Entrepreneur

Oct 24
0
The business of travel blogging - sponsored travel

The Business of Travel Blogging – Sponsored Travel

Posted by | Entrepreneur, Social Media, sponsored travel, Traveling Tips | 15 Comments

When you look at the vast majority of people who get into travel blogging or have started travel blogs in the last few years (since around 2010), you will notice a trend. They all think that sponsored travel is something that grows on trees and is given out to anyone and everyone and it is generally the sole reason that they start a travel blog: to get free travel.

What they fail to take into consideration is that the vast majority of us who are earning sponsored travel have spent years building up our reputations, our traffic, our businesses, and the personal relationships with travel industry leaders and tourism representatives.

Not to mention we understand the basic principles of professionalism, publishing and marketing that relate to running a business. So with that in mind, consider the following a guide on how to professionally work with DMOs and sponsors within the niche that you have chosen for your blog, how to build up relationships for brand ambassadorships, and how to go from the 99% into the 1% of successful travel bloggers. Read More

Sep 19
1
TBEX 2014 Cancun, Mexico

TBEX 2014 Cancun, Mexico – The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Posted by | Blogging, Entrepreneur, Social Media, TBEX | 38 Comments

There are high points in your career that anyone who does something long enough will recognize as turning points. Completing a difficult degree. Earning your first promotion. Landing that dream job. Earning your first published piece with a respected publishing outlet. Landing your first sponsored gig…and then getting to the point where your sponsorships continue to roll in. And for those of you who are in the blogging world, getting an invite to speak at the TBEX travel blog convention is up there on the list.

So for me, personally, it was a definite high point of the year to receive my invitation to speak at the convention as one of the featured speakers covering a session on day one just after the opening keynote on advanced Facebook marketing and management tactics, as well as being able to cover a pair of blog posts for them on Cancun beyond the Hotel Zone and its numerous parks and plazas. But even though the event itself was another notch on the belt in an already adventure-packed series of gigs and opportunities in the past few years, I would be remiss if I didn’t cover both sides of the coin. Read More

Jun 13
0
Latin America

Doing Business In Latin America

Posted by | Blogging, Entrepreneur | 2 Comments

Any time you get into the business side of dealing with another country, you’ll find that things vary dramatically from the way things work in your home country. If there’s one mistake I see bloggers and travelers coming into Latin America make, it’s the #1 mistake in the book: a lack of know-how in navigating cultural differences and the assumption that it will work just like it does in <insert home country/primary audience here>.

What works back home or for your English/French/German/Insert-Favorite-Language-Here audience doesn’t necessarily translate into the Latin way of doing things. And if you plan on making any sort of deals here in Latin America, you are going to have to unlearn everything you think you know about business…because it doesn’t apply.  Read More

Mar 18
0
Us

Life on the Road – The Business of Travel Blogging

Posted by | Blogging, Entrepreneur, Live Like a Local, Writing | 2 Comments

Is finally here!

After three months of hard work, we’re finally publishing our latest book: Life on the Road – The Business of Travel Blogging.

Forget the Photoshopped and filtered photos and videos that show up as the final result in blog posts. These are the nuts and bolts of blogging that are normally completely behind the scenes; the 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. grind, the morning edits, emails, social media routines, article planning, drafting, editing, photo shoots, planning for video shoots, mosquitoes and sweaty jungle-crawling, blisters from riding a pack-mule through the mountains for three days, scheduling, nightmare rides at night in rickety vans through the mountains, proposals, press tours, press kits, meetings, presentations, negotiations, film shoots, editing film and photos, cutting and splicing, processing and uploading, sharing and networking, public relations and beyond. Read More

Feb 06
0
Mexican Vendors

Mexico: A Culture of Entrepreneurs

Posted by | Entrepreneur, Mexico | 9 Comments

Ingenuity. Entrepreneurship. Imagination. Creativity.

Call it what you will, but at the root of every successful business is a key component that relates to the ability to work outside of the system and think outside of the box. From multimillion dollar businesses all the way down to local street vendors, it all comes down to your willpower and ability to push yourself to the limits, rather than be defined by a 40-hour work week and punching a time card while cruising by on the bare minimum following someone else’s guidelines. Read More