Wouldn’t it be a dream to launch a company, take your foot off the gas, and just coast to success?! Well, if it was that easy, everyone would be an entrepreneur!

However, the good news is that there are ways to simplify your business & automate certain aspects. Below are 5 ways that you can automate your travel business TODAY!

Invest in a social media scheduler & batch your content one day a week.

Social media is such a powerful tool and one of the easiest ways to reach more clients! However, that does not mean that is it easy. In order to grow your social media audience, you must show up. All. The. Time! But how are you supposed to do that when you are also servicing your existing clients, communicate with suppliers, and managing the daily tasks associated with running a travel business?

Two words: batch content! There are some great social media schedulers out there that we know love! These applications allow you to schedule posts for later dates, automatically add relevant hashtags, and even recommend the best times to post based on your followings activity on social media… Amazing right?!

Scheduling in advance also will allow you to visualize your grid so that you can ensure your content is on brand and cohesive – so so important!

Our favorite apps: Planoly, Hootsuite, Later

Create a list of canned emails that you send repeatedly.

If you are anything like us, you answer the same emails over and over and over again. It can get old and tedious! Our best advice is to save your reoccurring emails as templates.

Some examples are:

• Inquiry response
• Client onboarding/next steps
• Proposal review
• Invoicing
• Payment reminders
• Client pre-travel wrap up
• Welcome home/feedback

It is best to save these in your CRM as well as in your email system! If you really want to go the extra mile, save these quick messages in your phone. Here’s how:

Go to your Settings → click General → Keyboard → Text Replacement & click the “+” sign! From there use a “phrase” that you would never normally type (like “aaaa”) then paste your response!

So next time someone reaches out on social media, just type in whatever your phrase (like “aaaa”) was and your response will auto-populate. Just be sure to tailor any small greetings or parts you need to keep the communications feeling authentic.

Explore the various Google Chrome extensions that can change your life!

We get a weird high out of finding new Google Chrome extensions that make our lives easier. These extensions sit in the top right hand corner of your browser and are small software programs that can customize your browser experience.

Easily access things like time trackers, record a new Loom video for a client, or pause your email notifications while you are in your zone of genius. Click here to see a list of the 50 best Chrome extensions for small business owners!

Create templates for your frequent communications that require branding – i.e. hotel welcome letter, client packing list, FAQ, etc.

Good branding is built when you are consistent with it. The easiest way to do that? Create templates for your commonly used brand collateral like newsletters, social media posts, and client documents. Be sure to take a day after your brand refresh to sit down and create all the templates you will need moving forward. A little extra effort on the front end can save you tons of time down the road!

Canva allows you to easy duplicate and adjust any existing designs in your program. To stay organized we also have our templates organized in folders so our team can access anything they need quickly!

Create rules inside of your inbox to declutter and organize.

Anyone else get a mini heart attack every time they open their email inbox!? Because we promise that you are not alone. Between supplier marketing emails and client requests, our inboxes can fill up fast and if you don’t have a good organization system it is easy for things to get lost in the shuffle.

The good news? Email softwares like Gmail and Outlook make it incredibly easy to automatically organize your inbox with rules. First we recommend that you set up Folders and Labels – think of these as your filing cabinet. Once these are in place, create rules and filters to automatically sort your inbox. Things like supplier marketing emails or newsletters can be easily moved into your folders for you to read when you have a minute, keeping the important and more urgent emails top of mind!

What parts of your business do you automate? ↓ #tique