With the rise of travel influencers sharing their stories and photos from numerous adventures they’ve been on online, people have started to get more and more interested in travel blogging. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, though, as traveling over the years has become more available and inexpensive than ever before.
These days everyone can become a travel influencer or a travel blogger – it might not be easy, but it’s very much doable. You just need to know how to go about it, which is why we created a list of five things that you need to know before you start your own travel blog.
Without any further ado, let’s get to it.
1. Blogging is a job just like any other
Some people think that earning money from blogging is easy – you just have to write a post once or twice a week, and the cash will come to you. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
Blogging is a job just like any other – if you want it to be successful, you need to put time and effort into it. Just like having a good Video Splitter to edit videos doesn’t guarantee you a successful YouTube channel, having a good domain doesn’t guarantee your blog popularity.
You have to be prepared to spend several hours in front of the computer, planning and organizing everything, which is why you need to acquire good time management skills. That’s why you won’t have to worry about the lack of time, and you’ll avoid being stressed out.
2. Your content might not be the best in the beginning
People are not great bloggers right away. Just like with everything, you need time to learn how to write articles properly or decipher what your audience would like to read about. Don’t focus on perfection, as your content doesn’t have to be perfect. Even people who’ve been this for years cannot create perfect content – and it’s okay.
Blogging is not about perfection but more about how much progress you make as time goes by.
If you look at the things that you wrote in the beginning in a few years, you might think, ‘Why did I even think that it was good?’ Your old content shouldn’t be a reason to be upset. Instead, you should treat it as an indicator of how much you’ve grown as a writer.
3. It’s okay to fail
Despite what you might think, it’s okay to fail. What is not okay, though, is giving up after encountering one obstacle. Never give up, even if something goes wrong – and, unfortunately, something is bound to go wrong. That’s just life.
If you ask millionaires or billionaires if they ever failed, they will tell you that they did plenty of times. However, that didn’t stop them, and instead of treating it as a ‘STOP’ sign, they treated it as a lesson. This is what got them to where they are now.
As someone said ‘Mistakes have the power to turn you into something better than you were before.’ – keep that in mind.
4. People will be mean
You need to remember that sometimes, there will be people visiting your blog and leaving not so nice comments. Unfortunately, while the internet can bring the best in people, it can also bring the worst. Since they are anonymous, they feel like they can do anything, which includes hating on people.
If you want to be successful, you need to learn how not to let them get to you – you need to develop a thick skin. Remember that they most probably have nothing against you or your content – they just need something to vent their emotions on, and they chose you as their target.
5. Be prepared to promote yourself – and do it shamelessly
Since the number of people wanting to make a living out of travel blogging increased, so did the competition, which is why you should get as many people to read your blog as you can.
Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or other social media, as someone might read it, like it and share it as well. This might attract their friends, and before you know it, you have thousands of reads each month.
As a new blog, it’s impossible that you will pop up on the first page of Google – that’s the hard truth. However, by getting readers, subscribers, and shares, you can change that. If people link back to your content, Google will recognize your blog as containing valuable information, and you might gain a position on the desired by many first page.
Final Thoughts
Starting a travel blog is relatively easy, as anyone can do it, but keeping it going and making it successful? That’s a little harder and requires dedication, as well as effort.
However, if you keep in mind these five things, you should be just fine – Good Luck!, or rather Bon Voyage!
© Oliwia Zawadzka
