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Review: The Blogger's Guide to Travel PR

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The Blogger's Guide to Travel PRAs travel blogging continues to gain credibility as a profession, the number of opportunities opening up continues to increase.

Once the domain of freelancers and print travel writers, working with PR companies and tourism boards is starting to become the norm.

Since most bloggers don't have a clue about the PR world, conferences such as TBEX have helped to educate them and bridge the gap. Last week, a new resource became available, and out of curiosity, I picked up a virtual copy.

Written by Angie Orth, The Blogger's Guide to Travel PR is the perfect primer for blogger's looking to capitalize on their growing audiences and influence in the online world.

Angie's professional background is in travel PR, and before leaving on her current trip around the world, she spent 4 years working at Weber Shandwick, the world's biggest public relations agency.

This makes her uniquely qualified to share the in's and outs of working with PR companies and tourism boards to try and arrange reduced cost, or even free, trips and tours.

Topics Covered

  • Intro to PR
  • Intro to press trips (ie. free, or sponsored travel) and what to expect
  • What publicists look for in a travel blogger
  • Ethics of press trips
  • How to pitch PR companies
  • Proper behavior on press trips
  • Lots of funny anecdotes

What I Liked

  • Trust -- Given Angie's PR background, I feel completely comfortable acting on her guidance.
  • Length & Format -- It's quick and easy to read. I got through the 63 pages in about 30 minutes.
  • PR Agency Contacts -- In the Appendix, Angie includes the names and contacts for top travel PR agencies.
  • Humor -- Angie's personality comes through, making for a fun read.
  • Price -- it's only $12.

Areas for Improvement

  • Depth -- It's like a good first date -- you learn the basics, but you're left wanting to know more.
  • Details -- I was hoping to find a template, or real world example of a successful pitch made by a blogger to a PR agency for a free or subsidized trip or tour. I think that would go a long way in helping travel blogger's approach PR contacts more confidently.

Bottom Line

At just $12, The Blogger's Guide to Travel PR is the perfect primer for new travel bloggers, or those without prior knowledge of the public relations world.

Experienced bloggers should buy the guide for the PR agency names and contacts in the Appendix.

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About Dave Lee

Dave is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Go Backpacking and Feastio. He's been to 68 countries and lived in Colombia and Peru. Read the full story of how he became a travel blogger.

Comments

  1. Andi Perullo says

    Sounds like a great read!

  2. Andi Perullo says

    Sounds like a great read!

  3. Jasmine Stephenson says

    Thanks for the recommendation, I'll have to check it out. Maybe the author will update it with a pitch letter and/or someone could email her and ask (?)

    • Dave says

      Angie mentioned after I published this review that she's already thinking of a follow-up book (that would presumably go into greater depth).

  4. Darmayoga0501 says

    Nice Post... It is very interesting, thank you , i'd like it ^_^

  5. Mary Anne Jones says

    Months after I started travel blogging, I also started meeting up with other travel bloggers in countries that I visit. Whether I visit Australia or an unknown island in the Pacific, I always meet fellow bloggers and backpackers. That for me is the best reward.

  6. Karisa says

    That sounds like a very helpful book! It doesn't seem to be available on Kindle?

    • Dave says

      Nope, looks like it's still PDF-only.