Should Travel Bloggers Work For Free?

If there was ever a topic to rile Travel Bloggers it is the suggestion that they should write content for "bigger" companies for free.

Just two weeks ago at the popular Travel Blog Camp, it was muted by one or two speakers that they were accepting free content from bloggers in return for them to being associated with their company

The journalists from The Times & Sunday Times newspapers drew the most derision from the audience.  Partially for suggesting that bloggers would want to have their work associated with their brand, but also because the content would go behind their paywall - ie the public have to pay to access it, yet the papers would be getting it for free from bloggers!

I can see the benefit to a new entrant amongst us, yet someone who is a new Travel Blogger may well be offer a publisher a lot

So what do you think?

- Would you write articles for free?

- Would you write for The Times & Sunday Times if they offered no money but you received the experience & benefits of association with such a paper?

- Do you think there are circumstances when non-paid articles can bring benefit to bloggers?


Tags: Travel, bloggers, free, work

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kash Bhattacharya on December 17, 2010 at 11:48pm

 

Great debate and all the viewpoints are valid.

I have no problem accepting guest posts from fellow bloggers for free if it helps them raise their profile...

However recently I've started making a bit of money working with a few travel clients and also offering them some consultancy so I've decided to pay contributors.

Yes, it is a very measely $5 Amazon Voucher but its a start for me and I do intend start paying more when I start making serious money from the blog.

I think its important that people value peoples time and efforts-blogging for me personally takes up a lot of family time and working unsocial hours. I enjoy it and do mainly because I love travel and not for the money. However there is nothing wrong about pursuing something you are passionate about and also earning a living from it.

Gary had a great article recently about how media agencies were still yet to understand the value of engaging with travel bloggers.

Well, its upto us and all the communities TBU, TBEX, Travel Blog Camp to educate and explain the value of our work. How can we put a value on this?

That is what I will share with you at the TBU11 conference and share some of my tips and ideas.

 

I have total respect for those who blog for the love of travel and don't seek monetary rewards for it but at the same time, if you are thinking of blogging longterm and want to continue to fund your travels-its important to start looking at ways of earning from your blog to help fund your travel dreams.

 

While I don't agree with the Sunday Times and Times position of not paying their contributors, on the flip side as Mark Hudson from 101 Holidays rightly pointed out, with all the publishers gravitating to the idea of a paid for model, its an opportunity for blogs who are probably the last bastion of the freedom of speech. We need to take advantage of this shift in the market and really step up and make ourselves a credible platform for travel brands and destinations. This is where conferences like TBU11 will be great for advancing the debate and creating that platform of action.

Permalink Reply by Zoë Dawes on January 13, 2011 at 8:18pm

I agree with Laura - up to a point! I have travelled and written for many years, but only for my own pleasure ie travel journal, or family & friends. I would like to be able to earn some money from writing now but recognise that the competition is EXTREMELY strong now esp re travel articles in mags, newspapers etc. Sooo maybe writing a book is one way forward...

 

Whatever, I am delighted to be in with a group of really talented writers and travellers who consistently raise the bar and ensure quality, entertainment, information and variety is there for all our readers.

 

Permalink Reply by Alastair McKenzie on March 14, 2011 at 11:38am

This post from TravelBlogChallenge about taking paid-for guest posts on your blog is rather interesting...

 

http://www.travelblogchallenge.com/blog-advertising-exposed-an-anon...

 

And I wonder if John O'Nolan might talk a little about the position at Wordpress on this para...

 

Sites that don’t own their own domain name are also passed over a lot of the time as well (e.g. .blogspot and .wordpress domains) – not only because they’re essentially subdomains of wordpress and blogspot, but because advertising on these blogs – I believe – is against the terms and conditions of these free domains. At any moment if you sell advertising on one of these free domains, you have to be aware your blog may be shut down for violating these terms and conditions. So we always try to stick to sites that have a domain name registered. Also, and this is a bit of a controversial point, we will not use blogs if they nofollow their outbound links.

Permalink Reply by Mark Paul on August 16, 2011 at 5:54am
I hope someone pays me to travel haha
Permalink Reply by David Jr on September 1, 2011 at 2:07pm
I would like to, but when I give an honest review, they would not like me anymore. How does that work?

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