Become an influencer - how does it work?

Advertisement - Lately we have been asked again and again: Becoming an influencer - how do you do it? Maybe that's because in times of Corona people have more time? I dont know. In any case, it should be clear to everyone who aims to build a foothold as an influencer: It is not easy. Above all, this does not happen by lying in the hammock on the beach and writing something on your blog every now and then. Or publish an Instagram post. There is much more to the success of online publications. Above all, a lot of work, a lot of time and money. It is not true that bloggers, content creators or Instagram starlets earn their money in their sleep. At least not in the beginning. Maybe never.

We have been publishing TravelWorldOnline since 2001. At that time Monika was working as a tour guide. She traveled all year round and was on the road on four continents. The idea that a few online articles could be the basis for a second career as a travel blogger, travel journalist and author was unthinkable. Petar worked as an engineer. He too had never dreamed that he would one day produce videos for TravelWorldOnline. It was a hobby we enjoyed. No more. At that time we would never have imagined what has developed from it so far.

Choose a topic that you are passionate about

It was clear to us that traveling is something we both love to do. When we started to build TravelWorldOnline, travel was a topic that interested many. The competition was - still - low. Even travel companies were rarely online. Therefore, we were initially able to deal with this topic in general. However, as more and more bloggers shared their travel experiences, competition increased. We thought about how we could further specialize. Since we both like to eat well and - at least from time to time - cook together, the subject of food has become the focus of our travel reports. Our travel blog for people, who like to savor their trips, was born. Some of our readers liked this. Others jumped off. The fact that not everyone always likes everything we publish is something that you have to get used to as an influencer. However, it is even more important to be true to yourself. Only then will you enjoy for a long time to win like-minded people for your posts and photos. This is exactly what becoming an influencer means.

Other influencers write about their life as travelers. Jess and Garrett Gee are constantly traveling with their three children. They write about their life while traveling on their blog, The Bucket List Family. The family with three children sold their property and is now traveling the world. They report on their travels. At the same time they give tips about traveling with children. Another example is Amy West from Jacksonville, Florida. Amy publishes a travel and lifestyle network in which she tells her audiense about travel, fashion and food. She originally started out with a blog, but over time it expanded to include social media. Today you can find her on her blog, on YouTube and on TikTok, where she is very successful.

How do you build a community?

Over time our readers grew, too. We made friends on social media. Many of these follow us to this day. We now know some of them personally. Most importantly, they know us and we try to answer their questions. We think that's one of the secrets of becoming a real influencer.

It depends on your content reaching people who are precisely interested in your topics. That sounds easier than it is. Today the competition is fierce. Anyone who starts building a community now is competing with others. Many of them already have skills that will help them. You have to be familiar with Search Engine Optimization. It takes strategies to reach people on social media who are interested in the same topics you are writing about. If you want to become a real influencer, you have to win the trust of your readers and followers.

Over time, you will notice how readers and followers on social media interact with the topics you post. We keep getting questions about travel destinations. Others want to know more about a recipe we're introducing. Still others look for suggestions for restaurants or hotels in a region. We welcome any of these questions. They show that our community is interested in our topics.

Influencer, blogger or content creator?

How do we see ourselves? Many of you who follow us on social media may know that I don't like the term influencer. There is a hint of manipulation in this term. That's not what we want to do. We want to inform and inspire. We do this through blog articles, but also by publishing photos, video clips and short descriptions on our social media. These do not focus on us, but rather the travel destinations or the experiences, restaurants or specialties of a region that we discover on our travels. With these, we want to provide our readers with suggestions, information and inspiration so that they can experience these destinations or activities for themselves.