A Winning Travel Agent / Travel Agent Combination
With a degree in Computer Science, I set out in the world as a consultant, offering IT solutions to large companies like Cigna
and First American/Trans America and a major financial firm. But where did the travel come in?
Early on I was a traveler, taking my first trip abroad in high school. I started working with a local travel agency exchanging
graphic design for discounted travel... which turned into creating a website... and becoming an outside agent. Over several years
my passion was with website design, automation and marketing -- increasing the agency's sales from a few square miles to the entire
United States. Sales soared, outside agents were added and I began to rethink my goals.
Attracting new clients was difficult as agency owners were naive about the Internet and notoriously frugal with their marketing
expenditures due to the small profit margins. How do I offer my services at a reduced rate... but still make a living?
One Common Database & Automating Updates
The answer was simple -- create one database and automate the updates. Manually updating resorts, tours and other travel data would
take months and the expense of paying data-entry clerks -- an expense that was passed on to clients. As tour operators began to offer
electronic versions of their data, I was able to automate the process, reduce my costs and pass them along to clients. Consolidating
each individual database down to one reduced the costs of replicating that data as well. Website costs were reduced by over 60%.
Now that the maintenance costs were reduced I thought agencies would be rushing to sign up for a website but the programming costs
were still a bit high. As a highly-skilled developer I was paid well more than a small travel agency could afford. How about pimping
my services out as a developer for everyone? A few hours here and there...
Time-Share Developer At Your Service
What if I spread my services over the year, making it more affordable for you while ensuring I pay my bills? With each $10 per month
paid for your web hosting and licensing, I will give you 1-hour development time each year -- a $75 value (yes, you make out on this
deal!)
The initial integration fee is also reduced, ranging from $100 - $300 depending on the complexity of your website template.
Essentially your website is an incredibly affordable time-share for my services! Need extra details to your website or custom
programming, simply pay an hourly rate and you'll have access to the latest technologies integrated right into your website.