Frequently asked questions by tour guide podcast providers

What exactly do you want from me?
The very same thing we want from public providers: one unforgettable tour (then maybe a dozen more)—a 30-minute or so script and lots of photos that help others see what you describe. Add to that some sales material for the customer catalog—two short descriptions, five shorter tips, five top photos, and a short bio and photo of you—and we can make it pay royalty dividends for years and suggest lots of bonus earning opportunities. As a tour guide, you bring special insight into the locations you feature, plus experience sharing that information to the public. Let’s share that with others! 

What’s the trick?
Again, winning prose: words that sing, photos that shout, and a “wow!” a minute. The same old tricks every good writer uses in every article, here transformed into an audio tour for any mp3 player, or with accompanying photos to use on the computer, iPod, or even your mobile phone, to see and hear as your listeners/viewers wander through the site—or sit in their easy chairs as you help them vicariously view the top spots in America and the world. We want a script and photos that will bring your site alive, so they will want to visit again in person.  

But won’t this hurt my business?
Still, presume that 75% of the podcast buyers will never visit your site in person (it’ll be much higher if you’re talking about Sisquoc or Inhambupe, Brazil). When they buy your podcast, you earn a royalty impossible to get without our selling process and breadth. The benefits start there. (1) Who are the other 25% going to seek out for more information and services when they arrive, if your podcast is first-rate and your script and photos are captivating? (2) Just because the buyer is glued to his/her chair, they still have kids, friends, and others they will urge to buy your podcast and/or visit you when they travel. And (3) the existence and global availability of the podcast itself will brand you as an expert on your location or theme, and there is nothing that can create a healthy lifetime income flow better or faster than well promoted, legitimate expertise.

What does it cost me?
Not a penny. We convert your script and photos into on-going revenue without any investment on your part whatsoever.

Do I qualify for the $150 and the bonuses that your offer the general providers?
That’s the difference. You don’t get the $150 nor the bonuses—you get a flat 10% royalty, plus a discount on each podcast bought for resale—for one simple reason: you are the big winner getting your podcast(s) posted and sold because you can collect again and again, as explained above. With the general providers, it’s a one-time shot—and we want them to participate. Our initial research shouted that we charge tour guides a fee for the podcast preparation, from $350-500. But we compromised and the trade-off was no payment of $150 and no bonuses, but everything else, including the 10% royalties. You still end up winning big with the royalties, free listing, promotion, and your name and contact information accessible at each step—it’s all in the Benefits to Tour Guides.       

What’s the first thing I do?
Log in and go to QUERY LETTER. Email us your responses to seven questions. Then if you get a “go-ahead,” which means we are eager to see your tour, follow the step-by-step information at Tour Guide Island.

Why do I have to go through the same process as a general provider?
Because we want the podcasts to be high quality, interesting, tightly packed, and appealing. And the best way to maintain the high standard for every person listed at Visual Travel Tours is to have the product reviewed at the outset and before it is accepted. The process is the same whether you’ve been talking about your site for a lifetime or are new to the game. (Except it should be about five times faster and more reliable for a seasoned expert!)

I’m reluctant to give you my photos. What are you going to do with them?
You’re not giving them to me! You want them to illustrate your words and to show why your site deserves to be visited. We will use them only to accompany the audio and to illustrate the site in the opening page on the website. We won’t use, trade, cook, or barter them. If they are yours, or you have the right to use them, we don’t care if they’ve been used before or will be used again. Podcasts without illustrations are as dull as sand, so to get an acceptance we need something. Jpegs are that something.  

How often will I be paid?
We pay the 10% royalties (all royalties, in fact) every four months, by check or direct deposit. We hope those royalties last forever.

What’s the copyright status?
In exchange for the royalties and distribution that we offer as the publisher, we purchase first rights and will copyright the podcast (and its components). Our buyers can download the tour for immediate family use in a variety of formats, but they aren’t allowed to copy it. After the podcast is offered for sale, if you significantly rewrite your text, you can sell it or the photos as separate elements as second or reprint rights as long as they do not compete with VTT products.

Can I reuse this script for other media?
Sure, but the text will have to be significantly rewritten--and the end use of the text or photos cannot compete with VTT products.

How many photos should I include?
Send us two to three photos per minute for a 30-minute program (that’s 60-90 total). The PHOTOS webpage tells more.

What tour locations do you most want to buy?
Conventional wisdom tells us to focus on the most popular destinations, but our unique niche opens new doors everywhere. Sharing the hidden secrets of your lesser-known favorite spot might also become a “best seller.” Query us with a location you think that others would flock to if they just knew—or start with a site that’s already popular. (You can see what we’d like as starters by checking that forbidden BONUS Royalty List.) If people are eager to see your tour, sell that to us (with good prose and some honesty) in the query letter.

Is San Francisco, for example, big enough for two tours simultaneously?
Only two? We could easily offer six or eight 30-minute tours of San Francisco (or almost any major city) since each is composed of exciting nuclei that tell their own stories. How about one tour of Fisherman’s Wharf, another of the Golden Gate Park (with the Presidio), another of the downtown region and Chinatown, a fourth as seen from a ship cruising the Bay, and a fifth visiting the many museums…   

I’m not really a writer. What are my chances?
Much better if you are literate, or have a literate mate! Yet most good writers (like tour guides) are storytellers, and if you can imagine what would be intriguing and useful to tourists at your site, the rest is just tight writing and superb (well, very, very good) photography. Just so the stories are true!

How long does it take for my script to be produced?
Once we have everything in hand, generally a couple of weeks, but if we’re swamped it may take a week or two longer. Please try to get the final, submitted tour to us well before the “high season” at your tour location so there’s no rush.

What kind of sales do you anticipate?
We are launching globally, with lots of Web and regular publicity, and we also expect the number and quality of tour providers to help establish VisualTravelTours.com as the place to go to buy the best tours about the most exciting places to see in the world. What does that mean to you? We won’t be much interested in tours that won’t sell in the high hundreds. We expect the better ones to sell many, many thousands of copies.

Does your site link to other tour companies?
Yes, some, because offering variety is good for business. However, none of these companies are in our niche. Selling your tours in some digital visual format is our primary concern.

How will the public find my tours?
Email a note or one of our ePostcards to your contacts giving them the link to our website, then keep that link on your email (probably in the signature). Tell them to enter your name in our home page SEARCH box located at top right of the screen. Up will pop you, your tours, some photos you took, your bio, and your lovely face… They’ll even get to see a two-minute snippet of your tour!

How will the site visitors know the benefits of my tour?
We will ask you to write a fetching description of your tour in both 25 and 100 words that really answers this statement: “You won’t want to miss this tour because ___________.” We’ll also have key photos on the tour title page, the formats in which the tour is available, and a short clip they can view. With that, how can they resist rushing to the order form?

How soon can I start?
Right now! Enter Tour Guide Island for step-by-step details, without obligation of any kind.