Comments on: Travel Bloggers & Travel Businesses – A topic that won’t go away

By: Andy Jarosz

Andy Jarosz — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 17:36:58 +0000

Thanks Pam and congrats on the Travel Wild business. Looks like an exciting project. Like you say, actually visiting the destinations you write about makes a massive difference to the richness of the resulting content.
Payment by opportunity is valuable only up to a certain point. Opportunity doesn’t pay the bills and like you I value the work that makes a difference to my bank account first and foremost. It will be interesting to see how the demand for writing takes shape in the next year or two. I’m sure more bloggers will be offered nice trips in exchange for writing, but I’m also confident that more paid opportunities will arise from all sides of the travel industry to provide good content and to promote it.

By: pam || @nerdseyeview

pam || @nerdseyeview — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 14:18:11 +0000

I like the common sense tone here. And I'm one of those bloggers that got picked up by a travel company to write about their destination. (Can I link? Is that kosher? It's Travel Wild. I write for their blog -- yes, they pay me -- and now that I've actually been to their destination, I'll write some supporting materials too. I make very little money from Nerd's Eye View, certainly not enough to live on. And I'm devoted to narrative, which is a poet's niche, and offers even less chance to make money as an independent blogger. But my site does showcase my work and brings opportunities my way that either pay in opportunity or (my favorite) cold, hard, cash.

By: Ben Colclough

Ben Colclough — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 09:11:35 +0000

Great comments by all.

@Stuart @Keith (travelling savage) – I tend to agree with both of you. It is possible to make money as a publisher, but like you say, it helps if you look beyond simply carrying cpm ads. Affiliate deals or running a couple of exact match domains is a great way to generate real revenue from self publishing your content (and a great way to learn) . Stuart is a great example of making a business out of writing, but I don’t doubt for a second that Travelfish is a business and not a hobby blog (I mean that as a compliment)

@Jeanne – Without doubt you run an incredibly successful blog and youtube presence. I just think there is literally a handful of blogs running at your level (e.g. yourselves, Matt Kepnes and Gary Arndt) amd I don’t think it is that realistic that others can expect to emulate that success. One or two might combine a lot of luck with a lot of perseverance to make it, but it is a bit like aspiring to be a film star or pop star.

By: Jeanne @soultravelers3

Jeanne @soultravelers3 — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:40:10 +0000

Good points Ben and interesting comments!

We’ve built a large and diverse audience which I think is the first key, plus having a unique voice and story. We don’t get many travel bloggers but we DO get many people with a passion for travel. Unlike most travel writers or travel bloggers we are also Youtube Partners ( we were asked by THEM years ago) and have had many viral Youtube videos which is a big advantage with Google and something sponsors appreciate ( as well as a strong social media presence).

I think the smart blogger uses his blog and website as a platform for MANY things. That can work differently for different people. You point out some good possibilities Ben and there are many more like selling your own products or books, working directly with various sponsors, public speaking, consultation fees, etc.

But as David points out some of the benefits of blogging are not only about the money made off the blog itself. Just as there are advantages for writing for the “illustrious Huffington Post” for “free” ( I’ve been writing there before they had a travel section) there are many “value” advantages of writing a travel blog that may not be obvious at first glance.

I could do a lot more paid writing for others, but I don’t, partly because we are too busy actually traveling and demonstrating a new 21st century “home in motion” way of living and I prefer the benefits of being a publisher… that comes with blogging.

By: Andy Jarosz

Andy Jarosz — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 13:57:53 +0000

Karen, I agree that by accepting guest posts that are flimsy link vehicles do little to enhance a site. It might appear an easy way to make a bit of revenue and keep the site updated but at what cost to the regular readers?
I accept occasional posts but only from people I know personally and only if I enjoy the material – and it is never for any reward other than promoting an interesting article.
Stuart, I’ll leave it for others to come back on the €65 figure – seems high to me but maybe it’s true? Either way, as you and others have pointed out there are many models for making money through blogging, and I suspect the next few years will reveal a few more as the travel industry continues to evolve in its marketing and in its demand for content.

By: Stuart

Stuart — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 12:38:52 +0000

Ben raises some very valid points, but at the end of the day, if you’re (a) a talented writer and (b) have got enough knowledge/expertise to write about a specific destination in enough detail that you’re an attractive to a company in the first place, then (c) you CAN make money and you should be building your own online presence, not the presence of someone else.

Just as there are many ways to shave a cat, there are many ways to monetise a blog. Sure there is CPM advertisers and Adsense etc, but there’s also a variety of affiliate deals (tours/hotels/travel insurance etc) that any targetted travel site should be able to avail themselves of. And just to digress for a sec is there a typo involved in that €65 cpm figure in the comments up above?!

By: Karen Bryan

Karen Bryan — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 12:04:02 +0000

I get lots of emails from travel companies’ agencies offering me “free” content which contains a couple of links back to their clients sites. I’m not interested in this for 2 reasons.

I prefer to produce unique, original content in-house.
Getting a free post is not a good trade off for a couple of free permanent links

By: Steve Collins

Steve Collins — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:31:59 +0000

Ben, These are very well-directed and focused observations. I’ll be keeping this close at hand as we proceed with our nascent venture in blogging and services. This fits well (and fills it out nicely) with advice that Keith of Velvet Escape offers new bloggers. Thank you for presenting it in such an accessible way.

By: Keith

Keith — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:51:37 +0000

Very interesting reads, comments too. The way most travel bloggers make a living from their site (and this is but a handful) is by having a network of sites. They maintain a flagship blog and then have several other static sites that rank highly for specific keywords, which leads to ad revenue.

This article will also add to the conversation: http://www.traveling-savage.com/2011/02/17/model-travel-writing-lara-dunston-spills-grantourismo/

By: Melvin

Melvin — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:22:12 +0000

@David & @Ben If you look at regular blogs, yes you are right. The other bloggers leave their comments. They know how the game runs… But if you have a blog with let’s say 100.000 & more unique visitors… these can’t be all travel bloggers. 😉

I would even say that with having 30.000 unique visitors, that there won’t be even half of them travel bloggers!

And even if… who cares? Companies who advertise on travel blogs are interested to reach travelers. So travel bloggers are definitely also their target!

Sure, a tour company won’t target for a proffesional blogger to sell his trips, but hobby bloggers should be of interest. They should be of high interest, as they would blog about their trip.