All Posts in Category: Professional Writer Mindset
How to Research on the Road and Find Salable Ideas While Traveling
When it comes to article ideas, I’m a bit of a pack rat.
Okay “a bit ” might be a bit of an understatement.
I have article ideas squirreled away eve rywhere :
- my main inbox is full of them
- my to do app has hundreds in the “Pitches” section
- my personal email that I used as my freelance email when I started out has a few hundred
- the other email address that I set up just to capture pitch ideas has around 400
- and the notes that I take during trips and walking tours have thousands more that I haven’t extracted from those longer lists of trip notes
This Week’s Webinar: Don’t Create “Ideas” Out of Nowhere: How to Always Find Them When You Need Them
During our weekend workshops with an ambitious numeric goal to reach—100 article ideas matched to magazines at our recent IdeaFest, for instance—there is always a hesitation in the air on the first day and even the morning of the second about whether each writer will reach the goal.
For IdeaFest, we had several group sessions on what an idea really is, what editors need from us, and how to make sure your idea is a good fit for a magazine before I handed out pages marked one through 100.
How to Close the Deal with Your Phone Calls and Proposals
In the last three weeks of webinars on travel content marketing writing, we’re looked at:
- How to Earn Big with Travel Content Marketing Writing – We talk about the different opportunities for travel content marketing writing–from blog posts to content strategy to choosing and editing photos for Instagram–what kind of pay you can expect (and the low-paying types of work you should always avoid), and where to start looking for these opportunities.
- How to Locate the People Who Need Your Travel Content Marketing Writing – We continue looking at where the big money in travel writing is hiding this week in part two of our series on travel content marketing writing: how to identify the people you can approach for this type of work, whether companies or tourism boards.
- How to Craft a Travel Content Marketing Pitch that Gets Attention – In the third portion of our coverage on travel content marketing writing, I break down the steps of putting together your own pitch to send cold to companies and tourism boards you think would benefit from your services, including powerful statistics on content marketing ROI to include and just how much information to give away to keep your prospect interested without setting them up to go execute your plan without you.
How to Extract the Maximum Number of Articles from Each Trip
When we did our first couple travel writer focus groups, something really struck me about how many articles successful travel writers, as opposed to struggling (income-wise) travel writers, write from each trip.
I find that a lot of travel writers who aren’t happy with their income or still have a full-time job in another profession and haven’t broken out to make travel writing their full-time gig are essentially getting one paid article from each trip.
The Travel Magazine Database Went Looking for Writers: Here’s What it Found
We’re always on the lookout for talented people to add to our team here at Dream of Travel Writing (and we’re currently looking for an editor with WordPress experience and a 20-to-30-hour-a-week U.S.-based office manager, so reach out if you think you fit the bill!), and as a growing small business, there have naturally been growing pains in our hiring processes.
I’ve collected advice for years from friends who own other small businesses, from other writers and editors to web app company owners to digital agency heads. And one of the most frequent and resounding pieces of advice, frankly, feels a bit insulting.
They all agree that you have to relentlessly test people before you bring them on.
Do You Diversify Your Travel Writing Client Portfolio Like a Wall Street Bada$$?
A couple years back, at a special workshop before a large travel writing conference, a relatively well-known travel blogger made a surprising confession that really struck me.
She said she doesn’t think of herself as a “real” writer.
To Niche or Not to Niche: What’s the Best Way to Freelance Travel Writing Success?
A lot of the prevailing advice to the soon-to-be-self-employed is to pick a niche and brand yourself heavily in that area. Proponents say,
“Who’s going to hire a freelance travel writer with no experience besides her own personal travels? You have to do something and be known for something so incredibly specific that when people really need exactly that skill, they come to you.”
But what new freelance travel writers respond with, very validly, is:
“Okay, but who is going to hire me for that incredible specific thing right now? I need enough clients to earn an income now, not just later when I become famous for my super specific niche.”
What Are Travel Magazine Editors Really Doing All Day?
I have the greatest respect for the amount of work on travel magazine editors’ plates (and not just because I used to be an editor).
Are You Missing Out By Not Doing These 5 Types of Research Before Your Trip
I’ll never forget the first time I met Robert Reid.
The former Lonely Planet editor is known for his wry observations, being an aficionado of the varying mustaches of Siberia, and giving keynote speeches so fantastic and fantastically long that conference organizers let him go 20 minutes longer than he should. And during a short car ride from a conference party to dinner in Athens a few years ago, he paid me one of the biggest compliments I have received in this line of work.
Seven Unconventional Ways to *Really* Get the Most Out of TBEX Travel Conferences
Nearly two years ago now, I wrote a post for the TBEX blog on “How to Rock TBEX and Walk Away with New Friends and Business Partners.”
At the time, bloggers on the whole were just getting a handle on presenting themselves at conferences as businesses rather than individual freelancers or simply traveling nomads. Every single attendee wasn’t showing up with professional business cards, approaching their idols asking how they can work together, and bringing beautiful, printed media kits to speed networking detailing how they work with companies.