CSIT155_S18:DustinM

Blogs I commented on: Lamar Anderson Maxim Cardonna Sujatha Nanduri Chad Mullen

An effective travel newsletter should contain specific information, ideally with a solid clickbait title.  In the travel industry this often takes the form of, "5 THINGS YOU MUST PACK FOR YOUR TRIP!!!," or "6 REASONS YOU MUST TRAVEL COSTA RICA!"  Indeed, useful items are important, and coupled with an attractive appearance is a real winner. Appearance of the newsletter in the email is important.  Software that helps administer a newsletter can be helpful in delivering newsletters that are well-branded with consistent graphics and logos.   Concerning my own newsletter, here is a list of topics that may interest a traveler: 1.) Health Insurance While Traveling 2.) Renting a Car while Traveling  3.) How to Travel with a large group without killing each other 4.) Gay Travel in Latin America 5.) The Difference between a Tourist and a Traveler

Categories are an important aspect of any online presence.  By tagging within certain categories, somebody is essentially optimizing his search engine presence and making it easier to be found within sub-sections of whatever genre he is operating in.  In the case of DustintheWind Productions, focusing on travel and lifestyle is too broad.  Many travel bloggers and vloggers tend to focus on a specific category such as southeast Asia, budget travel, van travel, surfing, etc.  The market is indeed competitive and having a unique angle is important.  A few categories in which I think I can have an impact include: 1.) Latin America: a lot of my travels have taken me throughout south and central America.  Not only are people interested in traveling these regions, but the people who live in some of these countries are actively consuming and engaging with various social media platforms.  By categorizing my content within the Latin American/ Spanish-speaking/...

Pretty much every industry on the planet works to serve humans in one way or another.  Even if your job is welding steel for transmission towers, you are in effect, servicing humanity at large.  Adding human interest to a blog post is an excellent way to personalize an industry that sometimes seems to have a disconnect from the actual human consumer in which it serves.  Returning to the example of the welder, a welding company might want to include a story about one of it's workers on it's website; this allows the company to stand out to a buyer who might be researching it's products.  While a buyer is certainly searching for high quality materials, just the slightest human touch that stands out will go a long way.   In regards to my choice industry of travel blogging, it always makes sense to show a destination through very human eyes.  While featuring landmarks is interesting, it is exponentially more interesting to include some people in the photo...

In order to locate new connections on twitter I used the search words "travel" "travel blog" "travel blogger" and "travel media."  I became curious as to how many twitter users were using the angle "gay travel," so I included this in my search terms.  I also decided to search my search terms as tags, using the advanced search option. Lists I created two lists:  1.)  People- many users are interested in what other people are doing, so I thought it'd be nice to have a list of some people who have a successful twitter engagement.  I added some of my favorite twitter finds including @codyko and @nomadicboys. 2.) Organizations- this is the other side of twitter, and important to travel media.  Organizations such as @couchsurfing @lonelyplanet and @nytimestravel do a good job at offering variety in the realm of travel.  By creating these lists I can focus on what individuals are doing versus organizations, which inhe...

I chose to follow up on the twitter accounts of the people whose visual media I analyzed: 1.) Lost LeBlanc-  twitter Christian LeBlanc hasn't quite translated his YouTube and Instagram following to Twitter, though he still has a decent 12.5K followers.  Mr. LeBlanc has done a good job at keeping his page consistent with his other social media: he has a consistent headline photo that contains his logo and his profile photo is the same as his instagram.   As for his posting: LeBlanc has done a decent job at mixing original twitter content with reposts from his YouTube.  Interestingly, I noticed a collaborative campaign with Skype to promote the SkypeBot. 2.) Monica Church-  twitter Like "Lost LeBlanc," Monica Church hasn't amassed the twitter following that she has on YouTube and Instagram, but still has a respectable 86.2K followers on Twitter.  Ms. Church has a few YouTube channels, one on travel, another on gymnastics, another on fashion, but ...

Does Visual Media Work for a Travel Vlogging/ Blogging/ Production Business? Of course!  In fact, visual media is one of the most important parts of this business.  Having crisp, high resolution footage on YouTube, stunning, awe-inspiring photos on Instagram, and consistent, engaging stories on Snapchat and Instagram are all important parts of a successful social media following.  In order to enhance my own presence, I've done some research on a few successful social media channels below: 1.) Lost LeBlanc - Christian Leblanc.   YouTube This is a travel channel and travel video tips channel that has cultivated a successful following on all of the major visual social media channels.  LeBlanc's YouTube channel is thriving with 536K subs.  The videos range from travel montages, to practical how-to videos about packing or traveling in a certain region, and LeBlanc's own brand of travel/ lifestyle vlogging.  Although LeBlanc doesn't seem to...