TRAVEL ADVISOR SPOTLIGHT
Camille Sanders
Chic Romance Travel
How do you use LinkedIn in your travel business?
I use LinkedIn to promote my lead magnet, travel information, post my blog, and to network.
How do you measure your success on LinkedIn?
By view activity, so how many users are reading posts and viewing my page.
Who are you focused on connecting with on LinkedIn, and why?
My main focus is connecting with international travel businesses like International Wedding Planners, Luxury Local Tours in Europe, B2B, and reaching the couple that is too busy to plan their personal travel and need professional travel help.
How much time do you spend on LinkedIn each week?
5 minutes each week.
What are your goals for LinkedIn?
My goals are building a network & professional relationships, building email lists with my lead magnet, and helping professional clients in booking their personal travel.
What advice do you have for Travel Advisors who have not yet started on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is a great place to set yourself up as a Professional Travel Advisor and to sell yourself as an expert in travel. Your online profile is like a travel resume where potential clients and future business partners can get to know and trust you.
I recommend adding links to your website, social media, video, blog, etc. so you are using LinkedIn as a platform to connect your other online handles to make sure you are cross-marketing yourself.
TRAVEL ADVISOR SPOTLIGHT
Erika Comisso
JOURNEY WITH ERIKA
How do you use LinkedIn in your travel business?
I have a large network (10,000+ connections) from my previous career, in addition to networking with new contacts that would be interested in traveling. I share content on travel options along with the importance of using your vacation days, in addition to the healthy aspects of having your employees use their vacation time.
How do you measure your success on LinkedIn?
I track sales & leads generated from LinkedIn.
Who are you focused on connecting with on LinkedIn, and why?
At first, it was a way to promote that I had started my own business and create awareness that I am here to help with travel planning. Now, I stay connected with everyone as they change roles, jobs or celebrate birthdays.
LinkedIn sends you daily updates, and I send a quick note to each of these individuals.
Then I moved into making new connections. I try to think of searchable themes (like reaching out to financial advisors to partner with, those with photography interests, people that have just retired). I do a search, create a mini JV letter, and reach out to connect.
What are your goals for LinkedIn?
Generate individual sales for now, but I would eventually like to use my connections to engage in JV opportunities.
How much time do you spend on LinkedIn each week?
2-3 hours
What advice do you have for Travel Advisors who have not yet started on LinkedIn?
1) Don't connect with other travel agents, travel agencies, or travel suppliers - this will flood your suggested connections with people you don't want to connect with!
2) First, connect with professionals you already know. This could be current clients or professionals you already interact with - after they accept your requests to connect, their connections will appear for you to reach out to (i.e., your doctor may know you sell travel, so why not reach out to connect with the hundreds of their colleague doctors that don't know you sell travel)
3) Search for new connections based on the demographics of your ideal client. I write a short message and adjust slightly as needed based on why I think they would benefit by connecting with me (don't sell in the connection request - use the JV framework but be brief)
TRAVEL ADVISOR SPOTLIGHT
Jeané Elliott
Elliott Exquisite Vacations
How do you use LinkedIn in your travel business?
I post daily on LinkedIn, and I engage with everyone who comments and/or likes my posts. I also like and comment on others' posts as well as answer all inbox messages.
How do you measure your success on LinkedIn?
When a new client comes to me for my services, I ask how the client came to find me.
Who are you focused on connecting with on LinkedIn, and why?
Being a luxury travel agent, my focus is on those that express some form of luxury in a post they make.
What are your goals for LinkedIn?
The main goal is to gain quality clients that are serious about travel and want to travel to Europe.
How much time do you spend on LinkedIn each week?
I spend approximately 15-minutes on LinkedIn each day, so about an hour each week.
What advice do you have for Travel Advisors who have not yet started on LinkedIn?
Don't be afraid of LinkedIn!
TRAVEL ADVISOR SPOTLIGHT
Karan Morrow
Where2Next? Travel, LLC
How do you use LinkedIn in your travel business?
Since I am late to the LinkedIn sphere, LinkedIn is an extension of who I am and what I do for the B2B part of running my agency. I mainly use my personal page for making, maintaining, and strengthening my professional contacts (BDMs, Destination Specialists, tourist boards, etc.), and I use my company page as another arm of my social media marketing and for staying top of mind with a more focused segment of my ICA. I fully intend to incorporate additional ways to make the most of this tool, including the possibility of delivery of a targeted, specific lead magnet.
How do you measure your success on LinkedIn?
I measure my success not by how many connections I have but by the quality of the connections. I have been pleasantly surprised by the likes and comments on the company page. However, they have not played a key role in connecting me to my ICA – the content I post has been the driver.
When I hear from those who do reach out, I am complimented on the quality of my feed and told that a particular post piqued their interest for them to get in touch with me. I consider them coming directly to the source to make an inquiry a high compliment.
Who are you focused on connecting with on LinkedIn, and why?
My personal page is focused on connecting with the travel industry and travel industry-related colleagues, and my company page is focused on ICAs who use LinkedIn as their primary social media source - both these connections are not necessarily looking to click "Like," and provide concise or few comments - they are looking for something or someone specific to connect to or with, so my feed content and making quality connections remain foremost.
What are your goals for LinkedIn?
My goals for LinkedIn are
1) for the personal page to become a quality resource of information for my business.
2) For the company page to continue to draw the attention of my segmented ICA with content that speaks to my client and utilizes my stats within the platform to hone in on how my agency can serve them.
How much time do you spend on LinkedIn each week?
I spend about 4 hours each week on LinkedIn, either vetting or responding to invitations/requests; keeping in touch with colleagues and favored supplier contacts (so my name remains familiar to them), and viewing my content stats and determining when and if to place any advertisements based on post reach (NOT likes).
What advice do you have for Travel Advisors who have not yet started on LinkedIn?
First, determine if a LinkedIn profile is right for you and your business. If you are going to throw up a profile and not nurture it just to say that you are on LinkedIn, please rethink - it's a powerful professional tool, and once you've made the announcement you are on LinkedIn, people will look.
Should you decide the platform is right for you, set your goals carefully, including deciding if you want to use the platform as another way to distribute your lead magnet. Use LinkedIn to connect with your trusted suppliers and important supplier contacts. Respond when you receive connection invitations. Reach out to those you already know and connect with them and stay in touch periodically - get advice - say hello - you never know when that contact or profile will come in handy, or a unique opportunity comes your way.
TRAVEL ADVISOR SPOTLIGHT
Pam Wittmann
Evolution of Travel
How do you use LinkedIn in your travel business?
My professional career, prior to becoming a Travel Advisor, connected me to vast amounts of individuals/connections that are also my ICA. My personal profile has my company profile attached to it. I’m currently using my LinkedIn Business page for posts regarding destinations and experiences that my consortia are providing. I'm planning to transition from my current career into my Travel Advisor career full-time over the next couple of months. I'll be using LinkedIn as a tool for communicating this change to my current ICAs.
How do you measure your success on LinkedIn?
I measure my success on LinkedIn on a number of items: referrals from my current connections, recommendations from my current connections, and overall engagement with my company page.
Who are you focused on connecting with on LinkedIn, and why?
My focus is to connect with my ICAs on LinkedIn to grow the leisure market that I currently sell, as well as to grow my potential new business travel market share.
What are your goals for LinkedIn?
To show authority for what I do and what I know, as well as to grow my referrals to new clients.
How much time do you spend on LinkedIn each week?
2-3 hours
What advice do you have for Travel Advisors who have not yet started on LinkedIn?
Your business needs to at least have a presence on this tool, especially if you're in the MICE market or want to grow in that market.
