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I am planning a small catalog website for the local guest houses so that people can search for a G.House in their area and spend the night or day.

  1. What I want to know is how can I find such places? I won't be able to go to every place and ask for their details.

  2. How can I find some local agents who will be paid a commission if they introduce a new G.House? How can I trust them? What % of commission should I pay them?

  3. In order to find an income through this what kind of methods (business models) available for such a thing? (subscription services or one time payment...etc)

  4. Because I have no experience in marketing whatsoever, how can I promote my site to visitors/tourists?

  5. If you have any kinda experience in this type of startup what might be the other opportunities lies ahead for me to continue in the future?

I really appreciate detailed answers with any links or books that might be helpful for my learning process.

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Too many questions in one post. – Zuly Gonzalez♦ Apr 2 '12 at 17:50

1 Answer

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If you really have no experience in marketing, it sounds like you are choosing the wrong business to get into as this is what this business is all about.

When you choose a business to start it not only needs to have market feasibility but should also be:

  • An interest or passion - you have to like what you are doing and will have to force yourself to get up each day to do it
  • Something that uses your skills. You will help happier and be more successful working at something you feel you are good at.
  • Obviously, as I mentioned, people need to be willing to pay for it.

(I have written about this recently on my blog if you want more info.)

If I am mistaken and this is the right idea for you, you need to go and do some market research. Talk to guest house owners, find out what their problems are and how you can solve them. Do they want the kind of service you are proposing? Would they pay you for it?

Then you will be on the road to answering the questions you currently have.

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Well, you are right. But I am not really after the money so I am willing to take the risk and willing to do something new. I really love to do this and I feel this is what I should do in my gut. Besides marketing skills I have almost every other skill I need to make this work. As you said I will have to get out there and talk to owners. Thank you for your reply,I really appreciate it. :) – Romesh Dec 24 '10 at 8:17
Ok. So if this is what you really want to do, make sure you identify the assumptions you make and validate them. Also be really clear about what risks you are taking and make sure you mitigate them. Good luck! – Susan Jones Dec 24 '10 at 10:20

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