Managing Your Travel Business: Odds & Ends Tips
by John Hawks

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Don't reply to email unless your reply is absolutely necessary.. Otherwise, you're just creating more email for someone else to sort through.

Create files in your email system for important messages. For example, set aside a folder for client confirmations, so that you don't have to search thousands of saved emails in your system to find the Jones' Bermuda cruise confirmation while the Jones are on the phone with you!

Think twice before signing up for free email newsletters. The problem is that many Web sites that collect email addresses re-sell them to other marketers. Before you know it, you're on 20 different email listservs. One option is to create a "free" email account (e.g., Yahoo! or Hotmail) that you use only to sign up for online newsletters. That step will keep your primary business email free of clutter.

Set up your primary business email account in your business name -- e.g., "john@abctravel.com" -- instead of using free email accounts like Yahoo!. These days, you can get your own email address and domain name for a few bucks a month. Enough said.

Connecting Your Web Site to Search Engines

Follow these tips to make sure your agency's Web site ranks well in the major search engines like Google and Yahoo!:

Cater to the search engines' automated indexing programs. That's a fancy way to say that -- whether you've built your own site or used a Web developer instead -- you should use key search words and phrases throughout your site. To get an idea of what search terms are popular, go to Google's home page and click on "Advertising Programs" at the bottom. That link will take you to Google's AdWords section, where you can type in phrases like "Alaska cruises" to see how many searches have been conducted recently for each phrase. Also, avoid fancy touches like Flash animation that can confuse the search engines' indexing programs.

Ignore sales pitches that want to "submit your site to 10,000 search engines." Many local Web developers and popular Web site building programs will offer search engine submission programs as part of their basic prices. Don't pay extra for programs that rarely help bump the search rankings of many sites.

Home-Office Ergonomics

Large corporations actually pay people to walk around their offices and factory floors to spot problems with ergonomics -- the science of preventing undue physical stresses and strains for workers. Of course, we're home-based travel agents, so we have to look out for ourselves!

Stand up and stretch every so often during the day. Sounds simple, right? Just don't forget to do it!

When you type, keep your arms and elbows resting comfortably at your side. Don't rest your wrists on the bottom of the keyboard. (I do that all of the time!) Type lightly, instead of pounding the keys. And, keep your mouse close to the keyboard.

Buy an adjustable office chair that supports your lower back, swivels easily, and lets you sit with both feet on the ground and your legs at a 90-degree angle with the floor.

Position your monitor so that the top of the screen is at eye level or slightly lower. And, sit about two feet away from the screen. (That's what the experts say!)

Battling Home-Based "Loneliness"

Psychologists say humans are like apes and chimpanzees. We're wired biologically to be social animals. That's why many home-based workers report that they sometimes feel very lonely working outside the typical office structure.

Meet with clients outside your home as often as possible. In fact, Penney Rudicil and Anita Pagliasso-Balamane -- OSSN's regional managers -- have urged OSSN members over the years to use "house calls" with clients as a selling point. (When's the last time someone from Expedia or Orbitz showed up on your doorstep to help you pick a cruise?)

Get active with your local OSSN chapter -- or start your own! We now have more than five dozen chapters around the United States. If you live too far away from the nearest chapter, we'll gladly work with you to set up a chapter in your city.