How to find those elusive ‘dream clients’ | Travel Research Online

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How to find those elusive ‘dream clients’

One of the most common questions asked of me is, “How do I find clients with true luxury travel budgets and get in front of them?”  There is a very long, complicated answer to this question and it might differ from person to person.  But there is also a very simple one.  It’s the same answer I give when people ask me how I attracted millionaires and billionaires to my travel business.

The answer is: if you want to up-level the clients with whom you work, you must up-level yourself first.  It never happens the other way around.  You can’t wait until the right clients show up to invest in yourself or your business.  Clients will not invest in you, nor will they be attracted to you when you don’t invest in yourself or your business.  It’s plain and simple.  And when you do, clients will not only invest in you, they will give you the respect you deserve.

Up-leveling yourself consists of taking action outside your comfort zone.  Here are some signs you aren’t up-leveling (and need to):

  • You have a template website for which you pay a small monthly fee that looks quite nice, but doesn’t reflect your business….because you feel you don’t have the $$$ to invest in a customized website;
  • You sign up for every single free tele-class and webinar offered by marketing experts, but never take the next step;
  • You attend industry events only when the admission price is less than $100 and within driving distance;
  • When attending industry events, you don’t want to pay the $109 nightly hotel rate, so you scour the Internet to save a whopping $30 per night, but add a huge hassle factor for getting to and from the event;
  • You are a “do-it-yourselfer” in all parts of marketing your business because you don’t want to pay a virtual assistant $50 per hour.  But then you waste days learning technical things you will never use again or getting stuck on a glitch with no one to sort it out;
  • You don’t pay yourself a salary.

How do I know these behaviors are the culprits?  I was guilty of every single one of them.  And, I have up-leveled on every single one, too.  My business saw tremendous growth when we finally stopped waiting for conditions to be perfect and invested in ourselves and our business.  Investments like spending $6,000 to re-design a website that finally reflected the essence of our business; or a coaching program that cost more than my first car; or hiring a virtual assistant even though we couldn’t “afford” it; or paying ourselves a salary before we felt we could.

It’s leaps of faith like these that result in an up-leveling of your business.  Why?  Because when you do these things, you demand respect.  You are treating your business like a business (and not a hobby).  You find yourself marketing with a confidence you never had before.  You will be amazed at the caliber of clients that show up and will be delighted by the respect they pay you.

Come on, is it time for you to step up?

Meredith Hill, ex-President of Hills of Africa Travel, founded the Global Institute for Travel Entrepreneurs (GIFTE) to empower frustrated and struggling travel consultants who weren’t getting the marketing support they needed. As the fastest growing industry organization dedicated to marketing education for travel professionals, GIFTE’s mission is to revolutionize the way travel advisors market and grow their businesses.  GIFTE’s products and programs provide all the tools, resources and support travel professionals need to reach a whole new level of success in travel – one that includes making more money while making a difference in the lives of their clients. Learn more at www.travelbusinessu.com, or visit and “like” GIFTE’s Facebook Fan Page atwww.facebook.com/GlobalInstituteforTravelEntrepreneurs.

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