How to Successfully Market your Own Travel Agency Website (Updated!)

Now that you have decided to own an online travel business, you will need to market it to make the most of your investment.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• internet connection
• your own travel website using YTB (see http://www.chictravelbiz.com
• domain names for your main travel store and sister websites

1. Golf Vacations are a huge travel niche industry Once you have decided to own your personal travel business online (example www.ChicTravelDeals.com), you will need to market it to travelers that will appreciate your one-stop travel business and also to those that are passionate about traveling for their sport, hobby or group. If you have created your travel site through the YTB network, (create your own through www.ytb.com/chictraveldeals), you are automatically given other niche sites to attract loyal customers at no additional cost. Presently, you are given the main travel site, and specialty golf and floral sites. Choose domain names for your specialty sites to have your customers find them directly. (example: www.19thHoleGolfVacations.com)
2. Remind your golfers that tee times can be made right from your website Once your niche travel names are set, you can market them out to interested groups. Create a golf vacation flyer, with a pocket that can hold your business cards. (Always include the business cards - it is that tangible reminder to use your business - so keep your flyer pockets stocked) Ask to post your flyer in common areas where you will find golf enthusiasts - golf stores, courses, and even golf based restaurants. Do this for your main travel site wherever you see the opportunity and also for your floral site. Hint: your floral site can be marketed towards the cruise industry, wedding industry, holiday shops, and just about everywhere pre-valentines day!
3. Use this website to fast track your earnings Log onto www.YourTravelBizCoach.com for information on the YTB $6000. garantee, bonus structure as a YTB Rep, free information on how to acheive free advertising and email marketing, and an assortment of ebooks that can really customize your travel business!
4. Scuba Vacations are becoming more popular as people learn to dive. Send an email out to your entire address book that announces your new travel websites. Include travel destination pictures and use a crisp clean font in your email to stand out from the standard everyday emails people receive. Ask them to go to your main website and sign up for the travel newsletter: Deals and Steals. This is an automatically generated newsletter that is included in your YTB monthly maintenance. You are missing free advertising if your contacts are not signed up. Simply ask permission to sign them up if you do not have them listed after your announcement email. Every month they will receive information on travel trends, ideas for vacations and be directed to use your travel business website.
5. Group crusies are a great way to earn commission from travelers Get involved with your groups! Reunions, football fans, elks club, churches, and other gatherings are great places to offer services such as setting up a group cruise. Cruises even offer the group fundraising opportunities that you can help them with a scholarship fund or other needs for the club.
6. Vendors will also be happy to train you - you are never left alone out in the wilderness! Be sure to join the weekly conference calls and review the archived conference calls in your ytb online back office. These calls are essential to training yourself to become a top agent. Also, attend local YTB training in person when it comes to your area. This training will help you with the business side of your endeavors. Vendors also offer great training opportunities, Carnival Cruises are very good at training agents on their product and know that the more you know about them, the more you will recommend them to your guests and clients. If you ever have questions or need more help, contact your ytb sponsor or travel industry vendor (Carnival Cruises, Hertz Rentals, American Airlines, etc.) to help you when setting up travel.
7. Your knowledge of travel will keep customers returning to book travel from your website The more you research and educate yourself on your business, the more you will find yourself being able to professionally market your travel business. Educate your customers on what your websites have to offer and offer the best quality customer service. You will find that word of mouth can be your greatest ally.

Tips & Warnings

• Look forward to new travel niche websites that YTB is looking to offer such as scuba and ski
• Market other resources on your website, such as the floral department, sporting event tickets, Disney tickets, and the honeymoon registry.
• Research is key! This is a huge investment of your time (and money) to work from home, so be sure continue to learn about your business and marketing tools to bring the greatest success!