What is a travel content creator?
A content creator is someone who produces creative and engaging content for various media platforms, such as Instagram, blogs, podcasts, YouTube, etc. And a travel content creator is, of course, a content creator who focuses on content in the travel niche.
The role of a content creator involves a range of tasks, including generating ideas, researching and writing content, creating videos and shooting photos, editing and proofreading, managing social media accounts, analyzing data to measure the success of our content and reporting results to brands.
What are the differences in content creators and influencers?
A content creator is necessarily not the same as an influencer. These days you can create UGC content for brands that you don’t post on your socials at all. You are also a content creator if you run an informative blog that people visit if they have a certain question.
An influencer, on the other hand, is a person who has built a large following on one or more platforms. They use their influence to promote products, services, or ideas to their followers and can have a significant impact on consumer behavior.
Why become a travel content creator?
Before we look at my step-by-step guide to becoming a travel content creator, You should know why to become a travel content creator. Because, while working and earning money online as a content creator is a lot of fun, it is also a lot of hard work.
Pitching, no responses, endless hours of editing, reporting on results, engaging, building relationships, getting up early and staying up late to catch the perfect light, etc. So you have to want it to be able to stay with it when it gets hard.
Make sure this is something you really want to do, and that you have a passion for photography, video and/or writing. Try it out with some places close to home before you quit everything to head out on the road. Maybe a hotel in your hometown could use some fresh content?
6 steps: Become a travel content creator
Now, let’s get to the juicy part. If I had to start over as a travel content creator knowing what I now know, this is exactly what I would do.
1. Research and learn
What do you actually want to say and do? Do you want to create a blog in addition to Instagram? Or are you focusing on TikTok? The first thing you should do is make a plan.
Learn as much as you can before you start, but put a timeframe on it. Don’t spend years planning and looking for free advice as it wastes so much time.
Take advantage of living in a time where we have all the knowledge in the world at our fingertips, and get it done as quickly as possible. Maybe you spend one month taking in all the information you can and then use your intuition to choose which path to take.
2. Plan for monetization
Make a monetization plan. The number one tip is that you diversify your income from the very beginning. In addition to influencer partnerships, think about how you can make money through UGC, ads, affiliates and maybe selling digital products.
You can easily share affiliate links for products in your niche through stories, links in bio, YouTube descriptions, newsletters or on your blog. You can also add affiliate links to tools and resources inside your freebies.
3. Find your secret sauce
What do you know/do better than 8 out of every 10 people? That is what’s going to earn you a lot of money.
Do you draw or paint? Start an Instagram where you draw the destinations you visit. Film behind the scenes of your painting, the destination vs. the painting, etc. You can see so many pieces of content created out of one painting.
Find your uniqueness and highlight it!
Do you love fashion and plan the perfect outfit to fit in with every destination? Do you have a unique photography or videography style that stands out? Do you dance your way through the world? Are you a history buff with a lot of knowledge of historic places?
Use what sets you apart from everyone else for everything it’s worth!
4. Niche down
And when you find your secret sauce, niche down. You don’t have to stick to one narrow niche forever, but it is so much easier to grow in the beginning when you focus on one thing. Some brands are more likely to work with micro-influencers with a clear niche.
Your niche can be a specific destination, weekend guides in Europe, ethical animal attractions, travel with a handicap, street food, you name it. When you create a presence or an audience within a specific niche, you have a much larger chance of getting a yes from brands in that niche.
Just think if a yoga brand was considering working with a general travel influencer with 100,000 followers or a yoga travel micro-influencer with 10,000 followers. They know that most of the followers of the yoga influencer are most likely interested in yoga. However, they have no clue how many of the followers of the larger influencer are interested in yoga.
And when you grow, you can broaden your niche.
5. Build your portfolio
Before you leave home or quit your job, build up your portfolio. You can showcase your skills without having worked with any brands. Maybe you have taken some incredible photos or videos on a previous holiday? Maybe you have done some barter partnerships without getting paid? It doesn’t matter as long as it shows what you can offer!
From the media kit, you can link to any online portfolio like a travel blog, Instagram, TikTok, etc.Remember that all the people you pitch are different just like you, so they will be looking for different things. The best thing you can do is just to start somewhere to see what works in terms of pitch copy, media kit, case studies, etc. in your niche. Remember that clarity comes from action not thought!
6. Work on your mindset
It is believed that success in any area of our lives comes down to 80% mindset and 20% action, so work on mindset first with all your clients.
Because you will hear “no” more than you will hear “yes” in the beginning, don’t take it personally. Sometimes the brands have spent their marketing budget for the quarter and sometimes it’s just not a good fit. That’s all part of being a travel creator.
You might also realize you have some money blocks when you have to ask about a campaign budget or send an invoice. So work on your money mindset from the very beginning. There are lots of free resources on YouTube.
Ask yourself, is the fear greater than your desire for location and financial freedom? Would you regret not just going for it? What do you have to lose?