Candid Reflections On My First 6 Months As A Full-Time Cruise Blogger

I’ll Give It Six Months

Six months in blog years is like 18 in human years and 95 in dog years.  Your blog is officially an adult, but she’s still drinking beer through a bong and licking her butt, despite suffering from crippling arthritis. 

When I quit my real job as a college professor and moved across the country to live in a city with a cruise port where I would step into a magician’s cabinet, “abracadabra!,” and reappear as a full-time cruise blogger, I told myself: “I’ll give it six months.”  Six months because I had just enough money left from my last paycheck to stock my cabinets with 540 cans of beans[1] and because Google was telling me that’s how long it normally takes for new blogs to gain traction, whatever that means.  

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[1] In the spirit of “candor,” Mr. Cruise’s job pays our rent.  But I like to feel self-sufficient: “I can buy my own pintos, thank you very much!”

Speaking Of Dog Years, Let’s Celebrate

Naturally, I’m taking my blog on a cruise to celebrate her coming of age.  But instead of a booze cruise, it’s a 14-day b2b through Alaska on Celebrity where the dinner line starts to form outside the MDR at 4pm and room stewards have to race to complete turndown service because most passengers retire by 8, expecting a towel animal on the bed to photograph for their grandchildren.  Despite my blog’s desire to find out what a club is, “I dunno,” and appeal to a wider demographic, sometimes I have to remind her that I went directly from Pampers to Depends and she’d do well to leave her teeth on the bedside table and shut off the lights lest I leave my laptop at home next time.

Why Successful Bloggers Are Like The Illuminati

Six months ago I knew less about blogging than I did about the optimal cooking time for a medium rare steak (I’m a vegetarian) and fashion (I’m still resentful of that time I had to change out of my holey college sweatshirt and leggings to get married). 

And I thought the following about basic terms related to blogging:

Domain: The place I would be the master of if my husband and son didn’t live there.  As it stands I have to hide all my treats and fake digestive issues to get some time to myself on the throne.

Web host: Charlotte.

Plugin: The heated oil filled scent disperser offering up to 50 days of “fresh linen” my husband uses to mask the smell of my sweaty gym clothes.

Widgets: A fictional race of people from a L. Frank Baum children’s novel.

HTML: A word my son has spelled phonetically on an assignment for Kindergarten that I try desperately to figure out before finally giving up and gently inquiring, “what does this say, buddy?”  “Hot metal.” “Ooooooh.”

SEO: What I assume is a typo and appreciate as an opportunity to feed my ego, “I think you mean CEO?”

Affiliate links: A trendy new vegetarian sausage substitute (soy free!).

I’ve learned a lot since then, but none of it came at the ring of a bell, “yes ma’am,” served to me in bed on a tray while I watched old episodes of 16 and Pregnant on MTV (at least that’s how I pictured life as a blogger).  There was so much information to filter through, most of which was either too basic or too advanced, “where can I get a warm bowl of porridge around here,” or…too expensive. 

I signed up for and participated in several “free” webinars offered by successful bloggers where I, admittedly, picked up a helpful tip or two.  However, I wished I could have just read them somewhere in 3 minutes instead of wasting an hour listening to a hard sell on why I should sign up for their “master class” at a cost of $295. 

And not once would any of them directly answer a simple question like, “how many hits did you have to your blog after 6 months?”  Instead, without fail, they would say something like, “don’t worry about anyone else, just make sure you are putting out quality content and increasing your following month over month.  And I can help you do that for just $295!”  

Okay, but I’m over here making desserts with the liquid left over from my dinner of garbanzo beans (no seriously, it’s a thing)!  I need to know if this is going anywhere!

Sometimes it felt like there was a secret society of bloggers, with ten-step handshakes to verify membership, blood oaths to never let baby bloggers see the man behind the curtain and plants at Google and Facebook, programing algorithms to their favor. 

I don’t wear makeup, heels to make me seem taller, or fancy accouterments.  I’m just Sarah, plain and short and most happiest in my decades old Michigan State sweatshirt and Goodwill leggings.  And when it comes to my blog, I’m an open book, er, screen.

So in the unlikely event that I go on to become the next Nomadic Matt or, more likely, when the blog fizzles out in a few months due to lack of followers or goes out in more dramatic fashion because the old computer I’m too cheap to replace – despite regularly overheating and making sizzling sounds promoting me to slap the screen shut and retreat to the safety of the thick cement of my building’s underground parking garage – finally explodes, you’ll have some insight into what to do or what not to do as you’re starting out as a baby blogger yourself.

Questions I Wish I Could Ask Successful Cruise Bloggers

Or rather, questions I wish successful cruise bloggers would actually answer.  Questions I will now answer for you despite my status – disputed only by my number one fan with a three letter title that both starts and ends with the letter “M” – as a mediocre cruise blogger.  And please, if you have any questions I don’t answer, ask them in the comments at the end of the post and I promise to address them candidly. 

Why Did You Start A Cruise Blog?

Three reasons really.  First, I love cruising and do it often.  Second, I enjoy creative writing, but had been constrained to academic writing for the past decade.  And third because, upon giving up a tenured professor position in Pittsburgh and moving to Seattle (what kind of an idiot would do that, you ask?), I couldn’t find a real job in my field. 

You can go here for more information about my backstory.

How Did You Start A Cruise Blog?

I purchased an inexpensive web hosting plan which came with a free domain name for one year through bluehost and started writing.  Very poorly at first, but I like to think I’m improving.  I continue to gradually figure out the tech and business sides of blogging.

How Much Time Do You Spend On Your Cruise Blog?

I treat my blog as my full-time job and spend roughly the equivalent amount of time on it.  I do take vacations, but in a typical week I put in 30-50 hours.

What Do You Love About Cruise Blogging?

Telling stories through words and photographs, documenting my family’s travels – especially so we can look back and laugh at Mr. Cruise’s (more like my) fashion choices, meeting and learning from fellow cruise and travel addicts (thank you!), helping people plan memorable cruises and vacations, and high praise from my number one fan (hi mom!).

What Do You Hate About Cruise blogging?

I hate nothing about you (because you’re here, reading my blog, so you’re obviously awesome), but there are a few things I don’t love about cruise blogging. First, the blurring of vacation and work, “how many drinks have I had, because I could have sworn the cruise director just came on the intercom, ‘a very good morning,’ and threatened to toss me overboard if I don’t get my review of yesterday’s excursion posted by noon.”  And second, the tech, legal, and business sides of blogging.  Can’t I just travel and tell stories?  I don’t want to figure out what a rate sheet is. I got a request for one of these recently and still have no idea what it is. Extra credit for anyone who knows. Bueller?

How Many Unique Visitors Did You Get To Your Cruise Blog In The First Six Months?

Here’s a screen shot from my blog’s stats page indicating exactly how many unique visitors I had at the six month mark.

How Many Page Views Did You Get To Your Cruise Blog In The First Six Months?

And here’s one indicating total number of page views at the six month mark.

What Have Been The Most Popular Posts On Your Cruise Blog?

Here are the top 10 most popular posts. The one entry I’ve written so far dedicated solely to drinking comes in at number one. #boozecruise #nojudgement

How Do You Market Your Cruise Blog?

I don’t, really.  I mean, I tried my hand at a campaign slogan, drawing inspiration from Old Spice,”Prof. Cruise, Smell Like A Man, Man,” and Nike, “Prof. Cruise, Just Do Her,” but I my ads kept getting flagged as lewd.

Other than that, I participate in some cruising and blogging groups and forums where I share my content if it’s relevant to posted questions or discussions.  And I do minimal social media stuff – Pinterest has by far been the most fruitful.  Most of my traffic comes from a few loyal followers who share my content on Facebook, Pinterest, or Cruise Critic (thank you!!!).  I get minimal traffic through organic search (Google, etc.), although that’s starting to pick up a tiny bit. Here’s a more detailed breakdown of where referrals to my site come from:

Do You Make Money From Your Cruise Blog?

Technically, yes.

How Much Money Do You Make From Your Cruise Blog?

Just enough to support my coffee habit which consists of one cup a day of instant decaf prepared in my own soup-splattered microwave, 21 floors directly above a bonafide Starbucks, taunting me each morning with the aroma of her fancy brewed beans. 

How Do You Make Money From Your Cruise Blog?

I monetize my links through Viglinks and am a member of Amazon’s Associates program, as well as a few travel related affiliate programs.  If people purchase products or travel through a link on my site, I get a very small commission (usually under $1, but a bit more for travel). 

Do You Receive Any Free Travel Or Cruise Related Products In Exchange For Your Reviews?

No, but if you’d like to offer me some…

What Are Your Long-Term Goals For Your Cruise Blog?

I hope I’ll continue to improve as a writer and would like to revamp the design of my site to be cleaner, simpler, and more professional looking. And eventually I’d like to make enough money to cover my expenses, so $3.95 per month for bluehost, and a real cup of drip coffee from the Starbucks in my building (so close, yet so far away).

What’s Your Best Tip For Someone Interested In Starting A Travel Or Cruise Blog?

Do it!  And share it with me!  If there’s one thing I love less than cruising (no offense), but even more than writing about my own cruises, it’s reading about other people’s cruises!

To get started you’ll want to purchase an inexpensive web hosting service and a domain name (I use and love bluehost with WordPress – getting started is super easy) and start writing!  If you’re serious about blogging as a career, I’d suggest attending a WordPress conference or taking a class.  I probably could have saved myself a great deal of time had I done that in the very beginning.

And with that…

Pay no attention to that woman behind the curtain! The Great Prof. Cruise has spoken!

Class Dismissed.

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