Life As A Nobody Travel Blogger

I think I just called a nobody...

... and it was mostly deserved. And if nothing else, it's a good reminder that, to many, you are what the Klout score of your blog is.

Today, I stumbled across a private opportunity just for those of us in the travel blogging space. The offer was simple:

"We are excited to offer complimentary tours to bloggers traveling in [big city]."

Excellent news! I was traveling to [big city] in just a few short days, and I had a few hours to kill. While I'm not big on the tour scene, it might be a nice way to spend the time, rubbing shoulders with the industry and all. So I messaged the provider, and received a prompt reply:

"Thanks for reaching out. Unfortunately, your blog while very nice, doesn't meet our requirements for a complimentary tour."

:-(

Did I read the initial offer incorrectly? I mean, this was a closed offer to travel bloggers, posted in a forum where only travel bloggers could see it. It's not like this was a Craigslist ad or anything. So I asked -- very nicely -- what requirements they were looking for. Not to game the system, but to understand why I didn't fit. 

He responded with "No trouble at all. We are looking for sites that have a strong social following and/or pagerank, medium DA and PA. Your site has no rankings really, and the social media following is low."

For those uninitiated in the arcane knowledge of [shudder] SEO, DA = "Domain Authority" and PA = "Page Authority". You only need know that higher = better, and brand new sites (like my newest project) start out very very low.

So... ouch. Here I am, a guy with his own Wikipedia page and more than a little credibility in the social space, and I'm relegated to plebiscite status. Ouch! It's a good thing I have a rock solid self image.

But back to my point: You are, to many or at least some, judged by the stats you create. That why, when people say "how are you making money", I tell them that we're treating this like a startup. Startups don't need money right way. They need momentum, and that's what we're building week after week. We'll find a way to make money later. Maybe.