I spent most of the day last Sunday working on some pretty annoying little jobs and fix-ups that have been long overdue. Although I’ve been motivated lately thanks to a serious kick in the pants, the work was pretty dull and my mind was wandering to more interesting things like the Travel Blog Exchange 2009 that was taking place in Chicago that day. I couldn’t get their live video feed to work so I resorted to following the updates on Twitter where loads of people were keeping everyone informed.

Nomadic Matt spoke as part of a panel of guests and people were Tweeting some of the things he had to say. One of the main things he said that struck a chord with me was the idea of being the expert in your chosen niche - of owning it. Be the best in whatever field you choose and people (including advertisers) will search you out, rather than the other way around. It was a nice reminder because this is a goal I had originally had but have since lost sight of.

My intention several years ago when I started my working holidays website was to position myself as an expert in this area. I wanted my site to be a one-stop location for information on all of the visa possiblities for eligible people from English-speaking countries. I had planned to know the stuff inside out, keep on top of updates and be the go-to place for young people looking to work abroad.

Well plans are a great thing but the hard part is seeing them through. I haven’t updated that site since I created it a few years ago. Working holiday visa rules are changing all the time and keeping on top of things will take a committment from me beyond what I have given so far. I also think that it is difficult to position yourself as an expert with a static site. People want to see a face behind the advice. They want to interact and, while I have helped many people by email, I think posting replies to comments is a much better way to engage people.

I think I have a great opportunity to take a running at really owning this niche. My site is ranked number one across Google from several countries for ‘working holidays’ and on top of tha tI get loads of more specific long-tail searches from people looking for specific country information. I also have a bit of experience in this area having travelled twice on the official working holiday visa to New Zealand and Australia. I have also worked in Scotland, Ireland and England on my British passport. Throw in a bit of experience living in a popular destination for English teachers like Beijing and some time spent WWOOFing and I think I’ve got a pretty well-rounded set of experiences to draw from.

This is a pretty lucrative niche and there are plenty of companies out there trying to help the working traveller get a visa, arrange their first few nights, sell information packs, sell memberships to working holiday job boards and much more. So far I have only tapped into Adsense and that’s just plain crazy. Madness!

Positioning myself as an expert in this niche by adding a blog, keeping the site updated and getting myself out there using social media is something I will be working on once I get back to Canada in a couple of weeks and it will be a major part of my ‘I need to start treating this like a business‘ plan. It will be a huge challenge but I think I am already in a very good position with the site I have and I’m looking forward to seeing where I can go with this.

Do you guys think it’s possible these days to ‘own a niche’ given all of the information out there already? Do you think adding a face to a static website is something that adds value for the everyday reader?

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I really loved Nicaragua and would come back here for sure when I’m more in the mood for travelling. I think towards the end of my time here I was just sort of fed up with living out of my backpack (never thought that would happen!) and sort of looking forward to New York. There’s a lot to explore though and I have a return ticket in mid October so we will see what happens.

Pros

• Affordable accommodation - The cheapest place I slept was in a hammock at a place called Little Morgan’s on Ometepe for $3 per night. It was the first time I have ever slept in a hammock and it was actually really comfy and really nice to see the sunrise without having to get out of bed. Hostel dorm beds go for around $6-8 which isn’t as cheap as in Asia (where this price would get you your own room) but it is pretty cheap and all of the places I stayed at were of a good quality.
• Cheap street and market eating - Street food can be had for under $2 for a decent sized feed. People will also sell chicken, salad and plantain chips in little bags on the buses and ferries for a buck. Markets are also a great place to shop as you will get fruit and veggies at a fraction of the price they are found at in supermarkets.
• Cheap and good transportation - Buses in Nicaragua are cheap. A two hour journey won’t cost much more than $2 and sometimes that’s on a nice bus with reclining seats. Even the so-called ‘chicken buses’ aren’t that bad. They’re old school buses and, while they can get crowded, they’re not bad at all. I wouldn’t want to be on one for ten hours, but for shorter journeys they’re fine. Getting to the Atlantic Coast by bus is a bit of a nightmare involving several days but if you plan on doing the usual stuff up and down the Pacific Coast then buses are a great choice. If you do want to head to the Atlantic, flights can be bought to the Corn Islands for about $60 one-way which is a fixed price.
• Interesting recent history - Nicaragua has been pretty much screwed over for years and fairly recently. Many people are passionate about politics and if you are able to communicate you will hear some interesting personal stories and opinions.
• Relatively safe - Statistically, Nicaragua is one of the safest countries in Central America and I remember reading somewhere that it is actually the safest, but I’m not sure on that one. What I do know is that I never felt unsafe while I was there. I walked alone at night in Managua (albeit in one of the better areas) and arrived at night into one of the bus stations and it wasn’t scary at all. I think the Nicaraguans were more scared for me which should maybe tell me something, but I never had any bad experiences. The worst thing I experienced was a chick fight on a bus on Ometepe which apparently was a long standing feud.
• Nice people - I can’t think of one time I had a bad encounter with a Nicaraguan besides the usual machismo sort of thing. Even the taxi drivers who were trying to rip me off were nice and bargaining with them was fun. People are more than happy to chat and, in my experience, they’re some of the friendliest and fun loving people I’ve come across.
• They speak Spanish - I want to learn Spanish so this was a huge advantage for me. Spanish courses are apparently not as cheap as in Guatemala, but they’re still affordable. The first course I took in Leon was $110 per week (living in a hostel) and the second attempt at learning Spanish cost me $130 per week to live with a family near Esteli. I can’t imagine it getting much cheaper than that. Few people outside of the tourist industry seem to speak English and are approachable and willing to chat with you.
• Decent internet connections - The internet in Nicaragua isn’t super fast, but it’s not terrible, either. Actually, it’s terrible on some places, but those were places where I was amazed to be getting it in the first place like the farm I worked on a side of a volcano.
• Variety of travel options - Within Nicaragua you can chill out on an island, hang out on the side of a volcano, learn to surf in a beach town, head up to the hills and check out the coffee plantations, go to the Atlantic Coast for a more Caribbean feel, head down the Rio Coco or Rio San Juan by canoe, or travel inland to visit minority villages. There is so much to do here. Plus if you get bored of Nicaragua, other Central American countries are easy and cheap to get to.
• Close to home - I’m from Canada and my family lives there and it was nice to be on the same side of the world for a change. It’s sort of reassuring in a way to know that home is only a shortish flight away.

Cons

• Supermarkets are expensive - If you decide you want to get away from street or market food and want to cook for yourself, be prepared to pay a lot more to stock up in the supermarkets. If you can manage to get your fruit and veggies in the markets and the rest at the supermarket you will save a bunch.
• Weather - I’m not one for the heat and Leon is one of the hottest places I’ve ever been and the other places aren’t much better. If you love the heat then you will love it here because it’s relentless.
• Mosquitoes - Nicaragua has the fastest, smartest mosquitoes I have ever come across and they enjoyed dining on my feet and ankles. Normally I wouldn’t put this as a con for a place but it was really bad. It drove me away from Ometepe because they were so bad. The first time I was there at the end of the dry season there was no problem but when I returned during the rainy season they were on the rampage.
• Boring parties - I have been to two Nicaraguan ‘parties’ and have heard the same thing from foreigners who have lived here for years. A Nica party usually consists of everyone sitting around, sipping pop, eating cake and not talking. It’s strange. If I were at a party like that I would be making excuses to leave but people just sit there for ages. Nobody really talks and nobody is making excuses to leave. I think when booze is thrown into the mix then things get a bit more interesting but for things like goodbye parties, children’s birthday parties and stuff like that, there isn’t usually booze involved. I would be curious to hear about other people’s experiences!

I had a pretty chilled time in Nicaragua. I wasn’t really in the mood for travelling and I was getting sort of bored of the usual backpacker conversations. I must be getting old. But I had a really good time working on the farm in Ometepe and met a few people who I will keep in touch with. My Spanish sucks but it went from non-existent to sucky which is a pretty big step up, I would say. It also got me interested in learning more and sticking with it. Overall I really loved Nicaragua and would recommend it to anyone.

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The other day my internet buddy Lis wrote a post on her blog called Online Income: One Simple Secret to Success and mentioned me in it. The one simple step? Treating your online income making efforts like a business. She mentioned me in the post because in June she made more than me and I’m someone who has been at this for a lot longer than her. Her point was that I’m not treating this like a business and she’s right.

One of my problems is that I’ve never been motivated by money, certainly not just for the sake of having it and definitely not if it comes at the expense of my time. What motivates me most is having the time and the means to to do what I want to do when I want to do it. Obviously this takes money but since I left my job and started travelling in January 2008 there hasn’t been anything I have wanted to do that I didn’t because I didn’t have the money. Because I’ve been travelling in cheap countries and doing long stints of volunteer work in exchange for accommodation and food along the way, earning $1000-$1500 a month with the occasional $2000 month has been plenty. So while I would obviously like to, I haven’t really gone out of my way too much to try to earn more.

Each earnings update post I’ve written for the past two years nearly I almost always say I’m happy with the amount I’ve earned but still list off a bunch of other things I should be doing or plan to do to increase that amount. I haven’t done most of those things though, party due to not being completely motivated, partly due to bad net connections for long periods of time, partly due to laziness and mostly due to being happy with the status quo.

Well now,for the first time, I am in a situation when I’m not able to do what I want to do because I haven’t got the money for it and I don’t like it one bit. I would love to spend a month or so living in New York and, while I could pull it off, it would leave me in a really bad place financially. So without being able to count on much more than $1000 in income, it would be a risky move. Plus I have a bunch of annoying expenses this month like driver’s license and passport renewals, jabs for Africa and I need to get my camera repaired so I’m thinking that renting a place in NYC and living it up for a month would be a bad move at this stage. So now, finally, I’m starting to get motivated.

In a comment response Nomadic Matt says something along the lines of needing to reassess where I am after six months and I think I’m at that point now. I need to reassess, see what’s working and what’s not and, most importantly I think, put into action all of those plans and ideas I’ve been putting off for the past year. Actually, that’s not true, I don’t need to but this time I want to.

Lis is right that you need to treat your internet stuff as a business in order to earn an income that will replace what you might have earned offline. Am I willing to give the travelling a rest for the next six months to concentrate on my business? Well… no, not just yet. But I am going to put in a hell of an effort for the next two or three months and see where that gets me.

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I tried, I really did. I spent about 20 hours over two days with my eyes fixed on that godforsaken Wordpress theme editor page only to find myself back at square one this morning. I have decided to develop a site about backpacking in Africa on my Wanderstruck domain and have lots of ideas, but little know how. This has meant that I’ve flushed some serious time down the toilet while attempting to bring my ideas to fruition.

If I were just going for a standard blog I would be ok. I can do that. But I would much rather the site act less like a blog and more like a guide, with a blog as a small add-on for when I start my travels on the continent next year. I want to use Wordpress as a Content Management System (CMS) for the first time, rather than sticking with HTML like I have with all of my other sites. I have everything clearly laid out and know exactly how I want the site to work but it’s all stuck in my head and I don’t have the skills to get what’s in my head onto the web.

That’s where Mike from Blog Theme Machine (soon to be Made by Guerrilla) comes in. He shot me an email last month after finding my blog on some list of making money online blogs. It was pretty much an unsolicited sales pitch offering a redesign of Nerdy Nomad for $500. Normally I would delete this sort of thing but the email was nicely written and I replied that I didn’t want Nerdy Nomad redesigned, thanks anyways and good luck on your projects. He replied ‘no problem, thanks yadda yadda yadda’ and that was that.

Well after my bouts with extreme frustration over the past couple of days, his email popped into my head and I went to his site to check out his work. Good stuff and $500 seems like a fair price so I emailed him to see if he could make Wordpress do what I want it to do for Wanderstruck and it turns out he can.

After wasting two full days on nothing (I don’t even feel like I learned anything helpful) I think I’m beginning to see the value in spending a bit of money to free up my time for doing the things I’m good at. It will take Mike a fraction of the time to create a much better site than I would be able to make and, more importantly, it will free me up to work on other things. This is the first time I will be spending any significant amount of money on a website, actually. It’s sort of a big step but I’m really excited to see what Mike can come up with. I will write more posts as the creative process begins to try to give an idea of what is involved in having someone else do work for you.

What do you guys think? Is it silly to spend $500 on a custom theme when I could stumble and bumble my way through and make a semi-decent one myself? Or do you think that freeing up my time to do other things makes spending $500 worth it?

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Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua, is notorious for having dodgy taxi drivers. Cabbies in the rest of the country seem to be required to charge a set amount per ride but in Managua, it’s a free for all and they really try to milk the tourists for all they can.

Here are a few tips for dealing with Managua cab drivers that should be transferrable to any city with cabbies looking to take advantage of travellers.

• Have an idea of the fare in advance - One of the hardest things about arriving in a new city is knowing what a fair price to pay for taxis is. Many cabbies who pick you up at airports prey on new arrivals into the country (drivers in Manila, I’m talking to you!) so asking someone at your accommodation in advance what the fare should be from point A to point B will make bargaining much easier.
• Know your destination - Printing out a map or learning how to say the address in the local language is handy. It’s also a good idea to find out if there is a landmark nearby that taxi drivers will know. Most times cabbies are good about knowing hostels in smaller, more touristy towns but in bigger, less touristy places it isn’t the case and communicating your location can be difficult. It also helps to have a phone number for your accommodation on hand in case all else fails.
• Learn a bit of the language - Knowing how to say ‘it’s very close’ and ‘that’s too expensive’ has helped me many times with my taxi fare negotiations. If you want to get a bit more advanced, learning how to say somethig along the lines of ‘I’ve taken this trip before for x price’ is helpful too… even if you haven’t.
• Negotiate with a smile - Don’t let the crazy prices they ask throw you off. Keep your fare negotations friendly and remember that, even though it’s scummy to take advantage of visitors, an easy buck is a hard thing for many people to pass up.
• Don’t be afraid to walk away - If you feel uncomfortable when dealing with a taxi driver, just walk away. If you feel uneasy for any reason, trust your instincts as there are usually plenty of other rides around. Don’t be afraid to venture a bit outside the bus or station either to taxis on the street where there will be more choice and a chance at a better fare.
• Be wary of drivers who quote fares in US dollars - Unless you’re in the US or somewhere that only accepts US currency, it is very likely that taxi drivers who ask for the fare in US dollars are out to scam you big time. In Nicaragua US dollars are widely accepted, but I doubt very much that drivers quote their fares to locals in dollars. I expect cabbies in Managua to ask for more money but the ones who ask in dollars almost always out-scam those that give a fare in cordobas by a large margin.
• Think about what you’re bargaining over - If it comes down to haggling over a small amount, I usually just suck it up and pay extra, even if I know I’m getting ripped off. It’s not worth my time to haggle over small amounts and preserving my bargaining pride is something I haven’t been worried about for a long time.
• Make them turn on the meter - This tip is more for Manila but it probably applies to other places as well. If a driver refuses to turn on his meter, just get out of the taxi because you will end up paying much more. In Manila they will say that traffic is heavy and they are doing you a favour… they’re not. I took enough cabs in this city, with meter and without (going back and forth to the Bangladeshi embassy) to know that you will always be better off on the meter.
• Don’t give aggressive cabbies your business - I have been in many situations where drivers have all out tried to grab my stuff or even pushed other drivers out of the way to get my business. I used to just go with them just because it was easier and the situation was a bit intimidating but these days I don’t. There’s no reason to give your business to a dickhead. If someone grabs my bag, I grab it right back off of him. If I’m being surrounded by loads of aggressive drivers, I will often push past them to someone who seems more laid back hanging out in the background.

Taxi drivers in many cities will try to take advantage of travellers but with a bit of preparation you can guard against their scamming ways. In my travels the worst places for taxi driver scams have been Manila and Managua. Which cities have you had your worst taxi ripoff experiences in?

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Last year I decided that I wanted to start a blog to keep family, friends and stalkers updated on where I was and what I was doing, without all of the nerdy internet stuff mixed in. I started Wanderstruck with this in mind and put in a good effort for a few months but wasn’t able to keep at it the way I had hoped. Earlier this year I gave up and transferred all of the travel posts over to this blog and as a result, Wanderstruck died. R.I.P.

But I still think the domain name is fantastic and I really want to develop something on there, I’m just not really sure what. Here are my ideas, I would love to know what you think.

Travel Magazine Type Site

While writing about travel in general is something I really like, it’s also something that has been done to death and done well by people like Vagabondish, Nomadic Matt and Matador. I had sort of been thinking about possible niches and the best I could come up with was a site dedicated to super long term budget travellers. People that sell all their crap and just go for a lot longer than a year, with few plans for the future and nothing holding them back. While I think I’ve got a few good articles in me, Im not sure how long I would be able to repeatedly come up with good stuff that has’t already been said. I could attempt to attract contributors but that could end up being a lot more work than I’m willing to take on just now.

Africa Independent Travel Site

At this point I know less than nothing about travelling in Africa. For me it is still a scary, dangerous place and, while I know nowhere is ever as bad as ‘they’ say it is, Africa still scares me a bit. But it also fascinates me and seems to be one of the few places in the world that not a lot is written about as far as independent travel goes. I would love to create a site to fill this void, sort of in a similar style to what Travelfish and has done for parts of Asia. Become an expert on a region and do it really, really well. Africa is obviously huge so I might start small with whichever countries I head to first and go from there. I have zero knowledge to share at this stage but I have all the time in the world, a love of slow travel, a huge amount of interest in the area and am up for a bit of an adventure. This is a project I think I could really get behind.

Sell the Site/Domain Name

I’ve also considered just selling the thing. I don’t know the first thing about selling sites or domain names but one person expressed interest, although I’mnot sure for how much. I have a different and really ambitious project in the pipeline involving programmers and designers and all sorts so maybe taking on another big project will be too much and unloading it would be better.

I’m all ears if anyone has any suggestions or comments on the ideas I have. Let me know what you think.

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I’m always on the lookout for interesting volunteering opportunities all around the world and know that they can be hard to come by. Not because there aren’t plenty out there, but because there are plenty of shitty ones to sift through that can make finding the legit opportunities difficult. Seeing ‘volunteering experiences’ being packaged and sold for thousands of dollars really annoys me.

I’ll stop my rant there and no doubt pick it up in another post. This post instead is about highlighting some of those legitimate organisations in need of volunteers all over Nicaragua. I’ve worked for one, heard great things about some of the others and have read up on the rest and think I’ve got a list that is devoid of mysterious admin fees and committed to helping Nicaraguans rather than padding the pockets of middlemen.

So if you’re in Nicaragua and want to do something interesting and useful, check these out:

Project Bona Fide

I worked on this Ometepe farm for a total of six weeks and had a really great time. They are non-profit and their major goal is to demonstrate what sorts of foods can be grown in the area so that people aren’t reliant solely on their rice, beans and maize crops. They are heavily involved in the community and offer computer and english classes to locals at the farm-owned, Balgue community centre. They run a scholarship program and are currently training three locals daily in various aspects of permaculture. Volunteers need to pay $10 per day for stays of less than a month and $200 per month for longer stays. Fees go towards your food, the cook’s salary and various farm projects.

Casas de la Esperanza

I found out about these guys from a lady I met at Project Bona Fide who wouldn’t stop gushing about her experience. I’m annoyed with myself because I really wanted to work with them but all-out forgot about them until just now. My crappy memory strikes again. Most of the work is with community members building houses on land and with supplies they buy using non-interest micro-credit loans. It seems like a very interesting organisation and they spend 100% of donations on their projects.

Building New Hope

This organisation has been in Nicaragua and El Salvador since 1992 operating career training centres, alternative schools, literacy programmes and helping the communities sell organic coffee. Volunteers with an intermediate level of Spanish who can commit to at least a month can help as teaching assistants, tutors, or even as a guest chef.

Tortuga English School

I heard about this place from a group of students who worked at Finca Bona Fide with me for a couple of weeks. Tortuga was to be their next stop and they talked a little about what they knew about it. I recently saw poster for the school and read up a bit. It sounds like a really interesting, grassroots sort of experience teaching English to locals in a community not far from San Juan Del Sur. I couldn’t find a website for them but here are the contact details from the poster I saw: Angelica Cortez at amaryciel at hotmail.com.

La Esperanza Granada

This organisation’s focus is educating and tending to the medical needs of children in some of the poorest areas in Granada. There is no cost to volunteer but you must pay for your own living and transportation costs in Granada (although there is volunteer housing available for $20 per week). Volunteers need to have an intermediate level of Spanish and the minimum time requirement is usually 8 weeks.

Quetzal Trekkers

This organisation operates out of Leon and also in Guatamala. Their aim is to raise money to help the area’s street children by running camping tours and hikes in the volcano-rich areas around Leon. Volunteers need to commit to 3 months and pay a $40 deposit that is returned after 3 months. You need to pay your own living expenses in Leon but food on the hikes is included. Basic Spanish, trekking and first aid experience are all required.

Miraflor Nature Reserve

Volunteering opportunities in Miraflor had previously been arranged by an organisation called The Nest Trust but they don’t do this anymore. Volunteering opportunities are still available in the area though and they have a page on their website with some links that will help you make your own connections.

Jubilee House

While I was at Finca Bona Fide a group of Jubilee House volunteers came to visit the farm along with their volunteer coordinator. They told us all about the project and it sounds very interesting. The things they’ve managed to accomplish and plans for the future are very impressive. There is a six month commitment for individual volunteers and you must pay $5 per day to cover room, board and work-related transportation costs.

Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos

This orphanage is part of a larger network of children’s homes throughout Central America and Haiti. The Nicaragua home opened in Granada in 1994 and welcomes volunteers who are over 21 and able to commit to working with them for a year. Volunteers are expected to pay their own travel expenses but once they get there, room and board are provided along with a small monthly stipend.

Rancho Esperanza

The Rancho is accommodation located in Jiquilillo and they’re always looking for people to help out with various community or property development projects. Long term, managerial-type placements are free and shorter term opportunities cost $95 per week with part of the cost going towards food and accommodation and the rest towards whatever project you will be working on. There are different projects going on at any one time that require different levels of Spanish and minimum stays.

In my experiences, there are plenty of volunteering opportunities all over the place, you just need to get to the country, talk to people, read a few guesthouse message boards and all of a sudden you’re volunteering and it doesn’t cost thousands of dollars to do it! If you’ve got any more suggestions for Nicaragua, add them to the comments, I would love to check them out.

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Bah to June! More of the same. I came in at just over $1000 which is twice as much as I’m spending but I’m getting sort of sick of being stuck around this amount. I had this problem when I first started out, not being able to get above the $100 mark for ages and then getting stuck at $300 for awhile too.

Earnings Breakdown:

• Google Adsense - $275 - Adsense is also floating around at the same spot. This month is looking up though plus I have a bunch of websites that I think will do well with Adsense that I’m working on getting into the SERPs.
• Affiliate Sales - $684 - My living in London site is getting a lot of traffic these days and I think it’s about time I load it up with some affiliate programs. I have a few that are good matches and I’m curious to see if I can make them work.
• Linkworth - $10 - For $10 a month I’m not sure why I risk the possible backlash from Google. I think I will give them the heave-ho at th eend of this month.
• Private Link Sales - $30 - No new ads and a few cancellations. I haven’t really been pursuing link sales as I’ve been wanting to move away from them but I still really need them to pad my income so I might stop being so passive in this area.

I’m hoping these new sites I’ve built will show up in the Google results soon. Plus I’m still waiting for my living in Sydney site to get any Google love at all which is frustrating because I know that will turn into a nice little earner when it does. I plan to put some serious time into link building for them once I get back to Managua in a week.

I think these past few months have been evidence of the fact that I didn’t do much work at all earlier in the year. I’ve been playing catch up since I’ve been in Nicaragua as best as I can and am feeling pretty positive about the sites I’ve just launched and the projects I have on the go. Roll on July!

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