You can listen directly here. 

Do you want to get yourself known, but not sure how to do it? Known as in, have media exposure that can help build your business?

If you want to build your personal and business profile, I have an absolute treat for you in this podcast episode! 

 

I firmly believe that you are already the expert in what you do as a travel professional. You know how to book travel, take care of your clients and you also want to build your travel business in a way that doesn’t suck up all your time. 

 

However, how can you build your profile, without spending hours posting on social media, when you don’t even know if people are looking at your content? You can’t afford to put an advertisement out telling people about your business and you don’t even know where to start if someone told you, you could get FREE publicity (without it being A Current Affair having a go at you at the moment.) You want the GOOD publicity right? 

 

But, how do you do this and where do you even start?

 

I have brought back our PR and Publicity Expert onto the podcast Christina Lenkowski. She is not only an expert on this topic, but she also ‘gets’ the industry. For years she has specialised in the tourism sector and she knows, lives and breathes who we are and what we do. 

 

I asked her to come onto the episode to discuss how right now, we can gain FREE publicity to an audience we WANT To talk to. The right clients for us and how we can start building our own email lists with clients who want to book with us in our area of expertise as we can travel again. 

 

Bring in Podcasting…  more specifically - being a Podcast Guest! 

 

She gives away Why we should be doing this, what sorts of podcasts we can get on and also some tips as to how we can connect with podcast hosts. 

 

If you want to become known, showcase your expertise and get FREE media exposure, make sure you listen to this episode and check out Christina and her awesome resources. 

 

Make sure you join our email list to get an EXCLUSIVE bonus just for Travel Agent Achievers listeners. You WANT this trust me! Sign up for this bonus HERE 

Show Transcription: 

 

Announcer: Welcome to travel agent achievers, the place to learn how to grow your travel business and have fun with it. Join Roslyn and her guest as they walk you through proven steps to a fulfilling and profitable business.

 

Ros: Hi, everybody. Welcome back to the Travel Agent Achievers podcast. It's Ros here, your host and today we have a very special friend of mine super guest because she is back for a second time. Christina Lenkowski, who is our publicity and PR expert. She's here to talk all things podcasting. Now you guys know that I love this platform. 

 

I love to be able to educate and help you and give you as much information and as many resources as I possibly can to help you move forward in your journey as a travel professional and in an industry even when times are tough. 

 

So today, Christina, who's been in the industry publicity and PR for the last 15 years, even though she doesn't look as though she should have been working. She's been in this game for a while. But not only that, but you guys know she is an industry expert and that is an industry of tourism and travel professionals. This has been her area of expertise. So she's the best person to really talk to you and to my Travel Agent Achievers community. Thanks so much for listening. Let's bring in Christina, welcome back to the travel agent, achiever podcast. 

 

Christina: Thank you Ros, I am so happy to be here to be in front of your audience, you're my favourite people on the planet. So I'm always jazzed when we get the opportunity to talk and then to have it recorded.

I'm very happy to be here. 

 

Ros: Thank you. 

Now today we're talking something a little bit different, and probably a little bit more niche. Because last time you're here, we're talking about how we could as travel professionals help destinations and get some publicity for them, but also for us as a travel professional. But today, we're really focusing on the travel agent, the travel counsellor, the travel manager so you as the listener here to get yourself publicity. I want my listeners to be the experts. I want them to understand that they have so much knowledge and they can build their business through publicity. Let's start right back at the beginning, give us a little bit of a background about yourself and then what is publicity? 

 

Christina: Yes, I'm gonna dive into what is publicity in a sec. I'll give a little very quick one minute about me and I'm just gonna chat a little bit here. But basically, for me my journey because I do think that's important for your audience who works in the travel industry to touch on it, but just be like, Oh, this chick actually does know this industry. I got started out in the PR world about 15 years ago. I always thought I would be a writer. 

When I was growing up, I was like, I'm gonna be the greatest journalist of all time and stuff. And my mom, who was the head of a big nonprofit would be like, No, I think you're gonna work in PR. I was like, Mom, you don't even get it. And then, turns out my first job after travelling all over the world for a couple years off after college was in PR. 

 

I found that it was this really great marriage of writing, which I love to do, but then being social. And so for me, PR has just been a really good marriage of those things. And since that first job, I've gone on to work in agencies. I've done my own private consulting for big brands, down to mom and pop, places. And the thing that I always really loved was working in travel and tourism. It was something that always really spoke to me, I guess you could say because I grew up in a region that is very well known for wine in Oregon. 

 

Willamette Valley of Oregon is where I grew up. As I was growing up, I saw how tourism affected where I grew up. The area that I grew up in, I saw how it brought money into the town, how it fixed things up in town. How we got ahead better opportunities just in general, because tourism was there and it was a part of our lives. So that's kind of what got me why I was so passionate about what got me there.

 

So a couple years ago, Ros and I met in 2018, at an entrepreneur experience, where we sat at the same table and just kind of hit it off from there, along with our good buddy Allison as well. 

At that point, we signed on to do a course and we're going to build our first course. So I did that and in early 2019, I launched my first course which was the media pitching for destinations masterclass which was aimed at those tourism destinations  to start doing their own PR. When it came to marketing it and promoting it, I did what we were told to do. 

 

Ros: So as part of the course you were told to do Facebook ads, right? and the thing is you've got a publicity background. You get publicity and PR for people and you were told to do ads, which is not totally you.

 

Christina: It's totally not me and I guess that's just what you do. I don't know, and this has nothing to do with the quality of what we were learning. It was just that at the time that was the way that they said to go about and do it. I guess that's what I should do or pay for ads. So I paid for ads and because I was so niche, it was hard to do. It was hard to bring people in through ads, because it was so specific what I did. So finally, I need to be doing and I need to be practising what I preach here. I need to start doing some publicity. So one of the things that I started doing was pitching myself to podcasts and that's when I really saw my business change. I really saw it and that's what I actually do now. 

 

I still have my tourism work that I do and I love it. My main goal that I'm focusing on right now is helping online entrepreneurs become the go to expert in their industry through guesting on podcasts. I see the potential and I've seen the shift in my business. This is a free way for you to get out in front of your ideal customers. 

 

Ros: So publicity is free?

 

Christina: Yes. So now I'm going to go into what is publicity. The reason I like to go into this is people just have so many different ideas. They think that it's just press releases or they think that it’s something only celebrities do or something that only people with big Rolodex make..

 

People think that and what publicity really is, it is a part of your marketing. So your marketing is broken into three pillars and that's earned, owned and paid. 

Paid is like those ads.

 

Ros: Facebook ads or advertising in a publication 

 

Christina: A 100%! Maybe you do an influencer campaign where money is exchanged and when a company will hire someone to promote their product. Like on their Instagram or something like that, then the money is exchanged in that regard. So that's a paid marketing campaign. 

 

Then there's owned, so owned is the stuff that you own. That's your social media channels, your website, your E newsletter, all the stuff that you have control over. You get to decide what goes on and what doesn't go on there, etc. 

 

Ros: Tell your own story.

 

Christina: Your own story. Exactly. To be fair, these are all very important parts. I focus on the third part, which a lot of times gets overlooked which is the Earned. The earned marketing is publicity. The stuff that you are getting coverage in a third party and it's not something that you own. No money is exchanged.

 

Ros: Like you being a guest here on the Travel Agent Achievers. This is earned marketing. So for all of our travel agents that are listening, if you are a guest on somebody else's podcast, and I had one of my students last week, Anette, talking about her story. So that's earned marketing and free publicity for her talking about what she does. 

 

So as a travel agent, this is a really good opportunity, because we are experts in our field, and not just as a travel agent, but we're experts in destinations, different styles of trips, working with different clients. So there is an opportunity for the industry to really get earned marketing or free publicity, because you're not paying for it and this is great. This is awesome. This is what we want, because we're not earning a million dollars. We need publicity nowadays. 

It's pretty scary, though, right? Why don't people go out and get publicity? 

 

Christina: Well, I think that there's kind of a two fold reason. One is that it's not a sure thing. When I go and pitch myself for a podcast or even for another kind of publicity opportunity. That doesn't always come through for me. I wish that everything I pitched happened. But unfortunately, that's not the way it works. Typically, because I do really good pitches.

 

When I send a pitch, I do a lot of research, I really think about it beforehand. So I tend to have a 30% to 50% acceptance rate on the things that I send, because they're done how they should be done. So that's kind of the thing to remember is even me, who's been a professional doing this for a long, long time. I don't get every pitch that I send out there. 

 

Ros: So is it a fear of rejection?

 

Christina: Fear of rejection, a 100%. People are worried. They thought that they didn't think that I was worthy of being on their podcasts or that I should be on their podcasts. I'm not enough of an expert, XYZ. Why did I even send that? 

The fact of the matter is that many podcasts just like Ros, you work in it, they work in advance. So for some of them, it's not necessarily a no, it might be a Not right now. So the fear of rejection that people have is something that I completely understand. 

I 100% understand it especially when you don't hear back from someone at all. You're kind of did they think that that was just utter crap. They didn't think that that was like a good fit or that was a good idea or anything like that.

 

Ros: Their ghosting you. 

 

Christina: Yeah, exactly. They're not even going to respond to me. And the fact of the matter is that's not the case at all. There's two things that go along with that. 

One of those is that it's not the right time. I've been on podcasts where they're recording them months in advance to when they're actually going to release them to the public. So sometimes it's just they don't have time, or they're not really doing any recordings right now because they have so many booked up. So that's one thing. 

 

The other thing is podcast hosts are busy people just like you and I. I always send a follow up a week later, or one to two weeks later, you don't have to be exact, you know about it.

I will tell you that I have probably booked half of the podcasts that I've been on for myself and my clients based on that follow up. So it's very, very important. 

 

It's not that they don't want to write you back. It's not that they don't care or they didn't take a look at it. They're just like the rest of us and forget stuff sometimes. It's a respectful follow up with only a few sentences long. That doesn't bother them at all. 

 

Ros: Yeah. So we're getting into podcasting like you're gonna follow up and all these things but let's go back a second and say why do we even need publicity is to really talk about that. But also why podcasting? 

 

Christina: Yes. So why publicity? Publicity is going to give you so many more warm leads than any other kind of marketing that I've put out there. 

 

Ros: So when you say warm leads, publicity can lead to a sale without having to pay for it? 

Christina: Oh, absolutely. 100%. I have sold things I have booked discovery calls from being on podcast people hearing that. Sometimes, I even honestly see the most movement from when I'm on smaller podcasts. I think because they have very dedicated audiences that really listened to that host and what they have to say, and all that type of stuff. 

And yes, absolutely, I can make a sale for sure. 

 

Ros: Why then podcasts? 

 

Christina: Podcasts are the fastest growing, marketing avenue for you to be on. That is why I recommend it. That's why I'm seeing this huge increase. I mean, I can throw all the stats at you. One of the stats is about the warm leads thing. I believe it was the Consumer Marketing Association, they had a stat that 70% of customers would rather listen to an interview or read an article from like the founder of a company as opposed to buy something through a cold ad 70%.

 

Ros: That’s huge!

 

Christina: That know, like and trust factor has been up so incredibly much that they just feel, Okay, I know who this person is. I know what they're about and I know what their company is about. So now I'm going to go ahead and at least enter their funnel. 

 

Ros: Yeah. So now is a good time with podcasting, as you say, because it's the fastest growing. There's now like a million podcasts. Is that right?

 

Christina: I think it's closer to 1.4 million. 

 

Ros: Wow. 

 

Christina: Yes and not all those are active, but at least half of them are. That's the fact of the matter, too, so let's say for better or worse, there's a million podcasts, these podcasts are being listened to and that's the most important thing. There can be a million podcasts but if no one's listening to them, then, that doesn't really matter. What's the point? 

 

In the US alone, which is obviously where I'm based with my niche that over 55% of Americans say they've listened to a podcast and 25% of Americans listen to them weekly, and that's 68 million people. We listen to a podcast weekly, subscribe to the podcast and listen to it weekly. We do when we are in our cars, when we are on a walk, when we're washing dishes, when we're in whatever. I take my kid or I take my daughter to daycare every day, while we have to listen to Hamilton typically on the way there and then I get to listen to whatever I want on the way home. So I'm always putting in a podcast, whether that's one for business or whether that's one just like an entertaining one that I like.

 

Ros: Another reason why I think podcasting is such a great platform is, if coming from a travel background, a lot of travel agents are really nervous to get on videos that they won't even do their own Facebook Lives, or are they nervous to, Oh, I don't want to go on TV. 

Podcasting is just your voice and nobody's gonna see you can dress however you want. You are the expert. You can still talk about things but you can't see the listener, you can see the person on the other side that's listening, but it has quite a big reach as well.

 

Christina: Oh, yeah in a long firm reach, which I think is really important. When I am on a podcast as I've been doing this now for multiple months. I've made sales from podcasts that I was on three months ago or six months ago. I mean, I'm still making them now. 

 

The reason for that is when we find a podcast, we binge it, we go back months, we go back three months, like we don't care that it was a year ago  if we're into that host and into what it is that they talk about, then we just want to listen to the content. So that I have found to be really interesting because you're probably going to see the most push on your list immediately in the week or two following a podcast dropping. 

 

That also doesn't mean that a social media post is very different. Once you're on a social media post, if people don't see it right, then they're never gonna see it. Whereas with a podcast, that's not necessarily the case And I've seen that personally in my own business. 

I think that that's really cool.

 

Ros: I agree and it can have such a long range of time. So for travel professionals, when we're looking at promoting like a group trip or promoting a destination or something that is quite far in advance. It doesn't matter whether the podcast episode that you're a guest on comes out next week or in three months time because the content is still relevant to the listener, no matter how far in advance it is. 

 

If it's time sensitive, there's always other opportunities. So it's not just that we're recommending going out and applying to be a guest on a podcast because it is earned publicly, but we also are talking about this because as travel professionals, you guys are the experts. You know what you're talking about, you know a product or a destination or a specialty area, your niche. So we really are encouraging you to go out there and spread the word without having to pay for it. This golden opportunity, right now, with over a million podcasts, you can get featured as a guest. 

 

Now we've talked about why this is such a great time for podcasting, there's so many opportunities, you can share your own story, build credibility, you showcase your own expertise in an area. So how do we do that? Obviously, I'm going to recommend to everybody to go to travelagentachievers.com/Christina because we will have so much information there for you. However, publicityxchristina, Publicity by Christina, you have a range of information there for people as to why they should get on podcasts, and how to write.

 

Christina: Yeah, how to get started, for sure. There's a few things that I recommend when people are just starting out on this podcasting journey, because I know, it can be super overwhelming. At first when you're like, Okay, there are a million podcasts. And then it's like, 

How on earth am I supposed to discover what's the best for me? 

 

Ros: and then and to get in front of somebody else's audience?

Christina: Exactly. 

 

Ros: That's the other thing as well, getting on somebody else's podcast extends your reach out to different clients. Let's go into this. 

 

If you were asked to speak at a conference and I know some of my students within the Travel Agent Achiever community have been asked to sit on panels, have been asked to speak at conferences, have been asked to showcase their knowledge to other people. 

If you're asked to do this, then that's a real bonus, but you're going to pay to go there and you will speak in front of your ideal client. So with podcasting, it's exactly the same thing, right. So the reason why you should do it is because you are in front of an audience that is your ideal client. That is the reason guys. A captured audience. Because as you say that people are binge listening to podcasts, right now they're finding their favourites and going right, as soon as this next one comes out, I'm listening to it. They’re following that.

 

Christina: I love that you gave that example because I give that example a lot. Because people get really hung up on the numbers. They’ll be like, this podcast only has 50 downloads or 100 downloads, I don't really know if that's worth my time. 

And I'm like, 50 or 100 of your ideal customers. If I got asked to speak in front of an event of 50 or 100, I would book that flight, I would be doing those things to get in front of those people. 

I would personally pay to go. And this one, I'm not having to do that. I'm able to do it from my house and just use my computer and a microphone. That's pretty much it. So, absolutely. 100%. This is an amazing opportunity for you to get in front of those ideal customers.

 

Ros: Yeah, that's right. So I want the travel community to get out there and showcase your knowledge and your expertise. So what are podcast hosts looking for? 

 

Christina: Well, Ros, I don't know what you're looking for. Maybe you'll want some insight on that. I will give the things that I've heard. 

 

So the main thing the podcast hosts, in my opinion, are looking for is actionable content for their listeners. So when you get on a podcast, you know what we said? It's free. 

But you're striking up a bargain, you're striking up a deal with that host, you're saying, I'm going to give your audience valuable content that they can take action on right away. And in exchange, you're going to put me in front of your audience. And that's the trade off that you guys are making with each other. So that's what a podcast host wants, they want to have this content that their audience can act on, that they find value in. So that's going to be number one. And that's a huge thing that we talked about, like in my course, with my clients is like, what are those topics that are going to pick the interest because we always need to be thinking about their audience, not thinking about just what you need to promote? Right? 

 

Ros:I talk about that too, serving your clients. 

 

Christina: Yep. Right. Yeah, exactly. So I think that that is a big thing to remember. 

And then the other thing to remember is just be yourself. I know that sounds really trite and really cliche. The truth is, what a podcast host wants is someone that they can have a conversation with. Because essentially, that's what we're doing, Ros & I are having a conversation right now, you get to listen in on it. That's essentially what we're doing. 

That doesn't mean that you have to be the most outgoing person or something like that to have that happen. That's not the case at all. If you know your stuff, and you're willing to talk about it, you're passionate about it. Absolutely. That's going to come across as a great conversation. So those are the two things that I would say podcast hosts are looking for the most. I don't know, Ros, if you have anything else to add in there. 

 

Ros: Yeah, absolutely. I agree with the actionable advice. One thing as a podcast host myself, I love to be able to provide value, resources, information that will help travel agents and my community and my listeners to really move forward and to be able to take action and do something that will help them in their business. 

 

I don't want just a sloppy conversation or something that's not going to provide value, because I don't want to waste anybody's time. So for me, I'm all about serving my clients and my listeners, and making sure that they get the most information and the most amount of content that they can get to actually take the next step. And they can keep moving forward without getting stuck there. So when we know that, anybody that comes on on my podcast, Yes, I have vetted beforehand. I know who they are, I know the value and the information that they provide. But I want to make sure that it's right for my listener. At the end of the day, it's got to be the right thing. I received people pitching on my podcast. 

 

Christina: I was actually going to ask you about how would you say you feel like most pitches you get are?

That is the response that’s why there's so much opportunity, because most of the people that pitch them don't know what they're doing and don't know how to pitch. 

 

Ros: Correct. And the pitches that I get are, I don't even feel as though they listen to their podcast. I don't even get that information to my listeners. So I think those that really understand the audience of travel agent achievers and those that can provide something of value. That's who I want to connect with. 

 

So for you, not only a good friend, but you also know the industry. And you can provide information, which is why I also reached out to you and said, Christina, I've got to have you back on because you are crushing it in this space. But not only that, you have taught me and you have helped me with my own confidence to get the word out there. 

 

Christina: For you. I really want to get the word out there. And I'm happy to tell you that every single day if I need to.

 

Ros:  You know, having somebody in your corner just makes the biggest difference. And that's one of the things that I love about you, because I'm exactly the same for my listeners. I want to believe in my listeners before they even believe in themselves. I want to be that champion that knows them. I get it. I see the possibilities. And I want them to chase it down. If I can help them take action. I can help them by moving forward that next little step.

 

We do that in our six week programme, Our rebuild your travel business programme. We do all of that. And I believe so much in what they have to offer. But they often don't believe it themselves. 

So for me, having you in my corner, is my publicity expert that gives me so much more confidence knowing that you believe in me, and you can look at me from an outsider's perspective and go, Oh, my gosh, Ros, you could do this, you have the potential to do this. That is a big confidence boost for me. But it also helps me get through the fear. So the struggle, I have to put myself out there. And I appreciate that so much. So I'm just giving you a bit of love here to say thank you.

 

You do that for your audience and your students to really put themselves out there. It's not just me, it is something global. You've been doing this for a long time, you know the inside out of publicity and PR. So what do you now help others with? Not only be in a corner, but you help people get on podcasts? 

 

Christina: Yes, that's my main thing that I'm doing right now is helping people get on podcasts. I mean, there are so many amazing online entrepreneurs out there. We know so many, you know, and stuff. And I truly, I can't even tell you guys believe that every single online entrepreneur has the opportunity to be a guest on podcasts. 

Not even an online entrepreneur, you could just be an entrepreneur of any kind. I specialise in online, but that's certainly not what the only people kind of entrepreneurs that could be on podcasts.

 

I was gonna give you a funny story because we actually have this really cool public radio, they're not doing it right now during COVID.

What does it call, it's like, I've always wondered. And anyways, before COVID, they would, except from listeners, I've always wondered what this store does. And then they would go because I drive by it every day, and I have no idea what they do in there, you know, type of thing. And then they go in with their mics. And they would interview the people that work there and everything like that. And it was, it is such a cool series. And that's totally a brick and mortar or being in pockets. But they would actually talk about what they do with their story and who they sell to and all these things. 

 

And I mean, that's just a prime example of you don't necessarily have to be online. And those stories were really very, very interesting to me, because a lot of times I do want to know what that place does. Like, there's this place called bucks bags and they talked about it one day or whatever. And I was like, oh, okay, they make this.

 

Ros: So as travel professionals, I really want our listeners to get onto podcasts, I want you guys to have your voice heard, I want you to go out there and really share your expertise and your knowledge. So how can we do this, I know that you've got a workshop. And if you are part of the travel agent, achiever community, and you're on our email list, you are going to get something very special in the next email when this podcast is released. Look out for that. You don’t want to miss it.

 

But the other thing is that if you are not on our email list, then you really need to join. And all you need to do is go to travelagentachievers.com/podcast, join the email list and you will get access to the special bonuses as well. But Christina, you have a special workshop out at the moment that helps people take action and an upcoming course.

 

Christina: I do. I do. So I have a webinar coming up. That is actually going to be next week. That I would love, love love obviously to have people that are listening to this that are members of the travel agent achievers squad, be a part of.So the five questions you've been scared to ask about podcast guesting and how it can turn your business into a lead generation machine so that you can make more sales bring in more customers. 

 

Ros: And we talked about that as part of the travel agency community getting leads, we want sales. We want bookings. So all you need to do everybody just go to travelagentachievers.com/Christina. We will have in the show notes links to all of Christina's upcoming free webinar free webinars. You can learn all of this, you've got a checklist on your website that people can download as well. So to get started, and if you are part of our email list and this community, then you'll also get something very special.

 

I have done your workshop and it has already resulted in myself becoming a guest on other podcasts as well. A little bit scary. But you helped me get out there. And you helped me actually put together my message, tell my story. You call them credibility markers. But also what value I can provide to a Podcast host. And I think this is really important. 

 

So can you just touch on that? As I know, it's part of the things that you talk about? What could we go to a podcast host and say, Look, I'm here? What do we say? If you want to learn how to pitch to be on a podcast, you definitely have to join Christina's upcoming webinar, you definitely need to download her free resources and you also do the workshop. I think that those are really big key things. But as a travel professional, what sort of value do you see that we can provide to a topic? 

Christina: I think there's amazing value for travel agents to be able to talk about the posts. I talked about it in the workshop or in the one that I have recorded, I give some story idea prompts. So how to Xyz, the five ways to Xyz, that is kind of the way that podcast hosts like, you're essentially giving them the title for their podcasts, like you're giving those actionable things that we already spoke about, that people can be working on. 

 

And so based on whatever your particular niche is, you're going to build those topic ideas around that. But the way that I said that, you might be like, Oh, my God, that sounds really overwhelming. It’s just a Podcast title, you don't even have to go into more detail than that. And you're only giving them two or three, you're not giving them like 10 different ideas based on your audience here, two or three ideas that I think I could bring a lot of value over to your group. 

 

And the thing that you just kind of want to think about with those topic ideas is what is ultimately going to be your call to action. So this is my big thing that I harp on a lot is you got to have a place to send people at the end of the podcasts like Ros and I were just talking about my webinar that I have coming up talking about my recorded workshop, all that good stuff. And that's what you're going to do at the end of each podcast that you're on, the host is going to give you that opportunity, they're going to say where can people find you. And you need to make sure and have that call to action drill down. 

 

This is truly one of the most important things about making podcasts work for you. Because being on a podcast is great. But we want to make sure that you're strategic about the podcast that you're on, and what you're doing when you're on there. So if you have some kind of lead magnet, maybe that's a download, maybe that's a video series. Or even if you want to be as simple as come join my Instagram, it can be as simple as that too. I mean, getting them to sign up for a lead magnet is better, because then you have their email address. But don't stress about it. If you're like I really am on my Instagram, like that's where I want to drive people. That's where I start my funnel. Go for it. That's all good. 

 

But you need to be thinking about what is going to get them over there. Like, what am I going to need to say to them that's going to make them be like, Oh, I got to go get my hands on that. Or I need to go sign up for her Instagram so that I can see what she's talking about? Make sure that it's very clear so that you're driving people from the podcast over to your list. 

 

Ros: That's right. I was also just going to give an example here if that's okay, and can you just spitball some ideas with me? So let's say your specialty as a travel professional is group hiking holidays. So you take groups of people hiking, where I see this, and the value that you could provide to a podcast host who would you suggest that talks about hiking? 

 

Christina: Yeah, I would definitely suggest someone that I would kind of look a few ways at that. One: I would look at outdoor, there's a lot of outdoor podcasts like outdoor related. So that would absolutely be a good place to go. But another one that I would look at depending on the type of groups that you specialise in, but maybe one of those is families or multi generational meaning parents, kids, grandparents. I would be looking at those types of family blogs and that type of thing  as well, because there are so many of those as well. And even if that's not your main thing that you do, if you're like, well I'm more focused on girlfriends group hiking, but like I do offer family hiking, or like tips on that, then go with it. 

 

As long as that part of that area for your business, then do it. 

 

Ros: Okay, so that's the first thing. So we've got our niche, we know who some of the Podcast people that we might be able to pitch. So the value that we could provide, as somebody who is a travel professional specialising in hiking trips, we could give like a checklist of top 10 things to prepare for any travel hiking holiday.

 

Christina: My top three camping meals that please the whole family. There are so many different things. And the beauty of it is if you're already creating content like you already do, you already have a tonne of ideas. You're just going to take those ideas, and you're going to package it in a different way. And you're going to talk about it on a podcast. 

 

Ros: And you're going to go to that podcast host and say, This is an idea we would be my top five places to go on a hockey holiday with the family or whatever that might be. Then this is what I do, so you say your credibility. People can get something free listening to this podcast, which is my checklist on meals to take with you when you go camping, or whatever it might be. So you are providing value to the podcast host. That will make you and like we were talking about before about pitches. That puts you way ahead of everybody else. 

 

Christina: Yes. Like a lot of people, I think when they pitch, they don't give those topics, those specific topic ideas. They write and they say like, Hey, I specialise in this, I'd love to come on your show. And the thing is, when you send topic ideas, nine times out of 10, a host will choose one of those, I very rarely will send in a pitch and have a host be like, Oh, I was actually wondering, could we focus? Could we do this instead? That's probably happened to me, like, one or two times? Almost. 

 

They want one of those topics that I suggested. Maybe they want to tweak it a little? Or have it focus a little bit more on XYZ, that's great. No problem there. But for the most part, we're trying to make their job easy. That is the whole point of pitching, and that my whole 15 years of doing this, the most success comes from being assertive with the ideas that you want to get out there. But being flexible with them. They're like, okay, I really love that you want to talk about the camp recipes. I think that that's a really cool topic. Could we also chat a little bit about safety in cooking around kids? Something like that, that's great. You're like, hey, awesome, that sounds good to me. We can talk about both of those things and go from there. 

 

So I think that you have to be putting in at least two topics. When you send a pitch and two good topics that you've thought about that this is a fit with their audience. 

 

Ros: And that's right, because it is about the Podcast Host. It's about them. You're providing value to their audience at the end of the day. 

 

Christina: There’s a quote that I have up on my wall in my office. And I look at it almost every day. And this is an important thing to remember when it comes to publicity or getting yourself on a podcast, pitching yourself and then being a guest.

“You're not the hero, you're the guide”.

 

And I think that that is very, very important. Because you're not the hero of the story by being on a podcast. You're the guide that's getting their audience to where they need to be, that's getting them the information that they need to get. And I just love that distinction. Because I think it makes you come at it from a place of service. That's why you should be guesting on podcasts. You should be coming from that place, that's why I go on podcasts. I truly, truly love it. And I love the feedback I get from it. 

 

It's amazing for growing my business, but truly having people DM me, have people write to me, tell me they heard me on a podcast, they really loved it. Or even if they just sign up for my list, that type of thing, that's what it's all about. It's about getting people to where they need to go. And that's why I have always loved working in publicity. And why I really love what I'm doing now is like, I have the opportunity to get people in front of more people to impact more lives.

 

And I think that is really, really cool. And so that's kind of the thing to remember when you're pitching is it needs to be about them. It's not about you, you want to make sure that it makes sense, you want to make sure it's a topic that makes sense for what you do. But you're going to be finding the audience that makes sense for what you do anyways. So just get in front of them with topics that are going to pick the interest, you know, of the host and then of the audience. 

 

Ros: Yeah. So I think that's gold. I'd be happy to finish the podcast episode on that because it is about serving others, and we are all there to help other people. And now is the perfect time to pitch and get yourself on a podcast. Because as the world starts to open up, people are gonna want to travel. I want the Travel Agent Achievers community and I want our listeners to know and you guys out there, I want you to be the expert. I want clients to come to you because of what you do. You are the expert so we just need to shout that from the roof and get the message out there.

 

Oh, my gosh, you guys, this is just crazy. I love spending time with Christina. And the fact is that you can't see her but I can and she is a gem, we need to get out of the scrappy mF line.

 

 

Christina: I can't wait to go to Australia. It's gonna be magical, it's gonna be amazing. The other thing I wanted to do before we signed off, one thing I wanted to leave your listeners with a challenge. So one thing that I want you to do over the next week or two  because this is the first step that I have anyone take is I want you to post on your social media, or include something in your E newsletter, asking your followers asking your subscribers, what podcast they listen to. 

 

Okay, so post that on your social media dude, as a story or whatever, just be like, hey, hit reply, let me know what podcasts that you're listening to. You don't need to say more than that, you're not necessarily saying, Oh, I'm doing some research, you can just ask. I mean, I'm always looking for new podcasts. So that's all you're doing, you're just asking for some, and then listen to those. 

Listen to an episode or two of those, and see if that's a good fit for you. You already know your ideal customers there, you already know that they're hanging out in whatever that particular place and so then you can kind of start to do that lay some of that groundwork for when you do want to send your first pitch.

 

Ros: Absolutely, I'm going to dive into that a little bit more. So as a travel professional, I want you to go on your business travel page, not your personal page. Your business, social media pages and if you add this as an Instagram story, or Facebook story, or have it on both, and ask your clients because the people who are on your social media posts are your clients. And I want you to ask them, What podcasts do you listen to? So you can tag @travelagentachievers, I want to see these or you can also tag @publicityxChristina

 

So add that on there. Because we want to see you guys asking your audience and your clients what they listen to. And take note of what they say, because you can write these down. And once you do Christina's workshop and you know how to pitch, you will have a list already of podcast episodes. 

 

Christina: Like I have a special method in my workshop, and in my course we're going to dive even further into it. But even in the workshop itself, we go into it and it's called the podcast piggyback method. And we get really into how you find all these new opportunities based on some of that research that you're going to do.

 

Ros: So good. Even your workbook in the workshop, Christina, I have mine still sitting next to me because I took so many notes.The ideas that just came to me throughout the workshop was gold. I couldn't believe at the end of it, I already had a pitch ready to go. I knew exactly who I wanted to target. It was one of those actionable things that I love for, the listeners out there. I love that love that you can take action and actually do something.

 

Christina: I think there's opportunity. And I'm not saying this, just because I teach it, I just think that this opportunity for entrepreneurs is amazing. I really, really think that this is a way for you to get in front of those ideal customers, for free. All it takes is a little bit of your time and that's it. My whole tagline and the thing that I believe in is going from best kept secret to go to expert. That's what it's all about using the power of free publicity. And that's what you can do with podcasts. And it's the lowest barrier of entry to really any kind of publicity you can do. Meaning you don't need to spend money, you don't need to be travelling somewhere. You don't need to be doing any of that stuff. It's just an easy thing for you to get started doing. 

 

Ros: Yeah, Awesome. My mind is racing. I'm so excited by this. I love that you are back here again, we could continue to talk about publicity and podcasting and how to get on podcasts for hours. I just love brainstorming and talking about all of this with you. So I'm going to finish up now, I appreciate you being here. Thank you so much Christina and serving and helping our Travel Agent Achievers community that is absolute gold. 

 

So for you listening out there. I just want to say jump on to travelagentachievers.com/Christina. Because you will get so much extra knowledge you can take action and really move forward in getting yourself some publicity and now is the perfect time. You are already working on your lead magnet you are already working on what you can do to work on your business. So this is one of those things. And by getting some publicity getting on to podcasts, you will be able to showcase to the rest of the world not just in your home country or your home city. This is global guys. And podcasting is global. So jump on to travelagentachievers.com/Christina and we will get you all the goods there. Thank you so much, Christina for coming on the podcast. I love seeing you. I love talking to you. And I can't wait to have you back again. Thank you so much.