how to become a travel content creator - Q&A

you want to learn how to get paid to travel how to travel for free all of things then you are in the right place I am Chelsea and I was once a full-time Airbnb travel Creator and now I'm just a full-time content creator but I was doing full-time traveling back in the past and things have changed and I'm not anymore but I wanted to give you guys all my tips and tricks and just answer some of your questions that you've been asking me just to give you all the golden nuggets you need to be successful

at this because I know a lot of people want to do it I know you're probably wondering why don't I travel anymore and the honest reason is is that I just love being home I love being home my boyfriend and I we just bought this house that we live in and we have pets and he can't always travel with me and I just love being home and that's essentially the reason why I found my passion with home content creation and that's just honestly what I've been doing since we bought this place however I loved traveling

I loved seeing all the airbn bees that I went to all the places that I've got to visit all the people that I've met it was such an amazing experience I just put that career of mine in the past so you know what let's just get into the video let me answer some of your questions my questions and everything will pulled up here on my phone that you guys have asked me the first question is I wanted to know if we need to create a separate Instagram profile catering to ugc content this isn't necessary you

don't need to completely make an entirely different Instagram account this is what I tell everybody that I coach look at your Instagram right now if you are going to make another Instagram are you still going to use this Instagram account if your answer is maybe hopefully I'm not sure I don't even know what I would post about then keep it to this account because if you have a personal account and a travel account you're just only going to end up using your travel account because it's a lot to manage two accounts and what's the point

of building a personal account right unless you have a personal account that you're building a following on and you don't want to post about travel you want to strictly be an influencer or something like that on this account then yes make a travel ugc account or just make a travel Instagram account but otherwise keep your account the way that it is change your Niche and you'll lose followers but you'll gain a lot of followers because people are going to find you and want to see more of your travel content and the more content that you're

consistently posting on Instagram the more it'll get pushed and the more your audience will find you I personally didn't make a new Instagram account I just always change my Niche on Instagram I've literally changed it like four times and I've never made a new Instagram account it's been the account that I've had for years and years and years and I just never really recommend making a new account because I actually tried making a new account for influencing purposes not travel and the engagement was so off everybody has their own experiences and some people might tell

you to do that but the engagement never went over like 400 views I maybe had like one viral video at like 10K and then nothing anywhere near that I was not getting followers it was just you're in it for the long haul when you create a new account but if you stick with the one that you already have change your Niche up just post different content and be consistent with it and you'll grow number two is a big question there's like 10 questions in one so it says do you pay for a flight what is

a gifted stay do they usually ask for a refund if they don't like the content how do you keep the Airbnb from using your content long term do you get paid royalties do you get paid via Paypal we'll start with the first question do I pay for a flight now in the beginning I never paid for a flight and that is only because I was only doing locations that were around me so things that I could drive to so I wouldn't have to pay for a flight up front in the beginning you have to pay

for everything it's going to be a write off especially if you're making money from content creation but you're basically doing this for free in the beginning and it's to grow a portfolio so I would only do Airbnb collabs that were nearby to me because anything that was within like flight flying anything like that why would I waste my money I don't want to waste my money so being that I am in Nevada I have California I have Arizona I have Utah all around me but if you are in an area where you can reach out

to airbeam bees near you just to grow your portfolio do it for free don't fly anywhere yet write off your gas your mileage anything you buy when you're there and that way you can kind of build that portfolio without having to pay for flights now later down the line when you grow your portfolio and you have case studies you have testimonials you have work to show you have all of these things to show then you can start charging and incorporate the flight into your rate so you can charge like $1,000 and the flight can be

just thrown into your rate and that's how you justify the pricing now everyone's going to be different we'll get into pricing later but in the beginning you'll you'll pay for your travel and cost and all that stuff and then once you have experience and charge you can just put that into your rate now A Gifted stay is essentially you are staying at the Airbnb in exchange for Content this is just the perfect way to grow your portfolio I always tell all my students look at this as an internship everything that you do in the beginning

is free because you're building your portfolio and then eventually you can charge top dollar for your content because you're getting case studies those testimonials and all that work to show and you can use that to charge such a high High rate doing those gifted stays in the beginning is so important because you can do four to five gifted stays and then start charging you can start at $500 then work your way up to 1,000 2,000 package deals things like that and really it just kind of depends on are you getting those results can you do

those results for your next clients or your clients and that's how you can start to charge for your work and also with gifted stays you're still staying at an Airbnb for free so you're traveling for free don't forget that now if they don't like the content do they ask for a refund honestly I've never had that happen before and I don't really know anyone that that's happened to before and that's why it's super important to not charge in the beginning because if you're doing gifted collabs if they don't like your work they don't have to

pay you once you have money on the line and you're starting to charge for your work they're expecting a lot from you and they're expecting to get good quality content from you I always require 50% up front so that way maybe if they didn't like the content they just have to pay the other 50% but just really practice and have good work to want them to pay for and and you won't have that happen to you this next question is keeping the Airbnb from using your content long term honestly I let my Airbnb hosts use

my content longterm you can charge them a usage right fee which could be like 50% of the total package deal I make it pretty simple for them I want them to use my content long term because if they're using your content long term and they're tagging you now it's endless exposure for you and you can get clients from that so yes they will get to use your content forever unless you don't want them to but I would say just let them because it's better for you now getting paid royalties I just do a package deal

of flat fee which is basically starting at $500 and that's only for content for them to use and then I charge usage rights on top of that so it just depends on the client what they're looking for um my engagement at the time all these things play into play into the package it goes from $500 to $2500 so it's kind of just a flat package rate deal and then if they do want to run my cont content as ads then they pay me royalties or they'll pay me for 3 Monon usage or a buyout fee

which will be the 50% of the package deal do you get paid via Paypal no I don't even recommend PayPal I never use PayPal I do not like PayPal they take too many fees from you what I do is I just create an invoice in canva with ways to pay me zel wire transfer I just send them a PDF invoice they pay it and then I mark it as paid and that's how I do all my invoicing that's something to consider but if you are pretty new to to this and you're you don't know really

how to do wire transfers you're scared anything like that I really recommend stripe I was using that it sends them to invoice and then they just pay it right through the email and then you're good to go and then stripe pays you but they do take that fee that's probably the best way I would recommend as a beginner and then eventually you can go into creating your invoices in canva and sending them over the next question is hotels usually ask for five stories two reals one cinematic video 10 photos how much would you charge for

this this will always vary and it truly depends on your engagement at the time and how much you really want to build your portfolio or have free stays in exchange for building that portfolio right if a hotel is asking for all this content do you have a portfolio already if not do it for free you posting on your social media that you are traveling and working with these hotels is only going to benefit you because if one of those videos go viral then you are going to get clients from that and that's what happened to

me I posted a video that I was working with this Airbnb host I did like a walkthrough video and it literally went super viral I think it had like 100,000 views not like millions of views but it went to 100,000 views and I got four clients out of that all of them wanted to work with me I was booked up for the next month because I was doing five to six day stays and just from that one video I did the collab for free and I was just pushing content so much and I got so

many clients out of that if you're getting asked to do all this content and you don't already have a massive portfolio you don't already have a lot of content on your socials do it for free because it's only going to Ben benefit you and you're only going to get clients out of it a better portfolio out of it and be able to charge sooner from that now say you have a massively built portfolio and you've been doing this for a long time and you want to get paid for this again it depends on your engagement

but something like this I would say you can start charging at $500 to $1,000 but it depends on your engagement so I always overd deliver and under promise so you can promise them that deal which I will leave right here in case you forgot I will promise this deal and I will even overd deliver some photos I'll even throw in usage rights for them that they can get and maybe an extra video or an extra real post or a Tik Tok post and that way it feels like they're getting a lot of content for that

500 to $1,000 pricing and it makes them feel like they need to snag that but essentially do as much for free as possible land those clients build that portfolio and then start charging and I always say start charging at around $500 have a massive package deal and then once you've been doing that like two three four times and you've had some case studies start charging $1,000 for a package $1,500 for a package and just jam-pack it with things and let them know why you charge this right and they'll want to work with you and you

can start making $1,000 per collab easily it's not easy I will I want to disclaim that this is not easy it takes a lot of work a lot of planning and a lot of editing and really a lot of playing the algorithm game on Tik Tok and Instagram but it is possible if you keep trying and you don't give up the next question is can you also talk about skills and Equipment please how do you see it evolving and where can one get started if he or she has zero experience with camera edits Etc skills

and equipment I will just let you know all of my airv be clabs I used my phone and the reason why that is is because Tik Tok and Instagram are very native to phone content I wanted to create content that didn't look like I was getting paid to create it because at the end of the day the things that sell on social media are the things that people don't think you're getting paid to post right I had a 12 Pro Max at the time then I upgraded to the 14 pro Max and I still have

that I did end up getting a camera but I really didn't know how to use it that well but I will say if you can use a camera for your photos that would be really great I did have a preset and I do still sell it it's only $10 I would just put on all my photos so they were all very unique and the same and I also had a drone so that's something that you will have to get a pilot license for if you have no idea how to get started in this start with

your phone start small do aesthetic Clips do walkthr videos with you in it um and then just get used to editing so I use cap cut it's a free app I 100% love it you can edit on your phone iPad and laptop actually which is so so nice if you don't know how to edit at all you can go on Tik Tok or YouTube and see how to use the editing app but really all you need to know how to do is split cut the clip and it moves on to a next clip this is

just something that you get get better at over time if you don't have any idea of what to create when you go to these airbnbs honestly the best thing to do is look at what people around you are doing go on Instagram go on Tik Tok type in Airbnb Utah Airbnb aesthetic Airbnb whatever see what other creators are posting look at their videos save it for later and recreate that when you're at your Airbnb collab just keep doing that keep recycling that until you get an eye for it and know what's good versus what's not

that's the best way you're going to be able to learn is by actually Landing these gifted stays going to these airbnbs having a pre-plan of everything that you're going to want to film rooms things like that ideas and then once you're there you're just filming the entire time you go home you edit and then you deliver that content in a week and you start posting on your socials you're going to get really good at it the more you do it and don't be afraid because you've never done it before now the next question is do

you need a portfolio when I first started doing this I didn't have a portfolio and the reason is is because I was using my experience with content creation ugc creation when I said that I work that I'm a ugc Creator and I work with large companies and corporations to create ads for them and I'm bringing this over to the travel Niche so that's how I kind of got my way in and I also had only around 8,000 followers at the time on Tik Tok and I was using that as leverage and then as soon as

I hit 10K I was like really pushing I'm like I have 10K followers let me work with you because you can have a viral video without a lot of followers and a lot of people don't really realize that like you can have 10 followers on Tik Tok and have viral video that actually happened to me I started my Tik Tok and I had a video that hit 3.2 million and it was just like me walking on the treadmill and I gained like 3,000 followers and I was like what the heck so you can have viral

content without having millions of followers back to what I was saying I didn't have that portfolio and I was using my followers as my advantage and my experience with content creation already but if you don't have that content creation experience on your belt I would definitely say you need to either have have a following on social media or you need to have some sort of portfolio to Showcase to these Airbnb hosts how do you get a portfolio I'm sure you're going on a trip sometime soon or I'm sure you're maybe wanting to plan a trip

use that as a learning experience where you can go take a ton of content maybe you go with your best friend make it some type of fun thing that you can go to this place take a ton of content and start to build a portfolio and maybe you do this like once a month you can still reach out but I would really say you're going to need some sort of form of content to show whether that's videos photos case studies things like that or you can always offer you want to create content for their socials

if you don't have a portfolio you don't really have much of a following try to get a little bit of content together maybe do one trip and put a portfolio together that way you can use that when you're reaching out to airbnbs that are on Instagram or Tik Tok and say Hey I want to create content for your socials and I have this vision and I want to get you more bookings I want to get you viral content and this is how I'm going to do it it but I just need to stay at your

place for free for like 3 days 4 days land that gifted say and build your portfolio without having any experience and it is possible because I did it you guys I had no experience I've never done it a day in my life and I just started reaching out to airbnbs and I was like Hey I want to get you guys viral content I want to get you more bookings this is how I'm going to do it this is the content I'm going to deliver let me know if this works for you and we can get

started literally this month this is so possible it's just are you confident enough can you do this and you can because if I can you can my friend we'll only do two more questions because I feel like this might get a little too long so I'm sorry if it is but I hope you love all these all these tips the next question is do you need a lot of followers and this kind of goes hand inand with the last question if you don't have a lot of followers you just need a portfolio are you going

to be posting as on your account or their account these are all questions you need to think about so if you're going to be posting on your account obviously you're going to have want to have a travel Instagram or Tik Tok account and you're going to want to start posting travel content content so maybe you're going somewhere sometime soon or you have a park nearby or there's a hike nearby that you want to talk about there's an Airbnb or a hotel that is nearby that you want to talk about the more followers you get over

time the more you can charge for this so say you have like 100,000 followers you can charge a few thousand for your work because you have all this engagement maybe you want to manage their Instagram account so you can charge a few thousand a month maybe you want to manage their Tik Tok account like there are so many things that come into play it's not just you posting on Instagram or Tik Tok now the last question question is could you do a video showing examples of videos that you send to airbnbs I'll explain a little

bit of the video content that I create and then once I'm done explaining I'll show you the videos that I actually create like just on the screen there are different types of videos that you can create it can be a walkthrough video it can be review style it can be aesthetic content it can be POV content it can be all these different things I like to do POV style essentially what I'll do is I'll just get in different parts of the home or Airbnb and I will just film short like four or 5C clips of

me slowly moving my camera side to side or just very still and I'll do that all throughout the Airbnb so it's very aesthetic and then I'll also do videos of me walking so like me walking someone filming me going through the the whole Airbnb that way if I want to do a video review I can do like a voice over or I can do a walk through of just me walking through as an aesthetic shot anything like that and then the other thing that I'll do is shots of me with someone so very lifestyle shots

me enjoying the Airbnb maybe I'm making a couple coffee maybe I'm working from the Airbnb I'm watching TV I'm cozying up on the couch reading a book this is just a ton of b-roll you want to get and then you clip it together and I like to use beats of the music to switch up my Clips anything that is already trending or doing well on Tik Tok and Instagram that's essentially what I use to make my videos I'm going to let you guys watch some of the videos that I've created so you can get an

actual feel and example for them by myself talk you to I you worth booking that flight to Florida today with an entire pool and an oasis at the backyard you will probably spend most of your time back here enjoying the views reading a book or jumping in for a swim year round in the heated pool inside features three bedrooms where two of them lead you directly to the pool you will definitely want to wake up and start your morning out there trust me it will be the best way to start your day there's also this

massive living room space and dining room where you can bring your family friends or simply solo travel by yourself and feel right at home in the kitchen you'll find anything and everything you'd need to cook along with an entire coffee station saving you all the money on expensive coffee this home also features a garage where you'll even have the option to do your laundry during your trip and also before you leave you will be anywhere from a 10 to 13 minute drive to a beautiful beach where you can watch a sunrise or sunset another local

favorite is the tide house Waterfront Restaurant where you can even take a $10 cruise for an hour after enjoying a meal on the waterfront the Botanical Garden right in Port St Lucy is also worth the visit as the views and scenery are to die for treat yourself to that fun yet simplistic trip to Port St Lucy and call casad Del tooro your new home for the [Music] week should I move here I'm sure as you're watching this you're like wow this isn't that hard to create and it's not you guys it takes a lot of

practice obviously to get a feel for editing because yeah it might look easy but when it comes down to it it can be tricky like it's hard to get content ideas it gets easier the more you do it and also it is possible you can get paid to travel you can travel for free it's just a matter of are you confident enough do you believe in yourself and do you really want to travel for free and get paid for it if all of your answers are yes yes and yes or or you're kind of getting

to the yeses then this is totally for you and I would really say don't back down just because you're nervous or you're afraid because I was so nervous all the airbnbs that I did I will say overd delivered so much I send so much photos so many videos that way like the host never really could complain because I gave them way too much content for for them to complain if there's any advice I could give it's just to start reaching out start booking airbnb's nearby that are driving distance that you can start filming at make

a girls or boys trip out of it have some fun with it bring your cameras bring your phones practice creating that content build a portfolio and post on your socials and in no time if you are being consistent with this you are going to get somewhere sooner than later that is everything I have for you in this video I can definitely do another video if you would like to let me know ask any questions you have Down Below in the comments I really want to help you guys be able to follow your dreams you know

I want everyone to live their dream follow me on Instagram and Tik Tok I'll also leave those down below and I'll also leave all of my gear and my am on storefront because I always get questions on what I use and where I got it so I'll leave that all down below and that is it for the video I hope you guys loved it I will see you guys in the next video