The proliferating travel industry of different countries and places provide an excellent opportunity for those who love to explore various attractions of the world. And with the increase in number of travel enthusiasts around the world, now there are wonderful opportunities for those who wish to pen down their experiences. The idea is to make travel guides and manuals which will not only provide knowledge to other travellers, but will also fetch you good money.
There are many organisations that have found immense potential in promoting travel guides and tourism in different countries and regions. Some of these organisations focus on only the major attractions of the world like Mount Rushmore and The Grand Canyon, while some focus on the swanky cities of the world like New York etc. Some are country or continent specific like Australia and Singapore and some do not have a finite range, they just take on the whole world at large.
You can either associate with them and start making travel guides for these organisations or you can also opt to work for different travel magazines and other journals and periodicals where they promote travelling to some extent. You can get in touch with many online travel guides and journals and provide them the manuscript of your experiences or you can also have your own blog and share your journey with the whole wide world.
There are multiple resources where you can publish your travel guides. But remember that your travel guides should follow certain rules which can be either tacit or explicit. For instance, you should keep the language simple and comprehensive. Your readers should understand what you are trying to say. You should also keep it interesting so that you can excite your readers about the place you are discussing. Plus there are other guidelines that frame travel guides which you should adhere to.
Archive for May, 2009
A Wonderful Opportunity in Travel Guides
Saturday, May 30th, 2009Travel Tips by Property Management Software
Saturday, May 30th, 2009In this modern travel industry, online reservations have simplified the overall process of vacationing/traveling. Lodging companies that use a Property Management Software that offers online booking can really make things easy for a customer. We encourage tourists to book with a Resort/Hotel/Home that has a sophisticated website and online booking software. Travelers, remember that if a company is willing to put time an effort into their website and the resort software they are more inclined to put time and energy towards other aspects of their business.
It is also important for travelers to do research about the vacation destination of choice. Too many travelers visit destinations with little to no understanding of the local culture. So beyond looking for a company that has a classy website and sophisticated resort property management software, do your research about the travel destination. At minimum, glance at the travel warnings, things to see, places to eat, etc. and prepare yourself. A trip that has some meaningful planning behind it can enhance the overall travel experience. Almost everybody has experienced some type of mistake regarding travel plans. Maybe the flight time was misunderstood or the accommodation check in date or time was wrong. To assure your travel experience is as hoped, bring all itineraries, verify and re-verify each essential detail as you set the foundation for your trip.
Another benefit of booking through a sophisticated website and property management software is that your itineraries are typically automated and more reliable. Be suspicious if your confirmation comes in a manually written email. This is one of the most common ways travel details can be inaccurate. This can sometimes indicate a company is running on a pencil and paper, which is highly unreliable. It is extra important to call and verify the legitimacy of the travel details when things are being done manually. We hope our travel tips help your vacation go smoothly and as planned. Travel often and travel well.
Travel Writing – What Works Online
Friday, May 29th, 2009In some ways travel writing online is similar to that in the print world. Readers still want the facts about a location, maybe an interesting perspective, and some useful advice. However, this doesn’t mean you can just write the same article for both a magazine and a website. There are some important differences.
The first has to do with how the readers find your article or page. They see it in the table of contents of a magazine, but online, people find articles using search engines. A man types in “hiking in yellowstone,” for example. Perhaps your web page is about exactly that. But if it’s titled “My Weekend Wilderness Walk,” he’ll probably never find what you wrote. You have to optimize your writing for the keywords that people are using when they search online – a whole topic in itself.
This is true whether you’re building a page, or writing an article for free distribution. But for the latter there are still other necessities. People not only have to find what you’ve written, but they also have to take the next step: visit your website. Otherwise you get little value from distributing your articles.
Whether submitting your article to an online directory, then, or to another website, you need to include a working link to your own site. You also need to give the reader a reason to click it. The link will normally be in the “author’s resource box” at the end of the article, sometimes titled, “About the Author.” This is where you get to “advertise.”
A good article is not enough. You have to sell the reader on visiting your site, because even the best travel writing may not do this for you. How do you do this then? In the resource box.
If you have a free ebook, you might say: “Click here for the free ebook, ’10 Tips For Traveling To Spain.’” You have to at least make the web site sound interesting, perhaps with a tease like, “Discover the insider secrets of getting cheap plane tickets at…” Of course good writing alone may build your reputation, but for maximum value you need to get that click through to the site.
Advantages Of Online Travel Writing
The examples above are not about selling your articles, because that isn’t the way to make travel writing pay on the internet – a big difference from the print world. You may be able to sell your articles to some sites, but the pay is generally poor. This is why writing online is normally all about promoting your website and/or products.
How do you make money then? Here is a typical scenario: I write an article on traveling to Mexico, and submit it to fifteen article directories, where it’s taken and used on other websites as well. Eventually it’s in forty places online. In the resource box at the end of the article, readers are promised something valuable or interesting if they click that link and visit my website. On the site they can buy my ebook, click on the ads which I get paid for, or visit the companies who pay me a commission when I send a buyer to them. Here are four advantages of putting your travel writing online:
1. No need to sell your writing. You never have to find a magazine or newspaper to buy your articles, and no editor can reject your writing. Build a website and sell your own ebooks, or sell ad space, or link to affiliate products, and you can start making money in a few weeks.
2. Small investment. There is no need to even spend money sending out your manuscripts. You can start making money with your travel writing this week by creating a free blog where you post tips and promote affiliate products – no investment required. Starting a website is inexpensive as well.
3. Online articles are short. Internet attention spans aren’t very long, and directories want shorter articles for fast loading of pages. Your articles will usually be between 400 and 1000 words for these reasons. At that length, you can probably write a few good ones tonight.
4. You get to work from anywhere in the world. I’ve written articles while in a hotel room in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado and in an internet cafe in Ecuador. You can even put new pages on your website from any computer connected to the internet, wherever you are.
One benefit which is common to travel writing online or off, is the tax deductions you get. Your vacations can become deductible expenses (talk to your accountant). In fact, if you start a free blog with the aim of making money, you’re in business.