Don't Stop Living - Jonny Blair - a lifestyle of travel
Sunday’s Inspiration: Top 5 Tips on Becoming a Professional Travel Blogger
The latest in my cannon of Working Wednesdays this week stated (with huge justifications and proof) that travel blogs are better for travel advertisers than print media. And they are. So now you’re out there thinking about it all – yeah he’s right – a blog is permanent whereas a travel supplement in the paper is already binned and recycled by the next weekend. Longevity counts. Move over Daily Mail supplement, step in Nomadic Matt.
Hiking up Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia
Now you want to make your own career as a travel blogger but you don’t know where to start. Neither did I. I was a complete novice and buck ejjit (Northern Irish slang for idiot). The travel blogging industry (which it now is – an industry) has come a long way. Don’t Stop Living has come a long way. And I’ve backpacked a long way through more towns than I can remember. If you’re new on here, Sunday’s Inspiration is normally just a sharp short post on me sharing my thoughts and feeling and hopefully some inspiration. Today it’s all about becoming a professional travel blogger. First here’s some quick background on me, and Don’t Stop Living so you get where I’m coming from.
The author of this site backpacking in Wadi Rum, Jordan
I’m Jonny Blair. A wandering Northern Irishman. I hadn’t done much global travelling until 2003 when I left my home town (Bangor). But in those last 12 years, I have lived, travelled and worked around the world. I’ve backpacked through all 7 continents, over 100 countries (and a further 14 disputed countries/regions), got a degree, worked in about 40 jobs and started an online business. I’ve been a travel blogger since 2007 (link to my first ever cringeworthy post), I’ve been a travel writer since 1991 (link to my 1991 e-Book), but it’s only since 2012 that I’ve been earning money as a travel writer, blogger, copywriter and itinerary planner. So it’s been a long hard process, but if you work hard and adhere to my top 5 (especially the “really travel” bit), you should get there too and be able to live a life of freedom. By freedom I mean, tomorrow I can wake up and go anywhere I want. I have no time, monetary or mobility issues with what I do. If you want that hat-trick, then hopefully this can help you. Yesterday’s post was all about the Paradise Pack and how to create your own freedom (an offer that ends today at midnight). Today I share my top five tips on becoming a professional travel blogger.
Sunday’s Inspiration: Making Your Own Career as a Travel Blogger
1.Tell Real Stories
What happens when you go backpacking round the world? Crazy sh*t happens. Stories that people won’t believe. So tell them. Don’t hide them. Share them.
– The time I lost $1000 in Laos
– The time I did a shit on a broccoli field
– The time I got naked in Antarctica
– The time my mate stuck his willy in a donkey
– My tips on doing a shit
– The day I showed an entire PR office my ass
(put photos and videos with them to prove they are real, don’t make stuff up, ever)
A bit of craic: The Day I…Showed my ass to an entire office of PR workers in London, England.
These stories make your journey unique. Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower does not. Nobody will care if you’ve been to the top of the Eiffel Tower or not, as everybody has been there. (I once wrote a post about the Eiffel Tower and 8 years on, still nobody has read it so I know what works now). So write about the things that happen to you on your journey. Make it fun, exciting, unique and real. Tell it as a story.
The thing that makes your travel blog different to all the other travel blogs is – YOU. And your stories. Don’t forget that. Don’t be generic.
“Generic, generic and that’s the way you like it, you like it” – Dan Darch
2. Go to Places That Nobody Else Writes About
I know your travel style and blog will follow its own niche, but what works for me is going to places where there are not many travellers, exploring these places and writing about them. Basically – go where there are NO other travellers. And I mean NONE! ZERO. Earlier this year I was the first ever tourist to visit the Empire of Austenasia. I loved it. It was great publicity for the country and for myself and it worked both ways. I was suddenly contacted by other heads of state of Micronations wanting to host me.
Meeting the local lads of Xinaliq in Azerbaijan
Last year I was in French Guyana. Again, not a single other tourist in Iracoubo or Kourou when we were there. We backpacked through South America’s largest Space centre on our own – it was ridiculous! Here are just a few of the non touristy places I’ve been and written about in the last few years (if you click on the posts, you’ll notice how passionate I am about them):
2009 – Xinying, Sark, Debrecen
2010 – Chia, Rinadeena, Belfast (NZ)
2011 – Paramaribo, Mantenga Falls, Lam Tin
2012 – Danxiashan, Newtownards, Majianglong
2013 – Shahr-e Kord, Xinaliq, Isfiya
2014 – Macapa, Barra de Santiago, Atauro Island
2015 –Monastir, Jarvenpaa, Wrythe
(These are only a selection of course, my full travel timeline is here)
The thing I loved about all these places is that they are not touristy, but I couldn’t fathom why not. I was more inspired by backpacking through Xinying than I was by visiting Sydney for example.
Backpacking in Guyana: Parika
Go to places like Chiayi, Sloth Island, Joya de Ceren, Parika, Belmopan, Portbraddon, Jiaoqui, Tiraspol etc. You might get less of the “follow the obvious backpacking trail” people reading but you’ll get genuine travel enthusiasts like yourself. People that like the wacky stuff. Sure, everybody knows that I also visit the tourist hubs – of course I do! I’m not claiming all my travel is to unknown places – it’s not! I love the hyped up tourist spots too, but I write about them less as people don’t come to Don’t Stop Living to read about Rome, Paris or Bangkok. They come here to see what destination I am now in that they have never heard of.
World Borders: Crossing into the Republic of Uzupis.
I get emails and messages from people saying stuff like “that is so cool you went to Uzupis – I’d never heard of it. I want to go”. My niche is “off the wall, wacky travel” and I stick to it. It works for me. If a travel blog claims to be going to “off the beaten track” (as cliched as that is) places then they write about only places you’ve heard of like Rome, Bangkok, Sydney etc. then it’s not to be trusted. So please – break the backpacking mould. I only read travel blogs now from people who go to places that are difficult to get to, unusual and that I haven’t heard of. Top 5 Bars you haven’t heard of in Sydney? No thanks, I’ve heard of Sydney. Backpacking in Orheiul Vechi is more my scene.
Where the hell am I? (Balka in Tiraspol)
Also if you write about backpacking in Thailand, nobody will even see your article on Google if you are a new blogger. You’ll be way down the pecking order as far as SEO is concerned. However if you write about Uzupis then google “backpacking in uzupis” (for example) you might come up in the top 10. If you google “backpacking in bangkok” there’s no chance I’ll get in there (and I don’t want to). So continue to write about places that have yet to be written about and get them shared, seen and marketed.
“I’ll take you places I’ve never been” – Meatloaf
3. Be Yourself, Market Yourself
Who are you? With your website, you are creating a brand. Your brand is you. So who are you? You need to be yourself and then consistently market yourself that way. Look at these successful travel bloggers:
– Are you a nomadic Australian? If you are then market yourself in that way, like Chris Walker Bush does. He;s got a great following in Australia.
– Are you a pair of tramps looking for the cheapest food? Then do it like Agness and Cez do. Pairs and couples travelling together love their money saving tips, not to mention Agness’s positivity.
– Are you trying to be the best budget traveller on the planet? Then see why Nomadic Matt is so successful! He gets the deals, he tries to save all travellers money.
– Do you wander and have no idea where you will be next? Then perhaps you need to create a Wandering Earl style blog.
– Are you a crazy backpacker who lives their life to the full and lives by the The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich. Then you check out Johnny Ward’s awesome site he’s created a crazy lifestyle for himself on route to every country in the world and becoming a millionaire.
“I need to be myself, I can’t be no-one else” – Noel Gallagher
A Northern Ireland shirt, a beer, my flag, my Mum and Dad and some great lads – this is me.
Who am I? I am a backpacking Northern Irishman living life to the full, enjoying every day and seeing our time here as one big adventure. What you see is what you get is what I am. I’m backpacking through Guatemala wearing an AFC Bournemouth shirt. I’m a Bournemouth fan. I fly my Northern Ireland flag around the world. I’m proud to do that. Don’t get caught up trying to earn money and forfeiting who you are for a wad of cash -it won’t work. Be you. Be yourself. Don’t be a fake.
“My crush with eyeliner” – R.E.M.
I scrounge my way to happy hour beers in Kaunas, I update my Facebook page with live updates. I keep it as real as I can for everyone. I really travel. I don’t have a car, a flat or an office. One day, but not for now. One thing I can’t stand is those who suddenly decided they were going to start a blog just to make money, and then they go and travel. What? You mean you haven’t travelled before? You mean you don’t have stories to tell? Have the blog and the travel experience before you turn it into a business. It was five years before I earned a cent on Don’t Stop Living. At the time I noticed too many fakes starting up travel sites for money only rather than the love of travel. If you’re genuine enough, you can have both.
Johnny Ward flying the Northern Ireland flag with me at the 2014 World Cup Final in Rio, Brazil.
4. Put Travel FIRST
Keep moving. Don’t stop. Travel. Anyone that started a website “a year around the world” was never genuine, they set a limit, they wanted to do a year, earn a bit of cash and then head home as they were homesick. They didn’t put travel first and their blog died away. If you’re serious about being a professional travel blogger, then you have to put travel first in your life. It comes before football and pubs for me. I have a chance of watching Northern Ireland play Romania at football next week but I’m not going – travel comes first as it’s not just my love and passion, it’s my business. There’s no fakeness though – I’ll still be watching the match online from a bar in Hong Kong <img src="http://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/72x72/1f609.png" alt="