How To Travel The World As A Social Media Influencer. Meet today’s traveling social media influencers, a growing wave of savvy professionals who have quit their full-time jobs, left their homes, pared down most of their belongings to the essentials and who now spend their days traveling the world and sharing their experiences with the followers they’ve amassed. Scott Eddy, who works with brands such as Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton and F1, says he’s making well over six figures a year as a social media influencer. Thanks to this budding industry, the dream job of traveling the world has become more accessible than ever before. Meanwhile, Jerrard takes a service-oriented approach, spending a great deal of time “crafting the perfect itinerary for each destination” and then sharing the information with others who might not take as much pleasure in travel planning. Often times, a type of mentor relationship develops. Develop a Dazzling Set of Skills Many social media influencers have studied marketing or communications in the past, and others have worked in finance or the travel industry. Some influencers say they follow other influencers who share similarities with their own personal brand and pitch some of the companies they work with, since clients often collaborate with multiple influencers. Above all, it’s important for influencers to be selective when determining which companies to work with. “If you are building relationships and genuinely connecting, the brands will come to you.” Page 3 / 3 Comment on this story
Megan Jerrard has been traveling the world since 2007, visiting
45 countries across six continents so far. She has snorkeled with
sea turtles and sea lions in the Galapagos Islands, summited Mt.
Kilimanjaro and rode Bolivia’s notorious “Death Road” on a mountain
bike. She and her husband Mike, an adventure photographer, have
figured out how to make a living through traveling and sharing
their experiences with the world over Instagram, Twitter, Facebook
and their blog Mapping
Megan. It’s a dream job, no doubt, but capturing the right
images and crafting blog posts that appeal to her followers
sometimes requires a leap of faith. “I have a tendency to throw
myself out of planes if I feel the landscape would look better from
a bird’s eye view,” she says.
Meet today’s traveling social media influencers, a growing wave
of savvy professionals who have quit their full-time jobs, left
their homes, pared down most of their belongings to the essentials
and who now spend their days traveling the world and sharing their
experiences with the followers they’ve amassed. Influencer
marketing, once a social media experiment, has ballooned into a
movement in which major brands are shelling out
$255 million a month just for Instagram posts, according to
Captiv8, a company that connects influencers with brands, and as
reported by Bloomberg. To cash in, professionals have turned their
globetrotting into a personal brand, which they leverage to provide
sponsored content for tourism and fashion companies.
Brands often provide influencers with free travel
accommodations, meals, excursions and apparel. “I am grateful for
the generosity of the brands I work with, who spoil me with
beautiful suites and dinners at the most amazing, romantic
restaurants,” says influencer Ann
Tran, who has worked with brands such as Azamara Club Cruises,
Marriott and TripAdvisor. But that’s just the start. Many top
influencers bring in six-figure incomes to share their travel
experiences and promote brands. Scott Eddy, who works with brands
such as Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton and F1, says he’s making well
over six figures a year as a social media influencer. His
“goldmine:” Twitter, where he can converse, drive engagement and
make his followers become evangelists of his personal brand, he
explains.
Thanks to this budding industry, the dream job of traveling the
world has become more accessible than ever before. Since the
industry and job are constantly evolving, Jerrard says it can be
challenging as “there’s no set job description” and “no real
industry standards as this is a very new field.” The role also
comes with questions about how influencers should disclose their
sponsored posts—a murky area that industry regulators like the FTC
have been working to set guidelines for. Nevertheless, the
profession’s filled with opportunity and promise, and centers on
real-world experiences and novelty that most other types of jobs
simply can’t rival.
Each day brings a new set of adventures, and plans often change
at a moment’s notice. When Jill DeConti, social media influencer
and founder of the blog The Luxe
Travelers, for example, fell in love with Bali, she and her
boyfriend Patrick extended their one-month stay to nine months.
“It’s hard not to have a permanent smile on your face in Bali,
especially when you’re riding on a motorbike through the green rice
fields with the wind in your hair, eating healthy and delicious
foods and being near the most beautiful beaches every day,” she
says.
If you’re looking for tips on how to turn this dream job into a
reality, here’s some advice from social media influencers
who…
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