Episode 15: How to Get FREE Hotel Stays!

In this episode of the Oui Travel Podcast, host Mallory Green shares valuable insights on how to secure free hotel stays as a travel influencer. She discusses the importance of crafting effective email pitches, building a strong media kit, and establishing collaborations with hotels. Mallory emphasizes the need for clarity and transparency in partnerships, as well as the significance of high-quality content creation. She also highlights the importance of setting your own terms for compensation. Tune in and listen today!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Good morning, everybody. Welcome back to the We Travel Podcast. I'm your host, Mallory Green, here to tell you today to talk about how to get free hotel stays, especially when you're first starting out. And I have an email pitch deck that will help you solve that problem. So if you're looking for a way to get into the latest resorts, hotels, inns, whatever your specialty may be, you're trying to dedicate your time and energy towards that niche of travel content creation. I am here today to give you some tips and tricks on all things to get yourself out there, be in front of that camera and behind that screen when typing that email. So that way you get your email into the right hands and make sure that those collaborations are well planned out in advance. Okay, let's go ahead and get started. So I have an email pitch deck that I've finessed and created for free. If you are already subscribed to our email newsletter for the We Travel podcast, you're already going to get this in our weekly email distribution. But if you have not signed up for our email newsletter, now's the time to get on that. You can select to subscribe to our newsletter and voila, you are all set and ready. Okay, so this guide is available for your downloadable purposes. You can just copy and paste it into your emails, seamlessly and effortlessly create a hotel stay. So if you're just starting out as a content creator or travel influencer, we have an email template dedicated to those just beginning and are newbies in this field. So I would do some research work in the beginning, like really sit down and see where you find yourself in the So if it's summertime right now, where do you want to be maybe in the fall or winter for these collaborations and upcoming stays? Maybe you have a family and you want to do a family travel stay at a Great Wolf Lodge or some kind of water park that encompasses all the activities that your children will be doing. Really come down to what you will be providing the hotel, so the deliverables, how you can act upon those and really use your already existing content and your storytelling skills and your own brand to ensure encompass all those deliverables and make it something especially unique that the hotel and resort needs. And three, make sure that you're going to under-promise, over-deliver type of thing, especially when you're first starting out. So I was on a podcast a few months back, Take Your Shot Collective. Shout out to Hallie for having me on the show. And I had mentioned that you can start asking to be compensated for your stays from the very get-go. It doesn't hurt to ask, especially if you've already kind of have your point portfolio out there on social media. You have your own media brand kit. I think the more you're able to speak about what it is that you can offer to the hotels and resorts and the hospitality industry overall, the more willing it is that they can look into their marketing budgets and see if they're able to pay you on top of your time, energy, and efforts. So it doesn't hurt to ask. Again, I know it's putting yourself out there and it sounds kind of scary, but I think in the end, when you learn how to stand up for your values and for yourself and for your time, especially when it comes to time, it's such a finite resource, right? We don't have infinite time on this planet. So if you want to get things done and you're motivated, especially by time, to really be proud of your work and you know that you can become a content creator and you have what it takes to just master the foundations for becoming a travel content creator, then I would definitely start by pitching your services and be ready to stand up to say that you can be compensated on top of your work. So if you've already started in the field, make sure you have that media kit, that analytics. Whenever I get an email with people just starting out and they've been collecting their analytics in a nice, thoughtful way. It's in a good layout. It has their own personal branding, or maybe they've already started a small travel agency or company. We like to see consistency across the board. So if it matches your media kit to your website, to your Instagram, to your TikTok, we like to follow along on every single platform to ensure that consistency is maintained for your brand. And then you'll share all those analytics, impressions, and up-to-date reels from previous travel collaborations and really provide your goal as far as what you want to deliver. High quality image is if you have that DSLR camera, three to four reels, collaborating with the hotel or resort, eight to 10 stories during your stay, maybe for like a two night stay, really get in depth on what it is that you can offer the hotel or resort. They're going to want to know beforehand before you come and stay on property, what exactly you're able to create. So if you say you can create all these reels and stories, and then they go to your page and they see no reels at all for existing travel collaborations and partnerships, they're not going to want to partner with you because they're not going to trust you. So if they see that you can provide the reels, the quality, high content footage, and the photos for them based upon your website, your media kit, and your Instagram, then they're more likely to say yes. And they're more likely to say yes, they can compensate you on top of your time and efforts and the whole editing process of being there and capturing that content and collaborating with them on these reels. And then make sure you've done your research on what exactly the hotel and resort has to offer. If they have a spa on site, if they have multiple food and beverage outlets and restaurants and bars like how can you come in as a creator and really capture that content so that each venue has their own asset has their own term of deliverables so if they have that on-site bar and restaurant you're going in there you're capturing four to five quality high quality photographs eight to ten photos stories sorry during the dinner service and then you're coming back for breakfast if all these things are included in your stay please get nitty-gritty in the details i know i've talked about this on my previous solo episodes, but I think the more nitty gritty it comes down to the details of each of these collaborations, the more trust that these hotels and resorts are going to have in you, the content creator, the influencer. I know influencer marketing is ever-changing landscape, typically within social media space as well. And we're just constantly trying to evolve so that way everyone included on all aspects of these collaborations are fully in the know of what's going on because clarity, transparency, and honesty are just the building blocks of the foundation for these collaborations, right? Do what you say you're going to do. Don't say you're going to do something and then not deliver upon it. That is a foolproof way of going downhill and never getting these partnerships again. Okay, so you have your media kit, the analytics, you make sure everything's streamlined across the board, across your brand, tying everything together, making sure you have the deliverables as examples of what it is that you're able to provide for each of these hotels and resorts throughout these stays and collaborations. And then just making sure that if this is of interest to them to say, here's my email, here's my phone number. If we want to get in touch, it's making sure that you have everything in a nice email and that everything looks right with the layout and everything before you hit send. So especially if you're still putting together that portfolio, you may not have those analytics because you've never done a hotel stay before or any kind of collaboration. It's always better to list more of what you can provide in the deliverables when you're first starting out. out just so that when you're there, you're able to take all that content and can get that to them and have more collaborations on the reels, on the stories, on the carousel posts, so that way other people can find you and can easily see what it is you're able to offer. Okay, next steps after that. So say you have six or seven of these underneath your belt. You have lots of good analytics to support what it is you're able to provide during these types of collaborations. You're already a travel influencer through and through. So this time you want to step it up and start at a resort in the Bahamas. So now we're thinking outside the box. We're outside the country. We're now international. And you say that you are a... family blogger based in St. Louis, Missouri, and you have 32,000 followers. You can provide three reels, all collaborative reels, 12 stories during your stay, and three to four carousel posts, also all collaborations as well. And you're able to stay for six nights. Okay. So you have all of those. You've included all of your recent analytics and your previous collaborations, all the links, everything's highlighted as well as what each of those partnerships, how many followers that the hotel gained making sure that Also, going back to when you first started out, that you email whoever the point of contact was at the hotel, you email the analytics from each of those posts and stories within a two-week timeframe. So that way on their end, they can go back to the management side and say, look, when we had this influencer come, we gained 32 followers just from the one post that we had that was shared across the platforms. So that's more concrete evidence of saying, hey, these partnerships and collaborations are working for us. Let's do more. Switching back. So back in the We're in the second type of email. So you've already established and you want to stay in this resort in the Bahamas for six nights. Okay. So really send everything over all on a website landing page. And there's a tool that you can put everything on a nice, simple spreadsheet, website landing page that is specific to the hotel, to the resort, whatever it is. So it's kind of more customized through this one link. It's called Gamma AI. I'll include it in the show notes and you can get a special discount link through And it's just a wonderful way to have everything branded in one place so you can send out directly to this resort. And then you're like, oop, all right, I want to do it again. You just copy it and then put the branding and logo on for a different hotel, for a different resort, or whatever it may be for another country or in another state. So it's a super easy way, streamlined, especially more on brand for what it is you're trying to promote. to promote to a specific audience, to a specific hotel. Everyone has their own brand. And again, everything is always constantly changing and evolving. So if you just keep the main stuff, the main points, which is your most recent travel collaborations, your analytics for each of those, and then a headshot of you and your bio, keeping that consistent and then changing it out for whomever it is you're sending this to, I think is a nice way to tie everything together and stand out from a professional level. Okay. The third email, this is when you're probably like, you know, you have a year under your belt of these kinds of partnerships. You're starting to get more and more comfortable asking for compensation on top of your time. And you really can capture those high quality photographs. So you've trained maybe trained, you're well-practiced in the sense, whether you're using your iPhone or that DLSR, or you have a drone, like something that really makes you stand out as a differentiator from your competitors. Now you have total autonomy on your pricing, what it is that you're able to do for each of these hotels within the travel industry. This is when you can really set your own standards and be expected to be paid on top of everything else. So they'll come to you as the experts They'll ask you what it is that you can provide for them rather than they ask you what you can provide, if that makes sense. And then on top of this, you already have, maybe you have a YouTube following and you generate everything off of YouTube. You have ads, you're monetizing, like you're a strong travel creator and more and more people wanna work with you and you can set your own terms. So you have that, your own contract. If you have your own hotel influencer agreement contract, that is just amazing, chef's kiss. Perfect for you to position yourself in any kind of professional way. I think when someone comes to me from the content creator side and they're like, oh, I have a contract or my manager's going to send you over a contract, I'm like, wow, you know what you're talking about. You are solidified in your title as a content creator or that influencer, however you prefer to be called. So I think that is a defining factor for when you've made it. You know how to get your points across for as far as deliverables. You're very well into what your niche, your mission statement, or what you provide to your own audience or clients, whatever. If you're a personal brand or you're building your own travel agency, content creation, UGC, having that your own influencer agreement is what's going to set you apart from the rest. So I kind of dive more into that pitch deck that I'm actually going through on my computer right now talking to you about. And it's completely available to you for free if you're signed up for our newsletter for the We Travel podcast. And then yeah, there's just some like little fun goodies in here too, if you want to check it out yourself. And I'm actually tying everything in to our existing membership right now over Mallory's Method. It's a program, eight-week program that you could enter and get more one-on-one coaching, group coaching calls, webinars, presentations, digital downloads for you to start to establish yourself as your own brand, get out there, make your own website. So stop feeling overwhelmed, stuck in the grind, get rid of that hustle culture, And come and join us. Sit down for the webinars. Make sure you save time in your calendar for those group calls and really get clarity and focus on what it is you want to provide to your audience so you can grow, monetize, and finally make your own business online while using social media and AI tools to automate your business. So that's what I want to leave you here today with. Some food for thought. If you're not already, please sign up for our newsletter to stay in the know on all things we travel. If you're listening to this on a Friday, we wish you a very fun weekend and we'll see you next time.