Talk Tuesday with Kristi Trimmer

This is the seventh installment of Talk Tuesday. Did you miss the other ones? Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6. It amazes me that the Talk Tuesday posts are my most viewed posts! I collect the questions people ask me and answer them weekly (ok, sometimes I miss a week – but not lately!). Have a question for me about anything? Ask away in the comments below.

 

How do you find the time to write?

This one is the hard one. Scheduling. I suck at it. But I am bound and determined to do better!! Typically, I try to wake up by 5ish and be sitting and working at the local Starbucks by 6:00am. I start client writing at 7:00am and usually work on their stuff until noonish or whenever my stomach demands a break. I then will write my content in the afternoon and share it out over social. I like to wrap up my day around 5ish so I can go hiking or running or whatever and I am in bed by 10.

Now. That is ideal. When I am out in nature and I don’t have electricity or WiFi, I will pull over onto the side of the road looking at some amazing natural wonder. I grab my chair and just start free writing – letting my mind relax and let whatever it wants to come out, to pour out really over the keyboard. That is how I wrote my book… no thoughts, just the desire, no really, the need, to just start typing. Sometimes the urge is so great in me that I can’t possibly do another thing until I write. It is a passion that burns deep in me that I can’t seem to turn off.

On any given day, I write between 2000-4000 words. On days when I am a machine, I write about 10,000 words and can sustain that for about a week or so before I have to slowly back away from the computer. I can only do that though when looking out at nature, not in a Starbucks. Now if all of that was on my own stuff, I would be writing a new book every month or so. 0-0.

What is the average income needed to be a travel blogger?

First, I have a post dedicated to this topic coming out in 24 hours and will link once it is published. For me, I need money for food and gas primarily. I can sleep in my tent if needed or get a hotel. On average, I need $3,000 a month to live and pay my bills. I know some travel bloggers that are making 6 figures on their blogs and some can’t even cover the cost of hosting. It is a daily battle to get paid to do what I love. I hope and pray that people remember me when they buy something online from Amazon or even plane tickets.

Transportation and lodging are the two most expensive items for travel bloggers, same as most people I would assume. It is more for us though as most people who pay rent or a mortgage can do so for less than $30 a day. Try finding a hotel for that price! I do not make a lot of money, I struggle most weeks honestly. But I’m doing what I love, so I guess that is the payoff I am enduring to live this life.

How do you start a blogging biz and make enough to live on?

Blogging as your business is different than just having a blog where you share your life with your family. You have to spend money to have a good site design, hosting, graphics, and all other things that come with running a business. Personally, I started out as a technical editor and writer over 15 years ago. I have been blogging for about 7 years. The first blogs I ever wrote were paid and placed on other people’s blogs. Making the switch from technical writing to personal writing was very difficult for me, something I still struggle with. I woke on my business six, sometimes seven days a week, 60+ hours a week to make enough to survive.

How did you decide that was your path?

This might be cliche, but blogging chose me. I was writing for a government contractor and pouring my heart out at night using Word. I created my first blog to write out my frustrations in my marriage and the demise of what I thought was my dream business, my flower shop. When I lost the flower business and my marriage I was devastated. In 2008, I was unhireable as the market crashed and I was overqualified for everything I applied for. I started OrangeDragonfly.com as a boutique marketing firm helping small business owners with writing and editing, social media, and then website design.

While I was driving around the US I realized I never wanted to do social media for clients again (I only have 1 client now). I was the happiest when I was blogging and sharing my writing with my community. I paid special attention to what made me happy. Writing makes me happy. It is my therapy. It is my friend. It is my path in life. It just took me 40 years to figure it out.

What are some hunting and fishing requirements in Alaska?

I’m not a hunter, so I can refer you here and then click here for licenses. I do know that August is when Dall Sheep season opens and then Caribou and Moose after that. I believe bear happens once in the fall and again in the spring. I will have to get back to you once I experience this! There are what seems like a bajillion rules to fishing in Alaska. I know that you can fish with poles or dip nets if you are an Alaskan resident and if you are not, then you are very limited. Here are the full details. Alaska residents can have 25 salmon whereas visitors are limited to 6!

Oh, I found this free book talking about fishing in Alaska