Your stories set you apart.

No one else has had your experiences, your failures or your wins. That’s what differentiates you from every other founder out there.

Here are four types of stories you can use today to start seeing the inbound enquiries you’ve been waiting for.

1. The Client Crisis

Some people fear showing weakness in public. That’s the wrong way to look at it.

What it shows is that you can handle a high-stakes situation and come out on top. People read it and think: I want someone like that on my side.

Framework:

• Something broke, and the stakes were real
• What you did to save the day
• What it taught you

Why it drives inbound:

If a corporate buyer or procurement head is looking for a travel partner, what they really want to know is how you act when a flight block gets cancelled or a venue overbooks.

This post type shows you’ve got the real-life know-how to deal with a challenging situation and get through to the other side.

Example:

80 delegates landed in Lisbon on a Sunday, but the venue had overbooked and dropped half our block with 4 hours until the opening dinner. So we called a competitor property down the road and moved the entire group before registration started.

Operational hospitality isn’t just about hoping for a flawless itinerary. It’s absorbing the friction silently so the client never feels the bump.

2. Behind the Quote

Let’s be honest, most buyers have no clue what actually goes into the work you do. They see the proposal or quote and assume it took you an afternoon to put it together.

This is your chance to pull back the curtain.

Framework:

• Name what the client sees (the proposal, the itinerary, etc.)
• Walk through what goes into producing it
• End with what this means about the work itself

Why it drives inbound:

When you show buyers the iceberg beneath the quote, you’re making the invisible work visible. It’s one of the best ways to justify your pricing without mentioning price.

By seeing the work that goes into something, the reader reaction is: Of course it costs that much.

That’s one pre-sold prospect arriving in your DMs.

Example:

A 3-day corporate proposal looks like a 12-page PDF. Beneath it are 40 supplier negotiations, three compliance audits and a dual contract risk review. The document is the tip of the iceberg. Corporate clients aren’t paying for the pages. They’re paying for insulation from logistical failure on the ground.

3. The Pattern I Keep Seeing

You see the industry in a way that no one else in your network can. You see across multiple clients, destinations and deals. There will be patterns you see that others can’t, so don’t waste this view.

You have direct, recent, ground-level visibility into what’s happening in the industry right now, so use it.

Framework:

• Name the pattern you’re noticing
• Show a couple of examples that prove it
• Say what it means for how the industry is shifting

Why it drives inbound:

Buyers and partners reading your post think: This person sees the whole market, not just their own slice.

This is the post type that gets you invited to consult, speak and advise. It’s also the one that gets senior people in your DMs.

Example:

Across the last six months, every single corporate client I’ve worked with has cut their event headcount by 20-30% but kept the budget the same. They’re spending the same money on fewer, better-treated people. The ‘fewer guests, better experience’ shift is here and it’s not going back.

4. The Unsexy Truth

Every industry has things everyone thinks but no one says. Travel and hospitality is no exception. The unsexy truth post is where you say one of them out loud.

Framework:

• Name the thing the industry pretends about
• Explain what’s actually true with directness
• Say what it means for how you choose to work

Why it drives inbound:

Clients have been burned by suppliers telling them what they want to hear. The right clients want someone who shares their worldview. When they read a post that lays out what they’ve privately thought for years, they remember the name attached to it.

The unsexy truth also pre-qualifies your inbound. The people who DM you after one of these posts are people who already agree with how you see the world.

Example:

‘Luxury’ in hospitality has become a price point, not a standard. Most five-star properties I source from would have been four-star a decade ago. We tell clients what tier they’re actually getting, even when the brochure says otherwise. It costs us deals, but it keeps the right ones.

Start Getting Inbound on LinkedIn

• The stealth DM from a corporate travel buyer who’s lurked on your posts for months.
• The authority comment from a peer-level leader.
• The top-tier operational manager who reaches out directly.
• The investor who sends you an email after coming across your content.

This is what consistent storytelling actually looks like.

Does every post need to be a story? No. You can and should share observations, opinions and behind-the-scenes notes.

But stories are what people remember and what they bring up when they message you.

Start with one story this week. Pick the structure that feels easiest, write something and post it. Don’t try and write the best post on LinkedIn. Try to be the person the right people want to talk to.