“Be vulnerable but pretend you have a huge audience. I am confidently awkward. I am confidently insecure.”
‘A penny for your thoughts?’ An interesting question, isn’t it? It sure doesn't place a whole lot of value on your thoughts. Our thoughts, feelings, experiences, people just don’t care that much about them. Everyone’s got their own problems and they definitely don't want to hear mine. Yet somehow, some people are paid for their thoughts, more than a penny in fact, and it’s not just famous people. Thanks to the internet regular people just like you and me are sharing their lives and finding that people value what they have to share. Today’s guest, Geraldine DeRuiter of The Everywhereist, shares her award-winning-blog-book-deal-getting journey with us.
“I think the biggest thing to learn is that if you quit you absolutely will not get that high of an audience again.”
“It’s a very personal narrative of what it was like for me. If you want ‘what are the 10 best restaurants in Santa Fe’ I am not gonna help you with that at all. I usually tell people, as a travel blog it’s useless.”
Interview Contents
4:00 - The charm of The Everywhereist.
10:20 - Specific vs. broad appeal.
14:50 - Having restrictions.
22:05 - Starting the blog.
27:50 - Finding a way to differentiate the blog.
31:20 - Getting comments on the blog.
36:20 - The blog blows up.
40:20 - Managing your emotions and not getting crushed when your hight points don’t stay.
48:20 - Getting a brain tumor.
51:20 - Writing the book.
57:20 - Being vulnerable and confident.
1:05:00 - To market or not to market.
1:20:00 - The book.
1:26:00 - Advice.
Links
The Everywhereist
All Over the Place: Adventures in Travel, True Love, and Petty Theft
The Brain Chancery
THIS EPISODE WAS MADE WITH THE SUPPORT OF
Marcus Batson
Roxanna
Michelle & Jim Wortner
Janelle Swanson
Jimmy Seymour
