Today we’d like to introduce you to Tom Grond.
Tom, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
When you told me a couple of years ago I would become a full-time blogger I would have laughed hard. I never had the intention to become a professional blogger, but after traveling continuously around the world for four years, I had to come up with a way to make money rather than just spending it.
At first, I started to travel for free based on my Instagram account @traveltomtom, but then I discovered that blogging is way more sustainable. I quickly taught myself how blogging really works rather than just writing articles and hoping to be picked up someday. I invested in how to blog and how to make money from it.
And here we are! My travel blog reaches more than 220,000 (it must be 250,000) monthly pageviews and is still growing rapidly every month.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It actually has been a very smooth road to reach professional blogging level. But a really long one for sure. All of this was born from my passion for traveling and basically have I been investing in my blog since the first moment I quit my job back in 2012. From that moment on I’m continuously traveling the world and since two years I’m blogging.
That said, I always had a big Instagram account backing me up, but a blogger and an Instagrammer are two completely different things. Being recognized as a blogger is much harder! Within one click people can look up your Instagram account and based on how many followers you have you get a tag of being successful or not.
With blogging, it is not that simple, because there is no such thing as followers and website statistics aren’t public. Changing my tag from Instagrammer to blogger was not easy, but I finally are recognized for my blogging skills rather than social media.
Traveltomtom – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My travel blog www.traveltomtom.net is one of the fastest growing travel blogs in the world as I’m only started blogging two years ago. My knowledge for traveling in Thailand skyrocketed my blog pretty quick. In total, I wrote almost 50 quality blogs with tips for Thailand.
Nowadays, I expanded that to off the beaten path travel destinations and traveling in Europe as well. The authenticity of my blog is one of my strengths as I have constantly been traveling since I quit my corporate job in 2012 and in those years I visited 100 countries! Traveling will always be my number 1 passion!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Growing my blog significantly every month while at the same time keeping up with my travel life! Visiting new places every year is a must although I have been to more than 50 countries twice or more. I don’t mind traveling back to a place but as long as I find happiness on the road I’m fine. Working and traveling at the same time can be really hard, but as long as I find the right balance, I feel like I’m succeeding in chasing my dreams!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.traveltomtom.net
- Email: info@traveltomtom.net
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/traveltomtom
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/traveltomtom
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/traveltomtom
- Other: www.snapchat.com/traveltomtom
Image Credit:
www.traveltomtom.net
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