Over the years, I’ve had conversations with plenty of extremely chatty travel agents. They’re boisterous, they’re flat-out funny, they light up a room. But when I go check out their websites—I can’t believe they were written by the same person! Their website copy sounds stilted and dry. It sounds like they were so concerned with coming across as “professional” that they tipped the scales over into “boring” territory. In short, their websites have NO personality. It sounds like a robot wrote them! Not only is a robotic, personality-devoid website a … read more
What to Do If You Feel Like You’ve Picked the Wrong Travel Niche
“What’s your niche?” It’s the hot new question to ask in the travel agent community. Actually, scratch that—the topic of niching has been popular for a while now! And I’m a big fan of honing in on a niche or specialty. Speaking to a specific group of travelers through your marketing is much more effective than trying to market to everyone. But niching comes with a downside. I’ve talked with travel pros who go all in on a niche—and then really struggle to attract any clients in that niche. I’m talking about … read more
Is Your Website Boring Your Visitors? Ask These 3 Questions to Find Out
Lots of travel agents have websites today. That wasn’t true two decades ago, when many agents were still relying on foot traffic to their brick and mortar agencies. And it wasn’t true a decade ago, when travel agents could put up a Facebook page and spend just pennies on the dollar to get more followers. Today, though, brick and mortars are few and far between. And promoting solely on Facebook? That’s gotten EXPENSIVE (and risky—who’s to say what the next algorithm change will bring?). So, yep, today, many—if not most—travel … read more
How to Sell With Story in Your Travel Business
Have you ever met a celebrity? Did your hands go all sweaty, your tongue twist up into a pretzel, your eyes glaze over like a Krispy Kreme donut? Recently, I did (and yes, I probably looked a little crazed when I met him). Well—I met a copywriting celebrity. Which means you’ve probably never heard of him 🙂 His name is Parris Lampropoulos, and he is a VERY big deal in the copywriting world. He’s made his clients millions (upon millions, upon millions) of dollars. And earlier this year, at a copy conference … read more
What Makes a Travel Brand Magnetic [CASE STUDY]
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
