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