A short while ago I wrote this post about the emerging online market for travel writing. I explained how changes in search engine and social media technology were causing commercial travel websites to start seeing themselves as travel publishers in their own right, opening up significant new opportunities for professional travel journalists. The idea is [...]
About four years ago, in a fit of naivety and suffering from a serious case of itchy feet… …I jacked in my steady career job in PR, bought an entry level D-SLR camera and booked a ticket to South America. I had it all worked out; I was going to become a travel writer. I [...]
Opportunity is a very interesting thing. It’s always there, even when few can see it. On the one hand, travel writers everywhere bemoan the shrinking opportunities to get published in print, as well as the steady decline in pay. And yet others point to growth in online opportunities and the ease with which nearly anyone [...]
No one wants to think that their website sucks. And no one wants to admit that it might, even when it does. But what does that even mean? At its core, a website has to do something for you, otherwise what is the point of having one? Just what it “does” for you is, of [...]
The typical freelance writing process involves coming up with an idea and then querying a magazine, ezine or other publication for a one-time working relationship. Sometimes, as you get to know an editor, you establish a rapport that leads to multiple writing assignments. As a freelancer, those are the gigs I like best – the [...]
Years ago, I was on a press trip in Africa. As we were bumping along through the savannah, one of my fellow journalists was flipping through a stack of magazines he had brought along for what I guess he considered dull moments. He could have been on a plane, he could have been in his [...]
One of the very first things I had to accept about the kind of travel writing I do is that it’s a service. While I was inspired by the likes of Lawrence Durrell, Paul Theroux and Jan Morris, I was writing for a Condé Nast magazine. Articles had to be short and to the point, [...]
Sometimes a story gets better the more it’s told. This is especially true if you get paid for each telling. When you write an article and sell it to multiple sources as a syndicated piece, you are seizing the opportunity to tell your story over and over to a larger audience of readers. Travel pieces [...]
Here’s a way to turn your knowledge into cash..woo hoo! To celebrate the launch of their new user submission service, How To Books (www.howto.co.uk), is running a contest through July 2010 for the best “how to” article submitted to their site, for which the winner will receive £200 (that’s roughly $300 USD), and that’s on [...]
EDITOR’S NOTE: The links below are now going to a DIFFERENT (but still good) video – the prior program of free videos has NOW CLOSED. You can still watch the new video (it’s about an hour) to get some good information without any obligation to sign up for his course. Every day I get email [...]
Twitter has become enormously popular. Celebrities such as Oprah are on Twitter. Ok, Oprah is probably not tweeting herself, but someone from her organization is. It’s a great way to keep fans and followers up-to-date on what is going in your life or to promote your blog or website. Instead of spending hours every day [...]
Now travel writers can monetize their reviews. In my never ending search for inspiring retreat holiday destinations I’ve just stumbled across a new travel website called Simon Seeks. The site has been created by Simon Nixon, that’s the guy behind moneysupermaket.com and travelsupermarket.com. He’s used his internet enabled brain to create what may be the [...]
Hi everyone! I’m “Suzy”, from the Case Study. Some of you may know me as Nancy D. Brown from the “What a Trip” blog. As Trisha mentioned in our interview, we met on a press trip. I distinctly remember her asking me about what keywords I wanted to rank for on my blog and [...]
If you’re wondering what this Case Study is all about, please read the introductory post from Week One. You can browse through all the older installments here. I promised you a video interview. And dagnabbit I’m gonna’ give you folks a video interview, even if it’s not oscar-worthy. At the last minute [...]
Who doesn’t love a giveaway? Especially one that is for a really great prize? Yes, we have a really great prize you can win! I’m thrilled to announce that Lisa Lambden, whom we interviewed last week about her new project, the New York Video School, has graciously offered us the opportunity to [...]
