I’ve been a fan of Tim Sales for some time. I was introduced to Tim a number of years ago via a “Brilliant Compensation” CD that was given to me by my upline Director, Tim Dominey. When I listened to the CD, I already knew why Network Marketing worked, but Tim brought to light a number of key components that cemented why I believe in this industry. Tim has an entire selection of products to educate both you and your prospects in why Network Marketing works.

I highly recommend Tim’s products because he’s articulate, professional, and straight forward. In fact, Tim is so articulate and dead on, that the only thing critics can come up with to trash him is that he makes his money off selling his products. Other than pointing out the painfully obvious, they can’t come up with anything to discredit Mr. Sales, he’s that good. Tim provides a very valuable service to the Network Marketing industry and why he shouldn’t be paid for that service is beyond me, but it is what it is for those who can’t get past their own misconceptions about sales, service and promotion.

After my article on Wednesday and touching on why suppliers should follow the lead of vendors like Carnival Corporation, Globus, Trafalgar, Disney and others, I pulled out a copy of Tim’s CD to listen to it again after a couple of years of sitting there collecting dust. While I first learned how large corporations benefit from the Network Marketing industry from this CD, I wanted to see if there was anything I had forgotten or might have missed after putting the CD asside for so many years. While I hadn’t forgotten much, I reconnected with the appreciation I have for the way Tim presents the Network Marketing industry in a professional manor without all the hype. All too often we hear how you can make millions in Network Marketing while someone else does all the work. (I’ve actually been accused of doing this oddly enough!) I also like how Tim’s focus is product based, not recruiting based. (Being the “big time recruiter” is another label that I’ve seen some try to pin on me.)

The truth of the matter is, if this industry makes sense to you, than you owe it to yourself to find out more and find a product or service that you’re passionate about to actually get involved. I don’t know how many times I’ve stated this, but the reason I got involved with YTB was because I’d been telling people for over a decade that a cruise was the best vacation money could buy. I actually looked into becoming one of those “Traditional Agents” at one point but nobody I talked to wanted to give me a shot. I “didn’t have the experience” they said. I “needed an education” they said.

Blah Blah Blah Blah…

When YTB was put in front of me, I saw it as an opportunity to actually get paid when I talked about what I loved…cruising. So here I am some four years later while one of my clients referred one of their friends to me yesterday needing help for a last minute cruise for six, while I read articles and posts that I’m only concerned about lining my own pockets.

Nice!

For anyone interested in the truth and not spin, read the comments sections of my article (which some say I don’t allow) and the creative liberties taken to create my critics perception will become abundantly clear.

By the way…this new client for the cruise next week…they first called Royal Caribbean and found them to be “snooty”. Frustrated, they called a friend to get a recommendation of a “Travel Agent” to help them. Thus I got a call out of the blue and found something to suit their wants and needs. Amazing how that works, huh?

Anyway, back to why large corporations LOVE distribution channels like YTB and other Network Marketing companies to distribute their products and services. Network marketing aims at helping manufacturers and suppliers market their products to the end consumers via independent local distributors. By engaging local distributors to market the products of the company, the company is able to generate more income and save on distribution and advertising cost.

Most companies would spend thousands of dollars to promote their products through TV commercials, advertising, billboards and other forms of media. Think about the relationship between YTB and World Choice. (Travelocity) How many times do you see that Roaming Gnome on TV or in print adds? They spend MILLIONS in this type of advertising, and while I’m sure there are bean counters that calculate what the ROI is in these various mediums, they know what costs are involved when they partner with a company like YTB.

Zip, Zilch, Nadda. Money is only paid out when a sale is actually produced. It’s a win-win.

Promoting products and brands could cost the company a lot of money that a good portion of the cost that you pay for a certain product is actually added in to defray the advertising and promotion expenses. In some cases, as much as 20% of the cost of the product you buy goes to advertising and promotions. On the other hand, the distribution cost of the products would eat up to another 30% of the product cost. If you are wondering why a certain product that you buy in the supermarket could cost a lot of money, it is because of the advertising, promotion and distribution cost that is factored into the total product cost. Since the network marketing strategy does away the promotion and advertising cost by engaging local distributors to personally promote the products to the their friends, relatives and colleagues, the company will now be able to give the distributors big commissions. In most instances, the network marketing company will give the local distributors direct commissions of up to 30% of the sales generated by a local distributor.

With the new “Trip of a Lifetime Sweepstakes” YTB goes to a vendor or supplier directly and promotes their product or property with no advertising costs to drive traffic and sales via our own marketing channel, and in return YTB is able to not only able to generate a higher commission to me as an agent, but a better price to my clients.

Another win-win.

How anyone can argue this method is a mystery, but they do try don’t they? I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not about the method so much, but a fear of change and loss that drives most of the negativity associated with Network Marketing. That’s why I like Tim Sales so much. He’s able to clear up the myths and misconceptions about the industry in a concise, professional manor with no bull, no hype and no spin. Most have been trained just one way, and this IS a different approach.

Just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean you have to trash it. It just means you don’t have enough information to make an informed, educated business decision about it.

Before I go…I almost forgot. I have a couple of errors and omissions to correct from Wednesday. First I mentioned that “No Moron Here” worked for Pleasant Holidays, he does not. Why he feels the need to be so secretive about himself and who he works for speaks volumes. Unlike myself who is very open about who I am, some are fearful of consequences. (And I’m the one who’s the fraud!) If he’s able to live with it, so am I.

Second, I mentioned that one of the few places to speak freely about the Travel Industry without the presence of John Frenaye was WAHM. Also found to be incorrect sadly enough. We can however look on the bright side, as his screen name is extremely telling, don’t ya think?

Nyuk nyuk nyuk!

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It’s hard to believe my new home here on JustPictureItNow has been live for one month. I have to steel a line from my Director Tim Dominey when he looks at something that surprises him, “Goodnight!” Not because of what’s been written, but because how this new format and home has exceeded every expectation I had about the power of a Blog.

I’ve told you before about the definition of F-E-A-R, which is nothing more than False Evidence Appearing Real, and my fear at the time was that I would loose my initial readership, basically having to start from scratch building all new links and search engine results so people could find me.

Okay…here goes…

I was wro…

I was wwwr…

I was wrrrrrrrr…. BLASTED WORD!

How ‘bout, “I was merely mistaken”.

If you would have told me last month that I would have had this type of traction this early in this move, I would have told you that you were nuts. I’ve been blogging for a long time, and I watch and read other blogs and track their growth and popularity. I track how much traffic they’re able to get, how they rank on search engines, and who’s talking about them.

Many site owners like to use Alexa to see how well their sites are doing. For those that don’t know anything about Alexa, the easiest way to compare them is Nielson ratings. If you take a look at the Alexa report for this site, you’ll see that it climbed to a spot of 1.2 million, up some 7 million spots in the last three months. (Truth be told, thats in the last month.) I realize that there are some that like to claim they are doing as well, or as relevant as this blog, however this same report shows a decline of nearly 1 million spots to around 2 million in the same 3 month period.

Another report I like to look at is traffic value from SEMrush. I was shocked to see how quickly this site ranked after only a months time. If you compare that with No Mix, it clearly shows a vast difference in organic search engine rankings and value.

So why the vast contrast?

I have to send out a HUGE thank you to many of the loyal readers of the previous blog and my newsletter for getting the word out and putting your own links pointing to my new home. Within days I saw referral links from quite a few readers with a post or comment that I had moved. To have so many of you do this without even asking tells me that you believe that what I have has value.

The newsletter subscriptions also helped during this time. I have several Directors now pointing to my newsletter signup page telling their teams to subscribe. I didn’t host the signup page on Blogger, but do now on JustPicutreItNow. That combined with a 200% to 600% open rate from people forwarding my newsletter to other RTA’s in the company creates a considerable amount of traffic. The average number of monthly subscriptions more than doubled in the month of November.

Lastly, WordPress is simply a more powerful blog format. What was totally unexpected for me was how search engines not only found what I transferred over, but indexed the three years of posts within a matter of days. (I thought it was going to take MONTHS!) A big key in all this was how WordPress was able to transfer everything over, including categories with a simple click, making it very easy for the crawlers, spiders and bots to find and then index year’s worth of content.

So how do YOU keep this new home growing with all of the links to third party documentation that helps verify the truth instead of spin and hype about our fine company? Use the “Share / Save” button at the bottom of every post. With Social Bookmarking as the new way to link and share information, it’s a breeze to link important and relevant content you find here for prospects, clients, and other RTA’s to get accurate and relevant information about the travel industry and our company.

Thanks for making this such an easy and quick transition. I’m completely blown away over how quickly this happened, and I’m thrilled over this realization. It’s an honor and pleasure to be considered a relevant source in this vast and expansive format we call the World Wide Web.

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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This has been one of the most interesting weeks I’ve seen in about 6 months. For some, it may have seemed like a week long April Fools joke that lasted an entire week instead of just a day.

We are seeing things in a whole new light this week. YTB releases it’s Annual Report on Monday, complete with Total Revenue of $141 Million and $3.2 Million Net Income for 2007, and the value of travel services booked on YTB’s booking engines was $414.5 Million, an increased 84% in 2007. On Wednesday, John Gilliam asks if YTB could be the next On-line Travel Darling and the combination of the two sent the stock upward from a low of $0.65 a share on March 19th, to $3.15 a share on the close of trading on Thursday April 3rd.

Now in a very strange twist, almost as if the stars have aligned in just the right order, we find the Cruise Line that started it all just 6 months ago has its credit rating lowered to “junk status” by Standard & Poor’s. According to Forbes, Royal Caribbean’s sinks to junk due to a heavy fleet investment, financed in part by borrowing, and rising fuel costs as adding pressure to the company’s rating being lowered.

Just weeks ago, Royal Caribbean agreed to work with the Florida Attorney General and will be refunding $21 Million that it slapped on customers back in November of 2007 for fuel surcharges. Maybe they should have kept the $24 Million they had in bookings with YTB and Joystar back in October instead?

After 6 months of trading since the Royal Flush, RCL stock is down 10.77% while the late attention and surge of YTBLA stock has increased 61.53%. It’s a very dramatic turn of events to say the least.

I was over on John’s blog yesterday doing a little reading, and I saw a very interesting comment from a YTB RTA that I want to bring to light. Of course, John’s not talking about the “good news”, and frankly I wouldn’t want to either concerning what’s going on, it doesn’t support his choice in trashing YTB every single day for that last few months. (Correction – he did give us a thumbs up for the stock rebound on Monday, but me thinks he was quite certain that our financials wouldn’t turn out the way they did.)

John’s currently busy avoiding the issue of YTB’s financials and attempting to ask all of us about ATA and what we are doing about all the bookings we have with them now that they’ve ceased doing business. (If anyone knows, please fill him in. He’s dying to know, but I don’t have anyone one on that airline, never have.)

Anyway, when I saw this comment, it put a smile on my face, and it’s one of the first true signs I’ve seen in some time that YTB is beginning to “get it” when it comes to this small group, and if you look, it’s a very small group, of people.

“…if all you TAs really believe that YTB is such crap…then just let the chips fall where they may.If you are so confident that YTBs business model is subpar to yours, then let it go and eventually you will be fine.”

I realize that’s hard to do, even for me. Yes, I’m just as guilty as everyone else. I’ve gradually come to this same realization, and now that I’ve removed myself from the negativity and limited thinking I couldn’t agree more with this statement. The chips are starting to fall, and frankly, it’s looking pretty good for YTB at this point.

What happened 6 months ago was a real shock and both common sense and business sense told me that you don’t throw a company overboard who’s booking $414 Million in travel no matter how small the individual pieces of pie are. Do you think Coke and Pepsi worry about what each individual vending machine does in terms of revenue? Not particularly.

By having millions of these vending machines all over the world is a big reason why Coke and Pepsi battle back and fourth between #1 and #2 year after year. That’s how they sell 1.4 billion servings A DAY.

We’re not out of the woods just yet. We still have IATA to battle with, and we know have a clear sign that is being worked on. I just want to remind everyone in YTB of what Tim and Georgia Dominey wrote in the foreword of my new book released this week, “Keep the main thing the main thing”.

We’ve come a long way in just 6 months.

This model works folks. It works for us and it especially works for the suppliers who have tapped into the pool of vending machines that are out there. There are certainly cases when a purchase from a “Brick & Mortar” would be better suited for the needs of the consumer. No one can deny however, how technology, combined with relationships works as a very effective and stable formula for success.

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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Well, I’ve finally pulled it off. I’ve just written and released my first book entitled “What the Critics Know about YTB“. This is a “tell all” book on how to handle the Critics, Skeptics, Cynics, and Naysayers out there who have nothing better to do with their time than throw a bunch of mud up on the wall to see what sticks.

I came up with the concept and “how to guide” very early on Sunday morning while reading, and when the inspiration struck, I knew I had to share this with everyone I could in YTB. You’ll find it in today’s monthly newsletter, along with some other news from the last month, travel training information, and other key events coming up. If you’re in YTB, and want to be kept up to date, please feel free to subscribe, I’d love to have you on the list.

I asked Tim & Georgia Dominey, two close friends and mentors who also happen to be Level 2 Directors with the company to write the “Foreword” for my new book and I’m making a copy available to you for today for FREE! I encourage you to take the time to read this book concerning what to do and what to say to those who are slinging mud. Many have found my message direct, to the point, and dead on concerning many of the issues and negativity being thrown YTB’s way with this step by step guide on how to handle the critics.

The timing couldn’t be more perfect today, as YTB filed its 2007 Annual Report with the SEC yesterday with a hefty $3.2 Million PROFIT for the year. Revenues increased a total of 177% over 2006 numbers. Other notable increases were Marketing Commission of $80.5 Million up 169% and Travel Commission paid to our RTA’s reached $13.4 Million, an increase of 174%.

It should be noted that while only commissions are paid to our RTAs’ booking of travel services are reflected as a component of our revenues in our financial statements, YTB also keep track of the aggregate “retail value of all travel services” that are booked by our RTAs (which directly impacts our commission revenues). The value of such travel services increased 83.7% in 2007 to over $414,000,000, from approximately $225,000,000 in 2006. (Placing bets currently on how long this $414 Million will be spun into “fees”. Hummmmmmm)

This also marks three straight profitable quarterly reports and 2007 marks the first full year of profitability! Whoo Hooo!

In anticipation of our positive Annual Report our stock is also up considerably yesterday afternoon with 1.19 Million shares being traded after critics, cynics and naysayers had left us for dead.

I put this quote just below my dedication in my new book which I just love.

“Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated”
~ Samuel Langhorn Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, May, 1897 in a note to the New York Journal.

Speaking of the stock we are now current with our periodic reports under the Exchange Act; so we intend to have our common stock quoted on the OTC-BB once again and to thereafter apply for listing on a national securities exchange. AMEX would require a price of no less than $5 per share from my understanding.

And if all this STILL wasn’t enough for ya’ll, it appears that Mr. Kim Sorenson is firing back a couple shots at IATA through YTB’s legal department.

In a Travel Weekly report YTB has asked the commissioner for the U.S., James Johnstone, for clear permission to continue using its numeric code number, which was assigned by ARC, with the understanding that YTB agrees not to represent itself as an IATA agency. Kim Sorensen was also quoted that making the code available to contractors was “the same as what any host agency has done.” By implication, he raised the question: Why was YTB terminated when others were not?

In documents filed with the commissioner, YTB offered its answer. It accused IATA of enforcing its standards belatedly “as a pretense to quash competitive activity.” Please note the article next to YTB fight against IATA as the travel agency commissioner in Canada declined to uphold BNW’s termination there, while IATA said it “respectfully disagrees” with parts of the commissioner’s decision. However, IATA said the decision “makes crystal-clear that no person or entity has the right to display the IATA numeric code or IATA’s trademarks and service marks on in-house ID-cards or other credentials.”

Sound familiar?

You Bet!

Do you think you might be able to either sell some Travel or maybe put someone in the business based on all this good news?

Me too! Let’s “Get ‘er done!”

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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“Your Ticket To Paradise” happens to be the largest organization of active RTA’s in YTB, or YourTravelBiz as it’s also known. We are very proud to be part of this organization and prouder still to be recognized as leaders within the organization, just in time for the National Convention in St. Louis, August 15 – 19.

Last evening, Tim Dominey, a Second Level Director in YTB awarded both Ronda and I with “Your Ticket To Paradise” team jackets. These jackets not only recognize both Ronda and I as leaders of our own team, but leaders in the company as well.

But we couldn’t have done any of this by ourselves. That’s one of the things we love about this company and this business model, it’s about people helping people. With just a few core people that we have personally found, they have found others that have grown our team to over 200 at this time and we are getting closer every day to becoming Directors ourselves. We see it, we feel it, and it’s so close we can almost touch it.

It’s hard not to be proud right now with all the great news that has come out over the last two months about the company. The summer started out with the announcement of YTB International bringing on KCSA Worldwide as Investor Relations Counsel, with our Annual Investors meeting the following week. The Annual Meeting of Stockholders that took place on June 11, 2007. All six proposals submitted by YTB’s Board of Directors to the Company’s stockholders were approved at the meeting, including a 1-3 split of the company stock.

The beginning of June, we also announced the launch of YTB Cars and sales have already been made. While the pilot program has launched with Chrysler, Dodge, and Nissan at its inception, we recently found out that the largest car rental company worldwide, who also has corporate headquarters in St. Louis, has been in and out of our home office since the launch in order to help us expand our program.

Then came the news we all new was coming, but just didn’t know exactly were we would place. Travel Weekly’s Top 50 Power List for 2007. As part of the Power List, YTB was ranked 35th among all travel agencies and included in the top 11 leisure travel agencies. The ONLY Network Marketing Company to ever make the Top 50! To be ranked with the likes of Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia, American Express, and AAA is so incredibly HUGE for a small, young company like ours. Travel is our business and we expect to handle 900,000 travel bookings representing 1.4 million individual travelers with a customer cost of approx $1 Billion in 2007. On May 31 of this year 57,000 of our 88,000 travel agents had 157,000 paid for travel bookings pending customer travel and commissioning. 80,000 new bookings for 110,000 individual travel customers were entered into our system in May alone!

All this and the National Convention is yet to come! MAJOR Announcements are announced every year at the convention. Two years ago it was the Medical and Life Insurance and our Bill of Rights, and last year it was our feature in Success From Home and our $6000 Guarantee. (Both of these announcements by the way have made their way into other compensation packages with other companies just to keep pace.)

It’s been a REALLY good summer and it looks like it’s just going to get better!

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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