It’s normal for a border control center to ask you to fill out a little form before getting your passport stamped. It has all the typical information: where are you coming from, where are you going, what’s your career field, an address back home, and sometimes a contact for while you’re in their country. I’ve come to realize that one of the worst things to do is to fill out ‘WRITER’ or ‘TRAVEL WRITER’ in the career field. I don’t know if journalists have to have special clearances (which wouldn’t surprise me) or what the deal is, but a red light goes off when they read writer or something similar.

I'm often asked how I fund all of my travels, so I decided it was time to officially address the question with a full explanation on the blog here. Financing is the next biggest obstacle for people who have finally decided that they want to travel the world.

I fund my nomadic lifestyle mostly through my work here on Eye & Pen. While there are many bloggers who fund their lives solely through their writing, I make very little from my actual writing work – which is gradually changing, but hopefully someday I will accomplish a much higher level. I mostly fund my life from my blog coaching, web design and travel planning services – and I also receive a little income from advertising. It was only a few months ago that I began to make enough from the website to sustain the lifestyle I’ve been wanting to have. Truth be told – I’m not even close to my ultimate goal, and I’ve nowhere near reached most of my longterm goals, and I don’t make enough to save for my future yet, but I do bring in enough income to sustain my frugal backpacking nomadic lifestyle. So for now, I’m satisfied with where I’m at – but it typically takes years to be completely successful in making a career of blogging, and I’m only over a year in, myself.

1.  The photograph
     I’ve polled my own readers and over 48% said that the photograph was the most important aspect of a post that draws their attention. It seems to go without saying, but the amount of bloggers that skimp on the accompanying photograph is staggering. Look at the photograph as the single most important part in drawing people to your work – it’s a make or break.
2.  The title
     A good title gives the reader a small taste of what to expect, but also draws them in because they want to know more. Nearly 20% of my readers polled said this was the 2nd most important part of drawing their attention. Writing the perfect title is an art – you don’t want to overload the title by making it too long, plus you want to avoid giving away too much about the upcoming content.
3.  The subject matter
     It seems to most writers that the actual content should be king, and of course I agree, but unfortunately humans are fickle and have extremely short attention spans – especially in the digital age. A study on the attention span of internet visitors said that the average span was less than 8 seconds before a viewer moves on to their next destination. To sum up the importance of the photograph and the title, you must grab their attention in less than 8 seconds – after that, it’s up to your content to sell itself.
4.  The first sentence
     Last, but not least is the importance of the opening sentence of a literary piece. To turn a viewer to a reader, you must win the battle of the first 8 seconds and then suck them in to commit for the long haul. Gripping questions and whimsical statements work wonders to snag the attention of a prospective reader.
     This can be learned and mastered (along with much more) with my guidance and help of my Coaching services. Click here to learn more about what I can do for you, as well as information on my packages and prices. My packages start at as little as $99. Cheers, and thanks for reading!