THE E-MAGAZINE THAT FOCUSES O

SELL IT L

$$$

N THE REALITY OF SELLING TRAVEL

TURN ON

YOUR INNER

SUPER SELLING

AGENTPERSONA

IKE YOU MEAN IT!

Oh yeah, I love itwhen you sell

like that!

3 EDITORIAL

Publisher:SMP Training Co.

www.smptraining.com

ContributorsSteve Crowhurst

Steve GillickCory Andrichuk

4 SUPER SELLING – GETTING YOUR PIECE OF THE PIE

7 HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW? CREDIT CARD TRAVEL INSURANCE

8 SUPER AGENT CREATIVITY

12 SELLING YOUR SECRET ORB

14 CREATING SUPER AGENT SLOGANS

18 OWNING THE NEWS (AGAIN!)

19 YOUR NEXT READ “RELENTLESS PURSUIT”

20 GET DOWN TO (GOOGLE) EARTH

22 TEAMING UP TO WIN MORE BUSINESS

24 SPREADING YOURSELF TOO THIN

25 LABYRINTH TOURISM

27 READING SELLING TRAVEL ON YOUR E-READER

28 SUPER-IMPOSING YOU Guest Article by Steve Gillick

31 CANADIAN TOURISM RESOURCE GUIDE

32 THE SOCIAL CONVERSATION

34 TRAVEL AGENT REVOLUTION

35 NEW TOOLS

36 CTIE CERTIFIED TRAVEL INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE

37 READING MATERIAL – YOUR TRADE PAPER CONTACT PAGE

38 CLASSIFIEDS

Selling Travel is owned and published by Steve Crowhurst, SMP Training Co. All Rights Reserved. Protected by InternationalCopyright Law. Selling Travel can be shared, forwarded, cut and pasted but not sold, resold or in anyway monetized. Using anyimages or content from Selling Travel must be sourced as follows: “Copyright SMP Training Co. www.smptraining.com” SMPTraining Co. 568 Country Club Drive, Qualicum Beach, BC, Canada V9K 1G1 Note: Steve Crowhurst is not responsible foroutcomes based on how you interpret or use the ideas in Selling Travel or on the Selling Travel Website. T:250-738-0064.

TABLE OF CONTENTS – ST AUGUST 2013

EDITORIAL – august 2013

SELL IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT!It’s one of those things. In fact it’s many of those things. So much comingcan get distracted from what we are supposed to be doing. If you are intravel agent, travel consultant, travel counsellor or any of the other titles bwithout a doubt in sales. There is no escaping that word or the action behbe successful at selling travel, you must SELL IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT.

So what does this mean, to sell it like you mean it? Well we canstart with your website. It just has to be business-like and in thiscase it must, TELL IT LIKE IT MEANS IT.

The information on your website should be easy to read, easy toclick to and deliver the most current and up to date informationyour client/s are seeking. Somewhere in there is YOU, makingsure your content is always cutting edge.

Next we have your personal sales persona. That would be you inthe flesh, you online, your social connections and even how you‘appear’ in your emails. Everything you do and say and send outwill have your sales stamp on it. If you want to truly turn on yourinner SUPER SALES AGENT persona then it’s time to factor inmore closing opportunities.

To do that, to ramp up the closing opportunities, requires thatyou are well versed with how to use the variety of tools at yourdisposal. Your head office, your host agency, your franchisor,your group, your consortium all offer you the next generation ofbusiness building tools. Your job is to learn how to use them.

Now you can consider yourself fully armed and ready to dobattle in the selling travel arena. Let’s introduce you to a fewmore tools that will help you create that SUPER AGENT status.

Here’s to a very successful month.

All the BEST!

Steve Crowhurst, CTCPublisher and New Business Generatorsteve@sellingtravel.net250-738-0064

AA N

Y

into our daily lives that wethe retail travel trade as aestowed upon you, you areind it. Sales is selling and to

NNOUNCINGew Sister Magazine

ou can find it HERE.

GETTING YOUR PIECE OF THE PIE…

As a Super Agent you just have to be good, better, BEST at selling. You can enter

the realm of SUPER SELLING if you decide that’s where you want to take your

career. A Super Agent could actually sell three or four world cruises a year, each

worth a cool $100,000 give or take a category. Let’s go for four at $100K and

calculate the ROI as 10% just for this article. Okay – that’s $400,000 at 10% so this

Super Agent had made $40,000 in four sales. What else is there to do?

You get the idea. It’s all about selling up,

selling large, selling to generate a super-

sized income. If you want to close your piece

of the pie, then it’s time to study up on the

old and new and the future methods of

selling travel.

Whilst the Baby Boomers and the Zoomers

and the Joneses (if we are to label the

generations you sell to) are still around then

you have the traditional ‘come and see me’

style of selling to use.

As you know Facebook has been taken over

by Baby Boomers and Seniors and

Generation X… the Y’s have migrated to

other social networks. Facebook has become

the so-so network for families and friends

and is now pretty much done to death.

Everyone is on it to share baby pictures AND

travel pictures too. In this case you’ll need to

hone your engagement skills and increase

your visibility related to all things social.

Then there’s the Next Generation of SUPER

SELLING that only SUPER AGENTS would

undertake. If you read about the travel

agencies of the future as Thompson of the

UK see them, then you’ll know how much of

a stretch you’ll have to make (and invest) if

you want to stay as sharp as the cutting edge

of TAs-Ng.

Embracing all things tech as applied to

promoting travel is one step in the right

direction and then learning how to sell and

close from each new platform is another.

There comes a time when all your imagery

and video have done what they are

supposed to do and that’s create the urge to

travel. Now it’s time to secure the sale. Close

the deal.

EMAIL is still #1 and the most solid tool in

the online, digital tool box. With the latest

versions of Outlook and by using Windows

Live Mail you can take advantage of so many

tools that for instance allow you to send an

album of photos. The use of WordArt in the

latest versions of Office play nicely too. No

more strange looking mesh and fuzzy text.

Now your e-client will receive nice crisp

lettering like this:

A text email can still work if you want to keep

it to the no-fluff basics. Better to go with an

email program such as Constant Contact or

similar where the templates are ready made.

You just fill in the blanks, click and send. The

main thing here as you know is the call to

action.

CTAs – Call To Action = Close Ratio

The SUPER AGENT believes in the ABC rule

which translates to Always Be Closing. When

you understand how this works you’ll be

focused on doing everything possible to

make sure you have covered off all the

details – the client is well informed, fully

informed and can now make an informed

buying decision.

ABC is not about pestering. It is about being

on-the-ball, anticipating and asking the

questions that need to be asked.

Your host agency or consortium, group and

franchise will provide you with proven CTAs

and quite possibly offer training in how they

work, how to construct them, and you

should always ask HQ, from their experience,

which ones have been proven to work. By

‘work’ I mean resulting in a sale.

Note: As I write this, a call just came into my

office. It was Electrolux calling. The very first

words this chap said to me were: “… now I’m

not trying to sell you anything…” – WRONG!

So I said, “When you are, please call back!”

What a great way to ruin the sale. He lied

right up front. SUPER AGENTS don’t do this.

They are committed to selling and in the

same process creating the best of all

vacations for their clients. So good that the

client will be talking about it for years to

come.

The product is out there and the world is

waiting for your client. All you have to do is

get between them and that new fridge they

were about to buy. If you didn’t know –

that’s the enemy. All other products and

services are the enemy to you closing your

sale. So we need a call to action that suits

the life and times of your clients.

Down Sizing

We know that Baby Boomers are aging to the

point of retirement, down-sizing and if they

are healthy enough, travelling. This is

happening right now and all you need to do

is go fishing with your CTA firmly in place.

CALL ME… YOUR DOWNSIZING

TRAVEL SPECIALIST

After the move-in you’ll need

a vacation and that’s what I

specialize in. Let me arrange a

100% pampered holiday that

will tick every box on your list.

The challenge with most call to action

statements or slogans, is this: they do not

advise the reader what to do. Many are nice,

but fluff. Tell your reader what to do: Call

ME! If you say ‘contact me’ then the medium

is missing. ‘Call me’ means pick up the

phone. If you wish to be more precise you

can use that phrase, too.

Email me, is fine but it’s weak. Perhaps: e-

mail me and tell me your dream vacation is

better.

If you want your piece of that travel pie then

you’ll have to cook up the best sales and

service recipe you have to offer.

Practice Makes Perfect Pie

There you have it. Practice your slogans.

Practice asking for the sale in word, in text,

in person, by video, include a speech bubble

on all your direct mail images…Tweet it and

Facebook it and post it on your blog: ”I want

your travel business and I’ll come to you.”

All blogs should end with a CTA. Everything

you send to your clients should have a CTA

embedded in them. “Why don’t you come

with us to Jamaica?” is a CTA. Simple.

HOW MUCH

DO YOU

KNOW ABOUT

CREDIT CARD

TRAVEL

INSURANCE

COVERAGE?

In the Woman’s Day Magazine article there

was a comment made about travel agents

selling travel insurance to boost their

commissions and also a comment that

suggested to the reader that all they need for

coverage when they travel is what their

credit card includes.

As a SUPER AGENT you’ll be all over the issue

of travel insurance and well informed on just

what credit cards actually include in the way

of protection for their clients. The chart you

see here is the chart you need to download

and study. It was updated April 2013. Who

knew credit cards do not cover hotel burglary!

http://www.rewardscanada.ca/cccompare.html

Make it a goal in life that no client leaves your

side without being fully protected especially if

children are travelling, too.

I’VE BEEN FRAMED! THEN WRAPPED IN PLASTIC. THEN MY EDGES WERE

TRIMMED! I’M TELLING YOU, SOME CREATIVE SOFTWARE IS TOUGH TO WORK

WITH – UNTIL YOU GET THE HANG OF THEM.

SUPER AGENTS UNITE! There is one tool inthe tool box that every travel agent relies onfrom time to time. The SUPER AGENT uses itall the time. Each day, every day. I’m talkingabout creativity.

It’s true to say that Creativity is the UltimateResource. I coined that slogan back in 1998and it’s still relevant today. More so in fact.

Your creativity should be enhanced by one tomany of the software tools now available toyou. No more hand lettering! No more handcranking off copies! What an easy life welead today, eh? And it’s made much easierstill thanks to Adobe and Laughing BirdSoftware, Weebly, Issuu, SnagIt and more.

The idea behind owning your own creativityand enhancing it by using these tools is thatyou can create fantastic graphics, alphabets,calls to action and even cartoon yourself orcreate a cartoon mascot to meet theyounger generation who are reading Manga,graphic novels and graphic books atuniversity too.

Join my Tour of Romania!

Perhaps not to extremes – but if you havethe confidence to use your own face andbody, dress it up or down, snap a few imagesthat you can then tweak within your graphicsoftware, you’ll not only have fun, you willbe free of copyright law. That’s right. Whenyou use yourself as the ‘poster child’ and youuse your own images taken during yourtravels, you will be free of any copyrightinfringement. That said, be kind to yourselfand also your male and female friends whowould pose for you – as you know, what goesonline, stays online.

The two head shots shown here were takenon my webcam (which takes 10 mp images)- then I messed around in PhotoshopElements 11 ($99) just twisting and turning,then using poster edges, followed by cut-out. I lost track of all the tweaks, but I got tothe point where I thought, hey that’s wildenough. I could promote a tour to seeDracula’s pad with that one!

You can remove the colour to leave one spotsuch as the lemon shown above… caption:“Have all your vacations been lemons?”Then you go on to sell your knowledge andtalents. You’ll need a closing slogan for thattoo, such as, ‘… and my juice is worth thesqueeze!”

The Female CartoonI know many women in travel who prefer notto cartoon themselves and that makes senseto me. The option of course is to create amascot or cartoon character to representyou and your business. When you take a lookaround the trade, especially suppliers anddestinations, they often have a character‘doing the talking’ for them. The roaminggnome for instance.

Keeping It BusinesslikeSo no cartoons for YOU! Which means you’llbe keeping yourself businesslike when youare featured in your marketing, promotionsand social media.

Make sure your image features YOU as youare TODAY! This is an absolute. Do not useten year old mug shots. If you do, you willlose all credibility when a customer sees youin the flesh. If you fake your image – whatelse are you up to?

With a selection of great businesslike imagesyou can build your creative slogans aroundthem.

Smart Phone CapturesUse that smart phone of yours plus thephoto apps that come with it and captureanything that says TRAVEL to you.

The next image was taken at a movie theatreat the kids play area where for a coin you cantry to hook a stuffed toy. I looked throughthe glass and I saw FAMILY TRAVEL. Look atthose faces. There’s one for every relative.

Look who is showing up in the lower left. Isthat Mickey or Minnie? Not sure, but nowyou know what I would be promotingsomething beginning with ‘D’ and ending in‘land’.

You can find a stone lantern pretty muchanywhere. Check around in local parks andgardens and even at your local Japaneserestaurant. Shoot it. Make changes, add textand you’ve created your very own “Let’s DoJapan!” image.

Search through all your old photos – digital,paper and transparencies too – and find onethat has a story attached to it. Crop it to 16:9which would be wide screen as this is the size“we” as TV and video watchers are becomingmore attuned to watching / seeing. Add yourtext or add a caption and then post it withyour story line.

Adding a call to action to your imagery is agreat way to ask for the sale if you are notconfident doing so in person. As you canread on the next image I have prompted theviewer to consider our tour. “Won’t you joinus?” is a passive call to action. A stronger onewould be, “We’re leaving on June 9th and wewant you with us!” This shows your interest

in having your clients join you, more than being too aggressive. This is an invitation and peoplelike to be invited. Saves them thinking yes or no. Now, when you next visit your local newsstand– check out all those travel magazines – so many slogans, layouts and ideas waiting for you.

Female Cartoons & MascotsHere’s three different types and styles of cartoon-mascots that you can explore.

Use something that representsyour niche market. If youcannot find what you are

looking for have them customsketched to suit.

Silhouettes can be foundin Microsoft’s Clip Art.Great for highlighting a

certain type of tour.

This type ofcharacter is wellused today andfound in graphic

programs.

Have a qualitycartoonist draw a

caricature of yourself invarious travel

locations.

TO SELL IT LIKE YOU MEAN ITUsing every ounce of creativity in your mind, body and soul and using all the tools that are waitingfor you, will help you sell it like you mean it. Some tools are already in your computer, in yoursmartphone, your tablet and others are on the shelf begging to be purchased. Check theClassifieds at the back of this magazine and click the links on the programs you want to review.Some offer free trials and others offer a discount when you purchase.

Some have a secret sauce, hot and zowie! Other’s have a secret this and that but

YOU, you have a SECRET ORB. Yes you do. That orb is your world, the world you

live on and the various places only YOU know about. Well at least within your

own circle of friends, colleagues and clients. It’s this ability to sell your own world

that can separate you from the rest of the trade in your community.

As a Super Agent of your niche it would be

expected that you know everything there is

to know and then some.

Let’s assume you do have a grip on

everything there is to know about your niche

destination and the type of vacation you love

to sell. Could be cruising, could be island

based holidays, might be weddings,

honeymoons or both… wine tours perhaps,

ancestry, antiquing? There’s no short list of

the possible niche markets that you can sell

into. Each one usually has something

different going for it and everything happens

on our own ORB. Mother Earth.

Selling The Secret

So what is it you can sell me and others who

want to know more? What’s the secret? Well

before you tell me, better that you lure me

in with your promotion of the fact that ONLY

you know about ‘this’ and only YOU can sell

it to me.

1. Secret beaches, coves, scenic spots

2. Secret hotels, B&B, pensions

3. Secret cafes & restaurants

4. Secret local deals

5. Secret routes, trails and hikes

6. Secret photographic locations

What else could be a secret to sell?

My very own secret beach. I know where the best shells

can be found. Also the location of a marked grave out

there in the ocean, visible when the tide is out.

Sell The Fact You Know The Secret

As you will know, we are supposed to sell the

sizzle not the steak. Same thing with your

travel secrets. Sell the fact that you know

and others don’t.

SECRET BEACHES OF THE WORLD

Come with me and let me show you the

most gorgeous of secret beaches that you

would never find on your own.

You get the idea. You can apply this style of

messaging to whatever your niche or secret

might be.

So, SUPER AGENT and master of all things in

your world – what Secrets of the ORB can

you sell? Where can we dine tonight in Paris

that would be off-the-beaten-track where

only the locals would go? How about Kyoto?

London? Pago Pago?

“SO NOW YOU WANTTO KNOW THE

SECRET TO THISTRAVEL ORB…”

One of the best things you can do when you are reading supplier brochures,

watching destination videos, attending webinars or watching a travel program

on TV – is to listen for and capture key phrases and slogans. To sell it like you

mean it means being able to attract your next customer through your very

clever words, phrases and taglines. You cannot afford to be too clever or too

creative as the message can be often missed by a busy mind. Keep it simple.

Keep it direct. Keep it focused on YOU. Keep it focused on your promotion.

A recent TV show updating is on

Tutankhamun and all things new was

cleverly called: “YOU DON’T KNOW TUT!”

Very compelling, evocative as usually You

don’t know… is followed by an expletive. So

this known pattern causes our eyes to go

there immediately and read it. A thought of

“Oh that’s smart, that’s about...” and your

mind fills in the blank.

With permission you could run your own

“You Don’t Know TUT!” tours to Egypt once

the riots die down. It’s a terrific tour slogan.

And that is the idea here. As a SUPER

AGENT you must learn how to push out the

best and most captivating slogans and

headlines to capture your existing client’s

eyes, hearts and minds and also those

drive-by, walk-by and social-by prospects.

To do this you’ll need the following.

1. A slogan notebook, journal (paper or

digital) where you can record the

various slogans and ad titles you’ll read

and hear each day. The number is

something like 3,000 ads each day per

person… and if that’s true you should

have an extreme number of slogans to

use by the end of this week!

2. Next you need to learn how to use

WordArt in MS Word, MS PowerPoint

and then you can create your slogans

right in the document. Similar to what

you reading / looking at in this e-mag.

3. There are other programs that you can

purchase and the one I use is The Logo

Creator. It’s so easy to use and

publishes a JPEG or PNG image which

you can then cut and paste.

4. A key to sloganeering is to match the

font and size of the font and the colour

with your slogan. You want bold where

you need it, large, small and bright or

dark or shaded and shadowed. Sounds

like a lot of work and it might be for the

less artistic, however like all things –

with practice, you’ll get it.

All I can suggest here is that you study the

font list in Word - for instance type a strong

slogan and keep changing the font to see

the difference. In the latest versions of

Word you can highlight the slogan and just

scroll through the fonts to see the changes.

Supplier’s Brochures

When you read your supplier’s brochures

you’ll notice the tour titles that the graphics

team have created. You can always copy

their colour schemes and font style. When

you receive supplier promotions in your

email, same thing – look at the colouring,

font style and layout. Your suppliers spend

thousands of dollars to get these

promotional graphics right – your education

is FREE if you take notice.

Slogans Featuring You

Okay SUPER AGENT… what would you like

to say about yourself? How would you

promote yourself in a slogan? Think hard.

Are you the best, or THE VERY BEST? Can

you lead a tour around the world or can you

OFFER THE BEST GUIDED TOUR THE WORLD

HAS SEEN! Have you travelled or have you

VISITED HAWAII 30 TIMES AND KNOW

EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY…

You get the message. You don’t have to go

over the top with all the CAPS – you can use

colour to make a bold statement. You can

use simple BLACK & WHITE for a high end,

luxury effect.

When combining an image with your

slogan, they should match and support each

other. That means no t-shirts when

promoting yourself as a luxury cruise

specialist.

If You Can Say It…

We are so lucky marketing travel in this age

of all things digital and especially now that

we have video at our disposal. It’s been said

before, a picture is worth a thousand words

and video is worth a million words. So why

create a printed slogan when you can say it

on camera?

To do this we’re not talking a 5 minute

pitch. We’re talking perhaps a 20-30 second

clip. You on camera - let’s go with your

iphone or your webcam. You are dressed

the part, looking good, eyes right into the

camera lens and you own your space and

you say: “Come with me to… for an

unforgettable…” Now you add your

slogan, call to action and you are ready to

email and upload your promotion.

Email Video

Today you can email your video promotion

and slogan through Constant Contact,

BoomBoom and also create it in

PowerPoint. Either way, video is top of the

game right now. When there’s a choice,

people click on the video, not the text.

Slogan & Font Examples

Take a look at the following. You like some, love others.

You get it, you got it, you can do it! Test as many fonts as you can. If you have a good memory,

you only need to review them once. Make notes, capture and label them as I have done so on

this page, and then you will have a quick reference / cheat sheet. In Logo Creator you can

create like this…

Find more ready to copy logos at http://www.sellingtravel.net/free-logos.html

OWNING THE

WOW!

what a

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or at lea

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the maghttp

What a kafuffle that Woman’s Day Magazine caused in the trade. Then

response the trade replied with. And it’s about time, too. So many times

de voice sat quiet when it should be out front and leading the charge. To

trade bodies that berated the magazine’s story about travel agents, we can

ll done and thanks for OWNING THE NEWS in favour of travel agents.

t the industry has flexed its muscle

st reprimanded those that had it all

you too can take note. Selling travel

YS about owning the news.

wait for your trade appointed bodies

t, or you can do it yourself and

ly on a local level.

se the response the trade delivered

agazine was widely read within the

self, chances of the general public

about it, would be slim. That said, it

as your job, and still is, to make sure

e information presented in the

’s Day magazine is not lingering and

you a loss of business.

e been off planet for a week or so,

e current link with the apology from

azine.://www.womansday.com/life/travel-

tips/should-i-use-a-travel-agent

The lesson learned is to stay on top of the

news. Use the Google Alert app to bring

news to your email inbox each time specific

travel issues hit the fan. You can also use the

RSS newsfeeds to have the news from CNN,

BBC, CTV or your local channel also sent to

your inbox. All it takes is a quick ‘eyeball’ of

the headings and then you’ll be on top form

and well informed.

Depending on the news topic, you’ll be able

to respond in good time on a local level. As

you know, and it’s what I train on, Whoever

Owns The News, WINS!

You’ll want to be a winner each day every

day – so stay informed. Get the facts straight

and then deliver your rebuff, response and if

you have to, your challenge to the purveyor

of the original news release.

Here’s your next read, at home or when travelling – written by travel industry veteran,explorer, speaker, author Anthony Dalton. I’ve known Tony since 1978 and he is the real deal.When it comes to exploits he has actually done them as told in his book “Adventures WithCamera & Pen”. More about Tony’s books right here: http://www.anthonydalton.net/

THE STORY…Canadian zoologist Gray Pendennis is pushing his limits.Desperate to find and protect a man-eating Royal Bengaltiger in a Bangladesh jungle, he is on a race against time astwo bereaved fathers, whose daughters were killed by thestriped predator, team up to hunt the menace. Working farfrom civilization, the three men are on a collision coursebeyond the boundaries of conscience. The rogue tiger’s killsescalate and the zoologist’s work is complicated by hisfascination for a beautiful woman and her underwaterarchaeologist husband as they too join the hunters and thehunted where the mangrove forest meets the Bay ofBengal. A poacher – a high-ranking military officer – throwshimself into the mix, adding another, deadlier force to thepotent equation. The tiger, top of the food chain in hisenvironment, uses stealth and cunning to gain theadvantage, only to lose it as nature darkens the world.

THE AUTHOR

Anthony H. Dalton

Now this is kinda neat! You may have already found this tool – but if not then this

could be a bit of a find for you. Assuming you have the confidence to get on that

webcam microphone and serve up a delicious and engaging voice to tour your

clients along a digital route… this could work for you!

You can see in the image above that “we” are

standing outside the Tate Gallery, London. In

front of us would be Trafalgar Square and then

by using the yellow lines you can mouse along

those lines and narrate what your reader /

viewer will be seeing when they book on your

tour. You will be creating a digi-tour, a mini pre-

tour to presell your tour of London.

As a SUPER AGENT this type of pre-tour would be

the perfect way to demonstrate your tour

guiding skills and your travel knowledge. You can

do this by saying such things as: “... and just

down that street is a fantastic café and don’t

worry, we’ll be going there on this trip. Now, just

to our left is the fabulous St. Martin’s In The Field.

Down in the Crypt we can have a sandwich and

also complete some rubbings of various artifacts

and plaques….”

You get the idea I know. You create your tour,

wherever it might be, you explore the route with

Google Earth and then you create a short

recording to use in your online promotions. Send

out the link, add and embed to your website,

embed in your e-brochure using Word 2013.

Here’s where you find your embed code…

Okay… save this link to a place you can access anytime you need it.

http://www.gmodules.com/ig/creator?synd=open&url=http://dl.google.com/developers/maps/embedk

mlgadget.xml

When you click on this link you will see this

image to the right.

In the red box is where you will paste the name

of your tour and you’ll do this by copying and

pasting from where you saved your video tour

– usually in My Places. Highlighting your tour,

mine was LONDON PRE-TOUR.

Then paste your capture into the KML My Map

box shown in the red box opposite. Your tour

title will change to the encoded properties.

Now click on the Get The Code button and your

code will appear in the box below it:

Now you can embed your code in your

website, or in your blog and once you do that

the KML Viewer you see above will open and

your Pre-Tour will play.

The PRO Version of Google Earth has a Movie

Maker app that you can use to enhance your

video production.

There is a lot more to discover in terms of how you can use Google Earth to promote your travel, tours,

resorts and even ocean going itineraries. Be patient. Take the time to learn and stay ahead of your local

competition. Be the SUPER AGENT of GOOGLE EARTH!

TEAMING UP TO WIN

MORE BUSINESSWhatever it is they’re looking at it’s

got their attention. It’s got to be

something very creative. Something

that will make each of these super

agents more moola. It could also be

the outcome of these three putting

their collective skills together to

generate new business.

That is the essence of teaming up to win

more business. It takes like-minded souls to

work together and put all their talents on the

table and live up to their reputations.

Your next step is to find those, like you, who

want to do something creative and also

generate a new source of business. You’ll

need to be compatible on most things, but

then again, talented individuals are

sometimes difficult to work with. Best to

decide from the outset, who is to do what

and set the responsibilities. After that it’s

everyone to do what they do best and report

in to the team, take input and apply it where

it’s needed.

When the money starts to flow, all is well.

When it’s tight, there could be a fight.

This is always a challenge when working as a

team to produce new business. When things

are going well – everyone is happy. When

times are a little rough, there could be some

finger pointing. Just so you know. Assuming

everyone does their bit, let’s explore how

you can form a team of talented travel

agents and go make some money.

Choosing Your Team

Who are these people you can work with?

Look around you. Anyone within the

company? Any fellow ICs you could work

with? How about any competitors you can

approach?

Never be afraid of chatting with your

competition. Often they too would like to do

something different and spread the risk and

spread the energy too. All you have to do is

put the feelers out.

The Promotion And The Territory

Okay. You have decided on who you would

like to work with. Now it’s all about the

promotion. You might have already decided

on the promotion before you made contact

with the team to be.

We have a tour to sell. We are going to

create an FIT of Europe. We are going to

select the countries and the itinerary and

then we want to fill at least three or four

tours. We know that the profit in group

travel is in repeating the same tour – so we

want more than one departure.

The Territory applies to each member of the

team and where they will promote, sell and

close the sale. If you have chosen to work

with someone in another state or province

that’s fine. You will all be selling into the one

tour product and the three or four dates.

This type of collective / team approach

generally requires each member of the team

to pay their way and contribute to the

overall promotional fund. If you are

positioned across the country then it would

be a national ad campaign. If you are all

local, and let’s say located at each of the

compass points around the city you all live

in, then it would be a local promotion.

You would have negotiated with the supplier

some form of coop arrangement or not.

Depends upon the financial stability of your

chosen supplier.

Sharing The Pot

The decision needs to be made as to how

you will share the money you make. Will the

profits be split evenly or will you each earn

according to the percentage of business you

sold? This is a topic that needs to be

discussed prior to going ahead with your

joint – team promotion.

So, who do you trust? Who is out there that

you know has the skills and talents you

would like to add to your own?

If you belong to a host agency or consortium

or group, could you arrange to pay

commission for any bookings your

colleagues send your way?

The team of talent is a great way to turn on

your Super Agent status. The Power of Three

- remember?

It’s August. You have time to plan your

Spring 2014 Super Agent Team-Up promo to

wherever it is you want to sell.

Now here’s a metaphor for you. It’s a little cheesy but hey, the idea came to me

on the spur of the moment. The image below could be the equivalent of your

agency brochure rack. It could also represent the number of destinations and

suppliers you try to sell each and every day to anyone that asks.

There is a time, which is about ‘right now’ that you should set aside a few minutes

to take a hard look at what’s on your sales table and reduce it to the few you can

truly manage. That ‘few’ could be brochures, suppliers, destinations etc.

Remember the famous quote by Gary Charlwood of Uniglobe who said, “Minimal Product,

Maximum Revenue” – and that was back in the 80’s and it’s still a quote to live by, present day.

We are in the era of the niche, so make sure you are not spreading yourself too thin. Focus and

concentrate on one to three products. Know them well and then go sell!

My good pal Mike T., mentioned something

about symbols in an email and that sparked

a thought about labyrinths and how these

special places have not been talked about

too much as a niche that you can sell.

You might have to lean more towards the

soul searching side of your personality and

dig for those natural world vibrations that

are still within you if you can tune inwards.

A labrynth in this case means a series of

circles, a pathway that repeats and turns on

itself which someone like you, me and your

clients might walk to gain a meditative state

or simply to de-stress. That’s one part. The

other part is where these labyrinths are

located. One of the most famous is in the

Chartres Cathedral, and you can Google

images of the labyrinth itself.

So now put your mind to the niche group.

Start to explore who might, in your

community or across the country, be

interested in journeying with you to walk

the labyrinths of the world. Now that would

be an exciting thing to do don’t you think?

You can find labyrinths in temples,

churches, fields, on the beach and freshly

carved each day and many wonderful soul

replenishing locales. This niche would fit

nicely into your Religious Travel & Tours

specialty, so if you have sold faith based

tours and have a clientele looking for

something the same but different – now

you have something to think about.

Check to see if you have a labyrinth in your

city and host a gathering there to introduce

your new niche program.

You can subscribe to SELLING TRAVEL Magazine and also

create a ‘stack’ which means you add each new issue of

Selling Travel to your ‘stack’ and then you’ll build a collection

to review when you wish to retrieve an idea or a slogan or

something that would help you sell more travel.

You can also share each issue with your colleagues, post it on

your travel trade social network, leave a comment and more.

Always check the SELLING TRAVEL website, too. You never

know what’s new and always check the free logos and tips.

The E-Reader has become a very handy tool for book lovers when they travel. It’s

also possible to read an e-book on your netbook, notebook, tablet, laptop and

desktop plus your smartphone with the applicable apps.

If you want to download and read an issue of Selling Travel on your own e-reader device then

you might need to read the appropriate information on how to do that. Once you download

the selected issue of Selling Travel from the Issuu website, you can follow the steps at one of

these links below. I have left the full link for you so that you will know the path.

Kindlehttp://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-transfer-pdfs-to-a-kindle.html

Nookhttp://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-transfer-pdfs-to-a-nook.html

iPadhttp://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-20013888-285/how-to-put-pdfs-on-your-ipad/

Kobohttp://www.ucg.org/help/how-add-ebook-epub-or-pdf-kobo-ereader/

Sonyhttp://www.ehow.com/how_7208937_make-files-readable-sony-ereader.html

Galaxyhttp://ebookfriendly.com/books-on-samsung-galaxy-tab/

Complete overview of e-Readers and FormatsThis list is impressive. You’ll note that the PDF format is the number one format read by 99% of

all e-readers. Keep this in mind for when you create your own e-Book documents to share with

your clients. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_formats

Terms oSuper: aImposeupon.

Let’s facinput inmake thwe knowOtherspitfalls wdidn’t ledidn’tdocumeended ubasicallyholidaythe valu

So it is adatabasreferralsAt this sthey wawhole cabout walong wsomethisense, pof thiscounsellconsultawhat yobreatheit is ass

Guest article by Steve Gillick CTM

f Reference:bove, over, on top of.

: to put or place into or

Superimpose: To place something over or upon something else; toadd a distinct feature or quality to something e.g. He superimposedhis travel experience on the bland itinerary to create an amazingjourney of discovery for his clients.

e it. If travellers did not want yourto their vacation plans, they wouldeir own travel arrangements. Andthat some are quite happy to do so.

have tried it and discovered thehen they chose the wrong flight,

ave enough time for a connection,have the proper travel

ntation, chose the wrong hotel,p at the wrong destination and

, didn’t schedule time on their ownto enjoy themselves and appreciatee of the experience.

‘given’ that travellers already in youre as well as your first-timers and new, are looking to you for your input.

tage they don’t want an order-taker,nt a personalized approach to the

oncept of travel: “Ask me questionshat I want to do” is the attitude,ith the proviso that “If you hearng in my reply that doesn’t makelease let me know”. The implicationis that travellers recognize travelors (agents, advisors, planners,nts) as travel professionals. This isu do for a living. You live andtravel on a daily basis and thereforeumed that your knowledge of the

profession will result in an amazing andsuccessful travel experience for the client.And what exactly can you add to the traveldestination? How about

1. Your job experienceWhether you took a formal traveltraining course or learned the tradethrough apprenticeship, you have (evenif you’re just starting) seen the good andthe bad about the industry as well as apretty good idea of how people reactwhen their dream vacation is ruinedthrough mistakes, over-bookings, missedflights, resorts under renovation andpromises that don’t materialize. Youhave learned from your experience andcan now apply those lessons to your ownclients. The word ‘experience’ means‘knowledge gained from repeated trials’.This becomes the key to your success—knowing what works and what doesn’t.

2. Your networking experienceNo travel agent is an island! Even if youare home-based, you still have a supportgroup through your host agency orthrough other home-based consultants.This means that if you have questionsabout a property or a procedure, you

INTO DESTINATION SALES!

have your own back-up system. Theknowledge you share and the knowledgeyou gain by talking and listening to yourpeers can be applied directly to yourclient bookings.

3. Your supplier experienceThe so-called ‘keys to the kingdom’ lie inthe supplier-agency (or agent)relationship. Over the years youestablish a trusted core group ofsuppliers, many of whom have,themselves been in the industry formany years, and they become youradvisory group as well as your “help!”group. They are usually in a position topull off miracles when required. Yourclients believe you are the genius whenit comes to securing an upgrade orchanging hotels. Well you ARE thegenius but it is because you nurturedthese key supplier relationships over theyears and can use them whenappropriate. It’s really a win-win. Thesupplier wins through repeat business(and through their relationship withYOU) and you win by having the use oftheir expertise.

4. Your travel experienceTravel professionals love to travel! Useyour experience, whether it is businessor family travel, to knowledgeablydiscuss destinations with your clients.You can relate to the restaurants, hotelsand transportation situations becauseyou’ve been there. You can relate to thetourist attractions and perhaps evensome of the niche travel interests,because you spent time exploring thedestination. Use this to your advantage.You can show your clients your photos orvideos, regale them with tales of whatyou did-- but even more important, youare the expert who can, based on yourtravels, determine if a destination willsuit the needs of your client, fulfill theirdreams and value-add to their vacation

time. While it’s all about them…it’sabsolutely ok to fit your know-how intothe equation.

5. Your client referral experienceSatisfied clients are usually more thaneager to tell their family and friendsabout the great services you provided.Referred clients are themselves eager toknow what YOU can do that their formertravel agent was not able to do, or whatyou can do to enhance the travelexperience that they could not do bythemselves on one of the online bookingengines. This is your opportunity toshow your stuff but it also means thatthe challenge is there for you to ‘go onebetter’. Never let satisfaction or praiseallow you to become complacent. Itshould be a clarion call to do even bettereach time a traveller travels.

6. Your association or regulationexperienceMany agents belong to a professionalagent or agency association with aprofessional code of ethics. In addition,many (especially in Canada) must abideby local rules and regulations governingthe sale of travel products and services.These ‘rules’ become a positive additionto your credentials. By the very fact thatyou have to abide by rules, you canannounce to your clients that you areheld to strict guidelines when it comes tocustomer service, resolving disputes,handling their payments, providingtruthful and current information, andmore. It’s all about what YOU have to doto service the client. It’s a confidence-enforcing exercise that will assure yourclients that YOU are the right person tobe entrusted with their upcoming travelexperience.

fulfill their dreams andvalue-add to their vacation

7. Your professional developmentexperienceYou are the embodiment of yourcredentials, and a major component ofthose credentials are the professionaldevelopment programs you have takenover the years: courses, webinars,seminars, conference sessions andupdates. They all count and they allcontribute to making you a moresuccessful travel agent. This is how,despite your many trips to Europe, youknow what’s new as of today, or whatfestivals are ‘on’ this summer, or whatnew boutique hotels would be perfectfor some of your clients.

And it’s all because of how yousuperimpose yourself into the

destination and the sale.

8. Your business generation experienceYour goal is to have satisfied clients butalso to grow the business, expand your

clientele, keep your products (and yourmarketing material) fresh and re-freshedto attract new audiences. Ensure thatyou ask for testimonials from returningclients as well as for referrals. Yourdesire to succeed and to enhance yourbusiness is an underlying theme to whatyou do. And you know? It becomes aself-fulfilling prophecy. Success begetssuccess. Happy Clients result in morebusiness.

Experienced professionals know how tosublimate their own ego and allow theclient to be the featured attractionduring every meeting and transaction.While after reading this article you mayfeel that it is “all about me”, you knowdeep down that it’s really all about theclient. You are just using your ownprofessional skills (cleverly andappropriately) to respond to the client’sneeds.

YOUR TRADE CONTACTS

ARE ALL HERE.

www.canadiantourismguide.ca

SELLING INBOUND, INTERPROVINCIAL

OR CROSS CANADA TOURS?

JANICE CASSIEHey Cassie how’s it going?

Great actually. You know this social media stuffreally works.

It does eh?Yes. It took me a few months to get it, but now Ihave accounts with Facebook, YouTube,Pintrest, Twitter, LinkedIn and three others.Isn’t that fantastic?

Sure sounds like it. Wow you have been busy.I know and here’s the best thing, it’s so muchfun. Honest. You get to share and socialize andthe key word, the main thing, the big kahuna ofall is to engage the client... and I have to say, Ican do that very well.

What’s that about then?Well I ran quite a few contests where my socialcontacts can enter to win a free trip. I also sentout photos of my recent cruise, wrote a blogabout cruising, pinned a number of images…quite a few of my posts went viral.

Now I’m impressed.Hold on, you haven’t heard the latest… Igenerated a 50% uptick in LIKES on my Facebookpage and over 500 people shared the image ofme a bucket of beer being poured over myhead! Great eh? I have to say this social mediamarketing is the way to go. I’m getting very wellknown and it hasn’t really cost me a dime otherthan the free trips I give away.

I’ll say it again, it sounds very, very impressiveand it’s what I read about all the time in thetravel trade press. Hey you’re living the life!

I guess so. But enough about me, what aboutyou? What have you been doing?

Oh well, nothing like you that’s for sure. I can’tmatch your social media successes.

That’s a shame. Perhaps I can help you? Do youhave any business coming in?

Bookings? Oh yeah, absolutely. Big time. Justclosed a large group to Europe – 45 people onthat tour. Have a world cruise booking justwrapping up, should be about $175,000 for thatone and overall I guess I’m booking about thirtynew clients each month… but as I say, I can’t dosocial like you do it.

Err… you mean you generated all that businesswithout using social media, without engagingfirst? Come on. It can’t be true. I mean I haven’tclosed a booking in weeks. It takes time. Youhave to build the conversation first don’t you?You can’t just call a client and sell them… canyou?

I guess I’m doing it all wrong then. I just call myclients by telephone and send some an emailthen I follow up by calling their mobile. I do thesame thing when they refer their friends… I justcall them up and chat about their trip. This year Ishould do close to… well, let’s see… I guessabout another half-million dollars in referrals, sooverall probably about a million-five.

WOW! I haven’t broken $25,000 yet?In commission?

No, sales!Well I guess, as you say, that social mediamarketing takes time and you have to stick withit to build those connections. Sounds like youare on a roll so keep at it. I’m sure it will pay off.Are you doing any travelling?

Not really. Can’t afford it yet. How about you?Yes for sure. I’m just back from a 3 week safari,a small group and I stayed on to tour by myself.That was great. Next week off to kayak throughEurope and then back to lead another group toChina.

That sounds so wonderful!Yeah but I tell you I suck at social media. Justcan’t get it going. I know it will come back tobite me, but by then I hope to have a team oftour guides working for me and perhaps by thenI can chill out and travel more! Anyway, betterget going. It’s been great chatting with youCassie… you are my social media guru for sure!Bye for now! Yes, wonderful to see you again… and don’t

forget to start planning your social mediamarketing campaign… it really does work!

Well that Cassie

sure knows her

social media! I’m broke but

well LIKED!

 

CClliicckk hheerree ttoo ttrryy aa mmeemmbbeerrsshhiipp ffoorr 3300 DDaayyss!!

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If you have notfound this side ofGoogle, it’s worth alook, or a dive…and on that noteyou can use thistool for promotingyour scuba divingniche. CLICK theimage to view andstart looking forlost cities!

The newly redesigned Certified Travel Industry Executive (CTIE) program is a bold collection ofcourses and online training focused on the critical skills that today’s travel professionals need tosucceed. Graduates will learn how to grow their business while earning recognized industrycredentials. The CTIE certification is parallel to the Certified Travel Counselor (CTC)certification, thus, representing the pinnacle of travel industry professionalism for seasonedtravel professionals who are interested in advancing their career.

NEW: It is no longer a prerequisite to earn theCTA designation or test out of CTA prior toenrolling in CTIE.

NEW: While studying for your CTIE, you willenjoy Premium Membership benefits such aswhite papers, expert webinars, podcasts, blogposts and much more.

NEW: All courses are completed online in TheTravel Institute’s Communiversity.

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To earn the CTIE, travel professionals must: Possess at least 5 years of full-time

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That’s right. I’m giving two-thumbs upfor The Travel Institute’s CTIE programand recommend you check it out. At thesame time look for my managementwebinars & workbooks that willindirectly support what you learn bystudying the CTIE content. Click on TheTravel Institute’s logo below for moreinformation. Read TAM here.

Selling Travel supports all other travel trade magazines and encourages you to explore thefollowing publications that deliver news, destination information and more tips, tools andtechniques. Round out your daily intake of knowledge and this will help you sell more travel.The following logos appear in alphabetical order – click the logo to visit the website.

Make sure you subscribe and read not only the publication but also each website as manywebsites offer more than just news & views – there are also Guides and Supplements thatyou can use for in-house training and development.

C L A S S I F I E D SLooking for something to sponsor? Try my latest keynote / workshop.

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