One of the most successful travel bloggers in the world, Johnny Ward, is hailed from a small town in Northern Ireland called Kilkeel. It is exactly that which inspired him to travel and explore the world.
After he graduated in 2006, Ward landed on various short term teaching gigs in the U.S. and Thailand. But these short term gigs slowly became a "gap lifetime." According to Forbes, he decided to travel as a budget backpacker after he was inspired by blogger Nomadic Matt who makes a huge sum of money a month by taking trips to different countries. Ward came up with his own traveling blog called One Step 4 Ward. It started earning $85 to $500 a month, until it finally reached a profit of $1,000 monthly.
He developed his skills for online business and soon established a company called Step 4 Ward Media, which is now making $30,000 a month. He is not tech savvy, but he found a way to thrive online by hiring the right employees from various countries, like Philippines and Bangladesh. He hired a talented Filipino to develop onestep4ward.com in 2010. Ward also took time to learn a few more fields like Search Engine Optimization, online marketing, social media management, content creation, and corporate blogging.
Ward said, "I read an article by a blogger called Nomadic Matt about making $3000USD a month from his travel blog. When I delved a little deeper I realised he wasn't doing anything particularly special. I figured I had experienced a lot more of the world than most travel bloggers, and if all I have to is write about it, then there's no reason why I couldn't hang up my English teaching hat and blog instead."
In his website, Ward says he is a big advocate of lifestyle design to make his dreams come true. Through his website, he helps people fulfill their dreams of traveling as a living. He said that a lot of travel bloggers who romanticise travelling are broke. But Ward found a way to expand his travel blog into massive proportions. He started developing and buying new websites to bring his travel experience to more people.
Now, that he is already established in the said field, he wants to share his 7 major tips forbloggers who dream of travelling for a living. For native English speakers, he suggests teaching English abroad. Blog about traveling until you develop a fan base and monetize it. Find a niche when you write a blog, like being a fitness traveller, or a vegan traveller. If you start earning big, don't overspend on your travels. Be open to new opportunities and be quick to grab them, like the way Ward took advantage of his online business. Don't make excuses or reasons not to do it. Finally, he said take the risk expanding and roll the dice again, which means get up every time you fall down. Keep moving forward to new heights. Don't be afraid to take risks.
There are a lot of ways to turn your hobby into a lucrative income, and Ward found a way to do it. Now, after three years, his business has made $1 million. Learn from him and be free.
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