You may be good at it or feel passionate about it or just find it cool or want to try something new. Whatever the reason is, stick to it and believe it. And learn the skill, love it, and contribute to it. Innovate.
1. Tell us about your background and journey.
I come from a humble family of Professors. My parents are not avid travelers but they have never held me back. As a child, I loved learning new things and skills (and was good at studies). At the age of 18, I left my house to study at BITS Pilani. At this time I started traveling with my friends.
I understood that it is the purest way to learn, especially about India, like geographies, cultures, and mindsets. Finally, when I was 24 I decided to start travel blogging.
2. When did you first decide that you wanted to create travel content and how did you start?
I started travel content creation when I was 24. I went on my first solo trip to Himachal Pradesh. It was a beautiful experience. Right after that, I started travel blogging on my next trip. A trip to Ladakh.
I started a travel page on Instagram first. I was sharing updates from Ladakh. I was helping people to plan their trips through my content. Today up to 12 million people see my Instagram posts. I also write travel blogs and have a Youtube Channel.
3. Is vlogging and YouTube content creation a financially sustainable career?
Yes, it is. That's the short answer.
Now, to elaborate, it depends on your financial goals. Successful content creators earn more than a lot of salaried individuals. But, not as much as some business tycoons. The second factor is that you actually need to succeed at it. You will if you are good at it and put in the hard work. Just like any individual venture or business.
4. Who is your favorite creator and why?
Tanya Khanijow and Radhika Nomllers are the 2 creators who inspired me to start travel blogging. Tanya is a mind-blowing cinematic filmmaker. Radhika is a truly adventurous traveler with raw films. I love their content so much, will follow them for eternity haha!
5. How and where do you find inspiration to churn out content?
Content is everywhere. I think about what I need to share with my community from that. It's as simple as talking to a friend. If you came back from a trip, what would your friends want to know about? They will want to see your photos and cool videos. They want to know about where you went and what you did. Put that into a video editor and ta-da! There is your content.
6. What does your typical day look like?
I love to plan. So I plan for my day in advance. I stay on my own. So I have enough time to enjoy myself and work on my goals.
You will usually find me creating reels or posting them in the morning. By afternoon, often I read a non-fiction book. Then I start working on Youtube or my freelancing projects. Some days I work a lot and on others, I take a rest. By night, I consume a lot of educational content on vlogging, marketing, and personal finance. Oh, and I tend to skip meals like lunch and dinner a lot. Oops!
7. Which is your favorite go-to place and why?
The mountains have my heart. Be it Himachal or Uttarakhand or Sikkim, love it all. Mountains make me feel small. They give me a lot of peace and contentment. I love to explore and I go to offbeat places, where the crowd is less.
8. What piece of advice would you like to give to future and aspiring creators?
Ask yourself why you want to be a creator. You may be good at it or feel passionate about it or just find it cool or want to try something new. Whatever the reason is, stick to it and believe it. And learn the skill, love it, and contribute to it. Innovate.
Do not do it only for money or fame cause, that just fails at some point. It is a challenging profession and you need to love it and stick to it. As Baba Rancho says, "Kabil Bano, kamyabi peeche bhagegi" haha!
- Soni Saloni (Instagram)
- Interviewed by Sukhleen Kaur
){kind=link}
0 Comments