The "Travel for Free"

Partnership Guide
How to visit your bucket-list destinations & live your
dream life as a Content Creator.

BY: ONE PEAK CREATIVE

INDEX

Here's the itinerary:

Throughout this guide, we'll be covering..

03 Introduction

04 How This Guide Works

05 The Roadmap

Brainstorming Your
06 Dream Trip

07 Create a Media Kit

08 Email Pitch Templates

10 Finding the Right Contact

12 Negotiating Your "Value"

15 Contracts
 INTRODUCTION
"I was broke, fresh out of college, new to
content creation and was still able to book
my dream trips for free!"
Hey Friend!!
First off, we couldn't be more excited
that you scooped up this guide! If you've
caught the travel bug, but have a hard
time justifying spending all of your hard
earned money on booking your dream
vacations.. you're not alone. Travel is
incredible (and addicting) but damn.. it
can come with a 'not so cool' price tag.
Which is why when we discovered how
easy it can be to book your dream trips
and experience new places for free.. we
knew we HAD to share how to do it with
others just like us.
Quick backstory. 5 years ago, we were
broke, in our 20s, fresh out of college,
with an itch to travel. The problem? We
didn't have a ton of extra cash lying
around to make it happen. But instead
of choosing to put our dreams on hold,
we decided to do everything in our
power to find a way to make it happen
(without breaking the bank).
Enter.. the world of Content Creation.
Our Instagram and TikTok feeds were
flooded with Creators posting photos
and videos, living their best lives
travelling the globe (& we had some
serious FOMO). We wanted this lifestyle
too!! How hard could it possibly be!?
So we got to work on cracking the code.
And after a lot of late nights & a little bit
of help from our marketing / business
backgrounds (thank you college!)
we finally figured out an easy step-by-
step process of how to book trips for
free.
The best part? Anyone can do this! You
just have to be willing to put yourself
out there and get a little creative. Then
you can be sipping on a fresh coconut,
while the waves lap your feet in Hawaii!
We know that this guide can make it
happen for you.. so let's dive in
(ocean pun intended)!
- Meg + Glen
 HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS GUIDE

Take it one step at a time.

Think of this guide as a puzzle. In order for

it to make sense & to get all of the value
out of it, you need to complete every step
(+ the corresponding activities) before
moving on to the next phase.

Throughout this guide, you're going to

learn how to:

Plan + organize your free dream trips

Find the right contacts to reach out to
Write a 'slam-dunk' pitch email
Build a Media Kit
Determine your 'value' as a Creator
Negotiate your 'free' stays
Draft & send a partnership contract

Once you have these skills under your

belt, you can start exchanging content
for travel opportunities! If you need a
little extra help with content creation, you
can learn our exact process that helps us
get millions of views in our
Reels & TikTok Creator Course! We've
found that the more views you can
consistently achieve, the better your travel
opportunities will be!
 THE ROADMAP

Every journey needs a

roadmap.
We've put together a proven step-by-step roadmap, so you can start booking your
dream trips absolutely free (& even make some extra money while you're there)!
This is the exact blueprint we've used to travel to destinations like Hawaii, Mexico,
California, Tofino, Banff, Vancouver & many more! All you have to do is follow these
simple steps:

The 'Travel for Free' Roadmap

Create Find the Sign

Media Right The
Kit Contact Contract

Brainstorm Write a Negotiate Create

Dream Captivating Your The
Destinations Pitch Value Content
 STEP 1: DREAM UP YOUR DESTINATIONS

It's time to dream big.

To begin, create a list of your dream destinations + where you would
love to stay if the 'sky was the limit'. Keeping this info organized is
going to make your pitches so much easier - bonus resource below!

Our biggest piece of advice: don't rule ANYTHING

out. If one of your dream accommodations seem
way too expensive, keep them on your list.

Storytime. When we first started trying to travel

for free, we didn't have a big portfolio to stand
behind us. We assumed the highly priced resorts
would expect a ton of experience to consider
letting us stay. So when we wanted to travel to the
popular (& very expensive) surf town of Tofino, BC,
but didn't really have any work to show, we were
kind of expecting 'crickets'. But with literally
nothing to loose, we crossed our fingers and
pitched them anyways.

So what happened? Out of the eight stays we

pitched TWO of our dream places got back to us!!
I'll never forget walking into that beachside
townhouse with views of the ocean worth over
$1500 PER NIGHT and thinking.. "How the heck did
we get here?!". As two broke students, we couldn't
believe it!! Remember, the more places you
connect with, the higher the chances are of
somebody getting back to you.

Bonus Resource: Start mapping our your dream trips using our
'Plan Your Trips' customizable excel template.
 STEP 2: CREATE YOUR MEDIA KIT

Remember, your first

impression is everything.
Destinations get pitched every single day by creators just like you.
So your job is simple: stand out from the rest with a Media Kit!
You have one shot to make an impression with the person on the other end of the
email you are about to send.. so always make it count. Attaching a visually inspiring
Media Kit is going to wildy improve your chances of getting a response. Why?
Because you are making the decision maker's job a heck of a lot easier. If all of their
questions are already answered, they don't need to put in the extra effort to figure
out why might be a good candidate.

YOUR MEDIA KIT SHOULD INCLUDE:

Title page
An 'About Me' or 'Introduction' section
What sets YOU a part
Your metrics + numbers
Examples of your work (if you have it)
What you can offer
Contact Page

Note: As a student of our TikTok Creator Course, you will be given

access to our customizable 'Media Kit' template + outline to follow.
 STEP 3: WRITE A CAPTIVATING EMAIL

There's an art to crafting

the 'perfect pitch'.
When reaching out to big brands or stays, it's easy to forget there is
just another human on the other end. Keep it casual + keep it simple.

Your gut instinct might be to word vomit all of the amazing things you have to offer
in exchange for a free stay in the body of your email, but from our own experience
this approach never actually works. The shorter the email, the more likely the person
you want to reach will read every word (that should be your goal). You want to make
it as easy as possible for them to understand why you are even contacting them in
the first place.

By making the body of your email casual & straight to the point, it feels like this isn't a
big deal for you because you do this kind of thing all the time.

**Keep all of your social metrics, personal details & package options in your Media Kit!

THE ELEMENTS OF A GOOD PITCH EMAIL

Your Name
Where you are from
Your profession
Where & when you are travelling to the area
What you are willing to do in exchange for accommodations (high level)
Two quick links to any relevant work examples
Attach your Media Kit

Include all of this information in the most concise way possible (we've included
an example on the next page).
 STEP 3: WRITE A CAPTIVATING EMAIL (CON'T)

EXAMPLE: I am going to share the exact email that got me a week free stay at a
luxury resort in Hawaii. Let me start by explaining.. I wasn't actually planning on
staying in Hawaii in February. I find resorts get scared off if they think you're
travelling to another country JUST for them. It takes pressure off for them to feel
like they're part of a larger trip.

SUBJECT: Reservation & Content Creation Inquiry

Aloha Catherine,

I hope you're doing well! I'm a Canadian content creator and I'll be in Hawaii in
February. I wanted to see if you would be interested in a promotional video in
exchange for accommodations.

Here are a few recent videos I've created to give you an idea of my style.

Content Link #1
Content Link #2

I have also attached my Media Kit for you to take a look at. Thanks so much for
your time and looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Glen
 STEP 4: FINDING THE RIGHT CONTACT

Connection is key.
Pro tip: Your goal should always be to connect with a company's
Marketing Manager or Marketing Director (the decision maker)

There are a few ways that you can find the right contact at almost any hotel, resort
or business. It's important to know, the person you're ultimately trying to reach is
the company's Marketing Manager. This will be the person making the decisions
on who gets to stay at the resort in exchange for content and marketing.

STEP 1: USE LINKEDIN TO FIND THE MARKETING MANAGER'S NAME

Start by Googling the accommodation name you'd like to collaborate with & the
word 'marketing manager'. Ex. 'Fairmont Kea Lani Marketing Manager'. Pinpoint
them on LinkedIn so you can find the first and last name of the person you are
trying to connect with.

STEP 2: USE INSTAGRAM TO CONNECT WITH THE RIGHT PERSON

Now that you know exactly who you are trying to connect with, the first place to try
and reach out to connect with this person is on social media. Typically Instagram
DMs are the most reliable and this will get you through to the social media
coordinator or manager. The key here is to direct the message you send to the
Marketing Manager's first name. "Ex. Hey Samantha! I'm a content creator..." If
they're interested, they'll either give you the email to the Marketing Manager, or
they'll pass your message along themselves. This is the easy way and you can reach
out to a LOT of resorts this way in a very quick amount of time.
 STEP 4: FINDING THE RIGHT CONTACT (CONT)

How to find + verify an

email address.
STEP 3: FINDING THE RIGHT EMAIL ADDRESS TO REACH OUT TO
If you're not able to get through on social media, don't stop here! We do have some
tips for finding the direct email for the person you're trying to reach. First, every
company has an email naming format. For example, ours is "first name" at
"@onepeakcreative.com". If you're trying to find an email for someone at Fairmont,
google "@Fairmont.com" and see if you can find ANYONE'S email. By putting it in
quotation marks, Google will only return results including emails. If you just tested
that, you would have found "gregor.resch@fairmont.com" part way down the page.
Now, you now that the Fairmont format is "FirstName"."LastName"@Fairmont.com
and you have the email of every employee at the company. Use this knowledge
wisely and don't abuse it, but this is your secret weapon.

STEP 4: VERIFYING AN EMAIL ADDRESS

Sometimes you will be unsure whether you've actually found the correct email.
Here's the quickest way to find out! When you're in Gmail (which you will need for
this), type the email you want to check into the "To" bar, then hover over it. If the
email exists and they use Gmail (which is 80% of companies in my experience), you
will either get a profile photo or graphic. If the email doesn't exist, you'll get a blue
circle with a blue person in it (reference below). This will often give you 100%
confidence you have the right email! This is the exact route I used to email the
CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek when I was an intern at a record label and my job
depended on getting artists on playlists!
 STEP 5: NEGOTIATING YOUR VALUE

How to start the negotiation

process.
DETERMINE THE VALUE OF YOUR ASK
So now you're at the step where you've finally got in contact with the right person,
they love your Media Kit and are interested in collaborating with you. So exciting!!
But the work isn't done yet, now it's time to negotiate and pinpoint what the value
exchange is going to look like. The word negotiate might instantly make you break
out in hives, but don't worry friend, we've got a great trick up our sleeves to make
this process go a lot smoother.

First, you need to determine what the value is of what you are looking for. If your
perfect situation is to exchange a 3-night stay in a luxury suite at a resort for
creating content, you need to directly ask what the stay value would be.

Your negotiation email might look like this:

Ex. "I am so happy to hear you are interested in collaborating with me! Ideally,
I'd love to highlight your resort in exchange for a 3-night stay & a
complimentary dinner at your new restaurant. Are you able to share what the
total value of this experience would be? That way I can let you know what I
could deliver in terms of content for the same value."

This approach sets the stage that you value their services and want this
partnerships to be fair between both parties. Once they get back to you with a
number, you then need to decide what you would be willing to exchange content-
wise for that fee.
 STEP 5: NEGOTIATING YOUR VALUE (CON'T)

The easiest way to negotiate

your content's value.

NEGOTIATION EXAMPLE
Your goal should be for the person to send you a breakdown (like the example
below) of what they are willing to give you during your stay.

RESORTS VALUE OFFER:

3 night stay in a luxury suite ($1500.00 total)

Complimentary Dinner for 2 ($300 total)
1-Day Luxury Pool Cabana ($200 total)

TOTAL VALUE: $2000.00

Now that you understand the dollar value (in this case $2000.00) they are willing to
exchange, decide what content you feel comfortable delivering for the same value.
If you feel like your services are worth more but you really want to stay there, find a
way to add more value. Ex. Add another complimentary dinner, or a spa package
that interests you. Obviously this is going to be different for everyone based on the
stage of their Creator journey they are in.

Then outline what you would like to exchange (including a breakdown. An

example of what your response could look like is on the next page!

**Note the content pricing numbers I have used are an example. This value will be
different for everyone.
STEP 5: NEGOTIATING YOUR VALUE (CON'T)

How to present your

content's value in an email.

EMAIL EXAMPLE OF HOW TO OUTLINE YOUR VALUE OFFER:

Hi Samantha,

Thank you so much for sending through that costing breakdown! Below you
will find what I'd be happy to create for you in exchange for the services you
outlined:

(1) Resort Highlight 'Reel' - posted to my IG channel ($1000.00)

(1) Resort Highlight 'TikTok' - posted to my TikTok channel ($500.00)
Instagram Stories (6 total during stay) - ($500.00)

TOTAL VALUE: $2000.00

If you are open to it, I'd be happy to add in a couple more Instagram Stories
in exchange for a Spa Experience (valued at $300 on your website).

Looking forward to hearing back from you!

Meg
 STEP 6: CONTRACTS

Outlining the exchange of

services in a contract.
Always put a basic contract in place (no matter what)!

PUTTING A CONTRACT IN PLACE

Once you have pinpointed what each party is going to offer on their end, your next
step is to put this information into a basic contract. Remember, a lot of these
resorts have done this before, so you can ask if they have a general Content Creator
Agreement they can send through for you to look over. We always try to put this
responsibility on the resort.

Key things you want to watch for are:

Resort Deliverables (including specific booking dates)

Content Creator Deliverables
Timeline of Deliverables (when your final content is expected)
Make sure 'In Contra" language is included

**Before finalizing the contract, ask for a booking confirmation!

SHOULD I GET A LAWYER INVOLVED?

The larger the company you are working for the more in depth the contract
typically is. If anything makes you uncomfortable, you can have a lawyer or
someone you trust look it over for you and provide any clarity. If you choose to go
the lawyer route, have them amend the contract with their suggestions, then you
can have the option to use the same contract (obviously changing the key
information) for future projects so you know you are covered! This is what we did
and it worked great (as we only had to pay the lawyer fee once).

**If you are exchanging actual fees (not just contra) we always suggest running
the contract by a lawyer.