My daughter Charlie wants her own blog.
She also wants a YouTube channel, her own Instagram account, and a kitten.
She’s nine.
When I was nine, these things weren’t even fathomable. Today, a quarter of her class already have blogs and YouTube channels… and by sixth grade, I imagine the whole class will.
This is the world we live in today, and there’s actually a lesson here for us…
Blogs are basically like journals. They’re calling cards for editors and tourism boards to find you. They’re writing practice to build your skill. They’re an archive of all your work. And they help you get perks faster because people like to see samples of the things you like to write about.
Barb Harmon told me she started hers after her son died. It was therapy. It was dialogue. And as she progressed through the healing process, it ended up landing her some travel perks and assignments.
Paula Pant told me she started hers because she was tired of being a freelancer depending on editors for assignments. With a blog, editors found her.
And Connie Reed told me her reason started out as journaling but then transformed into invitations for free trips around her local area. Now it’s her retirement plan.
Whether you’re a writer, photographer or traveler who wants more free stuff, these days, you should have a blog.
So here’s a quick recap of some blog basics you need to know…
1) They’re fun. You can blog about anything you want – wine tasting, tidying your house, the keto diet, moving abroad, online dating, running an Airbnb, you name it. You get to pick your topic for the week, and no one can tell you what you can and can’t write about.
2) They’re not fast. It can take months and sometimes a full year to see income from a blog, so you need to start early while you’re developing other skills.
3) A blog and a money-making blog are two different things. You can’t just set up a regular blog and expect great things to happen. Money-making blogs need to follow an income plan to work.
4) The income potential is high. Especially when you set it up right so that people can find you.
More on how to turn a simple blog into an income source tomorrow.
[Editor’s Note: Learn more about how you can fund your travels and make an extra income with photography, travel writing, blogging, and more in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel. Sign up here today and we’ll send you a new report, Five Fun Ways To Get Paid To Travel: A Quick-Start Guide, completely FREE.]