* Note this article originally appeared here on Getaway Magazine
10 TIPS
1. Follow the pros Find out who the industry leaders are and make sure you subscribe to their blogs. Three of my top suggestions are The Roaming Giraffe, The Incidental Tourist and Cape Town Diva. Another tip is to check out the masthead – the ‘who does what’ page of magazines, and start to follow the editors and writers – a good way to start to get a feel for the industry.
2. Write for free If you’re wanting to become a travel writer, start with writing for free for online publications. Not only does it give you good practice, but it may also open some doors for you to media visits. That’s how I got some of my first hotel and restaurant review invites; the credibility of being attached to a publication always carries extra weight.
3. Improve your images Because there is so much content out there, aim to produce the best you can. When it comes to editing, there are some fantastic tools out there for adding those finishing touches to your images. Using Lightroom on a computer is my number one recommendation, but if you’re going to use your cell phone, I use VSCO for filters, and then Snapseed for final editing.
4. Tell a story Although a picture can tell a thousand words, words are still an integral part of story telling. Social media captions are now being called ‘micro blogs’ as they’re more accessible than many other forms of writing, so use them well to captivate people. See Scott Ramsay’s Instagram account (@love_wild_africa) for a great example of this.
5. Collaborate with others After content, collaboration is king. There’s something special about working with other creatives – and it’s also a good way to get noticed. I make sure that most of my travel trips, or media visits include others creatives. Sharing each other’s content means you’re introduced to new audiences. Also make sure you follow feature accounts on social media, and remember to tag them when appropriate.
Read the last 5 here on Getaway…
