In my post "
How To Become A Travel Blogger Without Traveling" I wrote about my personal experience in starting this very blog in 2009. At that time I had no idea what blogging was, and could not even imagine how this "little hobby" would change and shape my life.
Back then there was just a handful of travel bloggers, and even fewer the ones that specialized in adventure travel. Everybody was trying to "crack the code" and "learn the secrets" of how to make money online while traveling the world. But because travel blogging ( and blogging in general ) was relatively new, the learning resources were very limited.
Since then, the dream of getting paid to travel the world has drawn thousands of "wannabe" travel bloggers. There are thousands of travel blogs online, numerous "travel gurus and nomads", and the technology has made "starting a blog" process fast and easy. Since there’s low barrier to entry, anyone can become a travel writer.
The problem is, most people get into "travel blogging" simply because they want to make money. For them, it's not about traveling or blogging, it's about "how to make money online". They don't build their "travel blogging business" around their passion for traveling or writing. They do it because they think it's easy, trendy, and profitable.
Not a surprise that after making $10-20 in AdSense and Amazon commissions they get disappointed, fail miserably, and call "making money online" a scam.
They simply don't understand that travel blogging business ( jut like any other online or offline business ) takes time, effort, and, money (!) to build. And I'm not even talking about the amount of dedication one must put in to "make it big" in travel blogging. For many travel bloggers, it takes years to learn how to become a professional travel blogger.
The real professional travel bloggers didn't become successful by ripping off others selling them useless ebooks, online courses, webinars or consulting services. They all provided real values by connecting their readers with the destinations they were visiting or activities they tried. The most popular travel blogs combine wonderful storytelling with a service mindset. The sole purpose of ANY business is to SERVE its clients, solve their problems, and provide value.
To blog like an expert you need to learn from the ones that made it to the top of a big heap. You don't need to COPY them , just to learn and apply to see if it would work for you.
Besides time, effort, money, and dedication that many successful travel bloggers put into their business, they all have one thing in common - they ALL created their own unique blogging style.
Once again, don't copy others, tell your unique story !
My personal mantra is - " Listen To All. Follow None"
In my new series "Travel & Fitness Tips From Pros" I will be sharing tips from those who made it big, and built their own adventure travel/fitness online businesses.
Subscribe to this blog to follow this series, and learn form the best !