Profession travel blogger – this is what the practice looks like
You like to travel and you are passionate about it? You are a real globetrotter, you are interested in travel photography and you are thinking about turning your hobby into a profession with a travel blog as an influencer? Then this article is certainly interesting for you.
And let’s be honest, wert does not like to travel and would at least like to finance the travel expenses with some work? The whole thing is not terribly complicated and relatively easy to learn even for beginners. But of course you have to have some talent and joy in writing. Also good photos are a must for a good travel blog.
In this article you will find out everything about influencers in the travel & lifestyle segment.
Turning a hobby into a profession
Who does not know the typical situation when you meet new people and ask each other what you do for a living. When a person happily announces that he or she is a travel blogger, everything gets quiet at first and nobody knows how to react at first. The next thing you hear is something like: “Wow! You can live on that? You travel the whole year and get money for it?”. Maybe you also hear a “well, it’s interesting, but I couldn’t do that, always working in cheap hotels and having to look after the money”.
Oftentimes rice bloggers get emails that end with a “Have fun on vacation!”. However, most travel bloggers state that since they have been influencers, it is by no means a vacation. Because for you, traveling is a profession, so it is connected with work, and not too little!
So let’s take a look at how it all really looks like now.
What do travel bloggers actually do?
In principle, there are several ways to maintain a travel blog. Some of them actually go on a trip around the world and earn their living by letting the general public participate in the adventures of the adventurer via blog. Again and again one hears about such spectacular actions. Walking across the world on a bike, crossing a country on foot for several months etc. Here the blog is rather made to finance this special, unique and very cost-intensive project.
Others are people like you and me, who like to travel a lot and report about these trips in their blogs. While they are not travelling, they might write about travel preparations, how to take great holiday pictures, do reviews of travel gear, let you take part in planning the next trip, etc.
And that’s how you work as a travel blogger?
Here we start from the second type of travel blogger, the one who not only wants to finance a very special action, but someone who wants to build a livelihood to a normal life.
Since you can’t travel all the time, this is mixed up with blogging or posting in social media about travel and especially often lifestyle in general, including weekend activities, restaurant visits, etc.
Many people think that travel bloggers lie on the beach or pool all day long, sipping delicious cocktails and letting the good Lord be a good man. But this is absolutely not the case, because like all other influencers in other subject areas, the travel blogger has to keep up with the times, recognize trends, constantly interact with his followers on various social media channels, post, prepare, write to companies and, and, and.
Bloggers typically report work phases of 60 hours per week, rarely less than 30 and claim not to have had a single real day off for years. After all, it’s when you let others share in your life that you never get off work or a weekend.
Many people work more than in previous jobs, but nobody complains, because after all, the hobby and passion has become a profession.
Let’s just have a look at the individual tasks of the travel blogger.
Write articles
For a blogger, no matter what field, writing the articles is of course a big part of the work to be done. In a high-quality blog, articles are rarely shorter than 2,000 to 3,000 words. That’s about 10 pages. And the whole thing not only has to be written, but also researched beforehand. This for topics related to travel and of course for the travel reports themselves. Because although everything should be written from your own point of view and commented on in a funny, smart and intelligent way, the local sights, excursions and recommendations must be researched and many things must be checked beforehand. After all, you want to give your readers real and useful information. This includes transport connections, flight information, ferry schedules, prices, and much, much more. What looks simple and easy at first glance requires thorough and time-consuming work in practice.
Therefore, depending on the article, it usually takes about 4 to 8 hours, sometimes even two days for very elaborate articles.
Once the article is finished, it has to be formatted and entered into the backend of the website so that it looks really nice for the readers.
In the process, suitable pictures must be selected and also entered.
Make the blog public
But writing the articles is only a small part of the work behind a website or blog. Because without a reader, writing and all the effort makes little sense. And readers don’t just fall from the sky.
That’s why search engine optimization (SEO) is very important, because that’s how people who search Google for information about travel, destinations, etc. will notice you as a blogger.
In addition, you have to be present on all important social networks, interact with other bloggers, write guest posts and much more. Basically, you do all the things of classic online marketing.
Especially the support of social media channels – e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest – takes a lot of time. Also for this, suitable pictures have to be created, special articles and comments have to be thought up and others have to comment on them a lot. And the comments under your own post must of course be answered, because otherwise the followers will leave quickly.
If you also want to make some YouTube videos, there is a lot of work to do.
Reply to e-mails from readers
Most bloggers also get lots of emails, all of which want to be answered. That’s how you keep in touch with your readers and the readers stay loyal. The same goes for the comments that can be made on the website.
A good and successful blogger tries to answer the emails and comments as soon as possible, not days later.
Further development
A travel blog, like any other business, needs to be constantly developed. New ideas have to be searched for, trips or actions planned, the marketing concept has to be created and realized and the website has to be optimized.
An own blog is a bit like a construction site, something has to be done all the time and in many different places. And when the building is finished, there are regular repairs and renovations – there is no end to it all. But of course it’s still a lot of fun, or maybe just because of that!
But how much do you earn now as a travel blogger
The hard-boiled world travellers and drop-outs do not travel, but live independent of location. This means that they have no fixed costs in Germany and have to earn the monthly costs of survival and continuing their journey.
The other group of travel and lifestyle bloggers live in Germany and have to finance “normal” travel. And strictly speaking of course the maintenance of the blog (website itself). Typically there are about 120 Euro per month for software licenses, e.g. Photoshop, Lightroom, the newsletter tool and various paid plugins for the blog. On top of that, there are the costs for web hosting and domain in the amount of about 60 Euro per month
So if you want to live from the travel blog, you have to cover the costs, what is above that is income.
A couple of travel bloggers, for example, say that after two years they earn about as much with the blog as they did with their two regular jobs. Of course you don’t know exactly how much that is, but there is a clue. In the first month they earned about 20 Euros with the blog. So overnight you don’t become famous or financially independent.
In principle, there are different sources of income as soon as you have a decent number of followers and have therefore become interesting for companies:
Free products, including plane tickets, hotel accommodation, etc.
affiliate marketing
Possibly sale of own products in the online shop (such as suitcases, backpacks, travel accessories, etc.)
Advertising on the website
Fees for product naming, sponsored contributions, etc.
Some also sell their own online courses, e.g. for travel photography
Offer services (many bloggers give lectures, give advice on blogging and influencer marketing
Affiliate marketing is a very simple affair, which is a win-win situation for all parties. Products and services are linked in the article. If the reader clicks on it and buys the corresponding products or services, the blogger receives a commission. There are no costs for the reader, the company sells its product and the blogger gets a reward for his efforts.
It is important that you only recommend products that are really good and that you can stand behind, because one of the most important aspects for the success of an influencer is credibility.
A few more tips – This is what you need to focus on
In order for the travel blog project to be a success, you will have to put in a lot of work. It is important that you always stay personal. The reason why bloggers’ travel reports are so appealing is that somehow you are taken on the trip as a reader and build up an almost personal relationship with the blogger. Important and interesting are therefore also misadventures, problems that may have arisen during the trip, and how the blogger dealt with them. This is what makes the blog unique, otherwise one could simply read a travel guide.
In any case, it is also advisable to diversify the sources of income. It is risky to hope for donations and fees from companies alone, and the competition is also quite high.
Selling your own products or affiliate marketing are very good options to generate additional income and to be more independent from the marketing departments of companies.
In addition, you should also rely on the support of a good influencer marketing agency, such as Adfluencer.de. Here you will find it easier to collaborate with companies and contact other bloggers. Not to mention the fact that you will also find important information and tutorials here.
Conclusion about the travel blog
Anyone who likes to travel passionately, is good at writing, enjoys being on the move on various social media channels and who doesn’t mind sharing his or her private life with others will certainly be an influencer in the travel and lifestyle segment, firstly, and secondly, will be able to earn good money with it. However, it is important to approach the project in a truly professional manner.
We wish you a lot of fun building up the blog and strolling around the world!