A recent experience at a travel trade show made me aware of how many travel professionals have TERRI

“How you do anything is how you do everything.” I learned cheap family vacation packages this from my business coach several years ago. It’s true. Not only is it true, it can be applied to business AND life. Think about it, if you have a friend who cheats playing golf, is it reasonable to believe that friend also cheats on his taxes?
A recent experience at a travel trade show made me aware of how many travel professionals have TERRIBLE business cards. It’s not really the business card that’s bad, but the business card represents fundamental mistakes cheap family vacation packages people have made in marketing their business. If you can’t articulate your business on a small piece of card stock, then how are you effectively representing your business in other ways?
1)    Selecting a bad name for the business. The only thing you should care about when selecting a name for your business is that it’s clear. People should have a general idea of what you do when seeing the name of your business. Simple enough, but so many people get carried away and try to be cute. Something like “Wilson Family Travel Consulting” is very clear. “O-KAY Travel” is not and leans too much to the cute side. The other piece of advice I have is don’t get too attached to an old (bad) name. Maybe you made a bad decision 10 years ago and picked a stupid name for your business. cheap family vacation packages It’s OK to change it. You don’t have to re-incorporate. Just get a “Doing Business As” and make the appropriate changes to your marketing materials.
2)    No clear message for the business. Have you ever heard the phrase “a confused buyer never buys?” When you try to speak to everyone, you speak to no one. For example, I can’t tell you how many times I have seen something like “specializing in cruises, families, couples, groups and Alaska.” It’s as if you are afraid if you don’t list something, you’ll lose a good client. The opposite is true for effective marketing. Pick your market and stick with it. Be clear and consistent. cheap family vacation packages If it’s families with young children, make sure your business card states it AND reinforces it with images, colors and the look. Own it.
3)    Using an @hotmail.com email address. There’s nothing that shouts “hobbyist” louder than an @gmail, or @aol, or @hotmail email address. This one kills me because it’s not difficult to get a business-looking email address. Just spend the $10 per year on godaddy.com for a URL and then add the email account to it. Godaddy.com will walk you through the process. It doesn’t have to be difficult. Take yourself cheap family vacation packages seriously.
4)    Choosing cheap family vacation packages a convoluted or complicated URL. So maybe you did take the step and purchased a URL for your business. Good for you! Just make sure it’s easy to remember and DOES NOT contain hyphens. Here’s an example of a BAD URL: Janestrvl.com. See how she didn’t fully spell out the word travel? Do you think someone is going to remember that? Another mistake is choosing a URL with hyphens in it. Again, no one remembers the hyphens and will type in the wrong one or get your email address wrong. Don’t give your prospects this wiggle cheap family vacation packages room with making mistakes. Make it easy for them to remember your URL or website. I know a lot of times people put the hyphens in because their desired URL is not available. My advice is just go with another URL. Find one that IS available.
Get out your business card and do an honest assessment of it. Are you making more than 1 of these mistakes? Even if that means it’s time to change the name of your business. Make a commitment to doing it. Because, like I said at the beginning of this article, how you do anything is how you do everything. cheap family vacation packages Get clear, and get confident. Your clients will reward you when you do.
Travel business entrepreneur Meredith Hill is founder of the Global Institute of Travel Entrepreneurs (GIFTE) and creator of the SAFARI Guide Home Study System®, the proven step-by-step program that shows you how-to start attracting LUCRATIVE clients, making more money, saving yourself tons of time and finally travelling more often. To get your complimentary audio on the 3 Insider Secrets to Collecting Bigger Commission Checks, So You Can Work Less, Travel More, and Make a Difference in the Lives of Your Clients visit www.TravelBusinessU.com.
Meredith Hill, ex-President of Hills of Africa Travel, cheap family vacation packages founded the Global Institute for Travel Entrepreneurs (GIFTE) to empower frustrated and struggling travel cheap family vacation packages consultants by helping them to connect with their passion again, attract ideal clients, and build a business that makes positive difference in people’s lives.
In 2007, faced with a long-standing struggle of not having enough clients in her travel business, Hills of Africa Travel was on the verge of closing its doors. Instead, Meredith used her gift for finding the path to success no matter what the odds. Realizing they had to revolutionize their marketing, she and business partner, Sandy Salle, looked to other industries for direction, and began applying cutting edge, effective marketing techniques for the small business, learning in the process, the importance of passion, mindset and support for entrepreneurs in travel.
Thanks to their determination and efforts, the company doubled its income within the first year. During 3 of the most difficult economic years in travel cheap family vacation packages history, Hills of Africa quadrupled its business and was doubly proud of hitting a milestone cheap family vacation packages in 2010, when they surpassed $1.6 million in sales.
Meredith has a never-ending love for Africa, but her deepest passion lies in empowering travel business owners who want to make a difference. She founded GIFTE after noticing cheap family vacation packages many travel professionals alone, at a standstill, trying to navigate the unchartered waters of an industry experiencing major change. Meredith’s goal is to revolutionize the travel industry by helping people connect with their passion again, adopt a mindset for success, cheap family vacation packages get desperately needed support and build successful travel businesses that change people’s lives. cheap family vacation packages Meredith continues to use her gift to blaze new trails and guide her clients to their paths of success.