Field Notes
Marketing that books the season.
Straight talk on websites, Spotter, SEO, and getting found — written for outfitters, guides, and lodges, by people who actually fish and hunt.
Turn One Great Trip Into Three: A Referral System for Outfitters
Your happiest clients are your cheapest marketing — if you ask right. A simple, no-sleaze referral system that turns one great guided trip into the next three bookings.
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Deposits & Cancellation Policies That Protect Your Season
No-shows and last-minute cancellations quietly wreck a guide's season. How to set deposit and cancellation policies that protect your calendar without scaring off bookings.
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How to Raise Your Guide Rates Without Losing Bookings
Raising your rates doesn't have to cost you trips. How to price guided hunts and fishing trips with confidence, signal real value, and keep your calendar full.
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Marketing an Elk or Western Big-Game Outfit
Marketing an elk or western big-game outfit means selling a hunt a client books years out, on points and trust. How to get found early, prove the country and the odds, and catch bookings while you're in the backcountry.
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Marketing a Flats or Inshore Fishing Guide Service
Marketing a flats or inshore guide service — sight-fishing redfish, tarpon, and snook off a poling skiff. How destination anglers find you, why it's nothing like a charter, and the front desk that books them while you're on the water.
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AI Booking Systems for Outfitters, Compared
Chatbots, scheduling apps, AI assistants, purpose-built concierges — a straight comparison of AI booking systems for hunting and fishing outfitters, and how to pick one that actually books trips.
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How to Choose a Marketing Agency for Your Hunting or Fishing Outfit
A straight buyer's guide for outfitters: specialist vs. generalist, what to actually look for, the red flags to walk from, the questions to ask, and where a 24/7 booking system fits.
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Fall Books in Summer: The Booking Wave Most Outfitters Sleep Through
Hunters plan and book their fall trips in the summer — exactly when you're guiding and least able to pick up. Here's the timing nobody schedules for, and how to catch the wave instead of missing it.
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The Missed-Call Problem: Why Outfitters Lose Trips They Never Hear Ring
Most guides don't lose bookings to a bad website — they lose them to voicemail while they're in the field. Here's the math on missed calls, and the 24/7 Spotter that plugs the leak.
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7 Ways Outfitters Lose Bookings (and How to Stop Each One)
How outfitters lose bookings — the seven leaks that quietly cost guides trips every season, and the practical fix for each one so a ready client never books a competitor.
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How to Market a Fly-Fishing Lodge in a Competitive Destination
How to market a fly fishing lodge when you're one of a dozen on the same river — positioning, content, and the booking system that keeps a ready guest off voicemail.
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Should Your Guide Service Use an AI Booking Assistant?
An honest look at the AI booking assistant for guides — what it does, what it doesn't, who it's right for, and how to tell if your guide service is leaking trips it could catch.
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Marketing for Hunting Outfitters: A Season-by-Season Plan
Marketing for hunting outfitters that follows the calendar — what to do in each season so your booking pipeline stays full while you're guiding, scouting, or chasing your own tags.
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How to Never Miss a Booking Call in Peak Season
Never miss a booking call again — a practical peak-season plan for guides and outfitters to catch every ready client while you're in the field, not stuck by a phone.
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Why Social Media Matters for Hunting & Fishing Brands
Why social media for hunting and fishing brands isn't about going viral — it's proof of fish, trust, and a steady feed of clients who book before the season fills.
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Online Booking for Guides & Outfitters: What Actually Works
Online booking for outfitters, explained plainly — instant-book vs. request-to-book, what to put on your site, and the front desk that catches clients booking software misses.
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Email Marketing for Outfitters: Rebook Last Year's Clients
Email marketing for outfitters is the cheapest booking channel you own. Here's how to rebook last year's clients and fill slow dates from a list you already have.
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The Best Website Structure for Hunting Outfitters
The right website structure for hunting outfitters turns browsers into booked hunts. Here's the page-by-page layout that answers the questions clients actually ask.
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How to Market a Fly Shop (Retail + Guiding)
How to market a fly shop when you run retail and a guide service under one roof — local SEO, the booking funnel, and turning walk-in foot traffic into booked trips.
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What Every Fly-Fishing Guide Website Needs to Book More Trips
A fly fishing guide website should book trips, not just look pretty. Here are the essentials that turn anglers browsing at midnight into deposits on your calendar.
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Why High-Quality Photo & Video Is Essential for Outdoor Brands
Photo and video for outdoor brands is the closest a client gets to your camp before they book. Here's why great media sells trips — and cheap media kills them.
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Why Your Outfitter Website Isn't Converting (and How to Fix It)
Traffic but no bookings? Here are the real reasons an outfitter website isn't converting — and the specific fixes that turn visits into booked trips.
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Marketing for Fishing Charters & Marinas
Marketing for fishing charters that actually fills the calendar — local search, reviews, and the 24/7 booking system that catches a ready angler while you're offshore with no signal.
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Fast Websites for Outfitters: Why Speed Wins Bookings
Fast websites for outfitters win more bookings. Here's why slow load speed quietly costs you trips, and how to make your site load before clients bounce.
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SEO for Hunting & Fishing Outfitters: How Clients Actually Find You
SEO for hunting and fishing outfitters, explained plain. How real clients search, what to put on your site, and how to rank when someone wants to book a trip.
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Why Outdoor Businesses Need Specialized Marketing (Not a Generic Agency)
Specialized marketing for outdoor brands beats a generic agency every time. Here's why outfitters, lodges, and fly shops need someone who actually knows the season.
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SEO for Lodges & Destination Travel Brands
SEO for lodges and destination travel brands: rank for trip-of-a-lifetime searches, win travelers planning months out, and turn search into booked weeks.
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How to Show Up in ChatGPT & AI Answers (AEO for Outfitters)
AI search for outfitters: how to get your guide service recommended by ChatGPT and AI answers. What AEO is, why it matters now, and the steps to get named.
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Local SEO for Guides: Winning the 'Near Me' Search
Local SEO for guides: how to win 'near me' and map-pack searches, claim your Google profile, stack reviews, and get found by clients booking trips in your area.
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Google Business Profile: The Free Local Lever Most Outfitters Ignore
Your Google Business Profile is free, it's where a ton of 'guide near me' bookings start, and most outfitters never finish it. Here's how to claim it, fill it out, and win the map.
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Building a Year-Round Content Engine for Your Outfit
A simple, repeatable content habit that ranks on Google and builds trust — without eating your guiding season. One solid post a month, done right, does the work of ten.
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Texting Your Way to More Bookings: SMS for Guides
Your clients would rather text than call — and unlike a voicemail, a text actually gets read. Here's how to use SMS to capture leads and close trips from the truck.
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Branding for Outfitters: A Logo Isn't a Brand
A logo is one piece of your brand, not the whole thing. Here's what an outfitter brand actually is — and why a real, lived-in one beats a generic shop every time.
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From Inquiry to Deposit: Follow-Up That Doesn't Feel Pushy
Most lost bookings don't die at the inquiry — they die in the follow-up gap. Here's a simple, non-pushy cadence, and the Spotter that answers the second a lead comes in.
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The Booking Page That Closes: What Belongs Above the Fold
Most trip pages look good and book nothing. Here's the anatomy of a booking page that actually converts — what goes above the fold, and the mistakes that kill it.
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Your Off-Season Is a Marketing Season
The months you're not guiding are exactly when next season gets filled — or lost. Here's what to actually do Nov–Mar to book out before peak demand hits.
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Reviews That Book Trips: Earning Five-Star Trust and Putting It to Work
Reviews are the cheapest, highest-trust marketing a guide has — and most leave them on the table. How to actually get them, where they count, and how to put them to work.
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How Hunters and Anglers Actually Choose a Guide
Your client books one trip a year and decides fast — on trust, timing, proof, and who answers first. Here's what actually moves them, and how to be the one who wins.
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What a Guide or Outfitter Website Actually Costs in 2026
An honest breakdown of what a guide or outfitter website really costs, where the money should go, and why one saved booking pays for the whole thing.
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