Three forms of delusion can really hurt your travel blog.
Let’s dive into this video as I discuss one wicked travel blogging delusion that cuts into your blogging profits.
If you purge these 3 delusions you will steadily drive more traffic and profits through your blog. Blogging big dawgs will seek you out. Generous, kind bloggers with few money or success mental blocks always rise to the top.
But before you purge the errors in thinking you need to own these travel blogger boo boo’s, if you are making these mistakes.
1: I Love Traveling So I’d Be a Good Travel Blogger
Traveling involves doing some research, buying tickets and traveling somewhere.
Travel blogging involves spending every day of the next 2-3 years of your life learning a skill, practicing, creating and connecting to build the foundation for a successful blog.
Traveling is a hobby.
Travel blogging is a full time, in-depth, energy-intensive, full-on entrepreneurial venture, a skill that takes years to develop through persistent work.
You darn well better make sure you have as intense a passion for travel blogging as much as you love travel, or this common delusion will have you falling flat on your face.
2: I Set Up My Blog Last Month: Where Is The Sponsored Post Revenue?
The network airing the Super Bowl charges millions of dollars for 30 seconds of commercial/advertising time during the Super Bowl because a billion people watch the Super Bowl and everybody knows what the Super Bowl is.
One month after you set up your blog, 2-5 people may read your blog daily. Perhaps 50 people do, if you are really killing it. Maybe 100 folks read your blog daily if you are really cooking with gas. But you are still unknown, and nobody will pay money to be featured on an unknown blog.
Learn travel blogging. Practice. Create and connect for years. Then, in time, when you have paid your dues, and your blog is valuable real estate, you will land sponsored post and advertising opportunities.
3: Every Big Name Brand Should Pay Me for Social Shares, Sponsored Posts and Advertising
This is far and away the biggest delusion I have ever seen in travel blogging.
I am pretty known in blogging tips circles. I am steadily gaining traction in travel blogging circles.
But I have seen many relatively – or completely – unknown travel bloggers with thin content, virtually no blogger friend network and obviously poor stats demanding big name brands to pay them for everything from a retweet, to posts, to ads, to anything.
You have no leveraging power when you haven’t paid your dues, small travel blogging potatoes!
I kid because I care. I joke because I kindly want unknown, arrogant, delusional travel bloggers to realize that until you pay your dues, and create and connect for years, to have a valuable enough blog to where big name brands willingly pay you for sponsored posts or advertising, without your bartering, or badgering, you are not big enough yet. You are not as big as you thought you were.
See friendships before finances. Humble yourself. That free retweet or free mention of a big name brand on your blog moves you up in blogging circles, increasing your exposure so other big name brands with big pockets can pay you for advertising on your blog…..when you have earned that right!
Create. Connect. For years. Pay your dues. Pay your travel blogging tuition.
Generously serve influential bloggers and big brands until money freely flows through big scale brands and smaller scale businesses to you.
When you do this right, you barely barter. The buyers shows up freely, and pays freely, without any badgering.
Your Turn
Have you suffered from these travel blogging delusions at any time during your career?
Goodness knows I did.
Please share your thoughts below.