Choosing a Specialty for Your Home-Based Travel Agency

When you start a home-based travel agency, one of the biggest things that will draw business to you is your specialty. In my book Five Steps to Your Own Internet Travel Agency, I discuss this in more detail, but it boils down to specializing in the area in which you live or a destination or type of travel with which you are very experienced.

For example, I live near Walt Disney World and the other Central Florida theme parks, and I take a lot of Disney cruises, which gives me an advantage in booking those trip types. Do you live in Florida or another major city like Las Vegas, New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles? Do you know a lot about ski lodges, dude ranches, or some other specialized destination? Are you an expert on travel for singles? For families? Parlay your experience into a lucrative business. Order my book on Amazon or borrow it for free if you're Amazon Prime and you'll learn the five steps on how to do it.

Do You Have the Personality to be a Home-Based Travel Agent?

Being a home-based travel means that most of your business is conducted online or over the telephone. Clients email and call you, with no need to meet face-to-face. Still, you need a certain type of personality to run an Internet travel agency.

Are you patient with people who have a lot of questions? Can you soothe upset clients without getting angry yourself? Can you act in a professional manner, even if someone calls you when you're in the middle of a crisis? You need to have the right personality to always sound upbeat and cheerful, no matter what's going on in your personal life, and to calm people when something goes wrong. Clients are using you as their online travel agent because of your expertise, so you also have to be willing to do some hand-holding.

This may sound difficult, but it's actually a reason that being a work-from-home travel agent is ideal for work-at-home moms. Mothers develop these skills as a matter of necessity. If you're not a parent, but if you've ever worked any other job dealing with the public, you probably already have some of these abilities, too.

My book on becoming a home-based travel agent discusses all of this in detail. It's available for purchase on the Kindle and is free to borrow for Amazon Prime members. It tells you how to start your own home-based travel agency and become an Internet travel agent in just five steps.

Make Sure Your Home-Based Travel Agency Gets Respect

One of the big advantages of starting your online travel agency is that you run it from home. This is often a disadvantage, too, because neighbors, friends, and even family members might not take it seriously. They need to learn to respect your work time and to treat you as they would if you were leaving home for “regular” job. This means understanding that you can't take long social on the phone, entertain visitors, or take in UPS and Fed Ex packages for all the neighbors just because you're home during the day. Set your boundaries up front and enforce them.

I discuss boundary setting and enforcement in detail in my book, which is available for purchase on the Kindle and is free to borrow for Amazon Prime members. It tells you how to start your own home-based travel agency and become an Internet travel agent in just five steps.

How Quickly Can You Set Up a Home-Based Travel Agency?

As the author of a comprehensive Kindle book on starting your own home-based travel agency, I'm often asked just how long it takes to set up a home-based travel agency. All you really need is an internet connection, computer, and phone line, although there are other helpful things you'll want. But if you have those basic necessities, your start-up is limited only by finding a host agency.

As I warned in my last blog entry, you need a legitimate host agency, not a firm that's trying to get you involved in a multi-level marketing program. Real host agencies make their money from commissions, just as you do. Once you find your host agency, you can get started immediately, although it takes time to build up your client base. My book explains several ways to do that.

Attorney Generals Go After MLM Travel Agent Scams

Companies offering to make people into home-based travel agents via multi-level marketing are facing official scrutiny. Controversial travel company YTB, which formerly sold websites to people who wanted their own Internet travel business for several hundred dollars, then charged them monthly fees, settled early last year with the Illinois Attorney General's office. Although YTB has been accused online many times of running a scam, the company didn't admit any wrongdoing. It did agree to pay a fine, and it has since changed its business model. You can find the story here, and this website details other problems YTB had with authorities in other states.

Remember, being asked to pay a big upfront fee and ongoing monthly fees to be a home-based travel agent is a danger sign. It's even worse when you're expected to recruit other people into the business to make any real money, which means that it's an MLM. My eBook tells the truth about what running an Internet travel agency is like and how to find a real, reputable host agency.

What Are MLM Travel Agencies?

My book, "Five Steps to Your Own Internet Travel Agency," teaches you to open a real Internet travel agencies, but there are many online programs for multilevel marketing, or MLM, agencies, which are quite different. Instead of being an agent who deals directly with clients, you buy a website through which you sell travel. This usually involves monthly fees, and the site is similar to self-service sites like Travelocity or Expedia. It's debatable whether people will choose your site over the well-known names, other than family and friends, so it's not wise to count on doing a high volume of business.

The real money-making opportunity is recruiting others to buy their own travel websites. You get money for drawing people in and commissions when the make sales on their sites. It's not so much about marketing travel as it is about marketing the business opportunity.

Ask yourself, what do you really want to sell? Do you want to help people book their trips, and do it through direct interaction with them, helping them with your expertise? Or do you want to sell websites? If you want to be a true home-based travel agent, you'll make your own website and work with a host agency. My book gives much more detail on this process.

Be Ready for the Long Haul as an Online Travel Agent

You can get into business as an online travel agent fairly quickly. The longest part is usually finding a reputable host agency. It's not as easy to get out of the business if you decide it's not right for you. Many clients book their trips months or years in advance. What happens if you make many future bookings, then want to get out of the business? You'll have to turn the bookings over to the clients, which isn't very professional since they chose to work with a travel agent for a reason. Otherwise you might be able to find someone else at your host agency to take them over.

It's better to get yourself into a "long haul" mindset so you don't face that dilemma. I discuss this and other pros and cons of being a home-based travel agent in my book, "Five Steps to Your Own Internet Travel Agency," which $5.99 for the Kindle.