Innovative Travel Marketing: Esther Akinsola on Resilience, Storytelling, and Building Authentic Connections

This episode explores practical strategies for transforming travel businesses through effective marketing, self-mastery, and innovation in response to a changing industry landscape. Esther Akin-Sola shares her insights on the importance of authentic connections and adaptability, emphasizing that personal growth is essential for attracting clients and ensuring long-term success.

• Discover the difference between coaching and mentorship 
• Learn creative sales tactics that make a difference 
• Insights into successful marketing strategies for travel 
• Embrace adaptability in an ever-changing market 
• Understand inbound sales techniques to attract clients 
• The critical importance of self-mastery for personal development 
• Strategies to connect and engage with fellow travel professionals

https://mindforcepodcast.buzzsprout.com

Chapters

• 0:58 Travel Marketing and Coaching Insights
• 12:12 Adapting Marketing Strategies for Success
• 17:37 Personal Development for Travel Agents
• 22:52 Travel Industry Resilience and Innovation
• 29:49 Building Relationships Through Inbound Sales
• 33:33 Effective Travel Marketing Strategy Through Storytelling
• 38:39 Persistence and Success

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:58

Thank you for watching. Hi, I'm Nate Shear, your guide on Mindforce, where we're all about love, life and learning, because what's on your mind really does matter. Today we have Esther Akinsola, and today we'll be talking about travel and tourism, marketing, self-mastery, personal development and inbound sales. So we'll start with the warm-up, esther. We'll start with the who, what, why. Who are you, what do you do and why are you here?

Speaker 2: 1:23

Can I go? My name is Esther Akin-Sola. I'm a travel marketing coach and consultant, so travel and tourism and basically what I just do is that I help travel and tourism SMBs build simple marketing systems that increase their sales and grow their businesses. I'm here because I believe you know the entrepreneurs here who my story can help and where I can actually provide actionable frameworks to also maybe build their business or master themselves.

Speaker 1: 1:50

Awesome, good stuff. Well, thanks for coming on the show. We're going to start with a few warm-up questions. If you could describe your coaching style as a type of journey, what would it be and why?

Speaker 2: 2:01

I think that it would be holistic because, first of all, it's not really about who is coming to me, it's about what they're coming to me with. And I feel like if somebody's coming to me for, like, a coaching program, which is what I've seen over time, is that they have tested, they have practiced, but they don't have feedback, and people don't know that sometimes they cannot get feedback without analysis, and so I think that's the major thing that my coaching program does. So when people book a coaching program with me, there are a couple of questions that they have to fill, and that question is just mainly drilling into the things that they have done to see how I can really come on board. I like to think that I'm not the right fit for everybody. So, yeah, I think it's holistic.

Speaker 2: 2:43

Just, you know, taking a look at it from every other angle of the business, marketing is not just marketing sales, your business goals those three things align. If I do not put those three things together, I'll be confused. I'm probably not get your results. So, yeah, I think it's holistic that makes sense.

Speaker 1: 3:02

One question I wanted to ask I feel like coaching has been used a lot lately and some people seem to confuse mentorship coaching. There's a lot of words, leadership that are all very similar. If you could describe coaching in just, you know, a few minutes, how would you describe coaching as opposed to mentorship?

Speaker 2: 3:23

Yeah, I think coaching is not where you expect to drop all your life burdens. Coaching is very specific. You're going after one thing. It's the job of that person to help You're going after one thing. It's the job of that person to help you go after that one thing right, and it's not the job of that coach to force you into doing that thing. Because if I'm coaching you, there's a level of commitment that I expect from you, whereas your mentor is somebody that they can get hard on you. I hear that people don't have to see their mentors always. I don't know what the system is with mentorship, but with the coaching industry, one of the things that I've seen is that you have to really be willing to change to get the results that you need. So, yes, a coach is there to help you, to guide you right, but you cannot compare the skill of that into what a mentor would provide.

Speaker 1: 4:11

That makes sense. So it's really just trying to guide you, help you, and they need to come up with the solutions to their own problems, and I think that's important, because when you want to do it yourself and you come up with a solution, it's better. If someone provides a solution for you, then it's just not quite the same as when you know it yourself and I think you attach to it more. It's a better solution than when someone tries to plant something in your brain for you. So that's really good. I'm glad you were able to distinguish between mentorship and coaching. The next question I wanted to ask is what's the most surprising or creative sales tactic you've seen a travel agent use successfully?

Speaker 2: 4:51

Okay. Well, when it comes to another travel agent using a particular tactic, I don't think it's surprising, but I think it's creative. There are lots of islands and mountains in Thailand, peru and Nepal. So I saw this travel company, tour company. They started giving certificates to people who reached the peak of the mountain and when I saw that I reached out to them. I'm like this is so creative. If I had to leave my house to climb a mountain that's like maybe 5,000 feet high and I'm getting a certificate every time I look at that certificate, it gives me a sense of achievement and, you know, I'm able to like really, really into that emotion and maybe sometime, you know, just visit back again. I think that's creative and I'm seeing more people in my community do it now.

Speaker 1: 5:39

That's a good one. Yeah, I think people want that sense of accomplishment and being able to say they did something and especially to have something to show for. I think that's pretty cool. I know when you run different marathons or different races, sometimes you get like the metal that hangs around your neck or you get something and you take something from it. So that's a good idea. You know you get to hang it and, like you said, see it when you're back at home, because you only get to travel for a little while.

Speaker 1: 6:04

You got to go home at some point.

Speaker 2: 6:05

Yeah right. So before we get, into the meat of the interview. I wanted to see if you had a question for me, esther. Yeah, I was gonna ask you, nate. I mean, thank you so much for putting this together. What do you do? I'd like to know a bit more about you yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 6:22

Uh. So I'm 37, married, three kids, active duty, uh, air force for the united states air force. Uh, so in the military currently living in the united kingdom. So go wherever the United Kingdom, so go wherever the military tells us to go. So last year we were in Florida. The year before that we were in Okinawa, japan. So now we've had a couple of different languages for the kids.

Speaker 1: 6:43

I'm moving around, bouncing around, having a good time. We'll just keep moving from place to place as long as the family is happy. We kind of stop before every move and just make sure all the family members are happy and good and then we move forward and for work. I'm a hospital administrator, so I run the business side of a hospital, so I love helping people. I don't do super well with blood and needles, so I do the admin part because I actually pass out and hit the deck when it gets too crazy. So I love the ability to help people. It helps people in the background but I get supplies, equipment, insurance, anything that's admin related. That's my side healthcare admin. So, yeah, that's what I do.

Speaker 2: 7:27

I think that's very interesting. You sounded like you've lived different lives and I think personally I can relate to you. You know, just knocking it off when you see blood. I used to think I was going to become a cardiologist. Well, you know, it didn't work out. I had my first degree in geology then, before moving into marketing and all of that.

Speaker 1: 7:45

That's so cool, yeah, I feel like it takes a long time to figure out what you want to do, right? Right, I yeah, I feel like it takes a long time to figure out what you want to do right.

Speaker 2: 7:54

Right, I agree with that, yeah.

Speaker 1: 7:56

I remember.

Speaker 2: 7:57

Sorry, no, it's okay, I remember I went to school for information technology and computer science, and then healthcare admin, and so it's just how do you know what you want to be when you grow up? It takes a little bit. Yeah, I mean, I definitely agree that it takes a little bit, but I also agree that we have to make a commitment to ourselves that you know, whatever we find ourselves doing, we're going to do it. So well, I feel like if we go all in on everything, it would be easy for us to recognize you know, this is not working. This is not for me to hit that spot.

Speaker 1: 8:27

Yeah, I got some really good advice from a guy I used to work with. He was dental, and so he would be the person that cleans your teeth and things like that. He hated it. He hated being in people's mouths, but that was his job, so he was going to do it the best that he could possibly do, and he got so good at it. When a certain individuals would come through like high ranking, different people that were, you know, whatever they got to choose, they would choose him, and so then over time he built up his reputation as being the best of the job that he had. And then he went to go on to do things that he wanted to do, so special duties and different things, promotions and things came his way. And so he told me that story.

Speaker 1: 9:05

It's something I've always like kept with me, like doesn't matter if you like it or not, like he was going to do the best that he could. And then other opportunities and other doors opened up because he did that thing really good. I think a lot of people I've seen like want to move on to the next thing, but they're not doing the thing they do right now. Very well. And then your letters of reference and the people you know. When people come back and say, hey, like do they do? Well, they're okay, but they're not going to, you know, want to take that leap of faith for something new. So just do the best you can where you're at to really good advice. I'm glad you keyed that up.

Speaker 2: 9:38

Thank you. I mean I definitely agree with that and I think I have one more question. So I mean, I've always wanted to help. You know, that kind of help where you're not just sending your money and your resources, you're sending your time. But I feel like within work that I currently do, it's difficult. And so when I found this community with Dean Trapper, I'm like okay, this is cool, this is another way to impact. I think it's also cool sometimes when you just go out see people help them. So how are you really able to do that? And how do you feel when you like go out, meet the people that you're helping, because sometimes you need to send that money, maybe write a few publications for them, but really, meeting people.

Speaker 1: 10:16

Yeah, I think my job is a little difficult because where I'm currently working, right now, I'm in planning, so we plan for bad things that happen and hope they never happen, and so it is a little difficult because I plan and spend a lot of time setting up things for the Middle East and you know different things like get people out of areas that are about to get hurt or have been hurt, and so it's a really bad time at that point.

Speaker 1: 10:41

So it's almost a weird thing where, like, I put a lot of time and effort into it and I hope that I actually don't have to do it, but it is cool, I would say to answer your question, like when we do trainings and things like that and people are doing the things that I set up for training and exercises and so, like here we recently had one where we had the people conducting patient care in the back of a moving aircraft, and so they're working through all their things and me knowing that they are ready and prepared to go and help people when needed, even though it might not happen yet, is super rewarding. So I get to see they're moving through their skills and their training to make sure when it. When the time comes and the call comes, they're ready to go. So hopefully, you know, I never have to see all this stuff that happens because that's a really bad day, but I'm happy and proud on the days where they do what they need to do.

Speaker 2: 11:32

Oh, that's so cool.

Speaker 1: 11:33

Yeah, so let's transition into travel and tourism. So a question I had can you share a moment of a campaign or strategy you've seen transform a struggling travel business?

Speaker 2: 11:46

Yes, I can, I have a couple of them, but I think there's this particular one that I should share because I think that it's also humbling for me when I still like yes, I don't work with them, but we have a friendly relationship. I'm no longer working with them I think our contract ended last month but I think that the things that I've been hearing from them are really interesting. So they're like in the hospitality industry, which is also an extension of tourism. At the time, I developed the marketing strategy for them. They are just, you know, okay.

Speaker 2: 12:16

So this couple, these partners, bought a hotel from somebody and they do not have any digital footprint, but they just reached me and they were like, they've been seeing my posts and they felt I would be the right person to work with them. Then, because their budget would tell, I developed like a three to six months marketing strategy for them, including websites, seo listing, just optimizing their stuff. They didn't have a website then, their listing was not properly optimized and just get them on social media. And the reports I'm hearing from them, even to today, is that, on an average, every day, they get at least three inquiries. And bear in mind that the only thing I did was on-page SEO, so there was no link building. There was nothing superficial, because they were new at the time, and I think it was last week the managing director called me to say that they are now opening their fourth apartment. So yeah, nice.

Speaker 1: 13:10

Really got it turned around. What do you think is the most common mistake that travel agents make?

Speaker 2: 13:15

Yeah, I think that they don't adapt as things change. Some of them are quite slow, which is not their fault. They're not a marketing person and it can happen. But with the marketing industry you just have to adapt within the snap of a finger because things are constantly changing in this industry. So the first thing is you have to adapt. The second thing is don't care too much about what people say, right, the thing is I have a couple of people with each other. They're like oh esther, I've not made a post because I'm not sure what to post. I'm not sure if we're not going to have an engagement. So you didn't make a post a month ago. You're reaching out to me, maybe, I don't't know, two months after or whatever. What has changed Nothing? But if you were making a post within that time, if you look back at your analytics, you can say, okay, this post did well, maybe I should make more of this post. So I think that they cared too much.

Speaker 1: 14:08

That's interesting, because if you don't throw anything out, you're not going to have anything to adjust. That's really good, it's really powerful, because I think fear is like one of the biggest things for humans, like we're always just so afraid, like what are people going to think, what are they going to say? And the internet's a pretty mean place. The internet's pretty mean.

Speaker 1: 14:29

So I could see that. But, like to your point, you really have to try put that foot forward and see, maybe the title didn't work, you got to adjust it. Maybe you know you really have to try put that foot forward and see, maybe the title didn't work, you got to adjust it. Maybe you know you need to put emojis in or you know. But at least you'll know on, you know how you're being received. If you never, like you said, where are you two months from now? Nowhere, you never threw anything out there, so you can't go anywhere from zero. Oh, that's, that's really good. So what would you say are some good ways to adapt marketing strategies for audiences around the world, because you had mentioned, you know, audiences across 70 countries. So how do you adapt, you know, to a broad, to the whole world?

Speaker 2: 15:05

really, yeah, okay, I think the first thing for me is, yes, we have a community of about 2,000 people from over 70 countries, but I understand the fundamentals of marketing. So, yes, some things will change, which is, first of all, human behavior, but some things are like time tested. So, even if human behaviors are changing, there are some marketing principles that you can still apply across the board. So, personally, what I do is I study consumer behavior. I see, see what has worked. So I go back about 100 years ago. I studied work from about 100 years ago, 50 years ago, 20 years ago.

Speaker 2: 15:42

Ted Nicholas, gary Baben, sigam, a lot of people like that. Those are the people that I study. I see what has worked for them and how I can bring it back, because my idea is that if advertising was not what it was then, now, then if Yellow Pages was all they had direct mail and they made so much money, regardless of where we are now, what they still teach is valuable. So I just adapt, like that, study and adapt. That's what I do, and I think that I always like to think of myself as a very idealistic and creative person. So I get ideas, I ship as fast as possible, I learn and I move on.

Speaker 1: 16:20

That makes sense. So, with the current day and age, you mentioned the yellow pages, which I have a feeling some people out there probably won't even know what that is, which is sad. Now that we're into social media, what would you say are the most positive from social media and the biggest negative?

Speaker 2: 16:36

Right, I think that the biggest negative from social media would be just trends. There's so many trends and if you're building a business and you're not in the system, like you're not doing marketing, it can be very confusing and also you can get misled, right, because every trend is not for every business. You have to be sure what you want people to associate your brand with and what you want them to know about your brand. The positive thing is just social media in itself. I there's.

Speaker 2: 17:03

There's this quote by okay, I can't remember now, but if you are not using social media at this time, or if you're even broke now, then it's your fault, because you can literally build an audience in a month, depending on what you're selling, though, because I like to be real, depending on what you're selling and just start. So I think that the biggest change in the era of social media is the fact that you can just implement social media in itself. You can start from where you are now, what you are, with like $0 in your account, start creating content, getting feedback and just keep adjusting along the way.

Speaker 1: 17:37

Yeah, it's interesting looking back at things that are old, like the yellow pages, I think of the encyclopedia.

Speaker 1: 17:44

We had all those books that were lined up and you had to go to a certain letter and you had to and now you just Google any answer to any question you want in the world and you have it. Like you can't even really have arguments with people anymore because you can Google it and you know the answer. Oh like, oh no, I know this, or you don't know that, but that's interesting, that's a good point, like you can get information out instantly around the entire world.

Speaker 1: 18:07

So get out there and give a try. We'll transition into the self-mastery and personal development. Into the self-mastery and personal development. What's one moment in your own journey where you realize the importance of self-mastery in your success.

Speaker 2: 18:22

Okay, so I think that I have to take this a little bit back. I think I've always been that person. I didn't come from money like I didn't come from any kind of money. I had my first job at 14 and I studied my parents. I've always been a curious person. I love to read. I studied my parents job at 14 and I studied my parents. I've always been a curious person. I love to read, I studied my parents and there was so much disparity, so I began to read books. I realized that there were people that had things that I aspired to be. So what are they doing right? What did I have to do to be them? Of course, that has changed for me over the years, because what I have to struggle with is different every year the books I have to read, the things I have to expose my mind to. I've just always known that if I was going to at least become anything, I have to become a master of myself.

Speaker 1: 19:02

So yeah, Do you learn from people things you don't want to repeat too?

Speaker 2: 19:10

Yes, I do. Yeah, I think that's where the biographies come in, and I read biographies a lot to be sure, and then sometimes a couple of booze started well, but they're not in a so good place. So while I study them I have my mind intact to be sure what I really want to emulate yeah, that makes sense.

Speaker 1: 19:31

How do you encourage travel agents to embrace personal development as a tool for building their businesses? Yeah, I think that the first thing is that people need to know why they're doing what. How do you encourage travel agents to embrace personal development as a tool for building their businesses?

Speaker 2: 19:37

Yeah, I think that the first thing is that people need to know why they're doing what they're doing right.

Speaker 2: 19:42

Sometimes we view personal development from the perspective of I have to become this person to serve this person.

Speaker 2: 19:47

No, you have to become this person for you, because that's just who you're meant to be. And so I think that travel agents need to see that if they're not developed, if they don't develop themselves, people will know right and they would not be able to attract certain kind of um kind of clients or go global right. So, and personally, what I have is I have like a one-to-one program, I have group coachings for companies, and you know some activities that I do in my community. So I think the most important thing would just take courses, network with people, see what people are doing better, learn from your competitors and just don't stop developing yourself, because even as an industry, the travel industry has never the travel and tourism market has not been the same since the pandemic, and not tons of businesses that have closed down ever since then. But if maybe they have developed themselves, maybe they have done something right, because you are an extension of your business. Your business cannot grow beyond you.

Speaker 1: 20:45

So, yeah, yeah, I think that's something that's important and make sure like you're doing it for you and the right reasons.

Speaker 1: 20:50

I think a lot of times because I get this question from different people, a lot like which certification should I get, or what degree should I get and it's like really should be what aligns with you, like if you have your larger goal I mean, try to have something along the lines If you're trying to do healthcare admin, like me, but you get your degree in, you know security management or something that has nothing to do with it then that's probably not the right way.

Speaker 1: 21:15

But I think you need to sit down and do some reflection and figure out what's best for you, because I think a lot of times, kind of like you had said, we want to check the box for other people, it feels like, well, that'll look good, but I don't really care, or like it, like it should be something, should be able to find something that fits all the categories. I think like something that you enjoy, it's aligned with you, it gets you to your goals and it also increases your value or development or whatnot. But it should be able to fulfill all those, not like just doing it to do it, so that's a good one. What's one daily habit or mindset shift that helped you stay grounded and focused while managing such a large community?

Speaker 2: 21:52

Yeah, now that you're saying it's a large community, maybe I now see it as one because, okay, so this is one of the things that I always say. I tell people that from the community, and maybe I'm currently in that zone in my life where I just want to do the work, do the work, I don't care what comes out of it. Because I realized I had a season that I was caring too much and then I had imposter syndrome and anxiety. I just thought, okay, I'm just going to do the work. So maybe we're really large. I don't think there's any habit, but there may be a mindset Like I just wake up every day and do the work, I don't care if I don't feel like it, because I have days. I don't feel like it. I have days. I'm really tired. My feelings are valid, but they're temporary because the person that I'm becoming is more important.

Speaker 1: 22:36

Yeah, it makes sense. I've seen that a lot on social media like motivation will come and go. You just got to stay consistent. There's going to be the days you don't want to hit the gym or whatnot, but if you don't go to the gym, then you're going to start to go the other direction and then you got to make up for it later. So you might as well lessons learned both. You know positive, negative, or what was the big takeaway you know from travel and COVID was that it made us understand how strong we should have been together, right.

Speaker 2: 23:24

So there are many stops that say, oh, we do this, we do that. But when COVID came, several organizations now came together to begin to form a structure where they can now be, where they can be like a house for travel agents and tour operators and some of them are still in existence today. But that kind of structure was not like that before COVID. So I think that definitely COVID brought the travel industry together and then COVID revealed weaknesses. Weaknesses in the sense that some people were just comfortable. So they're doing $100 every year, maybe $200, and they feel like they were okay.

Speaker 2: 23:56

Covid shook everything that it thought they had, and so now people are putting plans in place for, okay, what if something else happens, even if it's not COVID? How can I make my business pandemic-proof? How can I make it recession-proof? So, yeah, I think that's one of the biggest changes. It revealed our weakness as an industry and then it made us realize how important we are, because this industry is a multi billion industry and there are just a couple of people tapping into it. And those who are tapping into it, they are not really distributing that much to small business owners and that's why you have some platforms who take maybe 30 percent as commissions, 40 percent, 50 percent. Small businesses are now revolting post-covid, saying that this is not working. I have to find a structure for my own business where I'm protected.

Speaker 2: 24:46

Yeah, I think that's one of the things that you know, some of the things that COVID did to the travel industry. It also made us more innovative, right. So now we're seeing projects being more sponsored by the UN tourism. It's not like they weren't doing anything before COVID, but we just realized that to really preserve this industry, we need more funding, we need more investment, we need more people to disperse themselves in separate places, because there's no travel if Africa is not working, if Asia is not working, although Middle East is not working. And so what we are seeing is that we're seeing a rise of executives saying, okay, I'm in Middle East, nobody's calling me to this table, but I have some you know travel experiences. I'm a good partner with somebody in the US so that I can make something for my own country. Yeah, something like that.

Speaker 1: 25:31

So you mentioned pandemic proof. What are some of those things? How do you combat something that's shut down like the whole world?

Speaker 2: 25:57

What are some of the tactics that you can do to try to get through? The next happens when I decide I don't want to work tomorrow, can I productize some of the things that I'm doing? Can I adapt fast? So one of the things that happened with imagine that during COVID there was a technology that could show you France just wearing your VR glasses. Tons of people pay for it, but because we did not prepare, we, we did not plan, we cannot meet that need when it arose. So things like arv are those are things that can be in place. Then another thing that we can do is as store operators yes, I know you take people out, think. I think that we need to think deeply. We need to become more innovative. What part of my service can I productize?

Speaker 1: 26:40

yes, so things like that yeah, try to make money off all the things you can.

Speaker 1: 26:46

One thing I think of which I don't know if this is true I hope it is but I've heard like gap old navy a hot topic and there's like different stores in the mall and they sell different types of clothing and appeal to different types of people, but, from what I understand, their own, I think, by the same people or similar people, and so their idea was we'll have, you know, the people that like the preppy, upbeat kind of clothes and the dark clothes and the gothic clothes and whatever, and you know, we'll cover all the bases because everyone has to wear clothes, and so everyone sees them as different stores or different entities, when really I think they're all owned in the backside by the same people.

Speaker 1: 27:23

I don't know if it's those exact ones, but I thought that was interesting where in the background they're all you know from the same people. They're like hey, we're gonna capitalize on all the different ways money could come in from all different audiences, instead of just trying to appeal to one which I'm sure is probably another thing for tourism, right, young, old, you know, male, female trying to appeal to one, which I'm sure is probably another thing for tourism right, young, old, you know, male, female, trying to appeal to as many people as you can.

Speaker 2: 27:44

Yeah, I mean, I definitely agree with that. I'm not sure if they're also owned by the same people, but I've seen a trend like that and that is also one strategy that Coca-Cola is adopting, you know, to dominate international markets, although this has nothing to do with the COVID or anything like that, but from where I am, coke is orange in color, in other places it is purple, in other places it is yellow in color. So basically, companies adapt based on markets and the cultural evolution of those markets. So, yeah, that's something that and we're just now something came to my mind because you mentioned something about kids. So imagine if somebody in maybe Tanzania, during the pandemic, decided to develop a book that has all the experiences in Tanzania for kids.

Speaker 2: 28:33

Because when COVID happened, self-help books were on the rise, they sold like crazy. Amazon was just selling out, selling out because we were depressed, suicide out thoughts, they were going through things and they needed books to go through it, you know, to make it out. So I'm saying that, imagine that somebody had just come up with that idea. Probably be calling them some bestseller now.

Speaker 1: 28:55

Yeah, that's definitely true. I remember workout stuff was also crazy on sale because everyone was stuck at home and trying to work out in their garages. Like weights were just crazy amounts of money. I think they were like two dollars a pound or whatever the ratio was. It was crazy for dumbbells and everything else. Very interesting how things adjust based on what's going on just based on what's going on. We'll transition into the last section, which is inbound sales. Can you give us a quick definition of what inbound sales means?

Speaker 2: 29:32

Yeah, so inbound sales is basically everything that you do to ensure that you don't spend money on ads and you don't have to struggle for clients. I know that sounds funny, because what do you mean? You don't have to struggle for clients? It just means that you're getting clients based off of the things that you've built and the kind of value that you've provided to them over time.

Speaker 1: 29:49

Okay, is that like when someone goes and buys a car from somebody, they build up that kind of relationship and they come back and buy more cars from them? Is that kind of like that?

Speaker 2: 29:58

Well, that is a result of inbound. So the first thing that happens with inbound is you don't know me, I don't know you. I share stories, content to build a relationship with you. First of all, and over time, intentionally, I'm planting seeds in your mind so that when you're ready to buy, I'm the first person you're thinking of Okay, that makes sense, cool.

Speaker 1: 30:20

Well, the next next question is can you share a story where a client mastered inbound sales techniques and saw dramatic results?

Speaker 2: 30:29

yeah, maybe not mastered, but they're currently using like inbound technique in the business and that would be okay. First I started it and then I began to like teach them that sequence. The first thing was we started with Instagram, so we developed a sequence of posts based on their audience and what would get us to that point where, book, I start messaging them to say, okay, what do you do and how you do it. We began to deploy those series of content with videos, music and, yeah, over time I think from the second month, they started getting inquiries themselves that they can now undo so what were some of the things that went into, like the marketing?

Speaker 1: 31:11

was it like a song, a jingle, a phone number, just some social media stuff? What was those seeds that were planted?

Speaker 2: 31:19

yeah. So the first thing is real, real pictures, because we travel. Authenticity matters a lot, so you have to be able to show people sometimes what they're going to see, what they can expect and what it looks like. So, yes, pictures, videos, videos in the sense that we can post it. Yes, we can post things randomly, but for one inbound says we can post things randomly. First we need to develop a structure right, focusing that on first reviews about your business, what this is like to work at your company, just things that embody what you stand for as an organization and just showing the authentic side to you. Yes, and you know videos.

Speaker 2: 31:56

Sometimes we got video testimonials that we're able to share and everyone say why we made offers so we can say stay for three nights, get a room free nice, that's some good stuff, some seeds that are planted.

Speaker 1: 32:09

What's a practical first step for a travel agent or tour operator looking at attracting leads organically?

Speaker 2: 32:16

okay. So I think that the first thing I always say is like you're too broke not to be visible. Right, you're too broke not to be visible, except at a travel agent is on the level of trip advice or bookingcom. If not, just go, go, go. First, you do content yourself by posting content, strategic content, because you can literally post content for a year and you may get tiny drops of results, but that's not what you should be getting. I think the other thing they should do is content collaboration. If you see an influencer and that's one of the things I'm going to do next year Okay, I think I should just use mine for an example. So I just launched an adventure platform where I do affiliate marketing for tour operators just to sell adventure tours, and I'm already thinking that by the end of Q1 next year, I'm going to start reaching out to Gen Z and millennial traveler, like influencers travel influencers who have 10,000 or less than 10,000 followers. That's an example of a way you can do content collaboration.

Speaker 1: 33:21

That's interesting example of a way you can do content collaboration. That's interesting. So what does that collaboration look like? Is it money and change for things? Or what does that agreement look like when you do reach out to influencers?

Speaker 2: 33:31

Okay. So that's something I'm still working out. But you know, in what I have in mind is that first, they already have an audience. They have like 10,000. I can bring people on my own platform who have listed their tours to come talk to their audience. So they are influencers, because people depend on them to give them accurate information based on places that they've visited, but sometimes they've not even really been everywhere in the world. So what my own people can offer them is they can go on like Instagram Live, where a tour operator from my end can share tips on maybe how they can cope when they visit Cuba, some travel accessories, that kind of thing. So when we're able to provide value to their audience, automatically some of the people will come to us or maybe just check our website out and, on the long run, if they want us to integrate something more, definitely we're on board which goes back to the planting seeds.

Speaker 1: 34:24

You're looking at stuff that's good and you never thought about visiting cuba, but that device or that technology was pretty cool I saw, and then when you do go to travel, maybe you end up in cuba. That's, that's good stuff. It's really coming together. I had a question how do you balance the art of storytelling in travel with the science of converting leads into sales?

Speaker 2: 34:45

anything from anything right. So I think that storytelling, converting leads, marketing it's like a food chain. Storytelling is important to marketing. Sales become ad when you have poor marketing right. And so another thing is that when we say leads, leads are leads because we lead them where to go right. So you can either lead a lead to sale or you can lead them in your pipeline, or you can just lead them to go to your competitor or maybe leave them to not take actions at all. So I think that storytelling is a great way to stay on their radar.

Speaker 2: 35:27

And you know, I read a report I think it was sometime last year by Bookingcom. It said that people want to make bookings with regards to traveling. They believe third-party experiences than the tour operator. What that means is that, say, I'm a tour operator, you come on my website, you hear everything I have to say about myself, but you don't believe it. So you have to go to the testimonial part or go to TripAdvisor to hear what people are saying about my trip. According to TripAdvisor, that's how people make decisions.

Speaker 2: 35:55

So I think that business owners should now begin to incorporate storytelling into what they're doing. It's a way that they can move from it's essential to their reviews, their social media and their posts. And, personally, how I do this in my community is that I first of all create stories. So I know my ICP, your ICPs, like your ideal customer profile who they are talking to. They now begin to break stories into elements. What kind of stories can I tell these people, and what level of story moves them to the next level? So I do that by saying things that resonate with their need and subtly showcasing solutions, and I just, you know, move them to the next level with me. So, basically, storytelling is great. The best way to balance this is just incorporate it into your market and then it can help you convert people into sales. I think that for us business owners, we have to understand that we're not really on social media to entertain people. We just want to help people, and if we're able to help people, that's okay that works too.

Speaker 1: 36:54

Yeah, that's. That's interesting because I think you know back to olden days, caveman or like we've been telling stories for the longest time. So using stories has to have some type of way of passing information and getting people, which I think leads back to the seeds and whatnot. But you're hearing good information, that word of mouth from other people, and then it's got to translate into sales at some point. I wanted to ask you to try to wrap it all up. So what's one piece of advice?

Speaker 1: 37:22

to travel agents or operators looking to stand out in today's competitive market. What's that one piece of advice?

Speaker 2: 37:41

don't keep to yourself. Go out, talk to people. You'd be amazed at how many people are currently at your level and they're also looking for solutions, and if you don't talk to them, you won't know it right. So if you begin to form like groups of five or four to just the more you get yourself out, really, but would talk to people, it becomes easier for you to get solutions. So, yes, and make great use of social media. If you're already a medium, say, medium-sized business, as much as you can, try to partner with small businesses. For some of you that are dmcs, we really need these trans interpreters to actually get your business into new regions. Yeah, I think that'll be it that's perfect.

Speaker 1: 38:15

Well, uh, thank you for coming on the show, esther, do you have?

Speaker 2: 38:17

any final words of wisdom or final takeaways. I think that would be. You know, don't give up on your business. Just remember where you started, because, I mean, I've had a couple of people say I'm tired, I need a break, and all of that, that moment that you're taking that break could actually be your breakthrough.

Speaker 1: 38:38

You never know when it's going to be. I always reference WD-40, that household lubricant that you use. There was 39 failed recipes before they hit WD-40, so they had to just keep pressing on with the first 39. The first 39 weren't good, but number 40, now it's sold everywhere in the world and that yellow and blue is everywhere. So good stuff. Well, thank you to all the listeners. I love your input. Share your questions or feedback on instagram, facebook, tiktok, youtube or buzzsprout. Engage with us and you might hear your suggestions on an upcoming episode. I love you all. See ya, thank you.