How to set up a free website... kind of!

jexygirl

I will do my utmost to be brief. Never easy for me - and I hope that someone clever will actually take this idea up!

Whilst I know this is not groundbreaking, nor original, I have spent hours on google and come up with one real hit, that is doing this SO badly in my opinion, (and seems to be 3 years in with no real progress) and charging people to join!
The basic Idea would be to set up a database /website of pubs that have carparks and are happy for motorhomes to overnight park, in return perhaps patronise for a meal or even a few drinks.
I have a large flat, lochside carpark, stunning locational views, that although it does fill up, is rarely full to capacity. So what I was looking for, was a site I could register on to say "hey you know what, come sleep in my idyllic loch side carpark for free!"

Now on googling it, as I said, there is one site, that charges motorhome owners to join, and from related forum posts dating back to 2008, it wasn't really a goer as people asked why they should pay to join it, and also comments that there were, even now, few pubs on it (and only 10 in the whole of Scotland!).

I realise that there are costs involved with hosting and upkeep, however, perhaps long term, if it became popular, investigating a few related camping / caravanning magazines or related parts and accessory store links it could pay for itself, but at present, all I wanted to do was put my carpark out there and I cant!

Not being interwebs savvy / minimally computer literate, how would you go about setting up such a site? As in, would you have to mail every pub in the country to let them know about the site and benefits to them, then get them to register details so you have a database of pubs that are happy and what they do or dont do first, and then somehow publicise the site - again how!!! to users. I figure if its free to register, the pubs arent wasting time if it takes a while for the site to take off, it isnt like they lost anything, or spent anything and they could only potentially gain.

How do you even start something like that!

This is not something I want to do to make direct profit from a site, as in I dont want to charge membership etc, it needs to be free, (in fact I dont want to really do it myself at all! I just wanted to register on one!) but if by offering a bit of flat concrete / tarmac, free of charge overnight, with great views, I get 3 or 4 extra customers a couple of times a week, that cost me nothing, why would I not do it? And surely I am not alone in that thought!
There could also be an option for a limited amount, per night, pre booked spots or something, so that my carpark and others dont turn into camp sites with nowhere for anyone else to park!

I realise there are some pub carparks you just wouldnt want to stay overnight in, so maybe landlords could / should submit a picture of it or something, or does that complicate it more? And one of those clever clicky map things too, so you can click an area and instantly see where you can overnight stay for free or in return for a beer or two and plan a route easily. I figure you would need to ask some basic questions on the pub registering such as food type and price, real ales served etc. and any facilities offered.

So can someone clever please make one, and then tell me where to go to register!!!

Then, when I get my B&B bus in 100 years time, I will also have a list of places to tour to

pitkin2020

I'll make you one but it'll cost you £100 to register lol.

It is a good idea and you could do it for free or very nearly free if you did it a forum format, the problem though is you would need to put huge amounts of time into promoting it. You would have two audiences you need to get on board, the landlords and the campers. Without the landlords the campers won't stay and without the campers the landlords won't bother. If you ran it as a forum it could effectively run itself once it got going.

The idea would need tweaking though to ensure its beneficial for the landlord or he/she may just end up with a load of campers in his/her carpark and they aren't spending a dime in the pub. Also whilst I expect there are a lot of pubs with carparks that have nice views etc I suspect there are far more that don't so it could be very limited from that point of view.

texranger

jexygirl wrote: »

I will do my utmost to be brief. Never easy for me - and I hope that someone clever will actually take this idea up!

Whilst I know this is not groundbreaking, nor original, I have spent hours on google and come up with one real hit, that is doing this SO badly in my opinion, (and seems to be 3 years in with no real progress) and charging people to join!
The basic Idea would be to set up a database /website of pubs that have carparks and are happy for motorhomes to overnight park, in return perhaps patronise for a meal or even a few drinks.
I have a large flat, lochside carpark, stunning locational views, that although it does fill up, is rarely full to capacity. So what I was looking for, was a site I could register on to say "hey you know what, come sleep in my idyllic loch side carpark for free!"

Now on googling it, as I said, there is one site, that charges motorhome owners to join, and from related forum posts dating back to 2008, it wasn't really a goer as people asked why they should pay to join it, and also comments that there were, even now, few pubs on it (and only 10 in the whole of Scotland!).

I realise that there are costs involved with hosting and upkeep, however, perhaps long term, if it became popular, investigating a few related camping / caravanning magazines or related parts and accessory store links it could pay for itself, but at present, all I wanted to do was put my carpark out there and I cant!

Not being interwebs savvy / minimally computer literate, how would you go about setting up such a site? As in, would you have to mail every pub in the country to let them know about the site and benefits to them, then get them to register details so you have a database of pubs that are happy and what they do or dont do first, and then somehow publicise the site - again how!!! to users. I figure if its free to register, the pubs arent wasting time if it takes a while for the site to take off, it isnt like they lost anything, or spent anything and they could only potentially gain.

How do you even start something like that!

This is not something I want to do to make direct profit from a site, as in I dont want to charge membership etc, it needs to be free, (in fact I dont want to really do it myself at all! I just wanted to register on one!) but if by offering a bit of flat concrete / tarmac, free of charge overnight, with great views, I get 3 or 4 extra customers a couple of times a week, that cost me nothing, why would I not do it? And surely I am not alone in that thought!
There could also be an option for a limited amount, per night, pre booked spots or something, so that my carpark and others dont turn into camp sites with nowhere for anyone else to park!

I realise there are some pub carparks you just wouldnt want to stay overnight in, so maybe landlords could / should submit a picture of it or something, or does that complicate it more? And one of those clever clicky map things too, so you can click an area and instantly see where you can overnight stay for free or in return for a beer or two and plan a route easily. I figure you would need to ask some basic questions on the pub registering such as food type and price, real ales served etc. and any facilities offered.

So can someone clever please make one, and then tell me where to go to register!!!

Then, when I get my B&B bus in 100 years time, I will also have a list of places to tour to

ask here http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=142 this is full of designers who could help

steve1980

Sent you a pm.

Savvy_Sue

Just wondering if you need to register with the local authority as a camp site of some description if you do this? Or do it more than x nights per year etc ...

paddyrg

Nice idea, don't know if the market is worth the grief of setting it up and advertising it, but technology-wise it is a simple install of 'drupal' with a few days of configuration.

jexygirl

Pitkin (I am from an era that always wants to call you pipkins!)Thanks for the offer, I will think about it meanwhile, I have seen 2 forums and they dont have easy to use lists, its people posting "I stayedherelastnightlandlordwasgoodandsowasfood" and it was totally disorganised posts, not county or area listed, just people commenting on a forum about a place so there were pages of these type of posts with no structure or useability. I agree the idea needs alot of tweaking (and someone to actually do it lol!)
As for not wanting to be a campsite, I would allocate limited spots that must be pre booked, not a turn up and park scenario.
I also know what you mean about not having great views or whatever, but there may be a pub that has a small carpark city centre or who might be in a touristy area but a little off the beaten track, say down a side street, who might accept parking overnight in return for a little custom. My previous pub was 3 mins walk from the riverside of the norfolk broads, yet we were not riverside or even river view, and seconds off a through route with access to so many great tourist spots within 30 mins drive including norwich, and there were regular busses stopping right outside - so we may not have had a "view" but we had a very good base location - I even looked into camping and we had loads of tents for a beer festival we started - so although most wouldnt necessarily be lucky enough to have my current view, many campsites charge 15 - 20 quid a night, more if you want to hook up, so to me, I would rather spend that on beer and food, in the pub, and park for free IYSWIM.
I have viewed hundreds of pubs over the years whilst looking to buy, and an honest estimation (bearing in mind we particularly wanted water side) that around 80% had large carparks and good views. I do appreciate some are city centre, however, also a selling point, stay centrally to all amenities on offer for free, in return for having a beer or a meal in the pub as a sign of appreciation.

Thanks for PM steve, I have replied

Tex, thank you for the link i was kicking about how as well as who so thats great!

Sue I found a site that was about "legal camping" as in council carparks etc, that was full of H&S blurb and costs etc. But as far as I can see, sleeping in your car in my carpark is ok - and i am covered by public liability insurance for my carpark, and as i would not offer any hook ups or services, I cannot be held responsible, as in, you park in my carpark at your own risk type thing. The site with all the listed public or council owned carparks was even more atrocious than the one that lists (or doesnt !) the ones with pub carparks and the council ones charged!
Since i dont intend to build a shower block, or give access to any sort of facilities, its a little like parking in a layby or wild camping from what I can gather - I have a carpark, you have a motorhome, lets put the two together for our mutual benefit type thing! You dont need to be registered with anyone afaik or can see, since I would not be offering more than a carpark space.
thanks for all the suggestions and input so far, it is appreciated
Jex

ETA - Paddy see! What the ... is drupal??? I really dont have a clue about how to do something like this, I just want to register my place on it!!!! Is this how facebook or trip advisor started lol! I will ofc credit you all when it turns out to be better than sliced HOMEMADE bread

pitkin2020

you want something like this http://campinmygarden.com/ but this is for people look to camp near festivals you need park-your-motorhomeat-my-pub.com lol but something more catchy. You could make it very simple to start with just basically a directory of pubs by area, the facilities they offer and number of spaces available. If you got some of the chain pubs on board they could do your advertising to the landlords for you!!

I can't see you making any money to begin with as you would want to keep it free so pubs register and motorhome users register, although if the site looked good you could sponsorship from pubs who are maybe holding a beer festival and want a banner etc, in addition to their free listing.

Food for thought

Just found this aswell http://www.thegoodpubguide.co.uk/FEATURES/Waterside-Pubs not exact but along similar lines, you could also get the good pub guide onboard aswell!!

jexygirl

Pipkin you are a genious! http://campinmygarden.com/ is exactly what i mean without the cost to join and the obvious thing that I want pubs to list their carparks, not people to list their gardens! It even has that clicky map thing aaaannddd.. it lists events too - even more GENIOUS! I really dont want it as a buisness / profit making /didnt want to do it for any reason other than I wanted to register with one, thinking there would be one and there really isnt! So, it is potentially a gap in the market, but also a way to help people in my situation to utilise freely available resources to their advantage, especially in the current climate, 8-10 extra bums on seats a couple of times a week all adds up - however, thinking more into it, it would have potential to grow and incorporate advertisers to eventually pay for itself, and potentially even make a few quid - you never know!
Sooo with your interwebs skills and my erm... lets talk about what I could bring to the table another time, once I think of something lol - lets do it! Where do I sign?

steve1980

Parkatmypub.co.uk

pitkin2020

campinmygarden would be a good model to work from TBH and work it to meet your needs, its not that new of a website but I have been hearing of it more and more of late and it seems to be building a good momentum.

I do think before you go ploughing cash into the idea you try and get more pubs on board, present your idea to some landlords you know that have the space and see what their feedback is. You would also have to be 100% sure what if any restrictions the council would impose, ot just for your area but as a UK wide policy so you can offer the advice to landlords if they have any queries. (that make sense)