Compelling

How to Tell Compelling Stories as a Travel Writer

Do you fantasize about visiting exotic locations and getting paid to write about them? If so, you have competition. The projected job growth for travel writers is only expected to be about 2% through 2024.

This means if you’re determined to have a go at this niche you need to make your writing stand out, beyond impeccable spelling and grammar. The best travel writers out there know how to tell a story that captivates their readers.

Read on to learn how you can become a great travel writer with interesting stories to tell.

Always Write in the First Person

The enjoyment of travel is a very human experience, which means you should strive to make a personal connection with your readers. One of the best ways to do this is to always write your articles in the first person.

This not only makes it obvious that you’ve visited the location you’re writing about first hand, but it makes your audience feel like a trusted friend is speaking to them.

Travel writers differ from usual journalists in that they usually have personal opinions to share. By contrast, writing from a third person perspective makes you sound way too objective and distant from your readers.

Avoid Cliches

Most people can name some common travel phrases off the top of their head, such as bustling boutiques and sweeping views. Try to avoid using tiresome cliches as they are formulaic and can bore your audience.

Come up with different ways of describing things instead.

Travel writing should be almost conversational as if you’re telling a friend about your latest adventure.

Provide Insider Information

Good travel content should always inform. When people are interested in visiting a destination, they want to know about the best affordable hotels to stay at, the best times of the year to avoid crowds, how to save money on public transportation and more.

In other words, they want insider tips; tactics on saving time and money that not too many other people may know about. If you discovered how to score a free London bus pass or found out that visiting the Colosseum at night is less touristy, definitely include this information when writing about a location.

Knowing the inside scoop will make you sound more like a local. You’ll also come across as a trusted source.

The Paris Guy is one such travel writer that offers tips on how to avoid lines at common Paris tourist attractions.

Write About Unique Attractions and Locations

The same old tourist traps have been covered thousands of times by travel writers. Instead, consider focusing on or highlighting niche attractions and locations that not many people have visited or may think of traveling to.

Sometimes the most interesting places can be found in small towns or villages that have as much to offer as big cities. Hidden or quirky tourist attractions and unique restaurants and shops will appreciate the free PR.

Keep Reading and Learning

Reading travel magazines, books, and newspaper articles will help launch ideas about new places to visit while also teaching you how to keep your own writing fresh. You may also want to visit travel expos and seminars to learn about new destinations and get the inside track on travel tips and new hotels.

Meetup groups that focus on travel, whether local or international, can also provide you with story ideas to pitch to travel editors.

Start a Blog

One of the best ways you can add credibility and writing samples, particularly if you’re a new travel writer, is to start your own travel blog. It doesn’t matter if you begin by covering attractions within a day’s drive of your residence or sharing travel clothing tips; it will give you a chance to practice travel writing and get better at it.

It helps if your blog focuses on something specific. Maybe you love to visit old diners and other vintage American attractions, or you’re really into visiting glamping locations. Or perhaps you have a knack for discovering the latest travel gadgets or sampling authentic local cuisine on trips.

Whatever your specialty, it should be something that you’re really passionate about. This will make updating your blog something you look forward to.

With time and the right content, you should begin attracting an audience and enough traffic to help monetize your website.

Leverage Social Media

If you’re serious about starting a travel writing career, active social media channels are a must. Besides using them to post photos from recent excursions, they can help you connect with magazine editors and industry contacts.

You don’t have to have a presence on every social media channel, but whichever ones you choose aim to post updates regularly. Try to engage your followers in conversations.

Social media is also a great place, of course, to share blog posts and travel articles you’ve written.

Don’t Give Up

You can’t expect every editor you pitch a story idea to get back to you. The key to successful freelance travel writing is to keep actively pitching and never give up.

Try not to take rejection or the lack of a response personally.

Perseverance is the key to any form of successful writing. Keep hustling, reading, and learning as much as you can about travel writing and you’re bound to receive agreements to publish your pieces.

Are You Ready to be a Travel Writer?

Being a travel writer can be a very rewarding gig, whether you want to do it full-time or to supplement your regular income. There’s nothing like exploring the world and everything it has to offer and then sharing your experience with others.

To start becoming a better travel writer, check out our numerous travel and leisure posts. They’re sure to spark some ideas for places to visit and write about as well as inform you of how to be a better and smarter traveler.

Writing Compelling Content For Your Clothing Shop

Whether you have an e-commerce website or a brick and mortar clothing shop, you need the right digital marketing strategy to improve your sales numbers.

Digital marketing drives users to your checkout counter.

This could be through entirely virtual interactions or a combination of online engagement and real-life experiences.

Either way, marketing strategies have to be a core part of your sales strategy; the numbers need the right content to thrive. More so, the right content needs the best copywriting to perform well.

Without compelling content, you risk losing half of your audience before they even get to see your cute clothes!

Not to worry – here are seven ways to transform your copy and better engage customers.

1. Know Your Audience To Create Compelling Content

You can’t expect to engage your customers if you don’t have a thorough understanding of who they are.

Create as detailed of a buyer persona as possible.

Give your ideal customer a name and a lifestyle. Think about where this person works, how much they make, the kind of relationship they are in and the general responsibilities they prioritize.

Do this for your primary and secondary market. Then, write your compelling content as if you were speaking directly to this person.

2. Understand Their Lingo

When creating the conversation between you and your consumer, try to use the everyday language they do.

This may be a form of slang or something a bit more proper. It could be a mix of words and phrases that come and go in pop culture. Or, maybe your customers will better relate to more common sayings.

Whatever their vocabulary looks like, use it.

Write your compelling content in a voice that will sound almost familiar to users.

3. Connect with Similar Stores and Trendsetters

If you want to better understand the lingo of your users, go deeper into their world.

Start reading the content other brands in your market are producing. Pay attention the way their writing is presented. Make notes of everything from the words and phrases to the grammar and how customers are addressed.

Do your users prefer to be talked to as friends or as professionals? Do they enjoy a laid-back, casual conversation or a more proper approach?

To find your answer, see how they connect to competitors.

Then, take this one step further and research the trendsetters in your niche market. Trendsetters are fashion influencers who are always a step ahead of what everyone else is wearing. They know the next big thing before it becomes big.

Pick a few to follow and watch how they communicate with their audience.

Remember, the same people who are looking to your market’s trendsetters for fashion inspiration will be the ones who visit your clothing site for fashion products.

4. Express Your Brand

Once a user makes it onto your website – or even comes across a form of digital marketing elsewhere on the internet – they have to be able to identify with you.

The best way to be relatable to the right users is to use the voice of your brand.

Your brand is everything a user associates with you. It is your logo as well as the filters on your social media and the way you write compelling content for email campaigns. It is the feeling someone gets when your brand is brought up or they walk past your store.

Use your content to encourage a positive brand image. Write with clarity and purpose. Be direct, unique, and always aim to offer the most valuable of insights.

5. Try to Be a Fluid Writer

No matter what you are trying to say, you will find it comes out best when you write fluidly.

This means to set aside enough time for you to take on a project from start to finish. You may have to break up big initiatives into small chunks, but the point is to write as well as you can for as long as you can.

Such an approach allows your thoughts to flow.

It better prepares you to move from one point to another, picking up where you just left off and writing with consistency. This, in turn, creates a better branding and communication strategy.

6. Edit and Re-Write

While it’s good to get everything out at once, you should always come back to it.

Take a step away from what you’ve created. Then give it a look over and see if it truly is the compelling content you thought it was at first.

You will often find you’ve got a good start, but not the whole thing. Don’t be afraid to make the necessary edits.

Maybe there is a word you can replace that significantly improves the overall message. Maybe the message isn’t as clear as you intended.

Whatever the issue, it’s usually nothing a few edits and a bit of time can’t fix.

Sometimes, though, you may have to do a re-write entirely. When you use the steps above, the need for a re-write is few and far between. But, they will come up, and it’s your job to use them as a creative opportunity when they do.

7. Get Creative with Your Placement

Whether you’re writing something for the first time and it comes out great, or you’re taking another shot at it, always make sure you’ve placed your product well.

Think about what your user really wants to hear.

They are not looking for a sale or a new accessory every time. They may be reading your content in search of everyday styling advice or upcoming trends.

But, that is not to say you can’t place your product somewhere in your compelling content. Try to make your writing conversational instead of about the sale. This makes it much easier for users to buy-in, which is better for your business.

Build a Schedule to Write Compelling Content

The final piece of advice to keep in mind when writing is to keep a schedule.

Your schedule helps you be fluid while staying focused and on-track. It gets you in a rhythm to write compelling content.

This may even be the easiest part of your content creation process. Once you have your schedule down, you are better able to take on all the tips and tricks of great writing.

Click here to learn how to create a writing schedule.