Selling Travel 101:
Avoid 'Me Too' Marketing
by John Hawks

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As successful home-based travel professionals, we must find ways to stand out in this crowded marketplace. And, the first step in being different is avoiding anything that seems like "me too" marketing.

That's the phrase Kim T. Gordon - the marketing coach for Entrepreneur magazine - uses to describe promotions and ads that don't distinguish one business from its competitors. And, it's easy for travel agents to fall into this trap. For example, many suppliers offer free marketing tools - brochure shells, flyers, postcards, Web templates, etc. - designed for use by travel sellers large and small, across the country, serving all types of clients. Though these collateral materials can be very helpful at times, the danger is that they're not unique to our businesses. And, in the end, we don't stand out in the crowd.

Gordon offers two starting points to distinguish your home-based travel business from the online travel sites, the storefront agencies, the suppliers themselves, and other home-based agents with whom you compete:

Step # 1: Pretend you are one of your clients - and look at your travel business from the outside in. Here's a helpful exercise: One day next week, as you start your day, leave the house and get a cup of coffee outside the office. When you return home, sit down and look at your business cards, your letterhead, your flyers, your Web site, your email signature, and any other points of contact that a client might have with your business. But, this time, look at those points of contact as if you were one of your clients. Do these marketing tools make you seem unique? Do they represent you well professionally? Can you tell easily what your niches and specialties are? Do they communicate your experience? Do they seem "cookie cutter" (i.e., the same as any other agent)? And, most of all, do they make you look as if you're running your travel business on the side, out of a spare bedroom, as a hobby? Think about your answers to these questions - and, if you're not happy with what you see, it's time to make changes!

Step # 2: Pretend you are one of your clients - and look at your competitors from the outside in. Now, it's time to be a "mystery shopper" and take a really close look at the marketing images and tools used by other travel sellers with whom you compete. Review their brochures, Web sites, and other materials. Where do you stand out compared to them - and, where do you seem just the same? You might be surprised at what you find!

The best news these days for home-based agents is this: You can begin differentiating yourself in small, inexpensive ways from your competitors, and build as your budget grows. Business cards are dirt cheap, you'll find lots of tools online for building professional Web sites at reasonable prices, and you can tweak suppliers' collateral materials to make it your own. Take "baby steps" this month to stand apart from every other outlet via which your clients can buy travel, and those initial steps can grow throughout 2009 and beyond if you keep at it!

For more marketing ideas, check out Gordon's excellent site for small business owners.

(Credits: Belo; GoDaddy.com)