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Steps to Get Travel Jobs

we talked a lot about. Some of these things are ready, but I just wanted to give you, like a really concise list. Um, sort of my Laura list steps to getting travel jobs. First of all, this image I love. This is also in Peru, and this is the Maras Salt flats in between half way too much api to between Crisco much pichu, and they literally mind for salt on these terraces that were built like the Incas mind for assault the same way hundreds of years ago. And each family owns, like one little plot, and they sift for salts and they still do it wearing top hats and their traditional clothing. And it looks like you're on the moon or something. It's an entire valley that's at least carved salt terraces like that. It is amazing. I was there for an hour, stocking people until I found the right person wearing the right outfit, and I literally ran after her, like on the edges of the felt terrorist, to try to get this shot because I had envisioned everyone else's like working and like, like not rea...

lly cute clothes. And I finally found someone on the top hat working, but she was fast, like he was like walking along the edges, and it's really dangerous. So I'm like trying with my camera run and chase after her. And I wanted to frame her right in the middle of, like, one of the of the terraces, and it took me a long time to get that shot, but I was proud of it. All right, so moving on having a platform to showcase your travel work. So again, going back to map dia Ondas also means your own website. I created a second website, laura greer dot com. I thought I first I was like, Who? I'm gonna create a catchy travel name And at first I did a dig wanderlust by Laura Career and A That's really long and be everyone uses. Wonder less if I say wonder less like there's a 1,000, other companies I do love. That word defines me, but it keep it simple, like your name or something like Laura Grier. If I want to be branded with travel, I could be like Laura Greer, but then have wanderlust on my page. And so that's what I decided to do, was started travel site, just gear tours and showcasing my travel work kept it simple. Brandon. My name with it. And so obviously having a really clean platform, I showcase my work. Ah, lot. Obviously, Instagram's away to showcase my work. I do think that having a website is important, especially for like, a lot of people like people don't care and easily instagram There is some truth to that, but having a website is very powerful and clean and professional and is also a great way. So she feel like Zen boy like I do where you can earn money and sell fine art prints and stuff. So but having other platforms of showcase your travel works very important. So start publishing on map via a start of guest blogging. Start showcasing your work with other brands or places that are maybe, you know, showing travel fine art. There's a lot of sites out there, so it's good you can actually upload into, and we'll get into image brief at the next in the next segment. But I'll talk about other sites that you can upload your work to and what we talked about A lot already today is writing so making your image searchable, making them share a ble you're attaching your words to. It's really important. So that's like Step to have to do that in order to get a travel job. I'm telling you, it's not that you can't get a travel John just being a photographer, but it's a lot easier to get a travel job if you do all of those things. So I guess blogging brother brands that you aspire to work with. So that's another important thing, too. Is that not just guest blogging for anybody, but guess blogged for brands that you really love. So I right now regularly for venue lust, and it's great because I now I'm a regular columnist and get paid to write for them. Before I was not paid to write for them, I would guess Blawg and I would submit stories, and I think, I guess black for them 345 times before an opportunity came up where they're like we lost one of our writers. Would you like to be one of our writers? And that opportunity wouldn't have come my way if I hadn't guess Bob for them. So now not only have a guaranteed article once a week with them, but I get paid for it. I can make money writing while I'm on a plane. I could make money while I could create five or six different stories from one trip and write and get paid for all of them. And that's something that's really amazing, Because, uh, you now I can repurpose a lot of things and get paid for it. And it helps supplement a lot of this travel work where sometimes it doesn't pay well or sometimes you're doing trade. So, you know, being able to secure a writing or you know, of bloggers somewhere a source that you can write for it get paid for is really amusing. So they and that was just me constantly pitching to them like and sending them stories. So joining membership list like you guys have to know this right now, you're going to join it today in travel media and Media kitty. So both of those air websites that are, um, for people like us that want to find paid travel jobs or paid press jobs, they literally put you on a membership list and start sending out lists like the border. Tourism blah, blah, blah wants to bring a journalist here like you get on the membership list, and it tells you all these jobs that are available and you can apply for them. It's a great resource, and I just have to do is sign up your name. So Media Kitty's a little bit more in depth. Trap Media is more like a newsletter immediate kid. He's a little more in depth where you can actually create a profile with them. You can put in your credentials like if you are writing for somebody, your portfolio, all that stuff and then they depending on what your credentials are, you can get certain jobs, but it's a great way, and it's a It's a good subject because, believe it or not, this was like an issue. It's hard like The reason why you're all sitting here in this class and everyone out there is logging in is because people like How do I get these press jobs? Even now? I'm like When I people asked me to do a press tour, I was like I didn't know they existed like I didn't know these free jobs were out there and I shouldn't say free jobs. A lot of them were paid, but they're like free travel experiences and a lot of tour companiesboards of tourism's Cruz Lions. People were like, We want to bring journalists out here. We like, want to invite you for free to come and do this. And there's a plethora of these jobs and I just don't even know this existed. So there is a really weird need, like as much as we want these jobs, the hotels and the tour companies and these big companies, travel brands are like How do we find journalists like We don't know where to find the people that are really going to be influencers and that can help us new spread the word. They kind of don't know where to go either. So a lot of them have been hiring PR companies or been attaching themselves to the sites like Media Kitty Media, and they do. They don't know where to find people either, and they don't really know, like what's going to actually bring back a return for us. They're kind of just bringing a group of journalists and hoping it's going to bring back a return for them. So having your social media be up there is really helpful for this Because if you're not some award winning photographer yet being able to say, Well, I do have $12,000 on Instagram and and I can write for for this brand or I can do this or it can definitely give you the images. Afterwards, you're gonna be more valuable. But on a side note to serve any less that I write for a stay tune and start following then us, by the way. And I'm not trying to just promote cause like my I write once a week for them. So if you want to read my article school But they're a great site for travel and for being able Teoh organize and do trips and learn about stuff. But also, they're gonna launch something called Venue Less connect where they're literally going to do exactly what I'm talking about. They're going to connect brands and tourism boards and hotels with social media, influencers, photographers, writers and connect them together for these jobs. So this is gonna be really, really probably by the time the New York Times travel show happens, so just stay on the radar that new last. But what's amazing is that they're gonna probably organize it. We're talking on the phone yesterday. They're probably gonna organize it by three things. Social media writing, photography. Right. So they're gonna have it like they haven't launched yet, but they're probably gonna have it where your profile will list. Are you as social media influencer? Are you a photographer? Are you writer? Are you all three? You'll probably have, like, like, some sort of banner or something on there. So it's just going to make you that much more valuable. If you do join a site like that to these brands, if you can do all three of you can do one or the other. But the cool thing about this is that you you could also just apply as a photographer. And you could also applies just a social media influencer. So, um, reaching out to the boards of tourism of places that you want to go, Okay, best have ever guys should go to the New York Times travel show, and I'll tell you why. It was like being a kid in a candy store. They literally took the entire Javits center and New York and organize it by continent and then within continent they organize in my country, and every board of tourism of every country was sitting there out of Booth and you could meet them. And I was like, Ooh, Sri Lanka! And I want to go check out Asia right now. And I went around and introduced myself because I was writing. Probably imposed. I had a a press pass, but you don't need to have a press posse. Just goes a regular person. It helps if you consort one day, you start writing press, it will help. But I went and was introduced myself and took their cards. Ps their meeting So many people, they probably don't remember me, but it didn't matter because I have their email and I could be like, Oh my gosh, I had a great time speaking with you when I was there, you were so awesome. Like I really would love your help with X y Z. I went and just collected, like every card from every country I want to go to and just wrote to them and pitched them, and I and every single person wrote me back and offered me a free trip like every single person did. And then some of them offered paid stuff, but like that was what their job was there. So the Board of Tourism of a country is imagined. They are the PR. Every country is a PR firm, right? A PR company. And their job is to bring journalists and bring press to their country. And they have a budget to do so. That's literally their job. They want to bring you to explore and have a lot of fun in their country and write about it. And so the boards of tourism I didn't even realize we're such a plethora of of knowledge and information and ability to bring you. They have connections with airlines. They have connections with travel companies. They can either fund your travel or get discounts on it. But even if you are not asking them for free stuff, which is not the way you're gonna pitch them, and I'll show you how later, Um, they're just really great resource on the ground for you. If you're doing a shoot in ST longer like you book a wedding and I knew nothing about this place I need to hire, you know, a fixer. I need someone to come in that can, like, speak the language and help me with this or bubble block. You can contact the Board of Tourism and just tell them I'm doing a shoot here. Well, I really need help finding in your speaking guide, and that's their job. Like they will help you that they're like a coordinator that's at your service. So you should absolutely contact them, even if it's just her help on a trip that you've planned or help for a photo shoot that you're doing, even if it's not like trying to get a free trip there just a really, really good resource. And finally pitching hotels, travel websites and tour companies, and I put in parentheses That may need help. Let's be honest, I don't know about you, but I've checked out a lot of people's websites that terrible, like have terrible photos on them. Some of them are big. Big companies like big hotel chains have terrible photos, and I have found more often than not, that if I'm already going on a trip where you could just tell them you already going on the trip. Reach out to them and you say, Hey, I'm gonna be in your area. I am a professional photographer. Here's an example. My work. I also right for these people to hear I would love Teoh feature your hotel Or do you have any suggestions on this or like you just reach out and to say I love to be able to you know, maybe we could work out a trade or you could help me with this feature and just open up a dialogue with them and tell them I'd be more than happy to, you know, maybe offer a trade where you're offering them images that you will shoot there more often than not, They're like, Yes, yes, please, like we need photos. Um, we'd love to help you out. And I've had some amazing experiences just by approaching people before a trip and telling them that you're going there and pitching them directly. Like sometimes you don't need to go to the border tourism or a media company or a travel brand. Just go directly to the tour company and in the hotel, usually especially, this is where photographers Airway Moore, a writer, a lot of times you can. You can do that and get like a last minute deal on, like stay somewhere for free. But if you're a photographer and you tell them like I'd love to do a styled shoot in your hotel, I love the future It in this article and write a They're usually like Yes, please on day will bend over backwards and help you out. So don't be afraid to reach out to them directly. What's the worst thing that can say? No, you know, So it's not It's not a big deal. I'm always is like I don't care. I'm just gonna pitch in and see what happens. So and with that, before we go into question, the nose will be a lot of, um, pitching, hotels and travel websites. Tour companies like they a lot of times don't have a big budget like some of them do like hotels more so, but a lot of tour companies don't, but it just depends. A lot of times they having a social media following is more important to them. And so if you can say hey, like while I'm on this tour, if you want to sponsor my tour with you, I can be doing all promising he was certain amount of Social Media post or I'll give you the photos afterwards. And I've gotten a lot of free excursions and things that way, too. And then I and abusing them for stories on getting paid for the story so you can actually turn like going on an excursion into a paid job. And the final thing I want to stay with that is that, um, basically like you just have to kind of think wherever you're going, whether it's for a vacation or if it's for work or it's a dream place you want to go to. I always kind of reach out to people as if I am going. I'm already planning on going there. I've already planned a trip on going there because that's more sellable to them. Like if they like, have to think about, Um oh my God, we got to pay for their travel or all that. A lot of times they just won't even take it seriously. But if you tell them that you're already going to be in their region there there way, we're willing to help you. And on also going back to then you last. So what many less is going to do with this connect feature that they're gonna have is that they're gonna offer the probably separated by a country, But they're gonna offer, like, last minute deals, like, if you happen to be, let's say you have a layover for 48 hours and you're in Berlin. You could like, contact. You can, like, click Berlin. And I'll tell you any tour company or hotel that's like looking for doing a trade. And you can, like, last minute connected them and be like, Hey, em in the country for 48 hours And can I stay there like that? And so they're going to start doing these, like, last minute connections, which is really cool. So s. So it's going to open the doors and more kind of on the fly travel gigs that you might not even think of. You always have to plan these months in advance. So it's cool that they're starting time to bridge that gap between, you know, photojournalists in these media jobs. Okay, back to you. That's really fun. Um, I'm gonna say you can You can never really go to India and not have a story to bring back eso a couple of questions from more than a couple questions from the Internet here. But somebody was asking about Laura. Can you believe, tell us just how we can start getting invited on these press trips. So I know that you sort of touched on that, but kind of What are the first couple things that come to your mind? Yeah, absolutely. Those two websites until the about media kitty and travel media are huge. Start really following Ben, you less because that's what they're going to be doing in the next six months. But, um, you know, in order to get invited on a press trip, you need to be writing press. So you need to either be a social media influencer or actually get your articles out there. So I get really excited and you wanna get invited on the trip. But you got to start somewhere and my somewhere I literally route one article and I got started getting invited on press trip. So I wrote that one first article in Peru on the floating island, and I started getting press trips. That's not always going to be the case. But the second, like that's their job. All these board, the tourism's air scouring articles and press and different publications for journalists to invite on these trips. There's also, to be honest, I'm not exactly sure to get on these, But they do something called a speed dating. Uh, they actually call it that. That's what I call it. So the press company, so like, these tourism boards will actually do a speed dating around with a bunch of journalists, and they do it at a hotel in different cities. So let me research the best way to find out when the next ones are gonna be. But like, for instance, all the Alaska boards of tourism's did it in like Santa Barbara, California They all met at a hotel and they invited a bunch of journalists there, and they did like a speed dating round where they were like, Okay, we want to bring in Alaska. What would you write about what publication? And you had, like, a minute to tell them like, Well, I would write about this and this would be my story blonde. They're like, OK, next, And they would like interview all the journalists, and then from there they would invite them on trips. So it was. They have these weird, like journalism speeding around, and I think it's because, like I said, there's like, really a weird gap between these brands and these tourism boards and the journalist like they don't know where to find them. So they're like interviewing you essentially to do some of these jobs. So that's a fun way to find out where some of these tours and boards air doing these. I need to find out. I'll find out what they're called, but I call them speed dating. But they do have these these events at hotels where you can, like, apply for jobs. Yeah, that's awesome that you mentioned that because there is a question from Shelly asking about her. Are there any conferences that we should know of any kind of things, you know, event that we can go Teoh that will help us? Elevators. Yeah, I mentioned before the New York Times travel Show was a huge was really huge one for me, and they're not the only ones that do travel shows. You should Google travel shows in your area and see. Maybe a lot of times they go from city to city. And that's a great way to meet different, a tour operator who are operators who tell them such but the boards of tourism's our like all, they're like The New York Times. One is like Mecca. I flew in for that one. But not only that, they have people like the owner of voters and owner of Lonely Planet, and they're they're, like, speaking and talking about trends in the travel industry as a writer. It's amazing wealth of knowledge because they're talking about really relevant stuff that could help you write and help you think of, like the next places to go travel and just the speakers alone are really valuable. And it's a lot of fun, like at a great time going continuing along with questions from the Internet, chime in whenever anything comes up, guys. But, um, we had a question. A few questions come up about your India trip, and whether you hire a guide and taking that a little bit further, how do you know that your guide is reliable? If you do go that route kind of talk about that a little bit. So Novica, again working for them has been a really great resource since I was already going there for a catalog shoot. I really used a lot of their people in New Delhi to help me organize the guide, the car to pick us up from the airport. Oliver gear. Like all the logistical stuff. I really used Novica to help me with that, but I absolutely made sure I had a guide ahead of time. I didn't just wing it and try to get one when were there, but and that would be really dangerous to try to do that in India as like a bunch of women. But honestly, I like having a research, like I said, reaching out to the boards of tourism's air, having a brand like even if you contact the brands like intrepid travel or somebody that has toured all over the world, and they've got know how, unlike where to find all the information. So even is contacting Ah, local tour guide in that region that you're going to. They most definitely will be able to help you with that kind of just wanted Teoh clear if I'm in my mind one thing about making your images searchable. Are you talking about attaching Burbage to your article that someone may search on and then it would direct them to you? Yeah. Yeah, I'm talking about like when you start writing and embedding your photos and an article, then you're making your photos searchable with all the words that your writing with it. So and then also, you know, I talked about it being share a bowl as well, but yeah, like, you know of yours posting a bunch of beautiful pictures that no one can like. Keyword. Find them. So anyone else? Yeah. Uh, OK. Jane is asking. Oh, yes. So this is great. So Jane's asking if you could suggest some of your favorite travel writers or maybe just places that people can start going and kind of reading up on travel photography writing just to get inspired and toe see which style they identify with. Yeah, it's money. One of the guys that I met, Matthew Meltzer with the Thrilla, sees a regular writer for them. I met him when I was in South Dakota, and like I said, I had I knew nothing about getting into the press world before I went on that, that crazy trip anyway, his style of writing. I watched them working and they would just pump out stories daily because he would write. He write stories daily. I couldn't imagine having a deadline that intense as a writer, are you? When I was a photographer, imagine if he had a shoot that you there like shooting process daily with the deadline, I would lose my mind. But he just did it and worded things so well and succinctly, and he could just come up with an idea. And I'm just super impressed by him and his writing sounds like, very like, sarcastic. It's sort of like Playboy guy humor. Like, I think he's actually written for Playboy and stuff. So, uh, Playboy, I believe or not, has a really great writing, So I I honestly, I'm a fan of his. I'm a fan of, ah, lot of the different writers and huffing imposed, and I really kind of just scour different publications that I like and get different writing styles. But I mean, there's not just one person and I'm following all the time. It's more like a publication that I follow, but I get so many ideas and how to frame articles by reading other people's work. Cool. So a couple more somebody was asking. Oh, when we were talking about your India trip, this question came up. How many? How many cards do you usually travel with? Kind of getting a little bit? Yes. So how many gigs do you usually end up shooting on a trip or on an assignment? Well, with India, I knew I was gonna have a way to back it up and download it. And I also have an external hard drive and dump all the time when I'm student shoots for a non become, always dumping their stuff on hard drive in region. So I knew I wasn't gonna have, like, worry about traveling home with that And, God forbid, something happened. I'm usually dumping it day of to them. So that part of it I wasn't too worried about. And the rest of it the holy one was more personal. So I was I think I just brought like, a few maybe like, five or 6 64 gig cars. Something like that. I wish it was 64 gig ones. I I do have a smaller ones in that. But I do like that size card and then I'm just downloading as I go. I got downloading as I go, but I'm so excited about the imagery and I want to be posting it on social media and stuff like that. So I every day I'm dangling years ago because it also gets really overwhelming at the end of a trip that you have just thousands of images and you're like, This is ridiculous, I and then it's overwhelming. And so I like to be able to download and edit as I go, because I like to spend my plane rides like writing. And I like to be like, have the images and and I'm like, I can shut down and have no distractions and just really right on the plane while it's still fresh in my mind. So um so yeah, but I am like backing up on my laptop and hard drives and stuff as I go. But I'm not, um, you know, I don't think you need more than that