Real quick today. (I’m kinda pressed for time….)

A Google Alert came in Sunday night which linked to an interesting interview in Travel Weekly with YTB Founder Kim Sorensen.

I’ve read over the years that our Founders are like the men behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. I’ve never really comprehended that analogy or perspective. I’ve not only seen, but have spoken personally to each of the YTB Founders on numerous occasions and found them to be extremely personable individuals. Each of them have been extremely accessible ever since I’ve known them.

It was meeting Coach personally some 7 years ago that convinced me that YTB was the right company for me. He came to Atlanta – I heard him speak and when I asked if he was from Pittsburgh, (because I detected a bit of Pittsburgheze dialect) he told me he was also a huge Steelers fan.

That’s all it really took for me. (LOL!)

I can’t however, point to a single instance, or face to face exchange with critics who are slinging this type of perspective via a keyboard all over the internet. (I’ve never personally met or spoken to any of them.)

Any-who…

Take a look at this interview with Kim. Trevel Weekly asked for the interview, and Kim obliged. I find that the interview not only takes away the “issues” the industry has about our model, but provides the solution the industry has always wanted.

I wonder if the industry will finally get of this kick about focusing on these so called “problems” they have – and start doing something a little more productive. (Like working with us on this solution?)

Time will tell I guess. (But I wouldn’t hold my breath.)

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

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I’ve become accustomed to others sharing our blog and newsletter when it comes to YTB. The vast majority of people who use our articles respect us enough not only to ask if they can use what we’ve written, but link to the original source and use our entire article.

It’s unfortunate that not everyone carries that same type of character and moral fiber. Zealots who hide behind an alias in order to gain access to our communication is something I’ve accepted as being completely powerless over. There’s really nothing I can do to control that type of activity – no matter how wrong or unethical it appears to be.

Last week, one of the children in the industry who continues to have issues with YTB and MLM’s took part of last weeks newsletter and posted it on his blog. I’m not terribly upset about this finding because is was the first time I can recall he actually comprehended what was written.

I do however take issue with two points. One, he’s not an RTA or a Rep with the company, and our rules have clearly stated for years that our subscription requires a valid website and Rep number. I’ve been required to do this because overzealous Attorney Generals seem to think that this communication is a “recruiting tool” and existing websites and Rep numbers put the kibosh on that idea. (Kinda hard to recruit existing members – you know what I mean?)

Two, the piece didn’t use or link to the entire article. (Which truthfully, is understandable, because the part that was omitted hinted to his years of bizarre and dysfunctional behavior and outlandish speculation.)

With all the attention and news surrounding YTB Travel the past two weeks, we’ve seen a considerable amount of deflecting, spin and justification from the other side of the fence in an effort to save face. Our featured article in this weeks newsletter covers part of that activity – but also points to how the rest of the travel industry is looking at YTB. This news stings for the other side – and I have a sneaky suspicion that what we’ve written will be twisted and taken out of context out of desperation to keep opposing views and perceptions in line.

Therefore, we have taken our entire article and posted it for your review.

We simply want to provide the entire article – and allow you the reader to formulate your own opinion and view. You have a mind and can think on your own if our view is valid. You don’t need someone else telling you how to perceive what we’ve written.

That’s called “brain washing”. ;-P

Enjoy…

~~~

We gotta admit…we’re absolutely LOVIN’ all the attention over YTB the last two weeks.

What better way to show the nay-sayers, cynics, and anti-MLM zealots that any speculation pointing to YTB getting out of the travel business, or that the company would just whither away to nothin’ is -

Well…

Wrong – AGAIN!

When news broke week before last and we saw how vague the Press Release and the SEC filing was – we were giddy in knowing that the travel industry simply wouldn’t rest until it figured out the mystery of Sixth Scott, and just who was behind a potentially $7.5 million deal.

Read this industry and these zealots like a book. ;-p

While some remain “stuck on stupid” – grasping at any excuse they can come up with or attempt to deflect attention to something they think could possibly disrupt this wave of positive news – YTB continues to show this industry how significant and valuable we are.

We have to give a shout out to George Dooley of Travel Agent Central. Those who were with us at the 2009 Convention, may remember that name. George interviewed us and posted an amazing article on YTB a year after the California Attorney General set his sights on shutting down the company.

While Sixth Scott was still a mystery to the industry at the beginning of the week, George was kind enough to print our side of the story once again to help educate the industry that what was happening to YTB would benefit everyone.

The most amusing part of the week was how some were certain that the “Scott” in Sixth Scott had some connection to the last name Tomer. Typical of how lazy, and sloppy they are – not knowing who to ask, or where to look – this new deal ended up looking really fishy to the usual cast of characters who ended up looking more like clowns when the real “Scott” turned up.

This news does after all involve an MLM. Therefore, a cynic automatically assumes that it can’t be a legitimate business deal. MLM and business after all, are a bad mix.

Finally, Travel Weekly set the record straight, and let everyone know that “Scott” wasn’t a first name – but a last name. Jeff Scott turned out to be exactly what we said he was. A long time veteran and top executive in the travel industry.

More amusingly, “unrelated third party” actually meant “unrelated”. (Imagine that??!!)

Here’s the thing…And we’ve seen this time and time again. Take a look at Jeff Scott’s comments about the Founders – and about YTB.

“Being a consultant in the industry, I’ve watched as YTB developed over the years and I’ve always been impressed by how they’ve taken all this controversy and changed things and made it effective,” Scott said. “Once you meet the founders and the people running this business, they are very impressive. We thought there was a huge opportunity with the numbers and a distribution channel like no other out there.”

Every single industry veteran who took the time to sit down and get to know our Founders and our people were not only impressed with what we have, they were blown away at what our model could do.

Those who incessantly slam our company and hang their hats on dwindling threads of justification and outlandish speculation have never taken that step. Frankly, they’re either too lazy, too scared – or more importantly, any real and open look at our company (instead of some fantasy swirling around inside their head) would change their perspective and therefore, destroy their identity.

We’ve said it time and time again. Time always has a way of shedding light on the truth. Predictions and speculation to the contrary are always ego driven. (And the travel industry appears to have it’s fair share of overly inflated and arrogant ego’s.)

If you’re smart enough – diligent enough – and have any true business sense (or even common sense) about you – you’ll always come out the other side victorious.

YTB continues to capture the spotlight – even today. But, you may be giving all the credit to YTB – which is only partly true.

Part of this spotlight goes to all the overly emotional and arrogant cynics, anti-MLM zealots, and nay sayers who speculated and predicted a totally different outcome. They picked this fight – we didn’t. A fight based on perception, myths, false claims, and rumors they have mistaken as reality instead of pure fantasy.

Frankly, we can’t think of a better way to say (or better yet – show) “I disagree” than someone like Jeff Scott who just put his money were his mouth is.

Please know those who wish to continue fighting don’t have to agree with it themselves.

They don’t even have to like it.

They do however, have to continue to deal with a travel MLM as part of this industry. It’s not only a very viable – but a very legitimate model that when run the properly and correctly, works in any industry it chooses.

With the news and attention YTB has received the last two weeks, it’s become quite obvious -

YTB chooses travel.

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I gotta tell ya, for a company that some proclaimed as dead (or at least out of the travel business) it sure looks like YTB can still raise the hair on the back of some necks in the always opinionated – yet very amusing travel industry.

Everything from Attorney Generals who would finally shut YTB down to ZamZuu as a clear sign that YTB was getting out of the travel industry has been fired at this company. Frankly, I quit counting over two years ago how many times I was told that YTB was getting out or that they would be filing for bankruptcy any day. Basically, I chalked it up to the boy who cried wolf and wishful thinking with wild eyed speculation that would justify all the attention this little ol’ MLM has gotten over the years.

There have been a lot of words posted since Wednesday afternoon when YTB let the industry know via a press release that our travel division had been purchased. For me – and I’ll explain how and why here in just a bit – the words over the last week are pretty much meaningless. What I’ve been looking at a lot closer are the actions of the travel industry surrounding this news. Every major travel publication (even minor publications) has announced this transaction of YTB Travel Network.

Let’s face it – YTB still makes top billing for travel news.

Speaking of news and travel publications, I need to give a shout out to George Dooley and Travel Agent Central. I was checking my stats and traffic last night and found a number of hits and links from George who posted an article yesterday in Travel Agent Central. George was nice enough not only to link to this blog, but also quoted our YTB newsletter that we’ve been publishing for RTA’s and Reps for the last four years. George and I do know each other. He not only interviewed me but was kind enough to print my side of the story several years ago in this same publication during the 2009 Convention.

If you’re wondering, George isn’t a member of YTB. Nor did I forward him the article for his review. I’m still having issues with pin heads who don’t follow directions or think rules apply to them. Fears and phobias override ethics or boundaries where YTB is concerned. You delete or kick them out the ones who don’t belong or break the rules, and they find a way to show back up under another assumed name and e-mail address in order to get their fix on YTB.

Speaking of the hideous – and always opinionated anti-MLM zealots – they took to the blogs and message boards in a hurry. That cult was on this press release like white on rice – which tells me they’re still sleeping with one eye open at night knowing that YTB is still around. Most, as usual, react with the same old rhetoric and anti-MLM pile of horse dung. All the basic myths and legends surrounding MLM I’ve heard about since before I ever got involved in the business. Very little original thinking or logic is ever associated with this overly emotional group.

There was one however that reacted in his usual sloppy way last week – but then made an abrupt about face over the weekend to respond to the same message. For me, this illustrates perfectly what I’ve been saying for years about the anti-MLM crowd. Most of what you read is pure emotion and fear right out of the gate. You have to look deeper than just the words – but look at the activity or actions of the individual. They just blurt out whatever they’re feeling at the time without taking the time to think about what they’re saying or doing. Emotional charges appear to cancel out logic and rational thinking.

Ironically it points right back to last week’s newsletter we sent out and the very same communication from an unknown Director in YTB.

I’d link to the articles directly, but unlike George Dooley who believes this blog is “influential” – I beg to differ and have come to the conclusion this guy is a complete basket case. For the sake of documentation however, we’ve created two PDF’s for your review to point out how someone “reacts” and how they “respond”.

Last Thursday, when news broke surrounding the sale, here is the emotional reaction. Please pay particular attention to the bottom half of the copy and paste, which was forwarded from a Director to their team. The actual communication was sent from the YTB Home Office, and the unnamed Director simply passed the information along.

What’s so amusing to me (and trust me, it was a good hardy laugh) is that because this came from a Director, the overwhelming emotional reaction from the author of the blog was “OMG! They’re selling IATAN cards again!!”

Now, take a look at the response posted on Monday on the same blog, by the same author with another copy and paste of our weekly newsletter. This time however, the response is HUGE and welcomed sight that could possibly gain an opportunity that YTB could become a legitimate seller of travel.

The problem I have with these two posts is that the author is reacting and then responding to the same communication on two separate days. The only difference is that one came from a Director, and one came from our Newsletter. It’s the same message forwarded by the YTB Home Office.

Thing is – guys like John Frenaye are so emotionally charged and sloppy in their research and documentation that I don’t think he realizes that he’s provided two different perspectives to the same communication. (That is until he reads this.) Directors in YTB equate to “recruiting” – and that’s points to the core of all the issues YTB has had over the years in the travel industry. That single word makes their head swim and their stomach turn.

They just can’t handle that word for some unknown reason.

All I did was put the emphasis where I thought it should be – on travel. All this news is about YTB Travel after all, not the marketing side of our business. Yet there will always be those who can’t separate the two. Maybe they’ve never seen the two 1099′s we’ve always received. Some however, like John have signed up for the opportunity to recruit others and make money without spending a dime. Nobody that I know of however on that side of the fence has taken a real good look at the travel side of the business.

The reality is this separation takes all their justification and bizarre behavior away. It also puts them face to face with the reality that YTB isn’t dead – but a model that smart business minds see value in and are willing to pay top dollar for. (To the tune of $7.5 million.)

In the meantime – they’ll continue to dig, poke and pry into this deal. Spending an enormous amount of energy and time to figure out how they can spin this into something they can either justify or handle. We are after all talking about a bunch of MLM recruiters here. ;-P

Fun to watch and a pleasure to see that YTB isn’t dead after all.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

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I found a really a really nice article in Travel Weekly this weekend that highlights YTB and our Passport to Giving program.

If you don’t know about Passport to Giving, it’s one of the finest programs I’ve seen. Coach and YTB designed it for non-profits to help raise money by turning the non-profit members vacations into donations. I was actually trained in this program back in 2005 before I was trained as an RTA.

YTB donates a booking engine to the non-profit or association a custom site with their own logo free of charge, which includes waiving the monthly fee. Members of the association then turn to the non-profits travel web site to book travel and the commissions earned are paid to the association just like they are to the RTA’s, but tax free.

No strings, no catch, just our way to give back to the community by offering something totally unique to help raise money for non-profits.

According to the Travel Weekly article, the National Academy Foundation is operating an online travel agency for Freshman and Sophomores at Rochester’s East High using our Passport to Giving program and YTB Booking Engine to train students with real world examples and booking travel for real customers. Classes help prepare the students of East High for a potential carrier in the Travel Industry.

You can view their site at www.easthightravel.com. (Note: the YTB logo is replaced with NAF.org’s Academy of Hospitality and Tourism logo.)

Now in it’s second year, the students earned about $2500 in commissions their first year. The facilitator of the program, Jim Spawton, is looking to boost that number to about $10,000 by asking the faculty, students’ families and local businesses for bookings that earn real commissions for the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism. The commissions earned help pay for other student programs, all while teaching students what it’s like to run a real travel business.

East High is one of the 78 U.S. high schools with hospitality and tourism academies that are overseen by the National Academy Foundation.

Other big name companies such as Marriott and PepsiCo are also helping students of the academy. PepsiCo gave $7,000 to six graduates to further their studies, while Marriott offers internships to students to help them attain real world experience inside their hotels. A picture posted in the Travel Weekly article also has students working with the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.

I applaud both YTB and the National Academy Foundation for offering these programs to our future business men and woman.

While researching this article, I found a great “about us” video from the NAF.org website that highlights this important non-profit and how it’s changing our youth for the better. A great example can be found at about the 3 minute mark with a young lady named Nathsha who apparently started as an intern with Marriott and is now an Assistant Controller at the Bethesda Marriott Suites.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: Apparently, the constipation over YTB continues for one Anti-YTB Zealot. It’s been a long time since I’ve linked to anything this moron has written, but this one is just too classic to pass up.

Yes, John Frenaye has also found the Travel Weekly article, only to react with his own demonic twist and spin that no doubt matches all the classic myths, misrepresentations, and false claims we’ve come to know, but not quite love about this ignorant and constipated know-it-all.

I don’t know about you – but I’d love to take him up on his bet regarding the Facilitator being a member of YTB. Unfortunately,  we’ve learned John never delivers (just like he never properly researches) when shown point blank that he’s once again on loosing end of such unsubstantiated speculation and claims.

John, maybe the reason they didn’t pick you or any other “agency” is because you can’t get past your own dysfunctional behavior and limiting beliefs. Hell, you don’t even know the difference between a FAM and an internship. (Or who sponsors the internship you ignorant putz.)

Instead of being privileged like you were growing up – maybe a program like NAF could have shown you how the real world operates to provide you with the proper skill set to cope with life’s most basic lessons. Guys like me valued opportunities like this no matter who offered the tools or the opportunity. The internship I did with Pittsburgh’s number one radio station after college was invaluable to me back in the day.

After four years of blathering like a raving lunatic about MLM and YTB – it’s apparent that the travel industry desperately needs some fresh minds and faces that are capable of working instead of spiting at people and companies they don’t agree with, don’t like, and clearly are unwilling to accept as part of the solution.

Moron…

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

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For the fifth year in a row, YTB Travel Network makes Travel Weekly’s Power List of the top 50 Travel Agencies. Some will be a bit surprised. Others will be pleased. While I’m sure there will be others who will be (as they always are) frustrated with another year of YTB being included in Travel Weekly’s listing.

Personally, I consider this year’s listing as one of the finest showings from previous years for several reasons. This year’s listing dispels the skewed and misleading math formulas we’ve seen in years past from socialist pin heads. It also puts to rest any notion that the word “Travel” in YTB Travel Network is an afterthought.

Let’s not forget as well, all the mud that was thrown up in the companies face three years ago that has now been cleaned off, putting any claims of pyramid or ponzi schemes behind the company.

I’m quite certain that some had dreams and others feared that California’s Attorney General could actually put an end to the company. If California couldn’t get it done, surely Illinois or the opportunist ambulance chasers would. Yet, here I am three years later with the same capabilities in selling travel, and a better commission split to boot.

Clearly, YTB Travel Network has had its share of the spotlight. Some good – some bad – and some just completely bogus accusations. (Some have turned out to be rather comical.) Through it all however, YTB Travel Network has survived because of a very solid foundation laid by the Founders of the company and a few thousand loyal “Travel Agents” who appreciated a different approach in selling travel.

So, here we are – the numbers from the Travel Weekly Power List:

At number 34 – YTB Travel Network

2010 Sales: $221.7 million
Employees: 120
Previous Rank: 29

What is so impressive about this spot is the company has accomplished this number with a small fraction of people compared to years past. At the companies height (before the mudslinging and bogus lawsuits) YTB Travel reported 92,383 travel sellers who sold $424.1 million in travel. What “socialist pin heads” did was divide total sales by the total number of travel sellers. This year, the company reported 12,200 travel sellers who sold $221.7 million in travel.

So why the big jump in “average sales”?

Clearly, these “averages” we’ve seen (or are forced upon Network Marketing companies from our fine Government as “Income Disclosures”) aren’t what they’re cracked up be. You can’t possibly dictate to anyone what someone is capable of selling based on average numbers. Some will excel, while others won’t do a blessed thing to get their business off the ground. Travel sellers who weren’t making any money (because they couldn’t change their thinking or work ethic from “employee” to “business owner”) are now gone. Those who could grasp the thinking and habits of “business” were making money as travel sellers and are still around and producing numbers more consistent with traditional travel agents. It’s always been like this – but it wasn’t until now that we see how the real world actually works – not some mathematical theory.

We’ve heard over and over again that our focus isn’t travel. Again, you can’t dictate as an overall consensus (just like the bogus “averages” above) that’s true for everyone. I got into YTB Travel Network so I could get paid for telling people that a cruise was the best vacation money could buy. I’m still just as passionate about the industry as I was the day I signed up. Sure the other products offered via the ZamZuu shopping cart are nice. In fact, I was selling similar items here on this blog long before ZamZuu ever came about. Ever since I changed hats from employee to business owner, you become educated about what multiple streams of income can do for your bottom line.

While it’s a nice bonus, my focus – and what fires me up is still travel.

Well, that and the Pittsburgh Steelers. But just because I moved from Pittsburgh to Atlanta 19 years ago, I’m still just as much of a diehard fan than I ever was. (Okay – fanatical, but you get the idea.) You know damn well, you’re never gonna take the Steelers out of this boy. You’ll also never take the passion I have for travel out of me either.

While others in our industry would like our focus to be something else – it’s honestly not up to them to tell me, you, or anyone else what we should or should not focus on. Travel got us to where we are – and travel will continue to carry this company in the future. It’s a fantastic product that everyone still enjoys talking about and still the number one answer to a question I’ve asked for years.

“If you had more time and more money – what would YOU do?“

What makes this year’s list especially gratifying is that all the crap from California, Illinois, and a handful of ambulance chasers is now behind the company. All laid claim about being a pyramid scheme. Thing is, pyramid schemes are illegal and scams like that are ultimately shut down. Sure, there will be those who will continue to throw that out there – and that’s perfectly fine. Looks worse on them at this point than it ever will YTB, because it illustrates they haven’t learned a blessed thing. (And most likely, never will.)

I really could care less – because all I have to do is pull up my booking engine and look at another listing on this year’s Power List.

Nuff said.

YTB Travel Network will move on as it always has. Like I said before – travel got us here, and travel will continue to be a major asset for YTB International. If the company can do this with all the obstacles thrown up to distract everyone – imagine what it can do now with this core group of travel sellers.

Nothing like a little dose of reality to get things cranked back up again now is there? The way I see it, there’s nothing stopping this company from climbing back up this list to even higher levels once reached in years past. Difference is, there were lessons learned from the first go around that will make it all that much easier to accomplish if everyone pitches in.

Based on what this year’s list has shown us, the company is leaner, meaner, and battle tested for another great run.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

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Winter is always a great time to book next years cruises and summer vacations. Problem with that is you don’t get paid until next summer – right?

Travel Weekly just might have an answer for you over the next two days as they host another virtual trade show right on you computer that highlights Winter Escapes with a impressive collection of industry leaders, training sessions and trade show exhibitors.

Travel Weekly’s editor in chief, Arnie Weissmann will once again head up the next two days. This IS his baby after all, and he’s done an impressive job in finding relevant topics and suppliers who you can actually learn from in the travel industry. The show is free to attend, and you can still register from this link and make it to this event. Login details will be sent to you via email.

If you’ve been around the industry for a while, you’ll recognize some familiar names below with companies and associations who are known for offering great insight and solutions for anyone who is willing to learn.

Here’s a list of auditorium sessions from Travel Weekly’s Registration page.

A Conversation with CLIA Chairman Rick Sasso - Tuesday, Sept 21, 1 p.m
Travel Weekly Editor in Chief Arnie Weissmann will discuss the outlook for the winter cruising season with Rick Sasso, Chairman of CLIA and President and CEO of MSC Cruises. The two will discuss new ships and itineraries, CLIA predictions for winter cruising, what will motivate clients to book for the winter, and how the winter cruise client differs from summer cruisers. It’s an interactive session, and attendees will also be able to share their thoughts and questions with Sasso in this live conversation.

Unexpected Opportunities in the 2011 Winter Season - Tuesday, Sept 21, 2:30 p.m
The economic outlook is uncertain, but 2011 holds some unique opportunities for travelers, agents and suppliers alike. Join Travel Weekly Editor in Chief Arnie Weissmann; Brad Anderson, Co-President of America’s Vacation Center/Avoya Travel; Vicki Freed, Senior Vice President, Royal Caribbean International; Milton Hugh, Senior Vice President of Viking River Cruises and Tim Mullen, Senior Vice President, Apple Vacations as they explore what might make this season unexpectedly robust. You, too, will have a chance to interact, live, with the panelists.

Experience Starwood’s Travel Professional Program, Presented by Chris Austin – Tuesday, Sept. 21, 4:00 p.m.
Are you a Starwoodpro? Join Chris Austin, vice president of global retail, leisure and luxury sales for Starwood Hotels & Resorts and find out how you can become a Starwoodpro. Austin will take you on a virtual tour of the company’s travel professional website, www.starwoodpro.com. New for 2010 Starwood is adding destination modules to its ProLearning platform. Austin will share some of the highlights of all the available modules, explain how you can earn access to Starwood’s lowest travel professional rates, and highlight all the resources Starwood has created for it travel professional partners through starwoodpro.com.

A Conversation With USTOA & NTA Leaders – Wednesday, Sept. 22, 1 p.m.
Winter touring is a bit different from summer — different destinations, different booking windows, different itinerary lengths. Find out what how to more effectively sell winter tours with Travel Weekly Editor in Chief Arnie Weissmann, John Stachnik, Chairman of the United States Tour Operators Association and Lisa Simon, President of the National Tour Association. . Together these leaders represent the lionshare of the travel industry’s vacation package and escorted tour market. Attendees will be able to ask their questions as well in this interactive session.

Grow your business with cutting edge online tools, Presented by Debbie Maier, President, Mailpound - Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2:30 p.m.
This session will share online solutions designed to grow your cruise business. Learn how to utilize free online tools to send targeted marketing pieces to your network of clients. Do you use Facebook? Learn how to easily post consumer friendly offers on your Facebook page. Whether your client is new to cruising or is a seasoned cruiser, enhance your communications with your clients and prospective clients with personalized, custom eFlyers and eBrochures.

Finally A Social Media Solution For Travel Agents, Presented by Marilyn Macallair, Passport Online Inc. - Wednesday, Sept 22, 4:00 p.m.
Introducing Agent SociaLink… the newest most innovative means for travel agents to enter and stay in the Social Media space. To compete these days you MUST be using some social media tools. Passport Online has created Agent SociaLink to help agents populate their travel agent social media sites using a clickable database of content. The new tool provides content from a variety of sources allowing agents to pick and choose information to add to social media outlets including Twitter, Blogs and Facebook. See it live and hear about agents who are already using Agent SociaLink.

As you can see, there’s something for everyone and it’s a great way to learn and grow as a Travel Professional. Two days of education, new product introductions and even prizes that will be awarded throughout the show.

So go ahead and register. If this one’s anything like the shows from years past – you’ll be glad you did.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

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You know, I looked for this list last week and didn’t see it. Then mid-morning yesterday, it dawned on me that it might be out this week. After writing about this Power List the last 4 years (because YTB has made the list all 4 years) I can go directly to the URL without even needing to look it up. I’ve enjoyed the publication (I enjoy it all year long actually) and it’s fascinating to see the chess match that goes on in the travel industry.

Ironically, Travel Weekly appears to see it as a chess match as well, but on a much grander scale – the last decade. There have been some new faces (like YTB) that have shown up in the last few years and others that have either gone completely out of business or have been acquired by or merged with other companies. (More of the latter from what I can tell.)

The biggest surprise to me was who knocked off the #1 and #2 positions the last few years. American Express and Carlson Wagonlit have had a lock on the the number one and number two spots respectively until this year. (American Express has had a lock on #1 since 1992, when the Power List first came out.)

Online giant Expedia jumped over both this year to take the number one spot.

Yep, online travel is now king.

The list also shrunk in size this year (from 61 total to 52) because – well 2009 was a rough year for travel. Bookings may have been up – but with prices cut in half to get people on board ships, into hotel rooms, and on vacation you literally needed to sell twice as much in order to even maintain your spot from last year.

How did YTB fair in all this?

Not too bad actually. YTB did drop from 25 to 29.

Considering the economy, the incessant and dysfunctional obsession from industry “professionals” about YTB’s MLM model and our fine group of ambulance chasers who can’t quite grasp the meaning of the word “NO” – 29 is actually pretty good.

On the other hand, most clients who book with YTB don’t know (or don’t really care) that there’s an MLM arm attached to the company. Technology plays a big part in that.

I’d highly recommend taking some time to read Travel Weekly’s cover Story “10 Years In Review” to attain their perspective on how technology has changed the face of travel. I’ve been writing about it for years here – but I’m just one of those MLM “Yahoo’s” – a newcomer to the industry who really doesn’t know how things work. (Or so some would have you think.)

Turns out that the internet and technology has not only changed the rankings considerably over the last ten years, but it’s essential in the growth and viability of the vast majority of the agencies who are still around. That’s not to say high touch and high service doesn’t continue to play a role like most of the old dogs would have you believe. (The ones who demand this type of service from YTB in order to legitimize the model.)

A total focus on high touch and high service however, would have certainly landed YTB on the outside of this Power List looking in.

Back in 2001 when YTB was founded, they saw a trend towards technology. Today, over $50 BILLION in travel was purchased online last year between Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline, and Travelocity. While all four certainly produced top 10 rankings, Travelocity didn’t provide sales numbers and wasn’t included in this years rankings. (See “What happened to…” in the Travel Weekly report.)

Those who have embraced this shift and taken advantage of the paradigm shift from brick and mortar to click and order have done very well for themselves over the last ten years.

Those who haven’t? Well, you can now find them on various message boards, forums and some have even created their own blogs to bitch and complain about how MLM not technology has ruined their business.

Change is a little more difficult for some – and honestly, some may never come around. (I certainly wouldn’t count on it.) I wouldn’t worry about it however. They’re the ones who are faced with another Power List with the name YTB Travel Network in it for the forth year in a row.

Instead, embrace the technology YTB has provided with new an innovative ways of booking travel.

In fact, you can do that tonight if you’d like. Carnival will be featured once again on our booking engine with yet another “Sail-A-Thon” to wind down Carnival Month with YTB. It’s a live 4 hour blowout sale and you could get up to $160 Cash Back from Carnival if you book with us tonight.

Technology and travel…

It appears to be the right mix if you ask me. ;-P

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