Have you wanted to become a travel writer, but have found it nearly impossible to break into print by submitting queries or articles to magazines? If you cannot join them…BEAT THEM. Here are three good reasons to start your own website and become an online travel writer.

The great thing about the Internet is that it has leveled the playing field. Ordinary people like you and I can now compete with sites from the previously “untouchable” travel magazines. If you have good expressive skills, if you can use a point-and-shoot digital camera, if you enjoy sharing your positive travel experiences with others…then you have many of the ingredients to become an online travel writer.

You Call The Shots When You Run Your Own Home Business

Are you tired of sending out query letters and receiving no response? Are you frustrated by working days on an article about a unique little place, only to have it continually rejected? Are fed up with not getting paid on time, or editors that do not return your calls or emails?

It doesn’t have to be that way any longer. The #1 reason for becoming an online travel writer is that YOU make all decisions for content and images. You are not at the mercy of arrogant or ignorant editors. You DO NOT have to waste time, effort, and postage on query letters. You DO NOT have to go through the discouragement of another rejection slip.

You decide where to go, and what to write about…when you want to write about it.

You can see your work displayed for the public immediately after you upload it to your site.

You can make immediate corrections or edit your article to a different slant right from your keyboard.

You can add, delete, or change images to enhance your content.
You Decide How You Want To Monetize Your Site

Your profits will be limited only by your creativity and work ethic. Starting your own website as an online travel writer does not mean you will be making decent money right off the bat. There is a learning curve to generating traffic by finding the most profitable keywords for your travel articles and establishing solid backlinks.

However, once you begin to get an increasing number of unique visitors, you can can make your site profitable on a daily basis by:

utilizing Google AdSense on your site.

selling affiliate products from Amazon.com or ClickBank.

becoming an affiliate of the large travel sites that sell airline tickets and hotel reservations.

selling YOUR OWN travel eBook and related products
Or…combine all four. Why not go for the gold?

You Can Write Off Your Expenses As An Online Travel Writer

The #3 reason to establish your own home business to write online travel articles is that you can now qualify for legitimate tax deductions that will save you between $3000 and $6000 each year. Money that STAYS IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD.

If you have an intent to make a profit…if you are working your business a couple of hours each day to produce a profit, and you spend 5-6 minutes each night correctly documenting your business expenses/activities, you can legally write off:

the purchase of a new computer or digital camera

motels, restaurant meals, plane tickets

car expenses like gas, maintenance, insurance, and depreciation

entertainment like movies, play tickets, museum tickets, or ball games
One of the great things about living in the United States are the tax laws that encourage all Americans to start their own home business. The government understands it takes awhile to get a new business off the ground and profitable, and it will subsidize your efforts to succeed.

Hopefully, you will see the personal and financial rewards in becoming an online travel writer and making it a legitimate home business. Millions of people read online travel articles each day. They might as well read yours. You can be successful, call your own shots, profit each day, and qualify for a huge amount of legal tax deductions to save you even more money.

As Online Travel has caught the fancy of the internet savvy travelers the online travel market is booming. No wonder that the online Travel is one of the fastest growing markets worldwide. India is also not left behind in this race as according to industry Pundits, Online Travel Market in India would be worth around US $ 6 Billion.

As a logical extension to such buoyancy, Travel Guides have shown a steady rising to move online and in the process fulfilling the needs of the niche readers. Both traditional print brands as well as purely cyber entities are slogging it out to grab the attention of this niche segment. The publishers of print brands after their initial reluctance have also started embracing the web and publish all their content online.
Travel Guides

Let’s take a look at what the Travel Guides offer. Travel guides have become a necessary tool for anyone who is thinking of vacation. A Travel Guide is full of helpful advice, precise information, good ideas etc besides being well-written, well laid out as well as well indexed.

These City centric guides provide information on all aspects of travel. You can get good information on How to Reach, Attractions, Excursions, festivals, History along with the various kinds of accommodations available like lodges, hotels, resorts and the bed-and-breakfasts. Convenient maps make it easy for the newcomers to exactly pinpoint any destination.

An ideal Travel guide should also briefly outline the recreational activities coupled with more mundane activities of life that can be done in a particular city. Another important aspect that is generally missed out is the public transport of the cities where a traveler lands up. A genuine Travel Guide is also supposed to give precise information of the state of public transport highlighting bus routes, Cabs and Auto fares.

Another important aspect of a City Guide is to have a semblance of balanced information. This is important because travel can be both for as well as business.

Pros and cons of Online Travel Guides

More and more people are into researching the internet as a result the Online Travel Guides have become quite popular as compared to their print counterparts. However both the two brands have their own set of advantages and limitations.

Online Destination Guides are successful in tapping user-generated reviews and provide the added advantage of E- Commerce options. So surf the web pages of the guide and book flights, hotels and other arrangements at one go directly through the site. Another great feature of the Online Guides is that there is ample scope for value addition. For example Indian railway has planned a new train to connect Amritsar to Kasargod. This information can be easily updated in the Guide for the travelers to see.

As Hotels and rental agencies change their rates according to season and local competition, online travel guides also offer a dynamic lot of packages based on such variances. However coming to the flip side of it is very difficult to find Online Travel guides bereft of commercial influences. It is not uncommon to see many sites that are setup to merely attract the potential customers to a particular establishment, or sites giving reviews by travelers may not be wholly independent.

To conclude Online Travel Guides have become a very good way to gather information about smaller cities of India that has an immense tourism potential but often neglected. For example the whole of North east, Northern Kerala neglected as a tourist spot over the years have seen good tourist influx thanks to the ubiquitous travel guides.

Many times and in many ways it pays to do things yourself. Usually, this common and well worn sentiment refers to using a little elbow grease to take responsibility for performances of a specific task as opposed to depending on someone else to do it. Naturally, there is always an implication here that some jobs are best left to other people. Nevertheless, there are quite a few tasks that you can do yourself.

In particular, when a task requires a professional hand or help, it is common conventional wisdom that one should try and tread into an area that one is lacking professional skills. While you do have the right to defend yourself in a court of law, it may be the more prudent move to step aside and let a lawyer represent you.

The Internet Comes To The Rescue

While it is always best to leave certain things to the pros, the advent of the internet has created a huge opportunity for people to take certain tasks on that they normally would have delegated to another person. No, this is not an endorsement for reading an online legal manual, but it is suggested that you explore your ability to perform certain tasks that you may have otherwise not been able to do. One such profession you can undertake on your own is the wild world of online travel booking.

Performing Your Own Online Travel Booking

What online travel booking refers to is utilizing one (or more) of the multitude of travel websites that allow you to create your own trip. By using these sites you can select destinations, hotels, car rentals, arrival/departure locations and times, and a many other segments of the itinerary that you are interested in creating. Sounds complicated, does it not?

Here is the good news: it simply is not complicated and even the most complex itinerary can be completed in a relatively short period of time. There are no hassles and no travel agent middle men to deal with. Also, there is no need to work around common business hours to get the job done. An online travel booking can be performed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

The Cost Benefits of an Online Travel Booking Arrangement

In addition to the great ease and flexibility an online travel booking system offers, there are a number of tremendous cost saving aspects that are in play as well. When picking and piecing the physical aspects of the itinerary, one also mixes and matches various sales, deals and price busting offers.

In simpler terms this means that a person who performs his or her own online travel booking can save significantly on the costs associated with travel. As such, making your own online travel booking offers a host of benefits and is well worth exploring, starting today.

Now is your chance to finally profit and save big from the largest market shift in history. That is the Travel Industry Shift from the Brick & Mortar to the online Click & Mortar.

Are you ready for a good time off rate for your next vacation? If you are watchful for the cheaper prices, mull over using the internet and booking online using an online travel website. These online travel websites are becoming in demand with holidaymakers and travelers nationwide.

Usually, you will come up with cheaper rates, cheaper prices in airline and traveling fares. Online travel websites are qualified to accommodate their clients with cheaper pricing because their over-heads are normally less than your standard travel agency who maintains a big staff, have to pay a lease for their office space and have to furnish equipment for the travel industry. Utilizing the internet, travel entrepreneurs can cut their expenses by spending exclusively over the internet or by telephone.

Online travel websites are providing instant communication over the internet, where conventional travel agents have to check and research travel information. So, travelers are benefiting from instant travel information, services and the convenience of booking all travel online and not needing to leave the home or work place to book their travel.

Now travel enthusiasts can use these online travel websites to select their own vacation destinations, stops, routes, dates, and basically plan their own vacation to fit their particular needs. As you continue to read this article, you will find my resource box at the bottom with a link that will show you how you can profit big from this huge market shift in the travel industry. This is made possible with your very own online Booking Engine website.

So, there are numerous advantages for travelers to use online travel websites instead of a conventional travel agency. Online travel websites will allow you to plan and select your vacation or destination and then select the most affordable flights or passage to your selected vacation destination. Select an online travel agent with industry experience, this means that they will have sufficient expertise and knowledge, contacts and additional to guarantee you get the least expensive deal possible.

Use the internet to set up your next vacation, save yourself time, money and gain from the convenience of online shopping and booking. Online travel websites are becoming a big business in the travel industry. These online websites have practical, informative and helpful websites for their patrons to compare prices and find useful information on their vacation destination and their selected online travel website’s choices and services in the travel industry.

Join the travelers of the world and originate your plans and bookings for travel and vacations by using an efficient, professional online travel agent. Save money, time and take advantage of creating your own vacation structure. Decide on the best vacation for you, and let professional online travel websites get the cheapest travel rates available.

I hope you have gotten some good ideas from this article and are able to use them.