6 Steps to Becoming the Next Rick Steves

Growing up, I used to travel up and down the east coast with my family in a 1961 Chevy wagon, driving my parents and two brothers crazy.   As an adult, I've lived in 13 different cities and traveled the world.  Now, I drive my wife and daughter crazy.  How could I possibly make money from that? 

In the past few years, I've been contracted to help create two video series--one for the state of Oregon (including Crater Lake on the left) and one for the city of Portland--two places with which I am infinitely in love.

Beautiful Oregon PSA

Today, I've got six tips on how to make money while traveling, writing and shooting video, which is even easier than when I started doing it eight years ago thanks to the web and the fact that every cat who plays with a banana has a Facebook page and website.

The bottom line is that there is hidden and not-so-hidden money that companies have for great storytellers who love to travel and can shoot video.  You can do this?   Let's get started.

1.  Discover what your city, state or region is doing right now to promote themselves.
     Are they shooting video or are they just posting articles?  It's all about the video, so get out your palmcorder with a halfway decent mic?  My little Samsung cost $69.  Start shooting and get local people to  tell their stories.

2.  Create your own web page, blog or YouTube page.
     Interview the most interesting people in your city, state or neighborhood and edit them together into a story.  Never done this?  There are thousands of examples on-line.  It's all about the storytelling.  If you can't shoot the video, at least write about it in your blog.  Need some inspiration?  Check out CBS' Steve Hartman (a fellow Bowling Green State University grad) "On the Road" for CBS News.  He's the best working in the business right now.

3.  Create a few pilot webisodes for your local or state tourism board to use.
     If you're a Mac user, they make it easy to edit your stuff.  Just follow the tutorials and you'll be editing like a pro in no time.  If you're a PC person, you could look into an editing class at your local community college.

4.  Hook up with your local television station and tourism bureau.
     Grant McOmie has been shooting and writing travel stories around Oregon for twenty years, for two different stations.  For newscasts, he files a weekly story, which is then re-run with other stories on a weekly half-hour that runs on Saturdays.   These stories are then re-purposed by the state's travel site, traveloregon.org.  He's "triple-dipping" each story.  Despite Grant's aggravating voice, his story-telling is great and he is frequently a one-man band.


Grant's Getaways video


5.   Get to know the folks in the tourism board and chamber of commerce.
      There is always money there to promote and market the area, and someone who knows all about the area, can get some of that money.  A video piece on a fun or interesting place is worth 10,000 words.  Check out whether or not grants are available, too, if you get a television partner.

6.  Have a point of view.  
    Rick Steves targets the budget traveler (which is most certainly is), Anthony Bourdain targets the foodies

Look how much fun Rick is having drinking in Zagreb.  This could be you!

and Travel Channel has dozens of other great storytellers.  Each one has a specific point of view.  Develop one that's a little different.

Ecotourism video


Many of us love to travel, and love to shoot video.  Time to take your great idea and the pieces you create and put them up on your site.  If they're as great as you think they are, someone will take notice and hire you.

Just make sure they're interesting, because there are a lot of people with cameras out there.  Time to make some money off of something you like to do.

Rich Brase
--rich@richideas.net

 

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