Hello there!
It’s September - officially Spring and I can’t wait to enjoy more time outside now that the weather is warmer.
In today’s issue, I’m going to be answering some of the most common questions I get about travel blogging.
But first, some housekeeping.
As you receive this email, I’ll be en route to Mauritius (with a short stop in our old hometown for my baby boy to meet his one grandpa and great-grandmas).
And since it has been a crazy year for me; a cross-country move while 7 months pregnant, traumatic labor & delivery (37hrs of labor ending in an emergency c-section) plus barely any maternity leave while adjusting to motherhood before reaching a huge income goal in my biz last month, I’m tired and close to burn out.
So, I’ve decided I need a proper break while I’m in magical Mauritius!
Everything has been scheduled and automated and I’ll be doing the bare minimum in terms of work.
It also means you won’t be receiving this newsletter for the next 2 weeks as I can’t automate the curation process. But not to worry - I’ll be back in your inbox with more answers to your travel blogging questions at the end of the month.
I will, however, still be sharing the opportunities that come my way in the Wildly Successful Travelpreneurs membership - so feel free to join if you don’t want to miss out on anything.
Also, remember that the bundle of 8 key resources I use to get sponsored every time I travel is on sale for 2 more days! Get 25% off the Ultimate Travel Bloggers Bundle with the promo code: BORNTOTRAVEL
Now, let’s move on to the answers to your questions…
Q: How do full-time travel bloggers able to afford the cost associated with travel?
A: For me, it's sponsorships with travel brands while traveling and paid commissions from magazines. But there are lots of different ways to make money online through your travel blog so that you can afford to travel:
Brand collabs.
Content creation.
Paid Press Trips.
Affiliate income.
Digital products or freelance services.
Photography.
Chances are you won’t make money straight away so most travel bloggers don’t go full-time at first. The best thing you can do is to determine your skills and find creative ways to earn an income through those skills while you work on monetizing your travel blog. And don’t stick to just one thing - diversify - multiple streams of income is the key to success for most full-time travel creators.
Q: How do you attract people to read and follow your blog?
A: So this is actually a two-pronged question.
First, the best way to attract people to read your blog is to focus on SEO right from the start. But creating a strong social media presence can also be helpful. My advice is to learn everything you can about SEO and how to optimize your blog posts for long-tail keywords. Use tools such as Keysearch or RankIQ and the Yoast plugin too. Then focus the rest of your attention on 1 or 2 social networks. Pinterest is a great platform for directing traffic to your travel blog.
Next, to get people to follow (or subscribe) your blog, you want to make sure that you have an enticing freebie (also called a lead magnet) to incentivize them to sign up. Make sure your freebie is relevant and valuable to your audience based on your niche. And then once they have subscribed, make sure to send them regular emails in order to keep your list engaged.
Q: How Do I get started with backlinks and improving my DA?
A: The answer to this question is quite fun - you collaborate with other bloggers. Your Domain Authority (DA) will increase as your backlinks increase (although there are other determining factors too such as ranking keywords and spam score).
One of the best ways to get high-quality backlinks is to guest post on blogs with higher DAs. When you write a guest post you’ll get a link back to your blog from the blog that published the post which signals to search engines that your blog has helpful content.
Another fun way to earn more backlinks that require less effort than writing a whole guest post is to do link swaps with other travel bloggers or to contribute shorter content (usually 150 -300 words) to round up posts. In both cases, you’ll earn a backlink with minimal effort and connect with other awesome travel bloggers. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved. You can find these opportunities in Facebook Groups such as Travel Collabs & Link Swaps or Link Building + Guest Posts + Collabs.
The Good Stuff 🔥
#sponsor
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This Canadian podcast is written, recorded, and produced in Toronto, Canada, and episodes are released every other Wednesday. Tune into season 5 of Alpaca My Bags, airing now, on your favorite podcast platform!
Freebies 🆓
👉 Want to take a peak behind the scenes of the best bloggers? My friends over at Ultimate Bundles reached out to some of the smartest bloggers for tips on How to Grow a Blog in 2023 - get it here for free!
👉 Annual Profitable Tech VA Summit! This free event features over 30 value-packed trainings, each lasting around 25 - 35 minutes with actionable takeaways PLUS a chance to win over $5,000 worth of bonuses!
👉 Will you take the challenge? My friends over at Ultimate Bundles are offering a new, completely FREE challenge called: Plan Out 90 Days of Content in Just 1 Week!
Paid & Sponsored Opportunities 🤑
👉 CzechTourism USA & Canada is hosting a press trip from Oct 4th– 10th focusing on Czech traditions. If you would like to discover more about the Czech Republic, the magic of traditions, the renowned taste of the local cuisine, and great wines or beers please contact us at krizek@czechtourism.com.
👉 USA FAMs. Plans to travel to the USA or USA-based? Natalie would love to chat with you about FAM opportunities with Travel Nevada and/or Destination DC. Please get in touch at nat@canuckiwi.com.
👉 If you like making travel guides, vacation itineraries, and lists of helpful tips for globe-trotting, Gloabaleur needs you. It looks like this is a freelance job and I wouldn't expect a huge paycheck. But it might be good if you're new to writing or want to add some travel clips to your portfolio.
👉 Get pampered on a 4-day Coastal Wellness Retreat to South Carolina. Experience South Carolina's finest luxury wellness retreat this November.
👉 Matador Network is seeking a writer for a story on Colombian breakfast foods. The writer will need to have superb knowledge of Colombian cuisine. Preference will be given to Colombian writers. The pay rate is $200.
*Remember if you want first access to these leads, call-outs, and opportunities as well as the ones I don’t share in the newsletter, plus exclusive guides, templates, resources, and pitching sprints, you can join the Wildly Successful Travelpreneurs membership for only $9!
Interesting Reads... 📰
👉 Random trip tickets, where your destination is determined by lottery, are picking up steam in Japan.
👉 What did hotels look like the year you were born?!
👉 Slovenia's natural untamed beauty. I really want to visit!
Bonus Content 🤩
👉 Grab the latest AppSumo freebies! Free tools and resources that can help grow your blog's traffic, community, and income while simplifying your workflow.
👉 Have you grabbed your free stock photos yet? Ivory Mix features loads of tools, templates, graphics, and resources for all your creative projects. This link will score you 500 FREE stock photos, too!
💌 Have something you’d like to promote to 2040+ Wildly Successful Travelpreneurs readers? Purchase ad or sponsorships space. Learn more here!
Until next week…
With love,
Daniella
PS. If you want to become a travelpreneur, here are 3 ways I can help you:
✈️ Grab one of my FREE courses, books, or templates for travel bloggers: https://payhip.com/OurSoulfulT...
🌎 Join the Wildly Successful Travelpreneurs membership for only $9/month and direct access to ask me anything + exclusive opportunities, resources, templates, guides & pitching sprints.
✨ Work with me privately to make your travelpreneur dreams come true: https://payhip.com/b/wXeEV