Safari2Success

President Obama Doesn’t Have You on His Radar Screen

Meri — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:18:54 +0000

President Barrack Obama recently made a statement that triggered quite a nerve within the travel industry:

"when was the last time somebody went to a bank teller instead of using the ATM, or used a travel agent instead of just going online? "

Many travel consultants were offended by this statement and vehemently defended their profession. The President was not making a statement about the lack of value provided by travel agents. He was simply putting words to the widely accepted perception of a travel agent.

Recently, I was getting my haircut and my stylist told me she had just got engaged and she was planning a destination wedding. I asked her if she was working with a Destination Wedding Specialist and she looked at me confused. She thought I was talking about the onsite wedding planner many resorts provide. So I spent the next 20 minutes educating her on the value of working with a Destination Wedding Specialist. She was so thankful. She had no idea such a thing existed.

And this is the problem. They don’t know you exist. Their perception of a travel agent is outdated. The general public sees the travel agent as an order taker with NO expertise, who works in a brick and mortar building on mainstreet that charges $50 for airline tickets and hardly competes with the fares online.

You don't have to convince me that there are thousands of competent travel agents that add value, provide an excellent service, and serve a great need. But unfortunately, I am not the one you have to convince. It's the general public and the fact of the matter is, the accurate understanding of your profession is falling under the radar screen.

It's time to update the face of the travel agent. The term alone: travel agent, doesn't do the profession any justice. The term itself needs an update. I prefer to use travel consultant, travel advisor or travel expert, and you should too.

But the task of making over your industry doesn't fall on the President's shoulders....it falls on yours. Each and every one of you that provide a stellar service, make dreams come true and serve a growing need to accumulate treasured moments and memories.

So how does one take on this task? By marketing YOU. Stop marketing your products and start marketing YOU. The other way to take on this task is to claim your expert status. It’s time to be an expert as SOMETHING. You choose, but get out there and walk, talk and act like an expert.

My mother grew up as an only child and because of her father's job, she moved frequently. She attended 6 different grammar schools in 8 years. One thing she learned was how to meet new people when you are the newcomer. She recognized that you have to get yourself out there, even if it feels hard or scary or uncomfortable. No matter how much you don't want to, you must push yourself to go to social events, get involved, and introduce yourself to strangers to meet new people and feel part of the community.

Marketing is no different. It doesn't always feel good. In fact, it can feel downright yucky. But it only feels yucky when you are chasing people. Whether you are aware of it or not, when you are pushing products and specials, you are chasing clients. When you DON’T specialize, you are chasing clients.

When you market authentically, by following the 4 legs: 1) Connect; 2) Inform; 3) Inspire; and 4) Call to Action, it doesn't feel like marketing and it doesn't feel yucky. People don't feel like you are marketing either.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Get over the fact that you don't like selling yourself, pretend you are a new kid on the block and push yourself to get out there. Be sure to follow the 4 critical authentic marketing legs in every marketing tool you use: 1) Connect; 2) Inform; 3) Inspire; and 4) Call to Action. For more information on how to do these things, please check out the Safari Guide Home Study System, www.safariguidesystem.com

©2009-2011 Meredith Hill, www.Safari2Success.com
Want to use this article in your E-zine or website? You can as long as you include this complete statement:

Travel business entrepreneur Meredith Hill publishes the "Binoculars" weekly e-zine. Visit her website at www.Safari2Success.com

Feeling a Little Lost on Facebook? 5 Steps to Simplifying Your Facebook Strategy

Meri — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:09:54 +0000

A client recently asked me, “Why isn’t my Facebook activity working?” After digging deeper into how she defined “working” – building a following and getting bookings, neither of which were happening for her - I realized that the mistakes she was making are very common, especially amongst the travel advisor community.

Many people jump into Facebook because they hear that it’s the place to be, or that they HAVE to in order to survive. They feel their way around, posting at random, without an effective strategy. In this article, I hope to clarify the confusion and help you discover WHY you should be on Facebook and HOW to strategically build a loyal following that will eventually lead to new business.

THE WHY
First, I would like to address the “Why” of being on Facebook. Yes, it’s a fantastic source of new leads for most types of travel, and it’s FREE. But it will NEVER lead to new business if you don’t establish a relationship with those you are trying to connect.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people making is getting on Facebook to get more business. If you are on Facebook because you want to get new business, then it’s a complete waste of time and I suggest you stop immediately. This motive is coming from a place of fear.

Instead, your motive for being on Facebook should be: TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS. That’s it. We ALL need to build relationships. It’s the one thing in business you should never stop doing. And eventually, your relationships will lead to business…but not always…they may lead to referrals or great resources.

Personal Page or Business Page?
The decision to use one’s personal page or fan page is a HUGE source of confusion. My advice (which might ruffle some feathers) is to start with your personal page first. Reason being is that building a following on a Fan Page is a 2-step process. You can only ask “Friends” from your personal page to “Like” your Fan Page. Thus, if you only have 100 Friends, in all likelihood, you will only get 25 Fans on your Fanpage. Marketing to 25 Fans will not get you anywhere. So I suggest you build a loyal following on your personal page and once you get to at least 2,000 Friends, then start a Fan page and get people to like it.

And YES, that means mixing business with personal stuff. Your real friends will not get offended that you are promoting your business on Facebook IF you follow the 4 Leg Strategy below. You are your business and your business is you. Don’t try to separate it.

The 4-Legs to Your Facebook Strategy
Just like a chair needs four legs to stand properly and support a person sitting on it, your Facebook strategy needs 4 legs to properly build relationships and eventually grow your business. Once you have made the decision to be on Facebook, these 4 legs will guide you in your Facebook activity. Incorporate all 4 legs and I guarantee, you will build very successful relationships, a loyal following and grow your business.

Leg #1: Connect
The most effective way to connect with other people is by triggering emotion in them. How do you trigger emotion? By opening up and sharing a vulnerable side of yourself. When you do this, other people will respond in kind and a connection will be made.

There are a few ways that you should be strategically connecting on Facebook:

A) “Friending” other people. When you first get started on Facebook, this should be a large part of your strategy. It’s the only way to build your following. If you don’t know WHO to “Friend,” start with your own circle. Search for classmates, church members, extended family members, friends of friends, etc. Facebook will naturally recommend people for you to “Friend” too.

B) Posting your personality. Open yourself up to people with your posts. Upload a photo of your new haircut, report on your favorite restaurant, ask people what Pandora station they like? Get your personality out there with your posts.

C) Ask open ended questions to start a conversation.

D) Comment on or Like your Friends posts. This is where connection is made and I think it’s a huge blind spot for many professional travel advisors. Facebook is about 2-way communication. If you are only posting, you won’t connect with others. You must actively comment and like your Friends posts too.

Leg #2: Inform
You want to be known as an expert and the best way to do that is to share good, helpful information. If you haven’t narrowed your specialty down, you will find this more difficult. Get known on Facebook for something and watch your following grow. Don’t be afraid to share your best secrets. If you give them the best, they will pay for the rest. So if you discover a fabulous restaurant in Miami, tell them about it.

Leg #3: Inspire
What’s the big promise you offer in your services? For example a client of mine specializes in Disney, and specifically, Disney for the first timer. The big promise she offers is that it’s possible to have your dream Disney experience, even if you haven’t been there before. So to inspire her clients on Facebook, she could post about success cases of clients who just came home. Or, she could talk about the smile on her clients’ face when she got off Space Mountain for the first time. Or she could post about the connection her honeymooners made on their trip. Or she could simply post a famous quote that inspires her. One final way to inspire is to plant the seed for future travel. Using this client one last time, she could post about birthday celebrations at Disney.

Leg #4: Promote with Calls to Action
Yes, you can promote your business in a subtle way by using calls to action. For example, if you are holding a free webinar about an itinerary you will be escorting, invite people on Facebook. If you have an “Irresistible Free Offer” on your website, tell people about it on Facebook and share a link for how they can sign up for it.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Plan out your own 4-leg Facebook strategy. Maintain an equal balance of all 4 legs and I bet you will finally see that your Facebook activity is “working.”

©2009-2011 Meredith Hill, www.Safari2Success.com
Want to use this article in your E-zine or website? You can as long as you include this complete statement:

Travel business entrepreneur Meredith Hill publishes the "Binoculars" weekly e-zine. Visit her website at www.Safari2Success.com

Feeling Stuck? A Common Mindset Block that Keeps You From Moving Forward

Meri — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:40:57 +0000

I recently had the experience of working with a client who was a text book example of a common mindset block. You want to identify and eliminate mindset blocks because they keep you stuck struggling in your business. She was good at marketing and was doing a lot of the right things – a clear specialty and target market, blogging regularly, relationship building on Twitter and Facebook. But the business just wasn’t coming to her – at all.

In a group meeting, a few of us paid her separate compliments about her writing skills. She deflected every single compliment. Instead of accepting the compliment and saying “Thank You,” she turned the compliment around and used it as an opportunity to criticize herself.

After the 3rd time I watched her do this, I told her “I know exactly what’s stopping your business! You are not receiving.” When you reject a compliment, energetically you are turning away prosperity and abundance. How you do anything is how you do everything, so the act of rejecting a compliment is a sign of rejecting abundance and prosperity in all parts of your life. In essence, she was stopping an energetic flow, as ruled by the Law of Circulation.

Think about a hose pipe sitting on your lawn. When you turn on the faucet, water will flow out of the end…unless you step on the hose, or bend it. The same happens with energy. Are you stopping the flow of circulation and thus not receiving clients, money, etc?

Equally important is this. When you don’t receive, you rob “the giver” of the experience of giving. Think about it - you can’t be a giver without a receiver. We all like to give and when you give someone a gift, you want them to accept it. In fact, you might feel very hurt if they don’t accept it. Being a good receiver is actually a self-less (not selfish) act.
Here are my tips on becoming a good receiver and eliminating this common mindset block:

Accept compliments by taking them in and replying with “Thank You.” (Then quietly compliment yourself for accepting the compliment. You get 2 compliments in 1!)
Accept help when it’s offered – how often do we tell people, “No, I can do it myself.” Let them help you.
Accept small gifts, like when someone offers to pay the bill for lunch.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Pay attention to the balance of giving and receiving in your life. Are you giving a lot more than you are receiving? If so, do your best to balance it out by receiving more.

Are Ignorant, Prospective Clients Annoying You?

Meri — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:40:44 +0000

When I was trying to grow my client base, I found myself frustrated a lot. I was frustrated that I didn’t have enough clients, but I was also annoyed at SOME clients that DID show up (not all of them). My most common gripe with those annoying clients was: they had no clue what a travel agent did and totally underestimated my value. In other words, I was an order taker and no more valuable than an online booking engine. I was there to see if I could get them a better deal.

What I wanted them to understand was that I had an expert opinion and didn’t want them making stupid or costly vacation mistakes. My passion for travel was so deep that I cared about every last detail. I was willing to investigate how far the walk was to the beach, the difference between an ocean view and an ocean front room. I loved discovering the best restaurants, most unusual activities and being able to book them for my clients. If they had 3 children, I knew exactly which beachfront hotels allowed 5 in a room. If they had an infant, I knew which hotels had beachfront rooms where baby could nap and mom could sit on the beach, instead of being stuck in a hotel room with a view of another hotel room (there are very few of these!)

Did I get my clients a better deal than Orbitz? Maybe. Did I get my clients better value? Absolutely. Did they have a better experience? No question, yes!

After being in a funk for a while, one day I decided to stop complaining about the problem and start becoming a part of the solution. Rather than get annoyed at these clients who didn’t understand the role of a good travel advisor, I decided to see it as an opportunity to EDUCATE them. And that’s exactly the advice I now give my own clients when they come to me upset that nobody values them. My first question is “How are you educating them?” Nobody else is going to do it. There is no public service out there extolling the benefits of a good, trusted travel advisor. So, if you want to be appreciated, it’s time you take action and start educating your clients. The more you educate them the more you can change the overall public perception. If we all do our little part, imagine what might change over time.

Here are 5 ways to educate your clients about the value of a trusted travel advisor:

Charge a service fee. I get a lot of resistance to this one – but the service fee conversation is an excellent opportunity to spell out the difference between planning travel one’s self and working with a trusted travel expert. It’s also a great time to establish what differentiates you from other travel advisors. Write out a script if it makes it easier for you. It could start something like this: “My number 1 priority will not be to get you the cheapest deal out there. My number 1 priority will be to ensure you are spending your travel dollars as wisely as possible and making them go further. But this service comes with a fee…” See my other blog post to learn more about this process.
Create an “Interview With Jane” document. This is a document where you place frequently asked questions and then answer each one in your words. Include questions about how you work and the value you provide for your clients. Make sure you send this document to every new inquiry - ask them to read it as a way of getting to know you better. I explain this more in the same blog post referenced above.
Ask for testimonials ALWAYS and post them everywhere. A common question I get about testimonials is “How do you get good testimonials?” The answer is you HAVE to ask for them, on a consistent basis. Each time a client returns, make it a habit of asking them how the trip went and how it compares to a trip planned by themselves. Don’t be afraid to ask. People are happy to tell you and you learn a LOT in the process. Once you have testimonials, include them everywhere – on your website, in your weekly newsletter, post them on Facebook.
Boast about your clients and what you do for them. For example, you might have managed to get clients into a sold out hotel. If so, boast about it. Or maybe, you sat on the phone for 3 hours with a customer service rep fighting for a refund and got it. Boast about it! Where? Post something on Facebook, write about it in your newsletter, and post a blog about it too.
Speak on behalf of your expertise. It’s really not that hard to go get speaking gigs and talk about the travel specialty you know like the back of your hand. There are so many local organizations looking for decent speakers. When I was at Hills of Africa Travel, we got speaking engagements at private country clubs and talked about travel to Africa – not in a salesy way, but in an informative way. In addition, when we decided to sell our services to the travel agent community, I created a series of webinars on travel to Africa, for the travel agent. Thus, you don’t have to travel to speak. So get out there, act like an expert, and speak.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

It’s time to stop feeling like a victim and start being a part of the solution to finding better clients by educating them on the value you provide. Pick one or two of these tips today and start doing them. You will be surprised at how quickly things turn around for you.

From Beer Budget to Billionaire Travel Clients – How did you do it?

Meri — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:24:17 +0000

I recently filmed a 3-part video series called From Beer Budget to Billionaire Clients. It was so good that I felt compelled to write about it again. You see, one of the most common questions I get is “How did you find billionaires for clients?” Most people expect the answer to have something to do with a solid marketing plan. And, that’s not really true.

The answer to the question is this: You must uplevel yourself before you uplevel your clients. It doesn’t happen the other way around – ever! I have spent the last 3 years working on upleveling myself (and so did my former business partner). The exciting thing is that having billionaires for clients came out of this “upleveling.”

What do I mean by upleveling? I am talking about practicing habits that are common amongst highly successful travel entrepreneurs. Upleveling is about changing your mindset, expecting more of yourself, believing in your greatness, understanding you deserve more and knowing, deep in your heart, that you have a lot to give. In essence, upleveling is about following these 7 habits.

The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Travel Entrepreneurs

Stretch – Don’t ever get comfortable. Don’t ever stop learning. Realize you can always do more. Stretch yourself by having a voracious appetite for books, doing things before you feel ready, and always listening to the quiet voice of desire (not the loud obnoxious one). The most effective way to stretch yourself is to hire a mentor. Think about yourself as a slinky. If you hold each end of a slinky in your hands, you can stretch the slinky as far as your arms length. But, if you give one end of the slinky to someone else, you can stretch the slinky far more…maybe 2 or 3 times more. That’s what a good mentor does for you.
Set Clear Intentions – I used to go through life by default. It’s so empowering to sit down, a few times a year, and map out what you want in life. It’s exciting when it starts to happen. For example, my business partner and I talked about attracting billionaires for clients. We talked about this for at least 18 months. And then one day, a billionaire showed up. Then another one. Then another one. Talk about empowering! You can control your destiny…but you need to give clear direction. Make a habit of setting clear intentions on a daily basis.
Seize Opportunities – one of the greatest lessons I learned is that once you set an intention, the path to your goal will NEVER be illuminated at once. Instead, what happens is opportunities show up. You have got to be willing to seize the opportunities, even if it feels uncomfortable. In fact, the path of entrepreneurship is mostly uncomfortable, because if you are feeling comfortable, it’s time to move forward.
Surround Yourself with a Supportive Tribe – I did NOT grow up in an entrepreneurial family. In fact, my father had 2 jobs during my entire childhood – for which I eternally grateful. But that means that I was navigating this entrepreneurial world solo. You can’t do it alone. You need support. You need to surround yourself with people who “see” you more than you see yourself. People that will cheer you on when you are seizing opportunities that scare you to death. People that will lend an ear when you feel you can’t do it anymore. People that will celebrate with you…because they GET how meaningful those successes are. People that simply understand without you having to explain.
Stay Focused – As creative types, we entrepreneurs get very distracted by bright, shiny objects. But that is only going to hurt you in the end. Be disciplined with your focus. You can’t chase two bees at once. Pick one thing and focus on it until completion. Then move on.
Skin in the Game – A recent college study found that people are FAR more likely to expend effort to avoid losing a dollar than they are to gain a dollar. In other words, people will move mountains so they don’t lose money, but are much less motivated to make money. As a business owner, the purpose of your business is to make money. But because of this natural human behavior to get comfortable and not have as much incentive to make money, putting skin in the game changes this dramatically. Now, all of a sudden, you have a new, bigger motivator than simply making more money to move your business forward – the fear of losing money. I have seen this with myself and many clients – the moment they put skin in the game, they do things they never dreamed possible. It’s amazing and very exciting.
Surrender – Surrender is NOT giving up. Surrender is taking your focus off your fears, or as Lynn Grabhorn (author of Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting) calls them, your “don’t wants.” Realizing that you’ve been rowing your boat upstream, surrender is the moment you let go of the oars. The moment you take your focus off your don’t wants and let go of the oars, you release the resistant energy that’s been preventing all your wants from flowing to you. Surrender is taking focus off your fears and putting focus on your expectation of your dreams and goals. Surrender is bringing the power, perfection and peace of presence into your life and believing that there is a higher source who will take care of you. It’s releasing the worries, anxieties, doubts and fears and knowing that all is well.

To watch a 3-part video series on these habits, please CLICK HERE.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Go through these 7 habits and pick 2 or 3 you will start doing today. Stick with them for at least 3 weeks. Then move on to a few more, until you are practicing all 7.

3 Productivity Secrets to Getting Your Marketing Done While Still Serving Clients

Meri — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:26:50 +0000

When I tell a new client that she should be spending 3 to 4 hours a day working on marketing, often she is shocked. So many people don't spend 3 to 4 hours a week or even 3 to 4 hours a month on marketing. But then, those people don't get results and continue to struggle in their travel businesses.

Truth is, you should be spending 50% of your time on marketing and 50% of your time working with clients. All other tasks should be delegated to someone else. Marketing should be a mandatory part of your day….kind of like brushing your teeth. Because when you discipline yourself to market consistently and with authenticity, you get results that far outweigh your competition and you attract the kind of clients you dream of having. It really does happen this way.

Before I adopted a marketing discipline, my day would be in the hands of my clients. I was in reactionary mode. But when I committed to marketing regularly, I had no choice but to figure out how to fit it all in. The coolest part about this was that I went from a constant state of reaction mode, to a constant state of response mode and for the first time in my life, felt in control of my day and my business. Here are 3 of the most practical and powerful productivity tips I use each day, in order to fit it all in.

1) Chunking the Calendar

One of the most common things most people do first thing in the morning is also the worst thing they do for productivity. What is it? Checking e-mail. If you take away one thing from this article, let it be this: Don't check your e-mail first thing when you start work. When you do, your day revolves around other people's needs and your business takes a back seat. Instead, begin the practice of chunking your calendar. Put appointments for everything in your calendar, including appointments to work on marketing each day. Give yourself enough time to get really engaged in your marketing projects too. Turn everything else off during these appointments, like the phone and the email. If your clients leave a voicemail, you will still get back to them within an hour or two. You can also put appointments for checking your email, answering the phone and returning voicemails.

2) Mindmap

Establishing a solid marketing foundation takes a lot. When we first began implementing all the marketing pieces, we felt so overwhelmed. It seemed like we would never get it all in place. We were also confused. We didn't know what to do first. The productivity tool that made the biggest difference for us was the mindmap.

To start, write down all the projects you want to complete. Put them all on one piece of paper. Then, simply decide which one you will focus on first. The best way to decide what to work on first is to ask yourself which project will bring about the most amount of clients in the least amount of time with the least amount of effort? In other words, which project is going to bring about the lowest hanging fruit? Put a star next to that project and focus on it until completion. Don't let yourself get distracted by any other project. Just focus on that one single project until it is done. So, for example, you might have the following projects on your mindmap:

Starting a weekly e-zine
Get on Facebook
Speaking engagements
Create an Irresistible Free Offer
Start a Blog

I would tell you to star the weekly e-zine project because it will bring about the most amount of clients in the least amount of time with the least amount of effort. So you could star that project and work on it until completion. Once it's done, move on to another project.

3) 1-day productivity planner

This is such a great tool for starting your day and getting SO much more accomplished. The 1-day productivity planner is a 1-page document that you print out and fill out first thing in the morning. It has 3 sections.

Projects – List out the 3 projects you are currently working on. For each project, write down the 5 things you must do to move the project forward. These are not necessarily things you must do TODAY. Rather, these are the 5 things that must happen to move the project forward whether they happen today, tomorrow, in a week or in a month.
People – In this section, you will create two lists. First, list the people you have to reach out to today, no matter what. Then, also list the people from whom you need something to move your project forward.
Priorities – This is your “to-do” list for the day. Here, write down the main things you must complete today, no matter what.

The best way to use your 1-day productivity planner is to start from the bottom and move up. In other words, start with section C and get those things done. Then move up to section B. You should not open your email account before getting to section B. And when you finally open your email account, rather than look through all the new emails, initiate e-mails to those people you must reach out to. Then, when you finally look through your emails, simply look for those people you are waiting on. If you don’t have an email from them, reach out to them again. Sometimes, it’s OK to be a hound. Finally, move up to Section A and get working on your projects.

You can easily combine all 3 of these productivity tools to get you focused, taking action and in charge of your day. Remember, when you organize your day based upon your inbox, you are really organizing your day according to other people’s agendas. You can still provide an excellent service for your clients, return their calls, return their emails when you chunk your calendar and put your marketing on top.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Open your calendar and begin chunking your time. Schedule several hours each day to work on marketing projects. Schedule several hours each day to check your emails and return phone calls. Put together your mind map and hang it on a wall in your office, where you can see it daily. Last, but not least, create your own 1-day productivity planner and make it a habit to complete this first thing in the morning. When you start putting in place these productivity secrets, you will be amazed at how much more you are accomplishing and feel great for it too!

Ready to Upgrade Your Clients?

Meri — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:41:17 +0000

10 tips to attracting clients that TRUST, APPRECIATE and WILLINGLY PAY for Your Services

Getting more clients in the travel business is not always terribly hard. Just hand out your card at a networking event and you are bound to get someone to bite. But rarely does that bite come in the form of a $20,000 Tauck Tour booking. More often than not, the new client will fish for free information, have a measly budget, waste a lot of your time and after all that, might even tell you they will be booking it themselves.

Finding clients that TRUST you, appreciate your services and bring you profitable business is not so run of the mill. In this article, I provide 10 tips to attracting the RIGHT kind of client.

Commit to marketing for the long term – as a travel entrepreneur, 50% of your time should be spent marketing and the other 50% should be spent working with clients. Many people are surprised by how much time I recommend you market. But when you don’t place such a huge emphasis on marketing, you end up executing a “shot-gun” marketing approach.
Establish yourself as an expert – my clients who are brave enough to pick a specialty and stick with it get the greatest and fastest results in upgrading their clients. Decide today that you are an expert and claim your expert status by giving good information, for FREE, as often as possible.
Farm – if you don’t want to pick a specialty, the next best thing you can do is to steal from realtors. Steal what? The marketing approach that works best for them: Farming. In other words, select a geographically small, carefully selected target market and become the dominant player. There are 2 really good things about this strategy: 1) very few people in the travel business are doing this – so you won’t have nearly as much competition as the realtors do; and 2) farming requires a lot less need for the most complicated online marketing tools and a lot more old-fashioned relationship building savvy.
Share Your Story – If you want trust, one of the best places to start establishing trust is by opening up with your prospects first. Be willing to share your story. Get vulnerable. Go deep. Maybe you have survived cancer and planning travel helped you heal. Or perhaps you went through a humiliating divorce but eventually came out on top because you started your own travel business and found your independence. Share this with people. It is one of the most magnetic things you can do.
Create a marketing plan and stick to it – get your calendar out and commit to certain marketing activities on a daily basis, weekly basis, monthly basis, quarterly basis and annual basis. Just get the calendar out and put items on it. This simple act can be so profound. Plan it out. For example, you could commit to the following:

Daily – Facebook posts
Weekly – send an Electronic Newsletter; Write 1 article and post to blog
Monthly – Record 1 or 2 videos and post on YouTube as well as blog; Speak at 1 networking event
Quarterly – Send a snail mail letter to your best clients
Annually – Host a local charity event

Send a weekly electronic newsletter – I feel like a broken record preaching this, but so many people are not doing it. When done correctly, the electronic newsletter, sent weekly is the most powerful marketing too you have. But you must follow a formula. To get the right formula, CLICK HERE.

Joint Venture – Approach another business owner who already has an established clientele of the same people you want to be in front of. This is an important distinction – you want to approach a business owner who already has an established clientele, not someone who is also struggling. Open the conversation by telling them you want to help them. Here are some ideas of types of businesses you can approach:

Realtors
Restaurant owners
Boutique clothing store owners
Wine store owners
Jewelers
Financial planners

Here are some ideas of how you can work with them:

Offer to provide an article for their newsletter on a monthly basis
Plan a joint function – i.e. like a wine tasting and you can talk about traveling to the region from where the wine originates.
Co-host a webinar with them
Offer a coupon they can give away with their sales

Send a warm letter on a quarterly basis – Your existing clients are the best place to start to get more business. Very rarely do people use snail mail anymore. Use this to your advantage and put a personal touch on it. Write a heart-felt letter to your clients, updating them on where you are in your business. Then ask them to help you grow your business through referrals. Hand address the envelopes to ensure it gets opened.
Pick up the phone and call people - You are in a relationship business and part of that means connecting with your clients even when they don’t need your services. Create a system where you commit to calling 5 clients a week. Your intent for the phone call should be to 1) ask them how they are doing; 2) double check that you have contact details correct and 3) plant the seed of a vacation idea…for example, you could say something like “John, I see you and Mary have an anniversary coming up in November. Have you ever considered surprising Mary with an anniversary trip to Italy? I would be happy to take care of everything...”
Volunteer – This is another way to nourish relationships. Get known in your community for something, whether it’s a charity event or being on the board of directors of the public library. Get out there and get known.

Find Freedom in Your Business

Meri — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 13:51:32 +0000

It’s simply human nature to want freedom. If you think about it, our ultimate desires almost always boil down to wanting freedom. The desire to be a financial success – is really about the freedom to do what you want, when you want and how you want. The desire to be healthy – is really about the freedom to live life without the handcuffs of a disease or chronic illness. The desire to be in a healthy, loving relationship is often really more about the freedom to be who you are and still loved.

Most of my choices in life have been about maintaining my freedom. My poor mother. Try to tell me to do something – I might listen. But try to tell me to do it HER way – I will purposely go out of my way to do it my way.

Freedom is exactly why I left a high paying, cushy job on Wall Street for which most MBA graduates would give their left arm. When I was working on Wall Street, I often told people that I had sold my soul to the devil. Sure, I made a lot of money, was widely recognized as an industry expert, had great perks, went to amazing parties and for the most part, was very happy. But I had to follow someone else’s orders, stick to someone else’s schedule, and pretend to be passionate about something that I could care less about. I felt handcuffed and my soul was slowly dying.

So I gave it all up in the name of freedom. Freedom to report to myself. Freedom to make my own schedule. And most important, freedom to pursue my passion…let my soul free.

I believe freedom is why many people travel. Travel has an uncanny ability to make all of life’s problems (or handcuffs) go away. People travel to be themselves again; not the roles they play in life. People travel to explore new places, sites, experiences, people, cultures. When you are exploring, you have no chains, no ties; it’s exhilarating.

Today, I want to salute the travel entrepreneur. As a travel entrepreneur – you work for yourself, so you have freedom. But you also get to GIVE freedom to people, through the act of traveling. Think about it, if we all felt a little more freedom in our daily lives, the world just might be a better place.

Working for yourself is not always easy, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world…or a high paying, cushy job on Wall Street. Today, give thanks for the freedom you have and get excited about the freedom you get to give. And slowly, you can make the world a better place.

Time to Get a Merchant Account for Your Travel Business

Meri — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:23:44 +0000

In the past few days, I have found myself talking to multiple travel advisors about getting a merchant account. There seems to be some mystery around the process and in this article, I hope to dispel the mystery.

I am surprised by the amount of people who don’t get their own merchant account and then end up feeling like a slave to their host agency. Getting a merchant account is not difficult, complicated or expensive. Years ago, banks were reluctant to give merchant accounts to businesses involved in the travel industry because of the high rate of fraud. But that has changed with the huge onset of online businesses.

Today, getting a merchant account is simple, quick and inexpensive.

Who Should Get a Merchant Account? I believe anyone that sells travel, even on a part time basis. It’s how you put your business owner panties on.

What Can I Expect to Pay? You can expect to pay three types of fees:

A small monthly fee, like $10 per month
A per transaction fee, like $0.10 – $0.25 per transaction
A discount fee where the merchant keeps a percentage of every transaction. Discount rates range from 1.9% to 4.0%. As a new merchant, your discount rate should be in the range of 2.2 – 3.0%, with the exception of American Express, which can be as high as 4.0%.

What cards should I accept? In my experience, it has not cost me more to be able to accept the 4 most popular: Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express, so I think it’s worth going for all 4. If you are getting approved for one of them, you will get approved for all 4. Yes, American Express has higher discount fees, but it’s still worth accepting it.

Here are 4 Sources I recommend you consider in getting a merchant account for your travel business: (I don’t get any compensation for recommending these companies. I’ve just learned about them in the course of doing business.)

ASTA, www.asta.org – if you are an ASTA member, they have negotiated a member discount with a merchant provider that grants merchant accounts to travel businesses.
www.authorize.net – Authorize.net is widely used and accepted. You can even apply for an online merchant account where all your transactions get processed online. No machinery required.
Power Pay, www.ipowerpay.com – Just like authorize.net, PowerPay is common in the home based information marketing business. They will grant you an online merchant account where your transactions get processed online.
Your own bank – if you have a business account with a bank, it’s worth asking them if they would give you a merchant account. This is what I did and ended up going with my bank because they gave me the best rates.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Ask yourself if you are throwing away revenues because you haven’t been willing to get a merchant account. Do the math. Look at your numbers for the past 12 months. Have you been paying more than 3% of all your service fees to your host? Have you NOT charged fees because of the hassle in collecting them? If you answered yes to either of these, go get a merchant account today and start with one of the 4 options in this article.

Seek and Ye Shall Find

Meri — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:20:21 +0000

The following article is by my dear friend Natalie Bradley. I was so inspired by the article that I wanted to share it with you. Natalie teaches Client Attraction to the wedding vendor industry. To make the article relative to your business, simple insert the word “traveler” when you see the word “bride.”

When did everyone stop seeking for answers?

Why is it that in a down economy it is easier for most to hide and suffer instead of asking and seeking for the answer(s) you need?

Is it that in the asking, you’re afraid that the answer won’t materialize? Or are you worried that in seeking, the brides, the business, and the money won’t be there?

Even in a slower marketplace, like this one, the answers, the brides, and the money are still there. You just have to look for them differently than before. You have to do business unlike you did before. And you have to be willing to be different from the rest.

But here’s the key: you must commit yourself to going where your answers live. And that usually means doing what everyone else is terrified to do. And it means being your true self, even if people all around you are pretending to be who they “should” be (and not who they truly are).

It can be scary to walk out into the world on faith, but I can tell you from experience that whenever I trust in my faith, I ALWAYS find what I’m looking for. And…when I doubt and lose my way (inside), all hell breaks loose around me!

For this reason, I consciously choose faith every single day. It makes life a whole lot more fun, and even though some days are still scary, when you know that when you seek you always find, you don’t mind walking straight into the fear.

So let’s do this together. “Seek, and ye shall find.” (Matthew 7:7)

Be your fabulous self,

Natalie

Marketing to brides expert Natalie Bradley publishes the ”Bride Attraction” weekly e-zine. Get your FREE audio course: “How to Close the Sale Without Fail!” at www.BrideAttraction.com