Rare Earth Stocks As technology products advance in performance and durability, the demand for special metals with special properties used in those products is growing too. We know these unique valuable metals as rare earths – a group of 17 metals used in the production of many high-demand products today such as x-ray machines, smartphones,…
✈️ 20 Travel Startup Ideas (Low-to-Mid Budget) I discussed the many business opportunities in travel for VC investors and entrepreneurs and want to expand with some practical possibilities that you might find very interesting (and profitable). It’s a billion-dollar industry of course, and has a bright future despite current geopolitical, migration, and recessionary issues. People…
🙏 The Power of Targeting Only the Best Client Prospects Every business person or company needs great customers who translate into successful, satisfying relationships. And it seems that only the customers/clients who love your company and you will buy from you again or engage in long-term business. The rest vanish. In this spirit, I offer…
Upcoming Tour Operator Conferences and Conventions The Travel and Tourism sector is readying for an exciting winter season along with growth in trips and tour bookings in 2026 as the US and global economies continue their growth. You’ve got some outstanding events planned for this fall, such as Tourpreneurs “TourWeek” in South Carolina, and US…
How You Can Beat AI Travel Agencies With OTA’s and new AI travel agencies impinging on your audience and customer base, you’re understandably concerned. Young travelers are open to AI-driven travel planning and services. Agency owners on the other hand appear to be resisting anything that carries that artificial intelligence tone to it. However, as…
Small Business Marketing Report The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) says its latest Small Business Optimism Index in July, rose 1.7 points to 100.3, slightly above the 52-year average of 98. Uncertainty remains (fell 8 points from June to 97) and is a big factor in growth and hiring intentions. Yet, respondents feel the…
U.S. Equity Market Outlook H2 2025 Now past the mid-point of the year with market signals flashing green, investors are very excited about the last half of 2025. The long-term bull market is on, and investors are feeling there’s not much to dislike about the road ahead. The Trump recovery seems to trample any negativity…
It’s a Good Time to Be American, But Not Canadian Talk about being between a rock and a hard place, Canadians are finding themselves stuck between two politically opposite politicians. If it continues, the country could fail. Tomorrow, we’ll see how the US stock market reacts to the passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill,…
Give the Gift of Travel You know all about the joy of travel. It’s lifted your spirit, empowered your confidence, and broadened your awareness of how the world is and could be. But many others haven’t had that pleasurable, healthy vacation getaway. And perhaps now, your heroic side is awakening, and this might be the…
Ready Your Travel Company for the 2026 Boom! The latest travel stats are reflecting an unsettling trend of travelers avoiding the US and consumers spending less. Travel experts feel this will extend into more revenue and booking losses for the years ahead. While the economy has flagged amidst the Trump tariffs, there are many positive…
Are You Ready for 2026? With home sales sagging to record lows this year, some Realtors might have trouble visualizing sales success for themselves. But like it is in any industry, where the mind goes, performance flows. It’s time to get ready. There’s so much pessimism saturating the real estate sector (e.g., Florida) that Realtors…
Home Buyer Traffic Falls along with Builder Sentiment NAHB reports a decline in homebuilder sentiment and they cite high mortgage rates, economic uncertainty and import tariff wars as the cause. The builder sentiment survey showed a decline of 2 points to 32, the 3rd lowest point in 10 years, and only the second decline since…
Massive Global Market: Your International Content Strategy How nice would it be to relax and enjoy an amazing and massive flow of travel customers from across the globe, wowed by your brand and content, fully trusting that booking with you is a great decision sure to satisfy? Sometimes a wider audience is the solution to…
✍ How To Optimize Your Travel/Tour Descriptions Hundreds of millions of travelers are online, mostly using Google, and they follow a finding path to destinations, hotels, trips, tours and more. Everything they see on their path to travel fulfillment, that stream of travel content is a description of a desired experience. The final destination…
💵 Buy Now Pay Later a Growing Opportunity in Travel Market While many wealthy Canadian, European, and American travelers can easily pay for their vacations and trips, most others are stretched to make them happen. Not being able to buy a travel package right away, as expected, means they don’t. And that results in making…
🏆 A Business that Beats Them All If you’re chasing stocks as a FOMO stock market investor right now, I want to ask you if there might be a better investment option in launching an online business with all the bells and whistles focused on real, lucrative markets? In this post, we explore one such…
😎 Compelling Reasons Why You Should Choose the Travel Sector I’ve worked with clients in many sectors, but I’m most enthused about the travel sector. I’ve found real estate and the sports equipment sectors stimulating too. But there’s just something about travel that puts it front and center. It’s not just about living the good…
🚗Top Tour Marketplaces Online The tour industry has grown in leaps and bounds, as global travelers search eagerly on Google, Bing and tour company websites for interesting travel experiences. Travelers want something invigorating or interesting to do for a sense of personal meaning, and a feeling that they’re immersed in these wonderful places. It’s all…
Navigating Challenges and Threats Through the Next 5 Years Without good insights into demand, trends, challenges and threats, it might be hard for travel agency owners, DMO chiefs, and hotel managers to feel really confident about their travel marketing strategy — whether for 2025-2026 or the long view. With the stakes high, going down the…
Visibility is Everything Whether you’re in the travel business or in real estate sales, being discovered and getting your message heard is paramount. And I’m reminded of what SparkToro’s well-known CEO and co-Founder, Rand Fishkin said recently — that discovery is the next big marketing objective, ahead of clicks. Because as he puts it, being…
🚗 The Great North American Cottage Escape: 15 Idyllic Summer Retreats for Families There’s a compelling magic in a summer spent in a rented cottage—where the rhythm of the days slows to the pace of lapping water, sizzling grills, and children’s laughter echoing through the trees. For families, it’s the sweet spot between adventure and…
🌞🍹⛱️ The Sweet Rush of Late Spring Wanderlust The sudden arrival of amazing weather with warm temps and not a cloud in the sky makes us all get dreamy about the summer season ahead. There’s a moment now in the late days of spring when the air changes with buds on trees blooming — when…
😇Travel Angel Investing: A Goldmine if you Choose Well Like the rest of the globe, US travel is changing dramatically, drawn back to a domestic focus which I explored in the US domestic travel market report. As an angel investor, you have plenty of industries to invest in, however, as mentioned in the travel startup…
🤖 MindTrip.ai Personalized Travel Planner It’s 2025, full of amazing marketing and sales opportunity for travel companies. A good deal of this big potential is evolving from new AI chatbot-powered trip itinerary planners. As you’ll see below, these amazing AI-powered software solutions can do a lot of work, in a fashion that is satisfying for travel…
🚀 2025 Best Small Business Opportunity: AI Travel Agency Given the turmoil in the North American travel sector, you might think it’s an industry to stay clear of. And as an entrepreneur, you might not be licensed or have sufficient qualifications to run a travel agency. Then there is the whole challenge of it and…
🗽Exploring the US Domestic Travel Boom A big change is happening in US travel and tourism — a shift to domestic travel destinations and vacation experiences. Such a trend is good for the economy and good for Americans by encouraging them to explore their own country by plane, train or automobile and thus support tourism…
How Will Tariffs Affect the US Housing Market As we head into the spring buying season, buyers and sellers are confused and curious about the effect of Trump’s import tariffs and how it will play out. Aside from potential higher building costs are a host of other factors that are discussed below. It’s not an…
Europe on the Brink of Economic Disaster After President Trump announced its sweeping tariffs on imports into the US, Europe has suffered paroxysms of fear and doubt about its continued existence. While the EU is justifiably unhappy about the new tariffs of 20% on the EU, they should recognize that it could be much worse….
Trump’s Tariffs in Effect Yesterday, President Trump announced his promised, sweeping tariffs on foreign imports into the US, and the world looks very different. He lamented that this is the end of taking advantage of the US and it will be a boom economic period in the US. Today, investors dumped their favorite stocks of…
Trump’s Liberation Day: Launching US Business The world isn’t so pleased with Donald Trump since taking office, but Americans are about to enjoy a very prosperous period. Today’s event announced 50% reciprocal tariffs on nations that tariff the US. The event was a huge success for him politically given he not only announced protective tariffs…
Is the US Travel Market Crashing? We’ve been waiting for US national travel data for 2025 to begin rolling in and it’s arriving. What the initial data is telling us is that the US and Canadian travel markets are taking a downturn, and it’s surprising how steep the decline is. While the harm is immediate,…
It’s Time to Reorganize your Travel Business It’s a fact of business life that the consumer market changes. And we need to adjust. Travel agencies, hotels, airlines, DMOs, and tour companies are seeing valued long-time customers disappear while new ones become available. This current tourism slowdown comes as technology is changing travelers choice and they…
Small Business Outlook 2025 According to the US Chamber of Commerce, 33 million small companies in the USA employ nearly half of the American workforce and represent 43.5% of America’s GDP. They’re a major economic force, hampered in the last ten years via free trade, high interest rates, and high taxes — government-induced setbacks. Times…
👩🏻💻 Travel Destination Marketing Software It’s going to be an exciting year for DMOs and tourism businesses in the United States in 2025 and 2026. DMO/DMC organizations can make it a great year for visitors, bookings and revenue if they gain reach to audiences and make an impact. Visibility is the key because without it,…
Travelers Changing Vacation Preferences President Trump’s tariffs are only beginning to send negative ripples through the Canadian economy. It’s still early but it looks like Canadians will increasingly alter their travel plans away from the US. Today, as Ontario Premier Doug Ford visited the US White House with the Canadian trade minister, Trump reiterated his…
Connect with Financially Strong Costa Rica Travelers You might be selling trips to all over the world and doing okay. And you might have your favorite destinations to serve. However, what if expanding to new destinations and reaching new types of travelers is wiser? Because when you tap into a better-quality prospect pool, you might…
How Long Before You Lose Your Job to AI? AI is here, and it’s like a forest fire that generates a little smoke at first but accelerates into intense firenados as it meets thick brush forest aided by higher winds and dry hot air. AI feeds on a high-cost, low-productivity environment which becomes fuel for…
DeepSeek’s Bold Move into the AI Assistant Marketplace As you might know, the NASDAQ crashed upon the announcement of performance test results from a new AI LLM/chatbot service called Deepseek. Nvidia was down $1 trillion in market cap at one point! This AI-powered assistant (DeepSeek V3 powered by DeepThink R1) is competing with OpenAI and…
DeepSeek Causes NASDAQ Crash The top story on the stock market today was all about AI and how the industry is going to evolve. It may even have political, economic and military implications. US tech stocks took a deep dive today after a Chinese LLM Research company called DeepSeek announced it had created a better…
Auto Insurance Rate Crisis in 2025 The Zebra Insurance company has published their 2025 insurance rate report and predictions. It seems auto insurance rates jumped substantially in 2023 and 2024. Their 2025 auto insurance rate projections are reduced which is wonderful for today’s cash strapped vehicle owners. Affordable auto insurance is an increasing problem for…