Become a Home Based Travel Agent

Your News in the New Year
To print or not to print, that is the question?
By Joanie Ogg CTC, MCC

Tom and I often discuss this topic as it relates to our newsletter that you are reading right now. Since our list of readers continues to grow and is now more then 20 thousand strong (thank you all), we are not likely to be able to make a print version available due to the size of our readership, however if I were you, the travel professional with your own personal database of loyal customers, I would probably take a long hard look at going “old school” and making a print newsletter option available for my customers.

With the beauty and efficiency of the Internet, all one has to do is post their content online or on their website and anyone can read it and enjoy. And it costs nothing more then your time and effort, right? You can provide up to them second information that is timely. Your customers and potential customers can access this from their mobile device, their laptop and if they choose to they might react to its offerings in a nano-second.

An email newsletter is certainly cost effective in comparison to a snail-mail version. Oh, that’s right; there is no cost is there? Sure, you have your time and efforts invested, which certainly has a cost. Let’s fact it though, FREE is good when operating a home-based travel business or any business for that matter. The increasing cost of postage also makes the decision to use print medium in your marketing endeavors more costly for sure.

So why is it that we still like to read a “real” book, newsletter, brochure, postcard or any other printed piece? Call me old-fashioned, but I love the feel of a hard cover book. I enjoy magazines that are not only appealing to my eyes, but feel good touch. If anyone has ever read the magazine “Simple” you know what I mean. Pick up a copy at bookstore and tell me it isn’t so. Oh, did I just say bookstore? I guess we are not yet in a totally print-less world after-all.

One would think that print newsletters would now be obsolete based on cost alone but they are not. In fact, some companies are re-birthing this medium and here are some reasons why.

1. Statistics have shown that I am not the only one out there who likes the touch and visual experience of reading printed material. Apparently other people out there like to hold, touch and feel what they read.

2. There have been studies that show when someone reads material online, they actually retain a great deal less of what they are reading then compared with those reading printed material.

3. There is a perceived value in a mailed piece. Everyone knows email is FREE. If you invest in a printed piece, your customer knows this is an investment and appreciate that you spend money investing in them and your business.

4. Mail gets delivered physically. While it may not be nearly as timely as the online version, it won’t be tossed in a junk file or spam filter.

5. Printed newsletters and pieces have shelf life. I will liken this to my beloved Nordstrom catalogs. When I take my trip to the mailbox and I see one there, I think to myself. Hmmm, I really don’t have time to read this right now but I will put it on my kitchen counter and thumb through it tonight when I am preparing dinner and enjoying a glass of wine. It has become almost a ritual for me when I get one in the mail. Granted, sometimes I will toss it after I lust over the designer shoe pages, but I may just hold on to it and turn the corner of one page for future shopping plans. On the flip side, I get my Ann Taylor emails, almost daily and I rarely even bother to open the email. It is not that I do not love their clothes; it is simply that it does not feel special. I am working when I see these fly in to my inbox and out to my trash. I simply do not have time to open it because I am working. When your clients are planning a trip, do they typically do this during their busy workday sitting at their computer? This is just some food for thought.

Email newsletters are fast, easy and cheap. We just have to be sure that they are effective. In a perfect world, I would suggest you do both if you budget allows. Perhaps you can send an email newsletter on a weekly basis and send a printed version monthly. Or you might look at sending an email version monthly and a special quarterly printed publication. You can also ask your clients what they prefer. A simple survey asking their opinion or a check box on your website opting for printed versions or both might be just the ticket to giving them what they prefer. If you do decide to stop doing one or the other, be sure to let your customer base know your plans so they don’t wait and wonder. Letting your customers share in your News in the New Year might be just the ticket to success. Hmm, would that be an e-ticket or a paper ticket? Cash is still paper and it does have a good feel to it.

Joanie Ogg CTC MCC
Joanie Ogg Marketing Group
Editor

Joanie Ogg is a thirty-five year veteran of the travel industry and has been involved with the independent contractor evolution since 1988. She is the principal of Joanie Ogg Marketing Group, which specializes in consulting and speaking on the topic of Home-Based Travel. She also provides marketing and sales for wide variety of products under the umbrella HomeBasedTravelAgent.com.

A demonstrated industry leader, Joanie most recently served as the President of the National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents (NACTA) and TravelSellers. She and her husband Tom acquired NACTA in 1996 and sold it to The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) in 2000. Joanie’s tenure in the travel industry includes owning and operating one of the first successful host agency models. She has owned and operated several storefront travel agencies (both commercial and leisure), as well as a Hawaii wholesale tour company.

Her decades of success have garnered her numerous accolades over the years. Her accomplishments have been recognized by receipt of two Lifetime Achievement Awards from major trade groups, being named as one of the “100 Most Powerful Women in Travel” by Travel Agent magazine on several occasions, voted as “Travel Agent of the Year” by the readers of Travel Trade magazine, and has been recognized by many other industry organizations throughout her tenure in the industry. In 2008 Joanie Ogg was inducted into the CLIA Hall of Fame, an honor held by some of the most influential executives in the travel industry.

Joanie is a Master Cruise Counselor (MCC) and a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC). Joanie has co-authored two popular travel industry books for cruise specialists and home-based travel agents and has authored hundreds of travel trade articles. She has inspired tens of thousands of travel agents attending her presentations at trade events, cruise seminars, international trade gatherings and numerous local educational venues throughout the United States. With a time-honored background and forward-looking vision, she is often featured as a speaker at many of the travel industry’s major conferences and events. Joanie’s speaking talents are widely sought as a travel industry emcee by the most recognized travel organizations. She has emceed such events as Cruise-A-Thons, ASTA’s CruiseFest, The Trade Show, The Travel Institute Forum and all of NACTA’s National and International Conferences.


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