Friday, March 10, 2006

The Answer To Your Question...

Fact: If you are not into free enterprise, you ARE working for someone who is.

I’ve noticed something interesting in the past few months, quite by accident. I wrote an entry about my one year anniversary with YTB Travel and Cruises back in January. In that entry, I mentioned how some people wonder if what I do is a “scam” or “pyramid”. What is interesting about that is more people find me because of that entry than any other entry I have written. They find me because they do a Google, Yahoo, or MSN search looking for “YTB Scam” or “YTB Pyramid” and up pops this entry, often on the first page! It made me begin to think, these are the same people who get up and go to work every day working for someone else, being tied down to someone else’s schedule, trading hours for wages, and I’m considered the scam!

It’s not the Pyramid they are afraid of. It’s one of the strongest structures known to man, look at the Egyptian Pyramids. It’s the form of your family tree, the form of Government, and the form of every business model out there, no matter what type of business it is. But somehow, people find it more comforting, more socially acceptable, to start at the bottom of a pyramid and work their way UP, rather than starting at the top and building something beneath them. Are they not worthy of being a leader?

Some just want the “guaranteed income” that is associated with working for someone else. Your income is not dependent on you, but your employer. Just like the 15,000 employees of Ford who worked in the Hapeville Plant until they shut the plant down a few months ago, or part of BellSouth, who just got bought by AT&T this week, and will be moving the headquarters to Texas. Maybe you were fortunate enough to work for a company like Enron. Couldn’t happen to you? That’s what they said too. You’re grateful for the 2% raise each year, even though the cost of inflation increases at triple the rate. (We won’t even get into gas prices this last year!) You have your 9 or 10 paid holidays a year and a few sick days you can take, along with a week or two worth of vacation time, and you’re satisfied. Besides, you may be reading this while you’re on the clock and still getting paid by your employer to do so.

You do have one guarantee in your current job…you will NEVER make more money that your boss, let alone the President or CEO or your company.

Countless people are running successful businesses, making absolute fortunes working from home, utilizing the internet. This is the age of hybrid businesses with brilliant marketing techniques and most people don't even know that these opportunities even exist or how to get started. Worse, these opportunities are simply dismissed as scams because we have been brainwashed that you go to school, get an education, and then GET A J.O.B. to climb the corporate ladder. It’s drilled into our heads that anything that we have to pay money into, in order to get paid, is a scam. My momma told me “Never, ever, ever pay someone money, with the promise of making it rich.”

Let’s look at a current business model of what your current employer could have done in order to recruit you into his or her business.

- Franchise or start up fees of $100,000 to $500,000.

- Waiting four-years until your business clears a profit.

- Overhead, hassle, of hiring staff or an expensive office.

- Working 60-80 hours a week or being a slave to their business.

Yet, when you look at this model, you’re not thinking scam or pyramid. (Maybe, how in the world does someone come up with 100 G’s?) But if someone asks you for a one time set up fee for this franchise of $400 and $50 a month, everyone scrambles to the internet to see if it’s a scam. Maybe you’ve been “burned” one too many times, or, maybe it just sounds “too good to be true”.

I didn’t find this business and make a gazillion dollars my first year, but I will tell you this. The money I saved just on our taxes alone last year because of owning my own Home Based Business, more that quadrupled the amount of money I spent to start and maintain this business. This includes all the training I took and the odds and ends expenses of promotional materials, business cards, internet access, and cell phone usage. I made all that money back and then some, my first year. My company and what I do with YTB is approved by the IRS. The amount of money that I did make in my spare time gave me a couple of nice new things and enabled me to spend more time with my family when I wanted. It made me think about what I could do with this if I worked it like a Part Time job. Devoting just 20 hours a week, talking to people to either book their next vacation, or show them how they can have their own business.

Yes, it helps if you open you mouth and actually talk to people. That may terrify you. You’re not talking about some $40 bottle of juice that they need to drink because you have thousands of dollars worth of boxes stocked up in your garage. Take a look at my inventory at http://www.groupgetaways.com/. Who does not want something like this?

I’ve got a question for you, and I’d like you to answer this honestly. Would you like to take a vacation? I nor anyone I know has ever gotten a “No” to that question! What in the world are you afraid of?

Is YTB a scam? You’ve got to be kidding me. It’s a legitimate business model that has changed lives, including mine. I love the fact that I found a business that doesn’t require a lot of money to start, and is and easy product to talk about. I’ve been telling people for years that “A cruise is the best vacation money can buy.” But now when I tell someone that, I get paid a commission by helping them take that cruise or by simply pointing them to me web site to book it by themselves. If they book it with Barry Dillar, who spent $53 Billion to start Expedia, he sends them a confirmation.

Whether or not you choose to believe anything I say is entirely up to you. I’m not into convincing people that they need this business. I also understand you may have some questions. I’ll give you honest, no hype answers. It not about what’s in it for me, it’s about what’s in it for you. You have my contact information below and I do that for a reason. Even if someone else has introduced you to this awesome business, I don’t care. I want to help you.

That’s the YTB way.


Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA:
TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker

Phone: 678.458.5812

Learn How To Become A Travel Agent
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Book Your Travel & Vacations With


Travel Reservations: 1.800.243.4450

RTA #24635

Friday, March 03, 2006

Smile!

We as a couple have always been positive people. It makes live so much easier. It’s easy to be positive and feel good about what we are doing when you are talking about and selling vacations all day long! It’s a “Fell Good” product and a great topic of conversation. When we found a national happiness survey conducted by psychiatrist and self improvement guru Dr. Cliff Kuhn, it revealed that 56 percent of Americans are happier today than 10 years ago. The survey, conducted in February 2006, uncovered key behaviors which help individuals become happier without the need for high stress lifestyle changes. The one key factor was a simple smile!

According to survey results, brief contact with others during vidiLife.com provides  free video and photo hosting and sharingdaily routines contributed to feeling happier. However, the need for periodic disconnects throughout the day were equally important to most respondents. In a paradoxical trend; 73 percent of consumers polled stated that they engage in conversations with strangers when running through daily activities while 65 percent admit to not answering their cell phone every time it rings. The survey also revealed that health ranked most important as a factor to one’s happiness. Current research proves that bringing more fun into one's life aids health by reducing stress and anxiety, boosting morale, enhancing communication, inspiring creativity and maintaining hope.

Reaching out and sharing a laugh, a thought, an observance with a stranger keeps people feeling connected. We talk to strangers all the time, either on the phone or in person. One of our keys is that we smile. Even on the phone! Believe it or not, people can even hear a smile on the phone!

Try incorporating the following habits into one's daily routine to ensure better health and increased happiness:

1. Go the Extra Smile – Increasing “smileage” requires increased smile awareness and a measure of self-discipline. The payoff is that even a “forced” smile changes one's physiology for the better in ways that can be measured – decreased stress, heightened immunity and increased tolerance for pain and frustration. In addition, a smile acts as a “fun magnet,” drawing positive reactions and energy from others.

2. Laugh With Yourself – Laughing with ourselves enables people to quickly recover and learn from their mistakes. It is not a demeaning practice. It actually enhances self-esteem and helps let go of useless self-recriminations. The net result is increased positive energy for healing and growth.

Everyone has the power to be in the 56 percent of Americans that feel happier today versus 10 years ago. Achieve a level of joy and happiness you may not have thought possible. It all starts with a smile.


Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA:
TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker

Phone: 678.458.5812

Learn How To Become A Travel Agent
Image

Book Your Travel & Vacations With


Travel Reservations: 1.800.243.4450

RTA #24635

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