Just Picture It Now

Out of curiosity, who has never been in the industry that is badmouthing us? I know the TTAs are all about it, and I have seen some people on the Yahoo Chat Finance Boards, but that is mostly about the stocks

Do you think Bob didn't know there would be criticism? I'm sure he's intimately familiar with the YTB criticism. He knows about RCI, of course. I'm sure he ran this by CCL corporate, their lawyers, his lawyers and advisors before being named to the Board. There's something more to this.

The Big Fish that got away.

Thank you for posting both links. I find it curious how he could say such nice things one day, and then do a 180 the next. Do you think we’ll ever find out the full story?

I highly doubt it Dale. But I would suspect that the rumor mill will circulate what they “think” happened.

David, I agree with you. Bob knew there would be some backlash, as documented in the first Travel Trade interview.

Anon, go to a forum called Scam.com. While some TTA’s are there now “chiming in”, there is one thread that dates back to July of 2005 full of people who feel compelled to post their opinions about our company.

Just an FYI, there is a guy by the name of MJ363 and another by the name ChrisN, he’s one in the same, and I suspect there are other Zealots there who do the same.

I use to frequent the board and know many of them who still hang around with nothing better to do with their time.

I've found other comments in groups like Meetup.com and various other places with very limited and ignorant comments and views.

“we still have other Travel Industry veterans both employed by and consulting with YTB to guide us to the Billion dollar mark in Travel sales in 2008.”

Right! Like who?

Actually the first name that comes to mind is Marc Mancini who’s doing our E-Campus.

Greg Fritsch is our Vice President of New Business Development with 25 years in the Travel Industry.

Sonja Oaks helps out with our Travel Training and Getting Started calls who use to own 2 Brick and Mortars.

Candi May is a Level One Director with the company with some 25 years off running her own Agencies.

There’s plenty more, but that’s just off the top of my head.

Doug,

Is there a particular reason why you picked THAT picture from Super Bowl XL?

None what so ever. ;-P

Do you happen to know who won that Super Bowl? I can’t remember…

I think Bob had the experience of a guy in a bar near quitting time. He was drinking and the girls all looked prettier. He took one hone. When he woke up the next morning, he looked at her and said, "Oh my God! What have I done." Only difference here is that YTB was the ugly girl.

All we need to do is focus on selling travel and drop the recruiting and we would be the 'darling' of the industry. Do you think YTb will ever be a legitimate host? Or, is recruiting amore important a factor? You can tell I do not recruit!

There is a difference between Mary Kay, Tupperware, AVON, and YTB:

- the majority of Mary Kay, Tupperware and Avon's money, per their financials, come from product sales.

- the majority of YTB's money, per your financials, comes from recruiting and memberships, not from travel sales.

Once the majority of your money comes from travel sales, then you will be recognized and respected also.

Correct me if I am wrong Doug, but I believe Marc Mancini offers travel training to any company that will pay for the sessions. I'm sure you don't mean to make it sound like an exclusive relationaship.
cheers

Steve,

Two comments come to mind, (which honestly I have not thought about in ages since I’ve been sober some 18 years now.)

1. If you’re not “in bed” by 11PM you might as well give up and go home.
2. At least Bob is now sober. You’re still ugly. (Kidding ;-P)

Samantha;

Our 2007 Income Statement which every talks about clearly shows that 80% (the overwhelming majority) of our people don’t recruit a single soul. While you are in good company in that regard, don’t look for YourTravelBiz.com to cease doing business the way we do. There is no requirement to recruit anyone into our business and if you’re like me, your business cards only have my Travel Web Site, which mentions nothing about recruiting. I’d suggest if it bothers you to simply do the same.

Joe;

As YTB matures you will see that number level out. A few years ago I was told that YTB would never see anything over 10% in travel revenue, it’s now up to almost 15% and will continue to grow. YTB has grown its Travel Commissions form $500K in 2004 to over $20 Million in 2007.

Avon, Tupperware, and Mary Kay went through the same phase YTB is going through right now, building. While YTB only offers third party product, (Carnival, Holiday Inn, United, Avis) it’s still a product and there is revenue to be made. It’s how the few TTA’s left stay in business after all.

Furthermore, I know for a fact you’ve never looked at Mary Kay financials since they are a private company, and I have serious doubts you’ve looked at TUP or AVP.

David;

No, Marc Mancini is a consultant for YTB. The Academy in which this Training Program is offered provides training for CLIA, ARC, Norwegian, and Regent Seven Seas.

Our 2007 Income Statement which every talks about clearly shows that 80% (the overwhelming majority) of our people don’t recruit a single soul.
Feels good to be back--sort of.

There were 131,035 RTAs (these are the guys selling travel) on December 31,. 2007 according to the 10K

According to the REP earning report, there were 305,055 REPS (these are the guys recruiting)

Of course there is overlap and I woudl suspect that the majority of the RTAs are also REPS, but clearly the majority of the people involved in YTB are in the recruiting end of it. It makes sense that the majority of the income comes from recruiting.

There’s no need to “suspect” John, the numbers are there for everyone to see. The trick is teaching people how to read them.

Based on the 10K you mentioned, only 44% of those Rep’s who are also RTA’s recruited anyone, and that’s if all of them are both RTA’s and Rep’s.

58,218 Rep’s earned a check for recruiting in 2007.

Still want to stick to your guns on it clearly being the majority?

Nevermind…forgot who I was talking too…

Joe,

Buddy, get a clue. You’re as bad as John with what you think you know.

There’s no need to “suspect” John, the numbers are there for everyone to see. The trick is teaching people how to read them.

Finally---you admit it. IN order to make the numbers seem reasonable, logical, and responsible, you must resort to trickery. Your own words. :)

I do have to say that the whole argument has gone many directions since October, and to think it may have been resolved if:

You stop referring to yourself as travel agents

Allowed travel to be the focus of the business instead of recruiting.

And stopped looking for loopholes to exploit.

Why not just call yourselves what you are..."travel website marketers" TWMs..even has a nice ring. As I look back on the whole thing, a lot of the attention you (YTB) has garnered is the result of two words---TRAVEL AGENT.

Just a thought. Now I am going to picture myself walking to the local coffee shop down by our City Dock!

LMFAO! See how that works folks?!

Instead of addressing the numbers, percentages, and the hard facts they produce, our “experts” ignore the figures and focuses on a single word they can exploit which was intended to describe them, but instead they turn it around to not only mean something totally different, but now is shown to reflect back on us.

Notice how nothing was mentioned about the 44% of the Reps and or RTA’s who could actually consider themselves “Travel Website Marketers”?

Why? They can’t argue with the numbers and facts, only the words used to describe their own myths and limiting beliefs.

Out of the 131,035 RTA’s with YTB, 58,218 could be considered “Travel Website Marketers” in 2007. What the other 66% could be called, I guess we’ll just have to wait on the “experts” to decide for us.

(Trust me, just like “Travel Website Marketers”, it should be something witty and creative.)

I can promise you this, there won’t be any mention of $414.5 Million in Travel Services sold by that 66%. ;-P

After John comes back from the dock, I’m sure he’ll have something in mind that he can have ready for us to laugh about on Monday morning.

Stay tuned for more “Comic Relief
” @ http://notravelmlms.blogspot.com

He’ll be staring there all week.

Hey Doug,
I noticed that your blog has a link that says "learn how to be a travel agent". But when I clicked on the link, there were lots of shiny pictures telling me about how I could take advantage of this great opportunity, but nothing that really told me how to be a travel agent. So if I want to be a real travel agent, what would I do? Don't I have to take some training?

What should you do?

Fill out your information with Name, Phone Number and E-mail address at the end of all the fancy pictures, and both the system and I will follow up with you to see how I can best help you.

Fair enough?

I love that site by the way. It separates the jokers and tire kickers from those who are serious about starting a Travel Business of their own.

By the way, after you agree that this is a good fit for you, we cater the training towards your passions and desires. I started because I wanted to sell cruises. Lisa and Mitch started last week because they wanted to sell All-inclusive packages.

So what part of the Travel Industry do you like best? I’d love to find out and I can show you just where and when you can get the training you want.

But you better hurry! You already missed the Regional Training we had Richmond a week or so ago, but if you SIGN UP NOW @ www.justpictureitnow.info, you can make in time for the Virtual Home Based Expo which coming up this week and I wouldn’t want you to miss an opportunity to find out directly from operators and suppliers just what they have to offer in terms of product and training.

I realize that Traditional Travel Agents make this industry sound intimidating in terms of all you have to know and learn. Trust me, it aint all that. If an average American can book travel on their own from Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia and Priceline to the tune of $40 Billion dollars without any training, even a Caveman can do what these TTA’s do.

So come on in! The waters fine!

Just to let you all know that anyone can sign up for the Virtual Travel Show free of charge.
You don't have to join anything.

Thanks for your reply. The financial statement shows that those actually selling travel make very little income at all. Certainly not enough to give up the day job! How can being an RTA get me accredited within the industry? I don't want to be a dabbler but a professional and earn a good living selling travel. Since joining YTB all I hear is recruit recruit recruit from my upline. This is NOT what I want. Can I change uplines?

Anon;

Yes, we know it’s a free seminar and open to everyone, including YTB and other MLM’s. Thanks for pointing that out.

Samantha;

Which financial statements are you speaking of? Most of what everyone is speaking of are Rep earnings, not RTA. Just want to make sure you know the difference.

What anyone else does in regards to selling Travel in no way reflects how much you can make. If you get caught up in the notion that your doomed to make only $67, $92 or whatever the number that the Anti-YTB’ers claim you’re going to make, you’re selling yourself short.

They however, would like you to believe that pile of dung, and don't believe any of us make a penny more than that. Oh Well...

In terms of Training and Accreditations go to your Travel Portal, on the travel side of your YTB business, click on the training tab to find the following list.

• YTB E-Campus
• RTA Certification
• RTA Travel Toolbox
• Thursday Night Training Calls
• Training Call Archive
• Destination Training Resources
• Travel Supplier Training Resources
• Destination Weddings
• Current Vendor Webinars
• Travel Agent University

These resources are there for those who wish to take advantage of them, and many as Anon mentioned above, some are completely FREE.

Yes, you can change Sponsors if you wish.

While I understand that support from your Sponsor and Power Team Leader can be extremely beneficial, they can’t learn and take the training courses for you. My sponsor didn’t get serious about the travel side of the business until he saw what I was making from the 10% overrides. It was then that the student became the teacher.

Make it happen on your own, don’t make excuses.