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I have a friend who is a bona fide member of the YTB travel group. She promotes her stuff, and claims to make a nice commission each month. She is trying to get me to sign up, since she knows I’m already an Internet marketer and a good public speaker.
I first talked to her about YTB about a year ago, and today I stopped in and asked her how it was going. She claimed that they (her and her husband do it together) were doing well and once again she urged me to check it out.
So I’ve done a little research online. Some people call it a scam, others debunk the scam myth.
I’d like to hear from some people who have dealt with YTB before, both those who are currently working the system, and those who signed up and then quit.
For those currently promoting travel via YTB:
How are you doing? Are you averaging, say, $300/month in commissions? $500? $1000? More? Or are you finding out that bothering your friends and family to sign up through your website is a pain?
For those who were members and quit:
Why did you quit? Big promise but no real money? You don’t know how to promote it beyond just friends and family? They screwed you?
Leave your comments and thoughts below. I’d love to hear them.
I’m also involved in marketing. A colleague introduced me to YTB in May. I haven’t yet earned a commission or signed anyone up to be on my team. But I have attended a number of training meetings and participated in some Internet calls with the company’s inspirational founder. I believe YTB to be a legitimate business, but we’ll have to re-visit whether or not it proves to be profitable for me after I’ve made more progress. My goal is to give it until the end of the year.
Comment by Pete Codella — July 30, 2008 @ 10:30 pm
Pete, Being an Internet marketer, I could fairly easily get the 5 people under me, but finding a niche in the travel industry would prove difficult because it’s so saturated.
I think the reason you read that 90%+ of the YTB members don’t make much in the way of commissions is simply because they don’t understand how to get traffic to their website. Once they’ve exhausted friends and family, they’ve no longer got buyers, and they give up.
Thoughts?
Comment by Will — July 31, 2008 @ 7:35 am
This says it all for me:
http://travel.meetup.com/421/messages/boards/thread/2811868
This notice mentions that YTB sets you up with a Travelocity affiliate account, which Travelocity already offers for free.
Sounds pretty pyramid schemish to me. That doesn’t mean some people won’t make money. It just means a lot of people at the bottom of the pyramid will only lose money, and the people at the top will be in trouble once the whole thing collapses.
Comment by jaelithe — July 31, 2008 @ 9:35 am
Jaelithe, you’re right. I read through that page a few days ago prior to writing this post.
It’s true, they are simply ‘reselling’ Travelocity’s stuff. It’s Travelocity’s engine and everything, with a few bucks added on.
They are making a nice sum ($500 per signup and $49/mo for hosting fees) when you could do all this yourself a lot cheaper.
Travelocity’s affiliate program is run by Commission Junction (www.cj.com). They provide all the tools (including a storefront) that you can use. You can find travel templates galore online that’ll plug into this system, and you can even promote other things like the cruises and more - and keep the money.
If you’re going to do this online, you’re going to have to find a niche. Travel is VERY saturated, so good luck with that.
Second, if you’re not into the online thing, you’re going to wear out your friends and family list pretty quickly.
Comment by Will — July 31, 2008 @ 9:58 am