How I Made My First Tangible Earnings As A Travel Content Creator!
Incident Date: June 20, 2019
It had been one year since I left my job and started experimenting with my life. During this one year, I enrolled myself in a month long-acting course in Mumbai, joined a summer-school in Prague, taught the kids in Bali, modeled for a friend, learned to operate camera, made and uploaded below-average videos on my YouTube channel, worked on my writing skills, and tried out a gazillion other things.
However, one activity that remained constant throughout the year was travel documentation. I continued to share pictures on Instagram, blog posts on my website, and videos on my YouTube channel. Unaware at the time, this documentation was, in reality, helping me build my portfolio for the future opportunities I was going to get.
Since I was not making money at the time, I read many articles and watched numerous videos to find ways to earn and travel at the same time.
I had already spent six months on leisure activities and traveling, without making any monetary earnings. Anxiety was starting to soar high. I hadn’t chosen a career path, found stability, or made any income as opposed to what I promised to my parents when I left my job. I hoped I’d achieve at least one of these within six months.
I was tensed, but I was also enjoying the process of content creation, despite the limited success I had in the field (in terms of money, and social following, of course). I was loving every moment of writing every word, clicking every picture, editing every single minute of video footage to create travel content. Nonetheless, these perfect dreamy longings could not afford me a rental apartment. So I knew, I can burden my friends for so long only, and will have to find an alternative.
And so, the hunt for work started. I’ll admit I worked on a few lame things to earn as little as $2 a day. Although when I look back now, I feel proud to have gone through a financially distressing phase, and been able to come out of it stronger.
I did not want to stay in one place (or city) primarily for two reasons, one, I could not pay the rent, and two, I did not have one single direction to pursue. So I decided to travel, and pause only when I needed to breathe-in the big city life or relax in the comfort of home.
A good friend once told me, “Unable to figure out life? Travel!”
But to travel, one ought to have money (or in my case, inflow of money and not the savings). So I searched online again. By this time, I knew I had a portfolio ready — all I needed to do was, sell it. The first step in the process was to clean up and update my website with the latest information about my work. On the side, I continued to brush-up my writing and photography skills. And finally, I drafted my first email reaching out to potential sponsors for my trip.
Gradually, I started to get offers(only barter deals in the beginning). I was glad — I get to work in exchange for food and shelter. I followed the same strategy for all the upcoming trips. I reached out to potential sponsors and offered them marketing and photography services in exchange for stay and meals.
On one lucky day, a host responded, “How much do you charge?”
It wasn’t the response I was expecting. I knew influencers/photographers charge for their work, but I wasn’t sure if I was there yet. But it was a cue, and I happily took it. Afraid to lose a profitable work opportunity, I quoted price, a litter lower than what I had wanted to. Still, they bargained, and I agreed. However small, it was one of the significant achievements in my career as a content creator.
And here I was, holding in hand, my hard-earned money — at that moment, I knew, I can make it despite the struggles. The amount was not too much, but it helped me pay for my inter-city transport tickets, mid-day snacks, and any unplanned expenditures.
So, if you believe in what you are doing, you’ll make it.
Sooner or later, you will!
