Working ON vs. IN Your Business

Bliss to Abundance Podcast | Cindy Williams & Brianna Glenn

Guest Introduction

Brianna Glenn — Founder of Milk and Honey Travel, co-leader at Masters in Travel. Came into the travel industry and went straight independent. Now a multi-year million-dollar travel advisor and frequent business strategy speaker, including at Wanderlust Campus's Wander Beyond Virtual Retreat.

Part 1: Working ON vs. IN Your Business

The Core Mistake Most New Advisors Make

New advisors jump straight into finding clients before building systems
Result: overwhelm hits fast, and the business becomes impossible to scale
Brianna's advice to her earlier self: start with the vision, build the systems and workflows, then invite clients in

What Overwhelm Actually Signals

You finally have clients but no repeatable process to serve them
Every day starts in triage mode instead of from a place of calm and control
Can't say yes to more business even though you want the revenue
The fix isn't more clients — it's building the infrastructure first

Why Systems Matter Before Scale

Bringing someone into chaos to help you just creates more chaos
A clear system makes it easy to delegate and bring on support
Serving 1–2 clients well is easy; serving 20–30 without systems is where things break down
Referrals come naturally when you do good work early — but without systems, that growth becomes a "giant mess of spaghetti"

The Wanderlust Campus Approach

New students often ask: when do I learn to be a travel agent?
Answer: foundational systems and business architecture come first (Modules 1–5)
Client invitation, sales conversations, and closing come later (Modules 6–7)
By then the mechanics are already in place — everything clicks

Working Reactively vs. Proactively

Without intention, you accept whatever walks in the door — wrong niches, wrong clients, wrong trips
With systems and a clear vision, you attract the clients and trips you actually want
The two work hand in hand: systems + intentional marketing = a business that flows

Serving Clients Well Requires Staying in Your Lane

Hopping into unfamiliar niches to chase revenue is a disservice to the client
Build your book of business around who you want to serve and where they're going
When that alignment exists, everything snaps together — it feels like kismet

Part 2: Marketing Strategy

Why Every Business Needs to Market

No business — regardless of size — can skip marketing
Effective marketing = attracting the right person to the value you specifically provide
Without marketing, alignment between you and your ideal client is nearly impossible

Positioning vs. Marketing

Most advisors don't have a marketing problem — they have a positioning problem
If you're attracting tire kickers, your messaging is off
Good marketing attracts the right clients and almost offends the wrong ones
Be direct: "Am I the cheapest? No. Will I get you results? Yes. Decide."

Where to Market — It's More Than Social Media

Social media is top of funnel only — necessary for social proof, but not sufficient alone
Email list/newsletter: people who opt in are actively asking for your expertise; highly effective
In-person networking: especially important for new advisors who don't yet have a full client book; if you're not booking trips, you should be out talking to people
Content marketing: blogs, video, behind-the-scenes — all serve different stages of the client journey

Two Different Types of Content

Brand awareness post: "I just need people to know I exist"
Problem-aware post: "I need someone ready to call and book tomorrow"
Understanding where your audience is in the journey changes what you create

Architecture vs. Activation

Building the architecture (social pages, Google profile, SEO, website) and putting it to work are two completely different functions
Too many advisors put up a Facebook page and wonder why inquiries aren't pouring in
The house is built — but you haven't invited anyone to the party yet

Part 3: Paid Advertising

When Organic Isn't Enough

Organic reach is down across platforms; algorithm is unpredictable
Organic will always bring some traffic with strong positioning — but not at scale
For 30–50% growth, the bottleneck is almost always leads
Paid advertising solves the leads-on-demand problem — but only with strategy behind it

How to Approach Paid Ads

Start small: $5–$10/day to test
Without strategy, paid ads are just money out the window
Every ad needs a clear purpose: what do you want people to do after they see it?
Content that doesn't attract or repel — vanilla, neutral — gets ignored entirely
To stop the scroll, your message needs an edge; someone should either say "that's me" or move on

Cindy's Real Numbers on Ad Testing

Currently has $50,000 actively testing in the marketplace across multiple campaigns
Assessed the last 24 months: ~$300,000 in "wasted" spend — intentionally, to find what works
Current monthly ad testing budget: $15,000–$20,000 across businesses
One campaign is performing 4x better than a month ago after a strategy change
Results get shared in real time with Wanderlust Campus students and agency owners

The Importance of Knowing Your Numbers

You can only confidently scale ad spend when you know your ROI
Many travel advisors are creative by nature and resist the data side — but it's non-negotiable
Brianna reviews ad performance every Monday morning: coffee, no meetings, just numbers
Wanderlust Campus includes a KPI dashboard so students can track key metrics from the start
"You will waste money and time if you don't know your numbers."

Part 4: Video Marketing

Why Video Wins

Video allows people to be in the moment with you — a connection static images can't create
Travel advising is a personal business; video lets your personality come through before a client ever calls
Even audio-only video builds more connection than text or photos

You Don't Have to Be an Influencer

Goal: get the attention of the right people, not millions of views
Case study: a 10–15 minute video about a cruise ship (not even a new ship) generated 57,000 views and over $100,000 in bookings — all organic, zero ad spend
Commission per booking on that video type: $500–$1,000 per booking
You don't need the YouTube creator fund — you need a few of the right people to book

Don't Create Content — Be the Content

What are you already working on today? Put it on camera
Show the behind-the-scenes of a complex FIT itinerary
Show the transformation, not the day-by-day breakdown
People are fascinated by what travel advisors actually do — use that

Getting Comfortable on Camera

It will feel awkward at first — that's normal and necessary
Wanderlust Campus embeds a video boot camp into the certification: Day 1 is just hitting record and saying hello; ums and nerves are encouraged
Every 100 videos = 100% improvement
Cindy has clocked thousands of videos across YouTube and campus content; hitting record isn't hard anymore
First year is about learning your voice — you won't find it until you make your first few hundred videos

Staying Consistent

Don't chase TikTok trends — build a smarter strategy instead
Test hooks and messaging; a "flop" is just feedback on what to adjust
Pair strong organic video with paid promotion once you know what resonates

Key Takeaways

Build systems before you need them — it's far easier than retrofitting under pressure
Market with strategy, not just activity — a checklist without a strategy is wasted effort
Position clearly — attract the right clients and repel the wrong ones
Know your numbers — data is how you make confident decisions and stop wasting money
Go slow with paid ads — test small, learn fast, then scale what works
Video is non-negotiable — start ugly, get better, and let your passion carry you

Where to Find Brianna Glenn

Personal: @BriannaGlenn (social media)
Podcast: @MastersInTravel
Agency: Milk and Honey Travel

Wanderlust Campus

Free account + resources: TravelSchool.com
Certified Travel Professional designation (registered mark, patented program)
Hitting 10-year anniversary
Cindy speaking at ASTA Conference: sessions "Lights, Camera, Bookings" and "Cut, Edit, Publish"