I know I’m on vacation this week, but I wanted to post a quick thank you for all the Birthday wishes yesterday. My e-mail and my Facebook page were covered with well wishes and it’s a real honor to have such good friends who take the time to send their comments and wishes – especially on a day like yesterday.

It was a really good day. My wife made my favorite dish, lasagna, and the kids decided that “everybody needs to play games on their birthday”, so that’s exactly what we did. To see a birthday through a child’s eyes is really something.

Absolutely adorable!

After seeing all the comments and wishes from you, I felt compelled to return my thanks for thinking of me as well. You’re a good group of friends and your thoughts and comments mean more than you’ll ever know.

I am grateful for having you as a friend. Thank you!

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Would you like another clear cut example that “word of mouth” works?

Yeah, I know – I’m preaching to the choir here, but this type of documentation and research can be very useful when talking to prospects about owning their own home based business. It appears that market research firms Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies found that people are more likely to recommend brands they follow as fans on Facebook and Twitter. Likewise, these same followers are more likely to buy from the brands they follow.

The study was conducted with 1500 consumers and here are the hard numbers:

• 60% of Facebook fans and 79% of Twitter followers are more likely to recommend those brands since becoming a fan or follower.
• 51% of Facebook fans and 67% of Twitter followers are more likely to buy the brands they follow or are a fan of.

With now over 400 million Facebook users on the internet these days, one might conclude that there’s an opportunity to be had here.

What’s even more interesting is that these users now actually expect business to have a presence in these mediums. The comments found in the release are very telling:

• “It’s EXPECTED that a company have some digital face – whether it’s on FB or Twitter I don’t know – but they need a strong electronic presence or you doubt their relevance in today’s marketplace.” Female 50-54
• “Either they are not interested in the demographic that frequents Facebook and Twitter or they are unaware of the opportunity to get more exposure in a more interactive method.” Male 35-39
• “It shows they are not really with it or in tune with the new ways to communicate with customers.” Female 18-24.
• “If they’re not on Facebook or Twitter, then they aren’t in touch with the “electronic” people.” Female 55-59

Clearly, Social Media has come of age, and those that embrace this medium have found a market that’s not only able – but very willing to recommend (aka “promote”) for you.

Those of us who’ve work in Direct Sales and Network Marketing (and do it the right way) have known about this phenomenon and how it works first hand. It’s really nothing new. You hook up, provide useful information that benefit them, and the next thing you know all sorts of people are purchasing based on a simple recommendation. There’s no need for heavy sales pitches or arm twisting when done the proper way.

In fact, anything heavy or over the top turns more poeple away can be the death of any online business in this environment.

Just relax, and be…well…”social”. Sounds obvious I know, but it’s the first step in building a long lasting relationship that will build trust and loyal fans and followers. Be part of the community and without much effort at all, you’ll find yourself climbing up the social media ladder – which in turn leads to exposure – credibility – and eventually sales.

Studies like this prove that Social Media not only works, but it’s now required if you want to build a viable business in this day and age.

Kind of puts a whole new light on the new ZamZuu marketing campaign launched less than three months ago doesn’t it? ;-P

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If you’ve been wondering when you’d be able to post some of your Deals and Steals specials on your Facebook wall, the wait is officially over.

Yeah-yeah-yeah, I know…YTB’s no longer in the “Travel Business”. Well, somebody forgot to tell the Home Office. ;-P

Typical of YTB and one of the reasons why they’re still around: YTB see’s opportunities to expand and grow business. Its probably the single biggest reason why I absolutely love this company.

This type of integration is such a piece of cake for the end user. It’s so easy, it’s almost embarrassing. See a deal that someone else might like? Want to share it with others? With one simple click of an icon up pops the link with comment box to share on your wall or via a private message to whom ever you’d like in your network.

If you need to jazz it up a little, or input some of your own information, that can be done as well in four different areas. (If there’s any doubt concerning what I’m talking about here, just click on the link and it will bring up a picture of each area.)

First is the comment box, which we’re all familiar with and use to doing if you’ve linked to any type of file or video in the past. From what I’ve seen, most people stop there, and that’s all well and good – but did you know you can do more?

• You can insert your own heading above the link
• Insert your own description under the link
• And of course – you can change the thumbnail picture to one that suits you best

After that, all that’s needed is a quick click on the “share” button to post it to your Facebook wall.

Sharing with family members, specialty groups, or close friends is now just a few simple clicks away on the most popular social networking site on the internet. Promoting your travel business has never been easier than this.

Just one more feather in YTB’s cap that shows how innovative and cutting edge this company really is.

Thanks YTB!

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I’m guessing I’m showing my age here – but you can’t bring up Princess Cruises without “The Love Boat” Theme running through my head. Truth is, the show was partly responsible for me wanting to work in the travel industry. The show certainly portrayed a very glamorous lifestyle that I wanted to be part of.

Little did I know at the time what the future had in store for me with an opportunity like YTB.

Several years ago YTB came up with this idea of hosting a “Sail-a-thon” on the Internet to promote both key partners and destinations for our customers. The field loves it because it gives many an opportunity to host a party at the house. Partners love it because it costs them nothing. They simply piggy back on the technology and infrastructure YTB has invested in – giving them an opportunity to promote from a single location to thousands. YTB has been hosting these “Sail-A-Thons” for years with several companies and since they keep on popping up every couple of months – everyone involved sees value in the events.

Cruise nights aren’t new however. CLIA (Cruise Line Industry Association) actually came up with the concept five years ago with the “World’s Largest Cruise Night“. Hundreds of Agencies still get together in a collective effort each year in October to promote the joy of cruising to clients.

All YTB did was modernize the concept, making it easier for clients to become informed and educated, while at the same time saving Cruise Lines some serious money by reaching the same number of clients (if not more) from one centralized location over the internet. Most recently, YTB partnered the webcast with Facebook to make it even easier for YTB Agents to send a simple link to friends and clients to enjoy specials and promotions on the worlds most popular social networking site.

Adding Facebook into the equation makes it interactive, an element that was missing with a simple webcast. When YTB tried it for the first time with Carnival back in November, we had no idea the power it possessed and how much fun it could be. Thousands of people posted their favorite cruise pictures and some even won prizes! (Like yours truly. ;-P)

Thursday night, Princess Cruises gets into the act with a new twist called Trivia Night. The hour long broadcast will ask six Trivia Gold questions about Princess and/or Alaska to give viewers a chance to win prizes by answering the questions. In the meantime viewers also become educated on the value of cruising – and more specifically why Princess Cruises is the premier cruise line when it comes to an Alaska destination.

For example, a 7-night Voyage of the Glaciers cruise is followed by 5-nights on land featuring 1 night at McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, 2 nights at Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge and 2 nights at Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge. It’s the only cruise of it’s kind. Princess has invested millions into these lodges and you won’t find these type of amenities from any other cruise line.

This cruisetour offers the ultimate vacation for the entire family, ensuring you see all the best of Alaska by land and by sea. You just can’t get that with any other line. 

As an added incentive to “come aboard”, Cruise customers will see some great prices for all destinations with the following benefits:

• Up to $100 onboard credit per stateroom
• Reduced deposit of just $100 per person
• Coupons worth up to $325 in onboard savings

The entire savings package can be found right here, and you can pull up a direct link to Princess Cruise Lines here to investigate and price out your next Princess Cruise.

The Sail-a-Thon should be a lot fun. From what I saw, Facebook fans enjoyed interacting with each other during the Carnival Sail-a-Thon a few months ago.

Technology – aint it grand?

Hope to see you there and of course some of you will be singing it with me until then…

Love, exciting and new
Come Aboard. We’re expecting you.
Love, life’s sweetest reward.
Let it flow, it floats back to you.

If you’re too young to remember the song that’s okay. Just remember to join us tomorrow night!

Hope to see you then!

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My how times have changed. If you would have told me that I’d be able to invite my Facebook friends to a live Sail-a-thon with “The Most Popular Cruise Line In The World” a year ago, I’m not sure I would have bought into that idea. Don’t get me wrong – I would have loved the idea! (I love anything that’s technology related and easy to use like Facebook.) A year ago however, it would have been hard to imagine corporations like YTB and Carnival buying into Facebook as a means of promoting business.

Today, not only does a promotion like this make perfect sense – but it becomes a reality tonight as YTB hosts it’s first Sail-a-thon using Facebook with Carnival Cruise Lines.

I’ve got to hand it to YTB, they’ve come up with another idea that’s new and innovative that captures a very large paradigm shift in social networking. It’s hard to pin down exactly how many people actually use Facebook these days, but the most reliable source I’ve been able to find is Facebook itself with over 250 million users as of July of this year. I’ve seen numbers of 100 million more by this time, but regardless if the numbers are right or accurate – it’s a HUGE number of users that interconnect via one massive network.

Think about how easy it is to post something to your Facebook page, inviting friends back to a place they enjoy hanging out anyway to interact and talk with others on the worlds largest social network. It’s a perfect marriage of the right companies and the right social network.

The 6 hour event (which runs from 6:00 pm to Midnight Central Standard Time) isn’t just about sales – it’s designed to be educational and fun. If you join us tonight – you’ll learn the following tips and tricks directly from YTB and Carnival:

- Learn why you should book with YTB
– Learn how to find the best fare
– Understanding what type of fares are available
– Learn when you should you make a reservation
– Learn how to select the best cabin/location
– Learn what constitutes a group
– Learn what types of groups are there
– Holiday Gift Certificates
– Cruise Sale offer — 2 category upgrade

If you want to learn and interact with others, simply pull up YTB Travel Network President, Kim Sorensen’s Facebook page. You can get involved by asking questions, answering the polls, sending in pictures of your party or a previous Carnival Cruise you’ve been on. YTB will have members of the creative team on the page during the entire broadcast to keep things lively and entertaining throughout the evening.

Carnival appears to be pumped about this event too. Ann Sedgewick has been sending her subscribers updates all week – offering up ideas and promotional materials to use to get the word out. Carnival was the one who started this whole Sail-a-thon concept two years ago with YTB. Because they keep coming back for more (this is our 4th event with the Cruise Line) I can only assume that the events are working for them. Why else would they keep doing it? In addition, other vendors like Princess and Pleasant Holidays have seen how easy and inexpensive these webinars are and have joined YTB to host thier own events.

Also, just to clarify – this Carnival event is exclusively with YTB. I encourage you to join me and thousands of others for the webcast, at your leisure from the comfort of their own home. It’s going to be a great event, a lot of fun, great offers and GREAT information for all; whether you’re a seasoned cruiser or first timer! Pick a cruise tonight or purchase a gift certificate to choose later if you’d like. You’ll see certificates ranging from 3-8 days with prices from $358 for a cruise for two. (Yes, TWO, not per person which makes this one very attractive offer!)

Also in honor of Veterans Day, there’s a month long promotion going on with special pricing and category upgrades to say “Thanks for your service”. So if you or anyone you know has sacrificed with service for this great Country, be sure to be part of tonight’s events.

It’s a winning combination any way you look at it – and it’s fitting that YTB is part of it.

Remember, the event starts at 6:00 pm Central and you can go to BandBVacations.com to find the video link and YTB Travel Network President, Kim Sorensen’s Facebook page to ask questions, interact with others and win prizes just for participating. It should be a really good time and since you’re probably going to be on Facebook anyway tonight, might as well get yourself an exceptional deal on your next cruise with Carnival Cruise Lines!

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If I asked you who Mark Zuckerberg is would you be able to tell me?

I wouldn’t have been able before this weekend. (So don’t feel too bad if you don’t.)

Rather than keep you in suspense, I’ll just come right out and tell you Mark is a former-Harvard student who created Facebook. When it launched in February 2004 it was used to communicate between other Harvard students. It quickly gained considerable notoriety and was soon being used at Stanford, Columbia and Yale. Zuckerberg ended up dropping out of Harvard to pursue his dreams and began running Facebook full time.

When Mark Zuckerberg showed up in Palo Alto, he had no car, no house, and no job. In August 2005, “thefacebook” (it’s original name) was officially called Facebook and the domain facebook.com was purchased for a reported $200,000. Today, Mark is at the helm of a smokin’-hot social-networking site. Back in 2007 it was projected that Facebook would generate $969 million in revenue, with 48 million users, by 2010. At that time The New York Times and others reported that Yahoo had made a $1 billion offer to buy Facebook.

Zuckerberg and his partners turned it down.

That was 2007 and it’s now 2009 and Facebook has far exceeded expectations. Back in April this phenomenon went over 200 million registered users, with 100 million logging in and using a combined 5 billion minutes every day.

I found a couple other stats that blew me away:

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