Frequently asked questions by potential tour providers...

What exactly do you want from me?
Send us one unforgettable tour (then 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, and a short bio and photo of you—and we can make it pay royalty dividends for years, send you a flat payment on acceptance, and suggest lots of bonus earning opportunities.

What’s the trick?
Prose that sings, 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 you wander through the site—or sit in your easy chair vicariously viewing the top spots in America and the world.

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.

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 Provider’s Island.

Why should I prepare a tour?

• To earn $150 now and 10% royalties (plus bonus royalties) per tour forever.
• To get widely seen/heard in sound/print and have your photography on display.
• To establish your expertise from which to add a new revenue stream.

How can I earn more than 10% residual income?

• Log into Provider’s Island and check our BONUS ROYALTIES lists, where we offer a 3% bonus (forever) for the first 50 tours from our list of the Top World City Destinations.
• The same lists include a 2% permanent bonus for the first 20 tours accepted from Major U.S. Cities that aren’t included in the Top World City destinations.
• Plus two more lists, a 2% permanent bonus for the first 15 tours accepted to the most visited U.S. National Parks and a 2% permanent bonus for the first 15 accepted tours to the most popular U.S. Tourist Attractions.
• Then add to that a 1% bonus royalty for the first 100 tours accepted and sold, paid as long as that tour is on the market!
• Order a quantity of your tours (and the others we sell) at a 30% discount, we will ship copies to you on discs, and you can sell them like a lunatic—or at least with gusto!
• See six more ways to easily double your income at ADDITIONAL BENEFITS TO TOUR PROVIDERS, then visit MAKING EVEN MORE MONEY FROM YOUR TOUR to gain maximum exposure and more money…

How often will I be paid?
A flat fee on acceptance, then royalties every four months, by check or direct deposit. We hope the 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.

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 inside 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. (One of our first tours was of Purisima Mission in Lompoc, California!)

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’ve only written articles. Isn’t a tour very different?
Most good writers 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!

My articles have been relatively short. How can I fill 30 minutes?
Once you try combining great insider stories, what’s at hand to see, and background information, you’ll find that your problem will be the reverse, how to quit in just 30 minutes!

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 my readers, editors, or friends find my tours?
Email a note or one of our ePostcards to your contacts giving them the link to our website. 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?
Today! Enter Provider Island for step-by-step details, without obligation of any kind.

Are you a tour guide? We have a special TOUR GUIDE'S Q & A (because your submission process is simply different) at TOUR GUIDE ISLAND.