niche markets and to get a few case studies. I wouldn't focus on revenue right now. Once the above things are done you ca start charging.

I agree with what some of the others have said above, either get a young person who's enthusiastic and willing to learn or you'll need to outsource it. The budget doesn't sound like it's enough to go crazy on paid ads and agencies. But it;s definitely enough to get started and to make an impact.

It is a tough industry with the agencies and brokers dominating the search rankings, you're quite right.
Revenue isn't my main focus right now but with operators coming on board with paid listings in the directory, I need to be increasing the amount of enquiries coming to them through the site so that they stick with me.

 

[Instabus]

Your goal is to teach people not to trust the results that Google gives, but to trust the results in your directory - which if you base your plan on SEO and content, they will have found through Google.

Trying to get people not to trust google doesn't seem like the best plan.

How is your site different from a broker?

Only a part of my job is to educate people about brokers and how the google search results are not giving them what they need. But mainly I just need Instabus to rank better so more people click through and make an enquiry. Most people won't actually read a single sentence of copy on my website. They just want to enquire about a coach booking.

Instabus is different from a broker because my customers get to deal directly with the local operators. A broker will take their booking then farm it out to whoever will do the job for the cheapest price. In those situations, the customer usually believes they are booking with a local company when this is not the case.

 

[NickGrogan]

Instabus also receives this enquiry. If there are any suppliers who have stated their availability for a vehicle and driver in a location away from their base, they also receive this enquiry via Instabus. If the customer accepts a quotation from these suppliers, then the booking goes through Instabus and we take a 20% commission.

Like a broker would?

Something is not right with the hosting.

GTmetrix Performance Report

GTmetrix Grade: F (Performance: 38% / Structure: 74%)

gtmetrix.com

Grade F, time to interactive 9.4 seconds

dedicated server?

GTmetrix Performance Report

GTmetrix Grade: A (Performance: 99% / Structure: 98%)

gtmetrix.com

Grade A, time to interactive 1.2 seconds

Mine's on a shared server.

 

[Instabus]

Like a broker would?

Something is not right with the hosting.

GTmetrix Performance Report

GTmetrix Grade: F (Performance: 38% / Structure: 74%)

gtmetrix.com

Grade F, time to interactive 9.4 seconds

dedicated server?

GTmetrix Performance Report

GTmetrix Grade: A (Performance: 99% / Structure: 98%)

gtmetrix.com

Grade A, time to interactive 1.2 seconds

Mine's on a shared server.

The commission part on those bookings is the only similarity to a broker.
The key difference is that the supplier receives the quotation request and still deals with the customer directly (via internal communications on Instabus) to work out the details before providing them with a price. We haven't brokered anything. We have provided them with a lead that they wouldn't have been able to get otherwise (away from their normal area of operation) and we simply take a commission for providing this service.

So it's a managed VPS dedicated server that I'm using.
The problems with it being slow are because I haven't sorted all of the CDN settings yet for fear of breaking the site, which I have done once before. Still to do are things like prioritising critical CSS, deferring JS and all the image optimisation.

I know I need to get this sorted and I'm confident that it'll quickly sort the site speed issues.