Thursday, March 28, 2024

How We Used Hip Camp to Make Cash from Our Non-public Land


This publish could include affiliate hyperlinks. See our affiliate disclaimer right here.

Final week we “opened” our campground property to visitors utilizing Hipcamp—regardless that we haven’t constructed out RV pads but!

Since we’ve shared our campground dream, many individuals have emailed us to share that they’ve the same dream. And fairly a couple of individuals have stated “I’ve ## acres and would love to only invite individuals to camp on my property. How can I do this?”

I’ve at all times replied with the hyperlink to join Hipcamp.

Hipcamp is a web site that enables non-public landowners (or wannabe campground builders) to earn money by charging nightly charges for campers. When somebody’s planning their subsequent tenting journey and need to keep on non-public land (versus the principles that include free public land), they will keep in your property. It’s kinda like Airbnb for tenting. Plus it’s approach much less concerned than a full-on campground or short-term rental as a result of nobody expects hook ups or dump stations or canine parks or playgrounds or paved roads.

(Which is sweet as a result of we don’t have any of these issues.)

Persons are merely searching for an out of doors expertise. Plus they’re usually searching for tenting close to nationwide parks which will be exhausting to return by! We’re solely about 20 minutes from Black Canyon of the Gunnison Nationwide Park right here in Colorado.

Since we aren’t a full-functioning RV park but, we determined Hipcamp was the right place to listing our property to open up boondocking for campers by way of the remainder of 2021.

We arrange our itemizing final Tuesday and shared the hyperlink with you all. Bookings began rolling in however we shortly seen one thing…

Solely about half of the bookings have been from individuals on our e-mail listing.

The remainder have been from campers looking the Hipcamp web site simply searching for a campsite out right here on the western slope of Colorado.

And we have been like…

A bit bit shocked.

A bit bit nervous.

A bit bit like hey…this campground factor may really work out. 🤯🥳

(Heath already requested me if we actually wanted to take the money and time to construct out RV pads as a result of organising our Hipcamp itemizing was really easy. Sure, Heath. Sure we do.)

This previous week of bringing in our first visitors, getting paid (funds are direct deposited each Tuesday and we made precisely $22.50 for our first campers however IT FEELS GOOD), and determining easy methods to run a boondocking campground taught us a couple of issues.

1. Selecting the best platform for constructing your enterprise issues.

Discover the platform that has the most effective performance to make your enterprise run seamlessly. It’s the identical purpose we give the recommendation to promote a guide on Amazon versus in your web site. Hipcamp makes it ridiculously straightforward to arrange your profile and we have been up in operating in a day.

2. Go the place prospects are prepared to purchase. 

Hipcamp has been round for lengthy sufficient to have a terrific repute amongst campers and a rising buyer base. Heath and I each anxious that nobody apart from individuals who double faucet our Instagram photographs would ever select to camp with us. Strangers reserving our campsite is unbelievably encouraging and thrilling. They’re rising in reputation, making it a no brainer to listing the place campers are actively searching for websites.

3. Automation makes all the pieces simpler.

We are able to settle for reservations, ship automated check-in messages, and tackle questions all from our telephones. Very useful whenever you spend most of your day enjoying with a one-year-old.

4. Be okay with model 1. 

Heath and I went forwards and backwards a LOT on if we needed to confide in campers in 2021.

It often went one thing like this:

“We aren’t prepared. What if somebody drives over the leach subject and sinks and needs to be towed out? We haven’t even discovered the place to order commercial-size bathroom paper but! We haven’t furnished our 4,000 sq. ft schoolhouse but. We have to purchase a washer-dryer set earlier than anybody camps!!” 😬

“Now we have a totally renovated schoolhouse that’s prepared to be used. Now we have big shade timber and a leveled, gravel space for RVs. No different boondocking websites have showers and fiber web and a kitchen so I don’t suppose individuals shall be mad about our lack of a washer. Persons are emailing us asking each week if they will boondock. Why not open up?” 🤷🏻‍♀️

After a stable month of forwards and backwards, we’re each feeling good about our resolution—regardless that it means giving individuals an up-close and private take a look at our messy model considered one of a campground.

Me: I’m so excited to open up our property to campers!
Additionally me: Why are there 4 totally different colours of gravel? This can be a catastrophe!!!!!

Sure, there’s some buyer help and we put in coded locks so individuals can entry our constructing and loos. However nobody has complained as soon as about our messy model one and we’re persevering with to see extra reservations (and extra money) are available in.

5. Most of all, it was a very good reminder that taking motion is at all times scary and at all times value it—whether or not it’s beginning a brand new enterprise, shopping for an RV, promoting a home, or simply inviting somebody to camp beneath your timber.

We nonetheless have a protracted strategy to go. Thanks for sharing this journey with us ❤️🏕

You may uncover and guide websites in your subsequent tenting journey on Hipcamp 🙂


Be aware: We’re on no account affiliated with Hipcamp, though I’m biased that the founder Alyssa Ravasio and I share the identical first identify. It immediately made me like Hipcamp extra. But it surely additionally a very nice strategy to earn money together with your property and based mostly on our expertise, we’d extremely suggest it!



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