I don’t usually blog about Blogging. Travel is my passion and my lifeblood so that’s what I write about. BUT, the business of Blogging allows me to travel and it’s one of the options you have if you want to take the digital nomad path. Therefore I thought I would share my blogging process and how I got here.
Mind, I am not going to teach you about blogging. I don’t have the authority to do that and I leave this business to the Pro teachers! Besides, I still have a lot to learn myself.
However, I believe my journey through this blogging world is quite unique, and it may help other bloggers that are discouraged not to give up and those who are scared to start, to give it a go, if this is what you want to do.
The thing is I became a professional blogger only after a ridiculously long period of trials and errors, life crises, nervous breakdowns, and lots of sweat and tears.
So I thought that if I share my experience somebody would be inspired not to give up, even in the most difficult times. If this is what you really want to do in your life, keep at it! Hard work will pay off!
However, the smarter you work, the sooner you get there.
I don’t consider myself a truly successful blogger who made it, YET (important word). But I am finally able to live on my blogging income and therefore I believe I am on the right path.
Besides, now I know what I want and how to get it!
The good part of it is that I really love what I do and I enjoy every bit of my job. And that makes all the efforts and hard work all worth it.
So, although I am not in the position to teach you about blogging, I want to share I will share with you what made me get where I am today, which is not such a bad place at all 😉
This is the best Travel Blogging course I took by far. Laura is very proactive with sharing actionable tips on blogging, from sharing post templates to giving you the best keywords that you can rank for, blog audits, and more.
PRO TIP - Before purchasing the course, make sure you watch the free training and also book a 5-minute session with laura to clarify your doubts. Explain your situation and ask her if she can help you and how so that you can decide whether it is for you or not. The course is costly so you have to make sure it's worth the price.
- Complete blogging information from SEO to Affiliate Marketing, Site Speed and more
- Constant updates
- Several Q&A with the coach Laura
- Great Facebook Group where to ask questions and get answers
- Great blogging community
- Suitable for all levels
- Good value for money
- Pricey
What made me do the switch from amateur blogger to a professional blogger
There are a few important elements, besides hard work, that played a very important role in the process.
- The right mindset
- Commitment and consistency
- The willing to invest in blogging courses
I will talk about those in a minute.
Before diving into that, you need to know that it took me more than 4 years to make my blogging career sustainable. Yes! 4 freaking years in which I thought about giving it up several times.
But every time I went back at it.
There was something like a force, a sort of “voice” within me that was telling me to keep at it because that was the only thing that would make me live the life I really wanted.
And when you listen to that “voice”, that’s when the magic happens.
I was frustrated, to say the least, discouraged and, sometimes, I was feeling like a fraud for some reason. But every time I published an article, or a reader would send me a thankful message, I was reminded of the WHY I was doing it. And I kept going.
Nothing happens in just a second. There is always a lead time, even if you don’t see it
During those 4 years of blogging failure, I kept writing articles and learning about blogging, adjusting stuff, asking for help, buying courses, and reading mindset books and now 5 years later I have a successful blog that is making enough money to afford the life I want and a second blog that started to earn money after 1 year only.
That was the proof that I learned from my mistakes and that is one of the most satisfying things for me, besides the financial freedom I have achieved, of course.
So without further ado, here below I am sharing what worked for me and what really made my blogging career completely turn around.
For further reading: the pros and cons of a blogging career
1. Mindset
It seems like a cheesy New Age BS to say, but it’s so true! Things started to slowly change for the best in my blogging career when I changed my mindset, that is to say when I decided that I wanted to become a blogger and make a living out of my blog, with true determination.
I didn’t want a plan B. I just wanted to be a blogger, writing on my blog and inspiring wannabe solo travelers to travel and enjoy their life on the road by themselves. I wanted to share what I knew about all those amazing places I had the privilege to visit. And nothing else.
Before that, I wasn’t really sure, about anything. I was confused about my abilities and my desires. I doubted myself a lot, especially because I was afraid of putting myself out there.
Blogging felt like walking naked in the park, if you know what I mean.
What changed my mindset? I can’t really answer that, with certainty. But the fact that I was fired from a remote job that I loved but didn’t find completely fulfilling, worked as a trigger.
It was pandemic times and I didn’t have any other options. So it was either make the blog work or go back to my parents, which wasn’t really an appealing option (for as much as I love my parents)!
For sure all the books about “mindset” that I had been reading at that time and continue to read now, helped to set the foundation for what would have been my abrupt change of mindset later on.
Nothing happens in just a second, there is always a lead time. Even if you don’t see it.
Read also 101 mindset quote to boost your career
2. Concistency
This is a no-brainer, but I wanted to mention it because it played an important role in the growth of my website.
No matter whether I was getting views on my blogs, or not, or whether I was busy working or traveling, I would always find time to sit and write another article, study a new course, make a change, fix bugs, learn new skills, build backlinks, work on the blog, basically.
That never changed in the course of the 5 years. And I saw it even in my second blog that grew significantly in one year only. I was always publishing new articles and applying the SEO techniques that I learned in the courses.
I would structure my travels around the blog planning and when I stopped traveling and start working full time I worked on the blog in the evenings and weekends. NON-STOP! Probably because I knew deep in my heart that that was what I wanted to do.
3. Investing in Blogging Courses
I spent so much money on courses that I am still wondering if I would have been able to make it without them as well. I guess I will never know, right?
Every time I bought a course and worked on it, it felt as if I knew all these things already, with some exceptions. But then I realized that I knew the information but I wasn’t putting it into practice, until then.
The blogging courses I took helped me to give a structure to the knowledge that I have been picking up from different sources over the years, validate it, and put it into organized mental boxes that I could use when I needed them.
Some of the blogging courses gave me clarity, others added information, and new tricks, and others were inspiring. I cannot really tell you what works for you.
Also, some of the most successful bloggers I know didn’t even take any courses. It really depends on the way you function basically. And that is something that only you know,
I wrote a post where I describe each blogging course I took one by one and explain how it worked well for me and what has been my best take. I hope it helps you to understand better what course is more suitable for your needs.
My blogging courses
- Full comprehensive blogging course
- Constantly updated
- Specific strategies applicable for Travel Bloggers
- Constant interaction with the teacher
- Monthly Q&A virtual meetups with the teacher
- Affordable monthly fee
- Leave when you want
- ONLY for travel bloggers
- No lifetime access
- Full Suite Blogging course from A to Z
- Great Facebook Group
- Great Support
- Best for beginners bloggers
- Suitable for all blogging niches
- Pricy
- Not suitable for experienced bloggers
- Easy to follow
- Active Facebook group
- Great to find new keywords to target
- It mainly focuses on Ahrefs
- You need to do everything in a week time (or two) unless you want to pay a full month Ahrefs subscription (which is expensive)
- look into the competition to find the keywords, which may feel uncomfortable (it did to me)
- The course is very detailed and covers everything about affiliation strategy with great examples and actions
- Leanne is a great teacher and always available to answer questions either in the group or privately
- Includes a lot of complementary tools and bonuses
- totally worth the investment
- NONE
My blogging resources
There are other blogging resources I use, especially for keyword research, the most important part of blogging. If you don’t appear on the first page of Google nobody reads your article. So what’s the point of writing if nobody reads it? So here is what I use to stay up to date on SEO and blogging stuff and for keyword research.
Keyword research tools
Rank IQ – amazing tool for low competition keyword research and ranking.
Keysearch.co – great tool for all types of keyword research
Blogging Podcast and reading
The Blogging Millionaire – by Brandon Gillie who is also the founder of Rank IQ an amazing tool for keyword research and a great resource that I cannot live without now that I found it.
Theory of Content by Joshua and Don. They also have a Facebook group where you can ask your questions.
Make Money Blogging by Sharon Gourlay, the founder of Digital Nomad Wannabe and the related group. I suggest you join the group. It’s free. She also has a blogging course but I have never tried it.
If you google blogging podcasts, you will find many more. If the ones I suggested above don’t satisfy you you can try others and choose the one that resonates with you. They are free after all and a good productive way to spend your free time.
Also free:
- Brian Dean @ Backlinko
- Neil Patel @ Neil Patel
- Ahrefs Youtube Channel
- The Income School
I hope this page was useful, if you have any questions on blogging, please be my guest and contact me If I have the answer, I will be happy to help. Happy blogging!
