Travel Bloggers’ Secrets You Can Use: Part 2

 

As promised here is Part 2 of our “Travel Blogger’s Secrets You Can Use” blog post! If you missed Part 1 be sure to click here and check out all the amazing blogging tips we covered in last week’s post. This week we’re talking about the best marketing, monetizing, and travel tips our lovely panelists, Tamara Gruber of We3Travel, Lillie Marshall of Around the World “L”, and Priscilla Pilon of The Weekend in Paris, shared at our August #NIMRI event. So let’s get started!

Top 8 Marketing/Monetizing Tips

1. Soliciting Sponsors: The emphasis should always be on the content you’re creating. “Write it, and they will come,” said Priscilla sagely, “Produce high-quality content, and they will come.”

The Work With Me Section of the We3Travel Website

The Official “Work with Me” section of We3Travel’s About Page

2. Doing Business With Brands: There are a few ways a blogger can work with a brand: being contacted by people to place ads, contacting people to place ads, sponsored posts, or, if you’re lucky, a sponsored trip.“If I work with a brand or do a sponsored post, it has to be something I believe in. Once your audience doesn’t believe you, you’re done,” Priscilla warned.

“Native Advertising, which is when you have content that is already successful and then work with advertisers who would complement that content, can work very well,” said Lillie.

3. Navigating Negativity: It can be very difficult to figure out what to do when you have a bad experience as a blogger, particularly if the trip is a sponsored one. It is especially tricky because, depending on the country’s laws, you could potentially be sued for a negative review. “Contact the PR people and be sure to start with the positive things and then talk about the disappointments,” advised Priscilla, “I always give them a chance to fix it. If they do, I won’t write a bad review. If they don’t, I will offer to not write about it.”

“Steer away from negative content, even though it can be very effective. Everyone gets fired up over a bad review and they like to share it, but it doesn’t reflect very well on you and can get you into trouble,” offered Lillie.

4. Create a Community: “Facebook has become a pay-to-play platform. You can pay $5 to promote a post (and I do that sometimes), but you won’t see a big difference in your analytics. What’s really powerful is to form alliances and private Facebook groups, not just with other travel bloggers. People who like wine, food, lifestyle, even interior design share readers. The cross-pollenization that happens helps everyone grow,” Priscilla said.

5. Know Your Worth: “It depends on your reach and your demographic,” reasoned Tamara, “I have a group of travel blogger friends, and we share that information.”

“This is why you need the group mentality!” proclaimed Priscilla, “Building your blogging network is key. Whatever you do, don’t write a post for someone for free – it brings the rate for everyone down to $0. You’re time is worth something.

“I would argue that there is a value in giving content to high-traffic sites, so it can be OK to do something like that for free as long as there is some ROI. It’s a value to your resume,” Lillie said.

One of We3Travel's Pinterest boards

We3Travel on Pinterest © Photos by Tamara Gruber

6. A Photo’s Worth a Thousand Shares (nope, still not right): “For me, Pinterest is very important. It drives traffic to my site, often more than google,” Tamara shared.

“Be sure to link all of your photos: photos on Google and Pinterest should link to your website and have descriptions,” Priscilla said.

“Selling your photos can also be another source of income,” Lillie pointed out.

The Newport Interactive Marketers' Hootsuite dashboard

Here’s a look at the Newport Interactive Marketers’ Hootsuite dashboard

7. Tally Your Toolbox:  “Don’t be afraid to automate! Hootsuite can schedule your posts at the best time for your demographic. You could write the best blog post ever, but if no one ever reads it, it won’t matter,” explained Lillie. To find out when the ideal time for your demographic is, be sure to check out Tweepi. 

“The Tail Wind app is great for automating Pinterest,” shared Tamara, “Paying a little for the right tools can be worth it.”

Google trends is an invaluable SEO tool,” said Priscilla, “In WordPress there is a feature where you can try a bunch of different options and put them in Google Trends to see where you are in searches.”

Snapchat logo

Snapchat! If you want to learn more about using Snapchat as a blogger, check out AdventurousKate

8. Socialize, Socialize, Socialize (your media, that is):  “Learn and get busy on all social media sites and thank everyone who follows (NOT by direct message),” Priscilla advised.

“The biggest mistake people make is to just stop for an extended period of time on social media,” Lille said, “Be consistent and don’t be afraid to self promote!

“Snapchat is the newest thing people must be on, although it does appeal to a younger demographic,” said Tamara, “Its important to know who your audience is and where to find them.”

 

Top 3 Travel Tips

“Use Trivago or another trip-cost comparison site to look for the lowest fare. Then, take a screenshot and call the hotel. They will always match it, and it’s always better to book through the hotel because they tend to have a better cancellation policy and you also will be eligible for upgrades,” advised Priscilla.

“Tuesday is the best day to book airlines usually,” shared Tamara.

“People would pay a lot of money to stay in your home in beautiful Newport so rent it out on Airbnb to get money for travel and also find places to stay in yourself!” Lillie suggested.

All-Time Favorite Hotel

The Phoenix Resort in Belize

Balcony view from the Phoenix Resort in Belize © Photo by Lillie Marshall

Lillie’s Pick: The Phoenix in Belize “No better place for a babymoon!” 

 Kona Village Resort in Hawaii at Sunrise

The now closed Kona Village Resort in Hawaii © Photo by Tamara Grub

Tamara’s Pick: Kona Village Resort in Hawaii “Unfortunately, after 45 years, this resort was forced to permanently close their doors after the March 2011 tsunami.”

A hammock overlooking the ocean at The Bitter End Resort in BVI

The gorgeous Bitter End Resort in BVI © Photo by Priscilla Pilon

Priscilla’s Pick: The Bitter End in the British Virgin Islands “I’ve never been sponsored to stay at this hotel, but I visit every year!”  

And, of course, we had to ask about their favorite place in Newport! 

Castle Hill Inn from the sea

Castle Hill Inn from the sea © Photo by Priscilla Pilon

Priscilla’s Pick: Castle Hill Inn “They have the best lunch and the best views!” 

hotel viking

The beautiful Hotel Viking (#NIMRI venue sponsor for our annual networking event!) © Photo by Lillie Marshall

Lillie’s Pick: Hotel Viking “This is the place to go to feel like royalty!” 

Here’s what #NIMRI members were saying on Instagram and Twitter: 

 

Great turnout at #NIMRI! A photo posted by Suzanne McDonald (@newportinteract) on

 

 

Learning about travel blogging at #NIMRI at @ParlorNewport. #NewportRI A photo posted by The Newport Blast (@thenewportblast) on

Many thanks to our venue sponsor Parlor Kitchen & Bar

Register for the next #NIMRI event now! 

What’s New with Google Analytics?

Third-time presenter and BU’s Google Analytics Instructor Jay Murphy shared his tips on how to use  Google’s recently overhauled Google Analytics. Here are the highlights of the presentation.

Why Use Google Analytics?

  • With information about your visitors you can better decide:
  • How to improve your website
  • How to spend time and money of specific topics and marketing
  • Ways to reach your audience-how to reach new audiences
  • Google analytics helps you understand where you should spend  your money. Should it be spent on new banner ads, new social media campaigns, new marketing etc.

New Features of Google Analytics 

Timeout settings

Timeouts have always been configurable – but it previously had to be done in code. Now it can be configured in the admin. panel.

Why do this? 

You need to make session timeouts make sense for your website. The standard timeout rate is 30 minutes but what if people watch videos on your website for more than 30 minutes? Set the session timeout to max video length.

Referral Exclusions

How to remove those pesky referrals from your own websites? Like with the timeout setting this used to be done with code on each of the websites- but can now be done in admin panel as well.

  • Go to web property and click on referral exclusion list
  • Just type in the exclusion and it will show there when you hit create
  • From that point forward it will eliminate all the traffic from that referral site

Demographic Reports 

Demographic reports is another new feature that  includes data on:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Affinity groups – for example: movie lovers, travel buffs
  • In market segments – people investigating specific products

Remarketing Lists

Once “ Display features” are active on accounts remarketing lists are availableThese groups of users that can be targeted in current or future campaigns.

Examples

  • Market home loans directly to people looking at real estate
  • Travel information to people who visit travel sites.

Custom Dimensions

A very powerful feature for helping to better undertstand users and groups of users

  • You define the dimension name
  • Scope defines data associations
  • “Hits” good for tracking a onetime activity
    • A video play or form submission
  • A session to track a visit or login
  • ‘User’ scope is useful to track across sessions

User ID: AKA Session Unification

  • This feature will allow tracking across multiple devices
  • It only works for users who authenticate to your website or application
  • Examples: Game users, club members, students, blog authors, employees

When people login you’ll send a user ID (can’t use email or soc. number or customer number – can’t be tied back to individual) once in place can track by different devices.

Enhanced eCommerce

In addition to tracking purchase transactions – enhanced eCommerce tracks:

  • Product impressions
  • Refunds by transaction and item
  • Affiliate performance
  • Internal promotion performance

Want to Learn More?

Cardinal Path is offering three days of Analytics Courses in September– Google Analytics – 101, 201,  and 301 on Sept. 10th to Sept. 12th.

Here’s what Newport Interactive Marketers were saying on Twitter:

@IYRSedu: Excited to host on the topic of at our campus. Welcome to !

@sue_DesignEditor: Thanks to and for hosting tonight’s full-house with

@franciscosamuel  you can use google analytics in devices to record just about anything … Limited only by your imagination

@MiaLupo:Google processes the information and stores it as Dimensions and Metrics- Jay Murphy

@ShopALLIES: Add referral exclusions to your site!

@MiaLupo:You might be a creeper, but you’re being smart about how to draw in potential customers

@NewportInteract: yikes! In the future you’re stop n shop card could send data to Google Analytics ~ @Trionia

@sue_DesignEditor:Be sure to link your Google Analytics to AdWords @Trionia

James Murphy, Murphy, faculty Meet Jay Murphy

Jay Murphy works with large and mid-sized organizations to successfully convert business imperatives to effective marketing results by delivering analytics, website development, social media strategy, search engine marketing, search engine optimization and display advertising all optimized with measurable results. He has worked with organization including GE, Harvard University and Janus Mutual Funds.

Jay previously worked at Sapient Corporation as a director of program management and led projects in a variety of industries including higher education, financial services and energy. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Northeastern University and a M.S. in Electric Engineering from Tufts University. He was awarded a Draper Fellowship to attend Tufts University and took doctoral level course work at MIT in Aerospace Engineering.

As a project leader on any web-based initiative, Jay brings an understanding of every technical nuance with an understanding of web-based marketing you just don’t find every day.

When he is not tweaking a web site – Jay can be found cheering on his sons at baseball games or racing his sailboat.

Don’t miss  Newport Interactive Marketers’ FREE monthly networking-learning gatherings.

Know Before Paying for Web Services

In February, website developer Francisco Samuel explained to NIM what we’re doing right, wrong, and what we could be doing better. We learned how to avoid being overcharged on development, domains, and hosting. We also found out the secrets to search engine optimization with quick tips on how to enhance your website without getting cheated out of your money.

#NIMRI attendees learned all about:

  • Internet Consultants Who are good? What is a good price?
  • Mobile sites My website on the iPhone, iPad, & other mobile devices
  • SEO Search engine optimization tactics and strategy
  • Domains & Hosting Must I pay?
  • Analytics How to track your traffic
  • Launch, Maintain, Blog, & Repeat Ways to keep the flow of your site

Franciso Samuel graduated from UMass Dartmouth in 1987 with a BS in Computer Science. He has more than a decade of experience working in software development and project management and over 5 years in internet development and dot-coms. He has been running Abacus Software for 15 years, building websites and technology consulting throughout New England.

Key takeaways

  • Content is one of the keys to website success,  both for search engines and for humans
  • Blogging helps keep search engines coming back & boosts the likelihood that your site will come up when someone searches
  • Be wary of proprietary work – something a developer created and others don’t use
  • Work with someone who works with common coding programs and CMS systems like WordPress or Drupal
  • Make sure your content is specific and describes what you do
  • If there’s something you are not familiar with, check Google trends to see how common it is

Attendees’ Tweets

Fantastic clip from Matt Cutts to demonstrate there are still people being “snookered” by SEOs – well-done @FranciscoSamuel #NIMRI

Buyer beware: if it’s too good to be true whether the stock market or #SEO says @FranciscoSamuel citing @mattcutts #NIMRI

Blogging helps keep search engines coming back & boosts likelihood that your site will come up when someone searches @FranciscoSamuel #NIMRI

Wordclouds can be helpful to ensure you are using the words folks looking for you would be using #keywords #NIMRI

Be sure you own your own domain and that you can log in to the account @franciscosamuel #NIMRI

Don’t miss monthly #NIMRI gatherings.