Travel Media

Archive for June, 2009

Travel parties are a growing trend, and now you can host a travel party and jump onboard of this growing trend?

I wanted to start a HOME BASED BUSINESS, and after researching and getting into the vacation rental business and seen just how lucrative the travel industry was, I wanted a bigger piece of the pie.

I ran across a company called YTB Travel Biz. YTB brings you the perfect opportunity to transform your life by combining the powerful information handling capability of the Internet with the world’s most dynamic product – travel – and the personal touch of independent, home based business people. YTB has joined these three trends together in a flawless combination. By utilizing our simple strategies and proven techniques we can show you how to leverage your time to generate a residual income 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The elements of honesty, morality, and “being in the right place at the right time” are all in place today at YTB

I was on the fence for a couple of months, and one day I was invited to a travel party. I went to the Travel Party, and I won a trip and got started with the business.

Winning a trip, coming to a travel party and starting a home based business, all in one great night.

There are similar companies out there, but some of them wanted me to quit what I was doing and spend full time with them, this YTB company allows you to work at your pace and comfort zone and developed a blue print for success by “talking or showing” not “selling” the opportunity. You see, people naturally like to talk about travel and vacations.

With this business, I can work as hard, or little as I want and I still make money. You can make money several ways with YTB, that of a Referring Travel Agent (RTA) or and Independent Marketing representative (REP).

The travel booking engines are powered by Travelocity, who basically saw growth in this corporation and said ” They would rather be in business with them than compete with them”.

So come join us for some travel, some fun, and make money while doing it. With this business you can spend more time with your family, and friends.

View some of our promtional videos sites here:View Presentation Video ,eTravel Fortune ,Your Ticket to Paradise.

View our travel booking sites:Save on Personal or Business Travel and Cayman Island Resorts, Hotels, Flights, and Vacation Packages and our YTB World Travel and Vacation Blog.

on a Cross Country Road Trip excites most Road Trip Planners because there’s something about the open road that beckons, promising freedom, or at least a taste of it. Finding the balance between hitting as many states as possible and “enjoying the ride” can be somewhat relative, to be sure, but even with a cross country objective, quality still trumps quantity… best to see less at a leisurely pace than to see more in a blur from the highway.

How much time you set aside for this trip greatly impacts the total mileage you’ll put on the odometer, as does the number of people in your car. Couples can drive further than families because children just get too antsy to sit still for long periods of time (DVDs & iPods notwithstanding). A group of friends can probably cover the most distance because they can drive through the night and switch drivers every four hours while others sleep (& save on hotel costs to boot).

Okay…now to the TOP 5 CROSS COUNTRY ROAD TRIPS that every Road Trip Planner should try, David Letterman style:

#5 – THE GREAT RIVER ROAD (10 states – 2300 miles): American travelers do so love nostalgia and meandering alongside the great Mississippi River from bow to stern in a manner reminiscent of Mark Twain’s riverboat days gets many road trip planners excited about all the possibilities. What’s fun is skirting along the edges of two states to follow the river. The Mississippi River is much more romanticized than the Missouri River, which is actually the longest river in the U.S. Your route could be considerably shorter (1500 miles) if you took the more direct route between the headwaters and the mouth…you decide just how closely you want to follow the river. Just make sure you don’t miss experiencing the Mississippi River from a riverboat.

#4 – SOUTHERN COMFORTS (8 states – 3000 miles): This cross country road trip allows road trip planners to blend in variety and spice to their trip! Here’s where you’ll experience the good ol’ southern hospitality in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, the Cajun flavors of Louisiana, get a taste of the Texas BBQ, the southwestern spices found in New Mexico, Arizona and the laid back atmosphere of southern California. US-80 will take you through the bulk of this trip which offers more varied cultural experiences than you’re likely to get in any other U.S. cross country trip. And the variety is not limited to the cultural differences from town to town but the surrounding landscape which rolls from one type of terrain into another. You start (or end) at the vast stretches of beach at San Diego, travel past a cacti strewn southwestern desert, cruise through seemingly endless plains and into the Deep South cotton lands and plantations. While some travelers are drawn to the green and serene found in a Northern cross-country road trip, many others revel in the South’s variegated russet-colored landscapes and straight highways stretching before them like the backbone of America disappearing into the horizon in a purple haze.

#3 – THE OREGON TRAIL (11 states – 3200 miles): This road trip is for road trip planners who want to go the distance while traveling a goodly portion along a historic route. You start (or end) out from the wild Oregon coastline, travel through increasingly diverse terrain, to – and through – dense urban populations and finish by the serene waters of Cape Cod. The Oregon Trail is known best as the migration trail pioneers embarked upon when America was young. Of course, you’re not traveling by wagon train so you don’t need to set aside four to six months just to traverse the 2,000 mile section they followed (Missouri-Kansas-Nebraska-Wyoming-Idaho-Oregon). In fact, you could comfortably do this road trip in less than 3 weeks (if you rent a car & fly back). The main route you’ll follow here is US-20 where you get to hit some truly gorgeous places like Niagara Falls and Yellowstone Park.

#2 – THE PACIFIC COAST ROAD TRIP (3 states – 1500 miles): Even though you’re traveling through only three states, you’ll be cruising the length of the West Coast from Olympia, Washington in the North, through Oregon and to San Ysidro, California, right near the Mexican Border on the South. Check out Things To Do Along The California Coastline for tips from a long-time Californian (California comprises the bulk of this Road Trip). A good Road Trip Planner can create a kaleidoscope of experiences along this route as it takes you from primitive forests, secluded hideaways, historic towns to major cities with the latest innovations, always flanked by a stunning coastline holding beaches and beach-lovers of every shape and size. Called Star Route 1, more known as Highway 1, with the California stretch called the Pacific Coast Highway, it is mesmerizing.

And the #1 CROSS COUNTRY ROAD TRIP OF ALL TIME? (8 states – 2500 miles): The mother of all highways, the most romanticized, most sung about, most appearances in a movie highway…drum roll please…ROUTE 66! It’s so popular that a Google Search for “Route 66″ yields more than 6 ½ million results! Covering eight states from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California, it is the #1 recognized Road Trip and well worth any road tripper’s attention.

So what are you waiting for? Grab your Road Trip Planner and start your engine! The open road awaits!

Jack Hollingsworth is one of the most well known names in stock photography. An early and very successful pioneer in RF, Jack not only sells stock through Getty, Corbis and his own site, but was a founder of BLEND images as well as Red Chop Sticks and IndiaPhotos. Jack has been described as “Indiana Jones with a camera” due to his constant world travel. Jack teaches, lectures, blogs and has a column in Shutterbug magazine.

John:    You have a reputation as someone who is a pioneer, who doesn’t shirk from change, but embraces it and certainly someone who is an entrepreneur at heart.  I believe you are also a realist.  In my book, these qualities make you someone who is well suited to dealing with the current market realities. Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of stock?

Jack:    I’m optimistic about the future of everything.  Stock is going through a difficult time right now but it will be back.  There will always be a need for images.  It might not come back in the same way we knew it, but it will be back.

John:    My strategy is two fold:  Make the best, most relevant images I can, then get those images in front of as many potential buyers as possible.  A huge part of my plan is the development and optimization of my web site. Can you share your strategy for dealing with the future?

Jack:    Online.  The web is everything.  The web is the center, the hub of the wheel that all the spokes radiate from.  You have to learn to use web 2.0, learn the tools, learn to explore and exploit what the web has to offer.  I am revamping everything,  my blog, my site, everything from the ground up.

John:    Do you see the consumer as a viable potential client?

Jack:    Yes!  I don’t yet know how to reach them, but there are millions, and millions and millions of them well beyond the channel of commercial distribution.  The money is in getting the photography in front of the consumer.  This is an entirely new kind of market.  There are 60,000 to 80,000 commercial buyers of stock in the world.  That number doesn’t really change.  Now, with a push of a button, we can reach a billion people.  Think about that!

John:    I do think about that!

Jack:    We are at a crossroads, an intersection.  Very few can continue to have the cool lifestyle of shooting stock that we have had.  Now it is about reaching the consumer.  It is about building community and then monetizing it.  People don’t get this: Our future success has little to do with our past but rather what we do from today on. It is not about your past, what you shot before.  It is about what you do from now on.  It is about what you shoot now, and how you shoot it. You can’t rely on your legacy. You can be a Micro celebrity on the net in 12 months.  It is about developing a fan base.  With a fan base of 1,000, or maybe 5,000, you can make a good living.

John:    Micro, RF or RM…or some combination?

Jack:    Add footage to that as well.  All of them are going to be around.  It isn’t either or, it is a little bit of everything.  Some people will do all of it, some will do two or three of them.  You have to find out what works for you, what you love to do and then do it. My priority is first footage, then Rights Managed and then a split between RF and Micro.

John:    How about prints?  Are you planning on getting into that arena?

Jack:    Yes! Possibly through Imagekind, or something like that.  Right now I am going through my collections cherry picking the images that I think would make good print sales.  I really believe in merchandising.  I have big plans for what people can do with my images.  It can be coffee mugs and that sort of thing or it can be a whole lot more. We don’t even know all the ways people are going to be using photos.

John:    Jack, you are undergoing a major re-branding with your website.  When do you think you will have that ready for us to see?