As our blog has altered from a pastime to an on the internet business, we’ve started to feel like we’re held much more accountable of what we write. people really checked out this blog now, as well as we really do have some influence on travellers as well as the locations we visit. No, we’re not Lonely Planet, we don’t have millions of followers, we’re not well-known as well as we don’t have the most prominent travel blog online, however even a few people can sway the majority when word of mouth starts to spread.
You may have discovered that we have some “reviews”, “accommodation spotlights” as well as “promotional tours” on Goats On The Road. This fairly new element of the company includes its own challenges.
How it Works:
These kinds of partnerships are typically referred to as blog sponsorships as well as they essentially go like this: business offer blog writers totally free accommodation, tours, gadgets, gear, flights etc. as well as in exchange, we compose an short article about our experiences as well as share it with our visitors as well as social network followers.
A few months ago, we were at a restaurant with a couple of travellers who had contacted us with our blog. soon after sitting down, we started speaking about their travels as well as about our blogging life as well as we were pleased to be speaking to people who were really thinking about our situation. however then one of them asked us something:
“If you’re getting trips as well as hotels for free, exactly how can your opinions be unbiased”
Our very first press Trip! Partnering up with the Riviera Maya tourism Board in Mexico
Of course, this wasn’t the very first time that this concept had come into our heads, however it reminded us of exactly how essential it is to be truthful to our readers, in spite of any type of totally free services or products offered. The traveller was absolutely best as well as I believe it’s a significant problem for people who look for truthful info from travel blogs (as opposed to the progressively income-driven opinions of guide books as well as travel magazines).
The method we do things is that when we come to an contract with a business that is wanting to sponsor us, we tell them outright that all thoughts as well as opinions will stay our own. We likewise compose that at the bottom of the articles as well as in the videos that we make in exchange for the services.
That’s not just something we say. We actually stay with it. If we go on a tour, or stay in a hotel, or try out a travel product as well as it absolutely sucks, we’ll state so. We’re not out to slander business that have provided us totally free services, however if the hotel is awful, or the trip was overpriced of what was offered, we’ll speak to the business about the problems we had in the really hopes that they will rectify the problems. However, we’ll still publish the short article noting the cons.
You’ll notice in almost all articles about our sponsored experiences we have a pros as well as a cons section. This assists us to fairly convey some ups as well as downs of each tour, transportation or hotel we are reviewing/promoting. If there are no cons, we search for them harder as well as extremely rarely (especially in hotels) do we compose an short article without providing some impartial downsides.
We even had some cons about this 5-star resort in Mexico…
I’m not stating it’s a perfect method. In the ideal, truthful company partnership, we’d have sufficient money to pay for all of these great hotels as well as trips as well as we’d just compose about them as well as not have the added pressure of pleasing the business who took us in for free. however as travel bloggers, part of the method that we’re able to share such great experiences with readers, is that they are comped in exchange for the online exposure that we are able to offer.
I think, as bloggers, we have a significant obligation to readers. We requirement to be truthful about the locations we visit, the gadgets we utilize as well as the business that we partner with… no matter exactly how much those business pay us (or provide us).
We likewise requirement to be extremely cautious what we compose about countries as well as destinations as a whole. Dariece as well as I often travel to a few of the least went to regions on earth as well as we always reveal exactly how risk-free as well as amazing they are, however even in positive press we requirement to be mindful. We should guarantee that we’re not leading travellers into a war zone or providing them false assumptions about locations that they see based on our descriptions.
Note: travel blogs are inherently flawed as a resource for travel security during political unrest. Old messages are left as well as forgotten as well as for that reason may be out of date. always inspect the present circumstance before planning a trip.
Although we have travelled to Iran as well as believe it’s safe, the circumstance might change
In the exact same way, we are extremely cautious about any type of unfavorable comments we make about destinations. Making brash, broad statements like “the people in Morocco are not nice”, is not constructive or accurate. We personally had some bad experiences with the people there as well as we were cautious to reveal that in a accountable as well as unbiased way.
“The people can be coarse, rude, as well as even aggressive. however they can likewise be nice, generous, as well as hospitable.”
Goats On The road – 2012
If bloggers visit a destination on a tour, we shouldn’t depict it as the only method to see the country. possibly independent travel is still possible. We ought to research study all elements of travel in that region as well as report on it accordingly.
Are we promoting great or evil?
Another element of our growing obligation in the travel market is environmentally friendly as well as sustainable tourism promotion. At a recent TBEX seminar in Cancun, blog writers were criticized for promoting dolphin rides. This is, of course, not an environmentally friendly activity as well as by composing about it, we are endorsing as well as advocating the mis-treatment of these animals (albeit this is a subjective evaluation of their living conditions).
We had a similar reaction from a visitor when we composed that petting tigers was a highlight of Thailand. We composed the short article back in 2012 (and experienced it in 2009), however recent media protection has exposed that the tigers are commonly victims of animal trafficking, physical abuse as well as sedation. We have because eliminated this paragraph from our guides, however it shouldn’t have been there in the very first place.
Laying With A Tiger In Chang Mai (Not something we ought to have promoted, ever)
There’s a great deal of pressure on blog writers to assist travellers out!
These days, travel blog writers are in heaven. There are actually countless business around the world, from little start-ups to industry-leading giants, all trying to use the fairly new-found power of blogs. This implies that blog writers are making much better connections as well as thus, much more money than ever before… however all of us requirement to be judicious in our approach.
Luckily, many blog writers take their obligations extremely seriously as well as some even turn down money all together to prevent their opinions being swayed by monetary gain. (Hats off to them)
Before we started this blog, we were increasingly looking to blogs for helpful info to assist us on our travels. Our guidebooks were starting to spend much more time zipped in our bags, as well as our research study was slowly moving online.
Now that we have a travel blog of our own, we understand that it’s essential to honour that custom of good, truthful material no matter exactly how much money is in it for us. We feel that the motives in guidebooks as well as travel magazines are becoming progressively business as well as travel blogs offer a few of the only trustworthy independent material that can be discovered these days.
These days consumers are being bombarded with shameless marketing all over we go. We can’t even view our preferred TV show without having the contestants of top chef say: “Wow, I truly like the easy-to-use GPS system in this new 2015 Toyota Corolla!”
Companies with significant budgets can pay huge bucks for promotions.
Chart By: Statista
Worst yet, it’s in our movies. We just recently had to turn off the film Sex Tape with Cameran Diaz as well as Jason Segel since of the blatant, Apple brand product pushing throughout the entire film. At one point, one character drops an iPad from the window as well as when Jason Segel’s character picks it up he says: “Wow! I can’t believe the building of these things!”
B.S.
As people who don’t appreciate this type of subliminal brand promotion, we certainly don’t ever want to have our blog come across that way.
We do our finest not to force-feed trips as well as services down our visitors throats. We just offer concepts that they may delight in when they’re travelling, like: “Hey, we stayed in this remarkable hotel, if you’re in the area… inspect it out!” Sometimes, we work with brands to assist them promote online. We only work with them if we believe that they offer a service or product that our visitors may be interested in. These articles typically just have a quick mention in the middle of one of our story articles, or top 10 listings – quite passive I’d say. This type of marketing has a extremely little effect on our blog, however aside from freelance writing, it’s a great source of earnings as well as assists to keep us on the road, as well as to keep this blog running.
We likewise have some banner ads to assist pay the bills, some affiliate partners who we’ve utilized as well as are pleased to endorse, but outside of that we truly don’t try to push anything on people who come to this site.
For example: we promote trusted home Sitters as well as world Nomads Insurance…why? since we utilize their services as well as believe they’re outstanding ?
Thanks to trusted home Sitters, this was our residential property for 7 months!
We’re extremely pleased that the travel blogging market has made it to where it is today as well as that big business are lastly starting to discover the value in our content, however we are likewise conscious of our obligations as suppliers of helpful information.
It’s similar to the obligations that reporters have when the cover a topic. They should be truthful as well as do their finest to communicate every side of the story. We, as travel bloggers, all requirement to be cautious about what we compose as well as exactly how we depict destinations, activities, hotels, events as well as products.
When we compose “All thoughts as well as opinions stay our own” at the bottom of our articles, we ought to all stay with those words.
Our visitors as well as the future of the travel blogging industry depend upon it.
How do you feel about travel blogs as a whole? Are they a trustworthy resource for researching travel? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
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