Both Tom and Joanie Ogg write articles for the various travel industry trade publications about home-based travel agents. Here are some recent articles that have been published. You might find them interesting. Keep checking back as we will post new articles as they are written.

Wear Your Professional Credentials on Your Sleeve: Here is an excellent article written by industry leader Jim Smith regarding the coming shortage of travel professionals and industry professionalism. Great Reading!

Travel Video, YouTube.com and You: If you want to drive traffic to your website by the droves for free, then this article is for you. The video phenomenon is here to stay. Find out how you can cash in on it now!

Editorial: You Too Can Become a Professional Travel Agent For Only $$$$ Per Year!:  Upset about card Mills and the proliferation of "for profit" solutions? Take charge of the future and get involved with this movement!

Global Settlement Solutions and You: From collecting service fees from clients to selling tours across currency platforms, you need to understand how to use global settlement solutions to process funds. Here is a great article that investigates exactly how you can use PayPal.com to prosper.

Host or Scam: Here is an article from a lady who signed up with a host agency and has regretted it ever since. See what she did wrong and read her suggestions on how to find the right host agency the first time.

Oh, Those Keyword Domain Names: Even the New York Times recognizes the value of keyword domain names. Here is an article that deals with the buying and selling of keyword domain names. You will believe the prices some people are asking, and getting.

10 Commandments for Home Based Travel Agents: Written by Nancy Kist of the Career Quest Training Center, here is a great article to remind us all to focus on the important issues.

Procrastination, Tomorrow's Problem, or Today's? Here is a wonderful article about how procrastination interferes with our success.

Practical and Tactical Marketing Techniques: We all sometimes forget basic techniques to market ourselves. Here is an excellent look at every day ways to market your business.

Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It: I have known Jan for several years now and have been impressed at how she presents herself online. She is a moderator for Cruise-Chat.com and quickly started forming cruise groups and turned her interest in online communities into hard cash. I asked Jan to write an article sharing her experiences so we all could learn from her.

UPDATE; Travel Agent Resource Center:  Find out what is new at the Travel Agent Resource Center. Here is an article written by Nancy Norris about the goings on there.

E-Newsletters and You (Part One):  Ever wondered what it takes to produce a great newsletter? Here is a series of articles that detail what you need to do (and not do) to publish a high quality newsletter that folks will read with a high priority.

E-Newsletters and You (Part Two):  Here is a continuation of the article about producing high-quality newsletters that will be read with priority. This article contains formatting tips that you must understand in order to produce HTML e-newsletters. Bookmark it for future reference.

Travel Gadgets, Gizmos and Tips: Here is a great article about the various items that are available to make traveling more rewarding, fun and safe. Written by a self-admitted travel gadget junkie, you will find this quite interesting if you (and your clients) are looking for information on how to travel safe and sound.

Travel Agents, Card Mills and Witch Hunts:  This is a very timely and interesting article about the evolution of cards mills in the travel industry and how travel professionals can take action to neutralize them in today's world.

Luxury Cruise vs. Luxury Resort, Which One is Better? If you are selling to the luxury market, this article makes great points when you are selling cruises vs. luxury resorts. Check it out Here.

Drive Traffic and Business with Travel Articles: If you want to drive focused traffic to your website in droves and for free, this article will show you how to do it. Using travel articles focused on your area of expertise is an excellent way to spread the word about your web. Check it out Here.

The Article I have Waited 25 Years to Write: Being an old airline employee I love the airline business, but deregulation has led to the deterioration of service and amenities to a point where flying is just not enjoyable. Enter Continental Airlines...read why you should switch to Continental now.

Travel Business Parental Success: Here is a great article for parents working from home that deals with how to cope with the many challenges.

Home Based Travel Agents; Copyrights, Trademarks and You: Here is an important article regarding the use of content and registered trademarks as an independent contractor. Unless you completely understand copyright and trademark law, you must read this article.

Home Based Travel Agents, Are You Buried in Paper?: Here is a wonderful article to read if you are like most home-based travel professionals and are buried in paper. Here is the way out!

Relationship Networking Works: Joanie Ogg CTC MCC shares how to use relationship networking to build a solid referral network and plenty of new clients. If you are unfamiliar with relationship networking, this article is for you!

The Name Game: Trying to decide upon your agency's name? Here is a great article that will help you find just the right name.

Tools for Projecting a Professional Image: Here is an excellent article on the OAG tools that Nancy uses to project a professional image to her clients.

Selecting a Host Agency: Looking for information of what to look for when selecting a host agency? Here is a detailed look that you will find very helpful.

Father Time: Here is a great article if you are having a difficult time managing your time in your business.

River Cruising, Opportunities Run Deep: If you haven't explored selling river cruises to boost your profitability, this article will pinpoint many reasons that you should.

How to Start Your Home-Based Cruise Agency: I wrote this article for Princess Cruise's Princess Academy and thought you might find it interesting. Check it out.

The Future of Portable Desktops: Here is a great article to read if you are just considering the purchase of a new desktop or laptop computer.

Cruise Seminars, How to Maximize Your Productivity: Here is a wonderful article on how to maximize your productivity while taking a industry cruise seminar. I think everyone should read this one.

Cruising: The Best Education Money Can Buy: Nancy Norris shares her experience at becoming a solid cruise agent and how you can do the same.

Blogging, For Fun and Profit: Interested in blogging? Here is a no-nonsense article that tells you exactly how to get going. Read it and start your own blog today!

Cruise Sellers Should Cruise: Joanie Ogg CTC, MCC shares the reasons that home-based travel and cruise specialists should take cruises and outlines the reason that NACTA cruise seminars are highly regarded by both the agents that attend them and the cruise lines that sponsor them.

Home Based Symptoms and Cures: Joanie writes about the symptoms of being home based and also the cures for the symptoms. See if you can relate to any of these.

Customer Care: Joanie Ogg CTC, MCC shares some thought provoking ideas on how to make sure your customers don't go anywhere else.

Growing Your Business Online: Written by Nancy Norris, a self professed online junkie, this is excellent information for anyone looking to expand their business working with online discussion groups.

Online Communities and Your Future: Here is a wonderful article that deals with the reality of online communities and how they affect travel agents.

Buying your Website Globally: Thinking of getting a website built? This article will save you hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars. This is something everyone should be aware of.

What it Takes to Be a Successful Home-Based Travel Agent: Here is a hard hitting article that outlines what it takes to become a successful home-based travel agent. This is interesting reading for everyone (especially those new to our industry)

5 Tips For Success for a Home-Based Travel Agent: Here are 5 excellent tips for succeeding as a home-based travel agent.

Home-Based Agent Qualities that Lead to Success!: Do you have what it takes to succeed as a home based travel agent? Check this out.

Are You in the ZONE? Making sure your home-based travel business is on the legal side is a very important consideration. This article sheds some light on very important issues.

All About Selling Travel Insurance:  Straight talk between Joanie Ogg and a travel insurance supplier about the realities of selling travel insurance.

Targeting Your Audience: Getting focused can make all the difference in your business. Here is how to target your audience for results.

Clicks, Conversions and Customers: Here is an article of great interest if you sell cruises as a home based cruise agent on the web.

Surfing and Home-Based Travel Agents:  A look at the explosion in the interest level of home-based travel agents.

Professionals Need Professionals: Great article about finding and working with other professionals.

Do You Need Help? Here is an article that looks at the issue of finding help when you have too much business to handle. It offers some creative ways to find staff.

You Won't Believe This - www.SKYPE.com:  If you are not using VOIP and SKYPE, you need to read this article.

Mozilla and You: Fed up with Microsoft's Internet Explorer? It is time to download Firefox and rejoice! Check this article out to get the latest open source browser.

What's in a (Domain) Name?:  The travel industry is racing to the web as they number one product. Find out how important a domain name may be to your future.

Do You Need to be Insured? Great article about the various types of insurance a home-based travel agent might need to consider.

The History of Home-Based Travel Agents, NACTA and Good Reporting: I wrote this article in response to an article that appeared in a trade publication implying that NACTA was not the first association for independent contractors and that this other association really founded the movement. I have always found that it is more meaningful to focus on positives, rather than negatives, so you might find this interesting reading.

Making Taxes Less Taxing: When that time of year rolls around, this is the article for you.

Connect For Success:  The reality of isolation as a home-based travel agent is a huge factor for some people. Here is how you combat it.

Travel Affiliates, What is it All About? If you have a travel related website and want to generate some incremental revenue, check this article out.

Google Levels Playing Field for Home Based Travel Agents: If you are not familiar with contextual advertising on the web, you need to read this article closely.

Making the On-Line Cruise World Work For You: Want to sell some cruises, but don't have access to clients? Go on-line and learn how to massage the cruise forums for your benefit.

New Years Resolutions for Customer Service Power in 2005 and Beyond! Here is a customer service wish list for the new year.

Google, VoIP and You: If you are wondering what VoIP is and how it might affect your future, as a home-based travel agent, you need to read this article.

Relationship Marketing Works:  Here is an interesting article about relationship marketing for home-based travel agents.

Growth? Good or Bad?: Here is an excellent article that looks at the reality of growing your home-based travel business.

Six Chicken Soup Tips for the Travel Professional: This article deals with some basic ideas we all lose sight of.

Romancing Search Engines for Fun and Profit: If you are looking to develop a strong web site based on search engine deliveries of potential clients for your home based travel business, you need to read this.

Great Expectations: Selling luxury cruises has its own challenges. Here is an article that deals with matching your client's expectations with the actual experience.

The More Things Change....: Here  is an article about how the travel industry is changing regarding host agencies. If you ever read "Animal Farm" you will relate to this article.

Home-Based Travel Webpreneur’s Tools of the Trade: If you are looking at the web as a resource for your business, here are the tools you need to succeed.

Travel META Search and Your Future: The new travel META search sites are changing the way consumers will use the Internet. How will it affect you?

AdSense Secrets Revealed: A "must read" if you are using Google's AdSense program for publishers.

10 Things Search Engines Hate: Here is a very interesting article about what not to do if you are trying to gain top rankings in the search engines.

10 Things Search Engines Love: Here are ten things you can do to enhance your search engine rankings.

Luxury Travel, Hurricane John and Punta de Mita: a Lesson Learned: Here is a great article about the reality of today's leisure traveler.

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