Most of us are solo (or close to it) agencies. We work from home or a small office and sales, marketing, planning, accounting, education, customer service, and janitorial all tend to fall under our umbrella title of “travel professional.” And, if we are honest with ourselves, some of these slip through the cracks. Sometimes all it takes is a little note to remind ourselves that from time to time we need to rejuvenate our business. And here are some easily implemented marketing reminders.

General Marketing Tips and…

Like everything else under the sun today, you have choices to consider. The style of organization you want to represent is one of them. What kind of reputation do you want to bring to the playing field? There are four to choose from.

Each of the four types consists of two primary elements, the procedure side of business and the personal side. One deals with the way you connect with your prospects and customers, while the other involves the actual mechanics of delivering your product or service in a professionally accepted fashion. Both are of equal importance and the combination of the two define the type of organization you are running.

It may help to see these two elements as quadrants on a graph. The horizontal line represents procedure, while the…

Several years back, Psychology Today ran an article on what it termed the human "negativity bias." It seems that our brains have a heightened sensitivity to unpleasant news. We focus on the negative. Very likely that capacity kept our knuckle-dragging ancestors out of harm's way. Today, however, it serves to allow politicians to manipulate us with negative political advertising and gives the news media a portal through which they can drive advertising. The impact can be seriously harmful to our sense of well-being.

Unfortunately, this bad-news bias is active not only when we sit in front of the television, but in every aspect of our lives. We remember insults far longer than we remember compliments. Fear can paralyze us into acting unwisely or…

Jaclyn manages Collette’s day-to-day operations, working with our global offices, teams on the road and all over the company. She collaborates with the strategic leadership and executive teams to drive Collette’s growth. She directly oversees product development and tour management operations; and works closely with the sales and marketing teams. Jaclyn started with Collette in 2005 and has held numerous positions within the company. Jaclyn spent many years designing product and managing tours in regions including in the United States and Australia. She has also guided tours and worked in the customer care center as an inside sales representative. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rhode Island and an MBA from Babson College.

Jaclyn…