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Our Breakthrough Weekend Is Ba-ack!
Pre-Registration Just Opened!

I’m putting together an in-person weekend workshop in my hometown of New York City for a very small group of travel creators who are ready to take their careers to the next level.


Travel Creator Breakthrough Weekend
September 16-17, 2022

With this weekend workshop, you will learn how to partner with your favorite hotels and resorts to receive complimentary stays, work with tourism boards who will pay you to travel, and land paid campaigns with brands that you love.

But of course, you can’t build a successful travel creator business without quality content.

That’s why this weekend workshop isn’t just about business: it’s about content creation too!


This workshop is for you if you are...

  • A new travel creator who’s trying to figure out how the business side of this industry works, because you’d like the option of eventually making this your full-time career
  • A more experienced travel creator who has been doing this for awhile now, but you don’t feel like your income is where it should be given the amount of time and energy you’ve invested in this career so far
  • A content creator who is not specifically in the travel niche, but you’d like to learn how to land hosted and paid trips so that you can incorporate more travel content in to what you’re already publishing
Ask Carmen
How many followers do I need? ⁠
Q: How many followers do I need to be taken seriously by brands as a travel creator?

A: These days, you don't need as many followers as you might think to be able to make a living as a travel creator. ⁠
⁠
Since I've begun sharing these free weekly creator tips here on Instagram, I've been hearing from countless travel creators with smaller audiences who have used my advice to land some incredible opportunities!⁠
⁠
One family travel creator with under 5,000 Instagram followers and YouTube subscribers landed an 11-day, fully hosted trip for their family of four.⁠
⁠
Another travel creator, with an audience around the same size, was not only able to receive hosted stays from several hotels, but even secured a few paid brand deals already!⁠
⁠
What set these two apart from other creators with similar numbers? It was the quality of their visuals. Both creators produce very high-quality, aesthetically pleasing photos and videos, and that's what matters more than sheer reach. 

Why? 

Because many brands these days use influencer marketing as a way to get access to high-quality visuals that would be incredibly expensive to produce in-house. 

So, they're not just looking for creators with lots of reach and engagement. They're also looking for high-quality visuals that they can re-post on their organic social media platforms or use to run as ads.

You can't control how quickly you grow on a social media platform, but you can control the quality of your content. 

So keep working on your quality. Either invest the time to improve your own skills, or spend the money to hire good photographers, videographers or editors to help you produce better content.

Also, don't undervalue yourself when it comes to paid projects!

I had one creator reach out to me for advice on pricing a brand deal. She had fewer than 10,000 Instagram followers and she had previously read that “industry standard” was that brands would pay influencers $10 per 1,000 followers. Which meant that she should be charging less than $100 for an Instagram Reel. Luckily, she was smart enough to know that seemed much too low.

After I advised her on pricing strategies, she submitted a proposal for $4,000. The package included two Instagram Reels, a set of Instagram stories, and a blog post. The brand immediately accepted.

The crazy thing is...

before speaking to me, she had planned to quote $500 for this project. Instead, she got 8x that!

Since then, she has signed a few more deals, charging $1,000+ per Instagram Reel.

So I share all this to drive home the point that it IS possible to make money as a travel creator, even when you don't have a massive audience. 

I'm seeing it happen every day!

Want to read past issues? Click here for the newsletter archive!

Take care,

Carmen Sognonvi
Creator Economy News
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Nearly a year after Triller began recruiting Black talent, its payments to many creators have been erratic — and, in some cases, nonexistent, according to interviews with more than two dozen creators, talent managers and former company staff, many of whom spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation from the company..
Instagram is once again in its flop era
A slew of new changes has drawn the ire of celebrities and regular users alike. But hating Instagram is nothing new.
The Gear I Use
iPhone 13 Pro Max

What's the best camera to use for travel vlogging? Unless you're already a proficient videographer, I always recommend starting with an iPhone! It's so easy to use and the quality is amazing.
Insta360 GO 2

If you want an action camera that is super unobtrusive, the GO 2 is a great choice! The stabilization is amazing, and because it's so tiny, it allows you to get some really creative shots!
GoPro Hero 10

There's a reason GoPro has been popular with creators for so many years - it's a fantastic all-purpose action camera. Stabilization is great, and it's hardy enough to handle wear and tear.
Insta360 ONE X2

If you haven't hopped on the 360 camera bandwagon yet, this is your sign to do it! These cameras capture what's in front, back, above, below all at the same time!
13-Inch Macbook Pro

This laptop pretty much powers my entire business as a travel creator. Not only do I use it to edit all my photos and videos, but it's also a great productivity tool for email, writing, and research.
Tascam DR-10L Audio Recorder

Viewers can forgive bad video quality, but they won't put up with poor audio. This audio recorder is my go-to for capturing crisp, clear audio. It's so easy to use and the output always sounds great.
Travel Industry News
JetBlue is confident in Spirit deal despite regulatory hurdles, president says
JetBlue reached a deal to acquire Spirit Airlines on Thursday, marking an end to a monthslong saga in which JetBlue and Frontier fought to buy the notorious budget carrier.
Clear testing new curb-to-gate premium service
Under the exclusive tier of service, members would get a personal guide — called an ambassador by Clear — that would escort travelers from curbside all the way to their gate. This means the ambassador would assist flyers with bag check, through the Clear lane and security and then help with navigating airport concourses to the gate.
A Travel Must-Have
How to Avoid Getting Stuck in a Foreign Hospital
What if you’re on a trip, but you suddenly have a medical emergency? Travel insurance or credit card benefits will only get you to the “nearest acceptable facility" -- not your home hospital.

Medjet is the premier global air medical transport and travel security membership program for travelers. If you become hospitalized internationally, Medjet will arrange medical transportation to a home-country hospital of your choice for inpatient care.
Disclaimer: This email may contain links through which we are compensated when you click on or are approved for offers.
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