Home Based Travel Agent Podcast: June 2007

Take Advantage of a 5 Night Caribbean Cruise University Plus Other Travel Agent Resources

Cruise University is offering a 5 night Caribbean cruise with great travel agent training for less than $400. This is a great opportunity for Travel Professionals. The Logo Channel, a cable gay and lesbian television channel, is doing a special on Olivia Cruises. You can learn about Olivia Cruises and better serve your gay and lesbian clients. The book, "Smart Packing" gives you tips on all types of packing challenges for your next trip. The book is offered at a discount to travel agents as a gift to clients.

Check out Alan Lew's podcast, "Geography for Travelers." You can find the show at the Blubrry Community or at Alan's website, Travelography.info.

This podcast is sponsored by GoToMeeting

Check out Lorenes travel agent website at www.sharptonguedconsulting.com.

Check out Blubrry. It's a great place to be a listener. You can comment on podcasts you listen to and you can sign up to be friends with the podcasters on the Blubrry Network. Go over to Blubrry, sign up and become my friend. I would like to get to know all of you!

Stop by my travel business site Special Destinations where you can just browse or create your own account and blog. Would you like to get more information about the travel business, about life and about business in general? Check out my personal blog at http://www.hometravelagent.net/WordPress/ Thank you for listening to the Home Based Travel Agent Podcast. You can email me at barry@hometravelagent.net or email Lorene at sharptongued@mac.com

Download "Departure" (mp3)
from "Departure"
by Dan Siegel
Native Language Music

Buy at GroupieTunes

More On This Album

Do You Have Clients That Love Nature? Learn About Haines Alaska and Alaska Nature Tours

Podcast Number One-hundred-ten

Lorene and Barry talk with Dan Egolf, the owner and one of the founders of Alaska Nature Tours. Dan goes into detail about the beauty of Alaska that surrounds the former fishing village of Haines, Alaska. Cruise ships are now stopping in Haines, Alaska and Dan takes delight in showing visitors all that nature has to offer in this awe inspiring place.

This podcast is sponsored by GoToMeeting

Check out Lorenes travel agent website at www.sharptonguedconsulting.com.

Check out Blubrry. It's a great place to be a listener. You can comment on podcasts you listen to and you can sign up to be friends with the podcasters on the Blubrry Network. Go over to Blubrry, sign up and become my friend. I would like to get to know all of you!

Stop by my travel business site Special Destinations where you can just browse or create your own account and blog. Would you like to get more information about the travel business, about life and about business in general? Check out my personal blog at http://www.hometravelagent.net/WordPress/ Thank you for listening to the Home Based Travel Agent Podcast. You can email me at barry@hometravelagent.net or email Lorene at sharptongued@mac.com

Download "Costa Del Sol" (mp3)
from "DÃ©jÃ Vu"
by Gero
Karmatronic Sound Mgmt, LLC

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody

More On This Album

Labels: Alaska, cruise, nature

Boost Your Business by Becoming A Cerified Travel Advisor

Podcast Number One-hundred-nine

Lorene and Deb Gronski talk about the challenges, rewards and fun they had in preparing for the Certified Travel Advisor (CTA) Designation. The Travel Institute offers a course of study that leads to the CTA and other advanced designations for the travel agent.

This podcast became a challenge to produce when the electricity went off at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon. After a couple of hours without power, I decided to try and produce the podcast using the battery power from my laptop. I knew that I wouldn't have much time because I had to connect a USB microphone and my Sprint wireless internet card. All of those extras add drain to the laptop battery. I raced through recording a short intro, the GoTo Meeting advertisement and a short outro. Fortunately I already had the co-hosted segment and I did the editing on that audio last night.

I had very little battery power left by the time I got the podcast put together and converted to MP3 format. I was going to have to get creative to find a source of electricity to power the laptop so that I could upload the audio to the file server.

I pulled my car out of the garage, grabbed my DC to AC inverter, a lawn chair and a small table. I was all set to power up my laptop using my car as a power source and the lawn furniture as my outdoor office. Just as I was about to complete my outdoor office, the power came back on.

You now have a no frills podcast but I'm sure the enthusiasm of Deb and Lorene in the co-hosted segment make up for the loss of the other bells and whistles.

This podcast is sponsored by GoToMeeting

Check out Lorenes travel agent website at www.sharptonguedconsulting.com.

Check out Blubrry. It's a great place to be a listener. You can comment on podcasts you listen to and you can sign up to be friends with the podcasters on the Blubrry Network. Go over to Blubrry, sign up and become my friend. I would like to get to know all of you!

Stop by my travel business site Special Destinations where you can just browse or create your own account and blog. Would you like to get more information about the travel business, about life and about business in general? Check out my personal blog at http://www.hometravelagent.net/WordPress/ Thank you for listening to the Home Based Travel Agent Podcast. You can email me at barry@hometravelagent.net or email Lorene at sharptongued@mac.com

Download "Pearl Tower" (mp3)
from "Instrumentals"
by The Shanghai Restoration Project
Undercover Culture Music

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Buy at GroupieTunes

More On This Album

Labels: client, cruise, Education

Tips and Tricks Booking Group Cruises and More on Special Needs Clients

Podcast Number One-hundred-eight

Loreen and Barry talk about group cruises and some considerations in booking shore trips. The medical special needs of your clients are an important consideration when you book a trip for your clients. Helping your client with their medical special needs when they travel is a real value that travel agents can give to their clients.

Passports are a big issue if you don't have a passport and your are traveling outside the United States. The backlog in processing passports may prevent your client from going on their cruise.

Other links discussed in the show:

Sunshine Key West

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines

Shore Trips

Twenty Minute Power Naps at SFO

Trucker Tom's HD Travel Videos

This podcast is sponsored by GoToMeeting

Check out Lorenes travel agent website at www.sharptonguedconsulting.com.

Check out Blubrry. It's a great place to be a listener. You can comment on podcasts you listen to and you can sign up to be friends with the podcasters on the Blubrry Network. Go over to Blubrry, sign up and become my friend. I would like to get to know all of you!

Stop by my travel business site Special Destinations where you can just browse or create your own account and blog. Would you like to get more information about the travel business, about life and about business in general? Check out my personal blog at http://www.hometravelagent.net/WordPress/ Thank you for listening to the Home Based Travel Agent Podcast. You can email me at barry@hometravelagent.net or email Lorene at sharptongued@mac.com

More On This Album

Considering Your Client's Special Needs plus Backing Up Your Computer Files

Podcast Number One-hundred-seven

Being aware of your client's needs and preferences is an essential part of being a travel agent. Lorene and Barry talk about some of the special needs your clients may have and how to accommodate those needs. A good "Client Profile Sheet" is essential in determining what your client prefers and needs when they travel.

Barry talks about backing up the important data on your computer. Your hard drive is going to crash. It's not a question of if, but a question of when it crashes. Is your data backed up and is it in a safe place? Learn about Amazons S3 service and how it will help you keep those important files.

Other links discussed in this show are:

The Indie Travel Podcast

Cruise Reviews

CLIA

Travel Weekly

Cruise West

Cruising Power

This podcast is sponsored by GoToMeeting

Check out Lorenes travel agent website at www.sharptonguedconsulting.com.

Check out Blubrry. It's a great place to be a listener. You can comment on podcasts you listen to and you can sign up to be friends with the podcasters on the Blubrry Network. Go over to Blubrry, sign up and become my friend. I would like to get to know all of you!

Stop by my travel business site Special Destinations where you can just browse or create your own account and blog. Would you like to get more information about the travel business, about life and about business in general? Check out my personal blog at http://www.hometravelagent.net/WordPress/ Thank you for listening to the Home Based Travel Agent Podcast. You can email me at barry@hometravelagent.net or email Lorene at sharptongued@mac.com