This may sound at first like a foolish question. Of course, you are ready to make more money. But it is not a foolish question. In fact, it is a question worth asking again and again. The truth is that most “travel professionals” do not want to make more money. I know this to be a fact because if they did, they would be making more money.
There is a wise old phrase that reminds us “talk is cheap.” Another cogent reminder suggests, “After all is said and done, more is said than done.”
Let’s cut to the chase and get a few facts straight. First, you can make as much money as you like in the travel business. You can double your current income in the coming year. Yes, you can.
I say this without hesitation for three reasons:
1) You don’t have to buy any raw materials or carry any inventory. You have all the products, destinations, suppliers, and carriers you need to become incredibly successful.
2) Your marketplace is as large and defined as you want it to be. With over eight billion people scampering around our planet, you have plenty of audience to choose from.
3) A number of these eight billion people have a certain degree of wanderlust in some form or another. If you stop to think about it, these three criteria could easily be referred to as an “ideal opportunity.” I like to refer to it as the “BT.” The business trifecta.
You say you want to make more money just as quickly as you say you want to shed a few pounds every December 31. This is where the “talk is cheap” phrase kicks back into view. You say one thing, but in reality, you really don’t mean it. If you did, you would adhere to the requirement of simply burning more calories than you ingest. If money was your objective, you would be driving that new car today.
But there is another phrase worth mentioning here: “Nothing is ever easy.” And to many of you, losing weight and growing a business is not easy. With all due respect, I think you are making things harder than they have to be. At the risk of sounding overly simplistic, I will say that it may not be easy, but it is not hard. It just happens to fall under the category of focused, and perhaps, consistent effort.
It’s Showtime for Your Travel Business
It is time that I put all rhetoric aside and tell you in no uncertain terms how you can make more money in the travel business. Buckle up and get ready to take notes.
You have to dig a hole. The co-author of In Search of Excellence, Tom Peters, introduced me to this term many years ago and I have come to adopt it as my own. He said, “It is amazing to me how many people in the oil business fail to get the message that in order to strike oil you have to dig a hole.” People talk about it, meet about it, sleep on it, write about it, think about it, dream about it. They do everything imaginable except grab a shovel and begin digging a hole. I am quick to remind you that there are only two types of holes – holes that have oil and holes that don’t. If you come up empty, dig another hole.
For those of you who require a little more clarity, the word I want to imbue in your memory bank is visibility. If people do not know you are alive, they can’t possibly decide whether to do business with you or not. No new business … no more money.
So as not to leave you hanging, I will introduce you to my embarrassingly simple 12-Word Marketing Plan. If you follow this advice for the next 12 months you are a shoo-in for Sales Rep of The Year: Get up. Get out. And make more people glad they know you. Count them. 12 words. The only 12 words you will need to start making more money.
And as a final thought, here is my 4-Word Sales Secret: “Get other people talking.”
Mike Marchev is always looking for a few more proactive travel professionals to join his Sales and Marketing Club, mike@mikemarchev.com.
*** You want more to think about? Check out my weekly podcast (Miked Up Marchev). Also listed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, and iHeartRadio.
