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

Friday, June 27, 2008

Bonus! IRS Increases Mileage Rate...

Most of you who keep track of mileage like I do knew about the increase January 1 to 50.5 cents per business mile. In a rare move on Monday, the IRS approved an eight (8) cent increase in the rate mid way through the year starting July 1 to 58.5 cents per mile through December 31. This increase is in direct response to the higher fuel costs everyone is incurring. This new rate by the way is only valid for the last half of the year. (Previous mileage from January 1 through June 30 must be deducted at 50.5 cents per business mile.)

The IRS normally increases its mileage rates once per year, and did so this past year from 48.5 to 50.5 cents starting January 1st. The last time the IRS approved a rate increase such as this mid way through the year was back in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina led to a nationwide spike in gasoline prices.

The new six-month rate for computing deductible medical or moving expenses will also increase by eight (8) cents to 27 cents a mile, up from 19 cents for the first six months of 2008. The rate for providing services for charitable organizations is set by Congress, not the IRS, and remains at 14 cents per mile.

"Rising gas prices are having a major impact on individual Americans," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. "We want the reimbursement rate to be fair to taxpayers."

Imagine that…the IRS wanting to be “fair” to taxpayers. I’ve heard it said that there are two tax laws here in the US.

One code for the informed; and one for the uninformed.

I constantly read comments from extremely fearful and uniformed individuals who think the IRS is out to get people. Any idea of legally and legitimately deducting anything on your tax returns concerning a home based business is a highly risky move. While I have never personally been audited, those I know of who have been audited, (including those in YTB) have told me that it’s highly overrated. Of course, they like me keep impeccable documentation and also have a Professional prepare their returns, as should you.

Those of us in YTB know of Andy Magnus and his site Your Tax Buddy, (Another term for Y-T-B.) and the discount we have with H&R Block with our RTA Advantage. I also know of several CPA’s who are cross line to me who understand the tax laws and what a home based business can do for anyone who owns one.

Back in February and March many people bought Ron Mueller’s book “It’s How Much You Keep That Counts” and I’ve also participated in some of his seminars and conference calls with tips on exactly how to document for your CPA and the IRS to keep things on the up and up. (Ron is the one who send me the special update via e-mail concerning this rate increase complete with a direct link to the IRS site.) Ron and Andy also cover how to ask the right questions when looking for a CPA that knows and understand what the tax laws mean for anyone who owns a home based business.

I can’t tell you how important it is to educate yourself on the in’s and out’s of tax savings in a home based business. Not doing so can cost you THOUSANDS a year paying Uncle Sam instead of keeping your own hard earned money. This country was founded on those that owned their own business, and the vast majority of tax laws still cater to business owners.

It’s the right thing to do for both you and your family.

Author’s note: If you’d like to see a perfect example of what I’m talking about concerning those who are uneducated about the tax laws and what it can do for you in a home based business, feel free to visit this post, which I found just before posting. Please understand that this blog poster and those who comment on it have absolutely no experience or education in tax codes or the IRS.

It’s your basic fear mongering, mud slinging and spin in an attempt to create doubt and fear in those who don’t take the time to educate themselves from qualified sources. (That’s why I post viable sources and documentation to find the real story here.)

Book Your Travel & Vacations With

Travel Reservations: 1.800.243.4450
RTA #24635

Labels: Home Based Business, Home Office, Ronald Mueller, Tax Code, Tax Deductions

Posted by TravelPro at 7:29 AM | Permalink

Friday, April 11, 2008

I've Been Duped!

They finally got me.

I have just been duped – hoodwinked - had the wool pulled over my eyes - what ever you want to call it, busted for not following a “Golden Rule” that I have been preaching here for years. I can’t say that I don’t know how this happened, because I do, and I’ll explain how this scam worked, but quite honestly I’m more than a little embarrassed over what just transpired a few days ago.

First, what’s this “Golden Rule” that I tell you to follow but I somehow forgot?

“Don’t believe a word you hear, unless you can verify it on your own to be true.”

Mistakes happen, and while I’m not sure that either Neal Boortz or Harv Ecker, two mentors of mine who have attempted and obviously failed to pound this into my head, would ever forgive me for such a simple oversight, I’m just going to try to let this one slide under the table, and chalk it up to experience.

I feel obligated however to help you learn from my mistake.

So, just how was I played? How could someone like ME miss something like this? The “sting” stems from the newly released 2007 Annual Report when a couple of days ago, one of the Traditionalists posted a comment on my blog that there were only 366 shareholders of company stock.

I simply dismissed it and told this Traditionalist they might have heard something to that effect, but I could assure them, there were more than 366 stockholders of YTBLA. (Myself being one of them.) Another Traditionalist chimed in that this number could in fact be found in the Annual Report on the bottom of page 9.

Now remember my Golden Rule; “Don’t believe a word you hear, unless you can verify it on your own to be true.” So like a good boy, I opened up the Annual Report and sure enough, there it is.

“As of December 31, 2007, we had 366 shareholders of record of our Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock.”

I was dumbfounded to be honest. I know a ton of people in YTB and when the stock was down in the dumps, I got calls, e-mails, and private messages asking me what I knew what was going on with the company stock. I couldn’t honestly tell them anything I knew because, I really didn’t know why. My gut told me that it would rebound, and I’ve learned to always trust my gut.

By the way, I have very limited experience in this type of stuff. Yes, I own stock, and I also have some mutual funds that I have invested in, but for the most part, investments of this type are of a very limited basis. When I tried to purchase this stock a couple of years ago, I went to a Broker who simply wouldn’t in good conscience let me invest the type of money I was talking about into YTB. While I thought this Analyst was very nice and polite, I wasn’t asking him for advice, I just needed a Broker and it would either be him or someone else. (As it turned out, it ended up being E-Trade.)

When I realized that I was only one of 366 stockholders according to what I was told and I thought I was able to confirm, I had a choice to position this as either be a very risky and lucky investor, or brilliant.

Which position do you think I decided to pick? ;-P

But something just didn’t sit right with me. I couldn’t imagine with all the employees at the home office, all the Directors who were vested in stock due to bonuses and many of them had invested early themselves like I did, and all the people calling and e-mailing me in a panic a month or so ago that there were only 366 stock holders at the end of 2007.

It just didn’t add up! (Sorry, had to steal that line.)

With documentation like an Annual Report that’s filed with the SEC, I had to take this as fact. It’s right there in black and white and can’t really argue the point very well now could I? I had seen some of the “Critics” posting on various boards that with only 366 stockholders, manipulation of the stock up or down is very easy to do. Speculation that a couple of Directors had gotten together to drive the price up and then dump it were running amok all over the place. Critics will continue to spread this “Pump and Dump” theory for years to come, trust me.

With all the headlines and focus on the Annual Report about YTB being a Darling, and Stock to watch, I knew that it was Day Traders manipulating the stock price, not Directors, so that spin was extremely easy to dismiss and let go of.

You should too, because it’s complete bunk.

Then yesterday afternoon I got a call from someone cross line to me who I speak with on a regular basis and we exchange what we hear, and most of the time have a good laugh at all the fuss over little ol’ YTB these days.

Then the bombshell came. “Doug” he said, “You know that 366 number that everyone’s been talking about?”

“Yes” I replied.

“That number represents employees at the Home Office not total shareholders.”

WHAT?

Sure enough, I confirmed with an Investment Broker and according to the SEC, the company has to report how many “employees” own stock.

How could I have been so blind to trust a bunch of Critics, Naysayers, Cynics, who’s only mission in life is to “spin”? I actually thought they knew what they were talking about!

So there you have it. How Doug got snookered by the TTA’s and Critics. A cryin’ shame, but I guess it could happen to the best of us.

So the next time you see some “Critic” spout off something as “fact”, please save yourself the embarrassment.

“Don’t believe a word you hear, unless you can verify it on your own to be true.”

Sign up for our FREE Newsletter for news and updates concerning YTB!

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: Annual Report, Home Office, MLM Myths, Pump and Dump, SEC, Stock Split, YTB

Posted by TravelPro at 7:40 AM | Permalink | Comments

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Latest news from YTB National Convention!

I've been thinking about all those people who told me that YTB would never work, that it's a scam, it would never last, it would never amount to anything.

Well – Well – Well, take a look at us now!

Coach Tomer was quoted in an interview back in January how we should respond to all the critics. “You beat that by proving yourself. We just keep doing the right thing.” Because we did the right thing, it’s been a really good summer for our family and YTB Travel Network with recognition and announcements that not only adds credibility, but nails the door shut that YTB International would never amount to anything. I’m still gloating over our listing in Travel Weekly as the 35th largest Travel Agency in the Country, and ranked number 11 for leisure travel sales. A 6 year old company with no advertising, requires no experience to get started, and relies on our Agents to simply point people to their web site? Who knew? Not only has our company stock been climbing since December of last year, we benefited from a 1-3 stock split this summer tripling the amount of shares that we now own, and just before the Convention, YTB posted a $1.7 profit for the second quarter of 2007. My, how things have changed.

Nearly 11,000 Referring Travel Agents attended the YTB annual National Convention in St. Louis, MO. I was very proud to have a number of team members who attended a weekend of recognition of the past year's high sales achievers, providing team building ideas, inspirational and motivational seminars, future plans, and several major announcements. The first two days of the Convention, we had the opportunity to select from 132 business classes at YTB University. These classes were taught by field leaders, corporate staff, and outside professionals. The information was invaluable enabling all of us to learn from the best of the best.

When the General Sessions started Friday morning I was blown away by the amount of people who were in attendance, but even more so by the dynamic stage complete with a cruise ship and what appeared to be a life size commercial airliner which hung above a runway. The atmosphere was certainly electric right from the start.

Did I say several major announcements? Right from the start, the company released major bombshells at every General Session all weekend long, starting with our new personalized booking engine to include more features that myself and our clients have requested. We have a new, state-of-the-art cruise engine, and also added several niche sites that will appeal to travel customers. Fell free to check out our new Golf Site, Flowers Site, and YTB Weddings page which can be accessed through the Extras tab on the home page along with YTB Cars which was also launched in July. Additional specialty sites are being developed and will be available soon to include skiing, adventure, and extreme travel custom pages.

Our new Marketing website has been completely revamped and launched with a spectacular new look and tons of new features to better assist us in our YTB business! You can read recent BizReports and hear the latest Conference Training Calls without have to have access to our Back Office. Check out the new high resolution "Take a Look at YTB" video located in the center of the page! This has been a surefire way to interest prospects in hearing more about this great company.

RTAs just starting out now have the capability to purchase health care insurance with no questions asked! In addition to our Directors who build teams, now any RTA who earns $25,000 in travel commissions in a 12-month period will qualify for fully paid health insurance with Blue Cross Blue Shield. Commission level must be maintained to continue to receive this benefit. Now the company will provide both team builders AND Travel Commission builders equal benefits in both Health and Life Insurance. By the way, the Life Insurance Policy was also increased from $100,000 to $150,000 for our Directors.

Effective January 1, 2008, new requirements will be in place in order to qualify for a YTB Referring Travel Agent credential card. RTAs joining as of January 1, 2008 must sell a minimum of $1,500 in travel before applying for the RTA credential card. RTA's who wish to qualify for CLIA credentials must sell a minimum of $2,500 in travel in order to carry this prestigious credential. Renewal credentials will not be required to meet this qualification. (Annual testing and fees with CLIA still apply for all RTA's)

YTB's famous Bill of Rights has now been amended to add even more protection. In addition to our residual commission, YTB now protects all Rep commissions and bonuses.

YTB is in the process of getting "Cleared for Takeoff" in Canada! The company will announce during Coach's Birthday Bash a firm CANADA GO LIVE date, which will be sometime between January 5th and January 20th, 2008. YTB will schedule a Kickoff Canada meetings within 30 days after the GO LIVE date. I'll keep an eye on upcoming BizReports for the latest news for our neighbor to the north! (Beauty eh?")

YTB is also introducing a twice annual publication all about TRAVEL! "Fun and Travel" magazine discusses travel trends, features preferred vendors, and reviews the hottest travel destinations. It will be available at the Funshine Travel Trade Show in Orlando, Florida to be held Friday and Saturday, October 5-6, 2007. More information on pricing and availability will be published in upcoming BizReports and I'll be sure to let you know.

YTB is also looking to help the "Traditional Travel Agents" fight back. I know for example most Travel Agents still in business today focus on the Luxury market. Cruises, All-Inclusive packages, Tours and such. I also know loyal clients often call for airline, hotels, and car rentals that are not productive use of time. Because they are loyal clients Agents can now send clients to the internet to book their day to day travel themselves through a private label YTB Booking engine tied to the Agency. Agents can now take back some of the commission lost to airlines and those big on line booking engines. You may have heard of them, Travelocity, Orbitz, and Expedia? For a set period, RTAs credentialed by another travel agency can qualify to become a YTB Referring Travel Agent for only $49.95. We will waive the initial $449.95 start up costs! This offer good August 17 through midnight CT December 2, 2007.

RTAs will also have an opportunity to sell a one-year subscription in a Two Fly Free program for a $300 fee. This will allow for free airfare from select cities when purchased in conjunction with a 7-10 night hotel stay (international destinations are also available). In a recent comparison on a trip to Hawaii for a group of six, savings of over $10,000 could have been realized using this program. Two Fly Free program details are being finalized and this program will be available through the RTA booking engine. I'll watch upcoming BizReports for more details.

Two new DVD tools and books where introduced as well, "Coach's Playbook" and "Circle of Champions". "Coach's Playbook" is a 55-minute DVD and booklet showing you how to effectively build your business, created by the founders, Coach, Scott, and Kim. This includes YTB business fundamentals, the key to understanding the YTB compensation plan, and an inside look at how YTB began and the passion behind it. "Coach's Playbook" will be included in the Toolbox welcome kit for all new RTAs. The "Circle of Champions" DVD and booklet features the stories of the Top 12 Million Dollar Diamond Ring earners. They share you with what this business means to them as they invite you into their homes and families. "Circle of Champions" booklet also included in the Toolbox welcome kit for all new RTAs.

Our new 131,000 square foot Home Office being renovated is going Green! The building will meet the goals of the 2030 Worldwide Challenge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the building by 50%. It will be built on new construction standards called LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) The LEED Green Building Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. We are also working to buy a large swath of nearby land, currently a cornfield, along Route 143, and wants to build a hotel and conference center and perhaps more office space, total land owned will be more than 59 acres.

Think it's been a good summer? You bet it has! From the looks of it, it's going to get even better as we continue to execute our business plan and continue to take the industry by storm. There is little doubt YTB is the current leader in the Networking Travel Industry, and from what's been laid out before us, there is little evidence that this will change. We make no bones about the fact that our goal is the be the #1 Travel Agency in the world, and it's good to see signs that we are rapidly moving in that direction.

If you'd like help get us to our goal, we'd love to have you! Feel free to pick up the phone and call us or simply leave your information on our automated lead capture page so we can call you on our dime at http://www.justpictureitnow.com/.

As in Just Picture It Now, you too can be a part of this incredible company and industry.

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: Circle Of Champions, Coach's Playbook, Home Office, National Convention, Power List, Scam, Travel Weekly, YourTravelBiz.com, YTB, YTB Cars, YTB Flowers, YTB Golf, YTB Travel Network

Posted by TravelPro at 3:09 PM | Permalink | Comments

Monday, March 12, 2007

The Belly of The Beast...

I had an opportunity last week to visit the home office of YTB International, Inc. Back in December, the company moved to a brand new location in Wood River, Illinois for Phase II of a three phase process. It was the second move in as many years and needed to be done in order to keep pace with the company’s growth and long term vision of being the number one Internet Travel Company in the world. After this visit, I would have to agree with this vision and am not only confident that YTB Travel Network will be number one in the next few years, but am also very proud to be a key part of YourTravelBiz.

After more than two years with the company, the company has always exceeded my expectations in what it said it was going to do and provide to those of us out in the field. Making it easier and better for those of us who want to build and create a future for ourselves if we just plug into the systems they have laid out for us. I can think of several improvements and advances over the years that have far exceeded expectations. This visit to the new home office was no different.

I have to admit, as I came up on the building, it was not what I had expected. Nobody told me that the renovations for Phase II only consisted of work done on the inside of the building. The outside was simply a shell of the old K-mart that had been abandoned some 10 years before. It wasn’t until I walked inside the building that I started to get a taste of the type of work that had been done and why people were so excited about what was being built. Here is a taste of what I found.

The main lobby was open and very modern. A couple of large LCD displays were found behind the front counter to display pictures of previous events from the National Convention, Coach’s Birthday Bash, and other Regional Trainings and events across the country. Another display produced a quad display of security cameras around the front, side and hallways inside the building. A large YTB International, Inc. logo is proudly displayed as you walking into the lobby area. (Just in case you didn’t know where you were.) The front counter was a white oak, and the floors covered in an ivory marble.

The entire complex was very modern and quit festive, including a couple of surf boards propped up in the windows of several of the Department Heads, one which included “Surfer Girl” just inside Sandy Pippins office, who happens to be not only YTB’s first employee, but has grown with the company as Vice President of Corporate Administration.

As the tour began, I realized just how many people at the home office actually support us out in the field. The facility is separated into different sections totaling 190 employees who specialize in departments which include, Representative Support, Travel Support, Travel Documentation, Travel Fulfillment, Travel Credentials, Marketing, IT, Legal, Payroll, Association and Corporate, and even a specialized department for those of us who speak Spanish. All these people dedicated to helping those of us out in the field to answer questions and provide the best support possible. To top it off, you got a strong cense that these people not only enjoy what they do, but are happy and eager to help us. And why not, the same Christmas Bonus is up for grabs this year for these employees as last year, tripling the end of the year bonus if they hit the magic number of 152,269.

After the tour, a lunch was served at the Gateway Center, just south of the home office. After the luncheon we had a chance to meet with Chairman of the Board 'Coach' Lloyd Tomer, YTB Travel Network President J. Kim Sorensen, and YourTravelBiz CEO Scott Tomer. We also heard from Andrew Cauthen, who joined the YTBI team in November 2004 as Chief Operating Officer of the YTB subsidiary. He was subsequently named President of YTB in October 2006, and on March 1, 2007 was named CEO of YTBI. John Clagg, our newly appointed Treasurer, also serves as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of YTBI as well as its subsidiaries. He joined the Company in December 2003. Eric Smith, Chief Information Officer, the keeper of YTB’s massive IT infrastructure who joined the company in 2001. Ted Lindauer, Vice President of Legal and Regulatory Affairs and General Counsel, who has worked with the company since it’s inception in 2001, but recently closed his California practice to come work with YTB full time in the summer of 2006. The YTB management team is unified in one vision – commitment and support to it’s RTA’s and Reps.

After listening to each of these Department heads, I’m more confident than ever that YTBI is here for the duration, and committed to supporting myself, and my growing team. As I grow, YTB grows with me. YTB has increased its corporate staff from fewer than 30 employees in 2004 to 190 as of March 8. Plans include doubling this support staff to 400 by the end of 2007, and a total of 750 by year end 2009. With only one quarter of the new home office being finished at this point in time, that leaves another 100,000 square feet to house this support staff.

I thought I saw something in this company more than two years ago. In reality, it’s actually better than I thought it would ever be. YTB has always had a way of exceeding my expectations and I’m thrilled to see what’s happening to this company. Now more than ever!