Archive for the ‘Business’ Category

Ten Steps To Success in Direct E-book Marketing

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Author: Radhesh Duttabr
Source: articlerich.combr
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If youre looking for a lucrative homebased business, direct marketing may be just what youve been looking for — offering you the possibilities of making your dreams come true.

WHAT IS DIRECT MARKETING?

Direct marketing is offering a product or service directly to the consumer via mail order, Internet sales, personal sales, etc., with no middleman involved. Many direct marketing companies are now being operated right out of the home. Home based business is the waive of the future and can offer you a wonderful opportunity to actually be able to compete with the large, well established companies with large bank accounts. Thats what is so wonderful about the Internet. for more detials:-www.ebook-author-interview.com.You dont have to have a large bank account to succeed. You just have to have a little know how.

* 10 Steps to insure your success

1. SET YOUR GOALS

What do you want to accomplish? Do you want a new home? Do you want to save for your childrens college education? A new car? You can have whatever you want, but you must want it enough to do the things that have to be done in order to get it.

Set your goals, write them down and set a target date for reaching them. Set short term reachable goals and long term higher goals, yet dont set them too high. This will cause you to become discouraged if you dont achieve them. Work consistently towards accomplishing your goals each day, each week and each month until you reach your short term goals. When you have attained your short term goals, set them a little higher each time. Ultimately you will achieve your long term goals. Goal-setting is a must in every area of life.

2. BE SELF DISCIPLINED

Get up early each day. Get ready for your job as if you were working outside your home. Have a list of all the things you want to accomplish during the day. This will give you an organized approach to each day. Its amazing how much you can get done using a To Do list.

3. BE SELF MOTIVATED

Set up a schedule and stick to it. Be Enthusiastic. Enthusiasm generates its own energy. Energy and good health are synonymous with motivated, happy people — achievers.

4. BE ENTHUSIASTIC

Positive thinking will literally be your key to success. You have to convince yourself that you can succeed at whatever you desire, because you can.

5. DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO BECOME DISCOURAGED

Remember… The more NOs you get, the closer to a YES you become.

6. SCHEDULE YOUR TIME WISELY

A schedule is your roadmap to success. If you have no direction, youll travel in circles and ultimately never reach your goals. Plan your work then work your plan.

7. HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

Success is 90 percent attitude and 10 percent aptitude. Learn the art of positive thinking. You can do whatever you put your mind to. Its mind over matter. Your attitude will either guarantee your success or guarantee your failure. Remember … youre only a failure if you give up.

8. SET UP AN OFFICE AREA

Most direct marketers work from their own homes, but it is still essential to set up a specified work area. for visit detials:-www.create-own-ebook.com.Take pride in your business to ensure your success.

9. HANDLE YOUR MONEY WISELY

Set up a written budget. Set aside a percentage of your business income to put back into your business. This is a must. Failure to reinvest your money will result in the failure of your business.

10. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

Get plenty of sleep, eat right and take some time to stop and smell the roses… Be Persistent… Persistence Pays Off… Dont Give Up… Most Businesses fail Just At The Moment They Are About To Succeed…

Sales is one of the highest paid of all professions. Give a man a fish and hell eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and hell eat for a lifetime.
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International Travel Concerns For Business Owners

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

Author: Joe J Smithbr
Source: ezinearticles.combr
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People that travel on business have a lot of needs; Restaurant recommendations, directory assistance, directions, flight information, and more. Travelling internationally compounds the need to access information fast, which often becomes problematic or expensive for companies. Depending on cell phone internet access and reading a GPS while driving can be iffy, especially when driving in an unfamiliar car, unfamiliar locations, and sometimes on an unfamiliar side of the road!

Keeping employees safe while travelling internationally is a high priority for business owners. Many international travelers find the need to employ a personal assistant to keep things running smoothly. Personal assistants make hotel reservations, coordinate flight times, make dinner reservations, check movie times, and even do research to make sure that the hotels, airlines and restaurants are highly recommended. Personal assistants check the weather, make sure that your flights are on time, and even give you directions to the places that you need to go.

Having a personal assistant is quite the luxury and can help to keep you safe and on schedule during an international business trip. The downside is that they cost a lot to employ and they really cant be available 24/7. Plus theyre limited to information that they can find online, which may not be totally accurate, up to date, or non-biased. This is why many companies turn to personal mobile concierge services for their travel needs.

Mobile concierge services give you access to an international phone directory that is often updated more regularly than traditional directory assistance lines. They can give you actual restaurant and hotel recommendations based on many sources, not just the one source that your personal assistant may have found. You can call any time, 24/7, and get flight information, turn by turn directions, restaurant dining guide information, and even stock quotes and weather information from anywhere in the world.

These services are considerably cheaper than hiring a personal assistant, generally costing less than $10/month. You can get a live person on the phone that can help you make your trips run smoothly at anytime from anywhere.

Business owners love the flexibility and low cost of providing their traveling employees with mobile concierge services. They feel like their employees will be safer using a speaker phone to get information, like directions, flight times, and restaurant suggestions, than they would if they were trying to research on the internet while driving. Mobile concierge services go beyond regular directory assistance by providing international phone directory information, turn by turn directions, and more for a really low monthly fee.

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pAbout the Author: Joe Smith is a Marketing Associate of OnCall, a leading online source of mobile concierge services that goes above and beyond traditional directory assistance. Get international personalized assistance with phone direcory information, turn by turn directions, movie times, stock quotes, sports scores, and more at a target=_new href=http://www.askoncall.com rel=nofollowhttp://www.askoncall.com/a./pbr
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Posted in Business |

Writing a Press Release: The Medias Dirty Secret

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Author: Ned Steelebr
Source: articleage.combr
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Theres a dirty little secret about press releases that the media doesnt want you to know. The fact is, most of them travel directly from the senders computer to the reporters trash box. Or from out of the envelope into the round file.
Thats part of the reason reporters dont like to be asked did you see my press release. They probably did, but they threw it in the trash so they dont remember yours specificially.
But you do still need press releases sometimes. (Like, when you have news.) So when you do, remember this.
You may already know that every press release has a headline – a short title – and a lead, or first paragraph. What you may not know is that virtually nothing else in your release matters!
The job of a release is to attract and pique the reporter to read on. Keep the head and the lead snappy – and short. Make them compelling, intriguing, and grabbing.
(But still true, please. This is no time to emulate a supermarket tabloid. Do not claim, for instance, that famous stars are among your clients, just because the former quarterback of the high school football team uses your services.)
To get the best chance for publicity from your press release, put as much time into carefully crafting these two inches of your masterpiece as you allot to writing the entire rest of the release. I am not kidding!
Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steeles MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.br
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Posted in Business |

Slash Thousands From Your Business Travel

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Author: John Grimmerbr
Source: ezinearticles.combr
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When it comes to your business travel we all know that this comes write out of your bottom line, but in order to keep good customer relations this is something that you must do. One of the most common things to do is to hire a business travel manager to handle all your business travel arrangements.

Did you realize that the median salary for a business travel manager is $73,000.00 per year? (FACT) Wheres the savings?

The best way to slash thousands from your travel expenses is to out source. You can have a travel agency do the same things as a business travel manager without spending thousands doing it. By having a travel agency handle your travel arrangements, you can save anywhere from 80 to 90% depending on how many travelers you have. By doing this makes your bottom line more profitable.

Let me ask you, would you rather spend 73,000 or 10,000?

The responsibilities of a travel manager are to choose transportation and lodging for company employees, advise about passport and visa requirements, rates of currency exchange, all things that a travel agent is already doing. Additional perks of hiring a travel agent is they can handle convention planning and group vacation organization for employees.

One of the best benefits from hiring a travel agent over a business travel manager is that a travel agent is offered reduced travel rates from preferred vendors as to where a business travel manager is not.

By out sourcing and hiring a travel agent over a travel manager, you are not only saving from paying a large salary, but you also save by not having to provide benefits such as health care and retirement. These could easily bring the cost of hiring a business travel manager to well over $100,000.00 a year. Thats Insane!!!

There are so many more benefits from hiring a travel agent over a business travel manager because they are so much more knowledgeable in the travel industry. How, when, and where travel is booked whether online or offline is very important when it comes to saving money on your business travel. These are techniques that only travel agents will know because they deal directly with travel vendors. Nine times out of ten a business travel manager will either call a travel agent or go to a travel agents web site for their information.(FACT)

Havent we learned in the past couple of years that foolish spending is not the way to go? Look at what it has done to big business. Its time we get smart and trim the wasted fat. Wouldnt you rather spend the money growing your business than hiring someone thats probably looking out for them self rather the company?

When looking for a travel service for your company make sure that they have incentive and rewards programs. Look for a service that has the customers best interest at heart.

I understand that customer service must come first in order to have long standing business relations. I want to help you to accomplish this same goal.

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pFor more information on my incentive and reward programs email me at a href=mailto:john@grimmerstravel.com rel=nofollowjohn@grimmerstravel.com/a/ppPlease put Incentive in the subject line. Thank You/pbr
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Posted in Business |

Choosing the Right Direct Sale Company for You

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

Author: Sara Dugganbr
Source: articleage.combr
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Working from home has become common place among a large percentage of moms and even dads. It is the wave of the future for families who wish to spend more time with each other, develop deeper relationships, save money, become self-sufficient, and directors of their own future. The direct sale industry has opened up many doors for families who wish to work from home. No longer are you restricted to companies like AVON, Mary Kay, and Tupperware.
These great companies paved the way for the thousands of other baby companies that have followed in their footsteps. Today, the direct sale industry is even a viable way for moms or dads who have created their own product to market it to the public efficiently and with little investment, while helping other families work from home.
In deciding which company will be a perfect fit for you, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

What are my interests?
How much time do I have to devote to a home business?
Will I have support from family?
How much money do I have to invest?
How much money do I need to invest in maintaining the business?
What are my long term and short term goals with regards to managing a home business?
Am I a people person or more of an introvert?

In answering these questions you will learn a bit about yourself, your goals, and what opportunities are available to you in the direct sale industry. For instance, let say you love to visit with friends and familyÂ…
This makes for a good companion to businesses that deal with party plans and marketing their products one on one. If, however, you are a more introverted personality, you may want to think about seeking a company that can be run over the Internet exclusively.
Knowing how much money you have to invest initially as well as monthly on a home business is a must. You dont want to make the initial investment and then realize 3 months into it that you have to use savings or credit cards just to maintain the business. Budget your money, it wont be a lot in the beginning, but with resources on the internet, you will find easy, low cost, and even free ways to market your business.
Is your family on board? What does your spouse think about this endeavor? Family support is key to running a home business. If you dont have the support at home, you will be hard pressed to make it successful. Make sure you and your spouse talk with each other about the impact that working at home will have on the family as a whole. You need to review the positives as well as the negatives of having work and home join. Always remember, working at home is for the good of your situation—your family, if it loses this focus and becomes a burden or thorn in your flesh, please consider letting it go. No business is worth breaking up relationships and a family.
In choosing a business the most important thing to consider is not money although that is a consideration. The most important thing to consider is, will you enjoy what you do and can you do it? Some people will only focus on the money part, which will sometimes lead them into making a decision to go with a company that just is not their match. This is why it is important to know what you like and what you dont like. If you like scrap booking, then choose a company that supports that interest. You will be an enthusiastic sales person and you will reap benefits by getting your supplies at a discount. Do you like children? What about starting a business selling books crafts clothes, or tutoring? Are you more business oriented? Do you like to travel? Do you like wine tasting? How about cooking? The possibilities are endless in the direct sale industry.
After determining where your interests lie, you need to seek out a company that matches not only your interests but your financial goals as well. The Direct Sale Association (http://www.dsa.org) lists a number of well-known and not so well known companies that have agreed to abide by a set of ethics in business relations. You can start your research here if youd like. If you know the name of a company you can always look them up on the Internet and directly ask the company about its work at home opportunity.
You can also, visit a number of sites like Host A Party Online (http://www.hostapartyonline.com ) or Direct Selling Opportunities (http://www.directsellingopportunities.com ) and request information from a sales representative. Each company listed has paid a fee to briefly list their opportunity and your information request goes immediately to their inbox for review.
The following are some questions you may find useful when researching your company:

What is the start up cost? Any hidden fees?
Are there sales quotas? What are they?
Is a web site included? Additional?
What are the advertising policies? Off and online?
Do you provide sales training or support?
Are order forms and sales aids an additional expense?
Is a starter kit a required cost? If so, how much is the kit?
How long have you been in business?
What is the history of your business? Who is the CEO, How did the idea/business come about?
What are the commissions?
Can I build a Team of Recruits?
What is your recruiting policy?
Do I earn a percentage of my recruits sales?
Is there an opportunity for advancement?
Will I be able to maintain a group online where I can meet/chat with my team of recruits? What are your policies on this?

I am sure there are more questions you can come up with. Questions are not a BAD thing. On the contrary, it is when we do not ask questions that we get into trouble and get sucked into a scam or illegal pyramid type business. I always say take everything with a grain of salt. What this means is listen to the responses, but always keep a look out or be aware of anything that seems out of place. Not everything that is presented to us can be taken at face value, after all business is business and even the direct sale industry is trying to make money. They are just using you as way a to do it in a more economical way for them, but also helps you out as a side benefit.
I hope that this helps you in your quest in searching for the right Direct Sale Company for you. Good luck in your search and please if you have any questions contact me or visit my site at (http://www.directsaleopportunities.com) Direct Sale Opportunities.
Sara Duggan and her lovely family live in beautiful California. She loves to crochet and write in her spare time. Be sure to sign up for her newsletter at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/directsaleopportunitiesbr
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Fun Travel Job Positions You Can Get Today

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

Author: T Halebr
Source: ezinearticles.combr
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People often say, If you love your job, you will never work a day in your life!

That is why people want to work in the travel and tourism industry, where jobs are fun and exciting. It has the opportunity for travel and opportunities for exploring the world. It is such an exciting field to be involved in its totally understandable that people want jobs in the industry.

The range of career options is vast and you can find the right one for you. However, finding a suitable travel job can be quite overwhelming. This is why self examination is important. Recognizing your personal skills and traits is essential so you can be sure that the travel job you apply for is the best one for you.

It is crucial to identify your career options based on your personal attributes. So to avoid making the wrong career choice, know your options first.

Here are some fun travel jobs you can get today!

Announcer or Emcee

Good speaking skills, enthusiasm, and confidence. These are the skills required for this type of job. You could end up broadcasting everything from sporting events to commercials, parties to conferences, and any kind event that requires a host.

You travel to where the event occurs and you usually get paid accommodations as well as paid travel expenses. Compensation may vary and it can depend on your experience, reputation, and credibility in the field.

Adventure Tour Guide

Skills in organizing and human management are essential in this type of work. Leadership and communication skills are also a must. You will be leading a group of voyagers seeking to experience adventure-filled and worthwhile experiences.

Your knowledge and expertise in providing fun adventure activities is crucial but you will get to enjoy the adventure while providing an amazing experience to your customers. Happy clients may include tips if you do a great job and show them the sights.

You can work as contractor or a direct employee of any relevant agency. Food and shelter are usually provided by your company if you are affiliated with any.

Consultant

Whatever your expertise might be, you can travel from city to city to give your services as a consultant. If you prefer, you can even stay home and work through your phone or Internet

Consultants can be used for work on projects concerning IT, business management, or banking and finance, you can become a consultant if it matches your expertise and experience. The pay may vary. Most consultants work as freelancers; self-promotion is necessary in this career.

Entertainer

Do you have the ability to perform on stage? Are you musically gifted or endowed with dancing or acting skills?

If you do, you can become a part of a group that can work in different locations. You will entertain and provide enjoyment to people. Cruise ships have a huge demand for entertainers.

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pb**Attention Readers**/b/ppClaim your FREE copy of our sites step-by-step guide showing you about a target=_new href=http://moneyfortraveling.com/members/fun-travel-job-positions-you-can-get-today rel=nofollowTravel Job You Can Get/a or visit a target=_new href=http://www.moneyfortraveling.com rel=nofollowhttp://www.moneyfortraveling.com/a/pbr
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10 Issues to Consider When Investigating a Travel-Business Opportunity

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

Author: John Holcombebr
Source: ezinearticles.combr
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When looking for the best possible travel business opportunity for you, make sure to investigate these 10 issues before you get started.With the explosion of the online travel businesses, its important to protect yourself even more than before.

1) What are the annual sales of the travel business you are investigating?If they wont disclose their annual sales; that is the first sign to look elsewhere.Additionally, online travel agencies that have a very low annual sales volume are in danger of going out of business in this violent economy.

2) What is the size of the support staff?How many employees are available to help you and your clients with questions?Some of these companies are so small that they simply can afford to have support staff.

3) Is this company a card mill?A company that sells travel perks without actually selling travel is a card mill. If you are looking at a company that just sell memberships or travel clubs beware. They might be a card mill!Card mills are being targeted by the industry and may soon be out of business.

4) Is the company you are looking into publicly traded?A company that is publicly traded is regulated, regularly audited, and has their financial information easily available.This is just another way to check the validity of the travel business you are interested in.

5) Is the travel company you are checking out a leader or a follower?Is this company constantly adding new products and services or changing the travel experience or do they only react to others.Do you consider this company to be the Google or Microsoft of travel?

6) Is this travel business opportunity recognized in the Travel Weeklys Power List?This is just another way to check the validity of this opportunity.

7) Does this travel business receive lots of publicity, either positive or negative?Most people do their research on the Internet, however you must realize not everything on the Internet is true or factual.Some companies utilize the practice of negative advertisement to attract new business.Mostly this practice is unethical and illegal.Take all of the information that you collect and make your own decision.If this company is the Microsoft of travel, Im sure it will get a lot a publicity, good and bad that is not factual.
8) Is this travel business a member of the Direct Sellers Agency (DSA)? DSA is the national trade association of the leading firms that manufacture and distribute goods and services sold directly to consumers.This is just another way to check the validity of this opportunity.

9) How long has this company been in the business of selling travel online?Many online travel companies are sprouting up all over the Internet quickly.As with any business, many fail within the first year because of the lack of capital and recognition within the industry.Travel is no different.

10) Does this company primarily sell travel or travel a secondary product?In my opinion, this is a major red flag.If your companys main focus is not travel, why would you want to be involved with it?The travel section of this business can easily be discontinued and you would be stuck with selling diet supplements.

Be careful when checking out any travel business opportunity.Not all companies are created equal, regardless of price.The above tips will help you avoid making a mistake when choosing a travel company to work with.Travel is an amazing business, so starting out on the right foot will make it that much more enjoyable.

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pThis article was brought to you by John Holcombe. John is a network marketing coach, trainer, and network marketer. John has learned the ultimate network marketing secret, the more you give, the more you receive. He lives it everyday./ppNetwork Marketing has completely changed with the advent of the Internet. The old school network marketing technique of hounding your friends, family members, and neighbors are over. Learn to attract others that are genuinely interested in you and your business with attraction marketing. Learn more about attraction marketing at a target=_new href=http://www.network-marketing-secrets.net rel=nofollowhttp://www.network-marketing-secrets.net/a/pbr
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Learning To Travel As An Insider

Friday, November 27th, 2009

Author: Joe Jacobsonbr
Source: articledashboard.combr
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In this article, we will explain how anyone can biking at a atom of the approved price, adore perks, allowances and upgrades like youve never accomplished before, biking tax-deductible anywhere in the world, and even get paid if you travel.

What does it beggarly to biking as an insider? Well, for decades, the biking industry has depended on biking agents to book all travel. Then, in the mid-1990s, two things happened that always afflicted the way humans book travel. Number one, the airlines chock-full paying commissions to agencies. This impacted them abundantly back airline commissions were actual important to their assets stream. At about the aforementioned time, the aboriginal Internet booking engines like Travelocity came into existence. Over the years as the Internet sites got added convenient and offered bigger prices, beneath humans went to the abounding account agency.

There are companies that yield advantage of this trend in the industry accouterment you your actual own online booking engine. The alone aberration amid castigation and the added sites is that you accumulate the commissions. If you, your accompany or business assembly book biking on your alone website, you get 60% of the commissions that are paid. Accumulate in apperception that this website is still retail biking and is advised for your clients. You are now able to biking as an industry able (insider), so you will usually not book your biking online. Instead, you will use your biking credential to alarm the backdrop absolute and ask for address biking abettor rates.

Its important to accumulate in apperception that for decades, the biking vendors (cruises, hotels, resorts, etc.) accept depended aloft the articulate commercial of biking industry professionals. Its alleged chargeless advertising. The biking backdrop commonly allure biking agents at a acutely bargain amount in barter for the agents traveling home to advance their auberge or cruise line. The backdrop are not traveling to bang anyone out of a auberge allowance so you can break there cheaper, but if the allowance is traveling to go bare anyhow in an off-season or accept season, again they will still account by accepting you break there at a bargain amount and again advice to advance their facility. Its a win-win situation. If the auberge doesnt hire that allowance tonight, its accident acquirement forever.

Tax Benefits
Its actual important to accept the aberration amid traveling with after-tax dollars as against to traveling with pre-tax dollars as a business owner. Lets attending at taxes for a minute: if you are not a business owner, you are missing out on one of the advantages of tax-deductibility. Lets yield a simple archetype of the aberration amid an agent and a business owner. Lets say the boilerplate American spends about $3,000 per year on biking and vacations. You may absorb more. If you are an employee, you will accept to acquire about $4,500 down at the job and again net out $3,000 afterwards taxes. You again absorb the $3,000 on the vacations. At the end of the vacation, you accept abundant memories, but no money in your pocket.
Contrast this with the biking business buyer who aswell makes $4,500 (maybe even at the aforementioned job), but again buys the biking as a business expense. As a business owner, you dont pay taxes until all business costs are deducted. In addition, because you are a biking professional, you will apparently get the aforementioned vacation at a bargain rate, say $1,500. Subtract this from $4,500 and you are larboard with $3,000. Now you accept to pay the aforementioned amount of taxes (lets say about 33% or $1,000). You are larboard with $2,000 in your abridged and the acceptable memories. Which way would you rather travel, as an agent or a biking business owner?
In accession to the biking getting tax deductible (consult with your tax advisor), you may accept added business costs such as corpuscle phones, internet connection, car expenses, cameras, etc. As continued as you amusement this business as a absolute business by documenting your business activities and expenses, you may accept added tax allowances (check with your tax advisor).
To apprentice added about how to get complex with this avant-garde and able new way to accomplish money in the 7-trillion dollar biking industry, appointment the website below./pbr
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What Is A Home Based Travel Agent?

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Author: Jennifer Dugan
Source: articleage.com

Many people are unclear about the travel industry. Travel agents are often thought to be the same as real estate agents. Becoming a travel agent or more specifically a home based travel agent is an exciting career change or retirement option. Some people do it full time while many do it as a part time business.
A travel agent books travel for customers and is paid by suppliers a commission on the booking. For bookings that suppliers do not pay a commission on, a travel agent also can charge the client a service fee for his/her time. An example is if you were to book a hotel for a client, the hotel would then send a check to the agency after the client checked out. Most hotels pay 10% of the price of the hotel before taxes and fees. A $100 per night hotel reservation would mean $10 a night for the travel agent who made the booking. This hotel would cost the same whether the customer uses a travel agent or books through the hotel directly. In many cases the travel agent can get a better price. It costs the customer nothing to use the travel agent unless the travel agent charges service fees.
Can anyone do this? In order to work with suppliers, you must have an account set up with the supplier. Most require an agency to hold an IATAN, CLIA or ARC number. IATAN stands for International Airlines Travel Agent Network. CLIA stands for Cruise Lines International Association. ARC stands for Airline Reporting Corporation. Each of these memberships requires different things including sales, money in the bank, experience or training in the industry, and membership fees. Many will require Errors and Omissions insurance of $1,000,000 or more.
For the average travel agent, membership is not a possibility with some organizations so the agent will team up with an agency and work as an independent agent or outside agent. There are also advantages of working with an agency because most travel agents cannot make enough in sales with a particular supplier to obtain higher commission levels and bonuses. Working with an agency with many agents can increase the commission percentages the agent gets because of the joint sales of all the agents at the agency. Support is also a very important aspect of being a successful agent. Agents who do not work with others tend to feel more isolated and have to learn to do it all solo. Since no agent can have the experience of being everywhere in the world or staying at every hotel or resort, having others that you can get advice from is really helpful.
The future of travel agencies is always questioned. The truth is the industry has changed in many ways. Some changes were for the better, some for the worse. Many airlines have cut commissions for travel agents. However, there are many other suppliers who are paying travel agents more than they were ten years ago. Cruises used to be booked by only the rich and now people in every income book cruises. Each year more and more people go on cruises. Most people say they want to go on a cruise at least once and many who go on their first come home to want to book another.
You can earn commission on many travel reservations.

Hotels
Rental Cars
Tour Packages
Cruises
Some airline tickets
International airline tickets
Travel insurance
Ground transportation including limos
Attraction tickets
Train tickets

People all need travel arrangements at some point in time. Those who take road trips need hotel reservations. Those who need to travel for business need airline tickets, rental cars, and hotel reservations. Families want to experience vacations with their loved ones. People visit family and relatives. Most people who win money say they are going to spend it to take a nice vacation. Newly married couples go on honeymoons. You are not selling something that is hard to sell. People contact you for help, you are not calling them or approaching them trying to sell them something they don’t want.
Educating the public is the main thing any travel agent must do. Most people put travel agents into the same category as real estate agents. They believe it costs additional to use a travel agent. This is untrue. In many cases a travel agent can get a better price than the general public through the suppliers who work only with travel agents. Many people do not know all the options for booking a vacation. A good travel agent does. Once people are educated on how a travel agent gets paid, they are more willing to work with travel agents. If a person knows that if he or she let you book a hotel and it will cost the same price regardless, she or he will work with you. It is important to let people know how you can help them save time and money on their travel arrangements.
So how do you get into the industry? Many people think they must go to school or become certified. This is not true. You can get into the industry and begin training. I don’t recommend anyone spend thousands on a travel school until he or she knows this is a career that he or she will really want to pursue. The truth is you do not have to spend thousands to get trained. There are many courses free to travel agents from suppliers. There are also organizations such as ICTA (Institute of Certified Travel Agents) who offer courses as you get more years experience in the industry. CLIA also offers courses. There are some agencies that will offer training. Even if you decide this is a career you would like to pursue, you do not need to spend thousands to become an educated and competent travel agent. There are many courses you can take with suppliers and organizations to get a better education in travel. I truly believe a hands’ on approach is the best way to become a better travel agent. Learning to work with suppliers and how to find the information your clients need is an important part of becoming a good travel agent.
How can you find an agency to work with? There are a few organizations dedicated to independent travel agents. NACTA and OSSN are the top organizations. NACTA stands for National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents. OSSN stands for Outside Sales Support Network. You can also search online for home-based travel agent programs. I would never recommend anyone spending a lot of money to start this business. It is key to first try and see if it is something you would really want to do and get training before you invest too much money into it. Get involved in the industry first and see if it is really a career that is best for you.
Jennifer Dugan CTA

Owner of Dugan’s Travels

Travel agent since 1993

http://www.duganstravels.com
Copyright 2004 Jennifer Dugan

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Direct Marketing Promotions And Reward Programs: How To Use Them To Your Advantage

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Author: Jennifer Zimmreman
Source: isnare.com

Are you a business buyer who is absorbed in convalescent your profits? If you are, do you accord in the affairs of a artefact or a service? If so, to advance your profits, you aboriginal charge to focus on accepting new customers, as able-bodied as accepting a abiding amount of abiding customers. While this may assume like a ample task, it can in fact be a lot easier than you may accept originally thought. There are a amount of altered means that you can go about accretion your chump count. One of the best means to do so is with the use of absolute business promotions.

As a business owner, you are acceptable already accustomed with absolute business promotions. Absolute business promotions are promotions that you accompany appropriate to your barter or your targeted market. For abounding business owners, the a lot of difficult allotment of absolute business promotions is free absolutely who they should be targeting. If, at all possible, you will wish to target, with business promotions, as abounding consumers as possible. If that is not an option, you should focus on your targeted market. These are the individuals who are a lot of acceptable to use your casework or acquirement your products.

When abounding individuals and business owners, such as yourself, anticipate of absolute business promotions, accepted mail generally comes to mind. Yes, you will wish to try absolute business promotions that absorb sending printed mailings to consumers, but you may aswell wish to accord the internet a try. With the access in internet use, it should be almost simple for you to advance a business afterward online. Abounding online retailers and offline retailers for that matter, accept a area on their website area visitors are able to signup for newsletters and added promotions. Accepting such as webpage on your website will aftereffect in you accepting a accumulating of email addresses that can be acclimated for absolute business promotions.

As important as it is to apperceive what absolute business promotions are and how you can go about implementing them, it is important to apperceive that not all absolute business promotions are effective. Abounding business owners, namely those affairs a artefact or a service, use email newsletters or printed fliers to acquaint any sales or discounts that they may be offering. While this access may advice you access new customers, as able-bodied as accept a amount of sales from abiding customers, you may wish to yield a added desperate approach. What you charge to bethink is that abounding retailers, generally on a circadian basis, accept abundant sales. What you will wish to do is set yourself afar from the competition. This can be done by accepting your business promotions bifold as accolade program.

As you acceptable already know, accolade programs are programs that are advised to accolade consumers for accomplishing business with you. Should you adjudge to accomplish your next business advance a accolade program, you will acquisition that you accept a amount of altered options, as able-bodied as absolutely a bit of freedom. You should apperceive that one of the a lot of acknowledged means to use accolade programs to your advantage is to do a rewards affairs that is focused on abiding customers. With that in mind, it all depends on the blazon of business that you own. For instance, with a car dealership, you may not accept as abounding abiding barter in a beneath aeon of time as a grocery abundance would, and so forth.

Should you adjudge to authorize a accolade affairs for your business, you may wish to attending into accomplishing business with a aggregation that specializes in promotional gifts. These companies can generally affix you with promotional ability that are in top demand. These promotional ability may cover biking incentives, such as vacation resort certificates, or merchandise, such as a new agenda camera. Promotional allowance companies can not alone accommodate you with affordable accolade affairs gifts, but they may be able to abetment you with authoritative your accolade programs a acknowledged one.

Once you accept a accolade affairs in place, it is important to bazaar that affairs to the accepted public, namely your targeted market. This is area the absolute business promotions can appear in. You charge to bethink that abounding consumers will not even apperceive that you are alms incentives for accomplishing business with them, unless you acquaint them yourself. That is why your next absolute business advance should outline your anew complete accolade program. Be abiding to cover as abundant advice as possible, including the promotional ability available, how those ability are awarded, as able-bodied as any restrictions that you may accept in place.

While there are an absolute amount of business promotions for you to accept from, you may wish to yield the time to appraise accolade programs and promotional gifts. If you are like abounding added business owners who accept acclimated them in the past, it is acceptable that you will see success, possibly even appropriate away.

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