Episodes

4 hours ago
4 hours ago
Join Sam and Mk as they talk about networking and being ready to talk confidently about your travel business anytime, anywhere!

Tuesday Jan 28, 2025
Ep. 4 - The Struggles of Email Marketing | Lead Magnets | Magical Travel Agents
Tuesday Jan 28, 2025
Tuesday Jan 28, 2025
This episode of Before You Plan the Magic TA besties Sam, Christie and MK focus on building an email list for travel agents, with an emphasis on creating effective lead magnets. A lead magnet is a resource like a quiz, PDF, or webinar offered in exchange for an email address. Typically, a lead magnet is something that answers a big question early on in the client journey and awareness phase of the process. A successful lead magnet aligns with your ideal client and doesn’t require constant updates. The hosts share both good and bad examples in the episode.
The episode also discusses how to create, promote, and use lead magnets. We talk about low to no tech options as well as higher tech choices. Once you’ve created your lead magnet, we also share a bunch of different places to advertise your lead magnet to get new email addresses. We encourage experimentation, and want to remind listeners that creating and refining lead magnets is a learning process that can help attract new leads and establish authority in the travel industry.
Thanks so much for listening to Before You Plan the Magic! Want to connect with us? Connect with us on instagram at BeforeYouPlanTheMagic. To get the 15 prompts for ChatGPT, click here and we’ll send them your way.
Until next week! Sam, MK & Christie
Download the ChatGPT Prompts here
Join the Facebook Group here
Email us at hello@happiestthingstravel.com

Friday Jan 24, 2025
Happy Friday TA Besties | Referrals, Networking, and more!
Friday Jan 24, 2025
Friday Jan 24, 2025
Today we're chatting about networking, referrals, and planning for friends and family. I think we sometimes can't see the forest through the trees while we worry about not getting clients through social media. Most TA's get bookings from people they already know and then the referral network grows from there. Make sure you're reaching out to the people closest to you and letting them know what you're doing!

Tuesday Jan 21, 2025
Before You Plan the Magic | Ep. 3 - The Struggles of Email Marketing
Tuesday Jan 21, 2025
Tuesday Jan 21, 2025
BRIEF SUMMARY OF EPISODE
In this episode travel agent besties Sam, MK and Christie discuss three common struggles of email marketing- building your list, being consistent with emailing your list, and coming up with new creative email ideas to send to your list. They also discuss ways to navigate each of these challenges and share a fun freebie to help with creativity at the end!
BULLET POINTS OF KEY TOPICS & CHAPTER MARKERS
The Struggles of Email Marketing 0:39
Christie briefly shares the top three struggles of email marketing that she, and other travel agents she talks to have with email marketing. She shares that building a list, staying consistent with email marketing and finding creative ways to talk to a subscriber list are the top three email marketing challenges travel agents face.
Email Marketing Struggle 1- Building a List 1:07
MK talks about one of her favorite types of lead magnets- a quiz! She shares that she’s had a which resort is right for you quiz out for about a year and it’s generated tons of great information that she’s been able to use to not only build her list, but also get tons of great information about the people on her email list so she can tailor and target her email marketing campaigns specifically for these people.
Sam shares that there are tons of different types of lead magnets, and you’ve got lots of options other than a quiz. However, the ideal lead magnet for a travel agent is something that helps a client before they begin the journey of booking their vacation. She cautions against using things like a packing list as a lead magnet because you’re catching the consumer too late in their journey instead of at the beginning.
MK talks about how considering your initial consultation questions may be a great way to brainstorm a freebie or lead magnet to offer. She discusses those early decisions that a client will need to make and how you can reverse engineer the process to really decide what your freebie is. Sam mentions that a freebie really offers that instant gratification we all know and love and so using that to your advantage is really important when coming up with a lead magnet.
Email Marketing Struggle 2-Consistency 4:15
Sam talks about the importance of consistently emailing the list that you’ve built. She shares that this is really going to be different for everyone and is largely dependent on how often you feel you can consistently email your list and provide value.
MK explains that the big reason they’re using the phrase consistency and not frequency is because it’s largely dependent on you and the amount of time you have to send out emails is going to vary based on other commitments. She also shares that she’s had to remind herself in her own email marketing journey that it’s better to start small and build than to start big, get overwhelmed and then freeze with nothing to say. She mentions that overwhelm leads her to a creativity freeze and asks Christie for tips to combat this.
Email Marketing Struggle 3- Creativity 5:45
Christie shares that one of the big tools she uses to get out of creativity ruts is chatting through ideas with her travel agent besties. She shares that she will send them ideas and ask for their input and perspective on different ways to do things. She encourages listeners to find a community and invites them to join ours if they’re interested.
She then shares that while it may be a bit controversial, she also will share her ideas with chatgpt and ask it to help her come up with ideas and things as well. She also shared that it helps her recognize ideas that may have already been in her brain, but may not have been fully fleshed out yet and that’s really helpful.
An Email Marketing Tool For You and Using ChatGPT in your Email Marketing 7:30
Before You Plan the Magic is really excited to announce that they have a freebie just for you to help with your creativity- and it’s fifteen prompts you can put into chat gpt that will help with your email marketing.
Sam and Christie then talk about getting started with ChatGPT and what someone can do if they’re skeptical about using it. Christie shares that setting it up initially with your brand voice, ideal client etc. is going to be really helpful in getting it to give you answers you can use. She shares that if she does that and Sam does the same, because they gave it different information it will in turn give them different answers.
MK and Christie discuss how this tool can take jumbled information and organize it in a succinct way- which is something they find really useful if they’re feeling overwhelmed or kind of lost in their email marketing. They both explain that they use it often for brain dumps and ask what to focus on or how to organize things. The tool isn’t replacing their knowledge and insights, it’s simply organizing the information.
How To Use (and not use) the Prompts to Help with Your Email Marketing 10:04
Sam talks about what to do with the list of prompts and shares that we’re not suggesting you feed chatgpt a prompt and simply copy paste what it spits out. Christie shares her process for using the prompts and how the information inspires her to build her own based on what the prompt shares.
MK mentions that she uses it as an outlining tool to help her determine what information she should be sharing about different things and shares that she wrote a whole email about a ride after a quick chatGPT outline conversation.
Sam and MK then talk about how the tool really just helps them communicate more clearly and succinctly with their audience and is really a tool they use, but it doesn’t do the thinking for them.
Thanks so much for listening to before you plan the magic! Want to connect with us? Connect with us on instagram at thehappiestthings_co. To get the 15 prompts for ChatGPT, click here and we’ll send them your way.
Until next week! Sam, MK & Christie
Download the ChatGPT Prompts here
Email us at hello@happiestthingstravel.com

Friday Jan 17, 2025
Happy Friday TA Besties! Let's chat about DTA Updates
Friday Jan 17, 2025
Friday Jan 17, 2025
BEFORE YOU GO...Thanks so much for listening to before you plan the magic! Want to connect with us? Connect with us on instagram at thehappiestthings_co and vote on our post to tell us what part of email marketing you find most challenging and be sure to subscribe to the podcast and join our TA bestie Facebook group so you don’t miss a thing.
Until next week!Sam, MK, & Christie

Tuesday Jan 14, 2025
Tuesday Jan 14, 2025
Resources:
15 Pixie Dusted Prompts to Enchant Your Audience
Grab your Mini Planner for Magical Travel Agents here!
In this episode, we dive into the world of email marketing campaigns for travel professionals, especially those focused on Disney travel. Starting with the basics, we define what a campaign is and explore its role in achieving specific goals. We also break down the different types of email campaigns—like welcome sequences, promotional emails, and surveys—and discuss how to align each type with your business objectives.
If you've ever wondered how to turn your email ideas into actionable campaigns or how to sell more deluxe Disney resorts without overwhelming your audience, this episode is for you!
Key Takeaways:
What is a Campaign?
Defined as an organized course of action to achieve a goal.
In email marketing, campaigns are tailored to meet specific objectives.
Types of Email Campaigns for Travel Professionals:
Welcome sequences: Set the tone and expectations for new subscribers.
Newsletters: Keep your audience informed and engaged.
Promotional emails: Drive specific sales goals (used sparingly).
Survey emails: Gather feedback to refine your offerings.
Starting with Goals:
Determine what you want each email to achieve (e.g., clicks, replies, or bookings).
Align your goals with the type of campaign to create a cohesive strategy.
Selling Without the Hard Sell:
Avoid overly promotional tactics that can alienate your audience.
Use engaging strategies like linking to blog posts or polls to build interest and trust.
For example, a blog post about deluxe Disney resorts or a poll asking which features they’d like to learn more about can subtly guide potential clients toward bookings.
Actionable Tips:
Define your goals before creating any email campaign.
Use promotional emails sparingly and focus on building trust through value-driven content.
Plan to leverage lead magnets and blog content in your email marketing strategy.
Join the Conversation:Have questions about email campaigns or want to share your favorite email strategies? Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook or email us at hello@happiestthingstravel.com.
Subscribe & Review:If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review! Your feedback helps us reach more travel professionals like you.

Friday Jan 10, 2025
Friday Morning Live! | Travel Agent Bestie Chat | Using ChatGPT
Friday Jan 10, 2025
Friday Jan 10, 2025
Happy Friday Besties! Let's chat about planning and how we implement ChatGPT into our business.
The mini planner is available now! https://thehappiestthingsco.com/products/untitled-jan9_16-40
Join our Facebook community! https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1A5uriDArV/
Catch up on the podcast! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-you-plan-the-magic/id1711685370

Tuesday Jan 07, 2025
Ep. 1- The Magic Behind the Message: Email Marketing vs Emailing in Travel CRMs
Tuesday Jan 07, 2025
Tuesday Jan 07, 2025
BRIEF SUMMARY OF EPISODE
In this episode, Travel Agent Besties Sam and MK talk about the big differences between emails and email marketing. We break down the differences between a basic email and email marketing along with talking about travel CRMs versus Email CRMs and the differences between the two. We also cover our preferred email CRMs at the end of the episode and briefly share what we like about them!
BULLET POINTS OF KEY TOPICS & CHAPTER MARKERS
The Differences Between Emails and Email Marketing [0:42]
MK briefly shares the differences between emails and email marketing using an example of Old Navy Promotional emails versus an order confirmation email. She explains that two of the big differences between a basic email and a marketing email include audience size and email intent. Email marketing has the intent of sharing information with a large audience, while a simple email has the intent of communicating primarily with one person or a small group of people.
The Difference Between a Travel CRM and an Email CRM[1:38]
Sam shares that from a customer perspective, it generally will look like it’s all coming from the same place- your email address. However, the back end systems you use to create these emails might in fact be quite different and distinct. Travel CRMs may be used to build itineraries and send them or have a client complete credit card authorizations. You may be using your normal inbox to send basic correspondence. The third option is to use an email CRM to send out targeted marketing emails, specific travel promotions or something like a newsletter.
Email CRM versus travel CRM and When you use them [3:00]
Sam shares examples of several email CRMS and several travel CRMS (see our personal favorites below!). She explains that travel CRMs are really used to send info about an existing trip, where an email CRM is going to be used to send out promotional emails, more targeted email campaigns to discuss future trip options or something like a weekly newsletter.
MK mentions the difference between an email that primarily includes words, versus an email that may include things like rich text, pictures, multiple links, or options for the audience to engage with the email. She then shares that some travel CRMs have email functionality and shares that the emailing functionality within Tern is one thing she loves about the program.
Email marketing and its potential to help you engage new leads and potential clients [5:66]
MK shares that she’s becoming increasingly more passionate about email marketing and it’s potential to connect her with potential new leads and clients within the travel space.
Finding an email marketing CRM you click with [6:31]
Sam highlights the fact that before you can begin email marketing, you really have to find a CRM you click with. MK mentions that she uses Flodesk, which is higher end but user friendly, while Sam uses Klaviyo because of its e-commerce capabilities for diversifying income streams for the travel agent. Sam also highlights that klaviyo charges based on emails sent- so it may be a good option for those who are new to the space.
BEFORE YOU GO...
Thanks so much for listening to before you plan the magic! Want to connect with us? Connect with us on instagram at thehappiestthings_co and vote on our post to tell us what part of email marketing you find most challenging and be sure to subscribe to the podcast and join our TA bestie Facebook group so you don’t miss a thing.
Until next week!
Sam & MK
PRODUCTS WE REFERENCE IN THIS EPISODE
*These are affiliate links- meaning when you subscribe using the link, we may get a small commission. Doing so allows us to continue providing you with great content! We appreciate your support
Tern- Get a 14 day free trail and $10.00 off your first month using Tern by using the link below!
http://try.tern.travel/6CSZfR
Klaviyo
Flodesk- Get %50 off your first year of Flodesk by using the link below:
https://flodesk.com/c/MAGICAL
Email us at hello@happiestthingstravel.com

Monday Jan 06, 2025
Monday Jan 06, 2025
Happy Monday TA besties! Today we're chatting about new DTA offers, Skyliner access, and what we're working on today.
Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast that drops every Tuesday!

Friday Jan 03, 2025
Friday Morning Live! | Travel Agent Besties Disney Travel Chat
Friday Jan 03, 2025
Friday Jan 03, 2025
Let's chat about the initial response to the dining plan promo