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The recent ASTA report titled 2013 Technology & Website Usage contains some interesting perspectives on social media and website marketing by travel professionals. There is not a great deal of surprising information in the report but it largely confirms the anecdotal sense of the state of the industry.  According to ASTA’s technology report, more agencies have a social media presence but are uncertain about the efficacy of social media marketing. Website marketing seems to be underutilized and other technologies such as mobile applications are  little utilized or not well understood.

The gap that has always existed between consumer usage and understanding of technology and the industry as a whole remains dangerously large. Much of the disparity results from a lack of solid planning and fundamental understanding of the role of technology.  In the interest of stimulating some thinking around these issues, let’s take a look at some of those fundamentals. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the past few weeks there have been several articles about being a better travel professional.  Most recently, Terry Denton talked about going above and beyond. Nolan Burris talked about the differences between strugglers and superstars. And a few weeks back, I suggested, that to be successful, we just need to suck a little bit less than the competition. So why is it so elusive? Read the rest of this entry »

I hear from just about every type of travel consultant and agency you can imagine.  I hear both challenges and triumphs.  And still, after all these years, professional fees still top the list of questions and comments.

Recently there’s been an increase in agencies successfully charging what many would call “premium” fees.  They charge $250, $500, and even $1,000 on top of commissions earned.  In some cases, they’re in the same markets where others claim any fee was impossible.

What makes the difference between these fee superstars and those who struggle with fees of any kind?  Read the rest of this entry »

Every year, international visitors to the United States contribute more than $130 billion to the US economy.  In addition, over one million US jobs directly depend on inbound tourism.  However, foreign visitors are now re-thinking their US vacations and business trips.

According to the Internal Revenue Service (Pub. 519), any visitor spending a total of more than 31 days in the United States in the current year may now be required to file with the IRS. The filing is designed to prove that they have no further US tax obligations.  In other words, they have to file with the IRS in order to prove that they don’t have to file! Read the rest of this entry »

Technology has become an integral part of nearly ever facet of life.  In business it is not only integral, but also essential to survival.  Improved productivity, lower costs and enhanced communication with employees as well as customers are all just a few of the promised benefits.

Unfortunately the adoption of technology has increasingly come at the expense of something far more important:  the human factor.

Even in this online, self-serve world, we seem to have forgotten that humans are behind every click, tap, and transaction.  Business is becoming de-humanized. Read the rest of this entry »

Dr. Bob Joselyn enlightened me about professional fees more than twenty years ago; and I’ve been on a mission to help others overcome fee-fears ever since.  As a result, my email inbox receives a steady stream of success stories and pleas for help.

I hear from those who struggle with $10 service charges; and those who collect $250 with ease.  I’ve seen successes in virtually every market imaginable.  For every proclamation that it won’t work, someone is doing it.  Last month however, a truly unique situation developed.  Read the rest of this entry »

In 1979 I changed careers.  I went from a starving musician to a starving travel agent for nearly 20 years.  I’ve been speaking professionally since 1999 and I often mention my career change in my presentations.  When I speak to travel agents, it’s always met with laughter, giggles, and a subtle sense of acknowledgement that I am closer to right, than wrong. It was a joke that rang true 35 years ago and still sounds familiar to many of today’s travel professionals.  But, there is something different.

Read the rest of this entry »

I spend a lot of time in airports.  Today at Vancouver International I decided to conduct an experiment.  I wanted to compile some data… on you!

As in most airports, you can buy newspapers from almost every major city.  I grabbed one for all the North American major markets including Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, and a few more.

I was on a mission to find a reason to use a travel agent.  My source?  You!

Actually I was looking at the ads travel agencies had placed in the papers.  I was not disappointed in the volume; there were plenty of them.  But, my quest to find a reason to use a travel agent was completely unfulfilled.  Let me explain.  Read the rest of this entry »

The marketing world pays a great deal of attention to social media. Go to any trade show, and the social media programs are always packed.  Write an article on social media and your readership will give it far more attention than an article on “Networking.”  Even TRO has a separate site devoted strictly to social media over on www.TROSMITH.com.

Way back when, insightful observers like our good friend Nolan Burris was telling everyone the secret of social media was identical to a good Tupperware party.  We may have missed just how keen Nolan’s early observation was. Read the rest of this entry »

My mother loves garage sales.  When she is out and about, any car she is in gets magically pulled toward the nearest driveway of bargains.  While her 80 year-old vision is failing, she can still spot a garage sale sign from distances well beyond ordinary human visual range. 

As a result, from my toddler to teenage years most of my clothes, shoes, games and toys came from fifty-cent piles and dusty boxes.

Along with countless puzzles missing just one piece, I acquired many lessons for business and some tips for succeeding with professional fees:  Read the rest of this entry »

Limiting myths are stories imposing limitations on your ability to grow your travel practice. The tiny grain of truth in them gets exaggerated to the point travel consultants too often accept them as absolute truths. As a result, the travel consultant self-imposes limitations on the overall potential and enjoyment they can derive from their profession. The first two we looked at this week are bad, but this one is worse. If you buy into this one, you deprive yourself of one of the chief rewards of labor. Let’s banish it now.

In every profession there are people who operate at the highest levels, who squeeze every drop of potential from their work, and who earn terrific incomes while doing so. Travel consulting is no exception. I personally know several travel consultants making 6+ figure incomes. Granted, they are the in the minority, but that is actually the point. Read the rest of this entry »

Not too long ago, we launched a series of online training videos called “The Virtual Boot Camp.”  Basically, it’s 20+ courses covering just about everything you need to know in order to succeed in this wacky wonderful business.

While we can’t see what individuals are accessing, we do get some very interesting statistics.  The pattern is clear, and it’s very encouraging. Read the rest of this entry »

Mike Marchev entered the travel industry in 1984 and has been sharing his sales, marketing and business development strategies with proactive travel professionals ever since.

Author of “Become the Exception,” the “More-On” business series, the “Travel Agent Success” series, the Mike & Nolan Show and now the “Sales Kit in a Box” programs, Mike is a frequent speaker at industry events. He makes a point to mix both content and entertainment in his down-to-earth, logical, believable and doable training sessions.

Mike writes regularly for TRO and The Travel Institute and has appeared in Travel Weekly and Agent @ Home Magazine on numerous occasions.

Mike has spoken to audiences in 18 countries and in over 75% of the United States. He has earned a marketing graduate degree and has taught sales and marketing classes at the university graduate school level. His latest focus is to help travel professionals sell and promote River Cruises while they represent the hottest trend in the industry. He is collaborating with AmaWaterways to help travel professionals take full advantage of River Cruising; find out more at http://www.mikemarchev.com/rivercruising.

Travel Research Online: What is the earliest experience in travel you can recall?

Mike Marchev: My dad was a true, dye-in-the-wool salesman who often took me on business trips. When air travel was involved I remember the plane was called an Eastern Airline Electra. That should position me with your readers as a “fossil.” (LOL) In addition to making his sales calls, he always found time to check out the local sights. We had fun traveling together. Read the rest of this entry »

There is a four-letter word that begins with an F and usually raises a few eyebrows when it is heard.  Any guesses? No, not THAT word, this is a PG-13 site!  I’m speaking of “fees!”  It definitely raises eyebrows, and not always in a negative way.  In fact, I’ve never seen a greater interest from travel agents than I am seeing today.  It looks like a lot of you are beginning to love the F-word!

A few years back, TRO hosted a webinar of mine in their “No Limits” series. In line with the theme, participants were asked to submit questions in advance, on any subject, for me to answer during the webinar. With a record number of registrations (more than 600), MOST of the questions asked were about fees!  I was pleasantly shocked. Read the rest of this entry »

In an older article I mentioned a curious phenomenon I see over and over again–people who succeed in travel because they “just don’t know any better.”  I am not suggesting their success is accidental or luck–quite the opposite. I was referring to those who enter the travel industry with little or no experience who do things a little differently than the rest.  I talked about those that seem to easily charge rather high professional fees.  (Note that I did not call them “booking” or “transaction” fees!)

Besides not “knowing any better” why do you think these entrepreneurs are able to so easily charge their fees?  Read the rest of this entry »

It’s everywhere… They are everywhere… Travel Agent resources are popping up everywhere and it’s awesome!  Many people have said to me that they do not recall a time in the industries history where there has been more education, FREE online and off line resources, tools, conferences, coaches, consultants, facilitators, and professional development experts ready, willing, and able to help the industry thrive stronger… together!

Read the rest of this entry »

There is something about me that only my closest friends and family know. This painful personal detail changes their behavior toward me.  It affects when (or even if) they invite me to common social activities.

The truth is:  I am lousy at bowling.  I still enjoy it on those rare occasions I’m asked along (usually for laughs and to make everyone else feel better about their own skills).  But when I do choose to play, I have no illusion whatsoever that I will win.

I celebrate any ball that makes it to the pins without rolling in the gutter.  I graciously accept all frustrated attempts at coaching by well-intentioned friends.  I gladly volunteer to be the beer-fetcher, scorekeeper or cheerleader.  For me to approach bowling in any other way, would just make it an irritating, unproductive waste of time for all. Read the rest of this entry »

Four years ago I wrote my first set of 365 Guide articles on social media.  Much has changed since then, but  fundamental marketing basics still prevail. As baffling and time consuming as social media marketing can seem, real results can follow. Almost every travel planner who engages in some form of social media marketing can now boast of at least one acquisition of significant business resulting from a Facebook post, a tweet or a well placed comment on an online forum. Many tour operators, cruise lines, hotel chains and airlines have honed “SMM” to a fine art.

Indeed, the travel industry seems particularly well positioned to exploit the potential resident in social media.  If at the heart of online marketing is conversation, there are few activities people more like to discuss than travel. Everyone loves a travel story, especially their own, and given the opportunity will happily add to their collection. Travel is deeply ingrained in the human psyche and we owe our very existence to our ancestor’s willingness to seek out a horizon. Combine our wanderlust with a sense of narrative, and travel’s place in social marketing is pretty much assured. Read the rest of this entry »

This week we will look at five characteristics of credibility and the impact on your marketing efforts. Credibility means believability – your marketing has an authentic sound to it. Marketing that is credible has more staying power: it “sticks” longer with the consumer. If your marketing lacks credibility, it damages your brand and is quickly dismissed. Credible marketing is mentally filed away by consumers for the next opportunity to use your services. Clients want credible marketing for one simple reason – it respects their intelligence. Credible marketing also displays an intelligence, a keen insight into Read the rest of this entry »

We are surrounded all the time by self-proclaimed experts in a variety of things.  There are experts for social media (even specialized experts in one platform of social media!), experts for websites, experts for sales…if you can think of it, there’s an expert out there for it!  It can be difficult to weed out all the riff-raff and find the GOOD experts, the ones who not only know what they’re talking about, they have a historical record of positives to back up their expert claims.  I call these “certified” experts gooroos.  Like, guru, only top of the heap. Read the rest of this entry »

When we were little we were always being told to do things. If you are like me, you couldn’t wait to be a “grown up” so people would stop bossing you around. Ha! Like that is ever going to happen!  Just take a look at your travel business.

You need to specialize. You must have a niche. You need to be on Facebook. You must blog. You need to be pinning on Pinterest. You have to read the latest Nolan Burris and Mike Marchev columns. It never ends! Agents today are being bombarded with all sorts of marching orders. Is enough, enough.  Read the rest of this entry »