Interview Series Archives - Travel Blogger Academy

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.

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: Travel Photography

by darcieconnell

The Shocking Truth About Your Blog and Why it Might be at Risk…

Picture it:

You’ve spent the last year, building a successful blog.

Your visitors know you well. They’ve purchased your products, downloaded your e-books, and signed up for your newsletter.

Overall, you’re kicking ass.

Then, without warning, you discover a much larger company has recently registered and trademarked a strikingly similar company name, stealing your traffic and destroying all your hard work.

Unfortunately, these situations are real and happen everyday.

The good news…

They don’t have to.

Robert Wright is an Intellectual Property Lawyer from CounselintheCloud.com and discusses how you can (and should) protect yourself, website, and company.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Interview Series

by adamcosta

What Gary Arndt Can Teach You About Blogging…

Gary Arndt (Everything-Everywhere.com)

Blogging doesn’t have to be hard… if you stick with it.

In this no-holds-barred interview, veteran blogger Gary Arndt from Everything-Everywhere reveals how he managed to become the most popular travel blog today.

You’ll learn:

Several ‘under-the-radar’ strategies for building an audience (not just driving traffic)
A “damn smart” way to make money with a travel blog
The dangers of blindly following on Twitter
Strategies for avoiding the travel blog “echo chamber”
How Gary uses guest posting (and how you can, too)
The dumbest things Gary did when he started out (and how to avoid them)
How to get sponsored trips
And why Gary’s “early mover advantage” didn’t matter much (and what really matters to your success)

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Interview Series

by adamcosta

31 Brilliant Business Lessons From Successful Travel Bloggers

I’m not a stalker.

Really.

Sure, I follow people without their knowing it (on Twitter, anyways)…

But you know what?

I’m tired of it. Tired of waiting… and watching… and wishing I was one of those successful travel bloggers.

So I did something about it. I stopped stalking - and started talking.

I asked ten popular travel bloggers to spill their secrets on how they transformed their love for travel into a popular blog.

Best part? They did.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Content, Get Started, Interview Series, Money, Networking, Traffic

by adamcosta

Interview Series: Geraldine DeRuiter From Everywhereist

Geraldine DeRuiter (Everywhereist)

Creating killer content doesn’t have to be hard.

In this action-packed interview, Geraldine DeRuiter from Everywhereist reveals how she continuously churns out fresh, interesting takes on everyday situations like cupcakes, restaurants and mean women in Lego stores.

You’ll learn:

how Everywhereist went from 200 daily visitors to 10,000 in a single day…
three crucial things travel bloggers need to do now (but rarely do)…
why “haters” are actually a good thing…
how “the Mom factor” helps you know when/how to promote your blog…
an interesting take on monetization (one we don’t talk about here!)…

Plus a whole crate-load of obscenities and observations.

Watch the Video Now

Resources & Notes

Website: Everywhereist.com
Twitter: @everywhereist
Facebook: facebook.com/The-Everywhereist
After the Deadline
Cupcake Deathmatch

Filed Under: Content, Interview Series

by adamcosta

Interview With Mike Richard From Vagabondish

Do you know Mike Richard?

He’s the guy behind Vagabondish.com, a travel blog which gets between 200K and 300K pageviews a month.

Mike and I have worked together on a number of projects, and he stopped by the Academy to answer some hard questions about building a successful travel blog.

In this 38 minute interview you’ll learn:

What Mike does to make money (and what he avoids)
How the “Dunn Effect” got him interviewed by Tyra Banks
The three things every travel blogger must do right now to succeed
Why he doesn’t put himself on the site (hint: it’s not because he’s shy)
What he wished he did earlier (and you can do right now)

This interview should be required study for anyone looking to build a successful travel blog.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Interview Series, Traffic

by adamcosta

Interview Series: Barbara Weibel of Hole in the Donut

How do you build a popular blog? What should you focus on? And why is branding oh-so-important from the outset?

Barbara Weibel - the driving force behind Hole in the Donut Cultural Travel - knows what it takes to build a successful travel blog. In this interview Barbara reveals:

the *most* important thing to focus on before you start blogging
why “slow and steady” is the way to go
three things every new travel blogger must do

Enter Barbara…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Interview Series

by adamcosta

Interview Series: Aaron Beaudoin, Travel Writer for Trekity.com

Aaron Beaudoin is a travel writer and has written for Trekity.com. A lot.

In this interview, Aaron reveals:

How to come up with interesting story angles (and craft intros which really work)
Why writing in the evening is good for the soul
The number one resource for researching travel content

See the full interview here…

Watch the Video Now

Filed Under: Interview Series

by adamcosta

Interview Series: Kirsty Brown From MyDestination

Kirsty Brown is an editor at MyDestination.com.

In today’s interview you’ll discover:

A unique business model not commonly discussed (but works really well).
3 simple things you can do now to improve your blog
How large travel companies plan out content with a strategic goal in mind (and how you can, too)