Last year, Aaron Coalson was let go from his dream job at a major tech platform. While unemployed, he drove for Doordash while completing Travelmation trainings in his free time.
Fourteen months later, he hit seven figures selling travel.
While most new travel advisors tend to lean on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook or TikTok to build a following and market their business, Coalson had a different approach: He turned to LinkedIn.
Establishing a presence on a professional platform like LinkedIn was, perhaps, a surprising approach for Coalson, who says he realized how miserable he was working in a corporate culture (in past roles, he has served as a director of operations at Chick-Fil-A and an account executive at HubSpot, among others). The approach was even more surprising given Coalson’s self-described “tumultuous relationship with social media,” and nearly a decade of purposely staying off platforms.
But Coalson’s pivot to LinkedIn worked: Currently, 100% of his business comes in via LinkedIn and referrals.
As of press time, Coalson, who uses the tagline “Your LinkedIn Travel Agent,” creates content on everything from why clients should bypass Costco Travel, to a #TravelTuesday series featuring luxury properties, to his latest sales wins. Most recently, that has included closing his biggest deal yet: a $500,000 Sales Kick-Off and President’s Club trip from a LinkedIn follower. About a month ago, he hired an assistant to keep up with demand.
“I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but never believed I could launch out on my own,” Coalson said. “[Now,] I'm absolutely loving what I do. I'm in the most creative space I've ever been, but most importantly, I'm in control of my time and my trajectory. Going all-in as a travel agent has been a tremendous, life-changing experience.”
Coalson said that using LinkedIn as a marketing channel was obvious to him from the get-go, primarily due to his background in the corporate space and the fact that he was already a LinkedIn user, if only passively.
“I knew there were a lot of busy professionals out there with a lot of unused PTO [paid time off], and [they] just needed someone to make their lives easier by finding, booking and handling the logistics of a very-needed vacation,” he said. “Eventually, I pivoted to corporate groups, masterminds and retreats. I wanted to work with like-minded people. I didn't want to compete against the noise of Instagram or TikTok, or all the craziness that happens on Facebook. I wanted a place where I could very clearly build my business and target my ideal client — that was LinkedIn."
I didn't want to compete against the noise of Instagram or TikTok, or all the craziness that happens on Facebook.
In addition to garnering leads from individual followers, Coalson says LinkedIn has offered several partnerships that help him sell at a higher price point over the long-term.
“These are business professionals who are looking to outsource to other business professionals,” he said, noting that one of his longest-running partnerships is with Beehiiv, a major newsletter platform.
“The people I've connected with on LinkedIn are truly some of the best people out there, and I've really been able to build a tribe, a community,” Coalson said. “I think LinkedIn is the most generous platform out there — people are always eager to see you succeed. I call it my virtual office, where I get to show up every day and choose my coworkers.”
I think LinkedIn is the most generous platform out there — people are always eager to see you succeed. I call it my virtual office, where I get to show up every day and choose my coworkers.
For travel advisors looking to branch out on social media, Coalson recommends using LinkedIn, but notes that it has its own unique set of differences from other commonly used platforms.
So, agents should be very intentional about what they post — and promos and discounts are an absolute no-no, Coalson says.
“It's a long-term game, there are no short results,” he said. “[Users are] business folks looking to grow their own brands and platforms who want to hang with other like-minded people. LinkedIn is a phenomenal place to build, grow and learn from other business leaders. It takes time to learn and to build, but the return can also be incredible.”
LinkedIn is a phenomenal place to build, grow and learn from other business leaders. It takes time to learn and to build, but the return can also be incredible.
Other tips? Show up, and don’t get discouraged when you don’t immediately see a return on investment, Coalson says. Set manageable goals for posting — for example, Coalson’s goal is to engage with other users’ content by writing 30-50 new comments every day on others’ posts.
“You’ll feel like you're writing to the wind,” he said. “You have to keep going … to show up every day, even when you don't feel like it. Lastly, you have to think like a content creator. You have to generate content that's interesting and compelling, giving people a reason to follow you.”
Another advantage to starting on LinkedIn as a travel advisor, he says, is that the travel niche is relatively small on the platform — for now.
“I think LinkedIn is only going to grow in popularity, which means it will only become more competitive as more and more creators start moving to the platform,” he said. “I hear agents complain about only having budget clients, or being ghosted from random leads or family members not using them. These are Facebook problems. I almost never deal with that. This platform is where serious folks with real money are … they're here building and growing. And that's where we should be.”
