If you’re a freelance travel writer or running your own small enterprise, one challenge can be marketing yourself and your business. You may have the best blog, or be the only business that writes about a certain area of the world, but if you can’t reach people to let them know, it won’t matter. Here are some ways to reach people and grow your business.
Create a website
Many people prefer to purchase from a company with an online presence. It lets them look at products and services and compare them to other companies, even if they intend to purchase offline. Creating a professional-looking website can take time, or money if you choose to pay someone else. This is one thing you shouldn’t try to take a shortcut with. So, whether you advertise sponsored products or have your own travel-related range, you need to build trust to get people to buy from you, or through your website.
Remember, there are some parts of running your business where you can take shortcuts. One of these is creating invoices, click here to find out how templates from FreshBooks can help you save time. So, when you need to invoice your clients, you can adapt these templates. This helps you get paid faster, which is crucial to any small business or freelancer. These are free to download, and there are plenty to choose from. So you can choose the one which fits your business and adapt it to suit you.
Get business cards
Most marketing may take place online now, but networking in person can and does still happen, sometimes when you least expect it. So, if you get into a conversation with someone who seems interested in what your business offers, the best way to get them to follow up is by giving them a business card.
If you’re away from your desk or travelling, you can reach people around the world, and give them a business card for when they’re ready to consider purchasing from you. They will be more likely to recall offline interactions than businesses they’ve only encountered online.
Request reviews from customers
Requesting reviews from customers or clients will help others know whether they want to use your site, either to find travel recommendations or to support by purchasing from. When spending money, people like to know more first. By following up on sales, you can show your customers or reader you’re willing to listen to any comments they have, good or bad. If these are bad, you can use them to improve, and if they are happy with the information on your blog, you can ask them to leave a short review. If your blog is rated highly enough, you may be able to offer exclusive content for a low subscription fee.
Repurpose your content
Creating content for your website or anywhere else online can make people aware of your business. You can repurpose your content, to reach more people. An eBook on a topic related to your travel adventures can be adapted from content you’ve already written. Or you could adapt your online content or an eBook if you’ve already created one, into a series of video tutorials. If you’re showing people how to solve a common problem related to travel, or teaching them about a subject they’re interested in, they may find out about you through this repurposed content.
Marketing yourself doesn’t always have to feel like you’re making a big sales pitch. Having a strong online presence, good reviews and consistently helping people find answers to their travel-related questions can help them find you.