Travel blogging, like blogging in most niches, is a crowded place. And it’s getting more crowded by the day. After all, the idea of getting paid while traveling sounds too good to be true. You get to see all the best sights, meet people from all walks of life, taste various cuisines, and experience different cultures, and get paid doing all these things sounds like a dream job, right? Well, yes it’s a dream job, but definitely not too good to be true.
It’s a Full Time Commitment
You definitely can’t half-ass your way in travel blogging. Like most things in life, if you want to be successful at it, you have to go all in with it – it’s a full-time commitment. It needs all your time, attentions, and energy.
There are many things to learn and be good at, from writing coherently, snapping and editing good pictures, social media management, dealing with different brands, etc. Yes you can also do it on the side as a hobby, and many people are actually successful at it. But they too spent time and effort to learn the intricacies of travel blogging.
The Pie Is Big Enough for Everybody
As said earlier, the world of travel blogging is getting bigger by the day. The competition is fierce, and yes, it can be difficult for a starting blog to get recognized. But as said earlier as well, nothing in this world that is worth having comes easy.
Think of blogging like owning a restaurant. Surely there are countless of restaurants in your city, or even near your neighborhood. But this doesn’t mean people should stop opening more restaurants. Why? Well, aside from the fact that the population is also growing, the pie is big enough for everybody.
The same goes with owning a travel blog – people don’t just say they’re going to read and follow only one travel blogger for the rest of their lives. If you work on your blog diligently, you will grow your audience and expand your reach, just like how a good restaurant can attract more people despite of a fierce competition in its area.
Yes It Won’t Be Easy, But It Will Be Worth It!
Nothing worth having comes easy. Whether it’s money, career, relationship, or just a strong sense of self, we all want some sort of success and fulfillment in our lives. Circumstances and luck sometimes plays part, but they rarely are the key to success. Challenges we encounter and mistakes we make along the way will all make opportunities for growth and learning. You will struggle, and you may struggle a lot, but it’s all part of the process.
Jake the Dog from Adventure Time, says “Sucking at something is the first step to becoming sorta good at something.” And it’s completely true. In almost anything in life, you can’t be really good off the bat. But working on your craft over and over again will get you there.
So how do you really make a successful travel blog? Here are our best tips.
Run it like a business
First thing’s first – you have to look your blog as a business; you have to spend time and effort and be hands on with it (at least when starting up). You won’t be able to go far if you don’t treat your blog like a business.
This includes a lot of things, and the best way to transition is to treat all your decisions around it in a “business” perspective, for the benefit and success of your blog. When facing difficult choices, ask yourself, is this going to help my blog?
Your blog should always come first, that means you should always take your customers/readers in mind. You may have to say ‘No’ to things that don’t feel right, or don’t fit with what you’re trying to build in your blog.
Also, it’s extremely important to be proactive and be able to take initiative with work. Hustling is the major key of the game. The world doesn’t owe you anything, and that’s completely okay. So you have to work hard for what you want. Ask. Don’t take no for an answer. But ask politely.
Be always open to try new things
Don’t be stuck to doing the same things over and over again. Experiment and don’t be afraid to try new things. Think long term, the industry of travel blogging changes a lot, and if you don’t keep up, you’ll be left behind. Don’t just keep up though, strive to stay ahead of the curve.
This includes everything, from making your contents, to how you run your blog. Stay on top of these changes and trends and keep people interested.
Think different, be unique
As said before, the world of travel blogging is growing by the day. With more and more people coming in, you have to learn how to separate yourself from the crowd. Be different and distinct from the others. Never copy/recreate someone else’s work.
Whatever you’re thinking of writing about, try to present your thoughts on the subject matter in a different way – something not a lot of people has done before. If everyone else is sharing the same sponsored content, then don’t do it. If everybody is writing text, then use infographic, or even videos. If everyone seems so serious, be witty and funny. If everybody’s doing the same one-off posts, create a series of posts and come up with a story to keep people interested and come back for more.
When you arrive in a popular travel destination, make sure you spend time online to research the most common sights and things that people take photos with, and think of how you can make your own unique approach of these locations, find unique angles, etc.
Innovate and be unique.
Invest in your blog
Since you look at your blog as a business, then consider every penny you spend for it as an investment. Yes a designer could be expensive, but would you rather make a crappy design yourself? If you respect your business that way, then you’d consider giving it the design it deserves. A well laid out banner can go a long way.
Investment on your website includes everything, from web designer, SEO auditors, audio and video editors, copy editors, etc. Do everything in your power to provide your readers the best experience when they visit your website. Make and develop useful products, find time to write helpful and interesting content, and work on various projects that you could use for the development of your website. Spend your time wisely on your core competencies, but don’t waste your time on doing things you know you could easily hire someone for.
Also, consider joining conferences as an investment too. It’s common to say conferences are too much, and they come with a cost. But the things you learn from the people and business connection you can make in these events can definitely offset the price of the ticket.
Invest in yourself too
Learning is a lifelong process, and when you’re developing and investing in your travel blog, it’s important that you don’t forget the most important aspect of your blog – YOU. Yes you, investments should start and end on you. This means investing on your self-education; learning and discovering new things.
This means you have to how to love reading, especially things that concerns developing your blog, from business books, management, marketing, strategy, etc. You can even inspire yourself from successful and inspirational people, and read their biographies, etc. Remember, reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
Life never stops teaching, so you should never stop learning. Improve your skills and knowledge; read what experts in your industry have to say, learn what works, and apply the things you picked up from reading their books.
Some of the best books you could definitely learn from are:
- Stephen King’s On Writing
- Simon Sinek’s Start with Why
- Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
- Ryan Holiday’s The Obstacle is the Way
- Kevin Hogan’s The Psychology of Persuation
Find your niche
There’s a boatload of topics and subjects out there when it comes to travel blogging. A general ‘budget travel’ niche could leave you with a wide range of topics to discuss about, and you will never run out of ideas. But that could also mean fierce competition, as there are too many long-established websites for that.
The best thing you can do is be more focused and narrow in your niche as possible. It can be about “Mancations”, or “For Women Only”, “Luxury Travel”, “Outdoor Adventures”, “Honeymooners”, “Traveling with Kids”, “Traveling with Pets”, etc.
Brainstorm for ideas. Look deeper into yourself; what are you passionate about? What are you good at? What do you usually do in your free time? What topic do you have in-depth knowledge about?
Focus on things that make you an expert. Make yourself the person to whom readers turn for information and become an authority for that niche.
Go narrow and go deep.
