Just Picture It Now

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Community Awards

Yesterday I posted about Coach’s involvement in the church. Today, we’re going to post about his involvement in the community at large. Last October, Coach was honored for his community involvement with YTB at a State of the River Bend Luncheon, an event organized by the Growth Association of Southwestern Illinois.

“YTB International Inc. was honored for its community involvement. The Internet-based travel agency that has its headquarters in Wood River has seen a 300 percent jump in sales and the creation of 134 more jobs between July 1, 2006, and June 30 of this year.

Lloyd Tomer, owner and founder, received the award — and was the only honoree to put on the ship captain’s hat, which is presented to each winner along with a plaque.”

A few days later, an entire article was written up in The Telegraph about YTB and pictured the man honored at the luncheon.

YTB International keeps growing

WOOD RIVER — Rapid growth and achievement have earned YTB International in Wood River a Growth Association Captain of the River Bend award for community enhancement.

YTB, American Water, Riverbender.com and The Telegraph will receive the awards at the Growth Association’s State of the River Bend luncheon at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, at The Commons at Lewis and Clark Community College.

YTB has seen a 300 percent-per-year growth the last four years, said Andy Cauthen, president and CEO of YourTravelBiz, which is part of YTB. The company employs 277 in Wood River and Edwardsville.

“I’m so happy they have come back to their roots in the River Bend,” said Monica Bristow, president of the Growth Association. “They were in Alton for a while. They outgrew the space and (were) in Edwardsville. They blossomed in Edwardsville.”

“Things are going well at YTB,” Cauthen said.

The Internet-based company, founded by area residents Lloyd Tomer, his son, Scott Tomer, and colleague J. Kim Sorensen, began renovating the former Kmart store on Illinois Route 143 in Wood River last year and moved into 20,000-square-foot renovated office space in December. The Wood River building is still in the process of renovation, with even bigger plans to come.

“YTB is currently working with the Wood River City Council in acquiring land for YTB’s corporate campus,” Cauthen said.

The campus will include four office buildings, lakes, a hotel and conference center and an employee recreational park. The project will take three to five years to develop on about 50 acres at an approximate cost of $150 million.

“Our building will be built under LEEDS (Leadership and Energy Environment Design),” Cauthen said, “with more efficiency and environmentally friendly. Even the furnishings are ‘green.’ It’s a growing trend in forward-thinking businesses. It costs more upfront but is more profitable.”

Cauthen credits the company’s leadership for having vision and integrity. He said they have taken the firm to where it is. The company was in the old Meridian Bank building in Alton from January 2001 to July 2005, when it moved to Edwardsville because of the need for space. Success and growth made the move to Wood River desirable.

“We expect to employ 350 at the end of the year,” Cauthen said.

Lloyd Tomer is chairman of the board. Cauthen said the Tomers and Sorensens want to keep the company in area. The company has 125,000 referring travel agents.

“We were just short of $300 million in travel sales last year,” Cauthen said. “In 2007, projected travel sales will be $1 billion.”

YTB assists or trains people to start their own Internet travel businesses.

“We developed the booking engine,” Cauthen said. “The technology is personalized for each. We provide technical and administrative support.”

Cauthen said YTB has agents all across the country, in the U.S. territories and Puerto Rico. He said the company founders have “great heart” and want to help people succeed in individual business. He credits the Tomers and Sorensen for the company’s success.

“We are about to go into Canada, target the Canada market,” Cauthen said.
YTB has an open house almost weekly, inviting national distributors to come to Wood River to visit the corporate offices and attend training.

“We anticipate the number of guests in this area being around 40,000 for the year ending 2007, 90,000 in 2008 and upwards of 150,000 in 2009,” Cauthen said. YTB plans to lease space in East Alton for January occupancy to accommodate up to 225 additional employees. Current and future renovation and new development, including project costs, employee payroll and visitor spending over the next three years could exceed $400 million.

PS - If you’d like to keep up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB feel free to sign up for my FREE Newsletter. Just like here, it’s loaded with food, water and sunshine to grow your YTB business.

Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812

Learn How To Become A Travel Agent

Book Your Travel & Vacations With

Travel Reservations: 1.800.243.4450
RTA #24635

Labels: Coach, Home Office, YTB International

Posted by TravelPro at 5:44 AM | Permalink

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Pay It Forward

One of the things I admire most about Coach is his generosity. YTB has teamed up with the Urban League of Northwest Indiana, and the Chicago Metropolitan area called Feed The Future to provide a meaningful day that honors those children who may otherwise be forgotten during the holiday season. Something YTB has supported since 2004.

That wouldn’t happen if it weren’t for Coach. It’s a program he’s very proud of. To reach some 20,000 children every year to make a difference is just the tip of the iceburg in what YTB and Coach have done for communities.

Another example of Coach’s generosity was demonstrated in today’s article. Back on Super Bowl Sunday two years ago, Coach gave a gift of $1.8 Million to his church to pay of its mortgage, and then some.

Growing up in the church, as my father is a retired Minister, I know how a gift like this can make a huge impact on what a ministry can do. To have a mortgage like this paid off enables the church to give of it’s time and money in other areas, which I can only assume based on my experience, encompasses many outreach programs locally and abroad.

What’s most impressive to me is how he mentors us to do the same. By making as many of us financially free as possible, we get this crazy idea that we could do the same. What’s most impressive is how it’s already happened. I met a Director who used every penny of his YTB earnings to completely furnish a brand new Day Care Center at his church.

Remember the movie “Pay It Forward”? Read this and see if you don’t want to do the same thing….

Businessman pays off church’s mortgage

An Alton church is debt-free thanks to a local businessman’s generous donation on Sunday."

It’s Superbowl Sunday, and it’s going to be a Superbowl service for us today," Pastor Daren Carstens told the congregation.

J. Lloyd "Coach" Tomer scored a touchdown with his congregation at New Testament Fellowship Church, 3303 Homer Adams Parkway, after he gave more than $1.8 million in stock that will be used to pay off the church’s mortgage.

"Isn’t it great to be part of a church doing all these great things?" Tomer said.Standing before parishioners, Tomer told everyone that Sunday would be a day they would remember forever, not because it was Superbowl Sunday, but because of what happened in church.

"You’ll remember this service," he said. "I’m excited."Tomer, chief executive officer of YTB International in Wood River, presented Carstens with a stock certificate worth more than $1.86 million.

Tomer, his son, Scott Tomer, and colleague, J. Kim Sorensen, started the company nearly six years ago in Downtown Alton. They moved the company to Edwardsville to accommodate the growing business and in December 2006 moved into a newly renovated facility in the former K-Mart building in Wood River.

The company operates three divisions -- yourTravelBiz.com, REZconnect Technologies Inc. and YTB Travel Network and is publicly traded under the name YTBL.PK. On Friday the stock closed at $11.69 a share.

The company is an Internet-based travel business. It runs a booking engine and develops, sells and supports the online Web sites of referring travel agents.

Tomer said he made a promise to the church several years ago that if the company’s stock ever reached more than $10 a share, he would pay off the mortgage.

"This is one of the greatest days of my life," Tomer said.Tomer received a standing ovation from the congregation."You know it didn’t come easy," he said.

Tomer shared the joys and sorrows of starting a new business. He said to make it work he and his wife, Christine, sold their dream home, the River House, built in Fairmont Estates in Godfrey in 1927 by John Olin.

"It was our dream house before we were married and even when we were broke," he said.He said they purchased the home back again last fall.

Tomer said after he and his family moved into the house, they began to search for a place to worship."We were looking for something very spiritual," he said.

He said they found it at New Testament."We could go to church, then to the (St. Louis Rams) football game," Tomer said jokingly.

He said he and his family fell in love with the church. Tomer served as pastor of The First Church of God in Benton, Ill., during the 1970s.

Tomer said he encountered many roadblocks along the way to success.

"It wasn’t always easy," he said.He said the one thing he never gave up was his faith and his love for God."Over the last few years God has blessed me," Tomer said.

Carstens thanked Tomer."Oh my goodness!" Carstens shouted. "Is it OK that I jump?

"Carstens said the church has seen many ups and downs, but with Tomer’s gift it will be able to give more to others. The donation will pay off a $1.7 million mortgage and the remaining funds will be used to pay for other debts, audio-visual equipment, programs and charities.

Debbie Butler said Tomer’s gift was wonderful. "It’s very exciting," Butler said.

Butler, who works as Carstens’ personal assistant, said a few members of the congregation knew about Tomer’s plan to donate stock to pay off the church’s debt, but few knew that it would take place Sunday.

"He really is a wonderful man," she said. "This will be a day everyone remembers."

PS - If you’d like to keep up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB feel free to sign up for my FREE Newsletter. Just like here, it’s loaded with food, water and sunshine to grow your YTB business.

Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812

Learn How To Become A Travel Agent

Book Your Travel & Vacations With

Travel Reservations: 1.800.243.4450
RTA #24635

Labels: Coach, Feed The Future, Pay It Forward, YTB International

Posted by TravelPro at 5:26 AM | Permalink

Monday, September 15, 2008

"Coach" Tomer, A Man and His Vision

I get a kick out of how much attention is focused on YTB these days. Over the last month, it’s escalated to a degree I’ve never seen before. I realize YTB has been “front page” news for what’s going on a year now, which all started with Royal Caribbean shipping more marketing materials than any other vendor to our annual Funshine show last year, but instead of showing up, sent a form letter to YTB informing the company that they change their mind.

At the time, it was speculated that supplier doors would soon close on YTB, we found 17 MORE vendors this past weekend then last year at our Funshine East show.

That got me wondering…what’s going on with the growing majority of these vendors, that a couple of the “critics” don’t get?

While we all know that the driving force behind YTB Travel Network, (that’s the travel side of our business for those who don’t know) is J. Kim Sorenson, we also know that the man most associated with YTB in general is our very own, J. Lloyd Tomer, also known as “Coach”.

It pains me to see Coach maligned and ridiculed the way he is by those who fall for these myths about rich people being greedy, or doing something wrong in order to make the millions that they do. What’s even more aggravating is how some take exception concerning his faith. I come from a long line of Ministers in my family and so does Ronda. To speculate that Coach would be anything less than the members of my immediate and extended family is completely foreign to me.

Knowing Coach the way I do, I can tell you that the man has more ethics, morals, and integrity wrapped up in his little pinky than the whole lot of “critics” who are attempting to shame him into submission. I know that’s not saying much, because there really aren’t that many “critics” out there, but you get the idea.
I wanted to take this week and highlight just a few of the “good” articles I was able to find on the internet concerning Coach. For those that have never met Coach, I hope these articles might give a better picture of just who this man is, and what he truly stands for.

A couple of ground rules before we get started. One, none of these are in the form of press releases by the company. Nor are any of these articles any type of “paid endorsement”. These are people that have actually met the man they are writing about, and I challenge anyone to give me an negative article who has actually spend any length of time with the man they are maligning so horribly on the internet.

Just so we’re straight here.

The first article was found in the Saturday Evening Post in the July/August issue. While I wish I could find the 1983 interview when Coach was with A.L. Williams, obviously that was a little before the age of the internet. This article however, does offer a nice background into just who Coach is.

Enjoy!

A man and his vision: J. Lloyd "Coach" Tomer has a dream—to build his company, YTB, into more than just the world's largest travel agency

Although J. Lloyd Tomer may be the chairman of the board to a publicly traded company, you wouldn't know it upon meeting him for the first time. Underneath the easygoing demeanor, he harbors a powerful vision to change the world. And it all started with his mother's prophecy nearly 59 years ago.

On Christmas Eve before Tomer's 16th birthday, his mother called all her children into the parlor for what would be the last time. She looked at each one of them.
"She told my brother John to stay on the farm," said Tomer. "He's still there."

She then turned to Tomer's sisters, Roma and Faye.

"She told them they were going to college to become teachers," said Tomer. 'Whey have both retired from that field."

When she came to Tomer, she paused for just a second. As she looked him in the eyes, she told him that God had something special for his life that would help transform the entire country. He just had to go and find it.

Tomer's mother passed away the very next day. Since then, he hasn't stopped searching for what would fulfill his mother's dream. Through the years, the search led him in several different directions. A former 82nd Airborne paratrooper, Tomer was called to the ministry in the small town of Benton, Illinois. Of the 44 people who attended his first service on Easter Sunday, 14 were family and friends. Flash forward a few years later at the dedication of the new church building, a former theatre, and over 2,000 people were in attendance.

However in 1980, the year after he lost his wife and ministry partner to cancer, Tomer found himself unemployed. He left the church believing he wasn't serving it as he once had. His next stop on his journey led him to a company that said if he could build a team to sell their products, it would compensate him in direct proportion to the results. Tomer accepted the challenge. His sons, Scott and Frank, were first to join their dad's team. Together they built a thriving business with more than 250,000 clients in A.L. Williams, a company that promoted the novel idea of buying lower-cost term insurance and investing the difference (between that and the cost of whole life insurance) in a high-interest savings plan.

As a senior vice president at A.L. Williams, Tomer's 1982 income was more than $175,000. Ultimately, his wealth grew to millions in earnings.

"Everything is so right and honest and moral at A.L. Williams," he declared in a 1983 Saturday Evening Post interview, "that if I were to build my own company from scratch, this is exactly how it would turn out."

What Tomer was really saying was, when he builds his own company, it will share the same principles of honesty and morality as A.L. Williams.

After retiring and selling his A.L. Williams business to his son, Frank, Tomer quickly discovered that he missed his longstanding role of coach and mentor. And he still hadn't fulfilled his mother's dream and began looking for something else. In 2001, at age 67, Tomer came across an opportunity that he simply couldn't pass up--a business that combined Internet travel and referral marketing. Together, with his son Scott and longtime friend and business associate J. Kim Sorensen, the Your Travel Biz (YTB) Travel Network came to life in the small town of Alton, Illinois.

Today, Tomer is going stronger than ever and credits his energy, health, and longevity to a life of balance and staying busy. Of course, it doesn't hurt that his positive vision of the future inspires everyone from family to field leaders to employees to travel industry associates around the world. Earning the esteemed title of "Coach" from his "team" of more than 170,000 referring travel agents (RTAs), field leaders, and marketing reps, Tomer is enjoying his lifelong passion of mentoring others to success in life and in business.

Although YTB becomes more successful every day and though many believe he found the answer to his mother's dream, Tomer is still searching. He believes the search will end with the kickoff of his 10,000 Millionaires program in January 2009 on his 75th birthday.

"My father is 74 years old, and he is looking forward to the fourth quarter of his life when he turns 75," says son Scott. "He knows he will accomplish more in the fourth quarter of his life than all the other years combined."

Tomer's Guiding Principles

"Hundreds of people have come up to me at our conventions and said, 'Coach, YTB saved our pension, saved our home,'" Tomer says. "And I think of this multiplied hundreds of times. We have a chance to do something that's never been done in the history of this great country of ours, and this is only the beginning."

The 10,000 Millionaires program is Tomer's main vision for the fourth quarter of his life. He wants to build 10,000 millionaires in 10 years based on the 10 principles that he has followed in his own life. The new program kicks off with the release of his debut book, The 4th Quarter, where Tomer shares his story for the first time and talks about each of the principles that guided his life. He is also working hard on the infrastructure of other programs that will be available to YTB's reps and RTAs.

Throughout his life, Coach Tomer inspired many people. Bill Charlton, a retired 26-year Tennessee truck driver, had to return to work as an 80-hour-a-week driver for a pharmaceutical company to make ends meet. "Coming out of retirement can be a familiar scenario for 'seasoned citizens' of the baby boomer era," says Bill and his wife Ro. "Boomers are running out of options to make ends meet when their retirement funds run out."

Their friend, Rick Ricketts, first introduced them to YTB. "We found out the financial rewards were excellent," says Bill. "But the best part of this business is helping other people gain financial freedom."

YTB offers two different opportunities. The first is owning a YTB travel Web site. By referring friends and family to your Web site, the owner, or RTA, earns commission through the travel booked. The other opportunity is to become a rep and sell travel Web sites. YTB reps earn commission when they sell travel Web sites, and also have the ability to earn overrides on the sales made by other reps in their team.

Wise men have said that if you want to become a millionaire, find one who will mentor you and do exactly what he tells you to do. Here's where Tomer really shines. On his weekly "Coach's Call" conference calls, he talks about such topics as goal-setting and attitude, offering inspirational insights harking back to his days as a pastor. The calls attract thousands of listeners each week as Tomer shares steps to success in business and in life and inspired the 10,000 Millionaire program and his book.

YTB also hosts Red Carpet Days almost weekly at the company's home office, where hundreds of eager YTB prospects and new RTAs can meet the home office staff that serves them every day in various ways. Visitors are offered tours of the facility and treated to lunch, followed with a presentation by Tomer and his cofounders. The Red Carpet Days are now a very popular event and great way for reps, RTAs, and prospects to learn more about the heart of the company.

With Tomer's willingness to always credit field leaders and reps of YTB and a powerful vision to build 10,000 Millionaires, YTB is well on its way to becoming the number-one travel agency in the world.

"The abilities and successes of our reps and RTAs never cease to amaze and inspire me," Coach says. "I'm extremely excited to mentor people in how to be successful, not only in business but also in life."

PS - If you’d like to keep up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB feel free to sign up for my FREE Newsletter. Just like here, it’s loaded with food, water and sunshine to grow your YTB business.

Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812

Learn How To Become A Travel Agent

Book Your Travel & Vacations With

Travel Reservations: 1.800.243.4450
RTA #24635

Labels: Coach, J. Lloyd Tomer, Saturday Evening Post, YTB International

Posted by TravelPro at 5:13 AM | Permalink

Friday, July 11, 2008

Changing of The Guard

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time you should know that I am a die hard Steelers fan. I grew up in Pittsburgh during the years of the Steel Curtain, Lambert’s Lunatics, Franco’s Army, and four Super Bowl Championships in the 70’s. You can take the boy out of the city, but you could never take the Steelers out of the boy.

My only memories of the Steelers, even as a small boy are three Coach’s, (Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin) two stadiums, (Three Rivers and Heinz Field), and one ownership, the Rooney’s. In 1933, Art Rooney Sr. (“The Chief”) purchased this NFL franchise for $2,500. The other four current NFL teams in existence at that time were the Chicago (Arizona) Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears and New York Giants.

To state that this Franchise is riddled with history is an understatement at best.

You may also know if you’ve been with YTB for any length of time that Coach is also a Steelers fan. He grew up just outside of Pittsburgh, and even after moving away many decades ago, he like me, still bleeds Black and Gold.

I’ll never forget the first night my wife and I saw this business. It was during one of the Founders Tours back in 2005 and Coach was there and when he got up to speak, he said something, and honestly I don’t remember what the exact word was, but it was a very distinct Pittsburghese, and I turned to my wife and told her right then that Coach was from Pittsburgh.

She looked at me like I was nuts, (Wasn’t the first time, and wasn’t the last. ;-P) but when I was introduced to Coach after the presentation, I asked him if he spent any time in Pittsburgh. He was shocked that I picked up on his dialect, but we Pittsburgher’s N-at always know!

While I am aware of some cities who have attempted to have Coach change his loyalty to other teams, Coach knows who the REAL American Team is! (Isn’t that right Charlie?!)

That being said, it has come to my attention that for the first time in over 75 years, the ownership of the Pittsburgh Steelers may be jeopardy of changing hands. Four of the Rooney brothers plan to get out of the NFL and focus their business efforts on their racetracks and other interests. (Ownership in gambling, such as racetracks, is against NFL policy and regulations.)

According the Official Steelers site Dan Rooney, and his son, Steelers President Art Rooney II, are arranging a financing plan to buy Dan’s brothers' shares in the team in order to continue substantial ownership of the franchise by the Rooneys.

However, word has surfaced that the Steelers may have been secretly shopped around and an outside buyer has come into the mix, who may take control of the team.

Oh the HUMANITY!

So that got me thinkin’. (Dangerous, I know.) IF the Steelers are being shopped around, who better to take over than our very own Coach Tomer! He has the money, he has the loyalty, and I can’t think of a better Coach in the world! What I like most about this idea is that he surrounds himself with quality people and delegates jobs and tasks to people who excel in those areas.

Can you imagine…Coach Tomer, part owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers? Okay, hard to wrap, even for me after all these years of stability in this franchise, but like Cowher in 1992 and now Tomlin who’s now in his sophomore year, I can adapt.

What I like most about this idea is that for as long as I’ve known Coach, he’s always done what was best for people. The man has a heart of Gold. It’s not just us either. You may know about the cruises he gave away for Military and their families this spring. While I can’t document what I’ve heard about what this meant to every single family, and I’ve heard some very sincere and touching stories. Apparently it got back to the Top Brass and to have a Naval Commander take the time to write and thank our company for its service and aid in these families quality of life is truly astounding.

Like the Rooney Family, I feel the same way about the Tomer family and that’s why it’s such a perfect fit in my view. The Rooneys and the Tomers have always done what’s best for the team, and its fans.

“The Chief” was the laughing stock of the NFL for many years, and had only a handful of winning seasons before he hired Chuck Noll back in 1969 as their head Coach. Art Jr., one of two Rooney brothers who worked full time for the team, was so skilled as a scouting director that his drafts in the late 1960s and early 1970s were largely responsible for the Steelers winning four Super Bowls in six years.

His 1974 draft alone produced Hall of Famers Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth and Mike Webster and led to Art Jr. being nominated for the Hall of Fame. No argument from me that this “recruiting” was the best in NFL history.

“The Coach” doing what he has done in the Travel Industry, taking a bunch of nobodies, and producing a top Travel Agency in only his 8th year in business, seems to me at least, to be a top pick in working WITH the Rooneys in keeping the legacy and the tradition alive and well in this blue color town who’s foundation was built in a melting pot of all walks of life.

It could prove to be a lot of fun, and isn’t that what life should be all about?!

PS - If you’d like to keep up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB feel free to sign up for my FREE Newsletter. Just like here, it’s loaded with food, water and sunshine to grow your YTB business.

Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812

Learn How To Become A Travel Agent

Book Your Travel & Vacations With

Travel Reservations: 1.800.243.4450
RTA #24635

Labels: Coach, NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers, Power List, YTB Travel Network

Posted by TravelPro at 6:28 AM | Permalink

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Take a closer look...

I started a huge task weeks ago when I promised John Frenaye that I would get his questions answered. ALL his questions. Over the next couple weeks due to the length of this list, I’m going to focus on each of these questions one at a time. My goal here is not only to answer the question, but also point out why this question is even asked in the first place.

This will also be an excellent opportunity and tool for anyone with additional comments about each of the specific questions to get better clarification. Use the comments section to discuss each of the questions in greater detail. I remind you that I learned how to accomplish such a huge task from Brian Tracy and his courses, which teach that you focus on the each task one at a time, focus on the solution, break it down into manageable chunks, and before you know it, you’ve achieved your goal.

It should be a really fun debate, and for those of you in YTB, take this information and documentation and use it. Here are the questions we have gone over thus far.

Question #1 - Why a compensation plan takes 12 pages to define?

Question #2 - How YTB arrived at $226 Million in travel sold for 2006. (Still waiting.)

Question #3 - Why so little of the "training" at the annual convention was for travel. (OK, YTB only believes in training at other meetings. We can let this one go.)

Question #4 - How nearly 150,000 RTAs can pay in the course of 9 months $79 million dollars in website sales, fees, and training; and receive $9.3 million in return. (This is huge...anyone?)

Question #5 - And for those that say I don't get the math, I did not learn how nearly 150,000 people paid in $79 million dollars and only got $64 million in return. (Hello? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?)

Question #6 - Why it is a good thing to have your top executives selling off stock. (There were no takers on this one, so I am gonna assume that it probably is NOT a good thing as everyone initially thought.)

This has got to be one of the biggest rumors going around the internet right now and I’m actually glad I’ve got a chance to set the record straight on this one. Before I begin, I need to help those that don’t understand how everyone knows that “executives” are selling off stock. Being a publically traded company, Officers, Directors, Majority Owners (more than 10%), are required to report both sales and purchases of stock. These reports are found on what’s known as “Form 4” and are public knowledge.

Of all the Form 4 documents filed with our company we find the following Executives who have sold stock.

Lloyd Tomer – Chairman of the Board (Two Sales)
Scott Tomer – CEO of YourTravelBiz.com (No Sales)
Kim Sorensen – President of YTB Travel Network (One Sale)
Andrew Cauthen – COO of YTB International, Inc. (Three Sales)
John Clagg – CFO of YTB International (One Sale)

An executive sold stock 7 times in the last 12 months. Exorbitant? Alarming? I don’t know, you tell me. Royal Caribbean had 6 Executives sell in the last 12 months, Carnival had 5 Executives sell in the last 12 months, Sabre had 14 Executives sell in the last 12 months, and Expedia had 9 Executives sell in the last 12 months. Seems to be pretty on par to me, how ‘bout you?

Unfortunately, our 5 Executives are not the focus of all the attention or who have been selling all the stock. The one who is getting all the attention is Michael Brent. Now I’m sure there are some even with YTB who are new and have no idea who this Michael Brent is. He’s not on the Board of Directors, and he’s not an Officer with YTB.

So just who is Michael Brent? Travel Weekly gave a brief explanation of the timeline of The Brent Group who owns Rezconnnect Technologies and gave YTB its first booking capabilities back in 2001. By 2004 YTB offered to buy Rezconnect in a reverse merger, and Michal Brent took over as President of YTB being a majority owner of the company. By late 2006 YTB was 10 times as large as Rezconnect and shareholders agreed to change the name to YTB International, Inc. and headquarters were moved from New Jersey to Illinois, and Michael Brent resigned his position as President of the company.

Here is what everyone needs to read very carefully. Pick any of these sales and you should read the “remarks” section of this form.

“The Reporting Person is a member of a Section 13(d) group and a party to a certain Stockholders' Agreement, dated as of December 8, 2004, by and among certain stockholders of the Issuer that together own a significant percentage of the Issuer's outstanding common stock. On November 22, 2006, the Reporting Person granted an irrevocable proxy with respect to all shares of the Issuer's common stock now held or hereafter acquired by him to other parties to such Stockholders' Agreement. However, because the Reporting Person continues to possess a pecuniary interest with respect to all shares that he holds, he has reported such holdings on this Form 4.”

In layman’s terms, what that means is that Michael Brent gave up his right to vote as a shareholder in the company. His stock only holds a monetary value as he has handed his voting rights over to Coach, Scott and Kim, who I know just scares the living daylights out of some of our Traditionalists.

Now that Coach, Scott and Kim are in control, I’d say we are in very good hands. We in YTB started to vote “yes” with our money by purchasing the stock, enabling the stock to start climbing in December 2006. I realize that most will point out that the stock is not doing so well a year later, which in large part is due to Michael Brent riding off into the sunset with his money. (Which is his right and choice.) YTB International, Inc. started to turn a profit by Q2 and Q3 of 2007, and we also enjoyed a 1-3 stock split for those of us smart enough to invest in Coach, Scott, and Kim.

To answer John’s question specifically, is it a “good thing” that Michael Brent is selling off his shares of stock? No.

Can Michael Brent be considered a Top Executive with the company without voting rights or control of the day to day operations of YTB International, Inc? Certainly not.

Is YTB International better off without Michael Brent at the helm considering that YTB is now showing profits less than a year after his resignation as President? I’d certainly say so. While Michael Brent is selling off all his shares, those of us in YTB are buying stock in the company while it’s on sale. YTB is profitable, the Market Cap ($101.4 Million) is starting to climb again, and YTB is growing both in numbers (140,000 Active RTA’s) and sales (an estimated $550 Million in Travel for 2007). Friday, YTB moves into Canada, our first major International market.

Now that the smoke and mirrors have been removed from the picture, I’d say YTBLA is a strong buy.

Subscribe to Just Picture It Now for additional announcements and details!

Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812

Learn How To Become A Travel Agent

Book Your Travel & Vacations With

Travel Reservations: 1.800.243.4450
RTA #24635

Labels: Coach, Kim Sorensen, Michael Brent, Scott Tomer, YTB Travel Network, YTBLA

Posted by TravelPro at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments

Monday, January 14, 2008

Birthday Bash Announcements

For those wondering what went on during the Birthday Bash here are some of the highlights.

Recruiting:

A) Not ONE Lime Green T-shirt was seen during the Birthday Bash with the quote "I got here for FREE as me how!"

B) To our knowledge, not one person was recruited to joining YTB during the entire sailing.

New products and Affiliations:

A) New 17 minute video on on-line fundraising-"Passport to Giving" for prospecting non-profits, will not change the price or destination but the way they book to raise funds for travel they are already doing.

B) "Two Fly Free" backed by Thomas Cook , the oldest and largest hotel and airline consolidator.

C) Hunting and Fishing.Biz is live. Trips and products with similar prices to Bass Pro Shop, and going from 8,000 to 30,000 products as we expand.

D) YTB cars expanding to local markets and will be offering any brand and at as reasonable prices as any where else you would buy.

E) RTA incentives; adding UPS over night mail at up to 50% savings.

F) Spring Tour International, the largest tour operator in China, is offering YTB exclusive tour packages to China, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Especially exciting are a series of tours to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing which include hard to get Olympic event tickets. Packages offer a 25% commission.

International Expansion :

A) The Bahamas-Went live in the Bahamas on 1/11/2008 .

B) Bermuda-opening 2/8/2008 .

C) Canada-opening 2/8/2008 (Saturday 2/9/2008 2:00 til 4:00pm Vancouver, British Columbia, meeting at convention center.)

Saturday 2/16/2008 2:00 til 4:00 pm Toronto/Ontario (location TBA)

Travel and Marketing Updates :

A) New owner Stuart Johnson of Success Magazine will have a new format in 2008 will be the best in the industry on Network marketing, not just one company and we have structured an arrangement with the owner for a special edition 8 page story on YTB and an insertable disc on the company.

B) Founders tour for 2008 coming to all areas 26 stops already scheduled with Coach, look for e-mail to be sent today.

C) 2008 on the travel side goal is to be #1 with #1 Carnival. We have 40,000 active cruises booked, need 100,000 to be #1, everyone get in the game and book a group cruise. Goal is to sell 3000 Olympic packages to fulfill our responsibility to Spring Tour International. 2007 booked over 5 hundred million with goal to book over a billion 2008. (Which only 12 companies have done.)

D) Income Disclosure Statement for 2007 will be sent out attached to an e-mail today.

E) California requirements for credentials are standard for everyone.

Coming in 2008 - One presentation for everyone, CRTA training updated with streaming videos. Travel booking engine state of the art updating Communication updates to the field, more trained RTAs in travel than all other companies put together.

"If it ain't right don't do it and if it ain't true don't say it" ~ J. Lloyd "Coach" Tomer

Subscribe to Just Picture It Now for additional announcements and details!

Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812

Learn How To Become A Travel Agent

Book Your Travel & Vacations With

Travel Reservations: 1.800.243.4450
RTA #24635

Labels: Coach, YourTravelBiz.com, YTB Travel Network

Posted by TravelPro at 5:52 AM | Permalink | Comments

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Mirror Mirror On The Wall....

Editors Note: I had posted about a Passenger Bill of Rights on Sunday concerning all the troubles Airlines are going through right now. It came to my attention yesterday afternoon that two more states, Rhode Island and Arizona plan to introduce the same type of Passenger Rights that went into effect January 1 in New York. Read Here.

I commented recently how I’ve never been the type of person who likes to guess at anything. Those that know me know that I have a way of digging up stuff and finding information. I’ve always been this way and it’s just part of my nature to do my due diligence to find out for myself what’s true, false, or maybe a little slanted. That’s not to say that I don’t run into others all the time that point out or provide alternate information that may contradict what I have found to be true.

What each of us focuses on expands. If our focus is finding why Network Marketing is bad, guess what, we are going to attract evidence that supports that belief. If you’re focus is on finding that Network Marketing can be a viable business model, that’s exactly why you’ve stumbled onto this blog. I’ve done some extensive reading, research and actual practice on “The Law of Attraction” over the last few years and I may expand on that later, or in a series, but not now.

While finding the report above concerning Passenger Rights, I also stumbled on Travel Weekly’s predictions of what may occur here in 2008. Based on what each of the editor's has been reporting on throughout 2007 each of them was asked to make a prediction of what they see happening in 2008.

I’m not asking any of you to take this as fact, I remind you that these are predictions and nobody has a crystal ball sitting in front of them. 2007 certainly didn’t turn out the way I thought it would, far from it. There were many twists and turns that were very unexpected.

What I do want you to look at is where we are right now in our minds. How the events of the past have formed our opinions of the future. Predictions can be very revealing as a barometer or a report card if you will as to how we are doing.

Travel Weekly asked Nadine Godwin, Editor at Large, Retail, what the “Many trends, unknowable ends” (Page 2) were for her. I found her comments revealing as to where YTB and others are right now.

“Multilevel Marketers, by whatever name, will continue to attract traveler-sellers to what are, in some cases, little more than costly travel clubs. But by aggregating the many sales of small producers, the MLMs will deliver impressive numbers for suppliers, forcing players to reconsider what constitutes a “legitimate” travel intermediary. That often heated discussion will continue to liven Travel Weekly’s pages.”

Travel Weekly gets us. They have met with and interviewed Coach as early as a year ago (01/08/2007) concerning the “Card Mill” and “Legitimacy” issues other have about us, and with all the focus and industry recognition of claiming the #35 spot on Travel Weekly’s Power List, and Kim Sorensen being named Most Influential in the industry for 2007.

Couple of key points on what they have learned in 2007 based on what they have written about and observed:

- Travel MLM’s are attractive for the average person.
- Some are nothing more than costly travel clubs.
- Our small producers create impressive numbers for suppliers.
- Others may need to change their view of what’s “legitimate”.
- It’s predicted that this attention will not go away during the current year.

It will be interesting to see what transpires this year compared to last year. I’m sure there will be hurdles and surprises around the corner. But what’s going to be even more interesting to me is how our opposition interprets some of the events we have planned.

- How will our expansion into Canada be viewed?
- How will a second consecutive year doubling travel sales of 2006 in Travel Weekly’s Power List be viewed?
- Will our new travel sales requirements for credentials actually make a difference for those that think YTB is a “Card Mill”?
- Will there be any other exclusive deals with suppliers?
- Will there be any other terminations from suppliers?

As 2007 unfolded last year, 2008 will do the same and given time, we will have our answers.

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Labels: "Card Mill", Coach, Kim Sorensen, Travel MLM, Travel Weekly, YTB Travel Network

Posted by TravelPro at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments

Monday, December 31, 2007

Anything Special Happen to YOU This Year?

I've been doing a lot of thinking and reflecting this week while up in Pittsburgh about this past year. I can’t say it’s been an easy year, there have been many challenges this year, and after considerable reflection, I think “challenging” is a very appropriate word when describing my experience with YTB this year. To see and hear all the negativity concerning a company I admire, respect, and love the way I do, has been very difficult. Part of my struggle has been between my heart and my head. My heart tells me that I should be lashing out to defend all the negativity. My head and logic however tells me not only would lashing and mud slinging be of little use, but it’s not the proper way to fight ignorance. “Ignorance” is another choice word for me this year, and there is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. There are a lot of people whom I’ve come to know who are extremely intelligent, but merely uneducated about our particular business model. I also find that much of what YTB has done in a positive light has either been “ignored” or taken completely out of context.

Network Marketing or MLM in general has a stigma associated with it for a lot of people. There are plenty of broad and liberal strokes used to generalize MLM. For some, it’s visions of easy money. For others, it’s loosing thousands of dollars and being stuck with pile of product in your garage that you’ll never use. Others are convinced that in order to make it big, you have to hit up family and friends. Of course, they will all tell you “NO” because they all know someone who’s died in a cult like the “Peoples Temple” and don’t want to drink the Kool-Aid.

Any look or consideration of treating this model like any other traditional business is completely foreign to most.

That’s not to say that there have not been considerable advancements with YTB in technology, operations, and recognition that have really put YTB on the map this year. There are plenty of people out there who believe that the recognition we've received; especially in the last quarter of 2007 have been the wrong type of recognition. Recognition is recognition, and I have to site a quote in Travel Weekly back to the beginning of the year by Coach, when he commented about all the critics out there who think YTB is nothing but a card mill and/or pyramid scheme.

"You beat that by proving yourself. We just keep doing the right thing."

I've seen throughout this year, YTB doing the right thing. A press release was posted a few weeks ago commenting on some of the advancements we’ve made. Gone are the days when everyone was talking about YTB filing for bankruptcy, and we now have total revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2007 of $95.9 million. (For those of us smart enough to invest in company stock by the way now have 3 times the amount of shares.) Gone are the days of having nobody except “our own” quoting how much travel we actually book thanks to Travel Weekly ranking us 35th largest travel agencies overall for 2006. Gone are the days of not making any impact in the industry after having YTB International President, J. Kim Sorensen, named by Travel Weekly as one of the 33 most influential people in the travel industry. Gone are the days of just a recruiting machine with our "sail-a-thon," booking more than 12,000 passengers in less than 24 hours. Gone are the days that we don’t have any training available for our RTA’s when we rolled out "YTB E-Campus", designed by Dr. Marc Mancini, one of the travel industry's most highly respected speakers, educators and consultants. I would also add gone are the days of YTB Rep’s and RTA’s running around unchecked and unaccountable with our membership to the DSA and a code of ethics.

Most who oppose our company will readily bring up a vendor or two that are now gone, namely, Royal Caribbean and industry Accreditation. To put those events into perspective, I think we might need to look ahead into 2008. While I don’t have any type of crystal ball in front of me, there have been policies, procedures, expansions, and technologies put in place that just may shed some new light on how poor that move really was back in October. YTB will require travel booking production before issuing a credentials card. (RTA or CLIA) YTB agrees that card mills (companies that sell credential cards with a minimum of any professional commitment or training,) are a problem in the travel industry, and standards must be upheld. Among those standards emphasized by YTB:

· A comprehensive, travel-specific education and training program to ensure the professionalism;
· Encourage travel suppliers to make industry perks available based on agent productivity;
· Avoid issuing agent ID cards that are designed to mislead travel suppliers;
· Incentivize agents to take additional training from associations and travel suppliers for further professional growth;
· Establish a policy that agents should not attempt to solicit or recruit at industry functions or FAM trips;
· Follow all compliance guidelines for direct sales of the Direct Selling Association;
· Focus on generating travel commissions through a significant volume of travel product sales;

I also have to wonder what the effects of our expansion into Canada and Caribbean Islands Q1 2008 will do to increase Travel Sales. YTB has double its production in both RTA web site sales from 60K to over 135K in 2007. YTB has already doubled our Travel Commission by the third quarter from $7 million in all of 2006 to $14 Million as of September, and doubled our gross sales from $226 to $550 million. (By the way, $550 Million should place YTB in the Top 20 overall for the Travel Weekly 2007 Power List.) And for those that are concerned about how YTB “gleans” numbers from suppliers to “validate” our sales numbers; that will be taken care of in March when our SAP NetWeaver® technology platform goes live as the software solution best able to support the company's growth strategy.

There have been many twists, turns, and surprises concerning YTB in 2007. I firmly believe that YTB shocked the Travel Industry with our ranking in Travel Weekly, while at the same time Royal Caribbean shocked us. Of course both events pale in comparison when you take into account that John Frenaye and Doug Bauknight consider each other friends. Yet, the world hasn’t stopped or come to an end as we move into 2008. YTB may never overcome ignorance and some who drink the pyramid and card mill Kool-Aid, and that’s their choice. We may also never be able to own up to the high standards of those who have come before in the Travel Industry, and that’s our choice. If there is one thing I’ve learned in my years with YTB (now finishing up my third year) it’s this. Everyone has their own perspective about who YTB is and what YTB does. My job isn’t to convince anyone, it’s only to inform and educate. The choices you as a critic or contributor make based on this information are yours.

One last word comes to mind concerning 2007 while we move into 2008 and that word is “resolve”. Now that YTB is on the map thanks to all the attention we’ve gotten from critics and contributors alike, 2008 should be another defining year because of YTB’s resolve to do keep doing the right things. I once heard a very wise man state something many years ago. I’ve run into him since several times and he keeps reminding me…

"If it aint true, don't say it.
If it aint right, don't do it" ~ Coach

Thank you all who have been reading this year…I’ve truly enjoyed being able to share with all of you and it’s been a real honor to have so many from both sides of the fence both visit and comment.

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