The Cottage Cooperative - Marketing Cooperative

Services offered by owners that are relevant to the business of rentals.
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Nemo
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Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:15 am
Location: Norfolk

Post by Nemo »

Reposted here from another thread just to keep it all in one place. The other thread was about lisitng sites in general and can be found here: viewtopic.php?t=23090
russellt wrote:New member, so be gentle pls.

Have any of you signed up for Cottage Cooperative, and if so what has your experience been?

I signed up for a 5 site package about 10 months ago and joined their Twitter feed. So am coming up for renewal, and am really unsure about it. I originally signed-up because I thought the concept was really powerful, and I told the owners that I was excited to be part of this new concept. I genuinely believe it has real potential.

However, it really hasn’t lived up to expectations in this first year. My 5 sites have had about 1000 hits in 10 months = average 20 hits per site per month and, as far as I can tell, none of my enquiries/bookings last year referred to CC as the original source. This is not a great performance, in my book.

Leaving aside the enquiry-generating performance of CC, as it is their first year, am I missing the point or am I not properly hooked in to the ‘cooperative’ aspect of the service? I emailed CC with a few simple ideas as to how they could make their websites more attractive/user-friendly for both owners and visitors, but really didn’t get much buy-in or even discussion/debate around the ideas.

So what is the ‘cooperative’ aspect of CC, beyond their Twitter feed? Have I missed something, or is it just another listings service?

Opinions please.
Riverside wrote:Hi, I hope I can answer a few of your questions (I'm one of the founding members of The Cottage Cooperative). Because we're not interested in taking a commission or an enquiry system, we're just about getting guests onto the owners websites we've had this question a few times with renewals (which are otherwise going well). Once the potential guest is on your website they don't always declare where they 'came from' if they book, which to be fair I'm not sure I always would remember if I was just searching around the internet and followed a link.

I also advertise on Owners Direct, my Cottage Cooperative listings generate the same kind of page views as OD does (a little more actually) which I'm really pleased with given how long we've been going. I track all the click throughs via google analytics and I am pleased with how they're performing for me personally. Performance aside, I'm concerned about your feeling on how we've answered your suggestions. We're all owners ourselves and we're more than happy to discuss potential improvements (in fact we actively encourage it, I'm determined to improve the sites as much as I can), perhaps you could drop me a direct message and we can continue the discussion there. Sometimes it does come down to available resources - there's a ton of things I would love to develop, but they're on a waiting list, as it were! In addition to our newsletters perhaps member engagement is an area we need to develop also.

The cooperative aspect of the service relates to our structure (set up with the help of Co-operatives UK - who we are a member of) and that membership funds are ploughed back into marketing and development as much as humanly possible after costs. We're really feeling this backlash of the bigger sites from an awful lot of members and it just motivates us more to really take them on.
russellt
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Location: Ivybridge, Devon, UK
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Post by russellt »

Thanks for the responses:

Nemo: sorry about posting in the wrong place. I was trying to engender debate about the nature of 'cooperation' rather than a pros & cons analysis of CC. Am happy that the discussion has been moved.

Riverside: I'll PM you. Again, it's not a specific criticism. I'm sure there are lots of ideas. I just want to understand how the 'cooperative' nature of CC is meant to work. I can now see that the other discussion may be a better place to continue the discussion. I think member engagement would be an extremely good idea - perhaps here on LMH?

Greenbarn: Agree about statistic/analysis. I take most of my enquiries from a form on my website. It has a dropdown which specifically asks where the enquirer first saw my cottage. Not 100%, but pretty good info on firm enquiries, but not casual hits.
Web: https://yofftoo.com/property/esmes-cottage
Twitter/Facebook/Instagram: @esmescottage
baringa
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Location: Lot, SW France
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Post by baringa »

Great initiative! Let me know if you move into France? Or are there others out there who might like to do something here on similar lines?
newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

russellt wrote: Greenbarn: Agree about statistic/analysis. I take most of my enquiries from a form on my website. It has a dropdown which specifically asks where the enquirer first saw my cottage. Not 100%, but pretty good info on firm enquiries, but not casual hits.
I also ask when people book how they found us. It's accuracy is about 50% I think. Numerous people having completed an OD enquiry form, then when it comes to book, say they found us by HL because they advertise so much. Most people cannot remember the smaller sites, unless they are very loyal to them, and just say "search engine"
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apexblue
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Post by apexblue »

Any update for those that joined this site?
It is better to remain quiet and have one think you are stupid, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt....

The biggest mistake we make in life is thinking we have time.
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Wonkeye
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Post by Wonkeye »

Via statcounter I can see back as far as 3 March and we haven't had any click-throughs at all in that period.
waterwitch
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Post by waterwitch »

I'm just about to sign up and give it a go - will let you know how we get on.
Sheffield89
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Post by Sheffield89 »

Waterwitch, just wondering how you have got on with the Cottage Cooperative? I like the idea, and am wondering about signing up.

Many thanks
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Cymraes
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Location: North Wales

Post by Cymraes »

Has anyone had any success with this site? I'm tempted but it doesn't seem easy to find the sites on a google search.
newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

Nice site but didn't work for us. It doesn't appear on page 1 of search engines so no-one knows about it.
salmoncottage
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Post by salmoncottage »

Damp squib for us unfortunately
'Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside'
russellt
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Location: Ivybridge, Devon, UK
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Not renewing Cottage Cooperative

Post by russellt »

I decided today not to renew after 2 years subscriptions.

The website hit stats were not great, and none of my guests ever mentioned the sites on my enquiry forms or feedback forms.

However, the real reason for not renewing is that I was originally seduced by the thought of a 'cooperation' between the site and us owners. However, the nature of cooperation seemed to end when the subs got paid.

Oh well. Nothing ventured........
Web: https://yofftoo.com/property/esmes-cottage
Twitter/Facebook/Instagram: @esmescottage
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Cymraes
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Post by Cymraes »

Well I emailed the owner with a few questions about what sort of traffic went through the sites I'd be interested in and didn't even get a reply so I won't be taking it further.

Shame as it's a nice idea and we need a good high profile alternative to OD etc.
Riverside
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Post by Riverside »

Cymraes wrote:Well I emailed the owner with a few questions about what sort of traffic went through the sites I'd be interested in and didn't even get a reply so I won't be taking it further.

Shame as it's a nice idea and we need a good high profile alternative to OD etc.
Hi, I'm sorry for the late reply but I've only just seen this comment. Very sorry if an email was missed, did you contact one of us directly or can you remember if you completed an enquiry form on the site? If you DM me I'd be more than happy to help.
Riverside
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Re: Not renewing Cottage Cooperative

Post by Riverside »

russellt wrote:I decided today not to renew after 2 years subscriptions.

The website hit stats were not great, and none of my guests ever mentioned the sites on my enquiry forms or feedback forms.

However, the real reason for not renewing is that I was originally seduced by the thought of a 'cooperation' between the site and us owners. However, the nature of cooperation seemed to end when the subs got paid.

Oh well. Nothing ventured........
Hi, I was sorry to read this and wondered if you had been receiving our newsletters and social media information? We try and involve members and would very much appreciate help but it seem difficult to get people involved.
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