selling travel february 2015
TRANSCRIPT
02/2015
The DESIRE to travel starts early and continues throughout one’s
life – are you marketing to Generation Z?
Share your money making ideas
in SELLING TRAVEL.
CONTACT
Steve Crowhurst [email protected]
250-738-0064 www.sellingtravel.net
Publisher:
SMP Training Co. www.sellingtravel.net
Contributors
Steve Crowhurst SELLING TRAVEL is owned and published by Steve Crowhurst, SMP Training Co. All Rights Reserved. Protected by International Copyright Law. SELLING TRAVEL can be shared, forwarded, cut and pasted but not sold, resold or in any way monetized. Using any images or content from SELLING TRAVEL must be sourced as follows: “Copyright SMP Training Co. www.sellingtravel.net” SMP Training Co. 568 Country Club Drive, Qualicum Beach, BC, Canada, V9K-1G1 Note: Steve Crowhurst is not responsible for outcomes based on how you interpret or use the ideas in SELLING TRAVEL. T: 250-738-0064.
4 EDITORIAL
6 DIRECTIONS: WHICH WAY WILL YOU GO?
10 THE PROBABILITY AND IMPACT GRID
11 EVERYBODY SELLS!
12 CREATING A GREAT PLACE TO SHOP & WORK
14 TAKING THE CURVE
16 SETTING UP SELFIES
18 USING FOUND FEMALE IMAGES
20 THE ULTIMATE SELFIE TOUR
22 GRAPHIC EFFECTS IN MS WORD
26 CREATIVE COMMONS
28 CREATING YOUR OWN BACKGROUNDS
30 MORE POWER TO YOU!
32 TAPPING FOR SURVIVAL
35 THE TRAVEL INSTITUTE
36 ARE YOU ON THE LIST?
37 NEW PUBLICATION: WOMEN ONLY TRAVEL
38 READ ME HERE: MORE SELLING TIPS
39 PRINTING FOR THE WEDDINGS & HONEYMOONS NICHE
41 CLASSIFIED AD PAGE
THE HOW-TO MAGAZINE FOR TRAVEL TRADE PROFESSIONALS
Please note that Selling Travel, owned and published by SMP Training Co, is not connected in any way to Selling Travel magazine published by BMI Publishing Ltd., and based in the UK. The latter publication focuses entirely on destination and travel/tourism product training and is circulated solely to the UK and Ireland travel industries. To benefit from this resource visit www.sellingtravel.co.uk and be sure to subscribe.
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• Training, coaching and networking opportunities
• Innovative marketing programs to grow your business
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10131503-Nexion_Ad.indd 1 10/29/13 2:18 PM
The
WILL
to
Which Direction Will It Be? So many roads. So little time. I know. I’m on a similar track as you. Every trade paper you read
gives you a new and “fastest growing” something or other to focus on. Suppliers are offering
bonuses, increased commissions for groups, and as always boosting commission when they need
you to get them out of a jam. Then there’s what’s going on around the world in real time.
The balance of this year is not going to be for the faint of heart. It’s going to take guts and
determination to stay on plan and keep the marketing front and center and that’s the main
direction you should stick with: MARKETING. Never stop. It’s what Selling Travel is all about – the
How-To behind maintaining your presence in your local trading area.
I know some travel agents are hankering after the world wide sale, but seriously, over the last
1,000 years… selling has always been best when the customer is closest to you and can refer you
to their friends. Once you are well established locally selling outbound, then you can toy with
attracting those world-wide sales inbound. The key to success for the average travel agent,
existing or starting up, is to first build that strong outbound foundation.
In this issue we’ll explore how you can develop the local outbound market and we’ll also touch
on the inbound should you be ready to expand.
Here’s to your continued success in SELLING TRAVEL. Get your location app ready…
Best regards.
Steve Crowhurst, CTC, CTM Hon. [email protected]
www.sellingtravel.net
SALES & MARKETING TIPS, TOOLS & TECHNIQUES FOR ALL TRAVEL TRADE PROFESSIONALS
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Steve Crowhurst, Publisher
Alright. Let’s get busy and get on track. Let’s find the best direction for you and your team or
just you if you work by yourself. Choosing your direction this year is going to be dominated by
a few things that have already hit the news. They would be air travel safety in Asia and terror
attacks which are always somewhere else, or so it seems until you are in the heat of battle.
Memories of my wife and I arriving into London on the train from Heathrow at the time of the
second bombing. What a great way to start the vacation being met by heavily armed police
telling us to get off the train we were on and to get on the other. A sign of the times going
forward and such common place world events must now be factored into your marketing plan
and the overall direction of your business.
Niche Directions
Coming up we’ll take quick look at
destinations, travel modes, safety and being
prepared – but right here, right now let’s
focus on your niche direction.
If you have not yet secured yourself a niche
market, a special interest to sell, then now is
the time to ponder the thought and there
are many answers to the question.
The first thing to know is that most
successful travel agents that are niche
focused are selling something they are
passionate about, know about and have all
the data, facts, figures and information on
their specific niche to support them. So the
first question in terms of coming up with
your niche direction is this: what are you
passionate about and do you really know
what you are supposed to know? In other
words, are you an expert in your chosen
travel niche? Do you speak the language, can
you write the language, are you certified,
can you lead groups? Whatever it takes for
you to be considered an expert in your travel
niche needs to be addressed. For instance it
would help you immensely if your niche
happened to be cuisine tours to Europe and
you had a cooking school certificate.
Something to show your dedication. Apply
this “concept of proof” to any and all niche
markets: a tour leading certificate would
help, being a tea ceremony teacher would
help, having knitted 200 sweaters would
help and if you have held art shows and sold
your art – this too will help.
The initial niche direction then is based on
what you know about and have credentials
to use in your marketing and to show your
clients when asked.
The Niche Within a Niche
There is a new direction that many travel
agents miss out on and that is the niche
within a niche. The trade is bombarded by
trade media that cruising is the niche to be
in. Well, truth be told, it is no longer a niche
– it is full on mass market. However, look a
little deeper and you will find there are more
than a few niche opportunities to be found
in a cruise vacation. Meetings and incentives
for one. Weddings at sea for another.
Look again and there are small boat cruises,
coastal cruises, bare boat cruises and tall
ship voyages… and to split the niche even
more, these spin offs also sail away from
mass market destinations where ten ships
line the dock, and seek the unknown.
The escorted land tour offers the same idea
– you could jump on the large 46-seater
band wagon or you could explore smaller 20
pax coaches and higher end accommodation
or land rover transportation and tents. Once
again, either niche can be driven by the
destination and the route within the
destination.
Niche Destinations
There are some 195 to 210 recognized
countries in the world – whoops, perhaps
another one just got its wings. Today,
anything can happen. A military coup and a
religious divide and a country can split into
two or three new countries. Stick to the 195
to 210 for the moment. Right there is a huge
opportunity – which country could you take
on and sell as your niche destination? Dig
deeper and ask yourself if there is perhaps
one area, province, territory, village, city,
neighborhood that you could carve out for
yourself? Also ponder the type of tour
product you would introduce to your chosen
area.
What About Other Niche Ideas?
Do you ski, can you climb, bike, read, draw,
sing, knit, walk… so many activities to think
about. Your niche direction could be
connected to your sport, your interest or you
might simply decide, hey, there’s money in
hiking and go for it.
Inbound and Outbound
Whatever niche you decide on, you have two
main directions in this business and they are
outbound and inbound. The huge majority
of travel agents sell outbound – that would
be sending your local customers out of town
and out of town could mean a few miles
away into the country, or to a big city or
flying across one of the many oceans
bordering the continent you live on to a
country thousands of miles away. Any travel
away from home is outbound.
Inbound refers to the attraction of people
not living in your home town or home
country to visit your home town or home
country. Not that easy to do and it takes a
different infrastructure and set of suppliers
to bring this off. Inbound however is a great
way to go once you have established your
outbound business.
For your inbound business to work you
should be attracting not only your fellow
countrymen but also those overseas clients.
Number one on the list is to visit a country
that is as safe as it can be, has the tourism
infrastructure to support visitors and the
scenic wonders to attract them. Every
continent and country has these elements –
only some, at this moment in time are in the
middle of a war zone.
If, where you live, is free of war, terror and
extreme weather then you are steps away
from developing an inbound direction for
your business. Also, chances are your
national to local tourism commissions
already have inbound tourism initiatives that
you can explore. These funding programs
can help you market your product overseas
via online marketing and attending physical
events around the world to pitch your wares.
Outbound Safety and Stability
Your outbound sales will be subject to world
events and at the moment despite the
march in Paris after the Charlie Hebdo
massacre, there is still an element of fear
hovering over every traveller. I have it myself
as I plan to visit the UK later this year. Any
traveller going anywhere today would be
daft if they didn’t review the “what-ifs” and
decide on a plan if something did happen.
If your clients are showing signs of not being
too sure to travel then your marketing
should turn to erasing those thoughts by
suggesting how to prepare for your trip in
2015. You never mention acts of terror at all,
you simply suggest trip preparation tips,
tools and techniques. Your clients will make
the connection and decide accordingly.
Your marketing must also combat any “don’t
travel news” being sent around the world via
both tabloid TV news stations and the more
official news stations such as the BBC. You
can bet your boots that every client you have
is glued to the latest news as they ponder
their trip this year. Travelling outbound
needs study and preparation.
Back To Basics
I always come back to the basics and that
means travel insurance and travel safety
apps. If you are not aware of either, time to
study hard. There is no shying away from
mentioning either of them as you discuss
your clients intended journey. You do need
your client to take responsibility for their
own safety and it’s your job to advise them.
There are more than enough countries that
are safe and safer than others – but safe
from what? We know in Japan, a woman can
generally walk most places at night without
fear – of course there are always places you
shouldn’t go and no self-respecting 300 lb
sumo champion would go ‘there’ either. But
overall Japan is a very safe country from the
mugging point of view. In terms of
earthquakes and the like, well not as safe as
countries not on the Rim of Fire. Every
coastal town and city on the Pacific Rim is
subject to earthquakes and tsunami.
You should be looking for destinations that
are both safe for your female clients, your
gay clients and your senior clients too.
Safe Transportation
Air travel is one of the safest forms of travel
as most travel agents know. There is a one in
eight million chance that something might
go wrong and that means if a plane does go
down, it is simply wrong place etc., whether
downed by weather or an act of terror.
Cruising is also considered one of the safest
forms of travel and vacationing. Sure we
have experienced large cruise ships
floundering with a small loss of life. You can
remove much of a first time cruiser’s
nervousness by introducing them to a couple
of gadgets. First is the Personal Locater
Beacon (PLB) which should be mandatory for
all your cruise clients.
The recent mention that Jihadists are
cruising from one destination to another to
avoid airport cameras etc., is not quite what
your long time cruise or new to cruising
clientele want to hear. But it’s too late – the
words are out and our mass media channels
will go back to it every now and then.
We know about Somali pirates hijacking
vessels and attempting, unsuccessfully, to
secure a cruise ship a few years ago, but to
date nothing drastic has happened since the
hijacking of the ship Achille Lauro in 1985 by
the Palestine Liberation Front. When it does
happen and only time will tell, imagine the
event with cruise ships now carrying 5,000
people.
Your marketing direction this year must
consider these situations and have a back-up
plan as and when something does occur.
As I have written before, when a plane does
go down, promote cruises. When a cruise
ship is in the news, promote coach tours.
This is basic survival response marketing to
media events that challenge travelling.
Inbound and Safe Havens
To attract clients to your neck of the woods
is more or less an untapped market for local
travel agents and yes, some agents already
specialize in marketing their own country,
booking and arranging tours for their
inbound groups. They also work closely with
national and local tourism bodies to help
produce their tours.
Two of the safest countries to travel, Canada
and Australia have joined the list of the not-
so-safe with recent events in each country.
Shootings on Canada’s Parliament Hill and a
hostage situation in a café in Australia.
Still in the overall scheme of things both
Canada and Australia remain very safe as
does Japan and many more countries around
the globe too. The idea here is that if your
country is considered safe, then you have a
marketing opportunity and a chance to build
an inbound department or niche market.
For instance, if I was back in the saddle I
would be selling inbound to Canada’s north
where the only act of terror would be a very
hungry bear or cougar coming towards you
on a 12 inch wide trail along the side of a very
steep mountain. Scree running experience in
this situation would be a plus! This action is
usually followed by the use of a few rolls of
tissue upon reaching the tree line!
Posting Your Directional Signs
Time to get off the main road here and pull
in to ponder the overall direction you might
go in. Remember: 210 countries, some
80,000 places, over 300 activities… WOW
that’s a lot of thinking and drilling down.
Once you do it however, you’ll be good to go
for at least 3 years subject to the world
blowing itself up.
The kind and type of signage you create
should be both physical and online as in
digital. Hard copy for your mailings, showing
in your agency window, digital for your
website, emails and videos. Make sure your
“signage” informs the viewer-reader exactly
what it is you do and sell. This takes perhaps
collaboration with a local artist, marketing
group or your head office if they can help.
Video is the new business card and within a
three-minute vid’ you can show and tell it all.
Posters for your agency window are cheap
enough – go large. Go 60 inches long. Full
colour. Consumer events are the best. Get
up on stage and work your magic. Engage
your audience and sell them on YOU and be
sure to have them just wanting to travel with
you when you leave on your next niche
based departure.
I tell you, I’m getting excited just thinking
about what you are going to be doing and
which direction you will go in. Rock on!
When deciding on a new direction this particular tool allows you to quickly ascertain whether or not your next best idea will fly. You can use it in a staff meeting and manager’s meeting and when there are ideas bouncing off the walls and every idea seems to be a winner. It’s easy to use with PROBABILITY based on Time, Money and Human Resources and IMPACT SCALE based on ROI: will this idea deliver bookings? Let’s give it a try. The outcome you are looking for is a 10/10 with two arrows meeting in the TOP RIGHT bright green box. Scenario / Idea: We need to boost sales. Options are we to use email, direct mail and or start a social media campaign. Remember, your decisions are based on: do we have the time, do we have the money, do we have the people?
Email: Direct Mail: Social Media:
In this case as we pondered all three marketing ideas is seemed that e-mail was free, everyone on the team knows how to use it, learning time was not an issue, and the impact was reasonable if the offer was a good deal. So we came in at 10-9. Direct mail scored lower re the cost of creating and mailing 500 pieces, manpower to do this, and time was short. It could be done but we came in at 7 for probability and in terms of impact the ROI is usually 1 – 2% which would mean 1 to 10 inquiries. We scored 8/7. The social campaign: no cost here really, but we didn’t have anyone who really knew how to do it, and the ROI as so may reports indicate is very low unless the offer is free. Scored 5/3.
Here’s one way to boost your sales and who knows you might find your accountant to be a rain maker, a super sales person hiding in the back office. The title is a truth. Every person in the company is in sales. That doesn’t translate as responding to the “What do you do?” questions with a faint, “Oh, I work for a travel agency as their accountant.” Nope. That’s got to change. How would you want your employees to answer that question?
Well that response should go something like this: “I’m an accountant for a travel agency here in town…” now here comes the transition, “… and let me tell you, we do have some wonderful trips to anywhere in the world you’d want to visit…” and now the sales question, “… so tell me as I’m always interested to know, where would you want to go, money no object, what would be your dream trip?” That was easy! What do you think? Could you turn all your so called non sales people into sales people, or if that’s too drastic, a “travel mentioneer” – a new word for you: mentioneer, someone who mentions travel to others when they get the chance. Surely your non sales people could mention what your agency does, sells, where they go and what they do. Answer: yes. Here’s the challenge: some people will feel they are now in sales and if that’s the accountant, don’t bet on the books being up to date. Your accountant is out there mentioning travel to everyone. The rules of the game need to be tight and written down
so that everyone understands how the new idea that everyone sells is supposed to work. Another level of staff who should be trained to mention are those who work on the upper floors or who happen to be on the board. I have personally witnessed a senior executive unable to articulate what it is “we” actually do, what we sell and so on. A
situation you would not want to witness. You must make sure everyone from the CEO down can actually talk about the business of travel, what we do and where we go and sell the talents of the front line sales and management team. Your supplier BDMs should also know how to talk about your agency when they are discussing you in their sales meeting. You don’t want to be “Oh they’re great…” you want to be, “Wow, they are on the ball, do you know they have the most fantastic approach to selling, let me tell you…” Next, your top clients: they also need to know what you do, where you go, so that they too can truly be an ambassador for your agency and generate referrals. How about you? Can you articulate a 2 minute spiel that would WOW me?
When changing direction, sometimes you need to upgrade the premises to represent the change. A new coat of paint on the walls, a little interior design work and your agency could look brand spanking new. Why would you do this? Well the outcome of an agency makeover could be business building. For a start, when you brighten up the agency with pleasing colours your staff will in fact brighten up their sales and sell more plus the new look and “feel” of the agency will attract more customers. It’s just the way it works. The Law of Attraction at work. The exterior should also be updated with a coat of paint, and you should conduct an exterior review each year. Many times we’re so busy, wrapped up with what’s happening inside the agency, we forget the outside, which is what a walk-in or drive-by prospect is going to see first. Check the signage and make sure there are no cracks or holes, that all light bulbs work and that the imagery is current in terms of what you are selling / new directions. Think about today’s technology, too. Be sure to list your email address on the window, your website, mobile numbers, Facebook URL… even a QR Code so that those with smart phones can scan your window and surf to your website. Check what’s “playing” in the window of the agency and then check what you are promoting online, on your website. They should match. Feng Shui – I know you’ve heard of it, and you might know something about it, too. The concept is simply all about placement as in the correct place, design, angle, colour, position and so on, that will, once all things are in order, create harmony, balance and for what we’re target here in Selling Travel, NEW sales.
Energy flows from all things, yes even that dark gray wall! Don’t laugh, I’ve seen it – a dark gray interior. What a feeling that will invoke as opposed to white, off white or a gorgeous blue. You can Google all sorts of websites related to colour and which ones invoke the human buying response. Fragrances are now off limits in the work place, given the variety of allergies and I see more signs asking everyone to: ‘keep our store free of fragrances” –a nice clean smell should be okay. If you run a niche based agency that deals in let’s say India, then chances are you and your team and your client base actually enjoy the smell of incense. In this case that fragrance actually stimulates the client’s desire for travel. They want to experience that aroma ‘for real’. The idea behind an agency makeover is to increase your profit potential by making your agency a terrific place to do business and highlight your new direction is you have one. There was one cruise agency that actually had the agency built out as a cruise ship, portholes and all. Invest $200 in paint and start there. It might increase your profit potential – but best to check if anyone on the team is queasy about a certain colour. If so, white is good – add colour through imagery on the wall.
One of your marketing roles is to watch The Curve and know when to take it without crashing into the barrier. That curve is the Bell Curve and every agency or department will reach it at some point in time. The ‘curve’ or that bend in your business road comes at a time when your business has peaked and you stand at the crossroads wondering what to do next. This moment is a great time to consider a different direction. Here’s the graph:
You will be very familiar with the start up and growth phase if you were the original owner / manager who launched the agency for yourself, or the company that you work for. Somewhere along the way your agency will max out, the sales flatten. At this point in the life of your agency you have one or two options. At #1 you could re-think your business and decide to change, add, subtract or merge what could keep you profitable, or what could make you more profitable. Once you initiate a ‘more profitable’ plan you will endure the start up and growth phrase once again PLUS somewhere along that new line, you will flatten out and at #2, you will need to once again, rethink your business model and what you are selling and to whom. Both 1 and 2 moments in time, require new ideas, a new direction. A new plan must be written.
That new plan may not be too ambitious other than “to train all staff in how to sell more cruises…” and that could be the turning point. You might decide to sell luxury travel, however if you do not have a luxury client base established, then your business will curve towards #3. To stay ahead of the curve you should meet often with your team to discuss the ‘where are we going next’ topic and how you could all get there. Keeping the curve going in the right direction does not have to be expensive either. A little training, a decision to charge fees, a move to a social media platform, writing a blog or hosting consumer events – all of these are ideas that can keep you profitable and on the right side of that upward trend. Study now when that curve will swerve for your agency and plan ahead.
The image on the left consists of a dark doorway, a ceiling light, a black toque, a stick, a rock,
an imported image of smoke, and a slight crunching of the face for a far-away look. Let’s take
a closer look at setting up selfies and go step by step.
1. First things first – what’s the intended selfie to do, or represent, or sell, or promote. Once you
decide that, you can start to build the picture you are looking for. In the case of the ‘old sailor’
image on the left hand page… the idea, the concept was to promote cruising and going to sea
as memories that last a lifetime.
2. The props: the toque I had, the pipe I didn’t have, so I
improvised and found a piece of wood and a stone that just fit
together in my hand to look like a pipe.
3. Next… the smoke: hard to create as you need to see through
the smoke… i.e. you need a transparent image, a PNG. So I
searched online and bingo… so imported the one that looked just right. Repositioned the
smoke image to the front so that it showed over the main image.
4. Thought about the lighting of
the image I had in mind, which
was to highlight the face and
hands and fade to black at the
same time. Flash etc., wouldn’t
work. Natural light, would light
too much. So it was down to
shooting into a dark room,
with a source of light above
and that’s it. Here’s how it
would look as you watched
this selfie being set up.
5. Finally with all things found, time to shoot the selfie. Dressed in a dark zipper jacket, donned
the toque, positioned the stick/stone pipe, used the 10 second self-timer on the iPhone
allowing enough time to position the “pipe” look up and squint that far-away look and also
move the iPhone / camera into the best position for capturing the “look” I was after. The self-
timer is activated by tapping the red dot on the screen and the best thing about using the
self-timer is that it reduces the shakes and fuzzy images. Just hold it steady and let it click.
6. Once you are set up, you can shoot many more images, pulling this and that face and selecting
from the best images that support your marketing idea. After selecting your best selfie shot,
you can import/copy/paste the image into Word, or PowerPoint for a quick and easy mock
up using the basic graphic tools offered in Windows, Office and any other graphics program,
software you have purchased.
And here’s what your finished selfie shoot will
look like – or as close
as, based on what you
are promoting. The “old
sailor” look can help sell
bare boating, adventure
cruises, canal and barge
cruising and much more.
So that’s one idea for using
your selfie shots and if you
want to use models other
than yourself, look around
for family and friends to sit
for you.
You might have a gran or
granddad willing to jump in
and have some fun.
You’ll find that most men in the family or friend circle will not mind dressing up in some old gear,
mussing up their hair and pulling faces. Your female friends and relatives not so much. They will
however condone looking good and having their images portrayed in high end promotions
featuring glorious cruises, shopping in Madrid and beach resorts.
If you are looking to create a promotion with a female image front and center then you can look
within the clip art images that come with MS Office (via BING) or download from other online
sources that you may have to pay for. The other option, if you are female and not wishing to use
your own self-image, is to purchase a software that contains images of women that suit your
promotion. See Using Found Female Images…
So easy for men to scruff up and look the part, but for my female readers not so quick to do so
and that’s alright. You can however create your own selfies to help sell your niche markets and
you can also borrow from stock image websites that offer female model images that can be
adapted to suit your promotional needs. Let’s explore this side of using selfies to sell more
travel.
Step one is to start searching for images
featuring women in various modes and
activities such as travelling in general,
shopping, adventure, with a companion,
eating & drinking, driving etc. Whatever your
niche is focused on, that’s the female
focused imagery you are looking for.
You should however capture your own
likeness, and the best way to do this is dress
to the nines, get that hair up and trimmed or
let it go (depends on the look you want to
achieve) dress up, dress down, go casual or
business smart. The idea here is to dress for
the selfie shoot. If you have someone who
can click the shutter for you and can add to
the “shoot” then get them over to your place
or on location for an hour or two.
If you have a team working with you or for
you then you might as well arrange a selfie
photo shoot and involve everyone. No need
to go super professional here as pro
photographers charge a thousand bucks to
start. Not only that, you do not need
professional imagery here. What you need is
your final output to look good enough to
attract and generate a phone call, an email
and or a visit to your website. That’s the
mission.
Placing Your Image Over Another Image
1. Select an image showing a destination
that you love. Could be the destination
you focus sell and term it your niche
destination. Could be a beach, a
shopping mall, a mountain top… you
know where you wish to be shown.
2. The concept of placing one image over
another requires the image of you to
have a transparent background. Or, it
takes time, but you can erase the
background using any photographic
editing software. Some come with a one
click option. To help remove the
background – when you complete the
selfie shoot, use a green background, or
a light plain background… i.e. one colour.
That way, most editing programs can zap
that colour cleanly. The Remove
Background feature in MS Word is
excellent.
3. The image on the next page features
YOU, a shot of a beach you love very
much, one pair of legs and two text
boxes using WordArt.
Here are the bits that I put together
followed by the final image:
Background… You… Words… Legs…
As you look at the final image think about the background and what you would like to have shown
there. Think about YOU and how you should look… what other images should be ‘in the picture’
to help explain the slogan, tag lines and overall text?
Alright. Your mission now is to source as many women / female related images you can find
and store them in a special folder where you can access them when you need them. Add
another folder labeled Selfies and from here on, shoot yourself a selfie wherever you are. On
the beach, in a bar, flying at 30,000 feet, walking main-street and so on. Keep it all businesslike.
No children in the shots, no family home / house – keep your family life out of everything to
do with your business life. Retain the original image plus one with the background removed,
featuring just you, or your model.
For other images you can also work closely with your suppliers and departments of tourism
who also maintain a decent image gallery and it’s free for you to use.
You may want to access the website I use and take advantage of my affiliate program to save
money – if so, by all means click here for GraphicStock. Any questions about creating your
Selfie based promotions, just email me and ask.
There are indeed existing selfie tours but perhaps not where you live and sell travel and that
spells opportunity! The selfie trend is not slowing down. It is beyond fad and now part of
everyday life and more so when those phone-addicted tourists as one blog labelled them, are
travelling. What’s the difference between a “regular” tour and a tour dedicated to Selfie
addicts you ask? Well here ya go:
With consumer point and shoot cameras and
most mobile phones with excellent built in
cameras plus other features such as GPS
location, wifi enabled, a variety of photo
related apps… the Tour for Selfies hits just
about anyone with a phone, camera or both.
So what’s special about a Tour for Selfie
Shooting Tourists? The key thing is that you
know and plan in advance those special
places that are both on and off that tourist
route.
Everyone will shoot themselves and partner
with Diamond Head in the background.
That’s a given. Then there’s that special
moment each person or couple or group find
happening to them in the moment and
record it… and then there’s the special
places only YOU know about. It’s these that
special places you factor into your itinerary.
The outcome for your tour group then is a
selection of images that few other tourists
have taken unless they are on your tour. Of
course, this type of tour would also appeal to
photographers who are not into the Selfie
aspect of photography at all – they just want
access to that special place you know about,
and that could lead to another type of tour
that focuses on the pro-photographer.
When you promote your tours for Selfies you
should feature yourself in the image (of
course) and never give away the location as
it is the location and the final Selfie image
that’s your point of difference.
If your niche includes a specific country or
region of that country then the Selfie Tour
concept is one more way to fill a tour and it’s
all in the word Selfie. You’ll know who you
are going to attract and you’ll know their
needs too: wifi for sure so they can share
their location with those they are connected
to.
Step one is to explore your niche destination
and select the best and least well known
scenic sights. For this you can work closely
with the tourism board of the country you
are interested in. Let’s create a flyer / poster
you could adapt and use in your Selfie Tour
promotions… like this:
COME WITH US TO MEXICO AND SHOOT SELFIES AT
LOCATIONS ONLY WE KNOW ABOUT!
Visit our website for more information or
call us now at 000-000-0000
Here’s a couple of neat tools to be found in MS Word… one of them even allows you to remove
the background from an image, another offers various artistic values you can apply to the same
image and last but not least you can crop your image into a shape and or frame. So let’s get
started.
I’ll use a recent shot I snapped of a fishing boat heading out to do
what it does – and so this is the original shot. To change the look of
it I can employ the Format Tools found on the Picture Tools ribbon.
Once you have inserted an image into your Word document you can
add a nice frame to it, angle it and add it to your website or email
or newsletter or blog. Here’s the Picture Tool ribbon:
Picture Frame
Let’s assume you want to frame your image and use it in a
brochure or capture two or three of your images and
create a collage. So, starting with the frame, click on your
image, the Picture Tools tab will appear, click on the tab to
view the rest of the ribbon. You will see the Frames right
before you. Play with them by clicking each one to see how
you image would look and then select the one that works
best for you.
As you can see I have selected the Double Frame - Black
which is very dramatic. If I wanted to create something
like a photo album, I might select Bevelled Matt, White,
and then capture another image, use the same border for
consistency and lay one image on the other using the
Bring Forward or Send Backwards tab. In this way you can
create a collage – varying the sizes and angles too like this:
Crop To Shape
This is a graphic tool that not many people are
aware of. If you are familiar with Shapes then
you can imagine how your image might look
cropped into one of those shapes. To do this
you click on the Picture Tab again, look to your
right along the ribbon and spot Crop.
Click on Crop, then Crop to Shape. I selected the Right Arrow shape as shown above.
Artistic Renditions of Your Image
This is a very quick and easy method to change the look of
your image without having to use Photoshop or any other
editing program. Click on Picture Tools, Format and then
look for Artistic Effects. As before, test them all by clicking
on each one and watch your image change.
I’ve selected Glow Edges so that the change is obvious. However you might want to use the Paint
Brush style and then frame it – you might use such a graphic to promote Art Tours. Let’s see how
that Paint Brush effect might look on the image of the fishing vessel:
Removing The Background
To show this tip, I have selected a recent shot of an eagle atop the
mast of a fishing boat. The solid blue sky is what I would like to
remove. So once again, click on Picture Tools, look left, far left and
you’ll find Remove Background. When you click on Remove
Background you will see the Background Removal options and it
tells you to Click on the Green Plus sign and with your mouse to
mark the areas of your image you wish to retain. Then click on the
Red Minus sign and mark the areas to be erased. Click Keep
Changes.
And there is my transparent image
that I can place over another image
if I wish to.
Let’s see how my fishing boat image
and my revised eagle image work
together – you’ll notice I flipped Mr.
Eagle to get the best “look”.
Well here it is – looks a
little like a painting
and that’s good
enough for our Art
Tour promotion. You
just want the look and
feel of the “art”.
Pay attention to the
frame you use – ornate
for a classic art tour
and solid black like this
for contemporary art.
Okay, the job is done. I can now lay Mr. Eagle over my fishing boat image and then resize either
image until I achieve the perspective I want. I can also flip / rotate my eagle to be facing the same
way as the fishing boat. I can now screen capture this collage and for that I use Snag It.
Once I have captured
the image in Snag It I
add a small white
boarder and then it is
back to Picture Tools
to select a Frame.
Final image shown
here.
Hope this helps you
create your own PNG
images in MS Word
or PowerPoint. As
always, if you have
challenges just email
me for help.
The next time you create a promotional flyer using MS Word and then click on the Insert tab, followed by Online Pictures to access Microsoft’s clipart you will notice it is no longer there. Your choices are Bing and depending upon how your computer is configured, One Note or some other program where images might reside. Microsoft has closed its clipart department and now Bing is the supplier of images for Microsoft.
The Microsoft clipart images came somewhat pre-approved for your use - the Bing images are tagged and this means you MUST research whether or not you can freely use the image you have selected. I know personally of a travel agent who received an invoice for something like $7,000 for an image that had resided on her website for a couple of years after she copied it from Google images - so this is important. Unless the image states it is categorically FREE of any and all fees, it isn’t free to use. Check the image on the next page that shows a search for travel images. As you will see there is a yellow band advising you about the images being licensed. The arrow is pointing to a type of licensing called Creative Commons which refers to how content creators license their work for use (nor not) by others. Depending on the content creators needs, some of the images will be free to use, others will require that you credit the creator, company or website and some are for purchase if you wish to use them. To add a one liner crediting the content creator or photographer, website or company is very easy to do. The text can be
small and reside close to the image for instance. Change the direction of the text to point vertical and place it by the right side of the image. If you are producing a brochure and adding the source of the image disrupts your page, then add a list of credits to the inside back cover. Same thing for any PowerPoint slides you produce, you can list the images and who created them on your last slide. If the Creative Commons usage requests that the credit be shown beside the image then you must comply with that request. If like me, you have made tremendous use of Microsoft’s clipart, you can source your image needs elsewhere. I will focus more on the subscription services such as GraphicStock where for a small annual fee you can copy and download and use their images without any fear of being sued. In addition if you have any artistic talent, why not create your own images as mentioned in this issue. In the meantime... be careful out there and click here to check out Creative Commons. If you are a content creator yourself then you should also check out how you can use Creative Commons licensing.
Here’s how Creative Commons works: I want a rainbow image and typed ‘rainbow’ into the Bing search box and then I made a selection from the results. In doing so, the owner of the image was shown below where the arrow is pointing – my next click is to find out if I can use this image. I click on the owner’s link. Once there, I click on the Licensing tab and review how this owner allows his image to be used.
Below is the actual verbiage of how one image owner / photographer wrote his Creative Commons licensing information. I have removed his name and contact details and the rainbow image above is actually mine. The message here is to make sure you comply with the rules of how any image you select can be used. You can always contact the owner directly by email and ask to use their image. Keypoint: If you will profit by using their image, i.e. bookings will be generated by the image, then of course, you should pay for its use.
LICENSING I have the philosophy that art is meant to be seen and not hoarded. My licensing policies are thus designed to balance the costs that go into creating and sharing my images with the desire to provide inspiration through my images on the internet and around the world. I allow the use of my images in two ways: CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE With Creative Commons you are free:
To Share: Copy, Distribute, and Transmit the image
To Remix: Create Derivative works of the image Under these conditions:
Attribution: Attribution to (owner’s name) must be made along with the image.
Non-Commercial: The image must not be used for commercial purposes under any circumstances. For clarity on what defines commercial use, please see the Sample Accepted Uses below.
SAMPLE ACCEPTED USE OF THE CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE:
Blog Post describing a trip
Online article discussing photography
A website for an online project about the use of photography
An individual using an image as a desktop background for the computer monitor
LICENSE TO COPYRIGHT ‘Commercial Use’ regarding the use of images online or offline is defined very broadly. The determination of commercial or non-commercial use is based on the contextual use of the image. The determination is NOT based on the tax-filing status of the entity using the image nor on whether or not a financial transaction takes place. Commercial use of my images is allowed only if expressly granted by (Owner’s Name). All commercial uses will incur a licensing fee. My fees are based on the following criteria:
Media – print, web, television, etc.
Distribution Size – number of copies printed, viewing audience size, exposure (regional, national, international)
Length of Use – 1 year, 2 years, etc.
Prominence of Display – 1/4 page, 1/2 page, full page, spread, front cover, back cover, home page (online), interior page (online), etc.
All licensing inquiries should be sent to: (Owner)
SAMPLE USE REQUIRING A LICENSE TO COPYRIGHT:
A marketing campaign for a commercial entity
A fund-raising campaign for a not-for profit entity
License to create an individual print for use in a private home
All you need to create a crazy fractured background like the one
opposite is a few seconds of your time, your mouse, and that’s
it. Here’s how:
Click on INSERT, Shapes, Lines, Scribble…
Place your mouse on your page and “scribble” just go wild and scribble those lines any way you
like to fill the page.
Next: click on your Scribble and then the Drawing Tools tab will appear. Click on Shape Fill and
select your preferred colour, then Click on Shape Outline and click No outline… or if you wish you
can select a coloured line and increase the Weight of the line for a dramatic effect.
Now you need to frame your work so click on INSERT, Shapes, Frame… then select
Shape Fill and select black, or white… or the colour of your choice.
The idea here is to “frame” your scribble…
Now, what’s next? Well, what will you use your background for? In the example on the opposite
page I wanted to use it as a cover page – so I added a Rounded Rectangle from the Shapes
collection, sized it and added my title.
Last but not least, I used Snag It to screen capture my
finished job, and then saved it as a JPEG. Once saved as
a JPEG, I inserted it into the page you see to the left. I
clicked on it, the Picture Tools tab popped up and then
I selected a Frame – i.e. the thick black frame with the
shadow.
If you want to go all out – you can select a Rectangle
from the SHAPES list, add a coloured fill, I chose the
orange, then clicked on DRAWING TOOLS and
positioned the orange rectangle behind my scribble –
as you can see the orange shows through the white
spaces. I changed the fill colour of my scribble to blue,
selected a darker blue for the outline, widened it and
then added the red outline to my Title Box.
Sounds involved but once you do one, you’ll whip off a
background anytime you wish. There a thousand and
one combinations of colours, shapes etc., so play to
your heart’s content and enjoy no cost graphics!
Your hotel is on fire. Lights are out, power grid down. You are
trapped. You need to call someone now. You reach for your
smartphone and call your friends and after a few minutes… the
line is dead. Your battery just died. Now what?
You can create your own scenarios or you
can simply watch the news on TV to get a
real time view of what’s happening to people
as they travel the world.
A couple of things that cause pain would be
lousy weather and a dead battery. Think
about where you are travelling whether on a
FAM or on a personal trip. Are you travelling
with your family? Kids too? Okay, so now it
gets serious. You need to be able to maintain
communication with your agency, your
manager, your loved one, the police, the
rescue team, your kids… but, your battery is
dead. What to do?
Depending on your situation, you may be
near a power outlet and may have the cord
connector that you’ll use to connect your
device to the power source. It takes time.
You could, as a survival alternative, reach
into your purse, rucksack, tote and pull out
your super-fast battery booster, charger
gadget and in seconds be back on line to
reach whoever you need to reach.
Each of your kids should carry their own
battery booster no matter what. Make it
part of their daily attire
and especially when
travelling.
There are booster
gadgets galore for you to
explore. Some are small
and USB sized others are
as large as your
smartphone but bring
with it a full day of extra
power. The Energizer XP18000AB shown
here costs around $200 +/- and that’s a
decent investment to save your life.
The Mobie products offer
a powered case for your
smartphone – an all-in-
one so no need to carry
two gadgets.
So, from here on make
sure you have More
Power To YOU and also
your kids and your family
members and friends.
Also make sure you have SOS alert apps
downloaded and prepped.
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In the January issue of Selling Travel we looked at Signing for Survival and this month, based
on the Bee Gee’s theme of Staying Alive, Staying Alive… we’re trying out Morse Code which did
not die out with the end of WW2. Morse Code is still to this day a viable form of communication
and used militarily as well as by people like you and me. For our Staying Alive purposes, it
means learning how to transmit your information by tapping, or using a flash light.
Alright. Here’s a few real time situations you
might (and hopefully not) find yourself in.
1. Trapped in a room or cabin… exit is
locked, something bars your exit.
2. Lost in a forest…
3. Lost atop a mountain…
4. The lights are out and it is pitch black…
5. You are trapped under rubble, hard to
breath, hard to shout…
You get the message and the situation. Could
happen in any number of circumstances –
during your vacation or Fam, at home or
around your home town.
Given the situation you find yourself in your
“friends” become anything that you can use
to tap a signal such as a rock, a branch, a
stick, a flashlight, a whistle and your
smartphone.
The sound you’ll need to make has to reach
for those people trying to locate you. Keep
in mind the following:
1. Rock on rock, metal, tin, tree, concrete…
2. Wood on wood, on tree trunk… sounds
like this in the forest do penetrate – also
beware as this is, apparently, how
Sasquatch also communicate!
3. Keys or pen on metal, cabin wall, hotel
wall, doors…
So anything that’s hard enough to create a
noise when tapped against something else.
If your smartphone has a flashlight it
probably has the basic Morse code signal for
SOS built in. You can however download an
app for that – like this one. Click to view.
There are many more – I selected the first
one to pop up. Now you need to know a few
basics. First things first - SOS is: DOT DOT
DOT, DASH DASH DASH, DOT DOT DOT.
Three short, three long, three short.
Here is a Morse Code Translator that you can play with to work out a few signals you feel would
work for you. In addition to the SOS signal, you should be able to tap out your surname. Here’s
mine.
Here’s the Morse
Code Translator I
used to decipher it.
Type in your name
(1) click (2) to
translate and then
your name in
Morse code will
appear (3). Click
the PLAY button to
hear how it sounds
when it’s delivered
electronically.
http://morsecode.scphillips.com/jtranslator.html
The only challenge to using Morse code is
translating the message you receive back.
Chances are the people coming to find you
will shout, shine lights etc. Or phone you! For
them to do that… you’ll need to know your
cell number in Morse code and that works
out to be a mess of dots and dashes – but
worth remembering. You should probably
add to your Morse knowledge the phrase
Call my mobile… followed by the number.
You can see the Morse code for
communicating Call my mobile phone and
the line of Morse underneath that
represents a 10 digit phone number.
There you have it. You can sign your way to
survival and you can use Morse code too.
You should also study how to use the GPS
finder in your phone and know how to email
your GPS location to a friend or the police.
There are many SOS apps that do this.
If you are serious about your safety, pay the
fee and subscribe to a real-time service that
can dispatch a team to extricate you from
your situation. Staying Alive… yeah!
-.... ----- ....- -....- --... ...-- ---.. -....- ----- ----- -.... .....
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Make this year the year you commit to earning the certification you deserve. Whether you are
seeking your initial CTA certification or finally taking the step and upgrading to the CTC or CTIE,
now is the best time to act. Designed with you and your needs in mind, these programs are far
from “cookie cutter” in their content. The core courses form a solid foundation and you are
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Join The Travel Institute for one of our informational sessions:
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Click on the
blue headings
to view.
The Women Only market is there for every female travel agent to consider as a niche – so think about
what you currently sell and ask yourself if there is a ‘women only’ opportunity where you live. This new
publication starts off with a review of travel safety which is the #1 challenge women advise to travelling.
Travel safety then is a key component to running a successful women only niche. Not every female
traveller is a shopper. Some like fly-fishing, cuisine tours, others a discussion group around a campfire
lost in the mountains… so never generalize. For every activity there’s a woman waiting and wanting to
do it, by herself or with like-minded women. Check the store in March.
LOOK FOR THIS NEW
PUBLICATION IN MARCH
Here’s where you find even more ideas on how to
sell travel and boost your revenues. Ct is the trade
magazine and every article I write is always
geared to new business generation for YOU and
your suppliers. The content ranges from a step by
step how-to article to a comment about a
current topic. Many of the articles are worth
reviewing with your suppliers should you be
able to work together to generate that new
dollar for all. Click here to read.
The full Canadian Traveller logo represents the
consumer magazine that now reaches millions
of readers. Even if you have your own in-house
magazine it is always a good idea to tell your
clients about the consumer CT and the main
reason for that is some supplements are shared
between the trade and consumer magazine. Now
you know what your client is reading, you can,
from the trade issue, learn how to sell various
destinations and then make the call. Everything CT
does targets new business generation and hopes to
put more money in your jeans. Click here to read.
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Thank you for choosing to travel with MyEscapades.com. We take pride in providing one-of-a-kind travel experiences in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. The majority of our clients require a trip customized to their likes, interests and budget. Whether you wish to travel in the lap of luxury or choose to indulge in an authentic adventure (we call it ‘roughing-it’) we will create a trip to suit your preferred tastes. In other words, we will give you a travel experience that goes beyond your expectations. Rest assured, MyEscapades.com is your perfect traveling companion.
Before You Travel:• Ensurethatyouarecarryingyourup-to-date passports and have obtained any required/necessary tourist visas for entering the country(s) you are visiting. • Youtripinvolvescancellationpenalties in the unforeseen event that you cancel/postpone your travel arrangements. Ensure that you are aware of these penalties.• CarryyourOut-of-CountryHospital/Medical/Travel Insurance Policy with you.• Beawareofluggagerestrictionssuchas weight, size and type of suitcases allowed on the international and domestic flights on your itinerary. Excess baggage charges are steep and can cause great inconvenience• Ensureyouhaveobtainedrecommended or required inoculations.Certaininoculationsare mandatory for travel to endemic areas.Yourtravelagentwillhaveprovided full details.
• CheckouttheavailabilityoflocalATMs in your destination and/or purchase some local currency or travellers cheques.• Givefamily/friendsthecontactinformation at hotels/lodges you will be staying during your travel. Information on your accommodations is provided within your documents.• Werecommendthatyouputyournewspaper subscription on hold for the duration of your trip and have your mail collected by a neighbour or held at your local post office.• Itisalwaysrecommendedthatyousecure your home with a security alarm before you leave.
3100RidgewayDr.,Suite17,Mississauga,ONCanadaL5L5M51.888.887.9710 | [email protected] | www. myescapades.ca
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THE HUNTINGTON GROUPHUNTINGTONThe agents choice since 1973
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from GraphicStock.
www.sellingtravel.net
If you could refer us to your travel trade colleagues,
we’d really appreciate it. Many thanks.
SELLING TRAVEL
SALES & MARKETING TIPS, TOOLS & TECHNIQUES FOR ALL TRAVEL TRADE PROFESSIONALS