Over the past 20 years I have worked in marketing and revenue roles (working my way up to VP level) for the biggest travel brands in the world. You’d be surprised how much they are just like you. They too put a lot of thought into attracting new clients, figuring out promotional strategies, creating effective content and the making sure they close as many sales as they can.
Today I want to share with you a 3 question strategy that works for the big companies right down to the startup travel entrepreneur. In fact, it’s critical that the startup entrepreneur does this exercise. Being able to answer these 3 questions for your business can be the difference between making a profit within a few months or taking years to breakeven.
So here goes…
QUESTION #1 – Who is your ideal client?
➟ What gender are they?
➟ How old are they?
➟ What ethnicity are they?
➟ What activities/hobbies/special interests do they enjoy?
➟ What does their daily routine look like?
➟ Do they have children?
➟ How much do they earn?
➟ How often do they travel?
➟ What do they do when they travel?
QUESTION #2 – Where do they hangout?
So I’m talking about both online and offline. If you don’t know where people hang out, you can’t find them and create relationships with them. Here are some ideas:
✓ Facebook groups & pages
✓ Local business groups, chambers of commerce, entrepreneurial meetups
✓ Neighborhoods: luxury condo and apartment buildings, corporate short stays
✓ Parents Associations of local schools
✓ Sporting complexes and clubs
✓ Fine arts venues: philharmonic, musicals, theater etc
✓ Culinary communities: wine clubs, food fairs etc
✓ Local businesses: accountants, surgeons, dentists, attorneys, car dealerships, architects, builders etc.
✓ Business conferences where you can take out a trade booth and/or speak
QUESTION #3 – And the most important bit… how are you going to get continuous access to them?
Once you figure out who your ideal client is and where they hangout, you are so close to having a continuous flow of traffic into your marketing funnel. Perhaps you get to attend a monthly get together, maybe be interviewed on a podcast as an annual guest, or even speak at the occasional event. Imagine partnering with a community, special interest group, or local business and having continuous access to their clients – your ideal clients!
I can tell you that the minute I figured this out, my business took off! As you know, my ideal client is a home based travel agent or small bricks and mortar travel agent. They hang out in FB Groups, in their host agencies and consortia and also at conferences and trade shows. I speak regularly as a special guest at these events and then focus on being of service to the audience. I have an abundant flow of new ideal clients coming into my community every day!
So – grab a blank piece of paper (yes, do this one on paper, or at least print it out) and answer the questions. Then do like I did, and post it somewhere you can see it easily and often.
Be sure to post any questions you might have below and we’ll get right back to you! And if you like this blog give us some love by clicking on the ❤.
