I Am So PROUD of YTB!

If you have been following the travel industry news, you'll know that lately YTB has come under fire. It seems that traditional travel agents have decided that YTB travel agents do not deserve to be in the business of travel and have access to the same travel privledges that they have. Since making this determination, YTB was "discharged with out cause" from selling travel with Royal Caribbean and our IATAN status invalidated by IATA.

You would think that with these things happening to YTB that the company and its agents would be upset and stressed out to say the least. But what has YTB's response been? To get mad? To retaliate? To write nasty letters or make angry phone calls to the perpetrators of these injustices? Absolutely NOT! No. Our response was to BOOK TRAVEL! And book travel, we have. In one single day, November 8th, YTB RTAs booked $13 million in cruises with Carnival Cruiselines. That is more than the entire industry booked on that day. And in three days, we had booked more than $20 million. YTB leaders J. Lloyd Tomer, Scott Tomer and J. Kim Sorensen and YTB RTAs rose to the occasion to prove that YTB is a REAL travel business and we are serious about booking travel!

Naysayers and "haters" believe that because of our business model we should not be in the travel industry. I ask, what does our business model have to do with it? YTB offers people who join our business TWO opportunities. They can pay a one time set-up charge and a small monthly fee and become a Referring Travel Agent (RTA) and essentially have their own travel business with a private-label booking engine and several other retail sales websites that include: flowers, new and used cars, honeymoon registry, sporting events, theater and concert tickets, golf packages, passports and more. They can also pay nothing -- that's right, $0, and be an independent marketing rep with YTB. The IMR or REP, also gets a marketing business website with loads of information about YTB, a company presentation and a back office. They can do either or they can do both. It's 100% up to them.

When you are an RTA, you sell travel and /or the other retail products linked to your main booking website. Who can you sell to? Anybody and everybody. You can market as far and as wide as you choose, and you earn a commission on everybody who goes on your website to book travel or purchase Hannah Montana tickets (for example). When you are an IMR or REP, you do not sell travel... you sell travel franchises. And when you are both an RTA and a REP you can do both. To me, this is a no brainer. I honestly don't see what the problem is in the minds of people who are either so paranoid about YTB being a pyramid or who just in general hate network marketers.

Network Marketing is merely a means of distribution, similar to direct selling. Many businesses have chosen to advertise their products via expensive print and electronic media. YTB, in contrast, has chosen to advertise it's products through what we know to be a very successful means of advertising: word of mouth. We choose referral marketing and instead of paying advertising companies, YTB chooses to pay its REPs.

YTB has as its goal to be THE LARGEST TRAVEL AGENCY IN THE WORLD by the year 2011. And guess what? At the rate that YTB is growing (about 400% annually) we are on target to accomplish this goal. How will we do it? By selling travel franchises to our family, friends, co-workers, etc. As YTB establishes more and more travel franchises around the nation (and soon the world) we WILL be the largest travel business in the world. As it stands now, we are already a force to contend with. That's why we've gotten so much flack from traditional, brick & mortar travel agents.

I am extremely proud of YTB and to be affiliated with this company. I thank my sponsors, AJ & Kiva Akoto regularly, for getting me involved in this business. YTB is a superb business, and if someone you know offers to sponsor you (allow you to join their business) you need to THANK THEM. They have done you a tremendous favor and given you a gift that can continue to give to you and your generations forever.

Another reason that I am so proud of YTB is because in the midst of being underfire YTB continues to WOW the travel industry and the world. I just received word that J. Kim Sorensen, CEO of YTB Travel Network, has been named of of Travel Weekly's 33 Most Influential People. Read the notice that I received:

"Travel Weekly, in an article dated 11/20/2007, has named YTB Travel Network CEO, J. Kim Sorensen, to its list of the 33 most influential people in the travel industry. The article states that the "most influential" list is filled with people who have veered from the status quo and succeeded so spectacularly that they have influenced the course travel is taking in 2007, and will be just as influential in 2008.
"I am truly honored and humbled to be included on this list," said Kim. "Especially since YTB is not about me, but about the great team and the huge network of representatives and referring travel agents that were willing to take a chance on a new way to sell travel. I speak for the entire company when I thank Travel Weekly for recognizing the huge potential of YTB." Travel Weekly's 2007 Power List named YTB the nation's 35th largest seller of travel and the 11th largest agency for primarily leisure travel for the year 2006."

To read all about the story in Travel Weekly, click on this link:
http://www.travelweekly.com/articles.aspx?page=2&pageid=67111

You may have to register to view the link, but if you do, it's a simple process.

What do you think about these issues with YTB and the travel industry? I'd love to hear from you.

THE CREED THAT I LIVE BY: IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS!

The longer that I live, the more I realize how important it is to have values and a belief system to live by. One that I live by is, "In Everything, Give Thanks". This creed comes from a Bible verse found in I Thessalonians 5:18. The reason that this verse means so much to me is because I am a BELIEVER. I believe in the goodness of God. I believe in the sovereignty of God. And most of all, I believer that God has my best interest at heart.
For this reason, I believe that it really doesn't matter what happens to us in life, the only thing that is important is that we recognize GOD in that situation. If we can see GOD, we'll be able to also see the GOODNESS of whatever that circumstance is... no matter what.

Does it mean that everything that happens to me is good? By my human way of seeing things, the answer is "no." But aren't you thankful that your way of seeing things is not necessarily THE WAY that it is? What would happen if no matter how bad the situation you were in looked, you sought the "beauty" and the glory in it? Would it change your attitude? Your perspective?

I believe in praising God, I don't care what happens in my life. I've had some things to happen that you certainly cannot "see" -- at least not without having spiritual eyes -- anything good in them. But when you purpose in your heart to "bless the Lord" and to be grateful rather than to lament and complain, the whole flavor and tenor of your life changes. The darkness leaves, and the light comes.

God is a GOOD GOD, and this does not change no matter what happens to me. This is the creed that I live by and that I encourage others to try. So next time something painful or disappointing happens to you, praise God. The next time that the world attempts to drown and to pull you down, start to bless and praise and magnify God with everything you've God. Why? Because you're happy for the pain? No! Because you're happy that in your most painful circumstances, God RULES! And most of all, God is "EMANUEL"... God is WITH YOU in that situation. If God be FOR YOU, He is more than the world against you.

I wrote this because in business, we will definitely encounter challenges. We will even encounter enemies. Some of our competitors will not only slander us but they will hate our very existence. Even people who you thought were your friends, you'll find that they only pretend to support you while secretly they stab you in the back. Today, when I came home from a wonderful YTB training, I faced similar challenges. I received some very nasty emails from traditional travel agents who hate that I'm even in the travel industry as a professional. Then someone that I had welcomed into my business with open arms decided to go elsewhere. Was I disappointed? Sure, but what I did was to begin praising the Lord, because I trust Him, no matter what. God is GOOD and no matter what happens, I refuse to change my testimony. I hope that my testimony will encourage you to do the same.

And the best part? When I checked my email, this was in it: Enjoy!

In Everything. “In everything that I have created, your pain, your struggles and your disappointments, there is beauty. In everything the devil has created, even that which appears to be beautiful, is at its core, ugly." From the sermon, “See the Beauty”
Listen http://www.theonlineword.com/s/5352.wma
Read http://www.theonlineword.com/pdf/5352.pdf