December’s here! December’s here! I don’t know about you, but pretty much for this entire month all I want to do is check out and stuff my face with every kind of cookie imaginable, washed down with eggnog. … But that wouldn’t be very smart of me. Because December is the month of opportunity for small business owners. Yes, even service-based business owners like travel agents. The spirit of giving is in the air — and there’s no reason why you can’t get in on that jolly giving and gifting … read more
The Top Travel Agent Marketing Tools (5 Are Free!)
As a travel entrepreneur, you wear a lot of hats — and CMO (that’s Chief Marketing Officer) is one of them. It takes time (and passion!) to market your travel business effectively. Luckily, there are TONS of tools out there aiming to make the marketing process easier for entrepreneurs. Without further ado, here are 7 of my favorite travel agent marketing tools — and you don’t have to spend a penny on some of them!: My Top 7 Travel Agent Marketing Tools to Help Build Your Travel Business 1. Help A … read more
The 18 Words You Should Use to Snag More Family Travel Clients
Let’s say you’re a family travel specialist who plans fun family vacations for stressed out parents that create lasting family memories. Sounds like an awesome niche! The only problem? If you were to use that in your marketing copy, you’d sound like every other family travel specialist out there. How to Get Family Travel Clients: Look Beyond the Copy Clichés “Fun” family vacations is a bit of a cliché. So how can you make your copy more exciting? I recommend leafing through magazines that your target market subscribes to and … read more
Follow the “T”-Shape to Develop Your Travel Agent Expertise
Want to know my favorite letter? It’s “T.” Why? I think it’s the best answer to the question of how to become a travel agent. Because it’s the secret to mastering the whole “ become an expert” thing without wanting to pull your hair out. You may have heard of the “T” strategy before. It refers to the “shape” your expertise should take. Ideally, your knowledge of your industry should be “T”-shaped — you should have a broad, general knowledge about your industry as a whole (that’s the horizontal bar … read more
Travel Agent Tips: 7 Marketing Stats Every Travel Agent Should Know
I’m a words gal, but I know it’s sometimes useful to consider the numbers. Looking at marketing statistics helps us understand what’s working and what’s not for other marketers. That’s why I found 7 marketing statistics that I think apply to travel agents — if you’re a solo-preneur or the head of your agency, then it’s your job to be on top of marketing trends and numbers, too. These 7 travel agent tips and marketing stats will help you decide where to focus your marketing efforts and, hopefully, inspire you … read more
Email Marketing for Travel Agents: The Essential Follow-Up Campaign
You want to grow your travel business. To do that, you need more clients. To get more clients, you need more leads. To get more leads, you need to master email marketing for travel agents! The first step to attracting more qualified leads (you know, the kinds of leads who can become DREAM clients, with a generous budget) is creating an enticing lead magnet, otherwise known as an opt-in offer or IFO. Essentially, a lead magnet is a free piece of content you create, like a free guide, that you … read more
Get Your Travel Business Free Press with This Tool
Have you heard of HARO? It stands for Help A Report Out … but really, it’s an amazing way to help out your travel business PR. I recently signed up myself to see how it works. Basically, you receive three emails per day from HARO, filled with requests from reporters at all kinds of publications, both print and digital. The reporters share a short paragraph about what they’re looking for and from whom, and then you can email them to respond. If they think you’re a good fit and they like what … read more
How to Market Your Travel Business: Build Your List of Leads
Want to know how to market your travel business? Well, it all starts with having people to market to. That’s why you have to build your list. And one of the BEST ways to do that is with something called a lead magnet. I’m talking about the list-building tool that also moonlights as a few other names: opt-in offer, freebie, irresistible free offer (IFO) … Basically, it’s some sort of content (like a guide) that you put together and then offer for free to your prospects, in exchange for their email … read more
Travel Agent Marketing 102: The Thank You Page
Do you have a juicy lead magnet (also called an IFO or opt-in offer) that you use to add email subscribers to your e-newsletter list? Yes? Awesome! Then there’s an easy way you can upgrade the sign up experience for your travel prospects. When a prospect puts their name and email address into that box and hits enter, the next thing they see is your thank you page. Normally, it says something like: “Thank you for signing up! Check your email for my free guide.” — or something along those … read more
How to Become a Travel Agent: The REAL Start-Up Costs
So you want to be a travel agent. It sounds like a total dream job, right? And you’ve heard that all you need is a laptop, a love of travel, and passion to get started! Well … not so fast. It’s true that becoming a travel agent has a fairly low barrier to entry. You don’t need a special degree, and yes, you can work from home in your slippers 😉 But that doesn’t mean becoming a travel agent doesn’t require an investment, both in terms of your time and … read more
