I need your input about my travel blog.
I have always thought of The Rollerbag Goddess blog as a living resume of my writing, and a great way to share my travels with family and friends and anyone else who wants to pause and think about the greater lessons gleaned from travel. In fact, I initially started it as a way to share my travel writing skills with the hope of someday landing a job as a travel journalist.
The blog generates no income, and to my knowledge no one has hired me specifically because of the blog. I don’t mind doing the work without compensation–though it’s time-consuming, it’s rewarding. But I’m at the point where I will have to pay to post content. I’m wondering if it’s worth it.
What are your thoughts?
- Should I retire the blog?
- Should I pay for a premium or business account?
- Should I offer a contribution option for those who find the content valuable and want to support it, and if I did would you contribute? Many freelancers are doing this these days, but I’ve never wanted to go that direction.
- Are there other options I should explore?
Please leave a comment.
Thanks for your help!
Charish Badzinski is an explorer and award-winning features, food and travel writer. When she isn’t working to build her blog: Rollerbag Goddess Rolls the World, she applies her worldview to her small business, Rollerbag Goddess Global Communications, providing powerful storytelling to her clients.
Posts on the Rollerbag Goddess Rolls the World travel blog are never sponsored and have no affiliate links, so you know you will get an honest review, every time.
Find Charish on Twitter: @rollrbaggoddess and on Instagram at @rollerbaggoddess. You can also read more about Charish Badzinski’s professional experience in marketing, public relations and writing.
Rollerbag Goddess Rolls the World by Charish Badzinski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Rollerbag Goddess Global Communications 
You didn’t say how much ir costs, or if there were other free options, but if you love doing it for yourself find a way to keep it going! I would consider a reasonable contribution to keep reading and would consider pay-for-guest-blogging if I ever get off my behind and try my hand at it.
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Hi Andy! Thanks for your comment. The costs have a wide range and it depends on a number of factors. Funny thing is, when I click through to the tiers it comes up in Swedish Kr., not USD. I must have checked it when I was in Sweden. 🙂
Simply put, for the bare minimum of upping my available space it could cost less than $10 per month, but that cost is ongoing for the life of the blog, billed annually. I could pay more for the ability to further customize, add video and “monetize” but I’m not confident that would amount to anything. I could add an e-store and sell merch, or add a contribution option like Kofi or something. So there are loads of options that could cost as much as hundreds a month, depending on what I choose to do. I migrated years ago from Blogger when I ran out of free space on that platform. As far as I can tell, this platform is still the best option.
So the questions are big: is this content of interest? Do I want to grow this? And if so, how? Do I want to solicit sponsored trips, which potentially comes with its own costs to the content quality? Or is there a better way for me to share this content? Maybe a podcast or in more traditional print media?
It’s a bit overwhelming to think about. I have a new visual brand in the works but need to really enter the next stage thoughtfully.
I appreciate your input so much!
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I love your writing and your perspective, would love to see you continue but don’t think I’d pay to continue reading. That sounds so shitty, but it’s genuine. Have you thought about periodic paid content? Review a bag, a restaurant, etc.?
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I totally appreciate your honesty! I agree, it would take a lot for me to contribute to a blog. I have considered sponsored content, and feel that it’s not a great fit for what I want to do with this blog. Thank you so much for your thoughts. If you have more, knowing your expertise, I’d love to hear them!
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Keep the blog! I’m sure some will be happy to contribute $$ to help you keep it up. I love hearing about your travels & what you’ve learned.
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Hi Rachel! Thanks so much for the encouragement! I am deeply appreciative! It means a lot to me to know the content is of value to you.
Hope all is well with you and the family.
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I think it would be a shame to retire the blog if you still love doing it, regardless of what comes from it. With that said, I also think your writing is phenomenal and so enjoyable to read. I think you blog adds great value to the world and am so thankful to you for sharing yourself in this way even though I’m not great at remembering to come back and stay up to date (just realized I never actually subscribed! Gah!). I think it’s perfectly acceptable to ask others if they’re willing to support the work in order to get the value and enjoyment (in fact I strongly encourage at least giving them the option). Also, as I’m researching and getting my own blog off the ground, I see promise in posting your content to your blog and then importing it into a place like Medium where people are looking for quality content on different topic areas and you may find more readers while also having the potential to get some $ kicked back to you from the platform for engaging their readers.
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Thank you so much for your input, Heather! I appreciate your comments and I am grateful that you feel the blog adds value to the world! Thank you also for the tip on sharing the content on other platforms. That is something I had not considered!
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