To enter into the world of freelance travel blogging can be quite a difficult task just in the same way breaking into other types of writing. In general, you need to start with small jobs, for instance, writing articles for a local newspaper and slowly finding your way to the top. As you progress, your portfolio also builds up as you can provide samples of your past jobs to different editors. For a start, you can find market niches that pay a dollar per word and this can support your media and press trips that you can take across the globe. With growth in your client base, you can strengthen your career by initiating a blog page.
Starters have a difficult time adapting into this exciting niche of writing. Any starter needs to learn the practice of telling a story in their voice as the writer. This you can begin by writing short stories about your background or where you live as this will offer a range of perks thanks to your knowledge of the place’s history, culture and the people who live there as well as the events on the local scene/arena. In order to make a good quality freelance travel writer, here are six things you must do:
1. Start small
Use the first few months of your initial career to basically write online articles for anyone and for everyone who can accept your pitching. It doesn’t matter whether they pay you or not, however; it is the best way to start building your portfolio and confidence as well. These articles will work as samples when you feel you are ready to pitch to even much bigger and well-paying publications. These small articles will also help in sharpening your pitching style while at the same time building a rapport with well-known editors. There is no problem about being the smallest bird in the big forest at least for a starting period.
2. Know your audience
It is very important that you understand the publication and its stories as well as the target audience of these stories; otherwise, you’ll find yourself sending irrelevant pitches. It might be exciting to send your ideas as soon as they come, however, take your time and be sure it matches the publication’s nature. This will also help you find whether there is a past coverage of the story.
3. Be Unique
Coming up with a very unique story; something that has never been done before is what every writer dreams of. Unique storylines will win you half the battle of breaking into freelance travel writing. Develop a niche that is uncommon and only familiar to you and for this will stand you out and growth will be fast.
4. Get a website
It doesn’t matter if you don’t have any published article yet, just show the world how serious you are about writing and make potential editors feel your presence. Create an online profile, for instance a travel blog on Facebook and or Twitter that will make people follow you and know what you are up to.
5. Study other writers
Study the writings of other successful writers, visit their websites and find out more about them, read their blogs to familiarize with them and see how they do things and model yourself in the same shape.
6. Know when free writing stops
It is not bad to work on free assignments when building your portfolio, following, traffic, credibility and confidence but once each of them are fully amassed, you’ve got to start saying no.
If you are out there aspiring to become one of the most sought-after freelance travel writers, then follow all this simple six steps to become successful as a free-lance travel writer.