Become a Successful Travel Blogger
As someone who has been blogging for over 7 years, I want to offer some advice on how to succeed as a blogger. Especially after what I have seen with Instagram. Instagram is kind of like a game, you follow me, I follow back. Travel blogging is quite popular. It really is a dream come true being able to travel for a living and get paid for it.
Building a blog of any kind is time-consuming and requires a lot of work and patience. An opportunity to travel around the world and get paid for it doesn’t usually fall into your lap, but it can. Be patient. It usually takes about a year to get a successful blog going and to be seen and recognized by Google. Another blog site I built took me 2 1/2 years until I really started seeing the results.
Travel blogging is like any other business. There is always competition. Just because there are a lot of travel bloggers doesn’t mean that they are all good or that you shouldn’t start your own! People who are usually successful at blogging have the mentality of, “I can do this better.” If you have this kind of mindset you will have a successful travel blog. The quality of your blogs is everything.
Here are some things you can do to succeed as a travel blogger or any kind of blogger for that matter.
Learn
It is always great to learn. Expanding your knowledge in marketing, business strategies and self-development is always helpful. Building a blogging business is an ongoing learning experience. The more you know the more you can help others and use your knowledge to be successful. It is always a good idea to look at someone who has already done it and learn from them, so you can do it better.
I have always been an avid reader. Here are some of my other interests: I have read books about management, self-help, astrology, Human Design, Law of Attraction and more.
Some of my favorite books:
- Lynda.com (Training Tutorials)
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey
- Gratitude Diaries, by Janice Kaplan
- The Master Key System, by Charles F. Haanel
- Ask and it is Given, by Esther Hicks
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Pick one or more of the books on this list and read it. It will inspire you to follow your dreams and live a happier life.
Be Unique
When writing a blog post, try to be different, but most of all be yourself. Try to make your unique contribution to whatever you do. Do what would keep you coming back. Be innovative and creative. We like to add valuable information, details and we like our website to be very attractive, so you can feel like you have experienced the adventure with us.
Invest in YourSelf and your business
I have been building websites and blogging since 2013 and I never spent any money on my websites or social media marketing. I thought I wasn’t worth it. It can be very helpful to spend money to create a nice website. When customers like what the website looks like they will feel that it contains quality content. You are worth it! It can be helpful in the beginning to do what you can and spend some money over time on yourself and your business. One life lesson I have learned is t that “cheap is expensive and expensive is cheap.” The further you get along in your blogging journey the more help you may need and the more you can increase the quality of your content and design. Your thoughts are powerful. Everything is vibration. Think you are worth it and amazing things will happen in your life. Invest in yourself.
Have a Niche
When I started blogging in 2013, there wasn’t as much competition as there is today. Having a niche can help weed out the competition. The more specific your topics are the better you will rank in search engines. The more focused you are, the higher you will rank in search engines. Many people have claimed that you can only have one niche or you won’t be successful and that you really need to narrow down your website. Even though I agree, I also believe it is OK to have multiple areas of expertise as long as they fall under the same topic. I built a website called Health Manifested with the intention of having multiple different niches. It started off as a health-related website and has evolved over the years. I wrote articles about yoga and stretching techniques, intuition, meditation, astrology, and Human Design. It became a huge success very quickly without any paid marketing. The important thing is to stay consistent and be an expert.
Create Products
You can write all day long, but if you don’t have anything to sell it will be more challenging to make money. Often times bloggers will write e-books, sell courses, and sell products through affiliate marketing. On my website, Health Manifested, I built a reporting system that gives people their own personal Human Design chart along with a report that helps them better understand themselves and their loved ones through the use of Human Design.
What is it that you would like to sell or promote? Allow people to support you and all of your efforts. Your content is valuable. Selling products allows you to have the independence to do what you want the way you want. Another option to help you on your journey is to work with sponsors and brands. Offer products to your customers that really help them and it will also add value to your site. When you work with a sponsor you will be paid to go on trips but they will have the trips planned and they can require a lot of your time. If this is something you are interested in, it is an option. Products are a great option because you can create each product page once and it has the potential to make money for you for the rest of your life. It is a dream come true to make money while you are sleeping. Give your customers an opportunity to support you and all your efforts.
working with brands and sponsors
Working with brands and sponsors has the potential to make your reader feel more like a dream or fantasy and unrealistic and they may lose interest in your blog. Although working with sponsors can be an absolute adventure, it is good to have a balance. Some people will enjoy reading about sponsored trips because it is like being a Disney princess. Most people will come to your site because they want to learn about something you have to offer. They often want to find a trip they can afford and a place they want to go to. Most people can’t afford a multi-thousand dollar trip, but if that is your target audience, then you have a niche. Follow your dreams and create what is right for you and the audience you want to attract.
Network
Networking can really help improve your travel blog. It is a great idea to connect with other travel bloggers. You can learn a lot. It is also a good idea to connect with people outside of the travel industry. You will have more opportunities to reach people and stand out from the crowd.
Keep your options open. Be open to meeting people from all walks of life. You may be surprised who you meet, how they can help you and how you can help them. Helping others get what they want is the key to success.
- Tony Robbins (Business coaching and more)
- WordCamp (WordPress Training)
- TravelCon (The best travel conference ever)
- Facebook (Groups and Friends)
Me
Often times bloggers will talk about themselves a lot. You will get followers that are interested in your journey, but most people are coming to a travel blog site to learn something. Some travel blogs are designed to be an amazing photo book to share with the world, while professional travel bloggers want to great content that can help the people become professional travel bloggers. How can you help the person visiting your site?
You can write about what you ate, what you wore and where you went and your experience, but people want to connect with your experience on a personal level. The more you can connect with your reader on an emotional level the more they will come back. The customer wants to feel like they have been there and experienced what you experienced. Make it feel like they are there with you.
Be Consistent
Building a blog takes time. Be patient and realistic. It will take a good year or more before you really start to gain traction in the search engines. Build a website that has quality content, rushing will not get you there faster. If you are persistent you will see the light at the end of the tunnel. All your work will pay off. You will grow through the experience and learn so much. Don’t give up. The fear of failure creates failure. If you keep going you will never fail. Keep going and you will find your success.
