One of the best ways to increase your travel business is to increase your number of clients, and to do that, you need more leads. For many business owners, generating leads feels like a painful struggle, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, it can be easy and fun. Following are five painless ways to generate leads.

Book speaking engagements.

Where do your ideal clients congregate? Go there and speak to them. If your ideal clients are fellow business owners, offer to speak to Chambers of Commerce in your city or surrounding areas. When you’re on the road for whatever reason, seek out groups of your ideal clients and ask to get in front of them for 15 minutes to talk about the juicy benefits of working with you. All you need to do is ask.

Send a warm letter.

Contact previous clients and send an email or snail mail letter thanking them for their business and asking if they know of anyone who would like to travel. Get names, email addresses, and physical addresses of people you’re introduced to, especially if they appear to be your ideal client. Take a look at people in your circle: high school or college classmates, your children’s friends’ parents, your parents’ friends—are any of them your ideal client, or do they encounter people who are?

Attend a networking event.

You never know whom you will meet at a networking event, or what kinds of connections you might make. Don’t focus on selling—ask questions and listen. While the people there may not be your ideal clients, they may work with those who are. Don’t discount the man who’s dressed casually and talks too much, as he might be the doorway to your ideal clients.

Approach a JV for an opportunity.

Joint ventures are a wonderful opportunity to create a win-win situation for everyone, but often take a dash of creativity to find and execute. They’re fun and can be very, very profitable. This is why you need to keep your ears and mind open whenever you go to networking events and meetings.

Think of ways you can bring value to possible JV partners and how they help your clients. For example, you might approach an upscale luggage manufacturer and make a deal to advertise on each other’s newsletters to swap leads. Or you might feature him on your blog or website and take a commission of each sale that you refer. In turn, he might promote you in his store or on his website and receive your services free in return for a specific number of referrals or sales.

Start a weekly newsletter and commit to it.

People love to forward emails they think the recipient would like. A weekly newsletter with timely, interesting, and funny information is an ideal way to keep in touch with current clients and attract new ones. The newsletter doesn’t have to be long, but it does need to contain information that is relevant to your ideal client.

As you’re writing your newsletter, remember what keeps your ideal client up at night and what makes them happy. Gear your newsletter to alleviating their pain and enhancing their pleasure. Encourage them to forward it to their friends and family.

When you start consistently using a system to generate leads, your ideal client will find you. As you continue, your leads will increase, and you’ll be able to pick and choose your clients. The key is consistency and incorporating marketing into your daily routine.

What are you doing now to increase leads?