Creating social media accounts is not difficult. You need some eye-catching content, but for the most part, you have to act as if you are already where you want to be. People new to social media marketing often struggle to create posts that read as if they already have a ton of followers. They find it hard to brand themselves as travel bloggers or reviewers if they have not yet had much experience.
“Fake it til you make it” applies here. Post to your thousands of followers even if you only have a handful who happen to also be your friends. You need to get over the internal cringe. Eventually, you will have followers and you will stop thinking of your posts as if they were written by a delusional narcissist!
By the time you launch, you should have some content ready and waiting on your website. You should also have some extra posts to tide you through the first week or so as you get into the flow of creating regular content.
There are ways to organically grow your following without spending money on marketing. However, if you decide to take this route, you are struggling against the current. Everyone online is using online marketing tools and for a very good reason – they work!
Build your content
The reality is that this is not much different to how we approach traditional jobs. All employers seem to want five years experience for beginner roles, but you can’t tick that box until you’ve been working for five years. You end up selling yourself based not on your experience but on confidence borrowed from your future self!
For better or worse, many people interact with the internet almost entirely through social media. They find content on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and engage with trends on apps like TikTok. As such, a website is not going to cut it if you want a career as a traveler in 2021.
However, there are a lot of steps to take before you start making money as a travel blogger. First of all, you need to learn how to build a website. In 2021, building a website with a site builder is fairly easy, as you get all the tools you need for free. You can create your dream website within an hour or so and then all you need to do is start posting content.
Social media presence
Technically, you can have your website online almost immediately. That does not mean it’s a good idea. On the contrary, getting your website up and running can be counterproductive if it lacks polish and content.
Spend a couple of weeks editing photos, writing blog posts, and coming up with ideas for content that will draw clicks. During this time, you should also work on your website, ironing out any kinks while improving the design. You can try a few different color palettes and layouts before settling on how you want your site to look.
Being a travel blogger seems like a glamorous life – and it is! Most travel bloggers are not being gifted complimentary first class tickets by Emirates or hosted in 5-star hotels. But that does not change the fact that you get to travel for a living. Just about everyone working a normal dayjob dreams of the opportunity to spend their life traveling the world.
Online marketing tools
Getting your name out there as a world traveler is easier than ever in 2021 (although actually traveling may be more difficult!). Get your website started and create those new social media accounts.
Social media marketing is also cost-effective. You pay for ad engagement, rather than a lump sum for an advert, and you can get good results without spending more than a few dollars a day.
If you haven’t used online marketing before, you probably don’t understand just how useful it is. Social media marketing on Facebook in particular is incredible. You can create an audience by choosing to target people based on their age, location, the things they like, the things they studied, and much, much more. You can get extremely specific, and you will still be left with an audience of hundreds of thousands.
Here are some of the steps you can take to get your name out there as a world traveler.
The problem is that because it is so easy, everyone can make a beautiful website. You need to have what it takes to stand out. To do so, you need more than just good content. You need a strategy to get your name out there as a traveler whose adventures people want to follow.
Once again, you are going to have to fake it til you make it. You’re essentially advertising yourself, marketing to people as if you have been doing this all your life.
