All Posts in Category: Business Skills
Pricing, Negotiating and Contracts (for Travel Content Marketing and Magazine Writing)
I am so pleased to share that a lot of the folks that have been following the travel content marketing webinars are already getting responses to their pitches, setting up calls, and sending proposals:
“I just wanted to let you know that I have a phone call set up later this week with a tour company in Tokyo who have approached me about writing for their company blog. Thanks to your webinars over the last month, I feel like I have so much more knowledge going into the call. So I just wanted to say thank you for all your advice! Fingers crossed it all works out!”
“Listening to your webinars it has encouraged me to seek out social marketing jobs. I have landed 1, have a conference call with another and emails into 6 others.”
The Only Thing Worse Than Pitching a Travel Article and Never Hearing Back
I recently talked about how some of the incredibly talented writers in our At-Home Pitchapalooza Program are having trouble coming up with ideas for feature pitches, because they’re afraid of writing feature articles.
And I totally understand this.
But today, I want to let you in on a little secret.
There is something much, much worse than pitching an idea to a magazine and not hearing back.
Announcing: At-Home Pitchapalooza Coming to Your Inbox This January
I want you to take your freelance travel writing to the next level next year. How can we do that?
I don’t know about you, but I suck at taking online courses.
Invariably, I sign up for them, I’m very excited, and then I just don’t make time to log in.
Or I do, and then I’m disappointed because the course is (without advance notice) only available in video that you have to watch live on the site one at a time with no transcripts or slides or worksheets to do offline, and that simply doesn’t work with my sporadic nomadic email access.
The Travel Magazine Database Went Looking for Writers: Here’s What it Found
We’re always on the lookout for talented people to add to our team here at Dream of Travel Writing (and we’re currently looking for an editor with WordPress experience and a 20-to-30-hour-a-week U.S.-based office manager, so reach out if you think you fit the bill!), and as a growing small business, there have naturally been growing pains in our hiring processes.
I’ve collected advice for years from friends who own other small businesses, from other writers and editors to web app company owners to digital agency heads. And one of the most frequent and resounding pieces of advice, frankly, feels a bit insulting.
They all agree that you have to relentlessly test people before you bring them on.
The Average Day in the Life of a Travel Writer
During a lovely interview for the Great Escape Publishing podcast (I’ll share it with you as soon as it’s out), the host asked me one of the most difficult questions for travel writers:
What is your average day like?
To Niche or Not to Niche: What’s the Best Way to Freelance Travel Writing Success?
A lot of the prevailing advice to the soon-to-be-self-employed is to pick a niche and brand yourself heavily in that area. Proponents say,
“Who’s going to hire a freelance travel writer with no experience besides her own personal travels? You have to do something and be known for something so incredibly specific that when people really need exactly that skill, they come to you.”
But what new freelance travel writers respond with, very validly, is:
“Okay, but who is going to hire me for that incredible specific thing right now? I need enough clients to earn an income now, not just later when I become famous for my super specific niche.”
What You Need to Know About Freelance Travel Writing Contracts
If you’ve already been in this game for a while, feel free to skip this post. I am not a lawyer (though that was my original career plan back in the day!), just a concerned citizen, so if you are already commanding the rates you deserve and negotiating for contract terms that work in your favor, jump ahead.
The Only Thing that Matters in Travel Writing Is Your Hourly Rate
At one point in my career when I was in desperate need of work, a writer and writing coach that I greatly admire made a case for writing for trade magazines that completely changed my career:
I’ve earned anywhere from $.10 per word writing for trade magazines at the beginning of my career up to $2.50 per word penning articles for national consumer magazines like Health. What’s important, though, isn’t the per-word rate—it’s your hourly rate, and I usually earn $250 per hour at this kind of work even at magazines that pay just $.50/word.
What Are Travel Magazine Editors Really Doing All Day?
I have the greatest respect for the amount of work on travel magazine editors’ plates (and not just because I used to be an editor).
Three Ways to Earn Six Figures as a Travel Writer (With Full Income Breakdowns)
Over dinner the other day, a friend asked me how someone would make, say, $10,000 a month as a travel writer.
It didn’t even take me a minute to think of a comfortable income breakdown to meet that.