Winter is finally coming to a close and I couldn’t feel happier about it. Skiing season is coming to a close, too, but so is starting my car in the cold while my hair is still wet and layering up just to go get the mail. Honest to goodness, sometimes I believe there is such thing as S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and I'm done with it, I say!

So, in conjunction with the coming of spring (and my good mood, of course!), I encourage you to go online to fill out your February reader service card before the Ides of March (Mar. 15). One lucky person will win two tickets to anywhere Southwest Airlines flies! (And who doesn't love free stuff?)

Meanwhile, check out a (somewhat) new writer of ours, Melinda Hughey, as she scribbles us a piece on one of her favorite topics, Louisiana. Her enthusiasm and love for the area really shows in her writing and gives group travel organizers a lot of great ideas about what there is to do in the Pelican State.

Also in the newsletter is a piece on how to deal with dreaded "customonsters" and our resident techie, Tim Warren, on what exactly is SEO and why and how you want to achieve it.

Enjoy!

After a four-year hiatus, Macy's is blooming with excitement to welcome back the Spring Flower Show to its State Street store. Running March 21-April 7, our landmark location is proud to host the "Gardina Africana," featuring a vast display of South Africa's distinctly diverse and historically evolved floras.

The South African-themed exhibit was inspired by Macy's "Path to Peace" project, recently launched to promote the sale of hand woven baskets made by 2,000 Rwandan women who survived the genocides of 1994.

A celebration of African artistry and vegetation, the show will transform the first floor of Macy's on State Street to an in-house nursery of exotic plants. To accompany the fresh floras, select store windows will display the original artistry of Michael Clinton's landscape photography, as well as Willa Shalit's photos capturing various aspects of African life.

It's been more than twenty years since Madonna first sang about being a "material girl in a material world," and since that time, women and men throughout the nation have become more demanding of businesses and what they expect in terms of service.

One might argue that this age of the high-maintenance customer is simply due to businesses' inability to get qualified help and, in some cases, this is true.

However, the facts are that product and service customization, competition, and "the customer is always right" have helped create more than a few high-maintenance “customonsters” that, over time, may be more work than they are worth to your business.

The famous sales pie chart is made up of three distinct slices. Attitude; Skills; and Knowledge ASK.

Of course it is important that you know your subject matter or at the very least, where to find the information. Of equal importance is the ability to understand the steps of making a sale in these competitive, "what have you done for me lately" times.

But without a shadow of doubt, the single most important slice of the pie involves what goes on in your head. Today, more than ever before, it is a person’s attitude that gives them the key advantage in a competitive environment.

People migrate to those who regularly exhibit a positive attitude. And, more often than not, the byproduct of a healthy attitude comes in the form of enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm is infectious. The most skilled and knowledgeable salesperson in the world, when diagnosed by a prospect to be short-changed in the personality department is going to wash out of the game early and without fanfare.

What's more, enthusiasm sells! If you can't manage to get enthusiastic about the most wonderful industry imaginable (travel) then perhaps you need to begin thinking about an alternate career path. Don't allow this to happen. Get enthusiastic. Find a reason. Make a reason. Steal a reason. Just get juiced.

Despite the "one-two punch" Hurricanes Katrina and Rita delivered to Louisiana in late 2005, hard-hit sections of the state have shown remarkable resiliency and a spirit of undaunted determination in their recovery efforts.

Fifteen months after these twin terrors carved their paths of destruction through the state's southern regions, the rebuilding of lives, homes, and the economy are in full swing. Under the literal banner, "Louisiana: Recover, Rebuild, Rebirth," the state has declared to the world that it is open and ready for company.

Alaska is America's most prized wonderland. Its remoteness and small population have helped to protect and sustain much of the state's natural elements which today’s visitors find to be its most appealing aspect.

Three-quarters of Alaska's visitors arrive by ship, primarily on cruise tours which visit ports along the Inside Passage. This is only a small corner of the state and those who venture out to other areas most frequently travel to Anchorage, Denali National Park and Fairbanks.

Alaska is divided into five geographic tourist regions, each offering a distinctive history, heritage, topography and experience.

When you do a keyword search, do you go deeper than 1, 2, or maybe 3 pages? 90% of the millions of daily searches stay in top 3 pages.

And 90% of all Internet traffic comes from search engines Google, MSN and Yahoo. This is why earning and keeping top ranking in these "big three" is a very profitable marketing strategy.

The active process of earning and keeping top ranking is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Here are some top tools and quick tips to enhance your ranking, or keep your ranking.

Jim Palmeri is the Executive Director of Travel Alliance Partners (TAP), a group of 34 premier tour operators across North America. Each TAP member is a regional expert with new and unique itineraries. Partners purchase products in a profitable fashion, pass the savings on to consumers and increase market share with key suppliers.