I remember when I created this travel blog (in January 2016) and decided to live on full-time travel blogging, I was confused more than ever.
I was struggling to make my dreams possible by monetizing from this blog. But the viewership on my travel blog just didn’t budge.
My stories were out there but nobody was reading them. I was even having a hard time making money and finding travel blogging sponsorships — something that other fellow bloggers around me were easily doing.
And that’s the story of every travel blog, at least during the initial few months of its inception.
But with time, as I slowly established myself in the field of travel blogging and proved my credibility by getting featured on various publications, things started looking hopeful. From getting more pageviews to getting sponsored trips, it all eventually happened.
It did not happen out of sheer luck though. I worked hard for it. From learning from other travel bloggers to attending online courses, I did it all.
Now looking at the position where my travel blog stands, I can say that I’ve built a sustainable business.
I am now getting at least one sponsored travel blogging trip every month. Between 2018 to 2020, I travelled over 12 countries on more than 10 sponsored media trips.
I was invited by tourism boards like Germany tourism, Indonesia tourism and by brands like Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific. They hired me to experience their services and talk about them on my travel blog.
So yea, looking at the position where I stand, things certainly look hopeful.
If you’re planning to break into travel blogging too — or are an existing blogger looking for a bigger growth — this website is going to help you in many ways.
From my 4+ years of experience and learning, I am going to share with you all that I have learned. From how to start a travel blog to how to enjoy a speedy growth, I’ll share all secrets here.
This game is more than just about getting impressive traffic or writing great content.
You must know how to pitch the sponsors the right way!
More Than A Travel Blog
On this website, other than my journeys, I’ll be sharing useful tips on various aspects of travel blogging too.
From how to create a media kit, to how to contact tourism boards, I will share all secrets as I’ll experiment with things myself.
And why am I doing it?
Let’s just say I read somewhere “Knowledge can never decrease by sharing with others” and so doesn’t business opportunities. At least, not in the travel blogging industry in India.
Though it is true that more and more people are quitting their jobs to start a full-time travel blog today, I still think there are enough opportunities for everyone to grow together.
I remember when I started in 2016, there was only one local tourism board (Kerala tourism board) that was active in India. In 2020, there are at least 12 such state tourism boards that are actively seeking bloggers. So where one side, the number of travel blogs are increasing, on the other side, the number of clients wanting thing are increasing too.
Brands are realising the power of social media and the reach of micro-influencers. They know it is more engaging and less expensive to hire a blogger today than doing any other kind of advertising.
Learn Travel Blogging
From creating a powerful media kit to contacting tourism boards, I’ll share all secrets to a successful travel blog. But there is a timeline to follow:
- First in the list is creating a website. I have written a few blogs on how to create a website, how to install a theme, why designing is important and so on and so forth.
- Once you have the website ready, the next step is understanding the term ‘travel influencer’. Learn how to become an influencer and not just a content creator. There are people with 50k followers on Instagram with no brand partnerships, and there are people with less than 10k followers but have worked with companies like Airbnb and others. The aim here is to become the latter.
- Now that we have created a travel blog and we know how to present ourselves as a professional influencer, next up is reaching out to tourism boards and brands. I will share (more as I will learn more. For now, I have written a few blogs that you can find above) things like ‘how to make a powerful media kit’ ‘how to search for and contact tourism boards’ ‘travel companies that are keener in hiring bloggers’…. and so on and so forth.
- Different ways of monetizing from travel blogging (again, the more I learn the more I will share the best practices).
- Different ways of adding weightage to your blogger’s profile. This includes things like getting featured in TOP BLOGGERS LISTS to winning BLOGGER AWARDS. Such milestones add to the weightage of your profile. Eg, I’ve been featured by publications like TOI, Economic Times, The Statesman, and many more. Such features prove the credibility of my work. Features like these help in getting more brand work.
All in all, creating a professional travel blog is more than just writing stories from the road. It is just as much a business as running a tour agency. The only difference is, we are helping tour agencies here and functioning as a marketing channel.
Travel blogging, if done right can bring beautiful income. I know many Indian travel bloggers who are making more than 2 or 3 lakh rupees a month. Imagine doing something similar — all while living life on your terms and exploring beautiful places. If you want to know how much money I make from my travel blog, you can read it above.
So ending this piece of writing here I conclude by repeating two things:
1) Brands are realising the power of travel blogging. They are investing in micro-influencers more than they ever did.
2) Despite more and more people starting a travel blog today, there are enough opportunities for everyone to fit in the space.
Let’s Do This!!