You can listen directly here. 

Have you ever tried googling yourself? What did you find? Is there anything travel-related there? Will people instantly know that you are a travel business owner by just looking at the search results? If not, then why not work to make yourself known this year, by positioning yourself as the expert.

In this episode, I talk about content creation. And why I believe it is one of the best forms of marketing for your travel business. 

Content is anything that answers your clients' questions. Including social media posts, website copy, email newsletters, podcasting and even blogging. It can generate leads, builds trust and relationships and positions you as the expert in your chosen field if done right.

If you want to know more about content creation  - why we need it and how does it all work, then this episode is for you.

Make sure you check our specialised workshop (Content Planning for your Travel Business) where we dive deeper into this topic and get you to come up with your plan for the year ahead. 

Lets get your content marketing strategies in place to help set you up for a great year ahead. 

Make sure you grab more of our resources and our FREE tips, advice and bonuses. Subscribe to our email list 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: Hello, hello. Hello there, everybody. Welcome back to the Travel Agent Achievers podcast. It's Ros here. I am so glad you're joining me today, as we are talking about content, creating content and why it's one of the best forms of marketing. 

 

Thank you so much for listening for joining us here. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast, review us and send us a rating, I'd love to hear from you. And just shout out. So shout out to me on Instagram, social media, send us an email, I love hearing from you. I'd love to know where you're at right now and what you're up to, and connect with it. This business is all about human connection. I am here to support and encourage you on this journey. But I can't wait to get to know you.

 

So let's dive straight in to today's topic. Today we're talking about creating content, why it's one of the best forms of marketing? And you know, what do we actually need? And how does it all work like? Content? Is this just your website? Is this a newsletter? Is it the email that you send out? 

 

So what is content? Firstly, will content pulled in basically more traffic or traffic from to your website and gives you leads like that's one of the goals, right? The to pull in and convert more people. Content answers your clients questions. Content is either the written form or the verbal form. It could be videos, podcasting could be a blog post. 

 

But whatever it is around content, it answers your clients questions. It gives you lead, and it builds trust, and therefore relationships. It helps you position yourself as the expert. And I love this and also the authority but importantly, it builds trust.

 

People want to get to know you, for you. And if they only receive, like an email marketing campaign, or you know, see you on social media. That's great. But people want to see you in different places as well. So I'm encouraging you this year for 2021 to really get out there and have a look at your content, content is free, right so in most cases, you can be writing a blog, you can be putting together a podcast. Albeit, yes, it takes time. But you are answering your clients questions that you get asked over and over again. And you are positioning yourself as the expert that I know you already are. 

 

I want you to have the authority moving forward. I want you to build trust with people. And I want you to really get out there and see what you can do. Because people may not know you right now. But if you start producing content around your ideal audience, or your favourite topic in travel or your area of expertise, people will come to you, people will find you because they're searching for the right person to work with for their travel. 

 

This is just like anything else. You will search for your doctors through referral and through other people's words, but you also want to read about them on their own websites and see if they've got medical journals and all those sorts of things. Same with, you know, dentists, doctors, lawyers, and you know, your mechanic, you want to know and understand who these people are. 

 

And through content is a really good way for people to continue to find you. I always talk about referrals and repeat business. And the goal is to get those referrals and to get clients coming back to you time and time again. And that is absolutely key. 

 

But if somebody is still sitting on the fence, and they Google you, what are they going to find? 

 

So today I want you to Google yourself. See, is there anything travel related there? Is there anything about your business that people can automatically find you. So Google yourself and see what comes up. Because that is one of the fastest ways, I can guarantee it brings you back to Earth, when you look for your name, because there's probably somebody else out there that's got your name that's got a bigger profile than you. 

 

And I want you to this year really work on some content to get yourself known. Position yourself as the expert and the authority in the area of expertise, and the clients that you want. There are several uses for content. So if you have a blog, on your website, or you have a travel blog, that's awesome.

 

One of my close friends, Michele Schwartz, has a blogging Academy specifically for travel agents which is incredible. She's a good friend of mine, she's also part of the Travel Agent Achievers community. 

 

So it's great that we can all connect and share ideas. And so check her out, make sure you do I'll send a link to her in the podcast episode notes as well. And I'm hoping to have her on the podcast very soon, too. 

 

And other users, you might put together your own podcast. And I think that this is an incredible platform, more and more people are listening to content, they don't necessarily have the time to be sitting down and reading big books these days. Or if they are, Wow, that's awesome. 

 

But a lot of people will digest podcasts or content as they are exercising or driving or commuting. They're really using their time to maximum capacity. And that's why podcasting comes in and is a really great medium to get leads as well and build your authority as the expert. 

 

Coming back to that. And I will continue to come back to that as the expert because people will see you, your podcast and even you guesting talking about media and publicity, you know, and you can refer back to our podcast episode with Christina Lenkowski around publicity, getting yourself featured on podcasts, I think is a fantastic tool to get yourself known, but also to get, you know, more searchability on the internet for you as well. So having a look at some media or publicity opportunities this year. And the reason why you should do these things is because it builds trust with your consumer and the end user, they will see things on the media about you hopefully all good and publicity about you and your experience, who you are, what you do, when consumers do those sorts of things. That adds an extra layer of social proof. 

 

And this is something that we've spoken about before as well. So I encourage you if you haven't, go back and listen to the podcast episode with Christina Lenkowski, I'll link to it in the show notes. 

 

And because publicity can give you a really quick foot up these days, she's got a fantastic workshop that goes for two hours that if you are looking at this area, definitely dive into it's one of the best workshops that I've ever done and that a lot. 

 

Other uses social media snippets, putting together a newsletter. And these sorts of things pull traffic to you. So if you're on social media, and you know how to use it effectively, instead of just posting a random photo, but actually having a social media plan, or a social media strategy, which I think is really key for you in the travel industry is to actually have a plan and a strategy instead of just random posting, actually know what message you want to get out to your consumer or to the customer that speaks specifically to them. 

 

So having a content strategy for social media is great. You can repurpose and share content from your blog or podcast or publicity, you can share all of that on social media, get that social proof happening. 

 

If you prepare a newsletter, one of the things I was talking to our Travel Agent Achievers community about this morning was that I prepare these things and nobody replies to me or I get very few replies. 

 

Well, the thing is, this isn't necessarily that you and creating content is an information source for the end user. Your goal is obviously to pull in more traffic and more leads and you know, really boost your profile and search ability and, you know, SEO there's so many different things that I could talk about here. 

 

But really, when you're sending something out, it is for the end user it isn't necessarily about yourself to get something back So I want to encourage you that if you are doing a newsletter, or you send out emails to your clients regularly, and they personalised emails that take you a lot of time, just continue, don't stop doing it. 

 

Because they are there they are listening, they are thinking about you, they may just not be replying to you. And I see that as well in my own business. But it doesn't just help me because I know that they are listening. And there are times that I've had clients come back to me and say, Oh, yeah, I heard you say this, at a conference, or I heard you say this on a podcast, or rather, I heard you and I saw an email that you sent out a couple of months ago about this specific topic, and I'm now ready to dive in. 

 

So people are listening, they are reading, they are there, it may just not be the right time for them right now. So always ensure that your content comes from a place of service, and of gratitude. And it's there and it's helpful for the end user. This isn't about you.

 

Now, other forms of content could be checklists, PDF tools, workbooks, ebooks, you name it, anything like that, definitely pull it together, put it out there, because people will get it, they will understand it. 

 

And particularly if you are speaking directly to someone, then that makes the messaging a lot easier to understand as well. 

 

When you're creating content, the one of the reasons why I think it's one of the best forms of marketing is because of its cost. It's very minimal in cost, but it can have an impact, the impact though may take longer, or over a period longer period of time, then it would say, some paid advertising or a paid lead magnet or you know, you're on Facebook and you drop $10 on some advertising for a particular thing, promoting a group. 

 

Now, it will take time for things to get out there and for the internet and algorithms and all those sorts of things to pick it up. But I say that because the cost is minimal, so you can invest. And I say there's a time investment now an investment for you to be putting together these tools, these information, these resources for the client, when they're ready to book with you. 

 

Now, on the other hand, here, time is something that we talk about. And we always say we never have enough of right. I know this because I do it myself as well. But right now we do have the time. 

 

If you look at yourself and look at where you were 12 months ago, I can guarantee that you will probably not be you you're in a world of pain. You were busy. You were frantic, trying to pull trips together, you were sending clients on their travels, you were consistently doing the same process over and over again. 

 

And there was no time for you to necessarily create a blog, or when your host agency said, Oh, I'd love to know more about that same trip, you went on to Costa Rica. Can you prepare a blog post and send some images? 

 

I bet that you said I don't have time for that. Well, guess what? Right now, we've got the gift of time. 

 

So I encourage you to spend the time now working on your content strategy, coming up with some ideas, looking at ways that you can get your message out to your clients, because you have that time. 

 

So the cost of it can be minimal. The time right now could be more than what you would be doing previously. I can guarantee that you could be spending more time on it right now then you would have ever before. 

 

But the long term effect that having content, whether it's on your website, somebody else's website, you are creating content for somebody else to go on. You know, your host agency's website. 

 

You're guesting on podcasts, you're doing Facebook Lives, you are interviewing your clients or interviewing suppliers, whatever it might be. That content that you create now will live on and will help solidify you as the expert and authority. Right? We're coming back to that. Because creating content is one of the best forms of marketing. 

 

Now if you feel as though it's not an area that you want to work on, you can of course you can hire content staff, you can get a content curator. You can get somebody to write you blogs. You can load onto Fiverr, or Upwork, or oDesk, all those sorts of things and have people curate content for you, it may not be in your exact voice. 

 

But there are things that you can do to get your message still out there, and not take your time away to create it. Now, it's also important to get more eyes, more people sharing your content, your information, your resources, to build your profile. 

 

Now, this also helps with any clients who potentially can come to you in the future. So my question to you today is, it is one of the best forms of marketing, because it has a long term effect, it is very minimal cost. 

 

And it can pull in people that you may not have connected with previously, it can really position you as an expert or an authority in a particular area or niche or, you know, market, whatever your specialty is, then getting yourself out there. So what can you do to increase your content marketing strategy? 

 

What can you do to get your voice out there? I'm going to challenge you today to think about this, and come up with a plan yourself. Now, if you're not sure how to even do that, and how to come up with a plan, then start with questions that you asked your social media following. Ask your audience, what they want to hear about and what their platforms are. Where do they do they listen to podcasts? What sort of podcasts are they listened to? Would it be useful to have your own? You know, are they readers? Do they want to be reading a blog post each week? Or each month?  Do they prefer newsletters or handwritten notes or things delivered to them? 

Start asking the question, and I encourage you to come up with a plan. But if you don't know, you don't know. And I think that even as you create content, also keep in mind conversion. Your goal should always be to get people onto your email list to get people into your orbit. If they are just randomly searching online, and they find you and they like what you have to offer and they start digging around, they find you know more about you and that you're the expert in a particular area, and they should come and book with you, then they may just take that next step. 

 

But if they can't find you, and that's why they make sure that each piece of your content has some sort of conversion, so your email address or a way to connect with you, because clients will reach out. And you will be able to even have other people find you ask you to be a guest on their podcast because you speak about a particular topic. 

 

We've had that within our Travel Agent Achievers community, one of our agents, Kristy, who I absolutely adore, she's had a huge here, she has been asked to, you know, co author books, which are now published and be a guest on radio interviews and on podcasts. 

 

And her profile has gone from quite a small, you know, niche and small area through to now having the possibility for a global presence. And this, yes, it's taken, you know, six to nine months and things that she wouldn't have even thought of. And even as we reflected towards the end of last year, she didn't think that, you know, she kept questioning Oh, yeah, I did that. 

But you know, will that have an impact? Well, yes. And it is only going to snowball from there. 

 

And that's what we also talk about with her starting, you know, travel business, you might start really small, you might start only booking a few clients. But over a period of time, as you become more known as your expertise increases, as you solidify your offer, that becomes a snowball effect. 

 

And that's definitely what content can do for you and your business, as well. 

 

So I want you to make sure that you are creating content that has some sort of a conversion there and a way for people to connect with you in everything that you do and start googling yourself. 

 

Where are people? You know, if they search for you now what are they finding? are they finding you from a previous career or previous job? Are they looking at a LinkedIn profile that's several years old. 

 

You know what, what comes up about you that you can fix and look at right now. 

 

Now if you want some extra help with this, I encourage you to even reach out to us @travelagentachievers. Find us on social media Instagram and Facebook. Just @travelagentachievers, but also go to our website. If you go to travelagentachievers.com/contentplanning, then I'll link to it in the show notes. So we get the right thing. But it's travelagentachievers.com/contentplanning. And this is a workshop that we've put together, that you can jump in and come up with your own content strategy, come up with your own plan. 

 

Look at the theme for this year for 2021. What you could potentially talk about how you can find the right mediums and come up with that plan and actually take action on it. Get ready to really rock this year, get ready to have things in place that, you know, just need to be executed that month. 

 

We did a lot of work on out in December, November and December 2020. Looking at within our travel business, what are the areas that our clients need to know about? And what are going to be the opportunities for us at different times of year to talk about these areas. And that's also with Travel Agent Achievers. 

 

So if there are particular topics that you want to know about, let us know, we will continue to ask you in emails and on social media, what you want to hear about and if we've got certain topics that come into our orbit that we think would be helpful, just reply back to us and say yep, love it, hate it. 

 

We want to know because this show is for you, Travel Agent, Achievers was built out of a love and passion for the industry for myself, but also to ensure that I could encourage and empower you, as the travel professional to build the business of your dreams. 

 

So I'm here to serve you. And I am here to help you on this journey. and encouraging support. You be your biggest cheerleader, I believe in you until you believe in yourself.

 

But also just so that I can create the content that you want as well. I want this podcast to be incredibly informative, to give you the tools to take action, I don’t believe in listening to something that's fluffy, and you know, not giving you the actual tips, I want you to get the stuff, I want you to get the good stuff. 

 

So thank you for listening in. Thank you for being part of the community and following us on social media sending us all those emails, subscribing and reviewing the podcast as well. Absolutely melts my heart. But thank you for just also being here and telling me what you need. Because I am here for you. 

 

And I want you to show the world how awesome you are. And one of those ways is definitely going to be getting some content out there around you and your business. So go for it. Let me know how you go. I'd love to hear what strategies you're going to take in 2021, what you're  going to focus on, and what's going to be the right thing for you. I'd love to see your name up in lights and start googling you guys and seeing where you're at as well and how you're searched. 

So thank you for listening. Thank you for being here. I can't wait to see you know, more content come out for you and your travel business. Keep smiling, stay safe and well. And I'll speak to you very soon. Have an awesome week everybody. Thanks for listening. Bye for now.