As you`ll know if you`ve been following my (pre)travel blog or following me on facebook, you`ll know that one of the ultimate aims I have is to monetise my website and/or to monetise my travels through online work. It`s ok doing volunteer work abroad to get free accommodation and free meals but eventually I may get too old to do anything too physical. Or I may eventually decide to settle down for a while in one of the countries I visit without taking on any volunteer work.
Fortunately I have a little money to enable me to travel but I don`t want to use all of this up because eventually it will run out. So, I`ve been doing much research and reading of late trying to work out how other travellers and video bloggers are coping with this and have found that there are many ways to monetise but most of them take a considerable amount of time. And that`s because it can take a long, long, time to build up an audience of followers. (See 'Make Money Online' where you`ll find a list of some of the ways to make an online income). It appears the common denominator to be successful in all this is persistence. And to have a niche.
My niche is the older traveller who travels on a budget by volunteering. And there are also two sides to consider on this journey towards being a successful travel blogger. On the one side there is Content Creation. And on the other side there is Online Marketing. In reality, most successful travel bloggers do a little of both but they will favour and therefore concentrate on one of the two areas in particular depending on there interests. Are they the more creative sort? Or are they more into marketing? As I`m more interested in content creation, the creative sort, than I am in online marketing, I`ll be more likely to concentrate on this.
And it`s not a bad thing. Here`s why...
If the content I produce is interesting enough it will automatically build my reputation and visitors to my website will slowly increase naturally. I`ll be uploading my video work onto my you tube channel, facebook and travel community platforms such as tripfilms. These platforms are already established. It is easier to get views and followers on these established platforms than it is to start from scratch with your own website. Ebay is a classic example of this should you be an online retailer.
Another topic I`ve been closely researching is 'stock footage'. A few seconds of great video footage placed on sites such as shutterstock and pond5 can be sold again and again to companies and individuals looking for content for their own projects. As I`m going to be busy shooting, editing and uploading video anyway (in between my volunteer duties) I think, rather than getting bogged down with online marketing, it may be a good idea to send a few of my best clips this way to attempt to create a little income. I`ve read that one such 6 second video clip of a popular tourist destination has earned it`s creator over $5,000 in a little over a year.
As for online marketing... Website optimisation and online marketing could eventually be handled by recruiting one of the many established experts you can now find on websites such as Fivver.
And before you ask what has this post got to do with my niche. Well, it has everything to do with it. It`s about how you can make money from almost anywhere therefore travelling on a budget. Whether or not I`ll have the time to write many blog posts like this once I get out on the road is another thing though. Other than my volunteering tasks, the video work will come first.
:-)
Fortunately I have a little money to enable me to travel but I don`t want to use all of this up because eventually it will run out. So, I`ve been doing much research and reading of late trying to work out how other travellers and video bloggers are coping with this and have found that there are many ways to monetise but most of them take a considerable amount of time. And that`s because it can take a long, long, time to build up an audience of followers. (See 'Make Money Online' where you`ll find a list of some of the ways to make an online income). It appears the common denominator to be successful in all this is persistence. And to have a niche.
My niche is the older traveller who travels on a budget by volunteering. And there are also two sides to consider on this journey towards being a successful travel blogger. On the one side there is Content Creation. And on the other side there is Online Marketing. In reality, most successful travel bloggers do a little of both but they will favour and therefore concentrate on one of the two areas in particular depending on there interests. Are they the more creative sort? Or are they more into marketing? As I`m more interested in content creation, the creative sort, than I am in online marketing, I`ll be more likely to concentrate on this.
And it`s not a bad thing. Here`s why...
If the content I produce is interesting enough it will automatically build my reputation and visitors to my website will slowly increase naturally. I`ll be uploading my video work onto my you tube channel, facebook and travel community platforms such as tripfilms. These platforms are already established. It is easier to get views and followers on these established platforms than it is to start from scratch with your own website. Ebay is a classic example of this should you be an online retailer.
Another topic I`ve been closely researching is 'stock footage'. A few seconds of great video footage placed on sites such as shutterstock and pond5 can be sold again and again to companies and individuals looking for content for their own projects. As I`m going to be busy shooting, editing and uploading video anyway (in between my volunteer duties) I think, rather than getting bogged down with online marketing, it may be a good idea to send a few of my best clips this way to attempt to create a little income. I`ve read that one such 6 second video clip of a popular tourist destination has earned it`s creator over $5,000 in a little over a year.
As for online marketing... Website optimisation and online marketing could eventually be handled by recruiting one of the many established experts you can now find on websites such as Fivver.
And before you ask what has this post got to do with my niche. Well, it has everything to do with it. It`s about how you can make money from almost anywhere therefore travelling on a budget. Whether or not I`ll have the time to write many blog posts like this once I get out on the road is another thing though. Other than my volunteering tasks, the video work will come first.
:-)
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