I got an email yesterday from a guy who’s putting together a trip for some travel agents and writers around Uganda. Actually, it’s so close to the departure date that I’m sure the thing has been arranged for a long time already. It’s due to start on November 23rd and finish on December 2nd with lots of goodies thrown in, including chimp tracking and, the biggie at $500, gorilla trekking.
After getting the email I thanked him but had to refuse given that I had just returned to Kigali from Uganda and, more importantly, that a permaculture course I’ve signed up for is due to start 600kms outside of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia on December 2nd. I didn’t even look at the itinerary and didn’t give it a second thought. But he emailed me back today saying I could finish the tour a bit early which led me to look at the itinerary and now I’m thinking that this is too good an opportunity to pass up.
Lucky for me, I haven’t booked my flights yet to Addis. Luckier for me, flying to Addis from Entebbe (Uganda’s main airport near Kampala) is cheaper than flying from Kigali. Unlucky for me, gorilla trekking is on the 29th, the day I was hoping to fly to Addis in order to be able to catch a ride to the farm the next day. Lucky for me I can take a flight instead from Addis to the farm town on December 1st in time to start the course the next day. So, it looks like I’m going to be spontaneous and just go for it. I’m pretty excited to meet some people in the travel industry, as well.
Besides scamming a free Busabout pass back when my only website was Travoholic.com, I’ve never been offered freebies besides the occasional book to review. I’ve never pursued them either even though I’m sure I could have landed at least a few during my travels. I don’t have anything against them, I’ve just ever really thought much about them… until a few weeks ago when I read a comment somewhere by Gary from Everything Everywhere. It might have been on his forum, I don’t remember. His point was basically that people use money to buy stuff so if you can get the stuff, then that’s just as good as earning the money. I think he was talking about how his blog doesn’t necessarily earn lots of cash, but he does get a lot of free things and trips out of it.
Then, yesterday before I got the Uganda offer, I was reading Nomadic Matt’s post over on Problogger where he talks about being a personality and making a name for yourself online, and then also mentions the alternative of staying more behind-the-scenes. I feel like bloggers who are able to establish a personal brand are very likely to land lots of freebies, trips, speaking gigs and accolades which can be very valuable, not to mention fun.
I would say I’ve been a more behind-the-scenes web marketer. If you go to any of my websites you’re not going to find my personality shining through. I might have an ‘About’ page, but that’s about it and, even still, I don’t even know if any of them link to my blog. I might have accidentally established myself as someone who’s making money online and travelling, but I wouldn’t say that I’m an online travel personality or that I really want to be. But am I missing out on lots of cool opportunities by not pimping myself more? Probably.
So I guess my point is, when you’re starting up a blog, don’t forget about the non-cash incentives out there. It’s not all abut making $5 a month with Adsense. True, freebies don’t pay the bills, but for travel bloggers (who, I’m guessing, love to travel) they can be a nice perk. I was planning on spending that $500 to do the gorilla trek in Rwanda (actually, another lucky thing is that I didn’t book it and pay for it last week, which I almost did) so that’s $500 that stays in my pocket.
Establishing yourself as an online travel personality isn’t easy, especially with the seemingly zillions of other bloggers out there, but it’s something to aim for, especially as more and more companies seek to reach their markets through the blogging community (like Gap Adventures are creatively doing at the moment).
Would you say you’re more of a behind-the-scenes web marketer or is your aim to be a well-known blogger in whichever industry you’re in?
I would say I am a more “behind the scenes” marketer but even then I have received all sorts of freebies over the years. The keys are really visibility and influence in my experience.
You don’t necessarily need to be a well-known individual (though that helps) but if your website is high traffic then this alone will land you all sorts of things. From affiliate managers offering you crazy “unadvertised” deals if you feature them on your site to free products to review.
A few examples are an affiliate manager who *guaranteed* me a minimum monthly affiliate payout – irrespective of the sales I made – of $1000 a month if I featured him on the homepage of one of my sites. That’s enough to go and live full time in a developing country. That one deal could change someone’s life.
Another time I ended up working for a well-known TV company as a consultant after they found one of my websites and we struck up a conversation.
Another time I got sent a $300 book (yes, they do exist) by a publisher who wanted my opinion and knew that if I liked it they could make lots of sales as a result.
And I’m not a celebrity. I just work hard to gain visibility for my sites rather than myself – and the opportunities appear like magic.
Congrats on your Uganda trip! The gorilla trekking was enough to get me to pay for my flights to/from Rwanda earlier this year. It’s a different kind of travel, being grouped with other bloggers/writers/editors/photographers and sticking to a busy itinerary, but it can be a lot of fun!
Like you, I haven’t been proactively seeking press trip opportunities, though I’m always excited when I’m approached about them. For now, I enjoy building websites and building my online income.
The way I figure, as long as I keep focused on that, I can afford to go just about wherever I want, build my authority as a travel personality, and make myself that much more marketable for the freebies down the line.
That’s so fabulous that you got a free trip!
I am definitely of the online personality persuasion. So far I haven’t gotten any big offers for free trips or anything like that. Hopefully some day. Being a “personality” also has it’s downsides. Once someone met me and then afterwards told people I wasn’t “as nice a person” as I come across on my blog. And then someone else said I was fatter than they expected. Sigh. Can’t please everybody.
Congrats on the trip – sounds like a lot of fun, especially with the gorillas, and the fact that they were willing to stay flexible with your schedule says a lot. Have fun with it!
I think Dan and I are more behind the scenes people as well. Another blogger we met in person recently reminded us that we sometimes forget to put ourselves in our writing and stories because we’re focused on the stories of others. I like that approach, but do think that sometimes we should have more of ourselves out there. But, we do like our privacy as well
It’s a balance like everything.
The course in Addis Ababa sounds really fascinating. Glad you’re able to make it all work!
The point I was making really applies mostly to people who live on the road or who are nomadic.
If you have a house, then going to a trip doesn’t remove any of the responsibilities for owning your house. You still have to pay your rent/mortgage and utilities while you are gone. Getting a free trip doesn’t help you with any of that.
If you are nomadic, then getting a free trip is the same as getting your rent paid for, for a week (or however long). If you got cash, you’d be spending that money on a place to stay and food anyhow, so the economics for someone who is nomadic is very different than for people who have a permanent residence.
More people are willing to part with travel, accommodations and food than they are with money.
Business isn’t just about revenue, it is about costs as well. If you can reduce your expenses, then the threshold for what you need in terms of revenue is drastically less.
I dare say it is easier to make a profit by reducing your costs this way than you can by increasing your revenues.
Kristy,
You I think you are selling yourself short. You go to many places that are off the normal tourist tracks. You do something different and I think you could get a lot of milage in promoting that.
You are out DOING stuff, not just talking about it.
Good for you that is awesome. How cool that you are able to get a free trip and get to your class cheaper than before. Have fun and let us know all about it.
Gary is right about costs and income, he is translating the basics of a retail business into travel blogging! In retail, it is always easier to increase your profit by buying your goods cheaper, than by selling them for more!
Creating a travel blog that is sucessful is difficult enough, turning yourself into a personality would be twice as tough!
The free trip sounds amazing!
I have just started to get into web design myself but for the moment i am happy to stay behind the scenes while im gaining some experience. Would love to hear how the trip goes
@richard I feel like having an influential site in your niche will lead companies in the know to learn who’s behind it. They want to influence and I guess it doesn’t matter if they do it through a personal recommendation from a well-known internet figure, or by having a partnership with a trusted site.
@dave Ya I’m not sure how I’ll cope with the time lines and luxury but I’m willing to have a crack at it! It’ll be cool to network with travel industry folks.
@kyle Nice site! Your personality certainly shines through.
@audrey I like the mix you guys have on your site. People definitely know who’s behind the words but you’re not always in their face and share different types of perspectives as well, which I like.
@gary That’s an interesting angle and not one I think many people think of when they get started. You’re probably right that I could push myself more with this blog but, truth be told, I don’t do as much as you think! I’m the master of going to places and hanging around and doing nothing!
@bruce Ya I agree, establishing your personality online, especially with so many people more or less doing the same thing, is difficult.
Nice work on the free trip. I’ve only attempted contacting a company before and telling them I have a blog and can promote them for a free trip (I was in Australia and had no money so thought I’d try my luck) and to my surprise I was welcomed for a free tour, and at the end offered another different tour too.
It’s surprising what you can get if you ask
I put my personality into my blog, but am not well known at all. But it’s still a useful presence.
Good to see that your momentum is building. First the increase in earnings and now the increase in influence. I hope you’ll have the opportunity to take some or all of the trip. I think we’re all anxious to see how this turns out for you.
I would think that taking advantage of these free trips might open some new doors for you. You never know who you will meet and what they can do for you (and you for them). It sounds like a win – win to me. Good luck!
Yeah I am agree with you Freebies always make your blog and even you popular on the website .
I am definitely more a behind the scenes webmaster/marketer, I tried to have a personal blog once and was going to attempt something similar to what a Tyler Cruz has established and some of the other bloggers but after running the blog for a few months I decided to drop it, I just realized I’d rather be more private than public about my internet entrepreneurship.
Till then,
Jean
I wish all the natives in uganda walked around nude like in the old days before the white man came to africa. Tourism would increase ten fold. That would be the only way you’d get me to go.
There are lots of tools available on internet and also freebies that totally free. Anyone can get the help of those by implementing those on blogs. Free traffic stats mostly the desired of many..
Hey Kristy!
I finally made it to Dar es Salaam about a week ago. Have been chilling out here with my family and eating lots of Indian food! I am quite surprised with my Fathers internet connection! It’s a bit hard to remember that the last time I was here (2.5 years ago), internet was the last thing on my mind, now it’s pretty close to first.
Sounds like you have a very interesting schedule ahead and incredible activities lined up. Looking forward to your updates.
Great point about non-cash incentives. If you are a travel blogger, your incentives are to travel and if incentives are translated into travel related activities, hopefully you have been successful. Most of my ideal travel itineraries involve just wandering around and making observations (free activities), if you can get there!
I’m heading up to Nairobi for a few weeks tomorrow to see some friends. Let me know if you come through!
Hope you enjoy Ethiopia too!
Mark
So how did the trip go? I am looking forward to your post about it.
U would must enjoy the freebie. You are right that it’s not easy to become an online travel blogger. U really need hard efforts and passion to travel around the world and blog about it.
Good point about freebies within the blogging and internet marketing industry. That can really act as extra incentive instead of it all just being about money. Each of those freebies is like a personal gift and who doesn’t like getting gifts? A lot of companies are willing to give things out for free just to get extra exposure and legitimate reviews.
Great post – I really hope you do the trek – have you decided? That has been a dream of mine, seriously. I actually have it as a goal in the back of my mind that I will have truly “made it” in the blogging world if I get offered that trip. I would cry tears of happiness for sure.
I would say currently i am a bit more behind the scenes but I am actually working on developing a bit more a personality. I would also say that the freebies are great but unless you are 100% debt free then you still need to pay the bills someway. But usually the freebies end up translating to ads because you have more awesome content, etc, etc.
Please go – i can’t wait to hear all about it. When you are out watching the gorillas – you will literally be living one of my life long dreams!
its great you have become an online rockstar, tell me when you start getting groupies
Still waiting for your this month’s income breakdown
I’m jealous! When would i get a free trip in my travelling life.
Thanks for such a nice conversation…
keep Sharing
Jacob lee
This sounds like a great trip for you to do, and I’m really appreciating Gary’s maths as a new perspective (for folk who don’t have to pay rent, a free trip is, well, more than just a freebie!)…
I am going to send a very nice thankyou email to the lovely folk who sent me my laptop case (and some other stuff) and see what else promises thence… You never know, as they say.
When I was a journalist on specialist magazines, from around 1996, we used to get press trips all the time on an actual readership lower than that of my site (though I think we lied, ahem!). Obviously, the barrier to entry is much, much lower for bloggers, but an audience is an audience…
Anywise, you’ve inspired me. And you’ve inspired me to think about personality positioning. What’s noticeable is the number of people who have a very, very fixed personal narrative and consistent themes which they stick with, and which pay dividends for them.
Congrats on your free trip! Have a good time and let us know how it went.
As for the question, I’m also a behind the scenes entrepreneur. I hope it doesn’t come across that I don’t have high aspirations at all but I have always tried to aim for the middle ground in everything first.
Congrats on your free trip. Hope, you have a good time.
Freebies are quite a perk of the job aren’t they.
Freebies, are really a big perk of the job. I am jealous. When can i get, a free travelling in my life.