Forget all the cliches on how to save money when trying to travel on a budget. These 10 secret strategies will legit stretch your travel dollar.
Are you looking for travel blog ideas? Do you find yourself paralized by writer’s block? Read this
Love to travel and wonder how to become a travel agent? Here are the first 9 steps you should take.
Get clear about what works with social media for travel agents.
Have you ever wondered if you have what it takes to be a successful travel agent? Find out what the top 9 personality traits are.
Red, yellow, black or white, learn how to choose the best color palette to have the biggest impact for your travel brand.
Overwhelmed with tasks, spinning your wheels and not getting enough done? Could it be time to hire an assistant?
Are you struggling to figure out how to use Instagram to promote your travel agency, then this post is for you.
So you got an invitation to join a travel agent FAM trip. Now what? Find out how to maximize your trip.
Often the best sales methods come straight from the masters. Want to increase your close rate? Learn how to sell like Socrates.
Are you struggling to meet your goals despite your best efforts? Find out what could be getting in your way.
At some point, don’t we all say enough is enough. Are you ready to switch email service providers. Find out why I called it quits with the chimp.
Learn what is keeping you from reaching your ultimate potential and how to break through the barrier.
The secret to finding success in your travel business is surprisingly easier than you may think…
Learn how working through your vulnerabilities and dealing with your shame can propel you to reach your personal best.
Looking for a great book to read to inspire you to grow your travel business, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert is an amazing choice. Learn why.
If you are thinking about starting your own travel business, here are my top 10 lessons I learned from Gary Vaynerchuk and how I applied them to my travel business.
Zoom meetings are the new norm. Learn how to make the most out of your next travel consultation.
Are you looking to uplevel your travel business with professional branded photos, I help you make the most out of your next photoshoot.
If you aren’t making the money you want to be making as a travel advisor, read this.
Have you ever been scrolling through social media posts and wanted to cringe? How much is too much to share with our audience? Let’s discuss.
You can’t tell me that the tagline….” AS SEEN ON TV” doesn’t make you want to buy. It’s hard not to be a sucker for a mandolin that doubles as a bangs shortener, but add AS SEEN ON TV…and my credit card is out like a gay man on Pride.
Are you struggling to come up with content ideas to share in your travel business? Have a peek at 9 places to find engaging content.
Networking…an ugly 10 letter word. Or at least most people think so. “Can’t wait to head out to my next networking event!” said no one ever. Yet, networking is one of the most effective forms of organic marketing, any marketing really. So why are we loathe to get out our
Get people talking…about your travel business. Word of mouth marketing is the most effective form of advertising.
A countdown to the best books read in 2021 and why you should add them to your bookshelf for 2022
A non-“how-to” guide to goal-setting for 2022. Aka…go big or go home.
Hearing “NOs” are part of any sales process. It’s what you do with them that makes all the difference. Learn how to do a post-consult evaluation.
You may have heard it said that people buy from who they know, like and trust. It’s the golden rule of sales. Even back in the day when I went door to door selling Thin Mints in my little brown dress and my bright yellow necker, I knew that if
Basic accounting translates to….Revenue, less expenses = profits. That’s the equation. Simple enough. And when the sum of your expenses exceeds the sum of your revenue, let’s just say you don’t have to have a fancy ivy league CPA certification to know that ain’t good. The problem is… for most,
A few years ago, I stumbled across “the work” of Byron Katie. If you’ve ever tip-toed down the yellow brick road of personal development, it won’t be long before you encounter the teachings of Katie. Many a guru has attributed portions of their success to what she refers to as
How to go from adding 25 cents of value to your value bank and reaping the rewards in the form of leads for your travel business.
Travel trade shows are not for the faint of heart. Learn how to get the most from your next travel event.
Learn why it might be worth packing up your suitcase and heading to a travel trade show near you.
First, things first. What the hell is copywriting? This leads us to one of the first mistakes travel advisors make when it comes to writing effective sales copy for their travel websites. Mistake #1 – Confusing copywriting with content writing and other works of literary art Copywriting is a whole
Successful travel advisors all have one key thing in common. They fully understand the concepts of managing a marketing funnel. Learn how.
Selling group travel is one of the best ways to scale your travel business with minimal effort. Adding just a few travel groups to your normal travel business forecast each year can really accelerate your profits. I know some travel advisors who only book groups because they are so lucrative.
Selling group travel is a secret weapon to 10x your annual commissions. Here’s how to find them.
Why do we always overcomplicate things? Didn’t our first-grade teacher advise us to just… “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” I have read so many books on productivity. Pages and pages of text trying to help me manage my seemingly insurmountable ToDo lists yet it needn’t have been that hard. Getting stuff
Starting your own travel business doesn’t have to be difficult. I debunk the 7 common misconceptions people have about striking out on your own.
(now that I work from home and for myself) It’s Thursday morning, post labour day and back-to-school time. Once upon a time, when I worked in an office, I would have spent this morning laying out school clothes, flipping morning pancakes, feeling for moisture on the kids’ toothbrushes. I loved
Ever been caught mid-bite between the grilled shrimp kabobs and the pancetta crisps at a summer BBQ with this Q? “And what do you do for a living?” Sweat begins to bead on your brow as you realize that, “I sell travel” doesn’t sound nearly as bougie as the chiropodist
While it may be tempting to DIY your website for your travel business, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
I’ve written about sales strategies in the past, but not specifically about closing a sale. A great analogy to highlight the difference would be to liken them to the types of punches Claressa Shields would throw in a ring. The Sales Strategies are the jabs whereas the Close Strategies are
I struggled to decide if I was going to tackle the topic of sales today or not. Why? Because in the world of content marketing, rule number one is to give your audience what they want. And… most travel advisors believe themselves to be great sellers. It’s the one constant
We all know it’s important to invest in our futures. Grab any financial guide off the bookshelf at Barnes & Noble and you’ll be taught the value of investing. Forego that Starbucks frappuccino latte in lieu of a deposit into your 401K, or RRSP. You’ll be rolling on a mattress
Part II Hindsight is meant to be 20/20. It’s exactly the reason why I thought it would be a good idea to poll an audience of top travel industry experts and ask them…what advice would they give someone at the beginning of their career in travel. What I received in
Thinking about getting started in the travel industry? See what industry experts said were the things they wished they would have known at the beginning of their careers.
I talk to travel advisors every day. It’s important for me to keep my ear to the ground and understand their pain points so that I can deliver valuable content. Whether it’s through the agents I meet in industry Facebook groups or from the advisors who have become my clients,
Learn 10 easy tips and tricks to implement today to help rank your travel website higher on Google
“The world is your classroom” is what they say, inferring that the best life lessons come from travelling. Here are my top 10 skills gained from the University of Backpacking.
Learn easy and effective ways to use keywords to drive more leads to your travel website.
Learn how to find effective keywords to improve your SEO and increase traffic to your travel website.
Learn the 5 most common sales objections that travel agents face and how to overcome them.
Do you ever feel like one of those X-Factor performers with one too many plates swirling in the air – knowing full well that once gravity has its way, one of those fine bone china saucers will come crashing down and bonk you on the forehead? And then worse…nobody pushes
Anyone raised in the infomercial era known as the 80s and 90s…can appreciate the call to action….” But wait, there’s more. Not only do you get this lovely set of Ginsu knives for only $19.99, but today, for a limited time only, if you call within the next 30 minutes,
And no, 🦠😷🚫🤒🦠 is not what I am referring to here. Even given the current landscape, the general unease paired with the uncertainty about the future of travel, the feedback I’m hearing from the travel advisors I speak with weekly is that there is demand. Most agents say that they
The question I often get asked from outsiders looking into the travel profession is undoubtedly… “Can you really make money as a travel agent?” It comes up so often that I feel drawn to address it. Regardless of whether you are working as an independent travel consultant. Or if you
Ahhh…your travel agency website. The new virtual storefront for every travel business. Long gone are the days that Bob and Margaret loaded into the car and made their way down to the neighbourhood travel agency. But even pre-pandemic, there was a growing number of agents who were moving to a
I have this new friend in my life who teasingly refers to me as Type A. If I’m being honest, I’ve been a little bit offended. The Type A image I conjure up in my mind is a little Martha Stewart-esque. Type As use labels and folders, highlighters in every
Anyone who has been a travel agent for any amount of time….say they started a hot minute ago, will have heard the following phrase at some point in their career. “We were researching the trip online last night, and we found this exact holiday for $XXXX cheaper.” Let’s set the
Ahhhh, the life of an influencer. Hanging out at Coachella, sipping Moet & Chandon Rosé on a yacht off the Mediterranean coast, private jets, Gucci, #selfie. Being famous for nothing. Seems like a pretty cool gig, but one that the average person struggles to relate to. Most of us see
Human beings have always been cautious social animals. “To boldly go where no man has gone before,” might be a catchy tagline for the Starship Enterprise, but for normal folk…not so much. Most of us are scaredy-chickens. Being the first to try something often offers no appeal at all. Case
“I was wondering if I might be able to get a Venti for the price of a Grande?” I asked. “Ummmm, no.” was the attitude-ladened response that came back from the judgy-sounding Starbucks barista. Awkward, yes. But I made it through the exercise – unscathed. Only nine more times to
I must confess, before I had children, I don’t recall reading a lot of Dr. Seuss. Sure, every Christmas, I’d dress up in my red flannel onesie with a bowl of popcorn, cuddle up under a blankie and watch “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” but beyond that, meh, I had
It was 5:30 in the morning…standing beside the baggage claim area at Gatwick airport in London. My colleague and I had just gotten off a 7-hour red-eye originating in Toronto. I’ve never managed to master the art of sleeping at a 90-degree angle. And this colleague was a friend but
and Swimming Away From the Noise Blue Ocean Strategy – have you heard of it? No, it’s not some eco-project with aspirations to save the dolphin and the turtle population – although that’s not a bad thing. If you’ve ever taken a marketing course, you’ll remember that day one usually
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Does an email that goes directly into a spam filter have any useful info to share? These are the types of philosophical questions that have been plaguing the sages for
I thought I’d share some of my biggest mistakes so far in launching my travel business. Why? Nobody wants to play the role of the fool, right? But I also think mistakes are part of the success process. And after all…sharing is caring, right? Mind you, like Arianna Huffington, I
Content, content, content. The bane of any travel agent’s existence. Well, that and maybe last-minute airline cancellations. By now, you know that not only do you need to be on social media consistently creating catchy captions, but you’ve also been told you have to write blog content for your website.
Wouldn’t it be great if it could be as simple as folding your arms, squinting your face and stamping your feet to get what you want? I think they call that precocious. But we barely make it past first grade when we realize that tactic just will not fly. No,
Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever Lance Armstrong It’s always too early to quit. Norman Vincent Peale If you quit once, it becomes a habit. Never quit. Michael Jordan A quitter never wins, and a winner never quits Napolean Hill Eeeeesh, isn’t that a roster of smart men? And those
As Kevin Spacey’s character says to the young female reporter in Season 1, Episode 1 of House of Cards… “Words matter very much, Ms. Barnes.” Don’t they say that a picture is worth a thousand words? I’ve always felt that cliche made words seem irrelevant or invaluable. I mean…after all,
It’s that time of year where not only are we wrapping up gifts for under the tree, but we are also looking at wrapping up 2020. Can I get a “hell ya” on that one! Maybe you were one of the lucky few that made it through this crazy year
To be completely frank, narrowing down this list to only my top five has been a lesson in ancient water torture. Okay, maybe I’m slightly heavy-handed with hyperbole in this instance, but my point is, whittling the list to only five was no small task. If nothing else, please know
I can only imagine how much you’ve been looking forward to this article being published. Safe to say, you’ve got chair marks running across the back of your ass from sitting on the edge of your seat all week. So sorry to do that to you. But wait no longer.
I’m sitting here with my triple espresso trying to figure out just how am I going to make this mind-numbingly boring topic, fingernail bitingly consumable. What can I say…I like a good challenge. In an attempt to give me a standing chance in succeeding in this endeavour, I’ve decided to
Ever wonder how some people manage to get so much done when you barely have time to shower, and your To-Do list looks like the floor of a 13-year-old girl’s bedroom? Or maybe the floor of YOUR bedroom? Truth is…those other people could be pulling a warm, cozy turtleneck over
Life is hard. Every human over the age of ten has somehow unravelled that salient truth either from a Chinese fortune cookie, a bumper sticker, the back of a bathroom stall door or possibly from firsthand experience. But the critical piece that I think gets left unsaid is that while
So let’s say I’m beginning to convince you. And you’ve started thinkin’…”Huh, it might be nice to start my own business and work for myself. I’m so over being micromanaged by my boss. It’s time for me to step out on my own.” Great! That’s an excellent first step. And
What’s your secret sauce?
No, I’m not asking if you prefer Sriracha vs. Frank’s Red Hot or some mango chutney fusion hailing all the way from Chennai.
What is the one thing you are known for? Not sure, read this article to find out.
Just as you’ve come to accept the fact that green vegetables deserve a spot on your dinner plate, you also realize that running a business today can’t survive without social media. Love it or hate it; Instagram is here to stay. “God, grant me the serenity…” While I would love
Let me set the stage. The heat of the sun licks my toes as, for a brief sec, I look up from my copy of Gabby Bernstein’s The Universe Has Your Back –– long enough to spot a Blue-eared kingfisher settling on the edge of the infinity pool overlooking fields
I was out with a girlfriend for drinks the other night. She also works in the travel industry. We often go out and shoot the shit about our family lives, our hopes, our dreams, lament the fact we can’t shed the last 10 pounds, even though neither of us has
I can almost hear my editor sighing as she begins work on fixing up this week’s nasty typos and grammatical gaffes. Yes, I have a trusty proofreader who, as long as I keep her supplied with Cab Sauv and free tech support, she agrees to give all my blog posts
If you ask many travel advisors how they feel about charging booking fees, many will liken it to speaking publicly in the nude or perhaps asking a new acquaintance how much money they make. “Oh, I could never do that,” they say, completely appalled. “My clients would never pay a
Seth Godin warned when you compete on price; it’s just a race to the bottom. Yet I see it happen all the time, especially in the travel industry. If you work in this biz, you know what I’m talking about. I don’t blame our clients for wanting to get the
What would you do with an extra hour in your week? Would you go get a massage? Watch a couple of extra episodes of Shameless? Try out a new Keto recipe from Tik Tok? Not sure? Well, you better figure it out because I’m about to give you that extra
The fifth “C” in the five-part series of the 5 “C’s of brand marketing is “Client Acquisition.” And really when it comes down to it, one would think it should be the most important, yet it is in the fifth position behind Content, Consistency, Clarity and Connection. Why is that?
The fourth “C” to the five pillar pentalogy of brand marketing is creating a connection. I am sure you’ve heard it said before that people buy from who they know, like and trust. And how does one achieve that holy trinity but through establishing a connection. At the end of
Avoid these Five common mistakes When I was a kid, every Sunday, my Dad and I would sit in front of the TV and watch Abbot and Costello. It was our thing. You may not be familiar with the show. It was old even when I watched it back in
There are five C’s to brand marketing. I’ve talked about Creating Killer Content in a previous post that you should read if you haven’t yet. Having engaging content is the most critical pillar in brand marketing. Without it, nothing else matters. But if creating killer content is the King to
Does anybody really like to network? Honestly? Maybe there are some extroverts in the world who embrace awkward first meetings and thrive in group environments. But I’m going to bet that even if you consider yourself an extrovert, networking still comes with its challenges. Traffic. Parking. Finding the appropriate place
You’ve often heard the adage…”A photo is worth a thousand words” Eeesh, if that were only true, I could insert one of those bad boys right here and call it a day on this post eh? But seriously, it’s a common saying because it’s actually true. When it comes to
No matter who you are, nobody ever wants to be at the end of a pointed finger in the middle of the Blame Game. Just think about it. It goes way back to when we were kids. “I didn’t do it. Billy did.” It was almost instinctive. As soon as
A few weeks ago, I had a rant about why it’s important to say “no” vs “yes” in a majority of situations. If you missed it, you can read it here. That article was more about staying focused as opposed to following Alice down a rabbit hole. That’s not what
I’ve read my fair share of complaint letters. AND…I’ve written a few as well. I fear I’ve been on both offence and defence so often that I’ve come to realize that there is an art form to writing an effective complaint letter – one that gets money back for your
Fomo, it’s a thing right? I know it is because I have suffered from it my entire life. So much so that it’s crippled me at times to the point that I just need to get shit done but instead, I’m saying yes to things that completely drain me of
“I’d love to do what you do Diane but I don’t like selling. Nah…It’s just not for me.” It’s the thing I hear the most when I ask people why don’t they quit their job and do what I do, if they love to travel so much. Everybody thinks I
Subscribe for weekly non-sucky emails packed with tips and travel business hacks that will help you grow your business.
© Digital Travel Academy | All rights reserved 2023
Psssstttt…..
Wait…did you get your free Google social media calendar link?
You will automatically be subscribed to my weekly email filled with useful sales and marketing tips to grow your travel business. But rest assured, I, Diane Molzan, solemnly swear, not to inundate your inbox with useless crap.
I’m looking forward to staying connected with you. Please keep an eye out for periodic updates and special offers.