by John Frenaye
Monday November 23, 2015

Let’s face it, running a travel business can be tough. It can be even tougher when you are running it solo. Without employees or contractors, it all falls squarely on your lap and it becomes very easy to spend your day putting out fires rather than handling productive tasks that will make you money. But it does not have to be that way.

I have been working for myself since 1996 and have run the gamut from owning several retail storefronts, to a purely online endeavor (failed), to a very small niche agency. Through the years, I have missed a beat or 1,600. I have had some successes and many failures. The secret is to learn from your failures and move on. How do I measure success?…

Since I read the book titled Kaizen, I find myself eyeballing a zillion items that yesterday would have gone unnoticed and, worse, untouched. I figured if I was not in position to complete the task in one sitting, I would wait until I could find the time to do so. This has proven over time to be a wasteful decision. (Kaizen goes against the popular teaching to finish what you start. With Kaizen, you eventually do complete the task, but not instantaneously.)

Kaizen comes into play in virtually every aspect of our life. It also works when it comes to eating healthy. Let’s use French Fry Potatoes as an example of how Kaizen works. You do not have to give up French fries cold turkey once…

by Richard Earls
Sunday November 22, 2015

People talk. Sometimes, they talk about you and your travel practice. Sometimes they say really nice things about your skill, the last trip they booked with you, and the wonderful experiences they had. Every now and then, someone might say something not so nice. When that happens, your brand is damaged. You probably know your brand is not what you say it is: your brand is what others say it is.  However, it is possible for you to influence the public perception of your brand and to raise the positive profile that others have of your travel practice. In the event of a problem, it is possible to effect damage control and to take possession of the course of conversation.  But none of this is…