The Life Of A 3 Month Old Travel Blogger
So I started this blog just over 3 months ago, it’s been fun and I’ve been hard at work coming up with resource filled articles as well as blogging things of a more personal nature.
Here is a picture I made in paint that accurately represents how I view my blog at the moment:
Click to make this large and see my horrid paint skills nice and close.
Now whilst this image may be a blatant (and poor) attempt at link bait, as a whole I think it accurately represents young travel bloggers and people new to the scene.
Travel Blogging Can Be Hard & Time Consuming
I’ve found that in the beginning (and in the unforeseeable future) there are a number of elements at play that you need to be juggling to keep the momentum rolling, such as:
- Writing high quality and informative content.
- Utilising social media.
- Networking with fellow travel bloggers.
- Guest posting on other websites.
- Dealing with lame advertisment offers or people wanting to “guest post” on behalf of companies.
- Actually travelling and thinking up new content ideas.
Things Not To Do (That You Will Do Anyway)
I’ve discovered a number of things we should shouldn’t be doing in these early stages of our travel blogs (yet inevitably most of us end up doing them anyway):
- Lament at your poor amount of visits per day.
- Check stats more then is healthy or productive.
- Spend so much time on social media that you don’t actually get anything done.
Looking To The Future
At some point you’ll come to a realisation that writing posts, editing photos and compiling an article that you’re proud of can actually be hard work.
I think this is the point where we have to start working harder then before if we’re serious about our travel blogs having any success.
After one or two years in, I think I will look back on everything that I’ve learnt directly because of travel blogging and be truly amazed. I’m ready for that, bring it on.
13 Responses to “The Life Of A 3 Month Old Travel Blogger”
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I like the diagram, pretty accurate as to how a lot of us newbie’s feel.
Totally agree with your point about stats, checking them every 5 minutes wont help. I would suggest keeping a monthly track though. Growth will most likely be slow and steady in your frst year, but its still growth and that always great encouragement!
Oh yeah, it’s worth checking them once a week for example. But checking them twice or three times a day is not so helpful 😛
I think blogging in any niche you need to give it a good go for at least a year before expecting to much!
Ha! I love your diagram. So true for travel bloggers starting out. I used to get frustrated when all I would see on Twitter were those big travel blogs tweeted. It is an industry that takes time to grow into, hard work and I think passionate writing.
Hi Suzy 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! I agree with you on all three counts, hard work –> passion –> time.
Content is the most important thing, closely followed by good marketing. Although if you have amazing marketing, product is less important 😉 Great post Tom. Stats will grow over time as your content and site grows. And with anything in life, the more you put in, the more you get out 😀
Thanks Laurence 🙂 Yeah “Content is King” as they say, but marketing yourself a bit certainly helps too 😉
I had the same feeling when I started, checking my stats and everything – Neil knows a lot about it. But at the moment, I stopped doing it cause stats isn’t everything in the end. 🙂
I think the best advice for you is to take a step back and think why you are writing in the first place – what keeps you motivated and why you started in the first place. Then after, you can start with the operational “how” and “what” questions.
But enjoy the ride mate!
This is awesome. I’m just starting out (like, fresh off the boat) and I have a feeling it’s going to be a long road! Oh well, it’s a good excuse to keep traveling 😉
Thanks for stopping by Izy 🙂 It is indeed going to be a long road for us – but I think if we keep plugging away we’ll get there! 😀
Hi Tom,
I just discovered your blog yesterday, have read a heap of articles (umm, work is really slow! Thinking about my upcoming trip is all that is getting me though!)and I just wanted to say that your blog is great. Very helpful, fun to read, and leaves me desperate to escape the confines of my office cubicle!
Cheers!!
Hi Jess! Thanks for leaving a comment and stopping by! I surely do know what it’s like sitting in an office cubicle dreaming about an upcoming trip haha, hang in there! Where are you headed?
Completely undecided, which is kind of exciting. Definitely a week in Austria staying with a lovely Australian friend who now lives in Innsbruck, then… five/seven (haven’t decided!) weeks of whatever takes my fancy. At the tope of my list (“Sit down, and write down every country you want to visit in Europe. List them in order of importance, and listen up, list them in the order of importance FOR YOU PERSONALLY”) are Turkey, Spain and Italy. I just read the ‘ten things to do in Barcelona’ post, which has swayed me somewhat!! Another thought is Morocco, which looks awesome and very cheap (although, as a girl travelling by myself, I think I’d do a tour in Morocco, not quite sure…)
Originally I was going to be travelling with a friend, but that recently fell through. At first I was upset at the thought of having to do it all alone, and thought about postponing til next year… but now, having actually thought about it, spoken to people and done some trolling of the interwebs, it’s entirely feasible to travel solo safely and on a budget. So at the moment, everything is very undecided, but definitely very exciting!!
And this explains my continued perusal/procrastination on your blog!
Nice, sounds like you’ve got lots of plans! I’m a big fan of a more ‘rough’ itinerary rather then planning out every single day. I’ve yet to do Turkey, Italy or Morocca (on the list, though!) so I can’t give you any detailed advice there. I love Spain though, both Barcelona and Madrid are awesome, as well as places like San Sebastian. Definitely get to Spain if you can 🙂
It is a bit daunting to think about solo travel before you do it yourself, but as you’ve discovered with all the blogs out there – it’s definitely feasible and not as scary as you might think! In reality, you’re rarely ‘alone’ – you’ll be constantly meeting other backpackers and travelers in hostels and the like.
You’ll have a blast!