A better way of doing things

Learning from the way Mountain Journeys' Mark Eddy has grown his business over the last decade or so. (Mountain Journey Part II)

Adventure Collective

and

Paul Griffith

Apr 21, 2023

Name: Mark Eddy

Business: Mountain Journeys - family adventure days, guided walking, navigation workshops, rock climbing, rock scrambling, gorge scrambling, abseiling, canyoning

Location: Lake District (UK) & Costa Blanca (Spain)

Key takeaways:

Communicate what sort of experience people can expect - and then deliver on the promise
Package your activities clearly to make it easier for people to buy
Do the work to get noticed

Delivering a great experience

When looking to see how someone has made a good living from their outdoor passions, it’s sometimes easy to gloss over the fundamentals. It may sound trite, but the key really is to be clear what you are promising and then deliver on that. In Mountain Journeys’ case, where the audience is families, friends and couples, the promise is of an enjoyable, memorable adventure day. Clarity came to Mark in the early days, when he was seeing large groups of mainly youngsters given very matter-of-fact and even negative experiences.

“I thought there’s got to be a better way of doing this. I wanted to do something that was fun, adventurous and challenging. But I wanted to do it with a different audience where there would be fewer people coming through the door and I could spend more time with them. That’s why we started with families coming on holiday to the Lakes.”

And as we’ve said elsewhere, the evidence from client testimonials suggests that Mountain Journeys experiences are both memorable and personable.

In a competitive world, what else has Mark done to ensure a steady stream of work, often with clients returning time and again?

Simplifying what’s on offer

We’ll come on to the more obviously “marketingy” things he does, but we want to start with the way Mountain Journeys makes it easy for people to see what they can do. The packaging of possible days out is done clearly and communicated in a way that people going on holiday will be used to from browsing the internet. A grid of photos with very short descriptors lets website visitors see with a quick glance the sort of experiences on offer. Only when their attention is grabbed, and with just one click, are more words used to describe the days. And large buttons, both before and as you scroll, let you book an activity with just one more click. This is good packaging and good communication and a good demonstration of understanding the world through your audience’s eyes.

Letting people know Mountain Journeys is an option

The other thing that stands out from speaking to Mark is that he hasn’t sat back expecting people to come to him. He’s done the work to get noticed. And he hasn’t stopped at doing just one type of “marketing” activity, he uses a good mix and is always trying new ideas.

Online seems to be the main source of work. Mark doesn’t just rely on having a website, he also works to make sure people can find it:

“There has been word of mouth, but typically a lot of people find me online. I’m also on places like the Visit Lake District and Visit Cumbria websites. And I don’t know where the idea came from, but I set up a specialist site for people wanting to climb Scafell and that has sent me lots of customers. Google Ads have also worked for me in the past.”

What’s important, though, is the work Mark puts in to making sure these sources work. If they don’t he’ll follow up to make sure the links to Mountain Journeys are getting noticed. And like many using Google Ads, he’s aware you have to stay on top of what you are paying for – especially when you redesign your website.

Becoming an author

One source of work helps Mark stand out. His multi-activity guide book to adventure in Spain’s Costa Blanca. So how did this come about?

“It started when we were out for dinner with old friends in Spain. I was having a bit of a grumble. I was looking for info on a canyon or a via ferrata or something and it was hard to find any. My friend interrupted my whinge and said ‘Why don’t you write a book about it’ and that was that!”

What followed is not your typical story. On the upside, Mark’s proposal was met with enthusiasm by his publishers-to-be, the adventure guidebook specialists Cicerone Press. On the downside the Coronavirus pandemic added considerable delays. The book has been out a few months now and he’s already getting clientele from it.

What we like is that Mark hasn’t rested on his laurels. The book is great for raising his profile and demonstrating his credibility. Beyond that, Mark stays active on climbing forums and if people are heading to Costa Blanca and looking for information he’ll almost always chip in with some help.

In summary - Earning a living

We love how Mark has found a way of doing what he likes outdoors in a way that not only earns him a living but has also grown his reputation to the extent that he’s now written the book on (one of) his favourite areas.

Hopefully we’ve also conveyed three of the businessy things he’s done to achieve this:

“Positioning”. Being able to communicate what sort of experience people can expect with Mountain Journeys and then consistently delivering on the promise is the foundation of Mark’s focus and success. It makes everything else you have to do to promote your business simpler and allows you to enjoy what you are doing more.
“Packaging”. Finding a way of making it easy for people to understand what you offer and then give it a go is vital. When you are an expert at what you do, it can sometimes be really difficult to think like your customers and make life simple for them.
“Promotion”. There is never just one right way to do let people know you exist. As we are seeing from talking to a number of adventure guides and coaches, different things work for different people. What is right is to be looking for new ways of communicating and checking to make sure they are working.

It’s almost like Mark’s read the book on marketing an adventure business!

Thanks once again to Mark for taking the time out of his busy schedule to talk to us. We hope you’ve enjoyed and learned from reading about Mark and his adventure business. Please do subscribe (for free!) in the box below to get future stories from those who work in the field of adventure guiding and coaching.

And if you like this sort of thing enough to suggest it to a friend, we’d be especially chuffed if you could press the share button just here:

Here’s a recap of our discussions with Mark:

1. Balancing business and a life outdoors

Introducing Mark Eddy: a master of working enough on his business to make it a success without killing the enjoyment of the life outdoors that energises him.

2. A better way of doing things (this article)

Learning from the way Mark has grown his business over the last decade or so.

3. Three wishes (coming soon)

What we can learn from Mark’s three wishes.

The Business of Adventure

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