In 2008, I quit my corporate job, sold off everything I owned and moved overseas with my husband Drew. Since then we've traveled around the world, started our careers over as creative types and nurtured our love of sleeping in late. Oh and we had a baby. Cole, our almost 2 year old has been traveling since he was four months old and probably knows more Thai than me (not that he brags).
7 Steps to Get Free Travel With Your Blog
Today’s guest post is by Amar from GapYearEscape.com. While I wouldn’t advise starting a travel blog just to get free stuff, if you’re already blogging, there isn’t any reason why you can’t make it work for you (and no, it’s not just for the “big” blogs). Increasingly, there’s a lot of bloggers subsidizing their travel… here’s how Amar does it.
So you have a blog and an audience but how do you go about landing that sponsored trip you really want to do. It’s quite simple really; you ask.
For any long term or short term traveler embarking on tours or adventure activities can be rather expensive but they needn’t be. Blogs are powerful marketing mediums and businesses know this. It’s a simple arrangement; in exchange for doing the tour or activity for free or at a discounted rate you will write a review on your website. This will actually cost the company very little and they normally do this with travel agents so that they become familiar with the product and are more likely to sell it.
I can’t stress one point enough though. The review you give must be genuine. Some people fear that they owe the company a good review because they were given a tour for free. You have to stick true to your opinions. Don’t be harsh but be honest. You are likely to lose readers if you appear to be selling out.
Enough of that though. Here are the 7 steps to asking for free or partially funded tours:
#1 What are your credentials?
Without sounding like you are trying too hard to impress state; who you are, your website and what you do. Are you a Lonely Planet featured blogger? Do you write for a travel magazine?
#2 Who are you doing this for and why?
I’ll answer this one for you. You are doing it for your readers! Is your audience and their customer base in alignment? If you are an adventure sports blog and ask for Ballet tickets it doesn’t quite fit. There has to be a reason why you are asking. Do you want to compare the best surf schools or which is the best trekking company? Tell them.
#3 How does it benefit their organization?
How are you planning on promoting the review and more importantly the organization brand and products? How many people can you reach through your RSS, e-mail subscribers and Twitter followers?
#4 Remind them who they are dealing with.
It’s a subtle art but you should remind them who the competition is. In the travel market there is rarely just one company that does something. Do your research! Visit a few travel agents, pick up brouchers and look at who else is in the market. Remind the company that they have competitors.
#5 How do they get in touch?
If you’ve e-mailed them then it might be obvious that they can e-mail you back. Still it is prudent to leave all manner of contact details. Some might want to follow up with you on the telephone and some might want to have a nosey at your YouTube Channel. You should have nothing to hide. Put it all down.
#6 Now I just wait right?
Wrong. Well most of the time. On the odd occasion they might offer a sponsored trip there and then. Depending on the size of your blog and how compelling your letter is will determine your success rate. A lot of the time you won’t hear back. Some are just testing to see if you are the real deal and others are just plain busy. Give it a week and then send a follow up letter checking to see if they received your last and whether they had any questions.
#7 Do you have a plan?
A company offers you a tour. Well done. Now what? What kind of review will you write? Do you have set criteria you will judge it by? Will you use some sort of rating system? How long after the tour is finished can the company expect to see the review go live. When will you send them metrics to see how many views the review has had. Lay out a plan and keep the company informed. If you build up a strong relationship they are more likely to send you on future tours and trips.
There you have it, the 7 steps to free travel.
Finally, just enjoy it. Monetizing your blog can be slow and difficult but obtaining free tours, trips and activities is much easier. If you have a well written blog and have a good following why shouldn’t you reap the rewards? Review writing will be slightly different to your current style. Make sure you consider all the points a prospective buyer would want covered. Just heed my advice; keep the reviews genuine and honest. Sometimes people will disagree with what you say but if your views are valid, stand firm, you’ll be respected more for it.
About the Author
This post was guest authored by Amar Hussain; owner, author and traveller for GapYearEscape.com. He is a freelance writer currently travelling round the world in the pursuit of sustainable travel and documenting his experiences for advice, inspiration and entertainment.
Pic: Ferran
Great advice, however, you are saying just email the company? Like, through a customer service email or scour to find a specific person? I am kinda scratching my head on the exact approach of conveying the information… or maybe I just missed it
Jeremy – In short yes. It will increase your chances if you can get it to the correct person i.e. the marketing/advertising manager. This information isn’t always available so contact the general e-mail and ask for it to be forwarded on to the correct individual. It will normally find its way.
Steps 1 – 5 are the basis of your initial e-mail. Treat each step as a paragraph but keep each one succinct.
There’s so much to say on this subject matter and I could write a book on it. To be honest I probably will.
Finally, Christine is right. I didn’t set up my blog to get free stuff but it’s mutually beneficial to the organisation and yourself. You get a great experience and an interesting subject for an article. The organisation gets advertising at a rather low cost that will also generate way more click throughs then conventional text or picture links in a side bar. Win – Win.
I will have to keep this in mind on future travels, and while I’m sure many travel bloggers out there aren’t driven by making money blogging there are a lot who are on a tight budget so this could come in handy. Although, I may have to improve my Spanish or ask a friend to write it out if I’m in South America, and hopefully by then my site commands some sort of presence. It’s hard for a monkey to get respect out here in the world of blogging.
.-= Cornelius Aesop´s last blog ..New Brew Tuesday: Stiegl Pils =-.
Working in the marketing department of a 5-star resort I can not say that we ever gave any free nights or similar to a blogger, but the time will definitely come…
But it has to be a popular blog with a lot of visitors who are potential clients.
.-= Tom´s last blog ..Airplane Accommodation-The Jumbo Hostel =-.
Tom-
The time is here… I went on a press trip with bloggers (and I’ve seen many, many more out there) and everyone wasn’t a “popular blog with a lot of visitors.” They were all writing high quality content, but not all of them were getting big hits or lots of comments. This trip was worth thousands (airfare, 4-5 star hotels, meals, transport, activities for 5 days).
For the marketers I talked to, it wasn’t just a quantity thing… they realize that a blog can reach a niche market that is very important to them. Someone reading a big travel magazine, might travel soon or never, but someone following a very specific niche travel blog, that gets into a level of detail that magazine never would, has shown they have a deeper interest. They not only travel often, but it’s a lifestyle for them. So while a magazine might have the volume, a blog can have the highly specific, difficult to reach audience. Combine this with many bloggers’ ability to be influencers in social media, then it gives the company a lot of value.
That being said, I agree, I don’t think every hotel thinks like that or is actively pursuing this kind of strategy. But there are plenty of places that are…
Even contacting places to see if they offer a media rate can save you money on travel you’d be taking anyway.
At first I worried that we’d get preferential treatment, but soon realized that when you check in, they don’t know you from Adam. Maybe more media savvy brands would, but that hasn’t been our experience thus far.
Great post!
I heard of a Spa oriented website where the author goes out to high end spas for free all the time.
It might be beneficial to specialize like that.
.-= John Bardos – JetSetCitizen´s last blog ..One Month into My New Anywhere Lifestyle =-.
My website is new by all practical standards, yet I’ve still been quite successful in landing complimentary activities or discounted media rates in return for reviews on Backpackingmatt.
Your tips are very well presented, Anil. I think #1 is very important – it’s a matter of presenting your website in an honest, yet positive light. Grab the attention of whoever is reading the email.
.-= Matt´s last blog ..Friday Travel Photo: New Zealand Vineyard =-.
Matt – Anil? Do I really look like Foxnomad? Haha!
I have a tourism business and have offered freebies to various “journalists” on many occasions. Unfortunately, most of them fail to honour their part of the deal: we don’t insist that they publish a puff piece, but we do insist that they publish. Now we have much more stringent rules about who to accept. And bloggers (unless they are very well-known ones) don’t make the cut anymore. In fact, even “real” journalists now have to present a letter from a publisher confirming intent to publish. May seem harsh, but the “freebie parasites” have spoilt it for genuine bloggers. Businesses beware!
Nice post! I have landed a few freebies and discounts in the past through my severely neglected site Travoholic.com. Since then I haven’t really put a push on this at all. I think I will have a crack at it once I head to Africa though. I’m not much for tours but there are plenty of activities out there and even safaris and stuff might be fair game.
Thanks for the post!
.-= Kirsty´s last blog ..Building Lasting Friendships on the Road =-.
Ferikmalae:
That’s terrible that journalists wasted your time and money by accepting a product they were unable to write about.
On the other hand, I know that sometimes these things are out of your hands. You get a ‘yes’ on an idea, do the leg work, write about it, but then they decide not to publish it after all. However, I’m sure there are some people requesting review items where doing it before they had gotten approval from any publication and then find themselves afterward unable to sell the piece. It’s regrettable. It’s smart to ask them for a letter from their editor.
With bloggers, you don’t have that same issue… there is no editor. They can’t get rejected. The barrier to writing and publishing a post about whatever they’d like is only their own desire. You didn’t say specifically if you cut bloggers out because of a lack of publishing or not, but I’d be curious to hear if that’s the case.
Great advice. I’ve been using my work trips to subsidize my travels so haven’t had to look for freebies, but now I think I’ll give it a try.
Has anyone had any success with testing out gear? I really need a new backpack
.-= Todd´s last blog ..The Unfortunate English Sign- Travel Photo Friday 2 =-.
Todd – Personally, I have not tried as I have all the equipment I need but the principles are exactly the same.
A couple of friends have had success with gear. One did a cycle ride down the east coast of Australia and had all his gear provided by one company. Another friend of mine tests gear for different brands. I guess it does work.
I love this idea. I have only just started dabbling with this. When I very first started my blog (like 2 weeks into it) I was offered a free ski trip to Breckenridge, but didn’t feel ready so I told him I would get in touch next ski season. You’re totally right — if you have a great concept and enough of a niche, people are excited to help you do things for free in order to get to your audience, even if it’s very small.
.-= Emily @ Maiden Voyage´s last blog ..Guest Post: Guilty Spending Abroad — Is it Worth it? =-.
Fantastic post! It’s great to know that smaller blogs are worth something, especially since I made the leap from personal blogs to a full-fledged travel writing blog early this year.
Thanks for the info.
.-= Adventurous Kate´s last blog ..Travelers’ Night In — The Best of City Travel! =-.
Good advice Amar. Never really thought about getting into this but it sounds like a great idea. Just like Kristy, I am probably heading to Africa in about 6 months and there are some great tours and safaris there! Hopefully I’ll have a bit of luck.
.-= Migration Mark´s last blog ..Rules of Engorgement: Cambodian Breakfast =-.
Very informative post. This gives a good outline on how bloggers should act in general, as well as how to get perks such as free travel or activities. Being honest, following up, providing thorough information and demonstrating loyalty to one’s readers are all very important qualities for bloggers to adapt.
I am glad to hear that you don’t need to even be a “big” blog to get some free travel. I would have never considered it so I appreciate the article.
.-= Jay´s last blog ..New Developments on the Work Frontier =-.
Such good advice. I am just starting to think about looking for free travel in exchange for a review on my site. Thanks!
.-= Joya´s last blog ..Say Aloha to Hawaii and a Free Flip Video Camera! =-.
So very true.
I traveled for over 9 months across South East Asia, eastern OZ, NZ and 2 pacific islands and it never occurred to me that I could succeed at something like this. I always though I needed to be a big player in the game.
Until I reached Ecuador and Colombia in February. I remembered this and tried a couple of times, and both results were positive: in one case I got a free entrance, in the other I had a 50% discount. Had I done this in all the side trips i’d done the months before I would have saved heaps of money and had more articles for my blog.
So go for it!
Federico
very nice post for free travel with your blog many don’t know how to free travel.
but i know how to free travel i read this post .great works for people God may you long life
Amar, I appreciate you writing about this topic, I’m new and your advice and the comments from everyone will be very helpful to me.
Thanks, Laurie
A recent post from Scene by Laurie…You CAN Travel to Mexico
i host 5 of my blogs on Blogspot and it is really good for beginners. but if you want something with more features, nothing beats wordpress’”,
Amar, I don’t know if you’re still reading these comments but I wanted to let you know that this idea — of reaching out to companies — had never occurred to me until I read this post. Well, I tried it. We get decent traffic but aren’t a huge blog by any means but a safari company is willing to pay for about 40% of our tour cost (which is a huge deal because it was going to be one of the most expensive portions of our trip.)
I literally kept this post open and wrote the email while I was checking all the points. I am so surprised that it worked out but am glad it did! Thanks again – and thanks Christine for posting on this topic.
Amar, this is a truly great post. And Christine, shout-out to you for publishing it.
Bloggers are only as worthy of free travel as the energy we’re willing to put into our blogs on behalf of other travelers (who are, after all, consumers).
Per Amar’s #7, if someone gives you something for free with the tacit understanding that you’ll write about it, then by all means — write about it. If you can’t or won’t for any reason, it behooves you to be a professional human being and contact the bequeather of said freebie to say why. You’d appreciate the same level of communication from them, believe me.
Otherwise, we all just create more PR/tourism/travel company reps who won’t work with bloggers.
Ferikmalae, I have the same questions for you that Christine does, and would love to hear more about your negative blogger experience(s). Since most of the bloggers I know have a genuine desire to connect with and inform other travelers, sounds like you might benefit from getting some pre-vetted referrals. I’m sure anyone here would be willing to offer up some URLs.
For now, I’m happy to concentrate on some successful news — Akila, big high-five on your safari discount! I really look forward to reading about your trip and wish you a wonderful time!
Akila – I am glad it worked for you. This blog post was just a taster as there is so much scope. A lot of people have expressed an interest and as a result I am currently drafting an ebook on this topic.
To the rest of you, thank you for the feedback.
Amar
very informative thx for sharing…
i always like to stay on 5 star hotels because the ameneties and the ambiance is always great “”
Thanks for the tips, Amar. I’ll be working on this for my upcoming trip. I wonder how it will work for China, HongKong, Taiwan, and Vietnam.