Building Credibility in Travel Writing

One LinkedIn article got me invited to a $6M acquisition meeting. I wasn't supposed to be there. Strategic Account Directors don't typically sit in executive due diligence sessions. But our EVP of Global Sales had read my article about QSRs and Conversational AI and wanted my perspective. Another article saved a $3.6M airline deal I'd almost destroyed. And another landed me a Sales Success Summit speaking slot. Not because I'm some writing genius. I just documented what I was learning in real deals. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠: Every time I wrote about Conversational AI at LivePerson, I learned something new. Not from research. From explaining it clearly. From finding the right talking point. From answering "why does this matter?" in my own words, not Marketing's. Those articles did 3 things: 1. 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫: Writing forces clarity. You can't write about something you don't understand. 2. 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: Prospects found my articles before I found them. They'd reference them in first meetings. I was 𝑡ℎ𝑒 person who explained this stuff. 3. 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬: After demos, I'd send relevant articles. "Based on what you mentioned about 𝑋, this might help." No pitch. Just value. A VP at a Fortune 10 told me he'd shared my article in an executive meeting before a key buying decision. My writing had done the selling before I showed up. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭: By the time I left LivePerson, I had 12+ articles positioning me as 𝑡ℎ𝑒 voice on Conversational AI in travel, retail, and QSR. Not because I was the smartest. Because I wrote clearly about what mattered to buyers. Those articles kept working months later. Prospects would find them. Share them. Reference them in buying committees. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤: That pattern you've seen 3 times. That CFO who reframed your model as "insurance." That procurement question that revealed if a deal was real. All insights disappearing into "I should remember that." Writing isn't extra work—it's capturing the work you're already doing. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: Posts share insights (300 words, quick hit) Articles teach concepts (1,500 words, comprehensive) Posts get you noticed. Articles make you the authority. My client Mike just spoke at Sales Success Summit—"one of the highlights of my career." It started with his writing on LinkedIn. I've documented the exact process I used to write my way into rooms I wasn't supposed to be in. Not generic advice. A guide for strategic sellers who want to build authority while closing deals. Ready to write your way to thought leadership? The full breakdown is inside Lesson 43: https://bit.ly/47LgVzy Because in a world drowning in AI slop, 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 thinking from 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 experience stands out. The sellers who can articulate their expertise? They'll own their future. 🐝

One of my most common advice to writers is: don't write with “tourist knowledge” (h/t Tommy Walker). Tourist knowledge is literally what it sounds like — knowing a subject/topic only as much as a tourist knows about an unfamiliar city. It’s skin-deep and generic information available for cheap. Like visiting a city's top 5 TripAdvisor spots and claiming you "know" the place. Your writing reflects tourist knowledge when you: ➝ Don’t go deep into the trenches to fully understand the topic and present more nuanced + actionable takes ➝ Limit your research to a few articles and lazily rely on AI-generated slop to inform your perspective ➝ Chase the most widely accepted (and repeated) ideas instead of finding contrarian views or fresh angles ➝ Work with a closed mind and no curiosity to explore what lies beneath the surface-level takes ➝ Don't get your hands dirty to do hands-on research and run your own experiments Writing with tourist knowledge is the path of least resistance. It's easier and faster than putting in the real work of understanding a topic inside-out. You’ll often feel directionless, overwhelmed, and tired of all the heavy lifting. But whoever said writing was easy. 🤷🏻♀️ 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱. 𝗕𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁. 

Truth in travel isn’t optional. It’s the foundation. I just read Richard Turen’s piece in Travel Weekly, “To Tell You the Truth” and it shaped my post for today: our industry has a silence problem. Too many glossed-over reviews. Too many “free trip” opinions disguised as authenticity. Too many travelers buying into polished illusions that don’t match reality. Here’s the truth: if we keep turning a blind eye to deception, travelers lose. And so does every advisor and brand that actually does the right thing. My stance is simple: ✅ No spin. If a property or partner misses the mark, I’ll say it and you should too. ✅ No smoke + mirrors. Luxury doesn’t need exaggeration, it needs delivery. ✅ No passive silence. When peers mislead, we should call it out. Because this business isn’t about selling hype. It’s about safeguarding trust, building legacies, and creating memories that clients can stand on without fear they were duped by a pretty picture or paid placement. If you’re a traveler: demand transparency. If you’re in the industry: lead with it. Our job isn’t to sell dreams at any cost. It’s to tell the truth and then deliver experiences that live up to it. Do you think our industry is ready to make truth the standard? Not just advisors but content creators promoting travel need more transparency too because then consumers get confused and look at me crazy like why can’t they go to the Maldives for $500 or get on that swing in Bali they saw an influencer post on Instagram. Just saying #MondayMorningRant ******* Hi, I am Courtnie. CEO, travel industry disruptor, and founder of The Biz Huddle. Glossed-up reviews, paid opinions, and silence erode trust. As leaders, we must put honesty above hype.