Tom Brosnahan started writing about Turkey 40 years ago as a Peace Corps Volunteer and developed a successful guidebook series to “demystify” Turkey for American travelers. Though his guidebooks, including Frommer’s “Turkey on $5 a Day” and the Lonely Planet “Turkey” are still top sellers, it’s Brosnahan’s TurkeyTravelPlanner.com that turned his business into a mini-empire. “Many travel writers enjoy roaming the entire world, always visiting and describing new places,” say Brosnahan. “I realized early that focusing on a particular niche was the best way to run a successful business and more difficult for competitors to overcome your lead,” says Brosnahan. Turkeytravelplanner.com is laser-focused on Turkey travel and receives two million visitors annually from more than 170 countries. “My web site stands out from larger travel websites which tend to cover the entire world, but thinly,” says Brosnahan. “Because I focus on Turkey with depth and discernment, my website is regarded as a rich resource for planning a trip to Turkey and provides more depth than the competition.”
Brosnahan’s expertise and voice contribute to the popularity of TurkeyTravelPlanner.com.Brosnahan strives to provide a deep, authentic level of customer interaction. Brosnahan personally answers email messages sand participate in his website’s online forums, which strengthens his brand among users and provides essential feedback about his marketplace. Brosnahan’s niche focus helps his web site reach the top of the search engines. Using the common key word phrase “turkey travel” in Google consistently delivers TurkeyTravelPlanner.com as the number one search result. Income from Brosnahan’s web site comes from several sources, including personal travel planning consultations, click-thru and banner advertising, affiliate commissions from other sites provide for sales and leads, and sponsored advertising. Brosnahan credits his multi-faceted promotion strategy that includes both traditional and online media, as a cornerstone to his success. He’s published many articles and photographs in leading magazines, including Travel and Leisure, The New York Times and the Daily Telegraph (London), and appeared on numerous television and radio programs, including ABC’s Good Morning America, NPR’s Talk of the Nation, and the Travel Channel. He has lectured at the Smithsonian Institution and the American Turkish Council. “Getting Slightly Famous is not for the ego, it’s a strategy that serves as the foundation of small-business success,” says Brosnahan. “People increasingly gravitate toward niche-focused businesses, versus large corporations, because they hunger for real people who know what they’re doing. Niche-focused businesses can provide high-touch personal service that cultivates lifelong loyal customers.” “My advice is to target a marketplace where you can develop an advantage through knowledge, important contacts and, most importantly, an enduring love for your market niche,” says Brosnahan. “For me, getting Slightly Famous is a direct result of maintaining my prominence as a Turkey travel expert. This is a tremendous advantage over generalists who can not compete with my credentials.”
