yarbrough | Search Results | Travel Research Online

I’m fortunate enough to live on a little tropical island off the coast of Texas. The Gulf of Mexico is my backyard, golf cart parades are the norm, rhinestone encrusted flip-flops are considered dress shoes, and casual Friday means that the last one to the dockside bar has to buy the first round and you better not get there past 2pm or it’s you. We’re a tourist destination, and a really fun one, with a lively music scene and great fresh fish and shrimp at locally-owned restaurants. The next time you’re in Port Aransas, be sure and let me know.

It’s an idyllic life, and I don’t take it for granted. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the past month I’ve been very busy building my social media presence. I love anything that has to do with web pages, facebook, twitter, blogging and newsletters–I am a techno-geek at heart.  I recently participated in a 3-month course called Geek School, with Chelle Yarbrough, and loved every minute of it.  I then joined The Travel Blog Project. I’m also enjoying that, but it’s more nuts and bolts than I expected, and my head swims with information overload. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re like most busy travel pros you’ll find that trying to add one more thing into your daily mix is beyond a chore – it’s pure insanity. Those that have recognized the benefits of social media seem to have endless time to just “hang out” on Facebook, right? Like all new skills we learn, the trick is to incorporate the training into the day to day.

I won’t go into the pros and cons of social media here – suffice to say it’s where your customers are, and so it’s where you need to be. I’ll simply ask you this: your clients and referrals are making friends with your competitors and learning about what they do – shouldn’t you be there too? Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone… take note. I have a new email address. It’s: chelleistotallyawesome@aol.yahoo.msn.hotmail.com – you can remember that, right? How about homeagnt@yahoo.com? Surely your clients can remember that! They’ll store it in their address books forever. Maybe tvlagnt4u@hotmail.com, not to be confused with trvlagt4u@hotmail.com. Piece of cake, right?

Wrong. Read the rest of this entry »

The beginning of the year is a great time to take stock and assess your business. Since your online presence is just as crucial an asset as any other, be sure and review all the components associated with it, including your domain name, hosting, website graphics and any content. Here’s a checklist to help you get started. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, it is that time of year. The geese fly south and the bears go into hibernation. And believe it or not, so does TRO—but just for a little bit. As the year winds down, we ease up on our daily publishing, spend some time with our families, and focus on the loose ends that invariably exist in our own travel businesses.  About a month ago, we all celebrated Thanksgiving. Now we are in the midst of the December Holidays—Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and a few others I probably left off; but I want to take this time to offer my personal thanks to some individuals who have made working on TRO a true pleasure. Besides, my thanks can stay up for two weeks! Read the rest of this entry »

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. Does anyone remember that line from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Well, that was 23 years ago and perhaps more now than ever it is applicable to your travel business. For decades, travel professionals were so far ahead of the technology curve. Back in the 1970s, we were one of the first industries to place a computer on a desktop thanks to the generosity of our former partners—the airlines. But this is the 21st century and technology has been moving at blinding speed. Indeed, life is moving pretty fast. Read the rest of this entry »

Cloud Computing, also known as web-based software or SaaS (Software as a Service), is the latest buzzword in a long string of computing buzzwords and at first blush most travel pros might tend to dismiss it as “not applicable” to their day-to-day operations. Considering that the major advocates and advertisers are large (expensive) players – IBM, Sun & Microsoft, to name a few – it’s an easy assumption to make. Cloud Computing’s main purpose is offering shared access and data storage, which, of course is practical and a huge advantage for companies spread out all over the world. But what if your company is a small or home-based operation? How does Cloud Computing help you?  Let me count the ways. Read the rest of this entry »

As a business owner, what is your number one goal? Why are you in business? I’m not talking the lovey dovey marketing fluff like “creating dreams for my clients” and “designing memories to last a lifetime.” Give it to me straight, why are you in business? It is a simple answer. There really is only one answer (as far as I am concerned) and it is three words long. It is not even unique to the travel industry—not by a long shot. Come close, let me whisper the answer in your ear…. Read the rest of this entry »

The new look of the Travel Research Online front page is just about a year old. We have tweaked, poked, prodded and hopefully we are delivering on our promise to provide useful tools to travel professionals at no cost. But we are not sitting on our laurels either.

But first of all, we have our perspective and you have yours.  Ours is evident; but yours–not so much. So tell us!  What do you like about TRO? What’s your favorite section? The TRO Community? Destination Guides? Webinars? Videos? Columns? Which columns?  We really want to know—please leave a comment. Read the rest of this entry »