Becoming a fishing guide: how to effectively promote your activity?

Do you want to become a fishing guide? You have just obtained your BPJEPS recreational fishing, this famous sesame to make your passion your job? Before embarking on this adventure, take the time to read these few lines to help you make good decisions and think about this project as a whole. Here are some useful elements for the new generation of fishing guides.

Become a fishing guide: be an entrepreneur before being a fisherman

It is important to understand that you are first and foremost an entrepreneur before being a fisherman. Does that surprise you? You shouldn't, because you are running a business. Certainly yours, but indeed a company. It will roughly consist in making people pay to discover, learn, understand, improve in the practice of fishing or simply spend a good day at the edge of the water while trying to catch fish in your company. .

However, one should also be aware that this brief description is only the tip of the iceberg. To achieve this, you will first need to attract customers, retain them, forge partnerships, manage your image, your accounts, your invoices, your communication, administration... In short, so many elements that do not concern the fishing and that it is important to remind all those who wish to become a fishing guide!

“A fishing guide instructor is there to guide and not to fish.”

As summarized Mathieu Colzato during our last interview, fishing is not what the client asks you, he asks you to fish HIM. And as its name suggests, a fishing instructor-guide is there to guide before fishing. So make sure beforehand that your boat and your equipment are in good condition, that your customers find you, that they have everything they expect from you and have understood your instructions before you can hope to think of fishing. And even under these conditions, nothing is less certain!

It's not easy to see things from that angle. It is therefore important to ask the right questions before you can start such an activity and to have motivations other than the simple fact of wanting to fish.

Choose a place according to your perspectives and not your desires

Your place of activity is one of the most crucial elements to take into account before embarking on the adventure of becoming a fishing guide. Beyond your professional skills, your place of activity will be a determining factor in your success… or your failure. Several factors can come into play: the region, the environment, the wealth of fish, competition or the volume of French and foreign tourists are examples.

Choosing a place where the tourist passage is frequent is a first step. However, keep in mind that the most touristy areas are most often already occupied by other well-established guides who have already made a name for themselves on a place or a technique that you may be considering offering.

Of course, most of you won't be able to pack up and travel hundreds of miles just to become a fishing guide. Do not worry ! Each region has its own tourist areas. And as an entrepreneur, it is up to you to determine the region with the best development prospects in relation to present and future constraints.

Be a good communicator on and off the water

Before being able to guide a client, he must of course learn of your existence and want to contact you. To do this, you must play on all fronts in order to be as visible as possible.

Do not hesitate to activate your own network to make people talk about you. Fishing is a very communal environment. Use it to your advantage. The slightest information can be relayed very quickly if it is handled well and by the right people. Once your diploma is in your pocket, you can rely on your training center, your colleagues and your fishing friends to make your first clientele.

Subsequently, tourist offices, airports, hotels, lodges and bed and breakfasts will be excellent supports for developing your visibility. Make sure that anyone who would like to go fishing, if only they had the choice, finds your flyers or your business card. Remember that you are a vector of value for these different actors. So don't be afraid to ask them. If guests of a hotel go fishing with you and have a good time, this will necessarily have a positive impact on the hotel, especially if the latter has recommended them! This therefore gives you strong bargaining power to convince these tourism players to make your leaflets available to their customers.

Become a fishing guide with the Internet as your best ally

90% tourist reservations are now made via the Internet, from a smartphone or a computer. You owe it to yourself to follow this trend by communicating your offers on the internet in the best possible way.

First through your own showcase site. It must be clear, attractive, well organized and above all transparent on all the useful information for a fisherman to be able to book: the type of service, location, duration, level, price, etc.

Secondly, social networks will allow you to be talked about at a lower cost and will make it easier for customers to find you. However, this requires commitment, time and skill.

For those who are not comfortable with internet or communication skills, Rodmaps accompanies you through an easy-to-use tool allowing you to create your advertisements and to be able to manage all of your reservations.

Learn more about Rodmaps

Always be available, at least in appearance

Guiding people in the middle of the day while taking care of the sides and their communication outside the guidance is a full-time job. You will very often miss a call from a future client or not be responsive to receiving an email. From experience, this can cause you to lose a lot of customers who will simply choose to contact another of your competitors. To guard against this, consider providing a second number on your communication tools. Your spouse, your son, your daughter, a good friend or better an associate will easily do the trick. Well chosen, it is even likely to do the job better than you could have done. Plus, you'll be free to focus on what you do best: guiding and providing the best possible service to your customers.

If these points seem obvious to you, it proves that you have thought carefully about your project of becoming a fishing guide. If other points could have been mentioned, these will allow you to be able to ensure a steady flow of new useful customers at the start of your activity. In slow times, don't hesitate to question yourself and re-read these few lines. As the head of your own business, you will very often find yourself sucked into your daily life and have your head in the grindstone. In these cases, getting high on your actions never hurts.

Good luck to you future guides!