Mar 18

Travel Blogging: A Passion, A Hobby, A Business

Posted in Blogging

When I first began this blog back in 2009 (my baby is almost 5 years old!) my posts were infrequent and erratic. I would proudly declare “I only write on my blog when I am actually traveling”…not sure why I was so proud of that. That first year I had four whole posts for the 6 months of the year that the blog was live. That next full year, 10 posts. I was happy to write at random times, but I didn’t see the value in regular content. At this point my blog was a hobby and not one that I engaged in very often.

Yikes!

In 2011, I began to write a bit more frequently. On a whim, I attended Chris Guillebeau’s first World Domination Summit and it was there that I was completely bowled over by the number of people who took what started as a hobby, and made it into a successful business. One that paid the bills, or at least supported what ever it was they were passionate about. These people took their passion seriously, turned it into a business, thrived and became public speakers, authors, industry experts and internet celebrities.

Leaving that event, I knew that I wanted to do more….I had to do more. I picked up the pace with my blog writing (not so hard to do when your previous pace had been less than 1 post per month), joined in-person and on-line travel writing groups, signed up for writing courses, volunteered to speak at events, planned countless international trips (OK, I probably would have done that anyway) and began following those who were doing what I wanted to be doing. I started collaborating with hotels, global travelers, serial expats and travel related business to begin to tell their stories. At this point, my blog as a hobby was not going to cut it any more. Instead it became a business. I began investing time and money in my writing, even though I knew the returns would not be immediate.

Last year I went to my first travel blogging conference, TBEX, in Dublin and this past weekend I made it to the inaugural Women In Travel Summit in Chicago. It is inspiring, a little bit intimidating and ultimately motivating to be surrounded by likeminded people; people who love travel, writing, photography and living a life beyond the repetitive 9 – 5.

@ the 1st Women in Travel Summit conference – 2014

So here I am, 5 years later, with more writing, traveling, photography and business experience than i had back in 2009, but I am “not there yet”. I am preparing to invest in an blog revamp, to reach out to more business and organizations for collaborations and, (here’s where YOU come in), continue to grow my audience. If you’ve read my blog and like it, please make sure you LIKE IT. If you’ve already given me a Facebook thumbs up, and you know someone else who is travel minded, please share my site, Facebook page, Twitter account, and Instagram with them. Every little bit helps.

Leave comments, give suggestions, share your thoughts … it all helps me tremendously and doesn’t cost you a cent, pence, peso or bhat. This is not all so I feel popular and loved (though, hey…who doesn’t want that?), it’s so potential sponsors, investors and future business partners know that I have a voice and influence in the vast world of travel blogging and travel writing. Quality content and enjoying the process of creating it is most important to me, but I can’t lie…the numbers are important as well.

Thank you for reading, thank you for supporting, thank you for sharing!

3 comments… add one

Vincent Quek March 19, 2014, 12:39 am

I’ve been following you a year now, Nailah and I’ve always enjoyed reading your posts. I’m thinking along the same lines as you despite having little time running my own coffee shop. But I’m nearly 50 and would like to do more with my blog when I’m too old to pull espresso shots. I’ll spread the love u write about; I’ll do that happily. Do follow my blog: http://www.vincequek.com

Nailah March 21, 2014, 5:37 pm

Thank you so much, Vincent. I do always appreciate your comments and your support. Keep up the good work with you blog as well at http://www.vincequek.com !

Rivera April 23, 2014, 6:53 am

Nice passion Nailah! I really like your views about travelling and your blog are very informative for travelers. Travelling is my passionate hobby and I love to visit different nature attractions in my free time. I believe that travel let us open our mind to explore new and exciting things around the world. This summer I am going with bus tours grand canyon to visit Grand Canyon National Park.

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