by

Travel Photography: Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know

In the words of Ansel Adams…

“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” - Ansel Adams

But how do you make a good photograph?

In this no-nonsense interview, award-winning writer and photographer, Matt Gibson reveals how he makes a good photograph AND how he uses travel photography to grow his blog.

Travel Photography

Matt Gibson shooting a sunset.

You’ll learn:

  • Why travel photography is critical to the your blog’s success
  • How you can skyrocket your blog’s traffic using photography
  • Strategies for making money from your photos
  • How to use photos to boost newsletter subscribers
  • Essential gear for newbie (and expert) photographers
  • Common (but often overlooked) tricks to taking good photographs
  • The #1 most “overrated” piece of equipment
  • How to safeguard and backup your photos while traveling
  • And much more!

So what are we waiting for?

Let’s get started…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Interview Series, Tools Tagged With:
by

Millions Use Bluehost for Domain Names and Website Hosting… Why Not You?

Blue HostWe get asked all the time…

“What service provider do you use for Travel Blogger Academy’s domain name registration and website hosting?”

So we decided to create post answering your questions.

But first, here’s a little background on domain names and web hosting for newbies…

Domain names are the URL that you type into an internet browser (e.g. travelbloggeracademy.com, google.com, trekity.com, wikipedia.org, etc.).

Web hosting is a service provided by a company which sells space on their servers to store all your website files (webpages, images, videos, etc.) and allows your website display on the Internet.

To start your own website, you need both a domain name and web hosting…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Tools Tagged With:
by

Which Plugins You Should (And Shouldn’t) Install

Ah, WordPress plugins…

… at first they seem like the answer to all life’s problems.

Update files? There’s a plugin…

Block spam? There’s a plugin…

SEO? Yep, there’s a plugin for that, too.

But as any seasoned blogger knows: plugins slow down your website. They can break the next time WordPress updates… or worse, leave open holes for malicious hackers to exploit.

For these reasons, use as few plugins as necessary.

Sure, you’ll require additional plugins depending on your travel blog. But the following are ones I recommend everyone install:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Tools
by

Does Your Blog Pass This Safety Test?

90% of companies say they’ve been hacked in the past 12 months (Source: Ponemon Research, 2011).

Almost 60% have been hacked twice. And more than half doubt they can stop it from happening again.

These aren’t bloggers… they’re multi-million dollar companies with enterprise level security.

They’re not a one-man operation - some employ over 75,000 people - and despite their best efforts, hackers tear through security holes each and every day.

What’s to stop them from taking down your site? WordPress? Unfortunately, WordPress is notorious for security issues (out of the box, at least) which makes them WIDE open for anti-social cyber-weasels to chew through.

Fortunately, there are ways to protect yourself.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Tools
by

5 Shortcuts for Optimizing Your Blog in Record Time

WordPress works well “out the box.” 

But it could be better.

Hopefully, you downloaded the necessary plugins already. If not, keep reading as I’ll mention each again here (along with some other worthwhile tips).

This lesson is all about ACTION. Follow these instructions right now. Don’t wait.

These optimizations will make your site faster, safer and more search-engine friendly.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Tools
by

15 Ridiculously Useful WordPress Plugins for Travel Bloggers

Let’s face it… WordPress solves a lot of problems for travel bloggers.

But sometimes the sheer volume of plugins - almost 20,000 at time of writing - creates more hassle than it saves.

You should also be aware that adding lots of plugins can ultimately slow down your site’s load time.

Bummer.

So it pays to choose wisely.

Therefore, here are 15 WordPress plugins to (almost) instantly improve your travel blog:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Tools
by

3 Tools to Pimp Gmail and Network Like a Rockstar

I’ll be perfectly honest…

… Gmail makes me want to slam my head against a concrete wall.

Or chew sharded glass. Or write for Lonely Planet.

Anything but deal with what must be the least intuitive email service ever.

But - as much as it pains me to admit it - once you get the hang of it, Gmail is incredibly useful and allows you to get more done in less time.

Especially when it comes to outreach.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Tools
by

How Travel Bloggers Can (and Should) Use Pinterest for Traffic

Gary Arndt figured this out early.

As a travel blogger specializing in photography, Pinterest was an obvious place to build a presence for Everything-Everywhere.

Which he did.

So did Ana White. The Alaskan mom who set up a carpentry blog… and now receives over 6,000 visitors a day from Pinterest alone.

And with a week or two of hard work you could have a board to rival Gary Arndt and Travel Channel.

Seriously… Pinterest is WIDE open for travel bloggers.

Here’s how to get traffic from it…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Tools, Traffic
by

Travel Bloggers: Use Tools To Build Blogs, Traffic and Profits

Travel Blogger Academy - Use ToolsBlogging is good. Blogging is great.

But blogging can steal hours (and day/weeks/months) without actually doing anything.

Use the right tools to save time and get more done (so you can travel more!).

Just don’t get stuck chasing productivity tools.

At some point you actually have to do work.

Under the “Tools” menu are a list of all the tools I use, why I use them and (most importantly) why you should use them, too.

They are designed to help you get more done, which frees up time to focus on the fun parts of travel blogging… exploring new places and cultures.

Filed Under: Tools