I found this website the other day and I figured I would share it with you.
The website is , and basically it lets you post the names of people who have STDs and look up people who have been confirmed to have an incurable case of something you don't want. So have fun screening potential partners, or just trying to find if you know anyone on the list. Sadly I don't know anyone on the list, but I know a couple of people I could add, and remember, it doesn't matter how drunk you are, if the downstairs of a person has some funky decorations, it's best to go home alone.
Calumet College of St. Joseph
College of Mount St. Joseph
David H. Myers College
John A. Logan College
John F. Kennedy University
Johnson C. Smith University
Mount St. Clare College
Mount St. Mary's College
Mount St. Vincent University
Mt. San Antonio College
Mt. San Jacinto College
Mt. Sierra College
St. Francis Xavier University
St. George's University
St. Mary's College
St. Mary's University
Stephen F. Austin State University
University of Missouri - St. Louis
I officially got the first literal taste of my own medicine about 5 minutes ago. I never thought a metaphor could come this close to reality, but it has. The story goes like this...
Before I went over to a friend's place to pre-party last night, I called and asked if they had any alcohol or if I should bring my own. Apparently BMO was in order, so I did what any junior in HS would do and filled an empty 12-ounce Gatorade bottle full of vodka, threw it in the backseat of my car and headed over to the party a good three beers deep already. Of course, after stopping for another 12-pack of beer at the store and going by the ATM, I forgot about the vodka in my backseat. No problem, they had liquor anyway.
Fast forward to today. I brought in the bottle from my backseat and put it on the kitchen counter with all the other dishes and glasses. Today I'm drinking lots of water because that's what happens when you're hungover. Now, the reason I used a Gatorade bottle for the vodka in the first place is that I use empty Gatorade bottles to keep cold water handy in my fridge.
Well, I'm sure by now you can tell what's about to happen: I reach into the refrigerator for my 4th or 5th bottle of water today, when suddenly A GIANT BLACK BEAR JUMPS OUT OF NOWHERE, MAULS OFF MY HAND AND WASHES IT DOWN WITH A FRESH-SQUEEZED GLASS OF ORANGE JUICE!!!! Oops, sorry, I looked down and started transcribing the last Mad Lib I did today.
So I grab the Gatorade bottle and walk over to my desk. Keep in mind, I'm really thirsty, like when you finish a bag of popcorn and you're all out of soda but you don't want to miss the end of the season finale of
Buffy . I open the bottle and as I move it closer to my face, I can tell it smells a little different...perhaps too sweet for water. The first thing that goes through my head is, "I guess Amanda was right about how you can wash a Gatorade bottle out a million times but it will still taste and smell a little like Gatorade. I should really buy a few actual water bottles and start using those." And that was the last thing I thought before chugging about 1.5 shots of vodka, spewing the other .5 all over my desk, and scaring the living hell out of every body part involved in this rude awakening.
My brain immediately went into shock, which I believe was a natural defense mechanism because it kept me from concentrating too hard on the taste, and allowed me just enough time to keep from vomiting as I ran to the sink for what I hoped to God was still a non-alcoholic tap. As I rinsed my mouth out, I put my hand over my heart and took what amounted to an unofficial 165 heart rate, the same weekend resting heart rate as the late
.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a taste of my own medicine.
How to scrutinize your web design professional when building your accessible website
> In all extent, creating something by with a tiny basic knowledge can be stunning and exigent task for all in any view. Stunning because, you are going to produce something by holding elfin knowledge on it and exigent because of the ways and means that one needs to take in order to finish the development.
When you're starting a new online business your first wish to create a website that will looks to be specialized and decipherable. Then you have to search for the best web design professional who will guide you the traditions to build the creative website design which will represent you and your business theme.
What are the symbols for a graceful professional website builder? How to identify affordable and
? Who will save you wealth by combining numerous features of a traditional website program into attractive website? These may be your thoughts arises in your mind but it is viewed that ethical productive website builders are also easy to use. They offer you a way to fabricate a small business website design without the need of knowing a lot of technical stuff or html.
When choosing a cheap professional website builder, just remember to judge the following features which are crucial when building a productive handsome web presence for your business:
1. To build a professional-looking website they must have little bit basic knowledge on FTP, HTML, web designing styles and java script. If these are all new to you, you should learn them through different online resources and tutorials.
2. They should identify your target market and then made a vast RND on it. Remember, they will be creating your website for that market. They should realize the criteria and features of the visitor??™s means what they would like to see on your site, as well as the content.
3. Advice them to study your competitors. Recommend them to visit the websites of your competitors and identify the things they used to effectively attract visitors.
4. Plan ahead. Write down the sections and features you would like to be included in your website and discus with them. Combine your ideas with the demands of your potential clients.
5. Navigation should be in first preference when they build your website. Make sure that your website is easy to navigate. Make sure that all buttons and links can be easily located. Also, put a link on every page that will take your visitors to you homepage.
6. Suggest them to consider effective color combination. You can't simply use pink and red on your website just because they are your favorite colors. Advocate them, to build your website look professional; you will need to stick with neutral colors.
7. Advice them to make your homepage tantalizing. This is the first page that will be presented to your visitors. Thus you have to concentrate on it vastly. Make sure that it is eye-catching so your visitors will be convinced to explore the whole website.
8. Advocate them to seal your website with unique quality content. Make your website will be a great resource of information to entice your visitors to visit again that site.
9.
Shopping cart - When someone is fascinated in a product or service on your site, you'll need to have a shopping cart for them to place that item. Consult with your
about this function. If the builder you're looking at doesn't provide this, you might want to look elsewhere.
10.
Templates and image libraries - Some website builders have templates and they will suggest you to use any of them, and some even provide gallery images that you can add to your site. However, a really good professional website builder will have more than just a few. It is better to you to create just what you have in mind.
Efficiently designed websites might be a little costly issue but it is a good to one time investment. Online business is fast grabbing up and more and more people turn to shop online as it is time saving and cost effective views. Thus you have to consider the emotions of those visitors who will visit your website and your simple idea to restrict them into your site in long time basic.
Blog Marketing Miracles: How To Bring Sales To Your Business Through A Weblog
> An increasing number of business entities are actively using blogs as part of their marketing strategy. Why? Blogging is providing them the ability to connect with their audience thus encouraging goodwill which in turn helps bring sales.
It is nothing you have not heard for quite some time now. Blogging has caused quite a stir. It has, in fact, continued to proliferate rapidly. In early days, a blog is just a personal online diary. It is a place to publish one??™s thoughts, to collect and share things that one finds interesting. It is a venue to express one??™s rants, raves and musings. Today, professional and amateur journalists, political pundits, business honchos, entertainers, everybody seems to be blogging. Blogs are now being used to promote a business, run a political campaign, elicit publicity, among others.
A blog or weblog is an online diary of events arranged in reverse chronological order. The author of a blog is known as a blogger and writing or maintaining a blog is referred to as blogging. An individual entry or article is called a post and is available in the form of a blog page for the public to read. A blog may have a commentary box for readers to leave comments or opinions. These comments act as stimulus for further conversations. A business or corporate blog is simply a blog about a specific business. It is an effective medium for communicating with current and potential customers to share knowledge and expertise and foster relationships.
A company that employs a well-planned blogging strategy can spur significant market gains and sales earnings. Marketing is not just promoting a product or service. More importantly, it is about understanding the needs and wants of customers and developing products or services that satisfy these needs and wants effectively.
A blog enables a company to reach out to current and potential customers, in a more personal way. A blog builds connection and links between the company and its key audience which helps the company use this network over time to improve overall business. A business blog especially if regularly updated can inform readers about a company product or service, information, industry news, tips, tutorials or company developments. Links to industry-related stories can also be found in a blog. The way the targeted audience responds to these information or content is important to any company.
A blog is a good venue for customers to air issues, concerns and give comments. Through a blog, customers can give their own inputs. A company can hear directly from customers and understand what they desire to get from a product or service. Sometimes, the most well-intentioned product under perform because of lack of customer feedback. With blogging, a company can ask for feedbacks, albeit not the whole world, but at least the blogging community. Once a company has insights into what a large community thinks of the product or service, the company can then further improve the product or service to meet customer requirements. After all, customer satisfaction is of utmost importance.
A company who listens and responds to customer feedbacks conveys the message that there is somebody who listens behind an otherwise faceless company. Because a blog is conversational, it gives the company a human voice.
This assures customers that there is a ???real??? person who will take care of their needs. Customers will feel an affinity with the company. Regular visits brought about by regular updates thru fresh blog entries will familiarize the customers with the company and make them feel that they personally know the company. In due time, trust and loyalty is built and relationships fostered. As we all know people generally buy products or avail the services of people they know and trust. Rest assure that return visits to the blog, maybe for more information will transpire even after a purchase has been made. As they say, customer loyalty is the end-all-be-all of marketing.
A company that utilizes customer ideas, feedbacks, and opinions can further satisfy customer needs and wants and thus facilitates goodwill in the blogging community. It is standard practice in blogging to provide a link to a thought originator ich is important because backlinks are a method for search engines to rank a blog. Search engine ranking is very important. Google and Yahoo are two of the most popular search engines.
A blog is typically written daily thus the blog post is new. The search engines index the new post more often than the regular website. The result is a high rank compared to a website. If a company has a product to promote and publishes blog posts about the product regularly, chances are one of the blog posts will be found by readers who may be looking for information about the product. Hopefully, after reading the blog post, the potential customer will visit the company website and make a purchase online or buy the product in a ???brick and mortar??? store. Marketers acknowledge that potential customers can be customers once they find the information they want about a product from the company??™s blog.
Another feature of a blog why search engines love it is a blog??™s high number of incoming links. Bloggers link to other blogs, articles and websites. The reading audience is exposed to a plethora of information. Bloggers, thus, create and retain a loyal following of readers. PageRanks for blogs are usually very strong too. As you and I know, high search engine ranking translates to high traffic and more sales leads.
The way to get the most from blogging is by building a strong brand. A brand is simply value for the customer. It is good customer service and products or services that will satisfy customer needs and wants. A blog can help a company demonstrates its expertise in its industry or field. Blogs do create buzz about a company??™s authority in its niche. A blog connects a company to its target audience and peers and starts a more dynamic conversation with the marketplace. A blog helps to show a company??™s value, its online brand on the web. Once a company has built a strong brand, sales will just follow.
Publishing a blog will not automatically generate higher sales. However, it is an efficient way to communicate with customers and prospects. A blog in itself is an excellent tool to support a business, provide value, build relationships and establish brand and image. The ultimate purpose of a blog is to brand, to communicate and to connect. Increased sales should only be viewed as a positive indirect effect of a successful blog.
> There is no point in having a new website that looks beautiful and is unknown to the internet community unless you take some active steps to promote it,oe else all your efforts will be futile and useless.If you are not sure where to begin, here are some steps that are bound to prove useful.
1. Tell Your Associates:There is no need to reach the unknown millions of people out there surfing the Internet,instead it would be wise if we contact our friends and associates.Look at your e-mail address book and get the word out, tell your business contacts, friends, relatives and tel them to tell their friends too. Channelise them in a proper way.
2. Link to Your Own Site:If you already have one website, make sure that this site is linking to your new site. A website without any incoming links to it will have a very low page ranking in the all-important Google search engine and will face an uphill battle to be seen in Google search results, especially if you are in a very competitive category.Even when your site is in the construction stage you, or even your web designer can link to the new site from another already well-established site, mentioning that the new site is under construction. If you already have several sites, then link them to your infant site. It will help the new site to be seen in competitive search engine listings even in its debut period.
3. Get a paid inclusion in one of the big search engines:It takes 4-6 weeks to get listed in Google, and other search engines are equally slow. However there are a few fairly important search engines that have inexpensive express inclusion programs. If you join these programs, then your site will be listed in 48 hours. Inktomi, which provides results for MSN and 100 other search services, has an inclusion program which costs $39 for the first URL that you submit, and subsequent ones cost $25. The value of the Inktomi submission is that they revisit your URL every 48 hours and if you make changes on the page you can see the results in the MSN listings very quickly. Thus, you can tweak your pages and see how it affects your position.
4. Add your site to the Open Web Directory and the major search engines:Quality is more important than quantity when it comes to search engine submission. Forget about the sales hype that tells you to add your URL to 300, 000 search engines. Only a few search engines and directories provide the lion??™s share of Internet traffic. If your site is in good shape, no longer under construction, then go to www.dmoz.org. This is the Open Web Directory. Find the category where your site fits, and make a submission. If you are accepted here your site will appear in the many search engines and local directories that use the results from the Open Web Directory. Inclusion in this directory usually takes time but it will help you a lot. Similarly submit your site to Google, Alta Vista and All The Web, these are the remaining giants where you can submit for free.
5. Start a reciprocal links campaign ??“ Once you have given yourself a link from your other sites or from your designer??™s page, you can go out and ask other complementary sites for links.Always try exchanging links with sites that have a good page rank for it indicates that the site has good hits and is often visited.By having a trackback link chances of your site having hits is enhanced.
6. Write an article about your product or service ??“ If you have a website the chances are that you are an expert in the field that your site is all about. Write an article about your product or service, or write an article related to the subject matter of your site. Submit the article online to various websites and e-mail lists dealing with your topic. The publication of your article in a big e-zine, or on a popular web site can get your new site off to a roaring start.
7. Promote Your Site Off-line ??“ Now that you have a site, put the URL brochures, business cards, TV advertising, and circulars.The cafepress.com has a program enabling you to put your URL on these items and even sell them online.
Last but not the least be unique and be promotionally inclined initially for traffic generation.
> We have numerous other articles written on this very subject. Each one tackles a different aspect of this complex topic.
Here is a register of a few of my bepassiond advertiseing tips and thoughts. They all proved to be valuable in my trade, use them them for yours as well!
1. request out bond locations. between up with other locations and bonding other locations to your webpage is a great advertiseing idea. I've generated a lot of voyage hits, bonding up with other locations only. Make loyal to be in impress with people whom have locations analogous to yours or fit your genre.
2. HTML META. Meta tags are for your hunt engines. with meta tags are valuable when you want to be nascent up on hunt pages, use your keywords.
We have just reached the tip of the iceberg, as the remainder of this article will help to further your understanding of this complex subject.
3. hunt Engines. Blast your location out into outerspace. hunt engines campaign voyage. And to augment your popularity of your location, develop some ordinary hunt engine locations like AltaVista.com, Google and Yahoo.
4. Your Weblocation Headers are important! Make your labels clear. The labels are very important because it shows how your page shows up in the hunt engine. Make loyal it has a great label or also your pages will show up very weak.
5. Updating your location. Keep your location efficient regualarly and keep your surfers imminent back for more. each passions new refreshed content. That is key.
6. Newsletters. bargain updates, open hearsayletters, sms letters to your browsers. They will be efficient delicately on your location and be provided with uniform infoformation.
7. Branding your web page. Branding your location is worn to make a long lasting prompt. Keep your logo, core label on every page. This will be loyal to chart through in provisos of receiving the point down to your browsers.
8. make more locations. The more the merrier, the more locations the more voyage. Its also great advertiseing if you are a newbie circle annoying to get your name well known.
9. Emails. Emails, we get emails every jiffy, every hour, every day. Don't let them sit in your mailbox. That's a no no! Be proficient and answer them right away. No one likes to remain, especially online users. They have the slightest patience of them all.
10. Get elaborate. Your surfers are important for if you don't have them then what do you have? Cutomoze your content and make it delicate. If you entail them, cooperate with them they will easily want to be entaild as well. Add polls, suggest them to bookmark your location, use your location as a homepage, place a forum, chat space, voting contest, etc.
There are many many more habits to valuablely advertise your online location. Do some rehunt on the web, look at some of the other locations and survey there strategies. They are all very different but we all have the same point we want to get through. We want to win our customers entrust and devotion to our locations. With a suitably executed advertiseing design and given time, your location should be receiving the fallout you want in no time.
Jennifer Lynn is an ecommerce entrepreneur, dancer, critic, and musician based in New York-Chicago.
She has printed and contributed copious articles online about adult entertainment, entrepreneurship, ecommerce, technology, pop polish, generation x, district life and city trends & hearsay.
A well creative entrepreneur with focus in web advertiseing, trade development and ecommerce. Presently, she is entaild in JMR, an online transfer biz for dancers in the entertainment activity. She also runs other ecommerce locations counting an cooperateive entertainment hub and her own delicate location.
Before jumpin' JMR, Jennifer Lynn was a tech recruiter with a Chicago based jump-up circle. She's also a professional pianist. Jennifer Lynn expected her level from De Paul University in liberal arts.
When she's not workin' away, you can find her lofting on a seashore, into voyage, and dabbling in new creative ventures with dancers & entrepreneurs around urban.
Jennifer Lynn believes passion in burden what ever it iyou passion to do is the key to one's delicate winner.
Find out more by reading our other articles on this topic and other subjects we have written related to it.
Want more information onOnline Web Marketing Tips? http://www.internet-marketing-sites.info/online-web-marketing-tips-a1036.html has all the information
Cool Gadgets ? Try this one !
> In the area of software and gadget reviews, there are tens of thousands of websites out there, but many offer regurgitated content from a select few sources. One of these sources is
.
Even though it's called, "Gadget" Advisor, it doesn't just specialize in the gadget area. Of course, there are some gadget reviews, but this blog contains a healthy mix of both gadget reviews, and software reviews. This website also has reviews of some of the
, such as a
, which is a very good piece of software, and well worth the price, as the article says. If one is searching for unique content on either gadgets or software, one doesn't have to look any further than Gadget Advisor.
Gadget Advisor is a very professional looking blog, with a great, aesthetically pleasing layout, and barely any ads compared to many of these other blogs out there. Apart from the looks, the content is just great. It is unique, and can't be found anywhere else on the internet unlike many other blogs' content. The logo, and even tagline are also pretty cool, and very original. The readability of the content is also very refreshing. With content that has obviously been carefully crafted, and is easily readable, you can't go wrong reading the reviews at Gadget Advisor.
Also, if you are looking for some of the
, Gadget Advisor is where it's at. Gadget Advisor houses a comprehensive article covering many types of extensions from ad blockers, to AdSense trackers, to weather alerts. If you are addicted to customizing your Firefox, you can find many quality resources that can help you do just that at Gadget Advisor.
When talking about gadgets, especially in terms of blogs and websites in the theme of Gadget Advisor, the word gets put into a smaller scope, and "gadgets" then turns into handheld electronic devices. Gadget Advisor is refreshing in that it keeps the broad scope of the term, "gadgets". The term "gadgets" on Gadget Advisor can refer to any piece of technology, such as a motherboard, or an SSD, or even a personal computer case. With this, Gadget Advisor strays from the norm even more, in order to bring you fresh, amazing content, seen nowhere else on the internet. Of course, they do also cover some of the more popular handheld gadgets, but they don't cover every single one that comes out, and give it hype like it will change humanity or something.
When looking at the layout of Gadget Advisor, it seems to fit the overall feel of the content fairly well. The professional feel of the writing coincides with the professional look, and of course, vice versa. It's also important to note the lack of ads. There are only three ads on every page, and all of them are nonintrusive, and on the sidebar. This means that the author actually cares about the content, and consequently you as a reader. This is refreshing, because most sites that start doing well progressively get more and more ads on them, because the authors of such sites only care about milking their readers for money, and don't really care about their content anymore. Gadget Advisor shows no signs of ever becoming that way, which is a really good sign.
On the software review side of things, Gadget Advisor also excels. They have some news and reviews that no one else seems to have, and they also don't review the same stuff that everyone else is, either. Of course, they covered the release of Google Chrome, but since other blogs did more in-depth reviews, Gadget Advisor just offered a brief opinion and a link to where to download it. Other than that, the software reviewed on Gadget Advisor isn't reviewed anywhere else on the World Wide Web, which says a whole lot about the attention, and time put into the content.
For unique fresh, unique reviews about both gadgets and software that can't be found anywhere else on the web, without a ton of ads, and a good professional approach, I'd look no further that Gadget Advisor.
> We have numerous other articles written on this very subject. Each one tackles a different aspect of this complex topic.
Here is a register of a few of my bepassiond advertiseing tips and thoughts. They all proved to be valuable in my trade, use them them for yours as well!
1. request out bond locations. between up with other locations and bonding other locations to your webpage is a great advertiseing idea. I've generated a lot of voyage hits, bonding up with other locations only. Make loyal to be in impress with people whom have locations analogous to yours or fit your genre.
2. HTML META. Meta tags are for your hunt engines. with meta tags are valuable when you want to be nascent up on hunt pages, use your keywords.
We have just reached the tip of the iceberg, as the remainder of this article will help to further your understanding of this complex subject.
3. hunt Engines. Blast your location out into outerspace. hunt engines campaign voyage. And to augment your popularity of your location, develop some ordinary hunt engine locations like AltaVista.com, Google and Yahoo.
4. Your Weblocation Headers are important! Make your labels clear. The labels are very important because it shows how your page shows up in the hunt engine. Make loyal it has a great label or also your pages will show up very weak.
5. Updating your location. Keep your location efficient regualarly and keep your surfers imminent back for more. each passions new refreshed content. That is key.
6. Newsletters. bargain updates, open hearsayletters, sms letters to your browsers. They will be efficient delicately on your location and be provided with uniform infoformation.
7. Branding your web page. Branding your location is worn to make a long lasting prompt. Keep your logo, core label on every page. This will be loyal to chart through in provisos of receiving the point down to your browsers.
8. make more locations. The more the merrier, the more locations the more voyage. Its also great advertiseing if you are a newbie circle annoying to get your name well known.
9. Emails. Emails, we get emails every jiffy, every hour, every day. Don't let them sit in your mailbox. That's a no no! Be proficient and answer them right away. No one likes to remain, especially online users. They have the slightest patience of them all.
10. Get elaborate. Your surfers are important for if you don't have them then what do you have? Cutomoze your content and make it delicate. If you entail them, cooperate with them they will easily want to be entaild as well. Add polls, suggest them to bookmark your location, use your location as a homepage, place a forum, chat space, voting contest, etc.
There are many many more habits to valuablely advertise your online location. Do some rehunt on the web, look at some of the other locations and survey there strategies. They are all very different but we all have the same point we want to get through. We want to win our customers entrust and devotion to our locations. With a suitably executed advertiseing design and given time, your location should be receiving the fallout you want in no time.
Jennifer Lynn is an ecommerce entrepreneur, dancer, critic, and musician based in New York-Chicago.
She has printed and contributed copious articles online about adult entertainment, entrepreneurship, ecommerce, technology, pop polish, generation x, district life and city trends & hearsay.
A well creative entrepreneur with focus in web advertiseing, trade development and ecommerce. Presently, she is entaild in JMR, an online transfer biz for dancers in the entertainment activity. She also runs other ecommerce locations counting an cooperateive entertainment hub and her own delicate location.
Before jumpin' JMR, Jennifer Lynn was a tech recruiter with a Chicago based jump-up circle. She's also a professional pianist. Jennifer Lynn expected her level from De Paul University in liberal arts.
When she's not workin' away, you can find her lofting on a seashore, into voyage, and dabbling in new creative ventures with dancers & entrepreneurs around urban.
Jennifer Lynn believes passion in burden what ever it iyou passion to do is the key to one's delicate winner.
Find out more by reading our other articles on this topic and other subjects we have written related to it.
Want more information onOnline Web Marketing Tips? http://www.internet-marketing-sites.info/online-web-marketing-tips-a1036.html has all the information
ShoreTrips -- an Independent Shore Excursion Provider
Now you have other options besides the same old cruise ship shore excursions.
by Rita M. Ippoliti, CruiseMates Assistant Editor
April 6, 2009
The most successful business ideas often come from fulfilling an unmet need in the marketplace. That was exactly the case for Julie and Barry Karp, founders of ShoreTrips, an independent provider of shore excursions in a variety of well-known cruise ship ports.
Since its inception in the late 1990s, ShoreTrips has given the cruise lines quite a bit of stiff competition for their passengers' shore excursion dollars. And it all started with Barry's first job -- in the travel agency his parents owned. The more he helped clients booking cruises through his agency, the more he noticed those who prearranged their shore tours had a much better time on their cruises than those who just "winged" it.
Even more importantly, Barry also decided the cruise lines didn't always provide the kind of quality he wanted for his customers' shore excursions. "My wife Julie and I travel a lot with some of those trips on cruises. We often see cruise line shore excursions where large groups of passengers from multiple ships are all bussed to the same destinations. The experience is not personalized at all, people are herded along with everything running on a very strict schedule."
Barry wanted to change all that. He envisioned a company that offered quality shore experiences at reasonable prices with a level of personalization that far surpasses what the average cruise line can offer.
"It's not like our trips are necessarily cheaper. In fact, for the lower cost excursions, generally our trips will run a bit more than the cruise lines. But the difference is that our excursions accommodate smaller groups of people and are more personalized. Most importantly, we very rarely use large tour buses, preferring instead operators with smaller vehicles, like luxury sedans or mini-buses." This adds levels of convenience, time savings and personalization that just cannot be achieved with hundreds of people on the same tour.
Once they realised they had a viable business concept Barry and his wife sold their travel agency to Carlson and embarked on ShoreTrips as a full-time endeavor.
ShoreTrips - "It's a tough Business" Step number one in starting their new business? They packed their suitcases and took off for the Caribbean. But not just for pleasure; they spent several months meeting with various tourism officials and tour operators.
"We didn't want to hire just any tour operator; we only wanted what we personally felt were the best experiences we could get. We conducted extensive interviews with many tour operators to narrow down our choices. Then we personally checked their vehicles, tour-related equipment and assessed their personalities and ability to communicate. We only selected those who could provide a really great tour experience for our customers."
On average, Barry and Julie spent a week or two in each port to fill in their menu of shore trip options. After their work in the Caribbean, they focused on Alaska and Europe.
The couple spent many months visiting several points on the globe. "Anywhere with a rate of American tourism of at least 3% is where we want to be," says Barry. "The Baltic nations were our latest region of entry. There is an explosive growth of American tourism there and we wanted to get a quality program in place as quickly as possible. The same is true with Greece and the Mediterranean where we offer some of the most unique excursions. We go beyond the standard museums and historic attractions. We offer really unique golf and SCUBA packages as well. For almost any activity in any given region, if it is possible to do it then we probably have a shore trip to provide it."
"Variety is the spice of life," according to Barry. "We want to offer something for everyone -- with lots of options not normally available from the cruise lines -- so Julie and I split our efforts and focus on our own individual special interests. I'm more adventurous, so I interview the tour operators offering SCUBA, ice climbing and soaring types of excursions. Julie focuses more on culture and the arts and ually sees the more conventional sightseeing vendors. But what we both look for are the operators who offer something unique for our customers; something they won't get through the cruise lines. So we focus on things like high quality SCUBA trips geared toward smaller groups, but still using larger, well-maintained and comfortable boats."
Continue Article >> | |
