How to Host A Great YTB Travel Party

It's no secret that one of the most effective and successful ways of building your YTB business is by hosting travel parties. The week that you join YTB, you should plan to host your very first, and call it your "Grand Opening"! Every business launch is with a grand opening, and the launch of your new travel and E-commerce business should be no different. Indeed, if you want to really kick it into high gear, you should host two or three grand openings. This way, you make it more possible for your friends, family members and other associates to be able to support you by attending.

So, now that you're sold on having your YTB Grand Opening or Travel (or Vacation) Party, what next?

First, you need to decide when to have the party. To try and accommodate different schedules, especially if you will host more than one, you may want to consider different days of the week and different times of the day. It really doesn't matter as long as you accommodate your guests schedules. That's another advantage to hosting your parties at different times and on different days of the week. Whenever you decide to have it, have fun with it and give it interesting names to peak the interest of your potential guests. For example, you might want to name your party, depending on when you host it, a "Sunday Brunch" party, a "Super Saturday" party, an "Afternoon Delight" party or a "Mid-day Madness" party. Be creative and have fun with it!

Have lots of YTB materials on display and available for handouts. Use YTB magazines, Success magazines, YTB business cards, post cards and any other YTB and travel promotional materials. Your guests should have information that they can take with them about your business when they leave the party.

Next, decide on your party theme. Travel is such a fun product that you won't have any trouble thinking of a great theme. When you're thinking of a theme, think "FUN" and "ENGAGING" but not "EXPENSIVE". You can choose a country, a holiday, a special event like a wedding or engagement or even a cultural celebration. You could even build your theme around a time of year like "Tax Season" or a particular trip that the group you invite to attend will be taking. For example, if your group is planning on taking a "Mystery Train Trip", you can build on that theme by asking participants to bring an item related to the theme or to represent a character. Whatever you do, by having a theme that you communicate to guests, you may be able to get guests more engaged and committed to attending. To help communicate your theme at the party, you can get free travel magazines from most travel vendors or local agencies. These along with some of your personal travel photos and treasures can be used as display items. Remember, your imagination is your only limit.

Who will you invite? This is easy. Apart from inviting your friends, neighbors, church members, work collegues and former or current classmates, use your memory jogger to identify others. For example, you want to include: People who love to travel, people who are ambitious, people who are in sororities, fraternaties, civic and/or social clubs, people you know who hold leadership roles or positions and people that you do or have done business with among others. In other words, invite everyone you know and ask for referrals so you can invite them as well.

Where should your party be held? Ideally, you will host your first party in your home. Since you are inviting the people closest to you, inviting them to join you in your home creates a sense of intimacy. You especially want your family and friends to feel "at home" and comfortable because if they do, they are more likely to be more open to hearing and receiving the information you share with them about your business. However, if you choose to use another venue, the options are virtually endless. You can use a hotel, community center, library, restaurant or any other space where you will not have noise or other distractions.

Try not to put a lot of emphasis on food. When it comes to a party to celebrate your business, less is more, so streamline your offerings. Depending on the time of day and the theme, you may want to have fresh fruit and nuts or chips and dip or coffee and cake. Whatever you decide, you need to keep it simple. In any network marketing business, the key to your success is your ability to be duplicatable. Remember, your guests are also potential future business partners. You want them to see what you do and how you do it, relative to your party, as being something that they can also do. This is critical to your success because duplication is also critical.

Now for the nuts and bolts of the presentation.

Focus on making sure that your party is short, sweet and fun. The travel party should last no longer than an hour and a half at most. When you begin, start with welcoming remarks and introductions. You may want to provide nametags for your guests if they don't all know one another. As part of your introductions, you can help to establish a vacation mindset by asking your guests to close their eyes and envision their dream vacation. Paint a picture for them that will invite them to use all their five senses as they use their imagination. Ask one or two of your guests to share their dream vacation with the group.

The Opening.

When you begin, start by welcoming your guests, thanking them for coming and by telling them why they are there. If it is for your Grand Opening, remind them that they are there to celebrate with you the start of a brand new and exciting chapter of your life.

You may also want to begin by sharing your story. This story can be about you and what motivated and excited you about the business... your "Why". You could have a photo of your "Why" on display to help showcase the real and very important reasons you are in the business to begin with. Remember, your "Why" is your emotional reason for being in the business. Every successful network marketer has a big why. We say, in YTB, that "If your WHY doesn't make you CRY, your WHY isn't big enough. Be sure to have and communicate something about your "Why". You can also share someone else's story or allow the "Circle of Champions" DVD to do that for you. Remember, facts tell but stories sell.

When you get ready to do your presentation, let the DVDs do the work for you of selling them on the business. The DVD found in the "Success at Home" magazine is great. Also, playing the testimonials of one or two of the people found in the Circle of Champions DVD is also beneficial. At the conclusion of the presentation, you simply need to close.

The Close.

In your close, start by reinterating the benefits of YTB: Travel, Tax, Financial Rewards unlike any other business of its kind. Then, explain that after seeing the presentation, you are going to ask everyone in the room to make a decision about where they see themselves. Using a number system, with 1 being people who liked what they saw want their own travel and E-commerce business or 2 = people who like what they saw but prefer to only be your customers. Go around the room and allow each person to tell you his or her preference. You should have printed out travel business forms that your new business partners (#1) will complete. Ideally, if you have someone to assist you, you can go ahead and get their business websites set up, schedule an orientation for them and get on their calendar for their Grand Opening. For your new customers, you should also request that they assist you by hosting travel parties in their home for you. Be sure to follow-up with them to schedule a date.

To make the Grand Opening even more fun, you may want to have some vacation vouchers on hand that you reward your new business partners with. Just be creative, but most of all, have lots of fun!

Have a fantastic YTB Travel Party!

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Regina Osei is a successful mentor and coach who teaches her YTB Team members and other business owners how to succeed in business and how to market their businesses using diverse strategies and approaches both online and offline. If you are interested in starting your own online travel business and want the benefit of a mentor who is committed to your success, join our team today at http://regina.vacationmedia.net. If you have questions, e-mail me at: reginaosei@gmail.com or call 901-221-1630(1)