Spano cited one home-based agent who grosses $3.5 million serving the Hollywood film community. Assuming an average 10% after the split (and if I were doing that kind of volume I’d insist on at least that!), that’s $350,000 a year. Not too shabby.

She also mentioned a part-timer who took in $50,000 on a single booking by rounding up 270 friends and family members for a cruise. (Wow! What an email list!)

So far so good, but I was disappointed — amazed is more like it — when the article started listing reasons the profession is so top heavy with women. Here were some of the reasons cited by Spano’s sources, who were all women and big names in the travel industry no less:

What we are talking about here is something known in the travel trade as “the ethnic market.” The good news is that it is a large market. The bad news is that the competition is fierce and the margins are slim.

Most of the business is in international airline tickets for people visiting relatives back home and they are looking for the absolute lowest price. Bottom line: There’s not a lot of money to be made.

That’s why I encourage those who find themselves in this situation to think outside the ethnic box.

When the phrase “home-based travel agent” first came into wide usage, in the early 1990s, it was use to refer to people who sold travel but who were not employees of accredited travel agencies.

Instead, they were outside sales reps for accredited travel agencies and they operated as independent contractors not employees, an important distinction. And, yes, almost all of them worked from home offices.

Today, many people using the same tactics are operating out of commercial premises. In fact, since it has become possible for so-called “home-based” agents to get their own IATA numbers (or the functional equivalent), many of these agents are now full-fledged agencies with their own string of sub-agents working as independent contractors.

“Would you mind watching the kids while I run to the store?” “Since you’re at home, could I have my new exercise machine delivered to you?” “I don’t have a fax machine, so….” You get the idea.

My suggestion is that you approach these intrusions on your business life in a business-like manner. Draw up a Price List that you can hand to people when they hit on you for free services.

If so, this could be the most important article you’ll ever read because it can save you thousands of dollars and prevent you from making some costly mistakes at the beginning of your career.

Mistake #1: Don’t think you don’t need any travel agent training.

Yes, yes, you can learn the business in the “school of hard knocks. That’s what I did and it cost me several thousand dollars in dumb mistakes before I figured it all out.

Of course, when I got started, way back when, there weren’t a lot of options out there. That’s not true today.

There are a growing number of options available to you, which is both good and bad. Good because you have choice, bad because you run the risk of becoming confused and making some of the following mistakes.

Please be advised that as of June 6, 2008, Governor Donald L. Carcieri has signed into effect House Bill 7113 and Senate Bill 2067, repealing Rhode Island General Law Title 5 Businesses and Professions, Chapter 5-52 Travel Agencies. Accordingly, Travel Agencies, Managers, and Agents no longer require a license or bond to conduct travel business in the State of Rhode Island.

Unfortunately, they will not refund any monies

If you’re not, don’t freak out. I don’t believe that every travel agent has to be tweeting like crazy. Twitter is not for everyone and I think it kinda depends on your business model and specialty whether Twitter makes sense for you.

But let’s say you are on Twitter. What should you tweet about?