It’s come to my attention that blogging has taken a new role in life. It’s no longer just the fun & games of writing about my adventures. Now I’ve realized that I’m actually running a full time business, not just a blog. Social networking is no longer just pleasure, it’s a direct stream of traffic for my blog and in the blogging industry, traffic = money.
But what about you, fellow bloggers? How do you see your blog? Is it just something you do for fun or do you actually see it as a business? And if you do see it as a business, what have you done to ensure it’s success? Have you set up a 5 year plan on what you can do to further exceed expectations? Do you have a business model or a set income other than selling sponsored posts, text links or anything of the sort? In other words, do you have a product or service that your fans simply cannot live without?
Where will you be going with your blog?
These are the questions that having been running through my mind recently. Having running my blog for a little over 2 years now, I can’t help to wonder how long my “little jots” are going to keep me going. As I transition over from my simple online diary into a full-time business, I start to think of different ways to ensure my success as a travel blogger transitioning over into a travel writer.
Becoming a professional in this industry is no easy task. And as a growing multi-billion dollar industry I start to wonder why so many travel bloggers are so limited in the way they make their money and ensure their own success.
I read an article the other day by Matt of Nomadic Matt and he brought up the same concerns. The question for me being, what is the next step in the online travel blog community?
When are we, the so called professionals of the travel world, going to take a bigger step and play a bigger role in the travel industry? After all, we are the ones who travel for a living. We get the glitz and granola of just about every destination because in the end, that’s what we love to do.
Hints why we are so good at it…because we’re happy.
But as Matt had said in a recent article I read, are we (the bloggers) limiting ourselves and setting our own boundaries? I think we are. Many of us are not looking outside the box as much as we could in certain areas. Sure we’re not afraid to eat balut in the Philippines which is great and all as it creates a good story but what about our blogs?
Not many people are focusing on ways to further promote their blog and to see it succeed as a business. Not many of us are setting up business models nor are we creating different products or services that can help expand what we have built. Additionally, how many of us are looking for ways to actually better our writing because, in the end, that’s the guts of our entire business model…the content.
What is your product and/or service?
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t see the entire travel blogging community moving forward and developing the way that we could. There are so many opportunities to expand and grow, yet, we are all blissfully unaware that we can do so.
I mean, have you asked yourself if you’ve done what you can do? If you believe that you’ve done all that you can do to further yourself and your business then I would like to ask you a few questions to challenge the fact:
Have you created a business plan for your blog?
Have you contacted all forms of media (both traditional & new) to help publicize your blog?
Do you have any products/services that compliment your niche? In other words, what can people purchase when they come to your “store”?
What have you done to improve your writing skills?
How do you stand out compared to other bloggers? What makes your blog unique from everyones else?
Can you answer these questions 100 percent? If so, great! That means you’re off to a good start but don’t think for a second that’s the end of it. You’re building a business and just like all great business, it takes some investing (both with time and money) to really take yourself to the next level.
I want to leave you off with these thoughts because, like all great things it takes time and planning. I would also like to challenge you, the everyday blogger, to think more outside the box and how you can make a difference by bringing our community out of this rut it’s been in for so long. We need to pull together and truly conspire ways to build our business that makes us stick out because this is what’s going to turn the average blogger who “barely gets by” into someone who has a flourishing business with a fantastic plan to succeed.
______________________________________________
What are your thoughts? Leave your comments below & follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Youtube.
We blog because we love to write, share our photos and adventures with others. It’s our true passion and full-time hobby, in some way also a business, but we don’t pay too much attention to money because there is a huge possibility of turning your pleasure into a nightmare and being obsessed with social media channels and advertising which can influence the way you write and approach your readers. There are so many bloggers out there thinking of how much money they can earn from blogging, doing SEO courses, writing no more for pleasure but for money, buying Facebook likes or followers to look important- C’mon!! That’s so ridiculous. I guess people need a balance, otherwise they might lose their passion and desire for blogging and becoming obsessed and greedy.
I totally agree with you Agness, doing things such as purchasing Facebook Likes & Followers is totally bogus. But sometimes in life we’re forced to take a look at what we do from a monetary point of view. For instance, I love writing & blogging…absolutely love it. I can definitely see me doing this for a good portion of the rest of my life but there’s just one catch: that’s all I want to do.
However, in order for me to devote 100 percent of myself to this lifestyle, I’m going to have to think of a way to make a living off of it so that I can proceed to do what I want to do. Just like many others, whether we like it or not if we’d like to further our career in the travel writing (and travel blogging) industry, we must be proactive & productive to make this “lifestyle choice” a reality. Just like you said, we must find a balance as to not allow obsession and greediness to get the best of us and take over what we were trying to do in the first place…enjoy life.
This is something I have battled with over the last year or so. Sadly, I don’t know if my blog in its current form will ever provide a living, and I’m not sure that I want it to. I sort of liked when my blog was just for me and was less of a job. Those days are long gone. However, there are a few ideas for other sites that I’m working on that wouldn’t have come about were it not for my blog in the first place. So I guess what I’m saying is, its OK if your blog doesn’t turn into a full fledged business, but it just might lead you to one…
Well said Deej. 🙂
All good points. We all do travel blogging because we love it, and we’re all hoping the money comes from that later. I’ve had some great experiences because of my blog and don’t want to stop that any time soon. I think persistence is the key. But having a strategy and plan is also needed to leverage as much as possible.
Hi Ron! Great article! I started doing my Facebook travel page before my blog. Building my blog seems to take forever. It’s my first time using WordPress and I know there must be an easier way but sizing the photos to fit them in a post seems really tedious-on top of the time of the time I already spent editing them. I do have plans for my blog, it’s a work in progress. I do put most of my time into my Facebook page. Honestly I have a hard time understanding how popular travel bloggers are able to travel all of the time, write a blog, take photos, and maintain Twitter/Facebook. It seems I could sit all day in front of my computer instead of going out and having adventures to write about. Anyways…that’s my two cents.
Thanks Anna! At first it seems to take a lot of time to upkeep a blog (and to an extent it does) but I think it all comes down to time management. I personally hold my own 3 day schedule. Day 1 goes to Writing, Day 2 towards Social Networking & Day 3 towards back of house work such as emailing/advertising/etc. By setting up a schedule for yourself, you can really learn to manage your time but again you have to be careful because I’ve definitely seen myself sitting in front of the computer for an entire day at a time as well! 😉
I actually have a different view of this. I think that there are several reasons why travel bloggers haven’t ‘taken it to the next level’. First, it’s a full time job to do so and in most cases, people either have another full time job or they don’t want to sit in front of their laptop all day while traveling. And unfortunately, to really create a business out of a blog, you need to dedicate full days of work to the project, every single week, as if it were a 9-5.
Second, there are millions of travel blogs and it is extremely difficult to stand out amongst the others and to gain a following that is considered to be large enough to sustain an actual business-oriented blog. It is much easier to just accept the few hundred dollars being thrown around for text links and sponsored posts because that requires less work and isn’t so dependent on having a large audience.
Finally, working online means that you never know what is going to happen next. It’s difficult to make a 5-year plan when things online are constantly changing and 1 year into your plan, it will be completely outdated. So again, it’s much easier to accept the small advertising revenue instead of dedicating so much effort into turning a blog into a business, especially when most people have no idea how they can turn their blog into a business or what the possibilities might be.
Those are just some initial thoughts that came to mind. I will say that I obviously do believe it is possible to create a business out of a blog but due to the above factors, it’s significantly more challenging than many think.
Thanks for your reply Earl. Perhaps I’m taking it a little too seriously. After all, that was the whole reason I got into blogging. To get myself out of the 9-5 world and enjoy life as it is.
Here recently I’ve just been thinking that the only way to make it “big” is to really put myself into it so that I can make enough money to travel anywhere. Maybe I need to rethink this, after all greed will be the downfall of us all…
Thanks for your reply Earl. Perhaps I’m taking it a little too seriously. After all, that was the whole reason I got into blogging. To get myself out of the 9-5 world and enjoy life as it is.
Here recently I’ve just been thinking that the only way to make it “big” is to really put myself into it so that I can make enough money to travel anywhere. Maybe I need to rethink this, after all greed will be the downfall of us all…