adamcosta, Author at Travel Blogger Academy

Why I’ll Never Write For Lonely Planet

We’ve talked a LOT about products lately.

And rightfully so. Products separate hobby blogs from businesses.

It shows your readers you’re in it for the long haul… and lets you build long-lasting relationships with your readers and other influential travel bloggers.

But it’s not just products.

Every piece of content you produce - whether a product, post or email - should have one goal in mind which is…

Everything you write should build your business.

And if it doesn’t… ditch it.

So why pick on Lonely Planet? Why pick on the most popular guidebook on the market today? Wouldn’t writing for them help build your business?

Well… yes and no.

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Filed Under: Content

by adamcosta 2 Comments

4 Ways to Create Kick-Ass Products

You read the last lesson, right?

If not, you should. Because we covered why travel bloggers should create their own products (if you want to make money, build relationships with your readers and afford your next plane ticket).

So if you haven’t already, read the last lesson before tackling this one.

Ready?

In this lesson, we’ll look at how to create your own travel product. It’s super easy to do and shouldn’t take more than a week.

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Filed Under: Content, Money

by adamcosta 20 Comments

7 Ways to Make Money Travel Blogging (and 7 to Avoid Like the Plague)

Credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video

The truth is, you can make money with a travel blog…

… but it takes a LOT of work to get off the ground.

It’s like a rocket ship.

Your travel blog requires a tremendous amount of effort just to get off the ground…

… but once you do get it off the ground, it gets easier and easier (and hopefully reaches orbit where it practically moves itself).

And once you have the traffic, it’s time to monetize your blog.

But I must warn you: choosing the right mix of monetization techniques is more art than science.

While some monetization methods work great for everyone – creating your own products, for example – others (like public speaking gigs) are more of a personal preference.

So in this spirit, here are 7 smart ways to make money with your travel site:

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Filed Under: Money

by adamcosta 19 Comments

How to Write FAST: Killer Content In 3 Easy Steps

You know “content is king”…

… and to skyrocket your traffic, you must continuously produce new, interesting and – above all – USEFUL content for your readers.

But it’s never that easy.

Posts drag on with no real focus… distractions eat away at your productivity… and suddenly your travel blog isn’t growing half as fast as you’d like it to.

“Fast” is the key here. The truth is, you should be producing twice as much content as you are now – in the same amount of time and of equal or higher quality.

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Filed Under: Content

by adamcosta 47 Comments

The Ultimate Guide to Guest Posting for Travel Bloggers

Get noticed.

Did you know…

Guest posting is a proven method for improving your website’s traffic and search engine rankings?

Probably.

But it’s also one of the least understood and poorly executed methods for generating traffic.

Many bloggers don’t follow the three simple steps to success with guest posting… and quit before they see results.

But if you do it smart… keep at it… and write your ass off… you’ll start to see results.

I should know.

Take a look at the screenshot in Google:

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Filed Under: Content, Networking, Traffic

by adamcosta 4 Comments

Why You Shouldn’t Use WordPress

It’s like, the best blogging platform EVER… better than sliced bread, airline miles and street food COMBINED.

So why would ANYONE suggest otherwise?

What type of sick person - especially one dedicated to helping travel bloggers - would steer you in another direction?

Turns out, there is one instance when using WordPress is a really, really bad idea.

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Filed Under: Get Started

by adamcosta 3 Comments

How to Find Your Travel Blog’s Purpose

What’s your blog about?

It’s a tough question. And like many tough questions, it goes unanswered. Or maybe answered vaguely, like “My blog is about my travels.”

Yikes.

Defining your blog’s purpose is the THE most important thing.

Without purpose, you’ll…

Never know what to write about
Fail to keep readers interested and/or focused
Never really do this for a living

So how you define your purpose?

In marketing terms - which you’ll learn throughout this course - you’re looking for your blogs Unique Selling Proposition…

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Filed Under: Get Started

by adamcosta 12 Comments

GUILTY! 15 Travel Cliches We All Use (But Shouldn’t)

yeah right...

Clichés…

You’ve used them. I’ve used them. We’ve all used them.

Which sucks.

Look, I love words. I mean I love words… especially English words (mostly because I know what they mean).

But some words get used up… dried out… and ultimately mean nothing.

Did you know there are over 900,000 words in English? Close to a million words, just waiting for you to smash them together for your reader’s entertainment. So why, dear reader, bother using them in such tired, predictable ways?

What follows are fifteen clichés which make you look dumb…

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Filed Under: Content

by adamcosta 37 Comments