I subscribe to Apple News+ and to Medium and enjoy them both. But I recently noticed something about the way I read them.  The headline grabs my attention (duh), and I click on the link to read the content. But if the article opens and it appears too long, I just close it.  Sure, I delivered an open to them, but the purpose of the article failed. I will totally read a BuzzFeed piece titled 10 Toys From Your Childhood You Forgot. But the one titled What These 47 Stars of Yesterday Look Like Today doesn’t stand a chance with me. So why is that? I suspect that the authors are writing with the assumption that their audience has the same interest. And that is…

Does it go without saying that travel agents should travel? It is easy to ignore the very advice we give our clients. For a travel professional, however, travel is more than a divertissement…it’s our business. When a travel professional journeys, it is an opportunity to reconnect with the passion that first moved you to become a travel agent. By traveling, you are reminded of both the pleasures and the pains of the experience - it creates a greater degree of empathy for your clients. Without the availability of fams, many agents would not be able to afford to experience properties and destinations that are reserved for luxury clients or the greater number they must review to prepare for the vast majority of their clients.

  — Travel Research Online
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A common mistake rookies and amateurs make when it comes to competitive sales is arriving at the “last straw.” I remember all too clearly when I first fell victim to this fatal error.

I was working for Maritz Motivation at the time. My division of this highly respected motivation company sold supportive meeting services. What we referred to as “deliverables” often sold for six digits (often over $300,000).

One of my target accounts was Ricoh Copiers, and I worked for months trying to schedule an introductory meeting with the key decision-maker. You name it… I tried it. Regardless of the time, day, month, weather, position of the stars or phase of the moon, the end result of my persistence was always the same… no meeting… no…