I’m spending more time in Facebook groups to help people find better side hustles. Unfortunately, this mission is off to a rocky start, as the sheer volume of hustlers and scammers makes it difficult to engage in any sort of meaningful dialogue.
Every day, scores of people ask for help finding a side hustle in many of these groups. The most common answers are as follows:
- Become a travel agent – message me!
- Sell high ticket items!
- Affiliate marketing!
- Become a day trader!
There’s more where that came from, but I’ll spare you for now. Scrolling through some of the answers is like waiting for a bus at a Greyhound station – you know what I’m talking about if you’ve done so.
At any rate, the travel agent idea caught my eye because I’ve seen a huge uptick in this idea over the last several months. I had a sneaky suspicion that many of these were related to MLM’s, because I can smell MLM pitches a mile away. Sure enough, a little bit of research confirmed my suspicion.
Ocean Finance states the following regarding this trend:
Interest in travel MLMs appears to be on the rise, with searches for ‘travel MLM’ increasing by 136% over the past year across the globe.
Lux Rally Travel, an actual travel agency, had the following to say on the topic:
Regrettably, the travel agency landscape is riddled with host agencies that operate more like Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) schemes than genuine hosts. We’ve heard tales of agents who have shelled out thousands for training, paid recurring fees, and then been pressured to recruit new agents for the host. These types of agencies not only drain their agents’ resources but also fail to deliver effective training, leaving their agents lost and frustrated. Here are some strategies to help you sidestep MLM Travel Agencies.
Clearly, this is a growing problem in the industry. If you have any doubts, ask yourself this: if the people pushing travel agent jobs are making so much money, why are they spamming comment sections? Why aren’t they working for their clients? Why aren’t they booking more trips for more people?
I’ll tell you why – because they make money by recruiting people and selling them a bill of false goods. Don’t fall for it!
Conclusion
If you really want to be a travel agent, contact a local agency. Visit them. Ask them questions. Additionally, you can visit the American Society of Travel Agents’ web site for a variety of resources.
Good luck, and happy husling!