I see it in the packed social media-related workshops and presentations at travel and tourism industry conferences.
I see it in my email IN box, overflowing with “Look! Here!” pitches from every travel-related marketer you can imagine.
I see it in advertising campaigns like Starbucks VIA instant coffee, which distributed their product to travel bloggers in hopes that the bloggers would talk about it.
The marketing and public relations din has only grown louder – is your decibel meter picking it up?
They want what bloggers have.
They want access to our “authenticity,” our “communities,” and our “conversations.”
They want access to our Twitter networks (so they host us on Twitter cruises.)
They want us to talk about them and link to their Web sites.
They want us to be their Fans on Facebook.
They’re realizing how much travel-related video gets uploaded to YouTube every day.
Bloggers, wired writers, new media….whatever you want to call us, we’ve gone from marginal to magnificent in the nearly four years since I launched my first travel blog. It’s been an interesting shift to watch; as a writer who prefers to publish online but would like to be paid decently for that work, I never forget what businessman David Bullock said to us at a Chicago blogging conference a couple of years back:
“We want what you have, what you have right in your DNA….the ability to communicate on the Web. Don’t ever sell yourself short. We WILL pay you for it.”
Don’t get me wrong; I’m a marketer, too. I make money teaching tourism people how to access people like me. They want to know. They have stories to tell about their destinations, and they’re seeing that this is the “new” way to tell them. That’s great, as long as they also understand that (most of us) are not in it with any expectations of making big money.
I blog and connect and exchange ideas with you down in the comments because I love to travel and talk about travel with others. I’d do it even if I wasn’t paid; in fact, that’s exactly how I started.
It’s rather ironic to enjoy this suddenly-elevated view from the catbird seat – by doing what we love, without any particular expectations, the class nerds are now in the running for Prom Queen.
We already “get it.” We already know how to connect with like-minded folks in an organic way, using the same free/low-cost social media tools that some corporate marketing departments are just figuring out. We may not have deep pockets, but we are more nimble and have more room to be creative.
Even backpackers can rock the social Web to market their travel dream, and a small Dutch company can put together one of the first AR (Augmented Reality) mobile apps for city travel before the biggies have figured out what hit them.
So, thanks so much for reading and supporting this blog over the years. Thanks for reading our “parent,” the excellent Perceptive Travel webzine (which is going strong because no, the travel narrative is NOT dead.)
By reading our posts and keeping me, Nia, Alison, Liz and Tim company with your links, comments, and stories, you’re auto-magically in the right place at the right time in travel and Web history.
So, if marketers are hitting up bloggers with trips and freebies, why am I not inundated?
Hi Jack,
From what I’ve heard, the UK is not adopting social media practices quite as quickly as the US, and most of the dominant travel blogs are US-based (UK players include Travel Rants and Karen Bryan’s Europe a la Carte; there are obviously others but those are the first two that spring to my mind.) I assure you, the unfocused email PR blasts in my IN box are not something that I’d wish on you. 🙂
Connect with your local tourism organizations and explain what you do; many of them may not understand how blogs work, who reads them or why their reach is so different from print (and more persistent.)
There seems to be more conversation recently among writers who like, or at least are willing to publish online, and would like to be paid a decent rate for their work.
I’ve done all right over the year-plus I’ve blogged with building an audience and getting at least a couple of decently paid gigs for my trouble. Now, if I would start getting more reasonable job offers than “invitations” to write for free–or for what amounts to less than the equivalent of minimum wage for giving up maximum rights to my work–I’d be even happier 🙂
As you point out here, our work has value, and we should not sell it short by accepting unacceptable offers, especially from for-profit sites, organizations and markets. I cover a niche topic, and have worked hard to build a reasonably targeted audience.
If I’m going to write for free, then I’ll write for my own blog, produce work I’m proud to see with my byline, and hopefully showcase my best work to decent markets with reasonable rates.
Thanks, Dominique. Good for you. Whenever some company or site offers me “exposure,” I laugh because I can get plenty of that through my own efforts, on my own blogs. I’m not against writing free content when it supports my business or personal objectives, but I won’t feather anyone else’s nest. They can do the work themselves; I did.
You’re doing great work to tell people about Midwest travel, especially all the things to do and see in Detroit. Thanks for stopping by!
Your post is right on, Sheila. As a print and online travel blogger, I see the travel and tourism PR folks rushing to learn about social media.
As a participant in the #FollowMeAtSea Princess Cruises Twitter press trip, I think we’ll be seeing more of these type of media events.
http://twitter.com/Nancydbrown
Hi Nancy,
Yes, I watched your coverage of the Princess Cruise event; thanks for using your blog to extend the discussion about cruise ship environmental issues. You’ve been doing a ton of online work for years now – another one of those “overnight successes” that took a lot of grinding it out….
Amen! It’s a wonderful feeling to be appreciated, and wonderful for those of us just starting out (me) to hear this message from more established bloggers.
Offers have started to come in for me, as well. I’m excited about the possibilities, and this post is just another reminder to keep going. Thank you.
I get too many requests from companies who just want something for nothing. They request you talk about their product or let them to a guest post and do not offer even so much as a link in return.
I usually send an email back telling them they can just buy advertising.
There are still many companies that view bloggers as a type of press release tool.
Hi Jessica,
Hang in there; we’re in the right place at the right time with the right skill set. In my master plan, the money will follow. 🙂
Hi Gary,
You’re right about “bloggers as a type of press release tool;” I see way too much of that. Also, they seem to think that I can’t come up with material on my own – that I sit around waiting for ideas from their PR emails. Uh, no.
This post makes insightful reading Sheila.
Listened to Naomi Klein this morning on Democracy Now discussing the 10th anniversay of her book “No Logo” and the concept of corporate branding.
Bloggers are the frontline of individuals who are taking branding back to a personal identity, usually with some clearly associated values and direct accountability.
A large corporate culture has attributes of benevolance on one hand with charitable efforts and employment opportunities, but on the other hand will gouge the consumer for everything possible. This is a pervasive aspect of the travel industry.
The lines are blurry though when the blogger is marketing the corporate marketers efforts. We are in an evolutionary period where bloggers will be working with marketers in a way the music industry has to work with radio stations to be heard by the masses.
The message has to be spread for travelers to be aware of what is available in the world of travel and bloggers are part of the relay medium.
The pay issue is tricky.
Do we become paid or gifted (swag and free trips) endorsers of a product for a company or association that will pay us to write for them?
Do we grow our personal brand and rely on income from advertisers who want access to our audience?
Do we become thought leaders in social media and educate the corporate culture and public as paid speakers and consultants?
Any or all of the above?
This truly is the right time to be working in this space of blogging and social media.
And I concur with your statement, “In my master plan, the money will follow.”
Hi Ric,
Thanks very much for your long and thoughtful response. For those who can handle “tricky” and “blurry” as things evolve, it is indeed an amazing time to be at the center of Internet development.
As I wrote in another comment elsewhere this morning, I’m not saying that I’d never have some sort of contractual relationship with a brand or company that I really loved, but so far the disadvantages have outweighed the advantages for me.
If I DID have such a relationship, then as far as I’m concerned, I’m doing PR/marketing work for them, and that’s not what they want. They want that “authentic blogger voice.” Well, you can’t have it both ways. I’m either speaking independently or I’m not, and for me, speaking independently means paying my own way.
Right you are, Sheila!