Are you someone who dreams of setting up an office in a running cab or within a tented camp on the top of a snow-capped mountain? Oh yes, I am talking about travel blog as a profession.
Do you remember those thrilling moments just before receiving your first bicycle as a gift from your papa? And when you got it in your hands, your heart was throbbing and you did not sleep the whole night. You couldn’t spare a moment for anything else but for your bicycle. Days passed and the bicycle moved off from your bedroom to living room and then to the backyard.
The thrill of starting a travel blog is usually similar. If at all you have already scribbled in a few words about your last travel, you keep pampering it and bestowing it. Blogging is a career that needs continuous efforts and dedication, not a one-time affair.
Blogs are just another way to put your daily notes in a more organized way on a digital media. The term was unpopular until the late 1990s. But now as the technology made things easier, more and more bloggers emerge to write, publish, share and gain on world wide web.
Maybe I can call myself a reborn travel writer as I had passed through both the stages – the avid travel blogger stage and the slothful serf stage. Some join the blogging community to earn money while a few for fame and a few others for fulfilling their passion.
Here’s a slice from my experience for those who are ready to start a travel blog and also who have already started but got stuck somewhere in between.
Travel blogging is as serious as any other full-time job
This sounds obvious, but at least a few among the soon-to-be and newbie bloggers see travel blogging as an easy job that doesn’t require much of time. If you need to build a profitable travel blog or a career in travel blogging, you need to pour in a lot of time and effort.
Blogging is almost like running a commercial magazine; only that you alone have to look after the travels, writing, editing, photography, and maybe even videography. I do almost everything for myself while I try to put things together for Jaunt Monkey Blog and its corresponding YouTube channel.
Initially, things may go wayward, especially when you know nothing about blogging. As you grow to learn the basics of blogging, you will pick up techniques that may ease your travel writer’s life a bit. And that doesn’t reduce your responsibilities. Still, you need to produce regular quality contents, promote them, network with associates, pitch, and find new opportunities. This obviously means that you are doing a lot more than an ordinary full-time job.
Travel bloggers are not always rich
A lot of people believe that travel bloggers earn a lot of money; thanks to the speculations on media. There are hundreds and thousands of enthusiasts start travel blogs with an aim to milk money. Some of them pertain to what they do and spend days and nights to create interesting contents for the readers. Even after that, they may earn just the bare minimum to meet their travel expenses.
You might have read elsewhere that create a travel blog and watch the money roll in while you do your full-time job. Thinking of the reality, it takes a minimum of one year to make any money from your travel blog. And the truth is that most travel bloggers quit blogging within a year.
In short, travel bloggers are not always wealthy and do not start a travel blog to be rich.
Wanto start a blog? Join my Blogging course for Beginners: Blogging Business
Have a blog but you want to know more about how to grow the blog and turn it into a business? Join my signature course Blog to Business.
It’s not always a friendly scene
Often blogging is considered as a simple act of scribbling some stories and hitting the publish button on your WordPress site. As discussed earlier, blogging holds several hardships.
Although you may not have several thousands of readers, the words that you publish to the world can open up a lot of challenges for you. You may receive criticisms and judgements. There are situations where bloggers were even sued.
But of course, an established blogger will find more supporters and fans. Readers will surely praise for your talents and stories. Yet, you need to prepare yourself for the challenges.
You need a business plan
Blogging is a career and a serious affair. Not everyone does it for passion. If you want to make a living out of your travel blogs, you need to think of a solid business plan much before you even start a travel blog.
Thinking you will make a lot of money by slapping some advertisements is one of the common myths among novice bloggers. Advertisements give money, but just the peanuts. In reality, a sound business plan will give you the base to grow as a travel blogger.
You don’t need to sacrifice real friends for blogging.
Travel blogging requires a lot of time on your computer. You need to travel, create, and publish travel stories to be a successful travel blogger. This doesn’t mean that you need to forgo your real friends. In fact, you may even find new friends who can remain close to you than any of your friends that you have known for years.
Friendships that last only inspire you to travel further more. If you have a traveller in you, you may easily find many like-minded travellers on your go. Furthermore, blogging will help you redefine your travels and companions.
After all these striking facts about travel blogging, if you are still inspired to go ahead and start a travel blog for yourself, you are really sporty and you can do it.
Wanto start a blog? Join my Blogging course for Beginners: Blogging Business
Have a blog but you want to know more about how to grow the blog and turn it into a business? Join my signature course Blog to Business.
About the Guest Blogger
E Jey is an avid traveller. He has been to 19 countries and has several hundreds of travel stories to share. Jaunt Monkey (http://jauntmonkey.com/about-jaunt-monkey/) is a lifestyle that he has developed over years. During his travel life, he has helped a friend to elope while he was in Somalia, lived in a cubicle for over 7 months in Eritrea, trekked Tossa Mountain in Ethiopia with his 3 months old baby, and walked with African Elephants in the Murchison Falls National Park of Uganda.
The post 5 Things to Know Before You Start A Travel Blog appeared first on My Writing, My World.
