I’ve written quite a bit about the importance of nailing your travel agency brand personality. Your brand personality helps you stand out. It helps you attract your DREAM clients. It’s what makes you memorable. Unforgettable. But was does a travel brand bursting with personality actually look like? Today, I want to introduce you to a travel brand that’s totally killing it on the brand personality front. Introducing: Virgin Voyages. Virgin Voyages is eccentric billionaire Richard Branson’s newest venture, a cruise line for travelers who are too cool for “traditional” cruises. From its brand … read more
The Grade School Rule You Should Follow to Market Your Travel Business
Show, don’t tell. It’s advice you’ve heard before—probably from your elementary school English teacher!—but we could all use a reminder now and then. Especially because I still see a lot of “telling” on travel agent websites. So what’s the difference between “show” and “tell”? The Difference “Showing” Vs. “Telling” Makes to Your Travel Agency Marketing Another way to think about “showing” is: sharing the proof. I’ll give you an example. Lots of travel agents’ about pages or bios share a line like this: “I’ve always been passionate about travel.” Hm, okay. … read more
The 1 Big Difference Between Travel Agents and Travel *Experts*
Yesterday afternoon I was busy investing in my professional development … Okay, you caught me. I was lying on my couch eating Cheetos. But! I was listening to my favorite copywriting podcast. And the guest they had on that day said something really interesting about building authority. When I heard it, I immediately made a mental note to share it with my travel agent readers (had to be a mental note, and not a note-note, because my fingers were still covered in Cheeto dust). Here’s the point the guest, a … read more
The 3 Best Podcasts for Travel Agents
Have you jumped on the travel agent podcast bandwagon yet? In a lot of ways, I think travel agents are spoiled for business resources—from in-depth blog posts and trade journals to certification courses and coaching. (In fact, there are so many resources out there, you can quickly get overwhelmed if you try to consume it all!). But one thing I haven’t seen much of are bite-sized tips and tricks for travel pros … especially from other agents who have been in the trenches. That’s why I’m SO excited about the … read more
3 Big Content Marketing Trends for Travel Agents
Today, I’m dusting off my crystal ball and asking it a very important question: What’s the next big thing in travel agent marketing? Well, my crystal ball was kind enough to give me not one, but three answers to that question. So, here are my 3 biggest predictions around this year’s content marketing trends for travel pros (well, one’s less of a prediction and more of “I hope this changes this year!”). Check ’em out below—and let me know if your crystal ball shows things playing out differently! 1. Connecting via video: … read more
3 Tips for Charging Your Travel Agent Service Fee
There’s a debate that rages on in the travel agent community: whether or not to charge a service/planning fee. No, not a deposit. A non-refundable fee to compensate for the research, skill, and expertise that goes into planning travel. It’s probably not a surprise that I am Team Fee. But … I work with a lot of agents who still feel nervous about charging a service fee, or about introducing a new fee when they’ve been operating without one for a long time. If charging a service fee—and actually sticking … read more
Work Smarter in Your Travel Business with This Time Management Trick
Being a copywriter is a lot like being a travel agent. We’re both selling our expertise. More than that, though, we’re both selling our TIME. Once we max out on time, we max out on how many clients we can take on, and … we max out on how much money we can bring in. (It’s just too bad they haven’t invented a cloning machine for busy business owners yet, huh?). That’s why one of my BIG goals for this year is to get a whole lot better at time … read more
5 Reasons Why You’re Not Getting Leads From Your Travel Agent Website
In my last blog post, I revealed the biggest reason why most travel agents are not getting leads from their websites: They’re simply not sending enough traffic to their websites. Now maybe that’s not you. Or maybe, you took that message to heart and are planning out a traffic-building strategy for the rest of the year. Which means—now it’s time to make sure your website is ready to welcome your new visitors! Because it doesn’t matter how many folks actually land on your website if your copy is a total … read more
The Big Fat Travel Agent Website Lie
“If you build it, they will come.” ^^^That may work for Kevin Costner … but it doesn’t work for websites. Which, yeah, is a HUGE bummer! Because more and more, a personalized website is being sold as an absolute must for travel agents. Heck, I’ve said that too. A website is a must. The problem is that websites are all too often being sold as a cure-all. A silver-bullet solution to finding more travel clients. That’s a big fat lie. Here’s the truth: Your travel agent website isn’t magic. You’re not … read more
The Question Most Travel Agents Ask Themselves Before They Write Their IFOs—and Why It’s Wrong
Quick question: Do you have an IFO? Otherwise known as an opt-in offer, freebie, free download, etc, an IFO (which stands for irresistible free offer) is simply a piece of content you give away for free in exchange for someone’s email address. Then, you can add their email address to your list and start marketing to them! Your IFO may take the shape of a free pdf guide or report, or even a free video series you’ve recorded. Now I’ve come across a lot of IFOs from travel agents. Some good, and … read more
