What is Wave Week?

Welcome to this strategic travel entrepreneur. My name is Rita Perez. Hello. I've been a travel advisor for over ten years and I'm navigating this winding road of entrepreneurship with you. I created this podcast because I wanted to share all the things I've learned from leaders both in and out of our industry that I really wish I would have known way back then. But, alas, the important thing is I'm aware of them now, and I want you to be too. Ready for this week's show? Let's jump in. Hello.

Hello, travel entrepreneurs. Welcome back to the channel. So nice to have you here. This topic is pretty obvious from the title. So what exactly is Wave Week? So I talked about my event going on the November, prep for wave week, and I it had occurred to me that you might not know what that is, especially if you are new to the industry. And maybe you have not yet experienced it if you have been in the industry for quite some time. But wave week is something that happens usually starting January of the new year through March of the new year where an influx of business comes into us, most likely because everyone has seen their families during the holiday season at the December. They've started communicating with each other of their plans for the new year or the following year, and they're ready to go ahead and travel with each other.

And I don't see how, especially in our current times, that I know this previous year obviously was kind of like a downer, but I cannot see 2022 wave season being a bust unless something really dramatic happens, which knock on wood, that is not happening to us in the coming year. So, yes, everybody normally starts contacting their travel agents at the beginning of the year, which means that you as travel advisors and you even as travel suppliers start like getting this big deluge of business and inquiries, which is amazing. It is so fantastic for that to be happening. And I am so wanting this to happen for each and every one of you in 2022, especially after the roughness that we've been experiencing. And I don't know about you, but the past couple of weeks I've gotten a couple more calls, both on the corporate side and on the personal side. So it's just it's a very exciting time right now. And even though I say wave season typically starts in January, I have a feeling that we might be getting, like, a mini wave season right now. Who knows? We'll see.

We'll see what happens. But anyways, this is why I created the Prep for Wave Week, this free webinar series that is happening the November. So it starts on November 1 and it goes through November 5, and there are 10 educational sessions to help set you up for success when wave season starts coming around. And I've kind of designed it in a way that you should kind of be tackling things first in order to prep everything else that comes along the line. So I I've kind of designed designed it so it's a little bit step by step, so like, this session one, step one. Or kind of like laying the foundations to getting a little bit more advanced, especially like when we're talking about client journey. And even before we begin client journey so we're gonna talk a little bit about the schedule also that I have for prep for wave week. I think the foundation to a lot of things is in your mental health and making sure that your mental health is set, and that you have the correct boundaries in place.

If you are new to the podcast, hello. I did a couple of episodes this summer talking about, like, setting up a model calendar and setting up boundaries that can help with that. But the very first session, I was very mindful. The very first session that we're having is about avoiding burnout this wave season. And, right now, I have confirmed Steph Lee. And Steph Lee and myself, we both have autoimmune diseases. So it is very important for us to set up certain boundaries so that we avoid burnout, not only for our mental health, but also for our physical health, because extra added stress can exacerbate our conditions. I'm trying to see if I can have another guest speaker on for that, but if not, you've got the two of us.

Woo hoo. And I I have been super intentional with the people that I have selected to be here and intentional in that I wanted diverse voices to be heard. So you have male, you have female, you have members of the LGBTQ community, you have, people, different people of color, you have suppliers, you have people that have dual roles, both as travel pros, but also as people who support travel pros. So, so many, so many different roles and voices. Like, it was very important to me to get that variety of voices, because especially in recent events, I have been noticing a very, like, cut and paste, cut and paste, like this is the person that's gonna be speaking. And, I I just wanted a little bit more vibrancy than we get in our industry because we are a freaking vibrant industry. There are so many different parts and pieces of us that you can't have the same copy paste type person. So, I am super stoked, one, to to go ahead and give you that that variety.

So that is first session. I know I talked about a lot of different things, but that's the first session. And, I that's just know that it wasn't me putting something together because I thought we needed something. I wanted to make sure that it was going to be meaningful for you, really bite sized for you also. So even though I see that there are 10 seminars or workshops, they're thirty minute sessions. And then if you would like to upgrade, you're not required but if you would like to upgrade so that you can actually take some dedicated time to implement, I'm going to be running private Zoom sessions also for thirty minutes after each session. So, head on over to the link in the show notes or travelbiztraining.com to register today and again, it's free and if you wanted to upgrade to that study hall pass, it's only $25 I was trying to also make it very sustainable because I know we've all come across hard, hard times. But I'm I'm also giving up a lot of my time to put this together.

So that is the only way that I'm going to be compensated for for this event. And I'm I mean, I'm so excited to be putting this on for you. But like you and your own travel businesses, you can't work completely for free. So on on Monday, November 1, our 12:00 session is going to be avoiding burnout this this season. At 3PM Eastern time, we're gonna be talking with the wonderful Tom Carpenter, who I have interviewed here on this podcast. He is a lawyer. He comes sent out of the entertainment industry, but he also has his own travel business, Huckleberry Travel. He is the one that put my contracts and agreements together last year, and he was going to be talking about the same topic contracts and agreements because I think this is one of the areas, especially with different laws that are enacted or acts that are kind of on the table that we always need to be aware about, our contracts and agreements, and especially with the various changing world.

I think this is a very foundational piece because if you don't have this set up, you're kind of in disalignment in your travel business. So you need to make sure that you have these these contracts and agreements to protect yourself before moving forward with anything else. On day two, which is convenient that it's Tuesday, November 2, our 12PM Eastern session is determining your goals and numbers with Stephanie Cannon. Stephanie Cannon is also another advisor who has dual roles. There's not many people talking about getting your numbers together and she is one because she she was actually a CPA in her former life and did a lot with corporate finances. So can you see, like, I I really, really was intentional with the people that I selected to participate. So Stephanie Cannon is our guest speaker for that session. At 03:30PM Eastern for afternoon session on the second, we're gonna be talking about aligning with your trade association.

And I have the amazing Jackie Friedman who is the president of Nextion, the host agency and she is going to be talking about Asta getting involved with Asta, the American Society of Travel Advisors and then, I have the wonderful Gita Botello. She is from the Travefy Institute and she will be coming out to talk about the Travel Institute and the certification you can get which is CTA, CTC, or the CTIE. I am currently working on getting a speaker from CLIA, so stay tuned to that. On Wednesday, November 3 for day three, we're talking about systems and SOPs. Something not many people again are talking about, but something that there have been a lot of templates I've noticed, like it kind of like, it popped out over the past year. So we're gonna be talking about, or with two travel advisors who also hold dual roles, Dave Natal or David Natal. And he uses TravelJoy and Travefy in his travel business to keep everything organized. Because I remember when I first started my travel business, I was using Word docs and Excel spreadsheets to do everything.

And amazing technology is out there. There's more than just TravelJoy and Travefy, but I know those are two of the most popular, and I use TravelJoy myself. So, it will be really interesting to get Dave's take on all of this and then, we also have another travel adviser in a dual role, Angela Hughes, who you might know her from the Luxury Travel University. She is going to be coming on to talk about specifically one of the CRMs. Well, it's not CRM, it's more like a project management tool. So you might have heard of Trello or ClickUp. She uses something called Monday. And Monday is really great, especially if you have a team.

I mean, all of them are really great if you have a team. But Monday is what she utilizes. And I'm actually heading in the direction to start using ClickUp. I know I've talked about that for a while but I this is kind of a baseline to have your systems in place because it just strings line streamlines everything for you. It keeps you organized. I know a lot of people are paper people. I'm a paper person but these systems have to be in place because what if something happens to you god forbid and I'm not just talking about if you pass away. I'm talking about what if you want to go on vacation or retire or hire someone.

How are they going to know the systems and things that are going on in your business to help you out if you don't have these systems in place and therefore, this is something that you need to really have on your radar if you currently don't have it. So systems and SOPs, 12PM eastern time, Wednesday, November third. The strategic travel entrepreneur is brought to you by mailbox power. Harness the power to attract and nurture your clients through something many entrepreneurs have forgotten about, the mailbox. Create beautiful custom campaigns and automate annual mailings for birthdays and holidays. And with a pro account, get access to mailboxes not currently on on your mailing list that are just waiting for the travel service you offer. Visit my mailbox power affiliate link in the show notes to get started today and support this podcast. Then we have, and I'm still securing speakers for this because it has proven difficult to secure some speakers, I'm not really sure why, but this is all about supplier relationships at 3PM.

And I wanted to dive in deeper to supplier relationships because it is more than just relying on a supplier when you have an issue. There are lots of things that they can help you, especially when it comes to putting marketing campaigns for wave season. And these are the types of relationships that you need to have. And this is also one of the things that I feel it's important to identify who your preferred suppliers are, so that you're not like, okay I got 10 suppliers that I need to start promoting. No. Pick like your top two and I know that it's slim down so so much, but I think that also will help you to be in alignment. Pick the top two suppliers that you love to sell, you love their product, but you also have really great relationships with them and really great connections so that when you can call on them to help you prep for wave season, they will be right there to help you either figure out strategy or figure out how they can help you with promotions. Our next day, day four, November fourth, 12 pm Eastern Time.

Another one of my favorite people in the travel industry. Her name is Emily Matrice and she is the owner and head copywriter at Bon Vivant Copy. She just redid my brand new copy for my brand new website that is gonna be debuting next week. I also worked with her on my first brand refresh. I did her course and this time around I was kind of like, I don't want to do it myself. I need somebody else to take that from me and I'm so so glad that I did. We're going to be talking about updating your bios, profiles, and web copy in anticipation for wave season. Later that afternoon at 3PM Eastern, another session on building relationships and why do I say, why do I think that it's so important to build relationships? One, not enough people talk about building relationships in our industry like at least forthright and relationships are so crucial.

If I knew the things that I knew now, I would have been networking and connecting with other people from the very beginning. And I also wish that I had the confidence to do so, but I also wish that I knew what the benefits were and like the fruit that comes from building these types of relationships. So I have two powerhouse women that are gonna be joining us, Aylin Blanco from the Travefy Agent Podcast and Margie Jordan from CCRA Travel. You are going to want to tune in as we talk about things about building relationships like with joint ventures and within your local community. And finally, on day number five, November fifth, our 12PM noon session, we are going to be talking about attracting clients without social media. Social media is super important. I'm not negating that fact and I love using social media, But social media is not the be all end all. And not enough people are talking about the ways that you can attract other people, not with social media.

So I'm going to be talking to the amazing Courtney Nichols, who is going to be talking about how you can put your values, your business values, your personal values forward in order to attract clients. And I'm also going to be talking with Michelle Woodson Howell on those joint ventures and how you can cultivate joint venture partnerships for new client base. I think I'm gonna have one more speaker, but I haven't totally secured that, so stay tuned. And then at 3PM Eastern, I'm going to be doing another session with someone who has been on the podcast, and she is the incredible Nicolette Reynolds. She is not in the travel industry, but she has so many freaking great ideas for marketing, also without social media. We are going to be talking about crafting a memorable client experience with one of my favorite tools, which is Mailbox Power. And so we've talked about this on the podcast before, but stay tuned. We are going to have some ideas to bring to you, especially as we go into holiday season, but even more that you could start planning your client journey and the different touch points that you can have with your client throughout their journey in your travel business.

Alright, so that it is a lot of information. A lot but I know that it is going to be so fruitful for you to be able to participate. I know there are quite a few of you who have come to me and said that you're going to be out of town when this happens. Make sure to register anyways because I am hoping to go ahead and send these recordings out via email. I want you to register anyways. So right now the tentative plan is to, host all these videos on my Facebook page, Take the Home Virtual Business Solutions. But we all know what happened the past, what was it, a couple weeks ago, maybe even a week ago, where social media completely went down. Email may be the only way where I can reach out to you if social media happens to go down, where I can say, hey we're not going on Facebook, we're gonna go on Instagram, or go on YouTube, or we're gonna go on LinkedIn, or we're gonna do this through Zoom.

So that is why I need your email address. It's not to like pitch anything. It is I need to be able to communicate with you if something were to happen. I do hope to eventually be sending you out content that you're gonna be able to utilize in the future, but right now it is solely to communicate with you about the event prep for Wave Week. So, let me know. Do you have any questions about Wave Week? Did I do a pretty good job describing that to you? And what questions do you have on prep for Wave Week? So, wave season again is happening January through March every year 2022. That's like the biggest boom of travel business that we get. And we need to be prepared and that's why I created Prep for Wave Week because I want to make sure that you are prepared so that when wave season happens, you've got everything in place to be like boom, boom, pow, jam, yeah, okay, we got this, that you can be the travel business champion that you are.

It's in, like you have all the tools necessary. I'm just giving you additional resources to make sure we have everything locked into place, and you are sailing smooth into wave season. I hope you have enjoyed this episode. If you haven't already, please, please, please leave me a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. It helps more travel advisors like yourself and travel suppliers get this content to take the helm of their travel business. Have a wonderful week. Thanks for joining me on the strategic travel entrepreneur. Please subscribe and leave a show rating on your favorite podcast platform.

Oh, and don't forget to take a look at the show notes for for important information and links. See you next week.