THE HOW-TO MAGAZINE FOR TRAVEL TRADE PROFESSIONALS

AUGUST 2014

Main Features:

Burton Holmes

Graphic Novels

& Comic Life 3

Do you know

what your

greatest

business

challenge is?

If ya wanna

make money ya

gotta go

prospectin’!

4 EDITORIAL

The DESIRE to travel starts earlyand continues throughout one’s

life – are you marketing toGeneration Z?

Share your money making ideasin SELLING TRAVEL.

CONTACTSteve Crowhurst

steve@sellingtravel.net250-738-0064

www.sellingtravel.net

Publisher:SMP Training Co.

www.smptraining.com

ContributorsSteve Crowhurst

SELLING TRAVEL is owned and publishedby Steve Crowhurst, SMP Training Co. AllRights Reserved. Protected byInternational Copyright Law. IC TRAVELAGENT can be shared, forwarded, cut andpasted but not sold, resold or in any waymonetized. Using any images or contentfrom IC TRAVEL AGENT must be sourced asfollows: “Copyright SMP Training Co.www.smptraining.com” SMP Training Co.568 Country Club Drive, Qualicum Beach,BC, Canada, V9K-1G1 Note: SteveCrowhurst is not responsible for outcomesbased on how you interpret or use theideas in SELLING TRAVEL.T: 250-738-0064.

6 YOUR GREATEST BUSINESS CHALLENGE - PROSPECTING

11 HAS DIRECT MAIL GONE THE WAY OF THE DODO BIRD? By Jill Wykes

12 KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON SELLING

14 GETTING’ GRAPHIC

19 COMIC: BOOKING TRAVEL IN A WORLD GONE SLIGHTLY MAD!

25 EMOJI MARKETING

26 THEY OPTED IN…

28 FEMAIL

29 YOU MAY KNOW THIS BUT…

30 SOMEONE’S GONNA GET BUSTED!

31 JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME WITH SPECIAL SAUCE By Judith Isaacson

34 APP OR MAP?

36 JUDGING PERSONALITIES

40 THE MIKE T’ METHOD OF MULTI-TASKING

41 THE TRAVELLER’S QUOTE

42 BURTON HOLMES

43 WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE TO GO?

44 THE TRAVEL INSTITUTE

45 DREAM MERCHANTS

49 CLASSIFIEDS

If it’s not yet 5pm where you live, you still have time to make one morecall, close one more sale or e-mail one more promotion!

Attention Suppliers: Advertising in SELLING TRAVEL reaches the serious business-minded travel agent. Promote your products and services using Selling Travel’sunique promotional formula – you write the articles on how to sell your own productsoffering step-by-step selling tips, tools and techniques that you know have workedfor your agency accounts. Full page rates range from $300 to $425 based on numberof insertions. Remember, if you can’t sell it to them, they can’t sell it for you!

THE HOW-TO MAGAZINE FOR TRAVEL TRADE PROFESSIONALS

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YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE IS…

Are you ready for the big reveal? Well you tell me, and quite often, that your greatest challenge

is to find new clients and new business from your existing clients and those two activities are

bundled into the art of prospecting. The word and activity of prospecting has been applied to

searching for gold and also searching for leads. In either case the action is the same and so are

the skills that make some prospectors and some travel agents very rich.

To understand prospecting it really means to “get your eye in” – in other words a professional

prospector can tell by the land, the soil, the rocks etc., that here, and right there too, has huge

potential. That same eye-in activity is also applied when prospecting for new clients and new

business opportunities. And don’t chuckle at the wanted poster on the cover. That is a

prospecting technique that’s be used for decades. “Wanted… new customers…” Soooo easy.

To stand out from the prospecting crowd, I’m urging to Go Graphic in this issue. Using a graphic

novel approach for your ads and your eBrochures you will attract attention from all generations

and specifically Gen X, Y & Z. Also learn to deliver Travelogues like Burton Holmes.

Be sure to check out my new e-Store where I am turning every workshop, webinar, article and

keynote speech into easy to read and implement eGuides that you purchase and download in an

instant. Look for the Store Member opt-in links and receive a 20% discount once you join.

Here’s to your continued success in SELLING TRAVEL.

Best regards.

Steve Crowhurst, CTC

steve@sellingtravel.net

www.sellingtravel.net

The How-To Magazine for Travel Trade Professionals

Steve Crowhurst, CTC, Publisher

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If there’s one call for help that’s consistent it’s the one I consult on the most. Prospecting. How

do you find new clients to book with you? How do you get your existing clients to travel more

and how do you nudge your existing clients to refer their friends? Within those few sentences

there’s a lot of How-To to discuss. Do ya have a year? Can you turn up for a 3-day intensive

training session? Chances are that won’t happen. However, I make the suggestion. If you can

find someone to train you hands-on in your neck of the woods, then go for it. Pay the fee. Learn

how and then apply the knowledge. In the meantime – this might help.

Each day, every day…ya just gotta get out

there and cracksome rocks!

Here’s the thing. If your mind is not set in

prospecting mode, nothing will happen. You

have to have your “mind in” and your “eyes in”

in order to see the opportunities as they come

and quickly go past you. They do not linger.

Those precious opportunities are fleeting and

that’s why the terms “mind in” and “eyes in”

refer to the ability to recognise what it is you are

looking for when you see it!

You’ll know from experience that you have

walked past the very shop you were looking for.

Can’t find your mobile phone but it is right there

in front of you. You were not tuned in to the

shape, the size, the signage… you just didn’t

“see” it in your mind’s eye.

It’s the same thing when you start prospecting or

plan to. You must know what you are looking for

and recognise it when you see it.

So what are you looking for? You should be able

to answer that quickly and be able to state a

client profile – that’s in fact what you are looking

for, prospecting for – the type of client who will

buy the product you are promoting – at this time.

You might be searching for people to join your

tour, or join your mailing list, or… whatever it is,

you’ll have a profile in your mind.

The Two Forms of ProspectingYou can never do enough prospecting. It can add

new clients, expand existing lists, generate more

referrals and it is done by newcomers to the

travel trade and veterans alike.

Prospecting is certainly on the table for when

you are building your business. It is also on the

table for when you want to fill a certain tour you

have arranged and even more so for when you

want to boost sales from your existing clients.

Prospecting New and Prospecting Existing are

the two forms of this business building activity.

Prospecting for NEW Clients

The questions and comments I receive about

prospecting for new clients seems to focus on

the fact that so much work is done to attract

them but they never seem to book – or if they do

make contact, they take your information and

book online or go somewhere else.

(These eGuides are available from The Travel Agent’s Store. The

New Client eGuide is there now, Existing Clients is in production.)

If you set your mind to attracting the right type

of client that would be a start. So it’s your

question to answer – what does your ‘perfect

client’ look like? Who are they? Where are they?

I can tell you now that most travel agents chase

the wrong client profile and many more try to

throw the net as wide as possible which will

naturally catch the wrong catch!

The concept of prospecting for new clients is just

like prospecting for gold. If you were chasing that

gold, would you grab your pick, walk out into the

wilds and start whacking at rocks? No. You would

more than likely research what the rocks look

like that are known to be near gold. You might

check into the historic claims. You would learn

about the rivers and which ones have yielded

gold. Nothing different to prospecting for a

travel prospect – who would be gold dust in your

jeans.

Identifying your ProspectThe prospects profile must match what it is you

are selling. If you are selling cruises, why are you

looking at a list of golfers? Are cruises

represented by high-end clients or those cheap

all-you-can-eat-2-for-oners?

So what is it you are selling? What’s the niche,

what’s the price range? Who can afford it? What

are your suppliers telling you is the profile?

1. Unless you are arranging a customized tour

for your agency, you are arranging your

product through a supplier. That supplier has

the history and the facts on who buys their

products. This is the first profile you are

seeking. Most suppliers have spent

thousands of dollars to better understand

the consumers who travel with their brand.

Ask your BDM for this information.

2. Now you know who the consumer is, you

start to look for them in your area. A little

forensic detective work and you’ll figure out

where this type of client lives – more by type

of area versus street location and house

number. If the consumer is wealthy then

you’d be targeting the upscale residential

areas to start.

3. Other than where they might reside, you

consider what wealthy people do. Where

they go, what they read, the services they

like. Now you can start to analyze how to get

between them and their news.

Getting between the selected client profile and

their news means your marketing must intercept

them or catch up with them where they shop,

read and do business. Although everything is

thought to be online, believe it or not,

community newspapers are always leafed

through. People like to know what’s going on

around them. Your local newspaper is one place

to start and an ad that speaks to the client you

wish to attract. The words must be right and of

course the pricing will instantly advise who this

tour is intended for.

Prospecting Existing ClientsThis term refers to soliciting your existing client

list to do more travel, to travel again, to look at

the flyer and travel again this year. It’s the same

activity but you are preaching to the converted

as they say. This client list is already travelling

with you – and now it’s your job to make sure

they know what’s available in a general sense

and also what you are planning for them in the

custom tour department.

Never be shy of asking your regular clients to

travel again, and again. Let your promotions do

the talking for you but do make sure there is a

call to action to inspire response.

Video as you know is the new medium. Well, it’s

been with us for years, but with all things quickly

accessible online, video promotions are the way

to go. They are entertaining, they sell and you

can even be featured at the end of the video.

Prospecting for ReferralsAlways a challenge – asking clients for a referral,

which has always part of the sales process. For

some reason it seems, so I am told, a tough thing

to ask. Not sure why unless the client had a lousy

experience and their trust level has declined. All

things being equal then, your clients are usually

very willing to help you build your business.

Use all the non-invasive tools if you cannot quite

ask your clients face-to-face or voice-to-voice.

Add a referral slogan to your emails and to your

website...

We would love to help your friends and family

experience their trip of a lifetime. If you can tell

them about us we’d appreciate it with thanks.

Come up with your own referral request. Get the

agency team on camera. Why not an image of

the agency team, all smiles and the referral

request caption underneath. Or… how about the

entire team filming a referral request and have

that clip inserted at the end of your promotional

video?

The Referral VideoThen again, why not create a dedicated referral

video? This standalone creation would be

featured on your website, linked to in all emails

and used in a promotional campaign too. Your

video can now be embedded in a Word

document, a PowerPoint slide and as you know

it can be embedded in any of your website pages

and also specifically your agency’s YouTube

channel.

The concept here is to create a video that might

just be forwarded and sent viral. The ultimate

outcome you desire – gone viral.

If you are new to this idea, work with someone

who can orchestrate the production. It should be

somewhat funny as humour sells more than

doom and gloom and straight faces.

You’ll want some action, a decent backdrop and

this can all be filmed on your smartphone or

tablet. Keep it simple. Keep it easy.

If you happen to offer a referral points program,

make sure everyone on your list knows about it.

Points, loyalty and referrals are all connected –

however everyone needs to know and

understand how your program works. Another

idea for scripting into your video promotion.

The Consumer ShowYou can create a consumer show that promotes

your agency and its services. You can focus on a

tour if you wish. The promoting of a travel event

will usually draw 10 to 50 people. Of course if

there is a free trip… hundreds might turn up. But

you are not looking for free loaders. You want to

attract the serious traveller.

Your consumer show will accomplish many

things – put you in front of live people, engage

them in chit-chat, involve them in discussions

about where to next, and each person attending

is a conduit to a referral.

Ready… Action!Break out the camera. Book the hotel room.

Script your team and then make it happen. Have

fun, keep it light. PROSPECT AWAY!

We can book your friends too!

http://www.homebased-travelagent.com/

Many marketers have moved away from direct mail because of cost, in favour of email and

social media. This is certainly true in the travel industry and, even though the new Canadian

Anti-Spam Legislation is now in effect, most companies will still find a way to continue to email

their clients. (More about this in my next column)

But direct mail can and should still play a part in

your marketing strategy. For one thing, some of

your customers don’t use email, and if they do, a

lot of it ends up in their trash or they feel

overwhelmed by too many emails and press

delete. Pressing delete is always an option with

email but it’s not an option with direct mail.

Yes that’s right….direct mail is making a

comeback as an effective tool for travel

marketing and a channel that will catch your

customer’s attention.

There are certain tricks when using direct mail to

ensure your message is not

discarded….handwritten postcards and

envelopes receive more attention. Attractive

travel images are always appealing.

Personalization of some sort always helps.

There are programs which can make this easy for

you and you should ask your host agency if they

offer direct mail as one of their marketing

options. Some agencies have abandoned direct

mail but this could be a mistake.

Look for a host agency that features direct, direct

mail promotions and programs to reach your

clients. Find out if they will mail the pieces on

your behalf and if so, how many and how often?

Sending your clients timely, attractive direct mail

pieces keeps you top of mind and recommends

different types of travel experiences on a direct

basis.

Clever marketers have discovered that the

letterbox is less crowded these days and your

message has a better chance of being noticed

and held onto.

Remember, if you are out of sight, you are out of

mind!

Brought to you by: The Travel Agent Next Door

Gone The Way Of The Dodo Bird?Has Direct Mail

Actually, no…

By Jill Wykes

Sometimes you just have to wonder what in the world is going on in the world.

It’s gotten to a point don’t you think that the world should stop, have its destiny

re-written and then reboot. If you have just joined the travel industry make sure

you retain your excitement as the current global trend for anything but peace can

be worked with and worked around. We’ve seen it all before.

Yes, you have to wonder why we as in

mankind are unkind. Perhaps we should

rename ourselves to the Unkind. Turning on

the morning and evening news is a pain to do

and quite literally the news you receive is the

headcount and images of war torn villages.

Worst of all is the suffering that innocent

people are enduring.

I always stress you should watch the news on

more than one channel, so that by 8am in

the morning you have a handle on world

affairs and based on that knowledge you’ll

know how to advise your clients when they

email or call you to handle or cancel their trip

overseas.

The travel warnings are mounting up and

some of the most wonderful cities, sites,

locations, museums, gardens etc., are being

obliterated with many now off-limits.

You are selling in a time when you must

understand the rules of engagement and be

well versed in where the troubles are so that

you can sell around them. The incredible

thing is, if you were not aware, that once the

wars are over, tourists want to go see where

it all happened. Such is the curious nature of

the people who inhabit the earth. Us.

Air Safety

In recent weeks prior to publishing this issue

we all witnessed the week of air disasters

and loss of lives. Naturally these tragedies

cause everyone who is about to take to the

sky on their dream trip to stop and think.

They do not want their dream trip to start or

end as a nightmare. You’ll need to be on top

of your game and be armed with data that

clearly shows your clients route and

itineraries are safe.

As the mass media continue their expose

about the safety of air travel and drag up all

the air disaster records since Wright took off

it should be you who is advising your clients

about flying safe. Here’s my mantra about

being first to advise your clients.

Whoever owns the

news, WINS!

In your area, location, community - you be

the one who challenges anything that the

media is presenting as fact that is clearly

wrong. Some things you will know and can

refute others you won’t. Where you can,

take a stand and correct the commentary.

You can do this by contacting your local radio

& TV stations and also your local press. Tell

them you want to correct what’s being said

about travelling and specifically air travel.

If you don’t mind sharing the spotlight, call

up other travel agencies in your area and

make it a trade response. Everyone wins.

After the interview you can go back to being

friendly competitors.

Travel Insurance and Travel Safety

Everyone knows the benefits of travel

insurance coverage and protection however,

if you can imagine, a huge number of tourists

are travelling without it. In times of air

disasters and war torn destinations you must

sell insurance to every client.

At the same time you must ensure each

client understands their role in being diligent

about their personal safety.

For those who argue it’s not about being

killed, it’s about surviving and perhaps not

being able-bodied anymore. Insurance

coverage can help and they will not have to

sell their home.

Keep Calm and Carry On Selling

So where can you sell to? There’s plenty of

places around the world that are peaceful

and still on the tourist track. For your clients

who were planning trips close to where the

travel advisories cover – you’ll need to find

them alternatives.

Cruising is now worldwide, so if your clients

are skittish about the Med’ then bring them

back to North America. Flying is flying and

chances of being shot down are minimal. It’s

the destination that could be the challenge.

Once again, find a destination offering the

equivalent of their first choice. Then of

course you can only visit Sarajevo for

instance if you want Sarajevo. Can’t get that

by going to London. Point taken. So it may be

a wait and see situation and your clients can

travel to their chosen destination once

peace returns.

In the meantime – sell the peaceful places

and keep the faith, too!

If you want to reach the current generation, try going graphic, as in graphic novel and

brochures. It’s different, it’s timely and even Baby Boomers like a graphic layout. But how and

where do you find the program? Aha! If I told you it took me a very long time to find such a

program would you believe me? Of course you would and it did. So I pass on the information

here… and the program of choice is called COMIC LIFE 3. Let’s explore.

The concept of graphic novels is found in all

walks of life and even in the realm of

textbooks at the university level. There is

something about the visual layout and story

line that helps people to learn. When you

think about it, adding imagery and a story

line to the text – well it engages more senses

doesn’t it. The same concept can be applied

to your brochures both digital and hard copy

if you are using direct mail marketing.

You may plan your cartoon / graphic novel

Travel Toons concept around a young

traveller or an older wizened sage who

travels the world. You can blend in all the

latest technology too, from smart phones to

whatever is coming next – apps of course can

be featured in your Travel Toons. Graphics

like the ones you can create in Comic Life can

also be built using other sources of cartoon

characters.

I use The Logo Creator which offers various

cartoon characters that you can play with.

There are faces, noses, lips etc., this gives

you the chance to create your own

character. Marvel comics also has a build

your own superhero site and Presenter

Media has more than enough images that

you can combine to create your graphic

novel. Another program similar to the

Marvel superhero creator is HeroMachine

and one more is Hero Factory – here’s their

layout where you create your own character.

It’s too much fun, so be prepared to lose a

lot of selling time!!

Who IS your character? What’s their name?

Before you start creating anything graphic

think about the format, layout and style and

of course, if you are planning on having a

lead character, who is it, what’s his or her

name? What does she do? Might be worth

reading about creating cartoon strips, comic

characters and storylines so that you better

understand how the flow of it works. You

could also read a few Marvel comics to

review the action and use of words like

KAPOW! BIFF! WHACK! And these too:

I’ve created characters using the Marvel

comic site right where it says Kids! Once

there you can create a comic strip or a

magazine. Here’s what’s waiting for you.

Click to this link – and you have a choice…http://marvelkids.com/games/play/75/create_your_own_comic

…you can create a comic strip or a comic

book. Here’s my comic strip… you can use

this type of “quick hit” strip to make a

comment or use it as a call to action using

action figures that shout BUY NOW!

Here’s my six page comic book. It’s following

this article. The idea is to show you some

layouts and use of the tools, however…

…you can only create so much in the Marvel

program. When you want to add your travel

statements or add some of the large text

wording the best thing to do is to download

your creation from the Marvel website, (it

arrives in PDF format and is quite sharp) then

once you save the file you can start adding

additional copy over the top of the pages

where you want to add more words with

OOMPH! to your images.

For my comic book I captured the full page

image using SnagIt and then pasted the

image into Word and then used WordArt to

add the big red lettering, speech bubbles etc.

As I mentioned above this is too much fun

and you will get carried away. Your

marketing time and your selling time will be

eroded by your graphic time! Best to sketch

out your cartoon, comic book, comic strip

ideas and apply them to your current

product offerings.

Your characters could be finding the best

deal, or negotiating group fares and of

course they would be offering travel

insurance to PROTECT your clients and

helping them travel safely.

As with all things like this you can reach a

point of overkill. Too much is too much. Use

the idea sparingly and when you do use it,

make it work for you. Once you identify your

character, give them a name, you can put

them to work. What will they do? Will they

be the best DEALFINDER, become your

client’s NEGOTIATOR, or book your clients

dream trip as the number one

BUCKETLISTERATOR! Phew some pretty

heavy action going on there.

To me the Marvel site is the best for action

figures and there’s both male and female

forms and they are in multiple poses versus

the other websites mentioned where you

can only create a static, standing hero. Mind

you, there are plenty of “accessories” with

which to customize your character.

The Comic Life 3 program gives you every

conceivable comic book layout and you can

import additional graphics using drag and

drop. You can create a character using any of

the programs mentioned, save them as a

PNG to your Superhero folder and then

import them as you build your one or multi

page comic, graphic novel, travel brochure.

The other program I use is Photoshop Elements 12 and it has a Graphic Novel filter that offers

you four selections – select your photo and then choose the Graphic Novel filter, click and stand

back. It works! If you wish to manipulate your image using other tools go for it, otherwise the

image is fine. Now you can import it into Comic Life 3 and within CL3 you can add all the wording

and text boxes and speech bubbles you need.

START HEREACTION CHARACTER NAME WHAT DO THEY DO? HOW TO USE?

Good luck! Have fun. Keep the focus on selling travel!

I KNOW WHERE THEDEALS ARE

AND I WANT THEM

Captain Travel Agency sets off on his mission to track down the best deals for his clients heading

to Europe. He knows there are some nasty people out there trying stop tourists from visiting well

known resorts and cities… scaring them off with rockets, and terrorism… bad food too!

BUT IT WILL NEVER WORK! YA KNOW WHY? WELL DO YA? NO… WELL I’LL YELL YA!

AND WE’RE GOING TRAVELLING NO MATTER WHAT!

WOW this is serious! Big A has broken the CASL rules and

sent me an email without my permission! Holy spam law!

Finally it was Kick-Butt Betty who really took care of the biz!She put the boot into poo-tin, too… that karazy guy that’srushin’ everywhere – Betty rattled his rubles real bad!

It was then that captain travel agency went to the podium toannounce the world is now a safer place to travel and ifanyone wanted to opt-out of his mailing list, well…stoneman would come pay a visit!

Isn’t that Kick Butt

Betty in disguise!

Nice pants!

I need a

FAM!

Emoji MarketingYou have used Emoji many times and many of those times perhaps not even realized you were.

Say what? Well you know, ending a text message, email or a line of text with :) to indicate

something, you are happy, sad, winking… adding a little emotion to your words. Adding an

emoticon or emoji. Well the art of emoji has moved ahead and is now a language found mostly

transiting from one person to another or to many via mobile phones. To me you can take the

emoji concept and think of them as hieroglyphics. In other words they can be read and

translated as long as you speak the language. Here’s how to use emoji to promote travel.

At http://www.iemoji.com/ you will find this

heading that gives you hundreds of emoji listed

under the headings you see below. By selecting

the ones you feel tell the story you can create a

new style promotional message that your client

recipient must work out for themselves. Keeping

it interesting but not too “deep” will win the day.

The following is a little fuzzy as I’ve enlarged

them and they were low resolution to start with.

What’s the message then?

Okay you got it. Flying to the UK for Christmas.

You can mix text and emoji together if you wish,

there are no rules here because we’re not talking

strictly emoji for smartphone and mobile

communication. The idea here to use an existing

communication medium and turn it into

something that might attract attention from all

clients, all generations.

Should you wish to focus on attracting more Gen

Y and Gen Z then you would study the art of

emoji, go deeper than I am stating here, and

learn the essence of emoji communication.

Gen Z have always known zoom, pinch and

swipe. They have grown up with hi-def, surround-

sound, 3D and 4D = 360 degree photography and

film is the normal. Ultra slow motion and hi

speed video is their standard. Gen Z are the

ultimate consumers of snack media.

They communicate in bite sizes. Research studies

suggest that their brains have evolved to process

more information at faster speeds and are

cognitively more nimble to handle bigger mental

challenges. But getting and keeping their

attention is challenging.

Get ALL the Meet Gen Z information here.

Alright. You have the idea. Watch how the media

uses emoji on your smartphone, or into your

email inbox. Learn the language of emoji travel

marketing as YOU want it translated and go for

it.

More emoji here:

Where do Emoji come from? Click here.

THEY OPTED IN…

If you are battling with opt-ins, one way to nudge your clients into re-joining your list is to use a

little humour and also that fear & greed approach, too. Somewhere between the two will cause

the customer reaction you want. But NEVER threaten with wording such as: “You’ll never hear

from us again!” “No more emails will come to you!!” “Those special travel deals will disappear

forever!!!” Keep it nice but show your clients the error of their ways in not subscribing and use

imagery where you can – your clients will “get it” faster than reading reams of text.

Isn’t this just wonderful… so

glad we opted-in right away…

…and don’t look now, but

there’s some nutter on the

other page ranting on about

missing this cruise!

I know and that’s thanks to Marie-

Anne our travel agent for

explaining that Hassle thing…

Well we had enough nuts on

our cereal this morning…

who needs more!

Hey ladies of the travel trade,

(that would be about 85% of

you) have you gotten onto this

idea yet? I can’t claim it as

mine. Saw it in use on a recent

website I visited. Thought this

was very much on the ball and

if you are a travel agent with a

female following and / or

operate women-only travel &

tours, then think about

renaming your opt-in plan to

FEMAIL!

How about a super YOU hero to go

with the FEMAIL push? One of my

favourite sites as mentioned in this

issue is the Marvel comic create your

own superhero page where you do

just that AND use what you produce.

Need a FEMAIL mascot then here’s ya

sign. I’ve added the $ sign to my super-SALES-woman shown above. Over to your creative talents

and beware. This is very addictive. Remember it is work. Serious stuff. Click the image or click

here: http://marvel.com/games/play/31/create_your_own_superhero

Hey where’s my CASL buddies when you need them eh? With spam still

populating inboxes here’s one fake email worth pointing out should any readers

be newcomers to online anything and fending off unwanted emails. This email

landed in my inbox and there are certain issues with it that SHOULD stop you

clicking out of interest or panic.

When you receive an email like this from an account you actually use ALWAYS read the rest of

the address in the From: line. As you can see here (1) Shaw Service Team is listed however at (2)

the email is not Shaw. If you were to click upgrade now (3) then you would end up on a website

that is not operated by Shaw – OR WORSE.

Make sure CASL and CAN SPAM earn their keep and

forward this type of email each and every time one lands in your inbox.

You may know this but…

Hey out there. I’m receiving emails from YOU and you are not following the rules

that now exist. Beware – it could be you who gets busted for lack of attention to

recent email / spam legislation. This is not meant to be a scareware page, just a

note to say smarten up your email protocols. What’s missing?

The Unsubscribe Link is missing!

Remember you are supposed to have added this basic one liner to your email signature

complete with your agency name and address.

To unsubscribe: if you no longer wish to receive

emails from (you) please click here. Thank you.

If you do not have a list management program then you create something like this:

To unsubscribe: if you no longer wish to receive emails from

(you) please send a reply email with UNSUBSCRIBE typed into

the Subject Line. Thank you.

Something else was missing too. The OPT-IN link.

Journey of a Lifetimewith Special Sauce

Say the words, Journey of a Lifetime, and people think of Israel and the Holy Land and for good

reason. Israel is far away, takes many hours of travel to reach - often more than one flight -

and, for North Americans, is located in a very foreign part of the world. A trip to the Holy Land

is often synonymous with a journey of faith and sacred sites.

What many people do not know is that Israel is a

prime destination for culinary experiences, wine

tastings, luxury spa indulgences, biking tours,

bird watching aficionados, diving enthusiasts,

lovers of art, fashion, and design, and naturally,

wanna-be archaeologists. By offering complex,

multi-faceted tours, the travel agent becomes

indispensable to the traveler.

Holy Land travelers on a journey of faith who

seek a richer, more multi-faceted tour will

welcome the variety of possible options. A tour

to Israel which combines ethnic foods, boutique

wines from a variety of terroirs, along with a

behind the scenes look at fashion studios, for

instance, offers rapture for all the senses - and

bragging rights.

Here are five group ideas for selling Israel. The

beauty of these ideas is that the target market is

readily identifiable and easy to find.

Romantic Holy Land: Yes, romantic! Beach

destinations are not the only place for romantic

honeymoons or milestone anniversaries.

Thinking outside the box, what can be more

spiritual, emotional, and romantic than a

renewal of wedding vows at the Wedding Church

in Galilee where the miracle of water into wine

was performed? A sunset dinner of freshly

caught St. Peter’s fish, seated on the shores of

Sea of Galilee with clinking glasses of Galilee

wine is a memorable end to the day.

Bird watchers’ Holy Land tour. Israel is at the

crossroads between Europe and Africa. Twice a

year, in autumn and spring, our fine feathered

friends wend their way in one direction or the

other depending on the season. Since the

distance is great, the hundreds of millions of

migrating birds must stop to rest and recover for

the next leg of their arduous journey across

continents. The Hula Valley and the Sea of

Galilee, where Jesus walked on water, is their

resting area and a paradise for bird watchers.

What a superb combination of sights and

passions!

By Judith Isaacson

Culinary Adventures in the Holy Land. With raw

ingredients that are fresh, local, and often

organic - how can eating, tasting, and dining

Israel not be a priority and key element of a trip

to the Holy Land? Israel is a nation of nations:

Yemenite, Moroccan, Arab, Druze, Circassian,

Ethiopian, Russian, Georgian, Armenian, Libyan,

Iraqi - are just some of the cuisines readily

available and distinct one from the other. A food

oriented day might include a trip to the local

outdoor market to taste and get acquainted with

the offerings, and then learning to prepare them

in a workshop. When visiting a Druze or

Circassian village in the Galilee, a lunch stop at a

local eatery is an opportunity to speak with the

cook and village residents.

Fashion and Design. A behind-the-scenes look at

the studios of Israel’s fashion designers is also a

peep into Israeli society from a unique

perspective. Get an intimate look at the organic

fashion industry through the eyes of a true

insider. Tailored to the client’s fashion tastes, a

fashion and design tour takes the traveler to the

heart of Tel Aviv’s fashion scene – the designer’s

atelier. The tours offer a glimpse into each

designer’s soul,

as guests are

styled and

advised by the

designers

themselves –

learning their

personal and

inspiring stories

about growing

up and designing in this ancient land.

Archaeology in an Ancient Land. Just about

weekly, there are news stories about a “new”

mosaic that was found at a building site. These

brightly colored mosaics tell a story from

thousands of years ago. Remains of a palace of

King David in the Judean Hills, or the fishing

village at Sea of Galilee where Peter roamed, or

the caves from the time of the Romans - are just

a few of the windows into the past that are

worth including in a trip. But the best of all is to

actually dig - even if just for a few hours. For the

lucky ones who actually find a piece of the past,

the experience is even more memorable.

Artists and Studios. Meet an artist during a

hands-on workshop in his/her studio. Israel is a

mecca for artists and original art - some larger

than life, some miniature. With at least four

artist quarters in different villages and at least

two designated artist villages, the Holy Land is

bursting with creativity and originality. At a

workshop lasting a few hours or a few days, learn

mud brick building, or delicate vitrage glass

making, or metal work sculpture, or

photography, or ceramics - and the list goes on.

Where to find potential clients

for these groups?

Romantic Holy Land could be marketed at

wedding and honeymoon shows in a joint

venture with a wedding planner. To reach the

market of older married couples, consider a joint

venture with a local florist during the Valentine

Day season.

On social media sites, look for groups for foodies

and wine enthusiasts to post your travel

proposals. Consider a joint venture at a local

wine shop and/or gourmet food shop with an

evening featuring tasting of foods and wines of

Israel, or a cookbook talk at the neighborhood

bookstore.

Likewise for art enthusiasts: check out the

neighborhood galleries and see how you can

meet these gallery visitors to introduce the idea

of a journey of a lifetime to the Holy Land

combined with an art workshop.

Bird watchers as well as amateur archaeologists

are fanatic when it comes to their respective

passions. Find them in social media groups,

online societies, and possibly local clubs.

Custom Israel Tours: http://www.customisraeltours.com Email: trips@customisraeltours.com

Yes you can!

I found some old photos recently, black and white of course and there I am about 14 years of

age, with a rucksack, standing with other kids of the same age by an old Bedford van loaded

with kayaks. We were off on a school outward bound weekend. Those were the days and trips

that locked a sense of adventure in me that would never leave. Eventually I was the kid writing

to travel agencies like yours, requesting maps and brochures. You see, I had a personal journey

to complete. I was going to Japan.

Throughout my teenage years I spent hours

poring over maps, checking routes, rail

times, ferry schedules and then more rail. I

was heading to Europe from the UK, then to

Moscow to board the Trans-Siberian over to

Vladivostok and then ferry it to Hokkaido,

Japan. I can remember the thrill of those

maps and imagining each and every mile.

Long story short. That didn’t happen. I

reached Japan by working on a ship out of

the UK. Landed in Japan February 1968.

Fast forward to now. Where is the romance

in poring over a map app? I appreciate them

but I’m looking for something to market

here. Something nostalgic, tactile.

Something you can entice your clients to

gather round and touch, trace, make notes

on. Maps. And when you AND your clients

touch them, with your storytelling talents

you’ll both be transported “there”.

Appeal to the customer’s romantic side and

simply say, “Let’s pore over some maps and

make sure the route is what you want.”

Coach tour, mountain hike, rail journey all

are supported by maps. You might even thrill

your client by bringing out a very old map,

one from your collection. Start the

conversation by asking, “…it looks like you

enjoy a good map… would you like to see a

couple of old maps that I have?” Now of

course they should be interesting, as in some

long forgotten destination.

What you are doing here is using old maps to

sell present day trips. Try it. Advertise it. You

might even find a group of map collecting

enthusiasts who want to head off

somewhere to look for their next find.

In the meantime check out antique map

dealers. The map of Asia here is $165.

Not quite the same is it?

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Check out this customer… what’s his travel personality do you think?

If he was a hotel, what brand is he? Do you think he’s an adventurous

kinda guy, limited in his focus or a boffo? Wouldn’t it be nice if you

could read all your clients and market to them accordingly?

Well you can. All it takes is a little creativity and a quiz maker…

No need to try and judge a client’s personality when you can actually create one for them, have

them buy into it and sell them based on what kind of traveller they are.

The idea here is quite creative and is something once you get to grips with it, that’s very appealing

across all channels and something that will more than likely go viral amongst friends who travel.

First things first then, you’ll need to find a suitable personality quiz maker. Funny thing – type

those two words into Google and a whole bunch of options appear. Magic.

The concept of personality quizzes is not

new as you well know, however they are fun

and engaging and people once they get the

scent, want to know their travel style.

Now the key thing here is that the outcome

is not based on Jung, Myers Briggs, Drake P3,

4Di or any other brand – this is pure fun with

some truth and the whole thing is created by

you and your team.

You decide on the travel style or personality,

you design the questions and the final “You

are a…” description.

Although this is a fun project there is a

serious side to it and that is, once your

customers have their designated personality

you can start to market to all the

“Adventurers” or the “High Stylers” or the

“Cheap’n’Happies”.

I’m sure you have your pet names for some

of your clients and I’m also sure you have a

descriptive title for a certain type of client…

I’ll be kind on your behalf: thrifty, dumb,

champagne on a beer budget and of course,

perfect! Those names and titles aside, go for

the fun that this type of marketing idea can

generate and it might even turn some

grumpy customers into perfect customers.

Here’s a couple of quiz makers pulled right of

my search returns. You’d have to review

them for content and price and also conduct

your own search. I just wanted to show you

they do exist.

Here’s how one travel company promoted

their quiz. Kind of retro and attractive.

So once you select your software, quiz

provider you’ll need to think up the

questions and descriptions.

In my searching around, this quiz popped up and the questions were quite good – to explore

further and to get ideas on how to phrase your questions click here. The website this came from

is called Belief Net and its tagline is: Inspiration, Spirituality, Faith – very nice and there might

also be some ideas there for you if your niche is religious / faith based tours.

I completed the quiz and the results are on the next page.

NAME THOSE TRAVELLER TYPES

1 2 3 4

Describe this type here Describe this type here Describe this type here Describe this type here

I am a CURIOUS TRAVELLER! And you know what? That’s pretty close.

POST QUIZ MARKETING IDEAS…

You can see from the results above that each traveller is receiving a travel suggestion. What a

great idea and you can make this happen – suggest it AND book it. Nice. Other quiz activities

would be:

1. Use the quiz to attract Opt-ins adding: and to receive your personality profile.

2. Create special events targeting specific profiles – for curious travellers…

3. Create special events for all profiles but have them seated together by profile.

4. Look for possible group tour outcomes with each profile.

Over to you and your team. If you sell to a niche audience this idea will

work. If you sell mass market, same thing. Use it as a new client

generator and publish it online. Ask for it to be shared / go viral.

If you’re not sure about managing your time as a home-based travel agent then you need to tap

into how others make it happen. Here is a good friend of mine, Mike T, who leads the way in

multi-tasking. Take a few light-hearted moments and see how many activities you can detect

that Mike is engaged in and jot them down. When you’ve finished, check the answer box below.

Multi-tasking Mike is engaged in:

Now you have to understand that Mike T is a

special kinda guy. He is perpetually happy, has

nothing but nice things to say, very funny as in

humorous, is certain only good things will

happen, positive, mindful, energetic and each

year challenges himself to learn something new.

His multi-tasking lifestyle can cause his

few restless moments, as whilst driving t

in the morning he is shaving, drinking

listening to blues music, steering with his

answering his mobile and saying “Yes dea

he was tuned in 100%! What a guy!

Sittin

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Eatin

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Listen

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Lo

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From time to time you’ll need a decent quote related

to travel and travelling. They seem to be few and far

between, but wait what’s this? A book full of travel

quotes.

The challenge I find is that most of the quotes from

business to philosophy to travel are all dated and I

mean dated such as 16th century and if you’re lucky up

to early 1900s. Isn’t there anything more recent and

quoted by someone other than a 90 year old white

guy! Where’s the young men and women of present

day? Surely there must be a decent quote from our

current crop of thinkers of all race, colours and creeds.

I’ll keep searching. In the meantime we can always rely

on Benjamin Franklin and Michael Palin, although I see Rick Steves has managed a couple of

quotes in the Quotable Traveler. When you read this book you’ll find that the majority of travel

quotes do not deliver the joys of travel. More so, the quotes describe the hassles. So it may come

down to you quoting your own quote and perhaps you could ask your clients for their uplifting

verse as to why travel is the fantastic experience that it is.

One fellow I enjoy reading is Burton Holmes. He died in 1958 after a full life of travelling,

photography, publishing and delivering his famous Travelogues. Now he can quote!

Oh to write like Burton Holmes…

“There is something more than mere esthetic pleasure, mere

delight of the eyes, in scenes like this – there is a glorious

uplifting sense of the unity of the universe –

the nowness of all time.”

More often than not I tend to refer to Thomas Cook as one of the most, if not the most inventive

travel agent of his time and for me, of our time too. I can never get enough of Thomas Cook’s

and his son Mason’s ingenuity. I have three books about Thomas Cook and as I’ve written

before – had he lived today, well who knows what he would have accomplished. Burton

Holmes like Thomas Cook was a game changer. It is Burton Holmes who we have to thank for

opening the world through his camera – taking stills and video footage. If you’ve not yet met

Mr. Holmes… you have now. Learn from his lifetime of travelling, photography and keynote

speaking, or Travelogues as he called them.

If you know where to look you can find a number of comments about Burton Holmes and the one

I like is this: “…is known as America’s most famous travel showman…” and to boot he even has

his very own Hollywood star. Not bad for a camera enthusiast from a young age and a guy who

dropped out of school at sixteen, began travelling, first to Europe with his grandmother, and then

to Japan. He led a fantastic life and one that you might want to emulate – except that times are

different. Many places Holmes visited and recorded no longer exist in name, and many more are

currently at war!

Learning about this travel pioneer starts between the

pages of Burton Holmes book, Travelogues: The World’s

Greatest Traveler, which was released in 2006 by

Taschen. Holmes took over 30,000 photos and 500,000

feet of film during the course of his travels through every

continent. This 300+ page archive has collected the very

best of his work. I am showing the cover here with an

insert of me holding my copy… it ain’t small or for weak

of arm! It measures 12” x 10½” X 2” and heavy!

Although BH was somewhat wealthy, he knew

his calling and went for it. A lesson there. He

turned the vacation slide show into a Hollywood

event he coined Travelogues and he presented

8,000 of them, even filling the Carnegie Hall. The

Burton Holmes Lectures, based on the slides and

his narrations for them, were reorganized into a

series of books, originally published in 1901 in

ten volumes, selling more than 40,000 copies.

They can still be found in used book stores.

Action: read about BH, study him, use his

Travelogue concept, write your books, publish

your photographs and who knows what you’ll

achieve. http://www.burtonholmes.org/life/bio.html

So many of your clients are dreaming right now. They are dreaming of that trip, that personal

journey, that thing they must do and that thing they must see. It’s all, very, very important to

them and their life. Yet, they are still sitting there, doing 9-to-5. They need your help. It’s up to

you to show them the way.

Dig deep into your own experiences and

especially when you were trying to decide

what to do and then you quit your job as an

accountant and just went. What did you give

up to go? Your job? Possibly a career and

eventually a partnership in a large

accounting firm? Or not. You never knew

what lay ahead. You might have waited

years, twenty years to get that partnership

and just as you were about to take that step,

the market crashed and your firm might

have said to you, “not now”.

Here’s what I gave up to go:

My collection of Japanese katana and one

guitar circa 1920. Sold them all to go

travelling. Where did I go? It was a one-way

ticket to Canada in 1970. I could have stayed

and become… well, I can’t answer that. I only

know the outcome of giving up something to

immigrate to Canada.

WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE TO GO?

Make this your marketing slogan for next

week. You’ll be back talking about personal

journeys and counselling clients on how best

to achieve their travel goals – but NEVER

persuade them to leave family, children or to

cash-in all their savings? That’s litigation

staring at you. Let the consumer decide what

they’ll give up to fulfill their dream trip and

more dream trips after that. Most people

will only give up 4 weeks max of their current

lifestyle and yet others will amaze you in

their travel request once they identify with

your new slogan. It’s a worthy challenge and

nudge those fence sitters into action.

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IT’S IN PRODUCTION!

The hard-hitting, no nonsense, no fluff content will cause you to re-think how you sell travel today

and in the coming years. The world of selling travel has changed in so many ways, offering a

whole new set of marketing tools, new travelling generations, communication tools, trends,

places to visit and things to do. The required skills and competencies for success have changed

too. The backdrop to your success has also changed – it is not the peaceful planet everyone

expected. Dream Merchants will help you keep the selling travel dream alive despite civil wars,

extreme weather and terrorism. Veteran of the trade or newcomer, supplier or NGO, you owe it

to yourself to read this insightful book. Published in eBook format to support Green Knowledge.

Watch for the publication announcement.

Be first to hear – opt-in to The Travel Agent’s Store today.

DREAM MERCHANTS™

As the other page shouts, it’s in production! Finally. Books take time to write and especially

the type of book that delivers the how-to behind the what-to-do that everyone else tells you

to do. The focus of Dream Merchants™ is to help both newcomers to selling travel start their

career the right way and at the same time offer travel trade veterans and travel schools a new

approach to selling travel in the coming years. Additionally the content will also support the

efforts of travel trade suppliers who work closely with travel agents.

Unlike other books on the topic of selling travel

this one is hard core and pulls no punches in

what it takes to be considered a travel trade

professional, a Dream Merchant.™

The opening chapters explore the current world

wide situation and state of affairs which, in a

nutshell has reduced places we can visit. Existing

upheaval in many countries and the potential for

civil war is huge. Weather patterns have changed

dramatically. The seasons we know and sell have

moved. The planet is in turmoil in more ways

than one, yet, travel is still high on the list of

those that can afford it.

Additionally, the travel trade faces even more

challenges and this time from within as each

country creates its own anti-spam legislation

with Canada’s CASL being touted as the toughest

in the world. Guaranteed to kill off many small

travel businesses as genuine spammers, who

don’t play fair, simply carry on spamming as

usual.

How does a newcomer to selling travel even

build a clientele if they can no longer (in Canada)

reach out and e-touch? How do you keep the

dream alive for yourself and your clients? How

do you keep the passion for travel moving

onwards and upwards and how do you remain

the DREAM MERCHANT™ in your community?

Read Dream Merchants™ and you’ll be taken

through a rigorous course of study and self-

analysis. You may or may not like what you find

out – however follow the advice and you’ll

survive.

Young people entering the industry will be,

during their career, selling to four generations

ranging from BBs, Gen X, Y and Z. Social media

use will change from generation to generation. A

knowledge of travel apps and how they work is

now crucial. Being able to communicate using

Emoji is a new marketing must know skill when

targeting Gen Z. Using a tablet app instead of a

white flag when guiding a tour, is now a must do.

Video will be the best format for marketing

travel across all 5 screens. Knowing how to

create and produce a 3 minute powerful travel

feature is also a must know. Being camera

presentable is one more skill to learn.

I also explore the true meaning of over used

words such as professional, passion and

engagement to present the reality of selling

travel going forward during the next five years.

There you have it. A brief overview of Dream

Merchants™ - a must read for the travel agent

wishing to grow their business in a way that will

work with and around the global challenges

happening now and the challenges to happen in

the coming years.

Send an email request and be first to secure a

copy when Dream Merchants™ is published.

http://agents.canadiantraveller.net/

A HOME FOR THE HOME BASED AGENTS

Big Bark has all your print-marketing needs covered!

201 – 3011 Underhill Ave.

Burnaby, BC

V5A 3C2

BonVo

yage

BonVoyage

THE HUNTINGTON GROUPHUNTINGTONThe agents choice since 1973

Thank you for choosing to travel with MyEscapades.com. We take pride in providing one-of-a-kind travel experiences in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. The majority of our clients require a trip customized to their likes, interests and budget. Whether you wish to travel in the lap of luxury or choose to indulge in an authentic adventure (we call it ‘roughing-it’) we will create a trip to suit your preferred tastes. In other words, we will give you a travel experience that goes beyond your expectations. Rest assured, MyEscapades.com is your perfect traveling companion.

Before You Travel:• Ensurethatyouarecarryingyourup-to-date passports and have obtained any required/necessary tourist visas for entering the country(s) you are visiting. • Youtripinvolvescancellationpenalties in the unforeseen event that you cancel/postpone your travel arrangements. Ensure that you are aware of these penalties.• CarryyourOut-of-CountryHospital/Medical/Travel Insurance Policy with you.• Beawareofluggagerestrictionssuchas weight, size and type of suitcases allowed on the international and domestic flights on your itinerary. Excess baggage charges are steep and can cause great inconvenience• Ensureyouhaveobtainedrecommended or required inoculations.Certaininoculationsare mandatory for travel to endemic areas.Yourtravelagentwillhaveprovided full details.

• CheckouttheavailabilityoflocalATMs in your destination and/or purchase some local currency or travellers cheques.• Givefamily/friendsthecontactinformation at hotels/lodges you will be staying during your travel. Information on your accommodations is provided within your documents.• Werecommendthatyouputyournewspaper subscription on hold for the duration of your trip and have your mail collected by a neighbour or held at your local post office.• Itisalwaysrecommendedthatyousecure your home with a security alarm before you leave.

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