SELLING TRAVEL

THE E-MAGAZINE THAT FOCUSES ON THE REALITY OF SELLING TRAVEL

PLUS The O&M The EDGE The Frontline The BDM

CREATE YOUR OWN ICONS MANAGING YOUR SOCIAL LIFE TRAVEL APPS TO KNOW YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN THE BLENDED PLAN GROW THE ST COMMUNITY AND SO MUCH MORE! INTERVIEW WITH CORY ANDRICHUK of brandUcoaching

JANUARY 2012

In this issue EDITORIAL

Everyone is socializing! One in 13 around the world are on Facebook. YouTube is up to how many videos viewed each day?

Can’t escape this phenom’! Got to go with it. Check the Table of Contents as there’s just excellent and solid info here for you.

Also we have an interview with Social Media Coach – Cory Andrichuk. The man.

We co‐presented this December and Cory is the real‐deal! He lives it. He likes it. He wants you to like it too.

When you can, click to my new website and sign up, join the ST Community. Also check the FREE webinars this Q1.

Don’t forget, if you need help with anything you see in Selling Travel I am as close as your email or Skype button.

Best regards, Steve Crowhurst, CTM Publisher www.sellingtravel.net steve@sellingtravel.net Skype: smptraining1 T: 250‐752‐0106

CHECK FOR WEBINARS HERE

THE O&M – Tips on Hiring a Social Media Specialist THE EDGE – Going Social at Home THE BIG 4 SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN ‐ Building The Main Plan MANAGING YOUR SOCIAL LIFE – Fitting in Socialization THE BLENDED PLAN – Traditional + Social Marketing TAPPING INTO THE BIG SCREEN – Social TV INTERVIEW WITH CORY ANDRICHUK SOCIAL SLANG – Understanding & Deciphering CLOSING THE SALE 6 – The Social Sale THE FRONTLINE – Making Sure Your Clients Are ‘Appy!

100 IPHONE APPS – Keeping ‘em ‘Appy!

CREATING YOUR OWN ICONS – Easy Steps THE EXTREME BDM – The Social BDM

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

editorial

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL SELLING TRAVEL READERS!

As you can see, the first issue of 2012 has a focus on Social Media and we even have an interview with ‘The Coach’ – Cory Andrichuk of brandUcoaching. Having spent a full week on the road with Cory and co‐presenting with him, I’ve learned that this man knows his social.

There is absolutely no question that social media is with us as a relationship building tool all the way up to sales, service and referrals.

The biggest challenge to managing a professional social media campaign is time and this is often cited by many small to mid‐sized travel agencies. Larger firms usually have the financial support to hire in the talent they need or in some cases to pay for outsourced services. We’ll explore how smaller agencies can build their plan.

Now subject to common belief your 11 year old son or daughter, cousin or your neighbours kids are not yet ready to create a social media campaign. Being able to create an account on FB, and texting a few hundred messages a day does not a social media manager make.

So beware! Go pro, or don’t go!

A Selling Social self study manual is underway and should be released in Q1 2012. Okay that’s it. Once again, Happy New Year and may your social life up your sales in 2012.

Let me know what you need!

Creatively Yours!

Steve Crowhurst Author, Trainer, Columnist, Keynote Speaker, Publisher and world traveller.

Ever had your luggage damaged? Sure you have.

Recently, enroute, I went to the baggage carousel and took hold of the handle.

What handle! Snapped right off. So as we know, off to the baggage claim office to report it. That done I carried on travelling and enjoyed a few chuckles as taxi drivers and bellman grabbed that same handle. Each face produced a “what the…” expression! Nice.

Arrived home. Called the airline call centre to query my next move. Err… “Nigel” located in Mumbai was quick to respond – only took one hour to sort it out (?) “Get it fixed locally…” was the outcome. HELLO!

I took my bag to Air Canada at the local airport and I have to say, overnight, my bag was fixed and returned.

KUDOS TO AC!

Are you looking for a Social Media Agent or someone to take on your social media marketing for the agency? If so, here’s a guide to help you review what you are looking for in that new hire. You may well have someone in‐house who would like to apply – so they too can read this chart and see if they have what it takes. As you review the contents below, make your own notes and decide what YOU want and need in your Social Media Marketing Specialist.

Accountabilities Accountabilities

Objectives

• Coordinate, vet and publish blog content • Create new content Coordinate content including video and podcasts • Increase organic search results • Promote content strategy across various social channels • Support marketing campaigns Work as part of the agency • Monitor social channels for brand Sales and Social Media Team mentions • Engage social mentions • Route to monitor and engage social enquires to appropriate country or state • channels Promote marketing campaigns on specific channels • Understand marketing initiatives Coordinate Social • Coordinate monthly campaigns and Media initiatives contests • Establish social channels per Develop standards • Build internal and external communities • Extend community reach communities offline Adhere to team processes, • Consistent adherence to processes and policies, business methods policies

Performance Measures • Number of blog posts created each month • Unique types of blog posts created • Organic search results • Monitor and response times for all brand mentions • Number of brand mentions on social channels

• Successful coordination of projects

• Growth of community members • Increase in numbers of social mentions • Tasks met • Processes followed

REMEMBER THIS SAYING: “YOU ARE WHO YOU HIRE!”

Keep that statement top of mind as you review these charts. There’s no need to rush this hire. Take it slow and easy and hire right. You’ll need to think through all the things you want your social plan to achieve. You may add in more accountabilities and ramp up the skill level you believe you need too. One thing to keep in mind is this: just because someone knows how to use Facebook, does not a Social Media Marketing Specialist make. This role also requires knowledge of generic marketing principles and of course, travel trade experience is a must have.

Source of charts unidentified.

Key Competencies Competency

Description

Blogging Experience

           

Customer Focus

Excellent Communicator

Community Building and Relationships

   

Planning and time management

  

Skills and Capabilities Competency

Mandatory Competencies

          

Required Solution Experience

O&M Logo Font: Mandingo

   

Organize different brands’ and types of content coming from various sources Ensure blogging and content best practices are kept to Create rich and engaging content Have a good technical knowledge of blogging tools and solutions Create organic result oriented keyword SEO Ensure linking best practices are adheres to Provide outstanding service to internal staff and external customers Work with brand leaders on Social Media initiatives Focus on customer needs Manage conflicting priorities while achieving goals Excellent written and oral skills Evangelize the Social Media strategy internally to staff through training and attending events and externally at events Foster and share new ideas, concepts, and technologies among the team Establish relationships within external travel, Social Media, and other communities Builds and sustains productive relationships with Brand Leaders, Marketing Managers Product Managers, Area Leaders, Team Leader, and staff Establish rapport with peers and build trust in relationships Is a good team player, professional and friendly Plan and prioritize own work as well as guides others to ensure all goals are met Set clearly defined objectives Plan activities well in advance and takes account of changed circumstances

Description Proven abilities in delivering outstanding customer service leveraging social media Successful experience in utilizing Social Media to deliver marketing campaigns Record of achievement in building online and offline communities Proven success in executing social media and marketing activities for medium large brands Demonstrated experience and understanding of blogging platforms and tools Preferred degree qualification in Marketing or Business Administration 2 ‐3 years experience leveraging Social Media Experience in organizing events Established and facilitated training or evangelized a strategy within an organization Knowledge of travel communities Outstanding communication and outcome based business values Proven ability to work within a dynamic team environment and also be a self starter, able to pick up and run with tasks Highly organised in nature with a high attention to detail Wordpress (or like) blogging platform Social Media monitoring solutions like Hootsuite Custom developed solutions and tools

Here’s what YOU need to get your social mojo working! Create an ICON (find out how in this issue) that suits you and then link this icon to all your social networking accounts. If you’re going to do it right you should set up an account with these sites: Facebook business page, LinkedIn, Flickr, Twitter, create a YouTube channel under your travel agency name and create an account with www.blogger.com or with www.travelblog.com and finally study the best travel apps for the iPhone and all other smart phones that are travel focused. Get yourself a powerful mini‐laptop / notebook or tablet.

That should be about it. You can add in other social sites as you feel the need. NOW you are in the zone!

You could be in and on the CLOUD too but let’s settle for the zone at this time.

Keep it business as usual: There seems to be a theme when using social media to deliver too much personal information. If your Facebook site is to mushy, can it and restart with a proper business page. Learn how to Tweet information beyond which brand of coffee you’re drinking and always direct your clients or prospects to your website. This is the working hub of your business. Or it should be.

Choose your social niche: This year is going to be one of extreme political and economic turmoil in the Middle East and Europe. Keep that in mind as you watch the generic world horizon for travel and niche opportunities to blog about.

Always mention Travel Insurance. Keep pushing it as this year for sure will be a year when everyone should buy it. Add a comment in all your socializing and make your travel insurance links on your website larger.

The Edge Font: Baby Kruffy

I’m looking for real‐time challenges that stop you from being the best you can be. Be sure to include your email and website links. Thanks!

NEXT: Study the Facebook add‐ons such as Like and Send buttons. You can fill in the page where you create your buttons and then click for the HTML code. After that you can copy the code to your website and bingo! You can now have visitors to your site Like your page and also Send it on to their pals. Do the same with all social sites. Dig a little deeper and learn what they have to offer you. Placing HTML code is easy if your website allows it. I use Weebly and it’s easy to use.

As you’ll read in this issue, this is all about YOU and your content. I’ve mentioned before that you’ll need to build an image library, collect topics to write about and to save those items in a special folder. These small actions will deliver big when you need them to.

Live Socialization: At some point you are going to have to leave the keyboard and head out to meet up with your clients and socialize in real time. Some people have lost this skill due to “hiding” behind the digital curtain. Make sure you brush up on your meet & greet skills, small talk, hand shakes, presentation skills and overall people skills and personal body language. Most clients like a well‐dressed travel agent, so turn up in style, fully groomed.

You are good to go! Okay then. Follow the steps in this issue of Selling Travel and you’ll move closer to the social agent you want to be. Sell and socialize from home then step out to close the sale.

YES! IT’S UP AND RUNNING AND ACCESSIBLE RIGHT NOW. SO CLICK THERE WHEN YOU CAN AND USE WHATEVER YOU CAN FIND. SHARE IT WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES AND SEND IN ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE ABOUT SELLING TRAVEL.

YOU’LL FIND SOME OLD FAVOURITES AND A FEW NEW PAGES TOO. ENJOY!

www.sellingtravel.net The SELLING TRAVEL webpage will eventually take over from the SMP TRAINING Co. website which will operate but become more focused on developing training modules, presentations and keynote speeches.

The SELLING TRAVEL website and SELLING TRAVEL eMagazine will compliment each other and offer travel agency managers and staff a continuous flow of no fluff, street savvy sales and marketing “how‐to”.

If you can help build the selling travel community it would be greatly appreciated by letting your agency colleagues and head office management team know about it.

CLICK FOR: q q q q q q q q q q q

How To Sell Tips, Tools and Techniques Social Media Info and How‐To Niche and Specialty Travel Marketing Videos and Surveys Free PowerPoint Training Links Webinars E‐Books and Handouts Downloads Articles On Selling Travel Find Your Favourites: The Edge, The O&M, The Frontline and The BDM all here in the Selling Travel E‐Magazine

HEY MORE GREAT NEWS… Well that was quick. Last month I tell you I’ve Joined TTI and the next thing is I’m presenting a webinar on Friday January 27th, 2012. So thanks to the team at The Travel Institute I look forward to bringing my Training A‐Game to all TTI members and non‐members. Check below for more information and click HERE to register.

TRAVEL WRITING FOR TRAVEL AGENTS

Love to travel and long to write? Find out how you can profit from writing about your travel experience, how you can attract new customers, more groups, publicity and even offers of travel! 45 minutes of tips, tools and techniques that will point you in the WRITE direction. Learn what to write and to whom, what editors want, how to source material during a FAM, use press releases, create an agency eMagazine for FREE, sell your eBooks, niche travel articles and even write for Kindle! Lead the life of a double agent in 2012 and boost your sales, commission and public profile through your travel writing. Get your entire agency team involved too!

FREE to TTI members.

Non‐members pay a small fee of USD $19.99

Where would we be if we didn’t kick off the new year and this social media issue without letting you know we have initiated a SELLING TRAVEL COMMUNITY. This is where travel agents help travel agents by sharing their sales successes and how they made it happen. So if you have some neat sales and marketing ideas that have paid off for you… now you can share them with your travel agent colleagues around the world.

When you get a chance, click to the social page on the Selling Travel website and join in. Here’s the link to that page: www.sellingtravel.net/social.html

You can also share

your profile, make

recommendations

and get involved

with special events

when they’re announced.

Google Friend Connect

MORE

If you have a website and you would like to establish your own social network, just for your clients you can do this using Google Friend Connect.

It’s a very simple type, copy, paste event – all you need to have access to on your website is a place where you can paste in a few lines of HTML code that Google creates for you.

You can also use this application to create a community for a specialty niche market, or a tour group. How you use Google Friend Connect is only as limited as your imagination. So fire it up, get thinking and see where and how you can make use of this free tool.

Test it out on Selling Travel. Click HERE and go sign up, upload your photo, add your profile and check out all the other ST COMMUNITY ideas we’re coming up with.

If you want a more full‐on social site then you can research sites such as www.socialgo.com . There are many others however this one will give you the idea and concept. As always there is a low priced format, a mid range and a top notch one too. For twenty‐bucks a month you can have a pro‐social site and build it using all the features you see & use on Facebook.

SocialGo offers a service for $299 and they set it all up for you. They create all your social links, website layout and design and then hand it back to you.

M E D I A P L A N

You’re gonna like this. First, because it’s all about YOU. Then it’s all about your website. Then comes all the social bits and bobs to finish it all off. You could start the other way round, but then you might have to re‐do a few things. So better to start with YOU. Let’s find out about YOU and your social media, marketing, networking needs and wants. Then we can plan. Start thinking. The question is: “What do you want your social media ‘anything’ to do?” Is it to build a customer base, get a word out, talk up your tours, build relationships, promote your niche market or sell your FIT custom planning services?

Whilst you are working on that question… keep calm and carry on reading about these suggested steps you could follow. They might change according to how you answer the question above.

FIRST: You MUST have a great looking website. It’s no longer a to‐do project when you have time. A website is now a mainstream marketing tool and generally expected by the consumer. As mentioned many times before, if your website is one of those templated jobbies that your host agency gave you then chances are you have not changed it, or updated it past what your host agency does for you. Time to rethink the model.

Ask the techno people who know these things how you can make changes to your template to make it eye‐candy to the viewer. You probably have a booking engine of some kind slap dab in the center of the home page. Check to see how many bookings you have actually received through this booking engine. If you’re not up to a few hundred bookings per month then time to make some changes. Before you can it however, you’ll need to do the math. The cost to cancel it, the fees its generates, the commission… add it up.

Talk to your host head office and get their thoughts on what you can do to upgrade your site. You’ll want to look around and see what other travel agents are doing and learn from the best. If your website looks confusing and most do, and they look like every other agency website, especially if you belong to a group, franchise, consortium, host agency then you are not standing out from the crowd. Bricks and Mortar agencies, independently owned and operated march to their own drummer, so making changes to your website should be an easy thing to do.

What makes for an outstanding website is content. Preferably your own. Your own words, images, videos and blog. This is why it’s all about YOU!

With a fantastic website waiting for them, anyone who makes a connection with you through social media will not be disappointed when they land on your home page. That, plus your reputation will be enhanced. All those things mentioned on your social sites as you network will prove to be true, starting with that wonderful, attractive website, quickly followed by the welcome you deliver which is followed by the About YOU information.

Keypoint: Your website is the focus. All marketing activities must point the consumer to your website and then ultimately to YOU. If you manage to cause your reader, viewer, client or prospect to bypass your website and call you or email you then you are way ahead of the game. That is the main goal of your social media plan, to connect direct ‐ however, playing the social game, this direct contact could take time. You must build that all important relationship first. You need to build your social cred’ and then when the time is right, promote the right thing at the right time to encourage those calls and emails.

NEXT: The next thing you can do is this: take a look at each of the big four social sites. You might have another one or two that you prefer and that’s all good. Take a hard look at your social sites and decide whether or not the content you are sending out is of value to the end reader. There is only so much fluff you can send.

Most people want to know what YOU have to say, what YOU have done, they want YOUR photos and YOUR reviews. This is why your social plan is all about YOU. Regurgitating a review from head office or attaching old photos from a supplier’s image gallery can only last for so long and this is why in my workshops I stress that you carry a decent camera, a recording device and upload your own current content.

Update all social sites and change the About Us tab on your website to About ME if you’re home based. For B&M agencies with many staff, change the tab to About Our Team and then list each agent with photo and travel bio only – nothing personal. This is business.

NEXT: Where are we? You have an account with all four social sites mentioned here and you are going to upgrade your website. You are also going to start building your own content from words, to photos to videos and make sure whatever you send out and upload is 90% yours.

Planning the Plan: You have the same amount of time everybody else has. It’s how you use it that counts. You’ll need to assess how much time you have for your social media – this means updating, uploading, writing the blog and managing the comments left by your clients and everyone else that clicks.

Can you invest an hour each day, each week?

If you can then you can cover off the Big Four social sites AND your website. Monday let’s say is Facebook time. Find that one hour during the day while you are sharp – not at 9pm when you are tired. The reason being, whatever you send out is going viral and you cannot afford to make mistakes.

IDEAS: Here’s a few things you can do as you weave your plan into action.

YOUTUBE: Create your own channel. Upload videos that say something about YOU and your team. These can be quick on camera interviews after a Fam trip or vacation. Plan the area for the video, nice backdrop. If you can show your agency signage or logo in the background that would be good. You’ll want this video to be short, full of information and casual. Don’t forget the call to action comment “Give me a call… the phone number is…” and also add a Title and Credits to the video so that the viewer can also read the phone number or email address.

If you plan let’s say every Friday to be YouTube video day, you can create a 3 minute video with ease and it’s online for the weekend. If a BDM from a supplier is visiting, get them on camera and interview them. Ask them, “Tell us what’s new with your (brand)?”

You can also upload a supplier’s video to your own YouTube channel… that’s a quick win.

On your website – establish a link to your YouTube channel and push clients there.

TWITTER: This might be the least used social site for you unless you like to tweet what flavour of coffee you are drinking at any given moment. Best to plan Twitter into your travels – this means whenever you or a member of staff are off on a trip, you plan to let your followers know what you are experiencing. At the same time you are selling your followers on the location or tour you are enjoying and setting up a call back program for when you return to the agency.

The skill in sending out travel Tweets is not to deliver trivial nonsense, but something like, “Standing in a fantastic (cave, art gallery, hotel lobby…) you should see this for yourself. Click here…” and that’s followed by a link to either a website, an image gallery, a page on your website, to your YouTube channel where you have just posted a video shot on your iPhone. You see how it works. Twitter can be turned into a “drool tool” – as you guide your followers to view the places you are experiencing right now.

BLOG: Your website might come with it’s own blog or you may have an account with Blogger… either way you’ll need to plan a little more time for this social site. It’s not easy to write a column and it’s not always easy to blog new and exciting content.

What you can write about is what’s going on in your agency. For instance you could write about the trips that your customers are booking. No names or details other than, “Mr & Mr’s N just booked a River Cruise, here’s their itinerary…”, you could also write about the trends your agency is seeing. The stats should be true and based on your own customers.

You could even survey your clients and then post the outcomes. “60% of our clients are going to do Europe this year.” “It seems that cruising is still the number one vacation for our clients.” You get the idea. It’s timely. It’s meaningful. It’s important.

If you want to engage home‐based agents you could even blog about that opportunity with your agency. Back to planning. Blogging takes time.

Decide on the frequency of your blog and plan around that timing. Will your blog be daily or weekly or as and when? The best option for a travel agency, given the generic workload is a weekly blog. The best time to write is probably over the weekend when you, if you are the blogger, can chill, relax and focus on your writing. If you can hire in a blogger or, have each member of staff write for you then perhaps a daily blog is in.

FACEBOOK: We all know how famous this social site is and it is no longer the haven of young people in their teens. It is used by everyone, all ages, races, creeds and religions apart from where it is banned!

You can as you well know open a personal account and you probably already have that done. You can now open a purely business account for your agency and that will allow you to cut the personal stuff from the business side of your agency.

As you already have a relationship built with your customers, you can move on quickly to using Facebook as a promotional tool. When you are in prospecting mode, then you’ll need to build that relationship and prove yourself as the best agent to book with. If your existing clients are commenting favourably about you, then any new fans and friends will fall into place based on these recommendations.

You must learn to use Facebook as a business tool, just like your suppliers do. Once again, assuming you have a great relationship with your clients, you can use Facebook to push product, ask for referrals and to fill group departures.

Ask your clients to “LIKE” you and comment and share and blog for you, send in images and video and plan this specific activity into your week or month. Once again, whatever you do socially has to be built into the generic work week.

THE WEEKLY PLAN

1 Hr Facebook‐ announce specials Monday 1 Hr Facebook – ask for content, feedback Tuesday Wednesday 1 Hr Management of social site comments 1 Hr Blogging Thursday 1 Hr Video for YouTube Friday Saturday ? Write for Blog Sunday ? Write for Blog

THE FILING CABINET FOLDER Create a folder in Documents and label it Filing Cabinet. Open a folder in Filing Cabinet for each Social Site. List all account details and passwords etc. Then create additional folders per social site: images, customer content, information… and labels for whatever else you intend to “collect” so that you can comment on it or blog about it.

SOCIAL SITE DASHBOARDS To save time you may wish to explore social site dashboards such as www.Hootsuite.com where you can manage all your social sites. Just be careful of sending the same content to each social site. That would prove boring to the customer who is linked to you by each social site.

Depending on how long you wish to socialize, you may need to take a look at the chart below.

Chances are you wish to build your social community to the point where it peaks and carries on peaking as you build more followers, friends and overall customers. To make this a reality requires that you manage your social life with due care and attention.

In this issue we have already discussed ideas to help you create a weekly social plan. Some of the actions within that weekly plan are shown here, such as gathering information and research and sending out quality information. These actions need to be factored into your social life too. From the moment you sign up and create an account with a social networking site, you must continue to build momentum. This means keeping your customers informed, on the edge of their travel seats, tuned into what you are going to deliver next, should it be the trip they have been waiting for. Do this well and as you peak in terms of delivering the best content you will be able to regroup and continue the push.

The opposite will happen if you do not manage your social life as mentioned. Your “friends” will start to drop off and migrate to other agencies.

Your thousands of networked friends and contacts will decline and then it’s a tough slog to recoup.

So make sure you study this chart. Never let your social life decline and if you sense that things have peaked, start researching for the ‘next best thing’ that could move you back into contention as the travel agency to socialize with.

Is there anything you must do now?

COMBINING TRADITIONAL MEDIA WITH SOCIAL MEDIA

The QUADRANT WHEEL is always a good thing to use when trying to blend this type of media mix. On the left you have a list of ‘traditional’ media and on the right let’s call it social media.

As you compare each column you can clearly see how the traditional activity can be blended into a social concept, and if you wished to blend social to traditional you can do that too. One of the most interesting to explore is the traditional Consumer Night and deliver it as a YouTube video, or as a Webinar. Of course there’s no live audience to shake hands with. However you could blend a webinar as the lead up to a consumer night where you meet face to face.

Start to plan how you can engage your clients socially and then move to a traditional format where you can eyeball your clients, chat live, in person, shake hands and close the sale by a roaring fire in a local pub, at a theatre, during a hike, or at your agency. Think Yin & Yang and start to blend your promotional plans.

TAPPING INTO THE BIG SCREEN COMING SOON TO A CHAIR NEAR YOU! There is a movement towards those sleek televisions being turned into the main station for all things social. Or has it happened already? Whoops! It was only seconds ago I was reading about it – and now it seems like it’s happening. And it is. That means “you, we, me” must add this outlet for our promotional activity if we wish to reach those potential customers who love that big screen.

The best thing about this, is this: travel videos and images play best on the big screen and High Definition is a WOW to watch. So how can you reach out via TV real estate without paying a million bucks for 30 seconds?

The main thing to know or ask, is whether or not your clients have all their screens connected. Do they have their TV linked to the Internet. If so, then that means whatever you send out by email, or upload to your website, to your YouTube channel, to Facebook etc., they can play it on the big screen TV. So no one‐million bucks to be paid out. All you have to do is make sure you have excellent content and then advise your client list where to go to view it and then they can watch on their screen of choice. Be sure to announce, “best viewed on your big screen TV…” and you do that for the impression that your video will leave with them. As always you should target market and that means sending golf images to your golfers and landscape scenes to your adventure loving clients. Focus your efforts for the best results.

Having spent a full week on the road with Cory this past December I found out that when it comes to social networking he truly practices what he preaches. I threw a few questions at him and here’s what he says in response.

What do think is the best Social Media site for travel agents to use?

CORY: Tough question Steve! There are too many to narrow it down to just one as MOST travel agents need to be positioned on as many social media sites as possible. In 2012 – there is no excuse any longer for agents and the agencies they work for to not be found on several business social media sites. If I had to pick one, it would be Facebook.com. To start with, 800 million users cannot be wrong and most of us (facebook.com/stats) have at least 130 friends we can market to, if done the right way.

I think there is HUGE potential with Google + and anything Google delivers in 2012. Google provides a professional travel agent with almost everything and anything they need for research, destination knowledge, and HOW to.

Learning HOW to search on both social platforms (Facebook.com and Google.com) yields information on their target market, specific locations and where to find them, the competition, and HOW consumers are using the Internet to book their own travel.

Do you have a recommended social network building formula for travel agents?

CORY: YES I do! It has been proven that the more time we spend using business social media sites, the more effective our results are. I encourage all professional travel selling agents (part‐time, full‐time, corporate, leisure, home‐based, retail, dot‐com, newbie’s, and dinosaurs) to begin investing 30 minutes a day on everything social online. Start with signing up with the bare essentials (Facebook.com, Twitter.com, LinkedIn.com, and YouTube.com) and DIVE in!

Get your feet wet like you did on your first fam.

Consistently stay focused on that task for 30 days, and you will gradually begin to grow your comfort level with learning and adapting to new marketing tools.

Listen to the conversations taking place, follow people, places, brands, companies, and products you respect, and learn what they do. Document what works and what appeals to you and your business, customers, and strategy. Email me cory@brandUcoaching.com after 30 days for further advice!

What’s your response to agents who say, “My

clients don’t use social media.”

CORY: I say… “Wake up and smell the Internet!” If agents

still believe that their clients are NOT using social media sites to research their next vacation, then they need to begin seriously considering an exit strategy from the travel industry. Sites like hipmunk.com, Tripadvisor.com, eezer.com, gogobot.com are revolutionizing HOW travel is being purchased. Professional travel agents need to position themselves as Travel Authorities using business social media sites like the ones I mentioned and be perceived as valuable in the new market place, versus the traditional travel agent that is quickly being labelled as the travel commodity.

“Wake up and smell the Internet!”

What’s your take on tablets or smart phones becoming the traveller’s best friend.

What’s the difference between a Facebook personal page and a business page?

CORY: The amount of information available online that is now applicable to tablets and smart phones is staggering.

Again, all professional selling travel agents need to invest more time and resources to learn how their clients are currently exposed to new travel booking channels other than the traditional travel agent. I highly recommend that ALL serious travel agents that want to survive and thrive in the new digital age, in both the short and long term, invest in the new computer tablet and smart phone and let them become a source of additional value to their database by demonstrating how such technology can enhance and assist their client’s dream vacations.

Start sourcing out destination knowledge from sites like http://www.nationalgeographic.com/, and useful travel information like http://www.sitorsquat.com/ to position yourself as a travel agent with something more to offer.

CORY: The difference is People have profiles. Brands have pages. Your Facebook profile includes facts about you including your favourite movies, what schools you went to, and your favourite quotes. Brands have fans. Fans have discussions about your brands, share news about them, and share information about your brands with others. I personally believe in having both and have enjoyed multiple sources of business from both. With a little time invested in reading how to protect your identity, friends, and family photo’s, you can easily enjoy both pages and market through both Facebook channels.

Can you suggest how travel agents can get started on a social media plan?

CORY: Sure Steve – that is what I do. My coaching practise specializes in helping travel agents grow their business, using business social media tools like Facebook.com, Twitter.com, LinkedIn.com, and YouTube.com. ALL great plans start with a positive mindset, SMART goals, a budget, an understanding of one’s target market, and examples of HOW to do it like the pros.

The key is to develop a content strategy first and foremost. This means you need to think about what to say to your target market, before you actually say it online.

Connect with your target market (have a conversation!) where they are hanging out. This might mean spending more time on Facebook, versus Twitter, versus Linked In.

You still need them all, but over time, you will find one that you enjoy more than the other, with better results derived from one than the other.

Anything new and exciting for those agents already using social media to pay attention to?

CORY: Where do I start. 2012 has been heralded as the year of video marketing. VLOGGING (blogging through video on YouTube and other video sharing channels) will be huge. Check out your new video options on Facebook messages, as you can now easily record a video message rather than type a post/ or a personal message. I also still believe in blog style websites (Wordpress) for individual travel agents, especially personally branded websites using their personal names, versus a corporate website.

A third and final prediction is something called conversion. Many businesses are setting up Facebook Like pages, and finally waking up to the power of social business, the question is however, are you converting the traffic from your social sites, to actual buyers?

More business social media activity increases sales ratio’s because you have already done a good job of establishing trust, likability, and a relationship. To all readers who made it this far into this article (thank you for your time!), rest assured that building the relationship is still at the core of all travel business. Without it, you will never earn a sale – online or off! Stay focused on creating value first and continue to build long‐term relationships, and you will always have enough business to work on, or until Google gets into the travel industry! Oh yeah – that already happened in September 2011. More on that next month!

brandUcoaching Inc.

email cory@brandUcoaching.com phone 1 855 BUY CORY web www.brandUcoaching.com

Have you ever wondered what some of those text messages actually mean?

Yes, me too. Take this for example: a client texts you about going to ITALY. But is there a hidden meaning?

Check this out and decide.

In the realm of social slang and direct from the Internet Slang website comes this definition…

ITALY Definition / ITALY Means "I Trust And Love You"

Lucky YOU! Mamma Mia!

HERE’S WHERE YOU CAN CLICK TO CHECK OUT MORE DEFINITIONS

http://www.internetslang.com/list.asp?i=all

Here is a terrific website: Social Media Today and you can click to it here: www.socialmediatoday.com I found this graphic listed under the heading Social Media: What to expect in 2012, posted by Angela Denby and this caption too: The more social media sites that are introduced and you create an account for, will continue to increase your social media footprint. Let that sink in for a moment. Not only do we have carbon footprints to consider, we now have our Social Footprint to think about and especially if you want to grow your social travel presence.

There are excellent articles to be found on this site, so be sure to zip zap over there and check it out.

WHEN ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO STOP RELATING AND START CREATING? HOW DO YOU MOVE FROM THE SOCIAL GROOVE TO THE SALES SITUATION? AND WHAT ABOUT ASKING FOR THE SALE TOO WHEN YOU KNOW THAT’S A SOCIAL TABBOO!

Let’s see, you have thousands of friends on FB and they all LIKE you and the chit chat is buzzing along nicely, you are giving away FREE information and even sending out links to websites that might help your FB pals. This is like the ‘old days’ isn’t it when you gave it all away and hoped the customer would remember your generosity when it came to deciding who to book with.

It’s probably a good time to take stock of your social friendships and test the waters with either a survey of when your pals are travelling, to an outright BOOK NOW promotion. You might even wish to establish your social networks as for ‘travellers only’ – how about for “Serious Travellers Only” – yes it will take some doing as you will lose some friends. But that’s how you do it in the non social world. You “fire” the clients who are wasting your time.

Let’s explore the social close:

The Principal Behind The Technique Too much socializing and little monetizing makes for a dull day.

Time to sharpen the social chatter and cause your network to think more seriously about their travels and about having you as their agent of record.

You might say it, text it like this: 1.

2.

“Hi everyone… well it’s time to check in with you and to ask you where you think you are travelling to in 2012. Let’s all find out who is going to the wildest place on the planet…”

“Are there any adventure travel pals out there? If so attend this webinar on (date) we’re talking about heading to (place) this year.

Come with us if you like travelling on the wild side!”

How it works It’s pretty simple. You are starting to make a cohesive gathering of those that actually do travel and have friends that like to do the same thing. Ask them to join you. Build up the webinar content, make it exciting. Survey to get the information you need to qualify individually. Then send the offer and follow up to close. Use email to individuals. Send your friends to your website for more information and a call to action.

MAKE SURE YOUR CLIENTS ARE ‘APPY WITH YOUR SERVICE Here’s the thing. With tablets and smart phones becoming the travellers tool of choice you’ll need to be conversant with the apps (applications) that they are using and or don’t yet know about. This knowing about the latest travel apps can actually become a niche service for you to offer.

Whether you are a gadgety person or not doesn’t matter. It helps if you are of course as your interest and passion will shine through. None‐the‐ less, make it a study curve for Q1 of 2012.

In this issue you will find 100 travel apps for the iPhone. There are many more for other smart phones and smart devices that travellers are using. The iPhone list will give you more info on the idea that is being pitched here.

Just like knowing the route through Prague to a famous coffee shop you know about – today and from here on, you must also be able to chat about the latest application and to go further, the latest application per client profile.

For your senior clients the “Sit or Squat” application is a must. As people age, a bathroom becomes a powerful friend! Knowing where one is at anytime and place is a blessing to many. You should know about this app and mention it to all seniors and of course the couple with small kids.

Frontline Font: PlazaPUit

What else should you know about, do you think? Ponder now, travelling to far off distant lands. First timers to Europe. First timer cruisers. What about travelling at anytime, anywhere, what comes to mind? You got it in one: Safety and Security.

Your clients would be very ‘appy with you if you were able to tell them about SOS applications and this is very important for your business clients. Check this out:

International SOS released a mobile application that connects business travelers to crisis response services. Available to International SOS clients through iPhone, BlackBerry and Android smartphones, the app includes "a one‐click dial for help from the nearest International SOS Alarm Center, instant access to the latest location‐specific travel alerts and real‐time health and security advice," according to a company statement.

Many of your corporate clients are using Blackberry devices as opposed to iPhones and a recent survey showed that a high percentage of Blackberry users were not aware of the SOS type of apps that can be download to their Blackberry.

Also, many firms do not have a traveller tracking system either, which in today’s world is an absolute requirement. It rates right up there with Travel Insurance and coverage for being taken hostage. It’s that type of environment we are travelling in today and within a few clicks and a few hours of reading, you could be well briefed on this needed service.

Leave that with you.

You have your mission! Study the power of applications and combine this knowledge with your travel insurance know how. This will make a formidable combination that few of your competitors will bother about. Keep your customers ‘appy and charge extra for the knowledge! This will keep your owner / manager very ‘appy too!

http://iphoneapplicationlist.com/apps/travel/Â

SOCIAL ICONS Those shiny looking bubbles, squares and odd‐ shaped icons are usually created in a program that can produce Vector graphics. The Vector graphic looks great and if you cannot create them then you’ll have to pay for this to be done. Talking at least $50 and up.

There is however, a way you can create a basic, ‘vector‐looking’ icon and I use this technique all the time. It’s quick. It’s easy. It’s immediate. It’s no cost.

This tip comes from my NEW Magical Marketing Workshop due to be released in 2012. So keep watch for dates and locations.

I like to use a PowerPoint slide as my working area, you can also use MS Word. Open a new file / page in either Word or PowerPoint.

Then on the Drawing Toolbar, choose Autoshapes, then Basic Shapes and finally select the shape Rounded Rectangle. Once you click on that shape you’ll want to create a shape like the Facebook icon that looks like this:

NEXT: ADD FILL‐IN COLOUR TO YOUR SHAPE, ADD TEXT OR DESIGN AND THEN ADD A LITTLE VECTOR‐ LIKE GLOW… Create the shape. Add fill colour, add a line colour. Then copy and past the same shape and colour into the same icon… (see the next shape).

Use a different Fill colour this time. Highlight the inner shape, click on Fill Colour, then Fill Effects. Choose two colours, white and dark blue, select Horizontal and the first square.

Creating your logo is also quite easy, however you must consider the long lasting effect of what you design. The ‘f’ you see on the Facebook icon is now embedded and engrained in almost everyone’s mind whether they use Facebook or not. This is the overall outcome you are striving for. Instant recognition and relating your social icon to your agency and you.

So, what’s it to be? A letter? Two letters? Something that represents the social community or niche market you wish to build? Adventure could have a mountain peak design. A wine tour business could feature a wine glass. Be sure you check into all the various social media icons that you can find and see if there’s anything you like and could perhaps reshape to suit your own style. As you know, you cannot copy and or use any image that is trademarked or in use by another firm.

Let’s add a musical theme, and lay it over the icon using a text box found on the Drawing Toolbar. Open the text box, leave your cursor in the text box, click on Insert Clip Art on the Drawing Toolbar, and type “musical note” in the Search for line. Scroll down to find the one shown here on the right. Now you can move the musical note image over your icon.

As you can see, you are building upon various layers here and soon you’ll have an icon that looks similar to a Vector graphic. At this stage you can see the musical notes now positioned in the chosen shape. To add that Vector look, you must now click on the Oval shape, also found on the Drawing Toolbar, and then ‘draw’ it over the top of the existing graphic. Once in place you can then click on the Fill Colour down arrow and choose Fill Effects once more. Choose two colours and make them both white. Move the From and To transparency to say 15% and 45% respectively.

You may have to play with these levels until you like what you see. Your Oval shape you just added will be somewhat transparent and looking a little shiney.

Using the same layer building idea here are three different social icons to help kick start your creative juices. The musical tour icon to the left. The centre icon has the text for MY (Baily Font) and you could use this to represent ‘my travels’ (or, my way, my bookings, my… anything!). The last icon does not have the transparent oval over it as the fill colour combination is very powerful and in this case we want the icon to jump out versus being laid back. Using the Baily font once again for the letter U. So there’s your quick and cheap method to produce your own social logos. Once produced you’ll need to use a tool like SnagIt to capture your icon and turn it into a JPEG or PNG. Good luck. Send in your best icons to share.

On this page we enhance the sales relationship between supplier BDMs and the travel agent.

Outcome: faster, quicker, larger, higher revenue sales!

HOW ARE YOU FIXED FOR TIME? ARE YOU GETTING AROUND TO ALL 250 ACCOUNTS IN YOUR TERRITORY? HOW ABOUT THOSE NATIONAL ACCOUNTS? WELL HERE’S A WAY YOU CAN PUMP UP THE DIGITAL CHATTER.

The challenge here is whether or not your company is fully up to speed re social media, social networking and what your overall social plan asks of you. A couple of things to ponder if you are using social networks is that it takes time from the travel agents day if they are to socialize back. On the other hand, if there is an incentive to socializing with you or your company than chances are there will be an uptick in comments and clicks.

As stated elsewhere in this issue of Selling Travel, it is all important that your socializing be done under your company brand – nothing personal is needed or required. If you are operating a personal social site then be sure to edit it and add in the brand where you can.

Getting Liked and Making Friends: Here’s where you can extend the brand and you can do this by delivering best of best support to your accounts and asking them to rate your service and they do this by clicking on the Like button, re‐Tweeting and validating you on LinkedIn. If you send out your company’s latest video you can ask for comments and ratings too. If your company has a YouTube account / channel so much the better.

Your Brand APP: If your company has created an app for clients who travel with you, then be sure to tell your agency accounts to push the app. You’ll need to be 100% conversant with what your app can do.

Using YouTube: If you like your own image and you have a decent webcam to record a quick message you can engage your agency accounts by sending out a link to a video featuring none other than YOU. What can you say? Well try updating your accounts on the latest product, a new destination, or simply one or two facts about your brand they may not know.

BDM Font: Baily

Boosting Your Credibility: Are you well travelled? Hope so. At least you should have travelled to the destinations that your brand sells. That would be the minimum requirement in today’s world of living up to the mantle on this page, an extreme BDM.

There is a terrific tool available on TripAdvisor that you can use to promote the fact that you are well travelled and not just puffin’ fluff. Start an account with TripAdvisor and under your Profile you will find a Destination Map. You can add pins to the map based on the places you have visited.

So do that on your personal Map.

Next, why not create a Destination Map for your brand and then capture the link to include in your emails and social networking to boost the destinations available with your brand. Here’s what the map looks like.

Right. Here’s to a profitable 2012 to all BDMs and may your socializing pay off big time.

Remember the BDM Mantra: “If I can’t sell it to them… they won’t sell it for me!”

412 PAGES 273 IDEAS 100s of VARIATIONS 700 LINKS TO MORE RESOURCES When you need a source of ideas to either implement as is, or to help jog your own creative juices, this is the book to buy.

It took me over 25 years to get it ‘here’ and that story is on page 5. It was some journey. When I started writing it, the IBM Selectric was the word processor of choice! What a laugh.

Some suppliers have purchased a copy for each of their Business Development Managers, host agencies have made bulk purchases for their members and individual agents have written in to say this book is their idea bible.

WHEN YOU BUY THIS BOOK YOU WILL RECEIVE 2 HOURS OF IDEA TIME WITH THE AUTHOR AND 10% OFF YOUR FIRST STATIONERY ORDER WHEN PURCHASED THROUGH BIG BARK GRAPHICS EASY TO USE E-STORE!

It also, as you can see, comes in pill form, a cure for the common creative block! Okay, just kidding, but it is available in E‐BOOK format if you prefer to read it on screen!

For e‐Books: steve@sellingtravel.net

NO OTHER BOOK LIKE THIS ONE – AND IT’S CURRENT!

PURCHASE THE SOFT COVER FROM

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SELLING TRAVEL is on a sales mission. That’s it pure and simple. Any and all SELLING TRAVEL services are focused on generating new business for you and your agency. The missing link between marketing, sales and closing that sale is generally a lack of experience, know‐how and creativity.

SELLING TRAVEL CAN SHOW YOU HOW Be sure to subscribe to the eMagazine and join the list.

CONFERENCE KEYNOTES Fast paced, humourous, excellent imagery and delivered with a street‐savvy, no‐fluff and little theory format. Click 4 More.

WEBINARS & WORKSHOPS Webinar’s are a SELLING TRAVEL specialty. Running 75 to 90 minutes, they include a workbook plus 30 minutes of post webinar time with me AND a 5‐day review of the webinar recording for additional note taking. Click here for details.

PUBLICATIONS The ultimate desk reference for TAs. With 412 pages, covering 273 marketing ideas + 700 links to additional information. Order today from Big Bark Graphics – Enter the Big Bark Store here.

Now available in e‐Book format from The Travel Institute.

Title Font: Sneakerhead BTN Condensed

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www.sellingtravel.net T: 250-752-0106 steve@sellingtravel.net