Dear travel bloggers who want to make money,
It’s great that you are interested in turning your blog (or starting a new one) into a steady income. But you should know what you are getting into before you start. It will help you have realistic expectations as well as understand the field in order for greater success.
When I begin blogging in early 2008, there were less than 10 other travel blogs. Many were magazine style like Matador or Vagabondish. None were more than a personal journal.
Oh, how the industry has developed, changed, and grown since then. But it is still in its infancy and it will change rapidly in the next few years. If you want to survive and thrive, here’s my advice to you:
Blogging is a lot of work
First, and I agree with Gary on this, be prepared to work a lot. Blogging is a lot of work. In fact, when people are out having fun, I am usually on my computer running my business. If you are really looking to make a serious go at blogging, you must be prepared to put lots of time. You’ll need to develop time management skills, get good at setting a schedule, and developing priorities. People always ask how much time I spend on my website. The answer: all the time I’m not out exploring the world.
You notice I said “business” because that’s what this is. Blogging is a business and if you really want to make a living from this, you need to think of it as such.
If you are heading out on a year long trip, have decided to start a blog (for whatever reason), and think that blog is going to pay for your trip, you’re barking up the wrong tree. That’s not going to happen. You are better off becoming an English teacher, dive instructor, or bartender. There are plenty of ways to work overseas.
If you just want to blog for friends and family, do so. Have fun, ignore all the advice you read – advice like this. But if you want to be making a semi or full time income from this, the first thing you need to do is set goals.
The very first thing you need to do as a blogger is decide:
- What are you an expert in?
- What do you want to be?
Write what you know, expertly
Hemmingway used to say you write what you know. Well, blog about what you know too. Thanks to the Internet, there is no niche too small. With billions logged on, you can always find a good amount of people who like your topic. If you only know fly-fishing in Alaska, blog about it. Excel at camping trips in Europe? Blog about it. Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Stay focused. Be a big fish in a small pond.
Which leads me to my next point: What kind of fish do you want to be? You see this is where I see too many bloggers get lost. They seem to float around many different topics. Do you want your site to be a resource site? Do you want to be a brand? Do you just want people to follow along in your story? What are you, what are you selling, why should people care?
This is important because you need to be considered an expert in whatever topic you decide. And let’s get one thing straight – spending 6 months in some part of the world doesn’t make you a travel expert. It makes you like everyone else – a traveler. Or, in this case, a traveler with a blog. If you are going to move from traveler to expert, you need to change how you think about travel.
You need to have depth of knowledge. You need to think and write critically. There is a lot of back and forth about “blogging versus traditional journalism” but the one thing we can take from the old school journalists is that they spend a lot of time researching and writing articles. You need to do that too. You need to write 2300 word guides and advice articles. You need to link out and quote. Not all the time but if you plan to be an expert, your articles must reflect that. Yes, I write short articles on places I go. But when I am writing a ‘how to’ guide like my article on travel hacking, I will put weeks worth of work into an article like that.
The best blogs mix short stories with longer, researched, and in-depth pieces. If you are looking to last over the long term, you must write those pieces.Look at the top blogs in the world – no matter what the niche, they share one common trait – they help people. They inform, educate, and connect. Even if you have a narrow topic like fly fishing in Alaska, you can do that by writing expert pieces and sharing stories that allow people to imagine themselves their and gain insight for when they go on their journey.
Too many bloggers don’t do that and as a consequence their blogs are more a short story of what they are doing than expert advice. That’s not sustainable over the long haul. The best blogs mix short stories with longer, researched, and in-depth pieces. If you are looking to last over the long term, you must write those pieces. It will set you apart from the pack and make you viewed as an expert in your field.
Plan & build your audience carefully
Next, develop a business plan. Last, November, I went to World Travel Market in London. When asked how many bloggers had a business plan, less than a handful raised their hands. During that month, I was laying out the framework for 2012. Right now, I am already developing my strategy for the first half of 2013 when my book gets released. You can’t get to your goals if you don’t have a plan to achieve them.
Next, know that, due to the laws of the universe, you may never make it big. It’s like acting. For every George Clooney, there are 10,000 waiters trying to get their big break. Blogging is the same. That doesn’t mean you can’t make a living though.
Let me be frank about travel blogging: there’s not a lot of money in it. However, there’s more now than there was in 2008 or even 2011. Companies are waking up to bloggers and they are throwing tons of money at bloggers for all sorts of things. That’s good but you need to be careful.
Your monetary plan needs to align with your site goals. If you want to be a brand, don’t have links or sponsored posts up on your site. Yes, it’s easy money but it will ruin your brand over the long term. After all, how will people trust you if you recommend every travel insurance company in the world? Or if everything is sponsored?
This concern comes up a lot when I do my consulting calls. I always say “If you found out every link and post was paid for and recommended because it was, what would your opinion be of that blogger then?” Everyone always says they wouldn’t trust them.
Which is why I say, instead, create a few other websites, put that link and sponsored post stuff on them, and use the money to build up your main brand. You get the money but none of the bad stuff. Then a few years later, you can use books, products, sponsorships, freelancing, and speaking gigs to earn your living. Because blogging is like any other business in the world – it takes time to build up. Even Facebook spent years climbing the mountain. If you want money now, don’t blog – go bar tend.
I really want to emphasize this: blogging is not get rich quick.
In fact, don’t try to make money. Try to get readers. Money will come. If you develop a massive audience, people will notice and monetary opportunities will arise. But develop the audience first.
The Internet is so large that it’s easy to find an audience. I’ve seen a number of blogs arrive late in the game and hit a home run. But the ones who do are the ones who think about the big, long term picture. They aren’t the ones scurrying for the next dollar. My strategy has cost me tens of thousands of dollars but at the same time, it’s allowed me to strengthen my brand, focus on building content, improving my site, and getting a book deal.
Think beyond travel
You’ll probably hear a lot of people moan about building an audience and making money. The trick is that to be a success travel blogger you must focus outside travel blogging itself. And that I mean by that is after a certain point, you will hit the limits of the industry. There won’t any more place to guest posts. But the Internet has billions of website where you can get traffic, readers, and guest posts. I never understood why people don’t focus on guest blogging outside travel blogs. I’ve been on all sorts of websites from finance to marketing to consumer blogs.
That’s my last piece of advice: make friends with other travel bloggers, they are all wonderful and amazing people. But also make friends in other fields. Don’t think travel must only focus on travel. Travel crosses over into other fields easily.
If you want to turn your blog and passion into a job, you don’t need any type of degree. I just started a blog. But you need to realize that because you traveled, doesn’t make you an expert. You need to earn that title. You need to think differently. But once you do and once you develop goals and a strategy to get there, you can find success.
It’s a long hard road with very few rewards in the beginning. But nothing worth doing is ever easy.
Good luck.
Best,
Nomadic Matt
http://www.nomadicmatt.com
Post Revisions:
- 4 May, 2012 @ 12:49 [Current Revision] by Matthew Kepnes
- 4 May, 2012 @ 8:19 by John O'Nolan
- 4 May, 2012 @ 8:16 by Alastair McKenzie
- 4 May, 2012 @ 8:16 by Alastair McKenzie
- 4 May, 2012 @ 8:15 by Alastair McKenzie
Sound advice Matt. I’m still in very early days with my blog and realise I need to have a serious think about which direction I want to take it. Lots to learn :) Thank you!
Great advice– especially the last part about writing on a variety of websites and not only travel ones. Sometimes bloggers forget that the people reading the blogs aren’t all other travel bloggers or even other travelers! It is like expecting a lawyer in his free time to only read books about courtroom dramas, or a chef to only study other cookbooks. People are diverse and have lots of intersecting and overlapping interests, we need to learn to take advantage of that!
Some very wise tips, Matt. I started in 2006 and there were 3-4 of us in the women solo travel field. Now it’s crowded and I for one have to readjust my goals.
I particularly agree with having a business plan and knowing where you’re going with your site or blog. For monetization I have a book in the works, an ad package, and a range of very clear deliverables over the next 12-18 months.
I also have priorities around building traffic and where it’s going to come from – you’re absolutely right, get the traffic. The number of travel bloggers who complain they’re not making money with 50 or 100 unique visitors a day would do better working on attracting visitors and forgetting about the money for now.
Finally, the issue of niche… again, spot on. I made this mistake early on (of course there was plenty of playing room then) and tried to write broadly about women’s travel, or even travel (believe it or not, I even have a page called ‘climate’!) It cost me plenty of time and money to redress this mistake and now, if it doesn’t help or empower solo women to travel, I probably (yes, still a bit conditional) won’t write it. So your advice is stellar – and a good guide to making it in an increasingly competitive arena.
Hey Matt,
Thanks for posting this. After reading Gary’s post a few days ago, I was a bit discouraged—not because I felt that what I was doing was inadequate or unprepared (I don’t think Gary meant to discourage us youngbloods who are in it for the long haul, but he was simply offering valuable wisdom as someone who’s been there, and to weed out the “get-rich-quick” kids). But your letter has been an encouragement and an inspiration for those of us who’ve started out with a business plan, 16 months’ worth of raw material ready to go, and travel for the rest of 2012 meticulously planned out. I’ll also echo Lauren’s sentiment about your advice on diversifying—excellent advice.
Always appreciative,
Zak
Thanks for this Matt. As much as I enjoyed reading Gary’s article last week – this one felt more relevant to me.
For me the next step is building the readership as I seemed to have reached a steady stream each month and my plan for the next 6-12 months is to grow that to a level I have set myself. Not exactly a business plan but a goal nonetheless.
I’ve done one guest post on a non-travel blog so I think pursuing that road may be good for me as well.
Paul
I too read Gary’s article, and appreciated his points. Like Paul mentioned above, yours has struck a chord. I’ve actually printed it out & stuck it on my office wall. One of the better articles I’ve read in a long, long time. Thank you,
That’s a great idea – may keep it as a reminder to get better!
Amen.
Anyone can have a travel blog. Having an insightful, well written trave blog that is cohesive and has a purpose, is definitely hard work.
Really good advice Matt. Thanks for this. When we started our blog we thought long and hard about what direction to take it in. What started off as a blog about our quest for location independence and our related travels is now going to have a more business educational slant but still broadly related to travel. I think it is important to think beyond travel as travel as like you say “Travel crosses over into other fields easily”
Well written. It is very wise advice to guest blog outside of your travel niche. As humans we are not so focused on only one aspect of life and crossroads are always intersecting.
“But nothing worth doing is ever easy” – so far in my life, that has been the truth, thanks for the reminder to keep forging ahead!
Definitely found this pertinent and useful. Thanks for adding your voice to the subject!
All I want to do is increase my readership. I do not want to turn my blog into a Nascar. I am in it because I enjoy the traveling and the writing and knowing that there are people out there who read my stuff. That last part is just ego. I have over 100 readers a day, 3000 unique readers a month. The last thing I would do is push advertisement at them.
I attended TBU Umbria last month and half the people there were acting like it was an Amway convention. I’m just in it for fun. I work at it, I am getting better at it. But just for myself and my readers who I hope appreciate my irreverent non-commercial style.
But if people want to advertise Tide Travel Soap, so be it.
You’re right. It takes time and building a readers,.. man, it takes a lot of time!
I like the idea of a business plan. Basically, focus and direction are the keys. I definitely agree with you on the monetization piece. I think bloggers should be very selective (if they can). I am in a position where I can so that’s good for me. However, I still didn’t make the best choices at times.
I’d be interested in finding out more about your business plan. I like those ideas and that strategy for your blog. Treating it like a business is a great focus. And like anything in life, working hard is essential.
Many good points here, and I especially agree about networking with blogs outside the travel niche. There are so many ways that travel overlaps with other genres.
Nice take Matt.
“When I begin blogging in early 2008, there were less than 10 other travel blogs. Many were magazine style like Matador or Vagabondish. None were more than a personal journal.”
This is obviously not true though. :)
Excellent article. Yes Gary wrote a good post stating the obvious facts, but your genuine advice is more encouraging… And positive. Thanks
I was one of those who raised their hand re a business plan. Having run my own (leadership training & coaching) biz I so agree with your advice on how to succeed.
There’s an excellent study by Lufthansa & other big corporates on why some people are more successful than others. It’s about hard work & where you put your focus & energy. Bloggers now have the chance to compete albeit on a smaller scale, with the big boys but it still needs application
I’m applying all the hard-won advantages & lessons learnt from many years in the world of business – and enjoying it more than ever. I’m always happy to share tips & advice with others so do ask – and relish even more learning from others. Thanks for your helpful guidance here Matt.
Well said :)
Fab article Matt with sound advice. Love the “fly-fishing in Alaska” example. Hehe! ;-)
Yeah, I noticed that too! If it becomes any more of an industry-wide example I think Janice should set up a training blog called “Fly Fishing in Alaska”… either that or we should all pay her a small license fee to use it ;)
Great advice Matt, thank you. I’m just starting in this fairly new, still-not-completely-shaped business but I agree on all your points. Particularly the one on focusing on the audience and making the reader your first concern and goal: we shouldn’t forget a blog is first of all a publication and thus readers must come before anything else.
Hey MAtt,
Very well said. Great advice. And from what I’ve seen and learned in the past 14 months since I started blogging, you’re exactly right on all points. Of course, you know, cause you’ve been doing it a llloottt longer than I have. Good job. cheers, Lash
Great advice Matt! I agree with your points. I had a personal travel blog in 2008 that was only for family and friends, and it inspired me to create an online magazine in 2010. Travel blogging is indeed a lot of work if you want to go beyond your base of friends and capture steady Google traffic, attract advertisers and become an expert in your chosen niche. But it’s also rewarding since you have total control over your content!
I think one thing people estimate is the amount of time it takes to build an established website that gets traffic. My advice is to make something of quality and then keep at it. A year is not a long time on the internet. I developed my first site in 1998 and spent 6 years working on it and its paying off today. So do it long term and pace yourself. Maybe keep your day job for the first year while you work to get yourself established and a little traction. Great Post.
Nicely done, Matt. Both you and Gary make excellent points, and together present a very balanced perspective on the issue. I get email daily from wanna-be travel bloggers asking how to get started, how to earn a living, and so on, but I think from now on instead of carefully crafting lengthy responses based on their personal circumstance as I have in the past, I’ll just send them the links to your and Gary’s posts and let them take from them what they will. So thank you, you’ve saved me hours of typing. :-)
I really appreciate the depth of this article. It has a number of layers, and I feel like once I have time to read it over and digest all of the great points that were brought up, I will get a lot more out of it.
That being said, the one point that really struck me was the one about finding my niche and becoming an expert at something. I am a fairly new blog, and I have been looking for my niche (what I can really be an expert in) and I haven’t found it yet. I don’t know if it is the sort of thing that will just develop over time, or if I should be more actively seeking it out (looking at some of the other comments above, it looks like there are at least a few bloggers who regret not honing in on a niche sooner, so maybe that is my answer.)
I am also thinking a lot about what you said about building a brand, and whether that is what I want to go after or not. Can you give any clarification about what it means to build a brand for a blog? Perhaps this is an idea for a follow up post…
Thanks so much for writing this incredibly inspirational post!
As usual, good information, Matt!
Good stuff man. I’m constantly telling new bloggers not to focus so much on making money but to focus on creating a really good product instead.
I’d add another item to the list: “Think beyond blogging.”
Let’s say you’ve created a personal blog about your life as a British expat in Tuscany. Over time, you may attract an audience of “followers” (both fellow travel bloggers and Tuscany fans), but converting that audience of armchair travelers into revenue won’t be easy.
So, next step:
Build an advice-oriented Web site for English-speaking readers who are interested in traveling to Tuscany or becoming part- or full-time residents of Tuscany. Think of it as an extension of your blog or a companion to your blog. You needn’t give up your personal blog about your daily life in Lucca or Siena, which will complement–not compete with–your new advice-oriented Web site. (The blog is about “me,” while the advice-oriented site is about the reader.)
A couple of other thoughts:
1) You’ll have a better chance of earning revenue if your content is easily discoverable by search engines and easily navigated by readers. This means having a site that’s organized by topic, not in reverse chronological order. The person who’s looking for information on how to rent a house or apartment in Tuscany doesn’t want to scroll back through a year’s worth of daily posts to find an article on that topic.
2) Google reportedly is working on a project called “AuthorRank” that could benefit Web publishers (including bloggers) who take advantage of “authorship markup.” This is something you should know about–and take advantage of–if you hope to earn money from Web publishing. See:
http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/author-rank
Great advice and only after a few months in as a new blogger I have realised exactly how much work goes into it! I think of it as a business and am slowly building a plan on what I want to achieve with it. It’s not a quick fix to make money and I am self funding over two years of travel as I can’t rely on anything until I build a strong enough brand. The two years or so will give me great content to build it. There are still many others out there who need to read this and realise that things won’t come to then instantly, or without a strong standing blog on offer.
Really helpful tips. The best one is it is a lot of work. Most people don’t realise just how much, it takes to set it up and to think of brilliant things to say that people are actually going to want to read.
Great read. I’m sorely lacking on the long researched guide-type articles, and will start taking that advice ASAP.
But I’ve thought so far ahead planning for the long-term that I called my blog “Expert Vagabond” way in advance of my expert status. ;-)
As one of the new kids, who hasn’t really been thinking about the money side of blogging, this is a great post. There’s so much to consider beyond just enjoying writing about my travels (although of course, that’s the best bit!).
Thanks for sharing.
Great solid advice……i am starting in this field and sometimes seems like a daunting task. I will be keeping a close watch for any further pearls of wisdom
I appreciate this post, especially as someone who has finally begun making a pretty big chunk of change off his travel blog. I would like to add that I think people who can’t write/take good photos should leave that to someone else. Unfortunately, that includes quite a few popular travel bloggers.
I’m working on my writing!
This article was right on time. As a blogger who spent 4 years at it just for fun. I have now started from scratch with a new plan. Although I’m not solely in the travel niche. It’s refreshing to read your tips and know that I’m already following many of them.
Travel blogs – if you want them to pay your bills – should be treated as a business.
Because that’s what they are. A business.
Choose your USP.
Write killer content.
Build an audience.
Monetize (either by creating products, affiliates or ads)
That’s. It.
Creating a profitable travel blog is no different than creating a profitable ___________ blog. Follow those four steps and you’ll succeed.
I just published a case study of a travel blog launch which received over 8,000 pageviews its first week (granted some traffic was paid for).
You can see just how much work goes into getting something off the ground, but – as Travelllll editors surely know – it’s well worth the effort.
Here’s the case study: http://travelbloggeracademy.com/trekity-launch/
Cheers,
Adam
And, you have to get your blog address out there. If you want to be noticed, people have to notice you!
I find that a lot of travel blogs seem to be written for other travel bloggers. I find that kind of strange.
Great article. As always, Matt is straight to the point, full of practical advices and honest. His success is not by chance.
Hi Matt,
I’m speaking at a magazine conference about niche blogging this week and I’m going to quote you! Thanks :)
In my opinion your advices are always the best ones Matt! I’ve been following you for a couple of years and i got your ebook ;) Great work
I think the beauty of your post here Matt is that it’s relevant to any industry. Whether it’s travel, business or lifestyle design. Your advice is relevant and makes total sense.
People miss the trick massively when it comes to monetizing their blog. They are quick to place Adsense or other low quality advertising however there are so many opportunities on the back of building a brand. Become an expert in your field and you will build money subliminally. The blog is a mere focal point for your work and ultimately your skill set.
I have read about individuals landing roles on the back of their blogs. The approach needs to be more than one dimensional and Matt sums this up perfectly.
I just read this article until I found the first grammatical error: “…sharing stories that allow people to imagine themselves their [sic]..” Noooo Matty, you mean “there” — imagine themselves THERE, not their. Another thing you guys might want to do before starting your travel blogging odyssey is, learn some grammar and become literate, unlike ‘Tarded Matt. This guy, he’s unbelievable. Even when guest blogging, presumably with a proofreader and an editor, he can’t write for beans. If I could find an error after just a few paragraphs, imagine the condition this piece was in when he emailed it to Travellll. For reals, go back and look at some of Matt’s early stuff on his own site before he figured out he couldn’t write and before he had the cash and sense to pay an Indian outsourced proofreader to look at his writing (or whatever he does now). It was horrible. He set records for the most illiterate blog posts ever published. This guy is literally the worst writer on the Internet, & he’s corrupt. A lot of his posts a few years ago were paid for by travel insurance and package tour companies, and it was all completely undisclosed (not that it mattered, cuz his writing was so bad it couldn’t have influenced anyone to do anything.) Don’t take Matt’s advice about anything. This piece, at least the part I read, is also an argument against his own blogging style. He doesn’t write anything useful that anyone can learn anything from– he just writes about his boring, middle class, mediocre self. Nobody likes this clown. His income is coming from SEO/spam tactics, not writing.
Let me get this straight, you didn’t even read the post – you just ranted [a whole load of defamatory shit] without even the balls to even put your name to it? Excuse me if I don’t take you very seriously, sweet pea.
Of course I know that your name is Russ Steine, and your marvellously compelling website – http://www.russ-stein.com/ – perfectly demonstrates your credibility. I’ll leave it up to everyone else to read your writing and decide whether or not you should be throwing stones from that very large glass house you wage your keyboard wars in.
“A lot of his posts a few years ago were paid for by travel insurance and package tour companies, and it was all completely undisclosed..”
Nope, not one, never. Always have been with World Nomads Insurance and G Adventures tours.
I think you were reading the wrong blog. Must have been a different Matt. I’ve never done such a thing.
Yeah, gaming search results with travel insurance affiliate spam, like I said. Travel insurance is a scam. Why are you misleading search engine users? “Travel writer,” yeah right. If you don’t know there/their, you couldn’t pass freshman English. That’s why I won’t read the whole piece. It’s Matt, so it’s gonna be garbage & there’s gonna be bad writing, and I nailed it in 10 seconds. Why’d you post it without proofing it?
Matt, you are the master of travel blogging and monetizing, everybody should listen to you!
Thank you for this extremely great advises.
I hate putting up ads on my website, so maybe I do start another website and place them all over there…
Anyway, I’m pretty new to all this, I just started blogging 3 weeks ago and I can already see it will be a long way to monetize the blog. If I ever will… But I’m willing to go that way because it’s my life dream. Not the dream to make money with blogging, more like my dream to inspire people with my writing… My first article was about Philippines and has been liked on Facebook almost a 1000 times. It made me deliriously happy and I hope, I’m on the right way.
I wish all travel bloggers out there great success. And a happy new year! Cheers from Istanbul.
I agree with Sab – Matt has set the standard in travel blogging. And I agree 100% that “Blogging is a lot of work.”
We are running 4 blogs (2 for clients and 2 of our own). We love it – but it isn’t just an-hour-a-day type work. It takes lots of time – especially during launch and initial audience building.
Great post Matt!
{Sorry – i’m a little late to the discussion. Just found the post}