Home Based Travel Agent
Part Four
In Home Based Travel Agent Part Four we will investigate if this is the right approach for you and visualize different scenarios ideally placed to benefit from this emerging trend...
Brazil: Lagoinha, Ceara - © Embratur
Is Being a Home Based Travel Agent For You?...
Who should get into the travel agent game?...
Now that I've been
in it myself for a while and know how easy it is to get
started, to make sales, to make bookings, and to make money,
my answer is simple and straightforward:
Everyone!...
After all, even if all you want to do is save money on your
own travel for business and pleasure, becoming a home-based
travel agent is one of the best way to do just that.
If you're eager to start a fun, moneymaking home business, you'll find that becoming a home based travel agent can be done quickly and cheaply.
In fact, most people who take my home study course are so excited by the possibilities that they start their travel agent career rolling even before
they've finished the course!
It's that easy to get started.
In the meantime, however, consider these good solid reasons
for joining the thousands of people who are having fun and
making money in the home based travel agent lifestyle:
- Are you a traveler?
If you love travel yourself, you have
already mastered a major challenge for anyone in sales -- you
know your product. It is now a relatively simple matter to
translate the knowledge and enthusiasm you already possess
into powerful sales presentations that will bring you your first bookings and steady repeat business. In addition,
you'll start saving money on your own travel instantly.
- Are you looking for a low-investment part-time business?
Look
no further.
As I've already said, and explain in detail in my
home study course, you can become a part-time home based
travel agent today. And your initial investment can be
absolutely zero (okay, maybe you'll use a stamp or two and
make a few phone calls).
I made my first several bookings
with no business card, no stationery, no nothing!
- Do you need a flexible schedule?
Here's a business that
allows you to set your own hours like few others. You can
chat with folks at work or call them at home at night. Work
full-time one week and scale back the next.
Whatever schedule
works best for you, you can design a travel business to
accommodate it
Brazil: Canoa Quebrada Beach - © Embratur
- Are you a teacher?
Many opportunities in the part-time travel
field are aimed specifically at teachers. Moreover, teachers
have more free time than many other professionals -- free
time that can be both a boon and a curse.
As a part-time
travel agent you can use your free time to sell travel and
take advantage of it too!
- Do you have a built-in audience?
Teachers do.
They can reach
their students and their students' parents. But other
professions also offer their practitioners access to large
groups of people -- ministers, accountants, salespeople,
beauticians, the list goes on.
All of these people come in
contact with many people in the course of their work, people
who are often prime prospects for any travel business
- Do you belong to a club or organization?
Clubs and other
affinity groups represent superb opportunities to make major
sales. If you get ten people in your club to go on a cruise
with their spouses, that's a $30,000 to $40,000 sale
- Are you a small businessperson?
If so, why not make travel an
add-on to your existing product line? Everyone who comes into
your shop can learn about the travel opportunities you have
to offer.
If you send catalogs or brochures to your customers
on a regular basis you have already paid for the postage to
send them a flyer about a great bargain on an upcoming tour
or cruise.
Or why not offer discounted travel to your
employees as an extra benefit?
You'll forego some or all of
the commission, but the goodwill you generate will be hard to
beat
- Do you travel on business?
Many people who travel on business
pay their own way and then get reimbursed by their employer
or client.
As a travel agent, you can earn a commission on
every bit of that travel.
If you own your own business and
spend a considerable amount of money on travel, then the
prospect of saving 5% to 7% on your travel expenditures
should make your bottom line sit up and take notice
Brazil: Canoa Quebrada Beach, Ceara - © Embratur
- Are you in sales?
If you are, you've probably already thought
of a dozen ways you can prosper in this sideline. Your
existing sales skills will fit perfectly in a home-based
travel business and you no doubt already have a large and
ever-growing pool of prospects
- Are you retired?
Perfect.
Not only do you now have the time
to devote to learning about travel, but you are an integral
part of the largest and fastest growing market for leisure
travel.
You can make a handsome income, and enjoy some
wonderful fringe benefits, just by specializing in the travel
interests and needs of folks just like you
- Are you home with the kids?
Here's a way to make a bit of
extra money at the same time you're burping and diapering.
Much of your business with customers can be conducted on the
phone; your friends probably won't mind if you're bouncing
junior on your knee while you talk to them.
You can use
baby's nap time to get on the phone and call the travel
suppliers.
It's a perfect scenario for the homemaker or
househusband
- Are you committed to a full-time career?
If you are not sure,
you can test the waters for a minimal investment.
If you find
you love the travel business as much as you thought, great!
You'll be ideally situated to maximize your income potential.
If, on the other hand, you decide the travel business is not
for you (it's not for everyone), you have the option of
continuing on a part-time basis or getting out altogether
without having spent a small fortune discovering you've made
a wrong career turn
- Are you sure you want to work in an agency?
Many people
thrive in an agency atmosphere, but many become bored and
disillusioned with the rote work that taking orders and
working the CRS often involves.
The strategies outlined in my
home study course will show you how easy it is to progress to
the status of an agency owner -- without the huge upfront
investment and high overhead.
In the process you will put
yourself in a position to earn many times what you would make
as an entry-level inside employee
So, you see, just about everyone has a good reason to become
a home based travel agent, but there are still some reasons
to think twice before you jump in with both feet, as we will
see in the next lesson...
This mini-course on becoming a home based travel agent is
brought to you by the Home Based Travel Agent Resource Center
and The Intrepid Traveler , publisher of a comprehensive home
study course for home based travel agents.
Copyright © Kelly Monaghan