Credits- Creo Agency
Blogging for me happened quite accidentally, actually. I was writing a post casually in a coffee shop and lo and behold, a blogger was born. This was more than 4 years back. Since then, there has been no looking back.
According to a study I read somewhere, just 9-10 % bloggers are able to make both their ends meet, the rest just give up after a few halfhearted efforts.
My lessons learnt from my blogging journey;
1. Do it for passion and not just for money. Money will follow passion. I realized it when a group of travel bloggers approached me to join them on a paid trip to Chhattisgarh as part of the government’s efforts to promote the state. The government sponsored the entire trip that lasted for 6 days. Calculated backwards, I earned close to a fortune (indirectly of course) through that trip. People said my style of writing was different from the others. Only you would be able to tell if they were right. By the way, I am still writing and though the money comes in fits and starts, I am happy that my efforts is gradually being recognized.
You may have a look at my website; www.ahauntedtravel.com
2. Blogging alone does not fetch money- That is right. Unfortunately, in India, travel blogging does not find many takers and the reason is simple. Almost everyone is writing to chase free junkets and the tourism boards are smart to use this greed to their advantage. Abroad, serious bloggers do get paid according to their skills and writing styles. In India, the maximum a serious travel blogger can hope to get is a sponsored trip. That is all.
3. Blogging has its own spin offs- A few months down my journey as a blogger and I realised that some serious money could be made writing content for websites, students, marketing organizations and other enterprises. Travel blogging has given me a springboard for making writing as a career, so to speak.
4. Blogging means learning- Learn, learn, learn. Learn from even a rookie blogger. Never stop learning.
5. Blogging is not a complicate activity, by the way- Yes, you can buy your domain, have a hosting platform and off you go. Gone are the days when you needed to have SEO experts, website builders and the like. You can do all this stuff on your own, believe me.
6. Never stop blogging- You will hit a wall of dejection, I assure you. But, don’t stop. Keep writing. Find ideas, shape them up into wonderful stories and put them in words and pictures.
7. If content is king then distribution is the Emperor- No matter how compelling your content is, always try to make that discoverable. Searchability is distribution. Don’t shy away from promoting your stuff on the right platforms.
That is it friends. If you think you can teach me something more on blogging, please write to me at swayamt@gmail.com
Gunjan
Swayam one thing I would like to add is networking. I think it is important for bloggers to network with other bloggers, comment on their posts and stay in touch.