

Ask HN: Are we idiots for launching a travel newsletter? - JacobAldridge

We are thinking of launching a daily travel newsletter, hanging the elements you might expect (pictures, stories etc) around the hook that it is actually a realistic, endless holiday rather than disconnected information.<p>It fits squarely within pg's "broad but shallow" crater - ie, the opposite market demand shape from "nearly all good startup ideas".<p>As part of our market research we've put out a survey. If you're interested in travel, and can spare 10-15 minutes, all of the questions are at surveymonkey.com/s/TravelNewsletter<p>The key question that the HN audience may be better qualified to answer is #11 - "Are we idiots for launching a travel newsletter?" More tactfully, based on your experience, what traps can we avoid / opportunities can we embrace to support early traction.<p>Or hit us with your "middlebrow dismissal", we're grown-ups. (Despite the similarities, we're not related to hackertourism.com or peteford's current front page post.)<p>Background - this is being built by me and kerno, two Aussies who met in London while spending a few years travelling. My background is more business than coder, kerno is better balanced, and while I'm experienced with email newsletters and sales neither of us has specific travel industry background.<p>[Edit: We're about the drop off the New Page, and it doesn't look like we'll make the front page. So I wanted to say thanks for everyone who read this, whether you checked out the survey, left a comment, or not.]
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zalew
Hi, as a sign of support from somebody who is about to launch a travel
website, I filled up your survey. You are not idiots for launching a
newsletter, email marketing is still a big deal. But your question is like
asking if you are an idiot for launching a website. You either execute
something well or not.

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JacobAldridge
Thanks Zalew, and good luck with Rootka.

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zalew
thanks, good luck you too.

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jyu
I happen to work at a company where more than 50% of our traffic comes from a
daily newsletter. There are many niche newsletters that do quite well.
DailyCandy, Thrillist, Groupon's newsletter all come to mind. There are also a
lot of niche newsletters that do well and are not fast growing, VC funded etc.
User acquisition and monetization are both very straight forward.

However, saying "I'm making a travel newsletter" is ridiculously broad. If you
could elaborate a bit more on what you want to do, then I might be able to
give more concrete advice than a handwaving "yes it's possible."

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JacobAldridge
Thanks John. To elaborate (as far as we know at this point):

> Think a travel article that discusses how to spend a weekend visiting the
> Christmas Markets in Vienna

> We would have that as the sole newsletter content - ie, not one of a dozen
> stories in the newsletter

> It would also fit within a larger narrative - the previous day would end
> with a flight from Rome to Vienna; the next day starts with a flight from
> Vienna to Oman

> Where possible, we would tell the story of a local giving us the experience

> Links from the newsletter would come back to our website, but also onwards
> to more information about the destination or itinerary specifics (some
> affiliate links).

> Definitely not a daily deals type newsletter - there's a market for that,
> but we are content people

So user acquisition and monetization are the keys, as you point out. We have
some early thoughts (social media, especially building reputations in travel
forums, and SEO for the former; advertising, affiliate or most likely direct,
for the latter). But launch early and learn has taken the place of "first
research for months".

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tstegart
No. We launched a travel magazine. Travel is a pretty hot start-up spot right
now and there is a lot of money to be had. Giving people good content and
travel companies a great way to reach customers is a great idea.

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lindalee
Not at all, travel industry is huge. A newsletter is a great way to build
customer funnels for other paying services. Good luck!

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JacobAldridge
I'm also happy to answer any questions / explore thoughts about our process
and business model, given those tend to be some of the more grounded concerns
that get raised when people pitch an idea rather than their launch product.

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Mz
I am a former mitary wife with an immigrant mother. Both those populations
seem to travel a fair amount, but often very budget-minded. "Travel" of the
vacation type tends to be a luxury item. Luxury items often fare poorly during
recessions. Let me suggest you think on positioning this to be resilient in
the face of that. One thing which does well during recessions is cheap,
escapist entertainment. So perhaps try to appeal to not only actual tourist
types but also people who want to imagine getting away. Pictures are likely
your friend in that regard.

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JacobAldridge
Wonderfully well articulated Mz, thanks. We had the realisation that most
people only read travel newsletters when they're thinking of travelling - a
problem for engagement rates.

Your description about "escapist entertainment" (rather than a pure travel
guide) focuses the solution. Picture importance is also a good tip - not my
forte, so kerno has been slowly explaining it to me!

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jyu
This is a great angle. I can imagine a lot of people in cubicle land that
would look forward to a daily escape. And then forward it to their friends. Or
save the email to read when they actually go to Vienna.

If you're focused mostly on email, then make sure you have archived
newsletters online. Good for SEO, another point of engagement, and conversion
source.

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mewmoo
yes

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JacobAldridge
And the constructive feedback begins.
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4894990>

