The Marketing Mind
How often do you think about the level of your marketing skills, talents and
creativity as compared to the typical B&M travel agent up the street? It’s a
difficult comparison if you are new to the industry and the local B&M agency has
been onsite for 30 years. You would be comparing yourself to the veteran owner,
manager who after 30 years should be selling to long term existing clients and
their referrals versus prospecting for new clients. Your marketing mind will
develop as you go about your day-to-day business. The main thing however is to
keep your mind open. Your eyes too. Ears. Even your taste buds and sense of
smell can help. Come, let’s explore how you can develop your marketing mind.
It’s somewhat easy to talk about marketing
and the marketing mindset for me as I have
a long travel trade history. Not that the
duration has too much to do with it, more so
it’s how I “see” things and attach words,
ideas and actions to generate a marketing
activity. It’s HOW you see things too and find
something you can use as a marketing tool,
or something to help you promote your
travel niche.
Back to my McD’ meal and coffee. Here it is.
I snapped a head on shot with my iPhone and
at the same time thinking up how I might use
the image or pair with a speech bubble.
Here’s what I came up with
The Coffee Cup Lid
Here’s a story: My computer was attacked
this month with a virus. It was in the shop
for 5 days and 7 antivirus programs did what
they do. It’s now clean and I am back to
work. During the visitations to the Future
Shop Computer Services desk I went to
McDonalds for a snack and a coffee.
As I took the lid off the coffee and turned it
over to lay it on my tray, I “saw” a face –
eyes, nose, gaping mouth and it was even
talking to me! Scary I know – but no
computer for 5-days can do this to you. You
know how it is. You know what I’m talking
about. When you are home-based it’s you
and your computer and the tech shop.
You could use this type of image to promote
Gourmet Coffee Lover’s Tours of Europe, or
South America, or Costa Rica, Kona too. OR,
you might turn it into a comical use as mine
is meant to be. The low price could refer to
any travel booking / arrangement. You could
use phrases such as: “To cap it off…” You get
the idea. Here’s more do-it-now how-to.
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