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Mini-Course for
Home-Based Travel Agents

This strategy is extremely productive! We have enjoyed conversion rates of 4.9% sending a six-part "mini-course" to those interested in becoming home-based travel agents. The course is delivered by autoresponder and does the selling for you. We are happy to share it with you.

Here it is pretty much the way we use it, complete with the merge feature used by our autoresponder. Our autoresponder also lets people bow out at any time (always a good idea to provide this capability.) Feel free to adapt it, but remember to use your own Affiliate ID wherever you see XXXXX

Part One

Dear [[firstname]]!
I just got your email request for our FREE six-part mini-
course on becoming a home-based travel agent.

If you did NOT request this, someone else signed you up for
the course. You can CANCEL the course right now by clicking
on the link at the end of this email.

If you DID request the course, Lesson One follows. Enjoy!
All the best,

Kelly Monaghan
The Home-Based Travel Agent Resource Center
http://www.HomeTravelAgency.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=XXXXX

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Becoming a Home-Based Travel Agent, Part 1:
The "Traditional" Travel Agency
Copyright © Kelly Monaghan, http://www.HomeTravelAgency.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=XXXXX

The twentieth century saw the rise of the travel agent.
Middlemen (which is what travel agents are, in effect) became
necessary for a number of reasons. Travel is a very complex
product -- a whole series of products, in effect. In the
early days, at least, the companies that provided the
products were far more adept at providing than at selling.
Their customers were also very widely distributed
geographically. These and other factors created an
opportunity for entrepreneurs who agreed to represent the
products of many different travel suppliers to a local market
in exchange for a commission on the sale. That commission was
traditionally ten percent, although as in all selling
situations top producers were rewarded with higher
commissions, called "overrides" in the travel business.

The system of distributing travel products through a network
of travel agencies took hold and travel agencies themselves
came to look very much alike, sharing a great many common
features. They were storefront, retail businesses, located in
commercial districts of town, open during normal retail
business hours. In short, they were very much like the
clothing shops, boutiques, grocery stores, bookstores, and
other retailers with whom they shared the block. This picture
is what I call the "traditional" travel agency.

The traditional travel agency looks the way it does for many
reasons, but several concern us here. Mostly they have to do
with the airlines.

Airline tickets are written (or printed, now) on blank paper
called "ticket stock." In its blank form this paper is like a
blank, but valid, check. Anyone who has it can write a ticket
to anywhere for any value. Hence the term, "write your own
ticket." Ticket stock is extremely valuable and since it is
entrusted to travel agencies the airlines had a very valid
reason to ensure that their ticket stock was safe. So they
developed a set of rules that would tend to ensure that they
could trust the travel agents who were selling their tickets.

These rules included things like:

A business location in a commercial district. In other words,
the travel agency had to look and act like a "store."

A system of bonding, to assure the airline that the travel
agency owner was solvent and respectable and, therefore, not
likely to be tempted to do anything fishy with the airline's
precious ticket stock.

Another factor determining the look and feel of the
traditional travel agency is the computer. Travel agencies
were one of the first businesses to be extensively
computerized. The complex and expensive computerized
reservations systems (CRS) that made ticketing easy
encouraged even more centralization and "professionalism" in
the travel agent industry.

In other words, if you wanted to be a travel agent you had to
open a storefront agency with its high overhead and complex
computer systems. This took a lot of money. Of course, you
could also get trained to operate a CRS and go to work in a
storefront agency, and many agency owners started out just
this way.

This pattern, in turn, created another distinguishing
characteristic of the traditional travel agency: it was a
place to which would-be travelers came to talk to agents
sitting at a desk operating a CRS. Most travel agents became
"order takers." Of course, there were always exceptions to
this general rule. Many travel agencies employed "outside
agents" to hustle up business. These outside agents were, in
effect, free ranging inside agents who returned to the agency
and their CRSs to generate the airline tickets and other
bookings they had made outside. Some agencies used "bird
dogs" as they are called, people who sent customers into the
agency location where inside agents would cater to their
needs. Bird dogs performed a valuable service and were
compensated with a small percentage of any commissions that
resulted from their referrals. This was very much akin to the
"finder's fees" paid in other industries. Nonetheless, these
were exceptions that proved the rule: most travel agents were
reactive order takers tied to their desks and the CRSs that
sat on them.

All this began to change in the 90s thanks to a number of
interrelated trends, which we will discuss in the next
lesson.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This mini-course on becoming a home-based travel agent is
brought to you by the Home-Based Travel Agent Resource Center
and The Intrepid Traveler, publisher of a comprehensive home
study course for home-based travel agents.

For more information, visit:
http://www.HomeTravelAgency.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=XXXXX

Part Two

Hello again, [[firstname]]!

Welcome to Lesson Two of your home-based travel agent course.
If you did NOT request this course, some sneaky person did.
You can CANCEL the course right now by clicking on the link
at the end of this email.

All the best,
Kelly Monaghan
The Home-Based Travel Agent Resource Center
http://www.HomeTravelAgency.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=XXXXX

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Becoming a Home-Based Travel Agent, Part 2:
The Home-Based Travel Agent revolution Begins
Copyright © Kelly Monaghan, http://www.HomeTravelAgency.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=XXXXX

The "traditional" travel agency was a place where people came
to place orders. That began to change in the 90s due to a
number of related trends:

SMART MARKETING

Some clever fellow decided he could make money marketing the
"romance" and "mystique" of being a travel agent, or more
specifically the travel benefits that (in theory) came with
the mere fact of identifying yourself as a travel agent.

This notion was copied and very quickly there were any number
of travel agencies working a high-powered and sophisticated
twist on the old bird-dog system. "Be one of our outside
independent agents," the pitch went, "and refer business to
our inside agents. In return, we'll give you a small
commission and, best of all, a photo ID card that proves
you're a travel agent and that you can use to get all sorts
of discounts and other goodies."

This marketing approach has met with varying degrees of
success on its own terms. What is less in doubt is the fact
that it has been extremely controversial within the travel
agent community and vigorous efforts have been made to put an
end to it, thus far to no avail. Although this may change in
the future, the current situation appears to be that, while
what these travel agencies are doing (and they have to be
bonded, accredited travel agencies to do this!) may anger
other travel agents, it is not illegal. These agencies call
themselves referral agencies; their critics call them card
mills. Whatever terminology you prefer, they seem to here to
stay.

THE RISE OF THE PERSONAL COMPUTER

Employees of travel agencies were for a long while the most
computer-savvy people to be found outside academia or large
corporations. When personal computers started popping up
everywhere, just about anyone could do what travel agents did
if they had the right software.

IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONS

It's hard to imagine now how recent and revolutionary the
introduction of the fax machine was. In retrospect, it had a
profound effect on the travel distribution system with its
ability to transmit bookings quickly and accurately. Now, the
Internet is replacing the fax as a means to quickly send and
receive data.

COMMISSION CAPS AND CUTS

Then the airlines started cutting travel agents' commission
rates and limiting the amount of commissions they paid at
those rates. Airline tickets had never been something that
travel agents got rich on, but they were steady and those
first and business class tickets paid very healthy
commissions. Now the airlines were dropping agents' pay below
their costs. In other words, many agents were actually losing
money on every airline ticket they wrote.

Today, most airlines pay zero commissions on base fares.
However, many agencies do receive some commission income
based on volume.

A lot of agents started asking themselves some hard-hitting questions. "Why am I carrying all this expensive overhead
just to please the airlines when the airlines are driving me
out of business?" A lot of smaller agencies closed, some to
go out of business forever but many to reopen as home-based
agencies, freed from the heavy financial burdens of a
storefront agency and also free to spurn the airlines that
had spurned them, free to concentrate on selling higher-
priced, higher-margin products. Many agents who took this
route saw a dramatic increase in their take-home pay.

As we enter a new millennium, these intertwining forces have
combined to create a true revolution in how travel products are distributed. If the twentieth century was the century of
the travel agent, the twenty-first will be the century of the home-based travel agent. Home-based travel agencies are
opening up at an ever-increasing rate, while the number of
storefront agencies has been declining every year. The home-
based agent can be a seasoned storefront veteran or a
newcomer, but both are in the same boat. They are entering a
brave new world of travel marketing that is very different from the traditional storefront model. To succeed in this new
environment requires new strategies and new skills.

In our next lesson, we will take a closer look at this "new"
home-based travel agent.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This mini-course on becoming a home-based travel agent is
brought to you by the Home-Based Travel Agent Resource Center
and The Intrepid Traveler, publisher of a comprehensive home
study course for home-based travel agents.

For more information, visit:
http://www.HomeTravelAgency.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=XXXXX

Part Three

Hi, [[firstname]]!

Here's Lesson Three of your home-based travel agent course.
If you did NOT request this course, some sneaky person did.
You can CANCEL the course right now by clicking on the link
at the end of this email.

All the best,
Kelly Monaghan
The Home-Based Travel Agent Resource Center
http://www.HomeTravelAgency.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Becoming a Home-Based Travel Agent, Part 3:
What Is A Home-Based Travel Agent?

Broadly speaking, a home-based travel agent is anyone engaged
in the marketing and selling of travel products from a home
office. That can cover a wide variety of different types of
home-based travel agents.

However, in the travel industry and more specifically in the
travel distribution industry, the term "home-based travel
agent" is most often used to refer to someone who . . .

1) works out of a home office as an outside sales
representative for a bonded, accredited ARC/IATAN travel
agency, usually referred to as the "host agency,"

2) works as a reseller of products of various travel
suppliers, without involving a host agency, or

3) does a bit of both. Most home-based agents fall into this
third category.

The home-based travel agent finds, qualifies, and books the
customer; the host agency prints the tickets (if any) and
serves as the conduit between the home-based agent and the
travel supplier whose product the home-based agent is
selling. The home-based travel agent and the host agency
share the commissions paid by travel suppliers according to a
negotiated percentage split that reflects (or should reflect)
the amount of work and effort expended by each party in
making the booking happen.

By definition (as well as by contract), the home-based travel
agent is an independent contractor, which means that he or
she has a great degree of freedom as far as determining how
and with whom to do business.

That means that some home-based travel agents function simply
as referral agents, funneling business to a travel agency but
not handling any of the booking details themselves.

Some home-based travel agents bypass host agencies
altogether. One way to do this is to become a "cruise-only"
agency. Another way to do this is to specialize in
condominium vacations, a niche that has been underserved by
traditional travel agencies and which is more than happy to
deal directly with home-based travel agents. Other home-based travel agents simply market a limited number of travel
products and form direct relationships with individual travel
suppliers whose products they represent.

Some home-based travel agents specialize in forms of travel
that have developed distribution channels outside the
traditional storefront travel agency distribution channel.
For example, some people are very content to market
educational tours that not only offer extremely attractive
pricing but allow the tour organizer (the home-based travel
agent) to travel free and earn a stipend (a sort of
commission) as well. Organizers of student travel, many of
whom are full-time students, are another example of this
approach.

Home-based travel agents, of whatever description or level of
sophistication, can work either full-time or part-time or
only occasionally. That's because the very nature of being an
independent contractor is that no one can tell you when to
work, how to work, or how hard to work. There are home-based
travel agents who earn pin money, home-based travel agents
who earn a tidy part-time income, home-based travel agents
who bring down a substantial middle-class income, and home-
based travel agents who earn six-figure incomes.

As you can see, there are so many variations and combinations
that it is difficult to define the "typical" home-based
travel agent. This means that virtually anyone can be a home-
based travel agent, on their own terms and at their own pace,
creating the type of home-based travel marketing business
that makes sense for them.

But is being a home-based travel agent for you? We’ll consider
that question in the next lesson.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This mini-course on becoming a home-based travel agent is
brought to you by the Home-Based Travel Agent Resource Center
and The Intrepid Traveler, publisher of a comprehensive home
study course for home-based travel agents.

For more information, visit:
http://www.HomeTravelAgency.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=XXXXX

Part Four

Hello, [[firstname]]!

Here’s Lesson Four of your home-based travel agent course.
Once again, if you did NOT request this course, you can
CANCEL the course right now by clicking on the link at the
end of this email.

All the best,
Kelly Monaghan
The Home-Based Travel Agent Resource Center
http://www.HomeTravelAgency.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=XXXXX
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Becoming a Home-Based Travel Agent, Part 4:
Is Being a Home-Based Travel Agent For You?

Who should get into the travel agent game? Now that I've been
in it myself for a while and know how easy it is to get
started, to make sales, to make bookings, and to make money,
my answer is simple and straightforward: Everyone!

After all, even if all you want to do is save money on your
own travel for business and pleasure, becoming a home-based
travel agent is one of the best way to do just that. If you're eager to start a fun, moneymaking home business, you'll find that becoming a home-based travel agent can be done quickly and cheaply. In fact, most people who take my home study course are so excited by the possibilities that they start their travel agent career rolling even before
they've finished the course! It's that easy to get started.

In the meantime, however, consider these good solid reasons
for joining the thousands of people who are having fun and
making money in the home-based travel agent lifestyle:

Are you a traveler? If you love travel yourself, you have
already mastered a major challenge for anyone in sales -- you
know your product. It is now a relatively simple matter to
translate the knowledge and enthusiasm you already possess
into powerful sales presentations that will bring you your first bookings and steady repeat business. In addition,
you'll start saving money on your own travel instantly.

Are you looking for a low-investment part-time business? Look
no further. As I've already said, and explain in detail in my
home study course, you can become a part-time home-based
travel agent today. And your initial investment can be
absolutely zero (okay, maybe you'll use a stamp or two and
make a few phone calls). I made my first several bookings
with no business card, no stationery, no nothing!

Do you need a flexible schedule? Here's a business that
allows you to set your own hours like few others. You can
chat with folks at work or call them at home at night. Work
full-time one week and scale back the next. Whatever schedule
works best for you, you can design a travel business to
accommodate it.

Are you a teacher? Many opportunities in the part-time travel
field are aimed specifically at teachers. Moreover, teachers
have more free time than many other professionals -- free
time that can be both a boon and a curse. As a part-time
travel agent you can use your free time to sell travel and
take advantage of it too!

Do you have a built-in audience? Teachers do. They can reach
their students and their students' parents. But other
professions also offer their practitioners access to large
groups of people -- ministers, accountants, salespeople,
beauticians, the list goes on. All of these people come in
contact with many people in the course of their work, people
who are often prime prospects for any travel business.

Do you belong to a club or organization? Clubs and other
affinity groups represent superb opportunities to make major
sales. If you get ten people in your club to go on a cruise
with their spouses, that's a $30,000 to $40,000 sale.

Are you a small businessperson? If so, why not make travel an
add-on to your existing product line? Everyone who comes into
your shop can learn about the travel opportunities you have
to offer. If you send catalogs or brochures to your customers
on a regular basis you have already paid for the postage to
send them a flyer about a great bargain on an upcoming tour
or cruise. Or why not offer discounted travel to your
employees as an extra benefit? You'll forego some or all of
the commission, but the goodwill you generate will be hard to
beat.

Do you travel on business? Many people who travel on business
pay their own way and then get reimbursed by their employer
or client. As a travel agent, you can earn a commission on
every bit of that travel. If you own your own business and
spend a considerable amount of money on travel, then the
prospect of saving 5% to 7% on your travel expenditures
should make your bottom line sit up and take notice.

Are you in sales? If you are, you've probably already thought
of a dozen ways you can prosper in this sideline. Your
existing sales skills will fit perfectly in a home-based
travel business and you no doubt already have a large and
ever-growing pool of prospects.

Are you retired? Perfect. Not only do you now have the time
to devote to learning about travel, but you are an integral
part of the largest and fastest growing market for leisure
travel. You can make a handsome income, and enjoy some
wonderful fringe benefits, just by specializing in the travel
interests and needs of folks just like you.

Are you home with the kids? Here's a way to make a bit of
extra money at the same time you're burping and diapering.
Much of your business with customers can be conducted on the
phone; your friends probably won't mind if you're bouncing
junior on your knee while you talk to them. You can use
baby's nap time to get on the phone and call the travel
suppliers. It's a perfect scenario for the homemaker or
househusband.

Are you committed to a full-time career? If you are not sure,
you can test the waters for a minimal investment. If you find
you love the travel business as much as you thought, great!
You'll be ideally situated to maximize your income potential.
If, on the other hand, you decide the travel business is not
for you (it's not for everyone), you have the option of
continuing on a part-time basis or getting out altogether
without having spent a small fortune discovering you've made
a wrong career turn.

Are you sure you want to work in an agency? Many people
thrive in an agency atmosphere, but many become bored and
disillusioned with the rote work that taking orders and
working the CRS often involves. The strategies outlined in my
home study course will show you how easy it is to progress to
the status of an agency owner -- without the huge upfront
investment and high overhead. In the process you will put
yourself in a position to earn many times what you would make
as an entry-level inside employee.

So, you see, just about everyone has a good reason to become
a home-based travel agent, but there are still some reasons
to think twice before you jump in with both feet, as we will
see in the next lesson.
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For more information, visit:
http://www.HomeTravelAgency.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=XXXXX

Part Five

Hi there, [[firstname]]!

Glad you're still with us! Here's Lesson Five of your home-
based travel agent course.

You can always CANCEL the course by clicking on the link at
the end of this email.

All the best,
Kelly Monaghan
The Home-Based Travel Agent Resource Center
http://www.HomeTravelAgency.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=XXXXX
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Becoming a Home-Based Travel Agent, Part 5:
Five Good Reasons NOT To Become A Home-Based Travel Agent

If this is all sounding too good to be true, I know exactly
how you feel. I felt the same way. In fact, I still feel that
way. Part of me keeps wondering when I'll find "the catch."
So far there doesn't seem to be one. But if what you've read
on this site has pumped you up too much so far, perhaps it's
time to bring you down to earth a bit.

If there is a catch to the new travel game, it's letting your
goals outstrip your gumption. Another way of saying that is
you've got to determine, first, what you want out of your
travel business and, second, if you have what it takes in
terms of skills, time, commitment, and whatever to get it. So
the first step is top get clear on your goals. As I mentioned
in Lesson Three, there are any number of ways to go: "There
are home-based travel agents who earn pin money, home-based
travel agents who earn a tidy part-time income, home-based
travel agents who bring down a substantial middle-class
income, and home-based travel agents who earn six-figure
incomes." My advice is to restrain yourself from being over-
ambitious or over-optimistic. If you set realistic, reachable
goals , you can always "up the ante" later and be joyful in
doing so. On the other hand, if you have unrealistic goals,
it can be very disheartening to have to scale them back.

The next step is to determine whether you have what it takes
to reach your goals, whatever they may be. To help guide your
thinking as you ponder whether you want o proceed and perhaps
purchase my home-study course, let me share some thoughts
that may help you put all this in perspective:

**This is no get-rich-quick scheme.

Those who make large sums of money selling travel work very
hard and earn every penny. How much money a person makes and
how hard they have to work to make it, varies from person to
person. Some people have more time to devote to their travel
business than others. Some have more drive and determination
than others. Some folks are natural salespeople; others will
have to work harder to hone their skills. It may sound like a
cliché, but how much money you make is up to you. I certainly
can't predict how much you'll make, but I can guarantee you
that if you think you can make a small fortune working just a
half hour a day while watching television, you'll be
disappointed.

**It's a business.

The statistics tell us that the majority of new businesses
fail in a year or two. There's no reason to expect that your
travel business won’t meet the same fate. The saving grace is
that, if you follow my strategies, you will not lose more
money than you can afford in a failed venture. Also, if you
decide being independent is not for you, you should have
enough of a track record to make you an attractive employee
for a local agency. It's quite possible to use my strategies
knowing you'll earn just a few hundred dollars a year. If
that's fine for you, then everything's okay. Of course, you
can also seek to make selling travel a moneymaker. And that's
fine, too.

**It's a service business.

Whatever else you are selling, you are selling customer
satisfaction. If you have never worked in a setting in which
you had to "please the public," you may be surprised at how
much people will expect from you and how readily they'll
blame you for things over which you have no control. Believe
me, if the toilet in the luxury hotel in Nairobi backs up and
overflows, it's your fault!

**Things go wrong.

Most people who go into business have at least some bad
experiences. I certainly can't guarantee that you won't have
some of your own. You may just accept problems as a natural
part of life. I think that's a healthy attitude. On the other
hand, you may decide that the kinds of problems that tend to
come up in this business aren't worth whatever you're getting
out of it. So be it. For those who are truly serious, my home
study course discusses in depth some of the things that can
go amiss and some ways you can protect yourself.

**It involves selling.

No matter how glamorous travel may be, to make real money at
it you have to sell. That means looking for new customers,
finding out what their travel needs are, presenting them with
attractive options, answering their questions, dealing with
their objections, and, above all, asking them to part with
their hard-earned money.

I happen to have a background in sales and marketing. In
fact, over the years I have trained hundreds of salespeople
in a variety of industries. I know from experience that
selling is a skill and that like any skill it can be learned.
I also know from experience that not everyone is cut out for
selling. It's not so much that they can't, it's just that,
for whatever reason, they find out they don't enjoy it that
much. You may be one of those people.

Above all, here are no guarantees. I can show you every trick
in the book (and I do!), but ultimately the only one who can
guarantee your success is you.

Now that we’ve eliminated the faint of heart, we’re ready
for the last lesson in which we’ll discuss the secrets of
successful home-based travel agents.
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For more information, visit:
http://www.HomeTravelAgency.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=XXXXX

Part Six

Hi there, [[firstname]]!

Whew! You made it! Here's Lesson Six, the final installment
of your home-based travel agent course.

All the best,
Kelly Monaghan
The Home-Based Travel Agent Resource Center
http://www.HomeTravelAgency.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=XXXXX
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Becoming a Home-Based Travel Agent, Part 6:
Secrets of Successful Home-Based Travel Agents

Everyone is different and each of us travels his or her own
road to success, but over the years (and in a thoroughly
unscientific way) I have noticed a number of qualities that
make for success in the home-based travel agency business.
Here then are some observations about just a few qualities
that successful agents bring to the table when they start
out.

THEY DO THEIR HOMEWORK

If you are not already a home-based agent, the very fact that
you are reading this mini-course suggests that you like to
arm yourself with all the information available before making
a decision.

I regularly hear from agents who signed up with the first
agency that caught their eye. Now they regret it and wonder
if I can point them in the right direction. I explain to them
(hopefully with a certain amount of patience) that I cannot
make decisions for them. The host agency that’s right for me
might be wrong for them. And vice versa. You see, part of
doing your homework is doing it yourself, not having someone
else do it for you.

The thing many beginners (especially those with no real
experience of being in business for themselves) fail to
understand is that the sellers of business opportunities are
just that – sellers. Just as the car dealer won’t volunteer
that the car you have your eye on sits at the bottom of the
"Consumer Reports" safety rankings, the ads for a host agency
offer won’t volunteer the downsides of their offer or reveal
that a better deal is being offered by someone else.

Please understand, I am not saying these people are being
dishonest. They are simply putting the best face on what they
have to offer. That’s simply what sellers do. When you start
selling travel, you’ll do it too. I’m sure that if you are
considering starting a home travel agency you have visited at
least several sites offering such business opportunities and
I’m also sure you understand what I’m talking about.

My approach is fundamentally different. I do not sell a
business opportunity. The value the Home-Based Travel Agent
Resource Center and my home study course bring to the market
is to provide unfiltered and unbiased information about how
the business REALLY works and the MANY, MANY different
avenues open to you. For example, very few host agencies go
out of their way to point out that in many cases you do not
have to share commissions with them. I am free to tell you
that and explain when it’s appropriate to deal directly with
suppliers and how to go about doing it. And whatever the
topic I try to be evenhanded in explaining the pros AND the
cons of pursuing any particular strategy.

If you do your homework properly, you will be in a far better
position to make informed decisions about how to set up and
grow your business. Or you can always do what I did: learn by
trial and error. Take it from me, losing a few thousand
dollars by making a "dumb beginner’s" mistake is a powerful
incentive to do it right next time!

This principle applies not just in the start-up phase of your
business, but throughout your business career. If you want to
sell cruises, learn the cruise business inside out. If you
want to sell the Caribbean, visit the islands and the
resorts, poke your nose into all the hotels, go to the
seminars offered by the tourist authorities and the
suppliers. With this kind of in depth analysis, you can be
sure of offering the best product mix for both your market
and your bottom line. DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

THEY GO INTO BUSINESS WITH THEIR EYES OPEN

If you do your homework, you will start your home travel
agency business with few illusions. Another problem beginners
have is that they are dazzled by all the pretty pictures in
the host agency ads. "Be a travel agent," they seem to say
and you’ll spend your life strolling on a white sand beach
with your significant other." Well, maybe. Sometimes.
I go out of my way to let people in on the dirty little
secret of being a home-based travel agent. It’s a business.
It’s a job. It means actually doing some (brace yourself)
WORK!

If you haven’t read Lesson Five, "Five Good Reasons NOT To Be
A Home Based Travel Agent," do yourself a favor and read it
now:

Yes those great deals and those special moments exist. I have
cruised free to exotic ports and I have stayed in luxury
hotels for motel prices. I also show people how to do the
same sort of thing, whether it’s a $299 cruise as part of
their continuing education or a bona-fide fam trip. But to
paraphrase the old TV ad, "Home-based travel agents get their
perks the old-fashioned way: They EARN them!"

THEY PLAN THEIR BUSINESS BEFORE IT PLANS THEM

You are what you eat, they say. Well you are also what you
sell. If you wind up selling a lot of cheap airfare, that’s
what you’ll get a reputation for doing whether you like it or
not.

I have noticed that successful home travel agents go into the
business with a clear idea of what they want their business
to look like. This mostly has to do with specialization but
other factors are involved as well.

The home-based agent who says, "I offer high-end diving
expeditions to the Caribbean" is more likely to make a go of
it than the agent who says "I sell travel; where do you want
to go?"

As I explain in the home study course, being a home-based
travel agent isn’t like being a storefront agent in a
different location. (It can be but it doesn’t have to be and,
in my view, it shouldn’t be.) Once the fundamental
differences between the two sink in, a whole range of
possibilities open up.

This part of the start-up process is actually a lot of fun
because it starts with big, no-limits dreaming followed by a
period of rational analysis. If you are just starting out,
take the time to envision your dream business. You can pull
some of the elements out of the clear blue sky, but be sure
to balance your dreaming with your own experience. Ask
yourself questions like:

Why do I love travel? What first got me excited about
traveling? What’s my favorite destination? Where have I
always dreamed of going? What are my favorite activities
(walking, museums, tennis, golf, etc.)? This is just a start;
I offer many more suggestions in the course. The point is
that, if you have been drawn to this business out of a love
for travel, your ideal travel business probably already
exists inside you, just waiting to be discovered, developed,
and defined.

The young mother who has experienced the frustrations of
getting good advice for family vacations will have a better
chance of succeeding as a specialist in family travel than in
selling very expensive opera tours to Italy. That’s just one
example. What’s YOUR example?

Obviously, there are other aspects to planning a business.
Just because I have only discussed one of them here doesn’t
mean you shouldn’t think through all aspects of your travel-
business-to-be. The more and the better you think it through,
the better your odds of making a go of it. helping you do
that is just part of what my home study course is all about.

THEY TAKE ACTION
Someone calls it "the paralysis of analysis," the danger that
you’ll spend so much time thinking and planning that you’ll
never actually DO anything.

At some point (and as screamingly obvious as it sounds), you
have to do something to enjoy success. If you are already up
and running as an agent, that could mean making the leap of
faith to promote that pricey African safari without being
100% sure you can pull it off.

To be successful you can’t be afraid of failure. You must do
your homework (see above) and do everything you can to insure
success, but ultimately every promotion carries some risk of
failure. Chances are that even if you don’t fill up all the
slots, you’ll fill some. And suppliers know that not every
promotion succeeds. If they see you are actively doing the
right things, they will be supportive and willing to work
with you again.

If you are just starting out, that leap of faith could be
ordering the home study course and arming yourself with
information that could take you years to amass otherwise. If
you’d like to do that, visit
http://www/hometravelagency.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=XXXXX

But, please, please, please reread Lesson Five ("Five Good
Reasons NOT To Be A Home Based Travel Agent") first. I have
the best money-back guarantee in the business, far better
than anything offered by business opportunities that cost
many hundreds of dollars more than my course. But nothing
saddens me more than people who return the materials saying,
"I didn’t realize how much work was involved."

These are people who clearly would like to work at home, make
some money, and derive some personal satisfaction, but with
that kind of attitude, the cards are stacked against them no
matter what they try. There is only one entity in the
universe that can make something from nothing. It ain’t me.
And it ain’t you.

I hope you have enjoyed this mini-course in becoming a home-
based travel agent and I look forward to having you as one of
my thousands of satisfied students.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For more information, visit:
http://www.HomeTravelAgency.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=XXXXX

Other Ways To Use the Mini-Course

If you don't have an autoresponder and don't want to mess with one, there are other ways to put this powerful tool to work for you.

Use it in a newsletter. This will probably work best when you publish weekly (or, better yet, daily).
Put it on your web site. But put each lesson on a separate page. People like the interactivity of clicking from lesson to lesson.

Still, an autoresponder is the best way to go. Consider this: while you are promoting HomeTravelAgency.com and the home study course for travel agents, you are also collecting a great opt-in list you can market to again and again.

If you want a simple autoresponder, we highly recommend GetResponse.

If you like to do it yourself, we recommend a program called Mailloop. Mailloop not only lets you run an unlimited number of autoresponders, but it can automate many of your most boring email tasks.

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