Ten years ago, the home-based travel agent industry began to explode. In tandem with the unprecedented growth of the market was the creation of Agent@Home, the only publication in the industry that caters solely to this sector. Readers of the publication take a look back over the years, discussing how the publication has helped them grow their businesses.

Susan Kelly probably summed up the impact that the publication had on at-home agents the best. “Ten years ago Agent@Home was really on the forefront because although there were independent contractors, they were kind of like the bastard children of travel agencies – and now we are like everybody is,” says Kelly of Seattle-based Luxury Adventure Trips, an affiliate of Travel Experts.

Kelly also likes the fact that Agent@Home focuses on how to make agency businesses more profitable. “While other magazines are all about product, Agent@Home helps me work on my business and helps me grow as a business owner,” she says. “ I’ve been reading Agent@Home for 10 years, and I’m always excited when it comes in the mail because I know I’m going to learn something to improve my business.”

In particular, she enjoys reading the columns of Anita Pagliasso, Stacy Small and Penney Rudicil, the Gadget Girl. “They are my go-to gals who are helping me stay true to myself and grow my business my way,” she says. “Stacy Small had an article about trusting your gut and that hit home to me. Now, I always trust my gut reaction.”

After reading the columns, Kelly then delves into the articles. “I’m always looking to improve my sales and work more efficiently, and Agent@Home helps get me there,” she says. “Agent@Home tackles the drier legal issues of running a home-based travel business as well as the fun stuff of new travel developments.”

One issue of the magazine specifically detailed how to create a business plan, which was particularly beneficial. “It was very helpful for me to think about that as a home-based agent, as I didn’t have a business plan,” Kelly says. “I immediately figured out how much money I want to make this year, and while I’m still revising my marketing strategies, I’ve made big steps toward improving my business by planning for the future and not just taking what comes my way.”

Richard Walke, a Nexion agent with By Land or By Sea Vacations in Atlanta, is another agent who likes the fact that Agent@Home is completely tailored toward home-based agents. “While selling travel is similar regardless of your business model, home-based agents face some very unique challenges that an agent who is based in a retail location may not encounter,” he said. “From marketing, to interaction with suppliers, to networking with other agents — all of those can be challenging for a home-based agent. Having a medium such as Agent@Home dedicated to the home-based business model is extremely helpful.”

Walke says he particularly enjoys reading the agent success stories, because they disclose tips that other agents can capitalize on. “By sharing that information, they are showing me what success looks like and that it can be done,” he said. “I don’t have to reinvent the wheel; I can take their ideas and apply them to my business and make it more successful. I’ve learned to take advice from those who are successful.”

Claire Schoeder, a travel advisor with Century Travel in Atlanta, also enjoys reading about other travel advisors. “I like reading the stories about other agents who are successful in what they’re doing and [learning] how they achieved that success,” she says. “I also like reading about companies that are trying to work better with agents who work from home.”

For R.D. Gavel of Harvard, Mass.-based Travel Repertoire, an affiliate of Travel Experts, Agent@Home is a perennial favorite. “I have to say it is my single favorite travel publication and, in speaking with other advisors over the years, I know I’m not alone in that opinion,” she says. “We get plenty of destination- and product-oriented material, but very little that speaks to the other aspects of the business for independents.”

While the majority of trade publications deal strictly with destinations, suppliers, and properties, Gavel says it’s refreshing to have a source for information and advice about the issues and experiences facing independent advisors. “I’ve found the regular features on best practices, technology, legal issues and unusual marketing approaches to be particularly helpful,” she says. “And, while I’m not at all a fan of the inspirational/personal empowerment presentation, I have to say that Scott Koepf [of Avoya Travel] has his own unique style that makes the message seem a lot more palatable — a good deal less of the ‘you can do it’ and a big dose of ‘how you can do it.’”

Like many other agents, Gavel noted how easy it is to become isolated when working from home. “When we are working on our own, it’s easy to become disconnected from many things, including the implications, both for ourselves and our clients, of some of our practices and decisions,” she says. “I am often taken by surprise when reading the legal column. There are so many pitfalls that we might never consider — questions we don’t even know to ask – and it’s enlightening to read about them and learn how to avoid issues in our own businesses.”

She notes, “Overall, Agent@Home manages to present primarily as an informational tool rather than a giant sales pitch – quite a feat in a business where advertising drives content.”

Other practical information contained in the magazine’s pages is invaluable, says Gavel. “This is where you can get a template for a spreadsheet to keep track of a group.”

She also finds Anita Pagliasso’s column particularly helpful and entertaining. “She’ll come up with some little fun thing that that really keeps her in the forefront of a client’s thought,” says Gavel, noting that it could be something like the “[creative] way she packages final documents.”

Although Gavel says she is not someone who typically holds onto magazines, she often sets Agent@Home aside for further study. “It’s because I know there’s something in there that I’ll find particularly valuable that I might want to refer to at another time.”

For her part, Shari Marsh of Cruise Holidays in Raleigh, N.C., says she finds that Agent@Home broadens her horizon. When working alone, she notes, agents may tend to perpetually rely on the same suppliers. “Often I see articles in Agent@Home about other suppliers — and it gives me ideas to reach out to them.”

While there are myriad benefits to working at home, one of the downsides is missing out on the camaraderie of other agents. “Being alone keeps you from standing around the coffee pot and sharing war stories, victories or new discoveries,” she says, adding that reading Agent@Home is a way in which to feel connected — and learn — from other agents. “It provides a way to connect me to my colleagues and the ever-changing world of travel,” she says.

Marsh, who began specializing in selling cruises eight years ago when she acquired her Cruise Holidays franchise, also finds the tour section of Agent@Home invaluable as she works to broaden her business. “You cultivate your cruise guests and you send them here and you send them there and after a while you realize that you have to figure out alternatives for them,” she says. “They don’t all want to cruise all the time. So out of necessity, I have had to hurry up and get myself educated.”

Within the tour section, Marsh has found companies that she ordinarily wouldn’t come across, in part because she is not working in a traditional office environment. “There have been some pretty good suppliers that I had no knowledge of,” she says.

She also appreciates the unbiased approach featured in Agent@Home content. “The tour section has been really good because a lot of times Agent@Home has taken the time to interview somebody like myself, and there are some pretty brutally honest things in there, both positive and negative,” she says.

Connie Saunders, meanwhile, a TPI agent who is owner of Total Travel & Events in Orlando, credits Agent@Home with helping her develop groups. “I feel like that one issue of Agent@Home was the turning point for me in terms of how I’ve approached my business,” she says.

“There was a whole issue focused on groups and I kept it and read it anytime I would have a few minutes,” she says. “That one issue over a four-month period changed my whole thinking about how to approach my business, how to run my business and how to grow my business.”

Renee Dunkin of Around About Travel in Houston, a TPI agency, also feels camaraderie with the travel sellers she reads about in Agent@Home. “I always get lots of ideas and I love to see how people are doing,” she says. “I’ll take it with me when I’m traveling and tag different things. I enjoy it.”

Through the years, Judy Nidetz, a Travel Experts agent in Chicago, says Agent@Home has provided her with some great ideas that she has put into action. “Stacy Small always gives inspiration and great ideas for client retention, how to find the right clients and how to market using social media,” she says. “When I was doing research for a host agency I [looked into] the hosts that were discussed in many articles in Agent@Home.”

Nidetz also makes good use of Agent@Home’s information on new technology tools. “I look forward to reading about new innovations for agents and travelers,” she says. “I’ve also learned a lot from the destination articles featured.”

JJ Kuykendall, a Cruise Planners agent based in Houston, says Agent@Home has helped to educate her about the finer nuances of the travel industry. “I think when you’re growing your business it’s really important to be educated and up-to-date on the latest trends and products and everything out there,” she says, adding that the publication enables her to quickly glean nuggets of information that help her grow her business. “It’s a quick read,” she says. “You don’t have to sit down for an hour to get some great information.”

Becky Veith of Becky Veith Travel, a Travel Experts affiliate in Erie, Pa., says she reads Agent@Home to obtain the latest news and information on the travel industry. “It offers a plethora of information on all aspects of the travel industry,” she says. “My favorite feature is reading about my peers and what they are doing to stay ahead of the curve.”

She notes that Agent@Home is important to at-home agents because their business model is so different from that of brick-and-mortars. “We are not exposed to the daily visits from suppliers and in-house training that a front-line agent is offered,” Veith says. “Agent@Home introduces those types of resources for us to peruse at our leisure.”

Expressing the sentiments of many agents, Veith stressed how rewarding a career as an at-home agent is. “For me, being able to become an at-home agent was like hitting the jackpot. It’s such a better life,” she says. “I appreciate that Agent@Home exists, because it is a great way to find out the latest and greatest.”