With what appears to be the worst of the coronavirus crisis behind the U.S., travel advisors are ready for a comeback — but they want to come back differently. They have spent the last 15 months reevaluating their businesses and work habits, considering things like productivity, service fees and more. This week, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada talk about that and more with industry coach Geraldine Ree.

And, an announcement: This week’s episode is the season one finale of Trade Secrets. We’ll be going on hiatus for the remainder of the year, but we will be back in the beginning of 2022. Look for us then, and in the meantime, feel free to get in touch by emailing tradesecrets@travelweekly.com!

In this episode:
1:32 - Meet Geraldine Ree, coach to travel advisors and agency executives
2:14 - Tackling productivity and social media in today’s busy, busy world
4:30 - The story behind Geraldine’s book, “Flying Colors: The Travel Advisor’s Guide to Breakthrough”
6:04 - How Geraldine, Emma and Jamie structure their days to be productive (sneak peek: Geraldine uses zones, and Emma and Jamie are obsessed with lists)
9:49 - Social media can be overwhelming. Why not try a deep dive into one platform, like Danny Genung did with YouTube?
13:53 - Fees, fees and more fees! Should you charge them? How do you start?
23:13 - Luxury and upselling - now is the time
28:43 - What is the role of the travel advisor, especially as former online travel agency customers move to working with humans? How can advisors take advantage of this?

Further resources:

Geraldine’s website

And her book, “Flying Colors: The Travel Advisor’s Guide to Breakthrough”

How travel advisors can effectively market — and earn money — through YouTube

California agency owner cultivates YouTube following

Coronavirus crisis underscores value of travel agency service fees 

How travel agencies are rethinking fee structures

Advisors getting comfortable with charging fees

Behold, ten commandments for travel advisors

Travel Weekly’s 2021 Power List

What to know about luxury travel in 2021 and beyond

The upside of upselling

Need advice?

Email us: tradesecrets@travelweekly.com 

Theme song:

Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4387-sock-hop

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 

With what appears to be the worst of the coronavirus crisis behind the U.S., travel advisors are ready for a comeback &mdash; but they want to come back differently. They have spent the last 15 months reevaluating their businesses and work habits, considering things like productivity, service fees and more. This week, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada talk about that and more with industry coach Geraldine Ree.
And, an announcement: This week&rsquo;s episode is the season one finale of Trade Secrets. We&rsquo;ll be going on hiatus for the remainder of the year, but we will be back in the beginning of 2022. Look for us then, and in the meantime, feel free to get in touch by emailing tradesecrets@travelweekly.com!
<hr>
In this episode:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">1:32 - Meet Geraldine Ree, coach to travel advisors and agency executives</li>
<li aria-level="1">2:14 - Tackling productivity and social media in today&rsquo;s busy, busy world</li>
<li aria-level="1">4:30 - The story behind Geraldine&rsquo;s book, &ldquo;Flying Colors: The Travel Advisor&rsquo;s Guide to Breakthrough&rdquo;</li>
<li aria-level="1">6:04 - How Geraldine, Emma and Jamie structure their days to be productive (sneak peek: Geraldine uses zones, and Emma and Jamie are obsessed with lists)</li>
<li aria-level="1">9:49 - Social media can be overwhelming. Why not try a deep dive into one platform, like Danny Genung did with YouTube?</li>
<li aria-level="1">13:53 - Fees, fees and more fees! Should you charge them? How do you start?</li>
<li aria-level="1">23:13 - Luxury and upselling - now is the time</li>
<li aria-level="1">28:43 - What is the role of the travel advisor, especially as former online travel agency customers move to working with humans? How can advisors take advantage of this?</li>
</ul>
<hr>
Further resources:
<a href="https://www.geraldineree.com/">Geraldine&rsquo;s website</a>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Flying-Colours-Travel-Advisors-Breakthrough/dp/1777584825/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&amp;keywords=geraldine+ree&amp;qid=1624632227&amp;sr=8-2">And her book, &ldquo;Flying Colors: The Travel Advisor&rsquo;s Guide to Breakthrough&rdquo;</a>
<a href="https://www.travelagewest.com/Industry-Insight/Business-Features/How-Travel-Advisors-Can-Effectively-Market-and-Earn-Money-Through-YouTube">How travel advisors can effectively market &mdash; and earn money &mdash; through YouTube</a>
<a href="https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/California-travel-agency-owner-cultivates-YouTube-following">California agency owner cultivates YouTube following</a>
<a href="https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/Coronavirus-crisis-underscores-value-of-service-fees">Coronavirus crisis underscores value of travel agency service fees </a>
<a href="https://www.travelagewest.com/Industry-Insight/Business-Features/Travel-Agent-Fee-Structure">How travel agencies are rethinking fee structures</a>
<a href="https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/Insights/Advisors-getting-comfortable-with-charging-fees">Advisors getting comfortable with charging fees</a>
<a href="https://www.travelweekly.com/Jamie-Biesiada/Behold-ten-commandments-for-travel-advisors">Behold, ten commandments for travel advisors</a>
<a href="https://www.travelweekly.com/Power-List-2021">Travel Weekly&rsquo;s 2021 Power List</a>
<a href="https://www.travelagewest.com/Travel/Luxury/Luxury-Travel-2021-Beyond">What to know about luxury travel in 2021 and beyond</a>
<a href="https://www.travelweekly.com/Industry-Survey-2018/An-emphasis-on-upselling">The upside of upselling</a>
<hr>
Need advice?
Email us: <a href="mailto:tradesecrets@travelweekly.com">tradesecrets@travelweekly.com </a>
<hr>
Theme song:
Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4387-sock-hop
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
&nbsp;
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
&nbsp;

Welcome to Trade Secrets, a podcast from the editors of Travel Weekly and TravelAge West, where travel advisors ask -- and answer -- questions. On each podcast, our editors will ask a veteran travel advisor to join them and field listeners’ questions. Topics will range from business advice to industry trends, history and more — as long as it’s travel-related, we want to address it! Find Trade Secrets wherever you get your podcasts, or at travelweekly.com/podcasts.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS:

Jamie Biesiada is a senior editor with Travel Weekly. She is an award-winning journalist, including being named the American Society of Travel Advisors’ 2019 Travel Journalist of the Year. Her roots are in community journalism, where she was the editor of several local newspapers and a regional entertainment magazine.

Emma Weissmann is a Senior Editor of TravelAge West, a print and online magazine for travel advisors based in the Western U.S. She is also the host of the Humans of Travel podcast, where she interviews notable individuals in the travel industry about their lives — the highs and lows that make them human.


Theme song:
Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4387-sock-hop
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information

Welcome to Trade Secrets, a podcast from the editors of Travel Weekly and TravelAge West, where travel advisors ask -- and answer -- questions. On each podcast, our editors will ask a veteran travel advisor to join them and field listeners&rsquo; questions. Topics will range from business advice to industry trends, history and more &mdash; as long as it&rsquo;s travel-related, we want to address it! Find Trade Secrets wherever you get your podcasts, or at <a href="http://travelweekly.com/podcasts">travelweekly.com/podcasts</a>.
<hr>
ABOUT YOUR HOSTS:
Jamie Biesiada is a senior editor with Travel Weekly. She is an award-winning journalist, including being named the American Society of Travel Advisors&rsquo; 2019 Travel Journalist of the Year. Her roots are in community journalism, where she was the editor of several local newspapers and a regional entertainment magazine.
Emma Weissmann is a Senior Editor of TravelAge West, a print and online magazine for travel advisors based in the Western U.S. She is also the host of the Humans of Travel podcast, where she interviews notable individuals in the travel industry about their lives &mdash; the highs and lows that make them human.
<hr>
 Theme song: Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod Link: <a href="https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4387-sock-hop">https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4387-sock-hop</a> License: <a href="https://filmmusic.io/standard-license">https://filmmusic.io/standard-license</a>
<hr>
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information

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