Whenever I tell anyone what I do for a living, they always ask how I got started. So here it is, how I became a travel influencer. I’ve been doing this for 15 years now and here’s how I got started as a travel blogger and how I kept going as an influencer!
Education to become a travel blogger – 2006-2009
I studied English Language and Literature at university which definitely helped with my writing and communication skills. My course had lots of modules and I always opted for the ones to do with creative writing and I wrote my dissertation about the language used in magazines. These days you can ask EduBirdie to write my dissertation! After that I did a NCTJ journalism qualification which is the National Council for the Training of Journalists. The main skill I got from this course was writing quickly, something that has definitely come in handy to create lots of blog posts!
My intention was to become a journalist and/or freelance writer. Yea, I wanted to be Carrie Bradshaw but writing about travel rather than dating! It seemed so glamorous and exciting so that was my plan!
Blogging work experience – 2009
Following university I did work experience at my local newspaper where I quickly realised journalism was actually pretty dull, particularly local journalism. But while I was there I was asked to write a blog for the newspaper’s website and that’s how I got into blogging.
Backpacking + blogging – 2009-2011
In 2009 I left the UK to go backpacking around South East Asia and Australia for two years.
During this time I started blogging and using Twitter to connect with other travel bloggers.
Blogging was very basic during that time and it was basically an online travel journal sharing daily updates from my travels.
Moving to London – 2011
When I returned from my backpacking trip I moved to London. This is when I did my NCTJ course I mentioned above and I also worked for a travel website as an editorial assistant, specialising in social media.
My time in London was definitely what launched my career. I was attending lots of travel blogging events, socialising with other travel bloggers, networking with travel industry professionals and learning as much as I could. My whole life revolved around travel blogging. All my friends were bloggers and we really motivated and encouraged each other to keep up with our blogs. This was a time when there was no money or free trips so it would have been easy to give up.
Working for free as an influencer
I spent years working for free. I wrote for other websites for free, I didn’t get paid for product reviews, I went on press trips for free and reviewed hotels for free.
I did this for years and years!
But I loved every minute of it, had some great experiences, met some amazing people and gained some invaluable experience.
Honing an authentic voice on my blog and social channels
One thing that’s really important as a travel influencer is to have an authentic and honest online voice. If you go on a trip and hate it, you need to tell people. Don’t pretend everything is all sunshine and roses, be honest.
I tend to write the way I talk so this has made it easier to hone an authentic style that is unique to me.
Building an audience on social media
Authenticity allows people to know who you are which will lead to a like minded audience of similar people. This is really important if you want to work with brands because brands will be targeting a certain ‘type’ of person.
If 20% of your audience are men from Japan, 20% are women from Australia, 20% are teenagers from America, 20% are retirees from the UK and the other 20% are scattered around the world then no brand will want to work with you because you don’t have a solid audience base they can target.
Think about who you want your audience to be and create content for them.
The easiest way to do this is to think about who YOU are and the kind of content you want to see. Failing that, create content for your best friend!
Providing value
It’s all very well creating beautiful content but it needs to add value to have longevity. In the travel world that’s easy because people need tips and advice on where to stay, how to get there, what to do, how much it costs, visa requirements, where to eat, what to pack. There’s so much information people need to know.
Knowing my worth
One thing lots of travel influencers find difficult is getting paid. This job is so much fun, it’s tempting to always do it for free. But there’s potentially a lot of value in the content you create.
One video on Instagram could potentially send 10 new visitors to a hotel which could be thousands of pounds in profits for the hotel. One product review could lead to hundreds of sales. And one link to a bus company could lead to thousands of bookings.
You get to a point where you know your worth and you can charge for your expertise accordingly.
Diversifying my income and skills
And finally, a really important step in becoming a professional travel influencer is diversifying. You need as many income streams as possible. Never rely on one income stream, one traffic source or one client.
As soon as you’ve mastered one skill you need to learn the next. If you’ve got one solid client, look for another. You always need to be learning, improving and looking for the next thing.
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in my 15 years as a travel influencer it’s that nothing lasts forever. Trends change, clients change, plans change and you’ll change. Make sure your business plan keeps changing with you!
Here are some more FAQs I get about being a travel influencer…
How to become a travel influencer with no money?
One way to become a travel influencer is to simply travel the world and share your experiences via blog posts and social media updates.
But how do you do this if you’ve got no money to travel!?
The answer?
You begin by becoming a ‘local travel influencer’. Share travel experiences for people visiting your local area. No matter where you live, there are always things people want to see and do in your local area.
This will help you gain the skills you need to start expanding and earning a small amount of money which could fund your trips further afield.
How do you actually earn money as a travel influencer?
Travel influencers have lots of income sources and it’s best to have as many as possible. Like any business model, it isn’t advised to rely on one income stream because it’s so easy for it to fail.
Here are the three ways I earn money as a travel influencer:
- Mediavine display advertising
- Affiliate marketing
- Brand collaborations via Instagram
To successfully monetise using these strategies you need:
- Lots of blog pageviews for Mediavine
- Product recommendations and an audience who trust you for affiliate sales
- An engaged Instagram audience for brand collaborations
Travel blogging vs travel influencer: What’s the difference?
Traditionally, a travel influencer focussed on social media content while a blogger focussed on written blog posts that go onto a website.
These days there isn’t much of a difference between a blogger and an influencer because we all have websites AND social media channels.
An influencer tends to be more personality focussed, sharing more of themselves and talking to camera more. Whereas a blogger is often a writer by trade and feels more comfortable writing about their experiences rather than talking to camera.
What equipment do I need to start as a travel influencer?
The most important thing you need is a phone with a decent camera. You can’t go wrong with the latest iPhone.
You can start off by doing all of your photo and video work via your phone.
You’ll also need a laptop to write your blog posts from the road.
You’ll eventually want a DSLR camera too and possibly a drone and action camera.
I work using the latest iPhone, a MacBook Pro and a Canon M50. You’ll also need a tripod!
Do I need professional photography or videography skills?
You don’t need to be a professional but you do need some skills. Thankfully, you can learn everything you need to know via YouTube tutorials so don’t worry if you don’t know anything.
My main tip when you’re starting out with photo and video is to look at what you like and attempt to replicate it. Don’t copy directly but this will help you see how a photo has been framed, the lighting used or how a video has been edited. You’ll eventually start to develop your own style.
What kind of content should I create?
Create the kind of content you like to consume. It’s hard to have the enthusiasm to continue creating content you don’t love so you have to LOVE it. Create the kind of stuff you like to see and you’ll be more passionate about it.
What’s the number one secret to becoming a travel influencer?
The main ‘secret’ is consistency. There are so many talented travel influencers out there but most people give up before they make it. Keep going, you won’t regret it. There’s no such thing as an overnight success to write yourself a 10 year plan and stick to it.
How often should I post new content?
Go for quality over quantity. You’re better off posting great content once a week rather than posting rubbish everyday.
Having said that, aim for an absolute minimum of once a week.
How do I grow my audience?
There are two ways to grow your audience:
- Create useful content
- Create sharable content
If it’s genuinely useful, people will find it and recognise that you’re a valuable resource to be following.
If it’s sharable then they’ll share the content with their friends and you’ll reach a new audience that way.
How do I find and approach brands for partnerships?
You need to do a few ‘campaigns’ that actually have nothing to do with the brands you love.
Let’s say you love Thailand and would love to work with the Thai tourism board. I’d recommend visiting Thailand and creating the kind of content you’d create if you were working for them.
You can then put together a report and show them and suggest ways you can work together. Even if you don’t work with the Thai tourism board, you could still share your ‘campaign’ with other tourism boards to showcase what you can do.
How many followers do I need to start making money?
It depends on your skillset.
If you’re a skilled writer, photographer or videographer then you can use your blog or social media platforms to showcase your skills and make money selling the content you create to brands.
If you’re not amazingly skilled in these areas then you’ll make money by having an engaged audience so you won’t earn until you’ve got this engaged audience and you can prove they purchase what you recommend.
What are the best destinations for travel influencers?
I highly recommend visiting the places YOU want to visit rather than the places that are popular online.
I’m from Wales and I avoided posting content from Wales for years because I thought it wasn’t interesting or sexy enough! But Wales receives nearly 900,000 tourists a year and has a population of over 3 million so there’s still massive potential to attract a large audience.
Porth Iago in Wales – proving you can create good content in Wales!
How do I balance travel influencing with my personal life?
This can be a tough one and you’ll find many travel influencers live, sleep, eat and breathe their career.
I was like this for about 10 years. All of my closest friends were travel influencers and my whole life revolves around it. I didn’t really have a personal life outside of travel influencing!
These days I do. I have three children and most of my closest friends aren’t influencers.
The way I balance it is to focus on local travels around Wales or weekend breaks. This means I’m travelling less and I’m at home creating content more.
What skills can help me succeed as a travel influencer?
- Writing
- Photography
- Videography
- Social media marketing
- Basic business skills such as pitching, budgeting, negotiating, reporting and strategy
As well as YouTube, I really like SkillShare to learn all of these skills. It’s really affordable and often gets straight to the point (without hundreds of adverts)
My final tip to become a travel influencer
If you’ve been creating content for a year or more then you should have a decent chunk of content already.
My best tip is to look at your stats and establish what’s performed well and replicate it. Yep, look at what did well and do it again!