Things are gradually changing here at World Travel Family, our blogs ( there are now 6, if you count Boo’s) are starting to follow a new course.
I thought I’d share with you what’s going on, maybe you’ll take inspiration from our experiences, maybe you can pick up a few tips, maybe you can tell us where we’re going wrong and help us to do it right, who knows!
We were making decent money from the sponsored post industry. That stopped for us a while ago, the industry has changed.
The problem with sponsored posts is, they do take a fair amount of time, time that I now know, would have been better spent on growing a sustainable income. You, the blogger, have no control over what you earn from this source, you’re always waiting on the next email coming in and you can waste hours sending out unanswered emails to “contact lists” of known advertisers. Out of 100, you may get 1 reply. ( If anyone wants my contact list they’re welcome to it, good luck!)
I gave up on that a long time ago and resigned myself to just making a small income through the blogs, justifying the time I put into blogging in terms of all the free perks we get.
I’ve now realised that I don’t enjoy those sponsored travel jobs, we very rarely do them, in all honesty, I’d rather pay.
We still do publish the odd, legitimate sponsored post or review, picked up through agencies like Cooperatize and Izea. Some pay very well, but they’re few and far between for now.
I don’t want a full time job.
I have kids, they need me and are totally my 100% priority, but, when we’re not travelling, I do have some time on my hands to work and work hard.
Procrastination, playing around with social media, fruitless fiddling with websites and hoping that earnings will improve is pointless.
I’m learning to work smart and value my time.
Why? Because I’ve had a virtual kick up the backside from 3 sources.
This one The 4-Hour Workweek
This one Solopreneur Ronin: Break the Chains, Earn Your Freedom, and Engineer a Happy Life Blogging from Anywhere
and this one Y Travel Blog’s Money Cleanse Course.
I’m only a week or so into the 30 day course and my head has been changed for the better.
Money will make life easier and help create and sustain the freedom that we so need to fully enjoy life. That is what this is all about, freedom, not being tied to a job, a building, a country, nothing. We need our options fully open so we can go where the wind blows us and grab every opportunity.
Money is not a dirty word, I’m ready and deserving of a decent flow of cash. It will happen!
My time is better spent producing content or taking steps that will help us grow our income. I can pay somebody else to worry about my Twitter following, I’m going to focus on the jobs I enjoy and the ones that bring in cash.
My Pinterest account is what brings us the most traffic, over 98% of our social media traffic comes from this source. I’m at a point now where my pinning is about 70% automated through the awesome Board Booster, (I’ve tried Tailwind too, I wasn’t so keen).
That gives me time and buys me more freedom. When we’re on the road I won’t need to worry about checking in to Pinterest every day.
Through talking to online contacts about Virtual Assistants (VAs) and getting paid help, something interesting happened. I started working as a VA for 1, now 2 associates. I’m good at what I do so they’re willing to pay more than the normal VA rates. ( You can pay as little as $3/hour, but you get what you pay for).
A few hours a week, at a fixed rate, is a far more productive way to earn cash than playing with websites and social media accounts. FOR NOW.
It is a very few hours, I have to get it done while the children are asleep, but it helps a lot.
The Romania house project will start this year and continue into next. It’s all well and good being free to travel the world, but we need a little more for the kids, It’s not fair on them to spend their whole childhood living out of backpacks without bikes, toys and “stuff”. We’ve done it for 2 years, now we need a base that is as affordable as nomadic travel.
I’m going to get serious about making money online. Once Chef is free of the London kitchens and can do more with the kids, I can really get stuck in.
I’m going to do more VA work, set up websites,manage social media and be an all round helpful, experienced, team member. I’ve had a lot of interest already.
The websites will bring in cash without me having to spend much time on them.
E-books, advertising, affiliate sales, I’ll be working on them all.
I’m going to bring in enough money for us to live,and travel, with.
I’m not asking the universe, I’m telling it! Thanks in advance.
We hope you’ll stick around to follow the travel, the house project and our journey to total freedom.
What do you think? Is it something you’d like to do? Are we crazy? Are you on this same journey? Am I going to crash and burn? Leave me a comment.
You know, if you ask for things and set an intention for them to happen, they usually do. It’s not mystical woo-woo nonsense, it’s within YOU. And me. I’ve made my mind up, I’m doing this thing, everything is possible.
When we first started this journey we stated that we would be leaving home to travel indefinitely with the kids. People thought we were crazy but WE DID IT. We can do this too.
And you know what? So can you.
Try here, How to Easily Set up a Blog and Start Making Money.
and How to Grow Your Traffic With Pinterest.
