What to know before you start a Travel Blog!

Okay, you are seriously considering to become a Travelpreneur and are trying to figure out whether or not it works, whether it is worth the time and investment and whether there is any point in pushing in another travel blog into the hordes of already competing travel blogs in the cyber space.

Well, as mentioned earlier, there is no right time to enter the travel business due to the complexities and challenges involved in the travel business.

Travel is a service which involves lots of moving pieces that need to coordinate their operations for a complete user experience.

The Complexities of Travel Business and Opportunities

For example, when you travel from a Country A to Country B for business or leisure, your travel plan will look somewhat like this.

• An Airline Service from where you will buy your air tickets. 
• A hotel where you will check in when you reach your destination. 
• A car-hire or taxi to move you from the airport to hotel and sightseeing. 
• A restaurant to take care of your meals during your stay. 
• A passport service in order to give you an international identity. 
• The Visa services to grant you visa when you move between both the countries. 
• Foreign exchange services to help you exchange currency. 
• A guide to help you with the local language (should you need one)
• A phone connection to inform people back home that you are safe and sound. 
• A travel insurance (just in case you meet something unforeseen enroute). 

All these services are interdependent and lack of one fails all. For eg: if you do not have a hotel booking or a return air ticket, your visa might not be processed or considered. 

It is this coordination of several moving parts that offer unique challenges to the industry to continuously look for loopholes in the services. This is where a travel blogger can seek his opportunities. 

Where do you fit in the travel ecosystem? 

As a traveler yourself, you know your strengths and weaknesses. You have your share of experiences that eventually have defined your travel tastes and choices today. 

Identifying such key areas will help you to know where you fit into the travel ecosystem. You should ask yourself questions such as:-

• What kind of a traveler are you - Road-tripper, hiker, Budget Traveler, Luxury Traveler etc. 
• What sort of services have you used before - Make a checklist. 
• Which places you have traveled before - Make a checklist. 
• What is/ are the drawbacks/ loopholes in the present ecosystem. 
• How does your travel blog address such issues through its stories / posts/ articles/ case studies etc.
• How are the other travel bloggers in this industry working - Try taking a blueprint from their blog. 

Develop your Travel Blog based on your expertise

Eventually what will speak in volumes is your expertise about a topic. When choosing your segment or travel niche, consider the points where you are interested the most, rather than going for a generic travel blog. 

A generic travel blog will have anything and everything on one page, whereas a specific niche in travel will help you to write more targeted information as well as gain targeted audience. 

Since, the travel services are interdependent, being an expert in one or two of them rather than all, will help you to earn a focussed set of travelers with focused requirements. 

Summary

• Travel is a complex and interdependent niche. 
• Choose a segment that you are best and most knowledgeable and interested in. This will keep you going, during the downtimes!(Especially during the downtimes). 
• Develop your travel blog on one or two specific segments rather than a generic one.