BITW 048: How to Use Virtual Assistants, Interns and Salespeople to Grow a Blog Into a Business with Max Hartshorne

Max and I met at bar of the Hilton Marina hotel on day one of the Fort Lauderdale Tbex Conference. I had no idea when we first started talking he was the owner of GoNOMAD or a speaker at the conference. As he said in our interview, conferences are all about serendipitous meeting!

In today’s episode, and we talk in detail about how to use Virtual assistants, interns and salespeople to grow a blog into a business. No matter how established you are as a travel blogger, writer or photographer, this episode will open your eyes to some great tips to grow and monetize your blog or website!

Max Hartshorne from GoNomad in San Pedro, Belize.

Max Hartshorne in San Pedro, Belize.

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The Finer Details of Episode 48 with Max Hartshorne!
Max got his start in journalism as the editor of the Portland Chronicle in Maine. He went on to write newspaper features and then moved into the role of managing editor of Transitions Abroad magazine. In 2002, he bought GoNOMAD and has built a travel website known for top quality writing and prodigious amounts of content.

In this episode Max shares his tips and tactics he has personally used to build GoNOMAD into a profitable website that is known worldwide. In this episode we also discuss:

Top reasons any level blogger should attend Tbex.
How Tbex has evolved from a newbie event into a conference anyone interested in travel blogging or writing should attend.
Why conferences are all about serendipitous meetings.
Why you should buy an existing website instead of staring from scratch.
Why travel blogging is never-ending work.
Why you must have a constant influx of new content for your website.
Why he believes in having many writers for a travel website.
Why he believes its a mistake to the the only writer for your website.
How working with affiliates turned his blog into a business. [Click To Tweet]
There is always something slightly different and new you can make money with on your blog.
How to attract a sponsor.
The biggest mistake new bloggers make is not posting enough. [Click to Tweet]
If it takes too long to understand what a story is about, you need to change the lead.
How to find and use most popular search terms in headlines.

Tips to Use Virtual Assistants, Interns and Salespeople to Grow Your Blog

In this interview Max explains how to start an intern program as well as compliance you must follow. Max also believes you need a VA if you want to build your business and suggests the best place to hire from is Mexico. He also shares….

How to use interns to create content and for social media.
Have them track reach for sponsored campaigns.
Why the internships should always be for school credit.
Why you need a VA if you want to build your business.
How to use VA’s to document sponsored work.
How to use VA’s for finding search terms for headlines.
How to use a Salesperson to increase revenue and get sponsors.

Episode Resources

Tbex
New York Times Travel Show
IPW (formerly known as Pow Wow)
Canada Media Market Place
Phocuswright
Business of Blogging Facebook Group
Periscope
Transitions Abroad
TravMed

People Mentioned in this Episode
Brett Love
Frederic Gonzalo
Tammilee Tillison
Johnny Jet
Gary Arndt
Lee Abbamonte
Don George

Connect With Max & GoNOMAD
GoNOMAD Website

GoNOMAD on Facebook
GoNOMAD on Instagram
GoNOMAD on Twitter
GoNOMAD on Pinterest
GoNOMAD on G+

Connect with Break Into Travel Writing
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
The Aspiring Travel Writer, the Facebook group

Hope you enjoyed this episode and please join me in thanking Max for sharing such awesome information and actionable tips! And thank you as well for visiting. We’ll see you next time!

Tweetables:

How working with affiliates turned my blog into a business via Max Hartshorne of @GoNOMAD http://bit.ly/1NbT4YL #travelblogger #travel [Click To Tweet]

How working with affiliates turned my blog into a business via Max Hartshorne of @GoNOMAD http://bit.ly/1NbT4YL #travelblogger #travel [Click to Tweet]
[Click To Tweet]

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