The steps you need to take to be an extremely successful and financially profitable travel writer
If you've got an urge to travel, check out this article on how you can begin and expand a blog about travel, as well as the most effective strategies to generate a substantial income in the field of travel blogging.
Your desk is occupied thinking about an island somewhere in the southern Caribbean.
It's a simple Cliff dive is all you need.
When you're looking for some time away from the water, your thoughts take you on a quick flight to an quaint café in an old European town that has cobblestone streets traversing the.
Oh, the pleasures of adventure, travel and the joy of hopping from one culture to another.
What can you do to make travel during your job a reality?
Is it worth it? Definitely. Is it as easy as just writing a few blog entries and calling it a day? Not quite.
Today, we share with you the realities of becoming a travel writer and the steps you need to follow to become an experienced and well-paid traveler.
Let's get to the important parts first: what worthwhile is it to become a travel writer?
What is the average amount you can earn as a travel writer?
You can make as little as nothing, or you can make a significant income by being an online travel writer. The only thing that matters is perseverance and having a way to monetize your site.
After all, the demand to read travel-related content on the internet is increasing. Content on travel and tourism is seeing the growth of a double-digit percentage year-over-year.
When you've got your foundation properly laid out, you can earn an average of $3,000 per month as do the travel blogger community:
Nora earns more than $3,000 a month on her blog, The Professional Hobo travel blog. Nora is a full-time traveler since 2007 and has set in more than 55 different nations.
The mid-point is where Monica is able to earn $10,000 per month in revenue from travel blog The travel Hack blog The Travel Hack blog was launched by Monica in 2009.
Finally, on the far side of the revenue scale, Matt Kepnes pulls in over $50,000 a month through the Nomadic Matt site. Matt is a traveler around across the globe since.
It's pretty impressive, don't you think?
It's okay if a decade of blogging seems daunting to you. If you continue to publish useful content frequently the number of people who read your blog will rise and your love of the craft.
The main takeaway is to improve your stamina to last for the long haul. If you do, you'll be miles ahead of the average, as a whopping 59.3% of bloggers start a blog and then abandon it.
Hosting maintenance, for example and registration of domains
Automation and management tools, like your platform or email service
The whole picture:
You could earn an excellent earnings as a travel writer due to the increasing demands for content on digital travel. If you can keep up your blog over the long-term, you'll be prosperous in it.
For the best way to start follow our straightforward, six-step system below.
Six steps to begin your travel blog
Step #1. Select a theme inspired by your love of travel
Your first step is to discover a topic that reflects the passion you have for traveling. You don't have to cover every aspect of traveling. Instead, narrow in on the area or topic you want to cover.
For a narrowing down of just one theme for your travels Consider:
What is it about traveling you love the most?
If you go on a trip What do you find yourself gravitating towards the more? Are you drawn to the cuisine, culture, the people nature, history?
In this way blogger Dan focuses on traveling solo and documenting the beauty of the world's beauty through professional photography, which is featured in Dan's Dan Flying Solo blog.
Couple Megan McDuffie and Michael van Vliet focus on a completely different theme as well as a the spotlight is in the Fresh Off the Grid blog delicious foods as well as easy meals you can prepare while camping or travelling for outdoor adventures.
It is evident that it is possible to be creative when picking your theme, and select among a variety of topics within the category of travel.
The trick is to become particular so that you are able to focus on one niche audience. Once you've done that then only once you've found a niche, you're ready for the next step.
Step #2. Research and learn about your niche audience
Your aim is to provide your blog audience precisely what they desire and require. A successful business involves solving people's problems, ideally before they're aware of their difficulties.
As for an effective way to conduct your research Begin by dipping into discussion forums, online forums, as well as social media forums for the most popular topics of interest within your topic.
In this case, a simple inquiry to "travel photography" within Reddit pulls up several Subreddit threads within this 2.7 millions huge online community.
This serves as a great place to glean some useful ideas to incorporate into your blog. There are many ideas to think of how you can educate your audience and address the issues of your readers' challenges based upon what you learn from the social networks.
Better yet, take your step to join these groups to start communicating with other members in order to find out first-hand what they're biggest struggles are and how they talk about these difficulties.
That way, you can respond to their requirements in your blog content and deliver valuable, educational content to your readers using their own words.
It's as simple as that:
The only way you'll be able to help your target audience is through making yourself known to the people who are in it. Use social communities and one-on-one discussions to explore the issues of people and discover solutions that your blog could assist them in solving their issues.
Then, begin writing.
Step #3. Start writing regularly (and only in an imperfect way)
If people inquire about why they create so much content, the response can be a bit disappointing, but true: it's just the beginning of with writing.
You're wondering what topics you should write about in your initial articles?
Use the info you gathered from your market research, and focus on educating your readers on how they can beat their problems.
The more precise and valuable your content is, the better. 57.2 Percent of users who thought the content was meant for someone else believe that the content isn't helpful.
The first time you attempt to write for your audience likely won't be flawless However, the earlier you get started, the better you'll become at writing for your niche.
Plus as you begin to know your reader by establishing relationships on your blog, the more you can cater to your readers' needs that means the better the content you post will be.
It's an extremely self-sustaining cycle this way.
Okay, writing is the bulk of the work, but if you're beginning your journey then you'll have to put in a bit of extra work in the logistics.
Step 4. Purchase your domain name and select a blog platform
The next step is to buy your domain name and choose the blogging platform.
To purchase your domain name, check out the most popular five domain registrars :
In terms of blogging platforms are concerned There are a variety of choices to select from, such as blogger , WordPress and Squarespace .
Keep in mind, your main goal is to earn money off your website, so search out for the ability to integrate your blog to a page for products, or choose an all-in-one solution like this, that lets you manage all of your sites through a simple interface.
Pretty easy to navigate, isn't it?
No matter which domain registrar and platform you select, make sure to select those that fit your financial plan and goals over the long-term.
A lot of hosting services offer appealingly cheap prices in the initial year, but significantly higher costs after the offer expires, so it's important to determine what your post-discount price will be for the next year before signing anything.
In the end, you'll need to maintain your travel blog and grow your business over time, but that's a challenge to do if you're faced by unexpected charges midstride.
Once hosting and domain names are taken care of, it's time to dig into the fun element of establishing your blog - the design.
5. Step 5. Keep a simple design
Keeping with the theme, I'll say it plainly: Use a simple design for your travel blog.
94% of initial impressions are design-related, and 88% of visitors will not revisit if they've had a bad experience. The more complex your website design, the greater chances you have for something to be wrong.
To keep your visitors coming returning, we advise keeping a a clean and simple blog style, meaning:
White space in abundance
Simple to use
In other words, something similar to Chris Rob Taylor's 2TravelDads site.
If you follow in Chris Rob's steps, you'll provide a great UX (UX) to your users that is crucial to growing your business.
Companies that focus on design have outperformed the S&P by 228 percent over the last decade, so keep that in mind as you continue to build and expand your business.
The main lesson to be learned is:
Create a minimalist design for your travel site that is easy for visitors to navigate. This will create a great UX for your visitors as well as boost the growth of your business overall.
Step #6. Upload and publish your blog content
At this stage is the time to upload and publish your blog posts.
Since you've already written your content, posting your articles is the easiest step. Depending on your platform it is as simple as uploading your written content in the field for submission and add a prominent image.
If you'd like to be more advanced, you can create different categories for your blog, include tags and write a Meta description , and customize the URL the slug .
Whichever method you choose, make sure that you are using it regularly. Posting regularly on your blog is crucial to the success of your blog.
Why? Your readers will get acclimated to awaiting your latest posts and will trust you to be an expert in your field in particular as you collect emails and send out announcements regarding your most recent article articles.
For the finer details of their frequency, those who publish weekly have 2.5x higher likely to post "strong performance" than those who post monthly or less.
Make it a routine to keep regular posts over time to grow your blog.
Now that you have your blog's website set up, it's time to increase your readership and get your site monetized.
Let's look at some strategies for promoting your blog and grow your readership.
How do you grow your blog's readership?
#1. Tap into social media
Use social media to publish articles about your travel blog content and connect with new readers.
66% of marketers employ blogs as social media content, so you should use the social networks you have on your account to promote each of your published articles.
If you're wondering which channels to concentrate on, you can continue looking into your market niche for the best places where your target audience hangs out the most.
Your target audience is using Facebook. 61 Percent of marketers said they use Facebook as their top channel for the five years in succession.
Be aware, however, that Instagram is on the rise and can make for a great social channel to expand your blog's readers, especially since it is a visual platform.
Like with all of your written content, make sure to keep posting regularly, so your audience gets used to hearing from you as the authority in your field of travel. As you gain followers to your blog, the greater your industry standing will be.
However, obtaining some outside assistance from an industry-specific authority isn't either.
#2. Guest posts on other well-known blogs
Another way to expand your reach to potential customers is to host guest posts on other blogs that receive higher amounts of traffic than yours.
It's a good way to get to a larger relevant audience. It also allows you to providing your expertise through the pressure to write to a different audience, so it's an all-win scenario for everyone.
To be a guest blogger, comply with five simple steps :
Find relevant blogs to target
Prepare your guest blog
Send your pitch
Write your guest post
Follow up
Established travel websites that allow guest posts typically have writing guidelines to be followed such as Practical Travel's website.
For a list of travel websites that will accept guest posts, you can browse these two list from writersincharge.com or effective business ideas and see if they are in line with your specific niche.
Be aware, however, that while guest blogging is an effective strategy for building your audience, it's not as easy as it was in the past and the payoff isn't impressive.
Be aware of this method could make a nice addition to increase in audience size, but is not a good choice to drive the majority of your marketing.
For more information on what is the best way to drive your efforts, take a look at our latest strategy.
#3. Design a lead magnet in order to bring in readers who aren't familiar with the concept.
Utilize a lead magnet in order to convince new readers to opt-in for more of your blog content, and also sign up to your mailing list.
For instance, founder of the travel website the Backpacker Banter , Chris, provides a guide for free to his blog about travel, and readers can sign up for his guide to planning a trip in exchange for their name and email.
Through collecting the readers' details and emails, Chris can then send subsequent emails to nurture the readers further.
In other words the email he sends that keeps educating his audience, touch on their issues, and aid in addressing their most pressing issues via blog posts as well as paid-for offers.
Fortunately, the secret to making lead magnets work is fairly simple- make sure you are clear on what you're offering. If you can give your customers an idea of what nature of the content they're opting in to and you increase your opt-in rate by more than 85% .
Basically:
Create a useful lead magnet that will help you grow your blog's readership and guide the readers to your important content and promotions via your mailing list.
We'll now look at our last audience-builder for the day.
#4. Use SEO to build organic traffic
Utilizing organic marketing techniques such as the search engine optimization (SEO), to attract visitors to your blog is one of the best ways to grow your readership.
Bloggers earning more than $50,000 per year rate organic and unpaid Google traffic as the most important way to market their blog.
It's no wonder when over 50 percent of the traffic on websites within the travel industry is derived from searches.
Use keyword research You could try instruments like Ahrefs as well as BuzzSumo to find out which keywords and terms are the most popular. If the terms have a high volume of visitors and little difficulties competing with those keywords this is a great idea for an article topic.
Match your content intent to your keyword - It doesn't matter what number of keywords are used in your post If the intention behind the keywords does not match and you don't prioritize the humans behind the keyword volume.
Be mobile-friendly - The number of mobile searches surpass desktop ones, meaning it is essential that the content on your blog is optimized for mobile devices.
The most important thing to do is be sure to provide your readership with pertinent, useful content on your travel blog, that will help you establish yourself as an authority on your topic. As people search for more details, the goal is to position yourself as the best source within your niche of travel.
With the growth of your audience already under your belt, it's time to leverage your growing audience and earn money from your travel blog.
How can you earn money from being a travel blogger?
#1. Join affiliate marketing programs
Looking for a simple monetization method? Make use of affiliate marketing to make an income from a blog as a traveling blogger.
Affiliate marketing, should you're in need of a refresher is when you advertise products or services of a different business or service on your website and receive an amount of money for every purchase you make on their behalf.
With 20% of the publishers' annual revenue being earned via advertising, affiliate marketing is a profitable channel for monetizing your travel blog.
The top travel affiliate programs worth considering are:
If you're wondering what you can make through affiliate marketing, the founder of the The Living Dream Travel blog, Jeremy, earns about $25,000 per year through the travel affiliate program he runs.
When you are looking into affiliate programs, remember that the products you offer should fit with your branding and meet the needs of your audience (are you finding a common theme? ).
After all, you're doing all of this to establish your reputation as a trustworthy source, and it's important to safeguard the trust and trust you've earned through the same method of first focusing on audience for monetization.
It's the same for the next monetization method and.
#2. Work with brands that are similar to yours
Another way to get paid for your work as a travel writer is through partnering with similar brands.
Similar to affiliate marketing, with a brand partnership you will also be promoting an outside business' product or service through your blog.
Rather than earning the commission for every sale, you earn earnings based upon an agreement that you sign with the brand partner you have chosen that means expectations and pay levels vary.
Matthew Karsten, the creator of the Expert Vagabond blog, Matthew Karsten, earns around $4,000 to $20,000 per agreement with brand partnerships and influencer marketing, depending on what's involved.
For a frame of reference, Matthew's travel blog overall brought in more than $250,000 in 2018.
Brands may pay to do a variety of tourism-related jobs, ranging from guest posting to taking over their Instagram account. You can also take an all-expenses-paid trip in one of their locations.
For brand partnerships, you should follow these five easy steps :
Contact brands who are similar to you in terms of your target audience
Create content within a set date
Know the expectations
Keep your word on the table (even even if that requires you to turn down the offer of a freebie)
Build a relationship with the company's brand
It's important to note that partnerships aren't typically accessible to newcomers to an industry -- they're often reserved for influencers -- therefore, while it's one of the best ways to earn money however, it's also the toughest to secure.
Fortunately, ads and sponsored posts are simpler for novices.
#3. Make use of paid advertisements and sponsored posts
Another method of earning money by running a travel blog to use paid ads or sponsored articles.
Since your SEO is the most effective method of attracting organic visitors, we recommend employing Google AdSense if you're going this route. Google AdSense naturally aligns with your SEO techniques and conforms to the majority of adblocking software's " acceptable ads " guidelines.
How do they work?
The basic idea is that advertisers generally pay Google AdSense to show relevant ads on the pages of your blog to complement your posts. Ads are displayed as image-only, text-only or as text-and-image ads.
Here's an illustration of image and text ads displayed in one of A Broken Backpack's travel blogs.
For the privilege of having an ad that is displayed on your website you are compensated, although the amount is contingent upon the following factors :
Your blog's traffic volume
The kind of traffic
The number of advertisers competing within your field
The type of content published on your blog
Your ads' position
Paid advertisements come with an appropriate warning. 95 percent of internet ads don't get noticed and 64% of people say that ads these days are irritating or distracting therefore you shouldn't want to rely on advertisements that are paid for.
Another option to bring in income to your blog is via sponsored posts, where an outside entity offers to pay for a mention of their service or product on your blog.
A good example is the popular travel blogger Raphael Alexander, dedicated an entire article in the Journey Wonders blog to his post sponsor Tep Wireless.
It's vital to know that it's a legal requirement to provide a disclaimer of any sponsored content paid for on your blog, which Raphael does at the end of his post.
While you can make a substantial amount of money through sponsored content however, it isn't without a caveat- 54 percent of your visitors aren't a fan of sponsored content, and 57% of users prefer that you use banner ads instead of sponsored articles.
If paid ads and sponsored articles aren't appealing to you, our final option is a better method to make money from your travel site.
#4. Online sales of digital goods
First up is Taylor Jackson, who sells his Make Money With Your Photography of Travel along with his Landscape Photography online course for $90, where he teaches students how to market photographs of landscapes and travel.
Another example can be found in Nomadic Matt's line of online courses on travel in which he teaches the students how to follow his footsteps and become a successful travel writer, photographer, blogger as well as vlogger.
The Nomadic Matt is also selling a broad variety of travel budgets and travel tips on his site, including The Ultimate Guide to Hacking Your Travel Hacking book.
Ebooks and online courses don't have to be the only options however.
As you will (hopefully) see there are a lot of options when it comes to selling digital goods for your blog's readers.
As always, give your readers useful solutions to their issues regardless of what format you decide to use, and you'll be just as effective as gold.
Your blogs and your destinations await your arrival
Getting paid to work while travelling is certainly possible. If you have dreams of travelling the globe, you could turn into a full-time traveler and earn an income of a considerable amount by following these suggestions.
Let's recap it to you:
Income levels for travel bloggers vary from zero to thousands of dollars per month, depending on how much effort and consistency you put on your blog.
For you to start your travel-related blog choose a topic that is based on your passion for travel and do market research to find out more about your target audience.
When you start writing frequently, you'll be able to maintain an ongoing flow of material to share, meaning you're now ready to buy your domain. Choose a blogging platform which allows for a straightforward layout when shopping for.
After designing your blog site After you have created your blog, upload and post your articles frequently.
To grow your audience make use of social media. guest post, create an lead magnet or employ SEO techniques.
The four ways you can earn money for a travel blog are affiliate marketing brands, partnership with brands, paid advertisements as well as sponsored posts, as well as selling digital products.
Do you want to become a blogger and live the nomadic lifestyle?
Be safe and travel safely. The world awaits.