Remember the Christmas song about the 12 days of Christmas?
it’s playing in my head now hahaha, on the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me—– I am sure you know the rest of the song.
Well, in this case, I am your true love, that is giving you a gift of owning a printables business, by telling you 12 reasons you should own a printables( passive income business) in 2019.
1 Passive income business:
Printables is a passive income business meaning that once you have designed it and set it up, it just keeps on bringing you income so long as people desire to buy it. If you have been looking for passive income opportunities, then this is one you should not miss out on.
Who does not like the fact that you can wake up and do whatsoever you need to do while your business is running by itself practically.
In case you are thinking about how to start this business, then you need not stress, I just finished building my course on Newbie Printables business.
A course that teaches you how to start a printables business from finding your niche to the cost of startup.
Here is what a person who took the course had to say
I love that this course is geared towards newbie. I love beautiful printables and have been secretly envious of those that create such items. And now I can too!
To sign up for this course click here
2 You can do it as a side hustle:
You know how you can give yourself that dang excuse, but I am working and I am already doing a lot, I don’t have the time.
This business can be a side hustle too, you don’t need to do it full time if you don’t want to.
Think of how you can block out an hour in your time schedule to use it to create printables.
You can then upload it and market it during your break time at work.
By the time it starts bringing you an income you will know why I call it the biggest passive income business of our time.
In case you are that mama that is hassled and don’t know how to plan your time, you are in good luck.
3 it can be done by anyone with minimal skills and a desire to start:
Anyone can start a printables business, I mean it as long as you can click, drag and drop something then you can do it.
All you need to know is to first plan out your concept on a sheet.
Once your concept has been designed with a planning sheet, the rest is easy.
You don’t have to be a pro in designing for you to be able to do this.
Hear what someone who took this course had to say
I learned a lot watching you design your bundle of Thanksgiving printables. You gave me so many ideas and showed me I don’t have to be an expert in graphic design.
4 The market is booming:
The market for printables is booming, there is a constant trend of demand during the year with particular peaks in January for planners.T his because at the beginning of every year people love to plan out their lives and business.
Take a look at these graphs from Google trend.
From the chart, you can see that there is a breakout in demand for 2019 planners.
6 You can turn any experience you have into a printable product :
People often ask, how do I know that I can create a printable product? I expect it should be for people who are business savvy?
My answer, do you have any experience at all? do you desire to earn a passive income from it? then you can create a printables product and turn it into a passive income business.
Think of it, if you are a cleaner you can make a printables product that creates cleaning guidelines for homes or offices.
Are you are Gardner ? you can create printable guidelines for starting and tending your garden.
If you love to cook, you can create a 3-month menu plan for someone who wants to lose weight or even eat healthy.
Are you a fitness coach? you can make a printables for someone who wants a plan for keeping fit.
So long as you have an experience, then you can create a printable product about it.
7 It’s a digital download product- no shipping cost:
The best part about this passive income business is that its a digital download.
You don’t ship nada, you don’t get missing goods.
if it refuses to download, then you download it again nothing lost, nothing missing, nothing broken; shalom shalom like they say in the Hebrew language. Lol
8 Minimal startup costs:
A printables business can be started with as little as 40 dollars, of course, you will need to invest more into it to make your business grow.
But if you wanted the basics, you can start with as little as 40 dollars.
I did a cost breakdown for anyone who wanted to start the business in my
Newbie printables business course, To take this course simply click below
The course is going for 9.99USD for now, this is the lowest this course will go for before I launch it fully and the price will go up.
People who took this course said they are willing to pay more for this course so you better grab it now before the price disappears.
9- Even if you are lazy, (hate stress) you can do this:
I don’t like to say you are lazy because you are not, if you have been reading this post up to this point then you definitely are not lazy.
Lazy people don’t read.
So I will just adjust that term to you hate stress lol.
Yes, you can do this business because it’s so easy and fun to do that you will forget that you are working.
I love to make quotes that people can print and put on their walls at home, it doesn’t feel like I am working when I am making those quotes.
Trust me I have more fun thinking of ways to encourage people with my quotes.
Here is a sample of what I sell in my online store
10- Because you need that extra income:
Raise your hand if you don’t want more money or income? I mean if you don’t want more, you could send it to me because I need it to help others out Lol.
But seriously, one of the reasons I like to make more than I need is so I can use it to help out those in need.
I have tons of people I wish I could help every day.
I have relatives who need my help, in fact, I just lost an aunt last month who left 2 kids behind and I am thinking of how to help them to get an education and have a better life.
That’s why I will never be averse to making more money because I know it will enlarge my capacity to help others.
So if you are like me and you need that more income, then you should consider starting a printables business
11- Because I will teach you how to start easily:
You don’t have to bug yourself about any research.
I will teach you how to start, I will work you through the process.
I have a course where I already taught some initial aspect on how to start this passive income business.
By the time you finish the first part of this course, you will gain clarity.
The second part of the course is on the burner right now and will be up for grabs so why not choose to start now.
12-You can finally check off that to do list of starting a home business:
You know that every year resolution you have always had about starting a business that never works out
You put it on your list and you never get to check it off as done.
Now 2019 is around the corner, don’t let the new year run through with that idea still sitting in your mind when it can turn into a real business that is bring ing you a passive income.
As the year winds down, its inevitable for some businesses to begin to slow down. For bloggers, summer periods are usually the slowest periods because most people are off their phones and laptops and are trying to get some needed rest via vacations
For some businesses especially if you sell physical items, this may be the busiest season in business since people will need to buy a lot of things for the Christmas period.
But what do you do when your business slows down? especially as a home business owner.
I have seen cases where a change in algorithm caused some people to panic because their traffic took a hit.
For example, Pinterest is always updating their algorithm, and every time they do that, it throws some people into panic mode because their traffic begins to tank and hence affects their income.
As a business person, we must note that change is a constant thing and that change may affect our business. sometimes your home business will be slow, its part of the cycle of a business life.
Some reasons why a business might become slow
-Change in season.
-Shifting consumer appetite
-Fading of a fad
-A product that has reached its maximum life cycle and is declining
-Newer technology.
When your home business is slow it can be frustrating.
You may worry that things are never going to turn themselves around and you may be worried about your own future in general.
The main thing that you have to do here is trying not to get over worried about it, instead, try and stay as positive as much as you can.
When your home business is slow here are things you can do
1-Calm down and think:
This may seem like its what you are doing by worrying but the worry is not thinking, even though they are both processed from the mind.
Worry keeps you in a place of anxiety and fear, but thinking through to a solution forces you to search for a solution to your business hence moves you into action
When your business is slow, you may jump into the boat of anxiety thinking that you are doing something about it. Instead of worrying, take a deep breath and tell yourself, I can handle this.
Then begin to analyze what you have been doing for a while starting from where the issue started and work backward.
Take note of patterns and trends so that you can pinpoint where and when the issue started.
If the problem is internal you should spot it if its external, like when a change in algorithm affects your traffic, then search for new knowledge about the change and start implementing what you have found.
2-Personal Protection
You need to work on your personal brand and even the recognition that the public has for you as well.
The more known you are, the more opportunities you will have and the better your company will be able to come out of the slow season.
This can help you to bounce back more than ever before and it can also help you to get a good idea of how you can boost your brand.
3-Rethink your business Model
There isn’t a single company out there who does everything right. When business is slow, this is the perfect time for you to reflect on how things have been going in the past year.
Try and reflect on everything that has happened and also try to think about what you could have changed.
Sometimes business is slow and you can’t do much about it, but you can help your business to perform better at peak times in the future.
4-Ask for Help
Entrepreneurs often find asking for help tough.
This is because when you ask for help, you are essentially admitting that you have an issue.
If you are able to ask for help however then this can be very helpful for your business.
You may find that you end up getting solid advice about the business that may help you to get things back on track again.
Another form of help you can get may be in the form of mentorships or taking courses to help improve your knowledge.
5- Study an Industry
The longer you work in a single industry, the more at risk you are for becoming narrow-minded. For this reason, it helps to look at what the other businesses are doing, their strategy and how they solve problems.
Think about it, is there anything that you can do to try and learn more about your profession? Can you change industries? Can you make your business come from a different angle? has the trend in your industry changed which caused your business to slow down?
6-Diversify your income stream
Sometimes when your home business is slow, it can be an indication that you have depended so much on one income stream and its time to diversify your income stream.
For example, if your main source of income was selling wallets made from leather which is handcrafted, you may consider making belt, wristbands and other leather accessories that will go with your wallet to see if that will help boost your income.
We see various people do it in both their personal finance and businesses.
For instance, a lot of people are turning to invest into bitcoin via the blockchain technology to diversify their portfolio of investments.
They do not want to rely on traditional means of investing anymore.
Big companies like IBM are also beginning to recognize the trend and hence shifting their interests.
In doing this diversification of course you will find yourself entering new territories in business but as a person who is already running a home business, you should not be afraid to chart a completely new territory.
For example, people who are investing in bitcoin and blockchain technology are realizing that there are terms like what is a blockchain fork? which is alien to them.
Taking the time to familiarise yourself with the new options may seem time-consuming but you are preparing your home business for the future.
7-Strengthen your Relationships
It’s so important that you are able to strengthen the relationships that you have with your customers.
This can be people on your email list, Facebook, Instagram and other social channels that you have loyal fans that are there for you.
This may be the time to reach out to them with freebies asking for their opinions about your products and services
You may be surprised how the feedback you will get will help you to revamp your business for good.
Do you have any tips that I missed out? drop your comments below
Its been a while when I last blogged here, that’s because yours truly has been very busy creating a new course, more on that later.
Today I feel like doing a jig dance because I am writing my first income report.
I had almost given up on this blog as I kept having issues with making some money from it.
You see while people may blog for fun, its also a business, like every other business it has to sustain itself to become a real business.
I may not be one to write income reports, I had some income last year but I did not write about it here.
But I felt that I needed to put this income report down to enable some people to get encouraged.
For quite some time, this blog has not been able to make some money.
I struggled with getting to my real audience, but that has started to change slowly.
Believe it or not, people are recognizing this blog and I am beginning to earn some money from my blogging.
That’s why I decided to share my income report.
In this report, I will share with you how I have made money in the past 3 months, call it a quarterly report and you will not be far from it.
One of the posts I wrote sometime last year on how to start a printables business has been on the first page of Google for some time right now, see picture below.
This post has brought me a steady stream of readers and hence pushed my blog into the light.
It prompted me to create the newbie printables course which led to more people visiting my blog
This course just finished its beta testing phase and the feedback has been wow,
Hear what one beta tester had to say:
I really enjoyed the section on finding your niche. I’ve been struggling to decide which type of printables I’d like to sell and this information helped to give me clarity.
I believe it was on the power of this exposure that I have earned some income from this blog.
If you want a preview of the course please click below.
Now on to my income Report
September- Affiliate commission from viglink- 24.99
viglink is a very versatile affiliate company that helps you to link your posts to various affiliate possibilities and when people make a purchase from that link, you get paid.
Sign up with viglink.
October-Freelance writing- 128.00
November- Sponsored posts- 66.75
Total earnings: 219.74
My Sponsored posts came from Getblogged a firm that helps bloggers earn money from their work by making posts for them.
If you had like to earn from Getblogged please sign up here
Some earnings were from someone who reached out to me to do a sponsored post for them.
I know this may seem small for some people but for me, it’s a huge win.
I am sincerely grateful to God for the opportunity to earn from this blog albeit the challenges.
So now that we are getting out of the waters of not earning what are my plans for the coming year?
I will share this in subsequent posts.
What I learned about Blogging
Having shared with you how my income report
I want to use this medium to encourage anyone who has been blogging not to give up on what you are doing.
sometimes it may seem like it will never work but you got to keep on.
At least my income report should encourage you that things can change for you if it did for me.
When you see and hear as others are earning thousands of dollars from their blog you may wonder when it will be your turn.
Well, I have got good news for you, it may not start with thousands as you had hoped.
But if you will stay with it and continue to tweak your business model.
Seek new avenues of expanding your blog and more importantly pray for divine ideas, you will get there.
I cannot say that I could have gotten here if I had not followed some divine promptings of the Holy Spirit about this blog.
In fact, sometimes I have ignored those promptings, thinking it was just not working out for me.
But today as I see results in what I am doing, I return here to give him all the glory.
Because he said that he is the one that gives us the power to get wealth so that his covenant will be established(Deuteronomy 8:18)
I am seeing that manifest in my blog.
So part of my plans for next year will be to pray out Gods will for this blog and to sincerely follow his plan for it.
So here is what I have learned about blogging that will always help you.
Be consistent in your blogging:
I can’t say I have stuck to this because sometimes I have not kept up my posting schedule even to my email list.
I am sorry about that, I will be much more consistent now.
The consistency pays in driving traffic to your blog.
Automation is key:
I have used automation especially for my Pinterest and I have seen the difference.
Tailwind makes a huge difference to your pinning efforts which automatically impacts your traffic.
I have been in that place where my Pinterest views rose to about 58k views per month and I was so ecstatic.
But then it began to drop, and before I knew it, my Tailwind subscription expired.
Because I could not afford to even renew my subscription, It just tanked.
Until I met a mentor through my facebook group who advised me to sign up for the monthly option.
I listened to her and signed up and it began to grow again, never take Tailwind for a joke, it’s powerful.
Sign up for a tailwind account click here, the beautiful thing is that you get a free 100 pins to use for the trial period.
You can also join my tribe on Tailwind for free.
it’s really growing fast, every day I get requests to join my tribe.
Tribes provide awesome traffic because they help to share your pins too.
Tailwind has also done some improvements which are quite helpful.
You can now get schedule some of your traffic generating pins for like 3 months ahead.
My Facebook group mentor helped me by advising me on what to do.
So I implemented her ideas, and to be frank, it has worked for me.
So I am thankful to that Facebook group for the opportunities they have given me.
Facebook group is a place to meet like-minded people.
They are people who are on the same journey with you and will like to help you out.
Thanks to social media, sharing the momentous, touching, fun, and adorable aspects of family life is simple.
In fact, it’s as easy as uploading a photo, typing an update or caption, and clicking a button.
However, it doesn’t add the personal touch of a family blog.
By launching a family blog, you can tell a story, include all the content you want, and indulge your creativity without limitation.
Find out how to launch your first family blog, connect with relatives and fellow parents, and even monetize your content with a few easy steps.
A family blog can be started by anyone whether you are working mom who wants to run working mom blogs
or a stay at home mom who wants to curate your family journey and also make money through it.
To launch a Family blog here are the key steps
1 Choose a Hosting platform
2 Choose a Blogging Content management system
3Create an Audience Persona
4 Market your Blog
5 Monetize your Blog
1-Choosing a Hosting Platform
If you’re intimidated by starting a blog, you aren’t alone. The idea of finding a domain name can seem overwhelming to the technologically inexperienced, but it’s simpler than you realize.
To launch your website, you need to find a web hosting provider. These companies have servers, which allow internet users to connect to your website.
If you’re unsure of where to start, look for a hosting company with a good reputation, excellent tech support, and a low price.
A very popular hosting platform with these attributes is Jvzoohost, they give a very cheap alternative for starting your blogging journey.
For a small price per month, you can get a hosting provider like right now, and if you do not want to pay for an all year round subscription, you can pay monthly, you are not locked in for a whole year like other competitors.
They have top-notch and excellent customer service, they listen to your complaints and work hard to help you when you have issues with their service.
To sign up for Jvzoohost click below
If you, however, are not sure of Jvzoohost then maybe you may consider this alternative: Bluehost, they also give you top-notch service and are much cheaper but you have to get a whole year signed up to access the cheap price.
It’s not a bad offer considering you have a free domain thrown in to sweeten the deal.
To sign up click below
Creating a Domain Name
Once you’ve chosen a host, the next step is creating a domain name. A domain name is what people will type into their browser to visit your site. As a rule of thumb, this name should:
-Be easy to spell.
-Be short and to the point.
-Include keywords relevant to your site such as “family” or “parent.”
-End in .com for easy navigation to your site.
Remember that some of the more obvious choices are already taken, so use a domain searchto check your idea’s availability.
2-Choose a Content Management System
Once you have your domain name nailed down, the next this is to choose a content management system.
You’ll want to use an open-source content management system (CMS), such as WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla!, to add blog posts, add web pages, and upload media to your blogging platform.
If you read the above-linked article, you will be able to make a better choice as to which to use, but nothing beats WordPress because of its use of Plugins as a functionality that minimizes using any type of coding skills to make your blogging platform top notch.
3-Create Audience Personas
An audience persona is a fictitious representation of your ideal client, reader or follower.
To create audience personas, you need to ask yourself:
-How can my reader benefit from my blog?
-Where is my audience located online? e,g Instagram, Facebook. Twitter, Snapchat etc.
-What age is my audience?
-What hobbies are my audience interested in?
-What’s the average household income of my audience?
-What unique problems or pain points does my audience have?
-How does my blog address that pain point?
When you have answers to these questions, you can start creating engaging content that truly resonates with your readers.
For example: If you know your audience has a household income of more than $75k a year, this means you can definitely talk about going on vacations.
If your readers have a household income of below $30k a year, it’s probably best to skip vacation topics and focus more on how you and your family save money.
Creating killer content, maintaining an active social media presence, or crafting guest posts on other family blogs will help you find an online presence that people will come to trust and enjoy.
If you want to be much more successful in your blogging business, then you cannot overlook the idea of Blogger outreach strategy.
This singular approach can put your blog in front of audiences that may take you years to achieve.
Read up my post on Blogger outreach campaigns and you will be well on your way to running a thriving blog.
5-Monetizing Your Blog
-Influencer marketing
Now that you’ve created a steady stream of traffic to your website, it’s time to capitalize on the fruits of your labor and your trusted voice through influencer marketing.
For example, influencer Scarlet Paolicchi uses her top-ranked family blog to conduct product reviews and vouch for services.
Companies pay Scarlet for this work, creating a steady income stream for her to enjoy from a popular blog.
-Allowing Ads Is Important
When you start a family blog, you’ll have to decide whether you want it to feature ads.
Some family blog owners make money only through influencer marketing and affiliate tactics and not ads.
However, allowing ads is a great way to boost your income potential.
When allowing ads, you need to make sure they properly positioned on the blog itself.
You don’t want your readers distracted by ads as they are trying to read your content.
Allowing ads on your blog will require that you handle them yourself or you can let a service provider handle them for you. Google Adsense and Sovrn are two simple-to-use ad programs you can take advantage of. Once you hit page views exceeding 100k a month, you’ll want to let a service provider, like AdThrive, manage your ads for you. They will be able to curate ads that make you the most money.
-Decide Whether You Want to Be an Affiliate
Another important choice to make is whether you want to take advantage of affiliate marketing.
Almost all successful family blog owners will go this route. Look at their pages and you’ll likely see a statement that says “this post contains affiliate links.” This means the writer is being paid to promote other brands.
If you click on one of those affiliate links and make a purchase, the blogger will make money.
Sometimes, the affiliate commission can be more than $100. Here are some affiliates companies that pay you a good commision: Vigilinks, Izea,
-Sell a Product or Service
Probably the most notable way to make money on a family blog is to sell your own product or service. Once you become successful and garner high traffic, you’ll be considered a family blog guru.
You can take the knowledge and experience you have learned through your years as a family blogger and sell it in the form of an eBook, webinar, or master class.
You can make thousands of dollar on a single eBook. People will pay you to teach them how you blog and make money.
The best part about selling your own product or service is that you have full control over the cost.
Even better, you get to keep all of the profits. The only thing you will be out is the expense of what it took to create that book. For example: If you create a book and have an editor proofread it, you’ll have to pay that editor his or her fee.
Once you have sorted out how to monetize your blog, there are still some key issues you have to consider, they include
Blog Part-Time or Full-Time
An important decision you will need to make when launching a family blog is whether you want to tackle it on a part- or full-time basis.
Many family blog owners have chosen to step away from their full-time careers and completely devote themselves to blogging.
Running your own family blog gives you the chance to set your own schedule, work from home, and make as much money as you want.
The amount of money you make, of course, is parallel to how much time you invest in creating and marketing your blog.
A lot of people are mistaken and believe that running a family blog is simple. They fail to see that it requires impeccable writing skills as well as the ability to study one’s audience.
After all, you can’t create content that your audience enjoys unless you know who they are. To discover who your audience is, you will need to create audience personas.
Involve Your Family
If you’re starting a family blog, you, of course, need to ensure your family is onboard.
After all, your audience will truly enjoy being able to read content and watch videos that are intimate and about your family.
From the get-go, you should speak with your family and let them know what you will be writing about, such as family dinners and vacations.
If a family member ever has something they don’t want you to post about, it’s imperative that you don’t.
You don’t want to monetize off of something that your family member doesn’t want to be shared.
Dedicate Time Each and Every Day to Your Blog
There’s a lot that goes into running a successful family blog. Ideally, though, you don’t want to slave over a computer 16 hours a day to keep it up and going.
In fact, having more time to spend with your family is a major benefit of running your own family blog.
To ensure you don’t get overwhelmed with related tasks, though, you’ll need to put aside a certain number of hours to run the blog each day
. Anywhere from four to eight hours should suffice. During this time, you will be creating content, reaching out to influencers, and reviewing your blog’s analytics.
Expect Criticism
No matter how successful you are, it’s important to be prepared for criticism. When operating a family blog, you are essentially putting you and your whole family’s life in the eye of the public.
There are going to be aspects of your life that some people don’t agree with. Ignoring these people and having an open mind to the opinions of others is crucial to staying devoted to your blog and monetizing it.
By following these tips, you can create a family blog that becomes a must-visit website for parents around the globe.
Like any other type of business, you get what you put in, but with the right content and marketing, you can turn a hobby into a flexible and profitable career.
Launching a family blog is a venture worth pursuing especially if you can follow the 5 steps which have been outlined above.
To get started with launching your family blog
Do you have any ideas on how to launch a family blog that I failed to cover?
Drop your comments below
Want to get posts on different business ventures you can start?, join my VIP list
Starting an online travel agency is no mean feat, I have had my fair share of travel mishaps.
I wished that I used a travel agency to properly arrange my travel itinerary
I once traveled with my hubby and little kids, unfortunately for us, we were delayed a bit at the immigration point.
Because of that, we could not contact the cab driver who usually picked us upon arrival.
This meant we had to pick up anyone that was available.
Our mistake, because between handling 2 tired and cranky kids and offloading our travel bags when we arrived at the Hotel.
My hubby forgot his 3 cell phones in the cab, the cab driver had left before we realized it was missing.
Unfortunately for us, it was never returned.
We called the airport hoping he took it there, but since we could not give the name of the cab driver, he could not be identified.
That was how we lost those cell phones, It amazed us that those phones were never returned.
The moral of this story, had we used the services of an online travel agency,
We will probably have recovered those phones because it could have been traced to the person who picked and dropped us off.
Having said this, online travel agency is a profitable business venture which anyone who is willing to start an online home based travel agency business can engage in.
In this post, I lay it out to you step by step how to start an online travel agency.
1 Decide the Niche you will be serving
2 Search out the Host agency to use
3 Set up your online travel agency Business
4 Market your Business
Steps to Starting An Online Travel Agency Business
1 Decide What Niche You Will Play in:
Deciding on a Niche to play in your business is a major question which everyone who wants to start any business online must answer.
In the world of online business, especially with starting a new online travel agency.
The only way you can make an impact and succeed is by deciding to play in a specific niche.
The jack of all trades master of none syndrome will not play here because
even Google, who you will need to advertise your business will not pick your website to display it when people search for travel agencies.
You may decide as you grow to increase your areas of expertise
But in starting out you cannot afford to be everything to everyone, you are not ice cream hahaha,
So choosing a niche to play in is a major hoop you have to jump.
This one single decision will determine how you will attract your customers online and how you will market to them.
In making your Niche Decision you need to answer these questions
a Are you passionate about this niche :
Passion is a key decider of what you are going to do online because an online business requires that you be willing to work on it until you succeed.
Are you passionate enough about your niche to create products that will wow your customers?
For example, in marketing any product online, you have to write about it, that is blogging.
In some cases, you have to talk about this niche in the form of podcasting.
Now if you are not passionate about your product niche you may find yourself struggling to build this business.
even though you were excited about it a moment ago.
So before you set on starting your online travel agency, you have to answer that question, what niche will I serve and am I passionate about this niche.
b Do you have the skills to serve this market:
In starting an online travel agency, do I have the skills to serve my market?
If you have worked with an established travel agency before you may be able to quickly answer this question because its something that you have been trained to do.
However, if all you have is just a desire to serve this market,
Then its time to take a course that will help you to acquire the skills you need in other to start an online travel agency.
You may also want to take some certifications in other to gain more credibility.
This is because people will always trust someone who was certified to do something, than someone who is just doing it without any formal training.
To become a certified travel agent you can look here for some courses to help you.
I will highlight some of the necessary certifications in the later part of this post.
Please note that these certifications do not necessarily mean you can not start an online travel agency without them.
It’s just that you will need them for credibility.
In the latter part of this post, I show you a shortcut to having the benefit of these certifications without you paying to acquire them.
Please understand that there is a difference between, certifications and training for your job.
Training for the business you want to start is just to help you to acquire the skills needed for you to set up and start your business.
While certifications are industry requirements which give you credibility.
c Do you understand how this market behaves :
In acquiring the skill you need, you may also want to check your industry statistics to understand what are the uptimes and downtimes for your industry.
For example, it’s not hidden that a lot of people travel during summer in the western part of the world.
That’s because the weather is good and people love to be out and about
But what you may not understand is the reverse is the case for people who live in the tropics who want to experience the cold winters in the west.
So understanding how your industry operates is a major issue in setting up your online travel agency.
Examples of Niches available in this market
-Cruise travels
-Luxury Travels
-Group Tours
-Destination specialist travels
-Disney
-Adventure travel
-Women only vacations
-Men only vacation
-Grand travels
-Disabled travelers
-Travelers with pets
d Do you have a travel agent business plan:
In starting your online travel agency, you will have to figure out how to make money in this business.
Afterall you are in business to make money right?
What will your income streams be?
An example of the income streams in travel agencies include:
-Book travel tickets for a commission
-Sell travel guides
-Book tours for Groups
-Sell travel insurance
-Offer consulting services to people who want to set up a travel department
-Sell online courses for people who want to start this business
To learn how to write your travel agency business plan read this.
2: Search Out A Host Agency To Use:
Remember the shortcut I talked about earlier, yes, this is it.
Using a Host agency as a base for setting up your online travel agency is the shortcut you will need to bypass having to get some certifications required by the industry.
So what is a Host Agency to an online travel agency
A host agency is like that big corporation that is into a travel agency business,
You sign up with them and you present your business to other people with their qualifications.
This means that the certifications they have are available to you because you have their permission to sell for them.
Think of your host agency as the big guy that has subcontracted its part of finding customers for it to you.
You get to use their Booking number and other certifications that are required for you to be accepted as a travel agent.
Pros of using a Host travel agency
-You bypass a lot of legal requirements which may require that you have your own accreditation before you start a business.
-Some of these requirements may be licenses and certifications
-Low start-up cost, because you do not have to worry about paying for accreditation before you have made money
-Opportunity to work with a known brand which already has credibility built up hence you cut down your time to market.
-Free training from them because they want you to succeed.
-You get to build up a portfolio of networks and suppliers and customers through them.
Cons
-Your business is typically dependent on them if they go south you go south
-You may find that you cannot build your own personal brand because you are using their name and number.
-Pay is commission based which will only come in after the buyer has used the service.
I am sure by now, you are itching to know the best Host travel agencies are available so you can begin to apply,
Not to worry here they are
Types of Host Travel Agency
-Avoya
-Travel Planners International
-Dugans travels
-Gifted travel network
-Nexion
-Cruise one/ Dream vacations
-Flight center independent
-Oasis travel network
To learn how to choose the best travel network, watch this video
Now that you have settled in your heart the Host travel agency to use as a travel agent, its time to set up your business.
3: Set up your Online travel agency:
To set up your online travel agency you need to take note of some legal aspects, they include:
Business license:
This includes either to set up as a DBA or an LLC or perhaps even an enterprise or a corporation.
Whatever you decide to do, ensure you are well informed as to what the tax liabilities are.
This includes deciding from the word go how you will want to operate your online travel agency.
If you want to become an independent travel agency that has its own licenses then you have to be ready to get the required certifications and licenses.
Here are some of them
Certifications
Certified Travel agent- CTP
Travel and Tourism Professional- TTP
Total Travel certification-TTC
Professional travel agent- PTA
All these are not necessarily required before start off but they give you credibility.
Therefore, even though you may not have any as you start out, it is advisable you get one of them.
Apart from these certifications which help to boost your credibility, you are then required to have an accreditation number which helps suppliers to recognize you as an accredited travel professional.
It gives you the ability to book tickets, collect commissions and generally function as travel agency professional
Some of this Accreditation agencies are as follows as culled from Hostagency reviews
ARC- Airline reporting corporation: This is basically formed to operate for US-based travel agencies.
It acts as an accounting firm that handles financial transactions between airlines and travel agencies.
You do issue ticketing if you have the accreditation.
It may cost you up to 2000 dollars to get this accreditation and you will still get to pay 210 dollars annual fee.
To learn more go here.
IATA: International airline transport association: This accreditation firm is quite big and offers a variety of accreditation options for their accreditation number.
Their accreditation number is recognized worldwide.
In fact, if you ask me, I will say this is probably the one I have always known until I started writing this article on online travel agency.
So here are the varieties
IATA- For international travel agency with air ticketing
IATA- International with no air ticketing
IATAN- US based travel agency with air ticketing
IATAN US based with non air ticketing.
To read more about how they operate go here
CLIA- Cruise line international Association: This accreditation is for travel agencies who sell cruise line bookings.
They are specifically for travel agencies with more than 50 agents.
This means that you gotta be big before you can apply for this one
If you are just starting out this may not be for you.
However, if you want to play in this niche then the best thing to do is to join a host agency and become a hosted travel agent.
This will give you the opportunity to use their own CLIA number since you may not have one.
TRUE: Travellers retailers universal enumeration
This accreditation is mainly for independent travel agencies who sell small tour packages, they cater to mostly niche operators and are internationally recognized.
They do not sell airline ticketing but basically tours and cruises.
People who have this code can also work with a host agency so it’s a double plus for them.
-Build volume and status and acquire your own customers who remain yours
-You build your own brand albeit slowly
-Choice of marketing and sales channels
-You choose what suppliers you want to work with
-Elevated credibility and status as a travel professional
Diffferent ways you can start your online travel agency firm
Independent travel agency: In this case you have your own bouquet of customers, you build your brand and get to pay for your own accreditation.
You also have to be responsible for training, marketing sales, and customers service.
In fact, it’s like running your own full-time business.
Hosted Agent: In this case, you work as a travel agent under the hosted agencies mentioned above.
The cost is minimal, except for registering your business, all you do is partner with them.
They provide you with the required training and resources to succeed, you get paid on a commission basis.
You have access to multiple accreditations without paying for it or maintaining it.
Corporate travel department: In this case you work as an independent corporate travel department official for a company.
Where you are responsible for booking flight tickets and making reservations for a companies personnel
You are like a staff member whose job it is to do such jobs, you will decide how much you are paid for your services.
If you have made up your mind on how to play in the industry, the next thing you need to do is to set up your website online.
To set up your website you will need to first choose a hosting plan
A hosting plan here has nothing to do with a travel agency in this case.
It’s just a rent you pay your online landlord so that you can build your online business which in this case is a travel agency.
When choosing your hosting plan, you should consider these key points,
The speed of your of load of your site: How long does it take for your site to load when clicked on. The industry average is 3 seconds
Percentage uptime: What is the percentage time your site is up- 99.9% is great.
Cost: How much does your hosting plan cost
There is a variety of hosting plans out there, but the one that beats all of them hands-down is Bluehost.
That ’s why I recommend it.
Because you will get a low-cost package with a very great speed of load, a high percentage of uptimes and finally great customer service available to help you with the setup.
To get Bluehost plan, click below
If you have never built a website before and you are afraid,
Not to worry, this 10 dollar resource will make your website set up, a walk in the park.
You just watch and do and your site is up within 2 hours.
To get the resource which is a Video which walks you through from the time you get your link from your hosting plan seller to when your site will be up
If you have done a thorough job in following the steps outlined above
Then you will not find it difficult to get the customers you need in other to get your business rolling.
This is because as at now you should have determined who your customers are.
What niche you want to play in and assessed yourself to see if you have the requisite skills required.
We move on to the main gist of the matter, that is marketing your new online business.
Now that you have set up your website, the next thing is to market it to the right audience.
Before you get into marketing you have to determine what your target audience persona is
Set up your audience Persona
What is a Persona
A persona is like a fictitious person who has the characteristics you will desire in a customer.
For example, if you chose to cater to people who do special vacations like Honeymoons,
You will be looking to about to weds who may be considering going for a vacation for their honeymoon.
Some characteristics to look out for will be: their age group, market size, earning potential and also willingness to buy.
Finally, when are you likely to have a spike in the demand for such services.
Set up your social media channels
Create a brand from the onset: To learn how to build a brand for a small business go here
Blog about your service offerings
Start an email list: where you offer your readers lead magnets so that they cam optin to your email list
Partner with parallel workers in your industry: For instance, if you do honeymoon vacations partner with wedding planners and ask them to recommend you to their customers for a commission.
Launch your business: let your family and friends know that you are into this business, ask them to recommend you to their friends for a fee, this may mean setting up affiliate commissions for your customers who refer you.
To start your Online travel agency get your hosting plan now
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