Nomadic Matt's presentation from TravelCon18.

1. How to Get
1 Million Readers
Matt Kepnes
SEPTEMBER 20–22, 2018 | AUSTIN, TEXAS | JW MARRIOTT

2. TRAVELCON
Matthew Kepnes runs the award winning budget travel site, Nomadic Matt, and wrote the New York
Times best-seller, How to Travel the World on $50 a Day. After a trip to Thailand in 2005, Matt decided
to quit his job, finish his MBA and head off into the world. His original trip was supposed to last a year.
Over ten years later, he is still out roaming around and teaching others how to do the same.
MATT KEPNES
@nomadicmatt

3. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
 Effectively use social media to reach your
audience organically
 Land guest posts that drive traffic to your
site long-term
 Gain media mentions for your expertise
 Find your network and build authentic
relationships with people across industries

4. HOW TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA

5. 1. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket
2. Each platform has one core use – plan
accordingly
3. Post amazing content – by you and other
people
4. Be honest, be real, be human
GENERAL TIPS

6. PROS
Show your personality
Build brand
Make quality connections
Reach new peers and followers
Create content quickly
CONS
Doesn’t drive traffic
Growth is slow
 Tweet about what you love
 Follow others that tweet about what
you love
 Scan through followers of like-
minded bloggers to find people who
like what you do
 Follow and engage with other
bloggers
 Most people won’t follow you back
until you reach out and connect
 Find people via hashtags
 Create lists to stay organized
TWITTER

7. PROS
Mostly for women
2nd biggest social media site (after FB)
Drives great traffic
Users are ready to buy
CONS
Mostly for women
Very visual
 Get creative
 Design Pinterest-friendly images
 Make it easy for people to pin
(plugin: Pinterest Pin It for
WordPress)
 Be active and consistent
 Scheduler your pins (use Tailwind)
 Promote your pins (spend $5 a day
for promoted pins and run posts for
about 3-4 days)
PINTEREST

8. PROS
Great for photographers
Drives decent traffic
Everyone is here
Credibility
CONS
Only one hyperlink
Need 10,000 followers to link to posts
 Pick one topic
 Learn to edit photos (use Snapseed)
 Only upload amazing photos!
 Upload 1-4 photos per day
 Write captions
 Ask followers questions
 Use hashtags (relevant, no more than
8)
 Find repost accounts (tag their name,
account name and use their hashtag)
 Post Instagram stories
INSTAGRAM

9. PROS
1 billion+ users
#1 driver of traffic
Readers stay on website for a while
Credibility
CONS
Dreaded algorithm changes
10% of followers will see your posts
Facebook owns your page
 Consistently post
 Post often (even 4-5 posts a day)
 Pretty pictures only
 Share inspirational quotes
 Write well-thought out captions
 Pay to promote your best posts
 Love Facebook’s analytics tools
 Repost your best stuff periodically
 Utilize Facebook Live feature
 Share Facebook stories
FACEBOOK

10. 6 WAYS TO
GROWTH HACK
YOUR
AUDIENCE

11. #1 WRITE GUEST POSTS

12.  Traffic, traffic, and more traffic
 It’s the steroid of the blogging world!
 Speak to whole new audiences
 Reach entirely new niches
 It’s shared their social media platforms
and to their email list
 Residual traffic since your post (with
links back) lives on their website
Guest-post from the time you start blogging
until the time you stop.
BENEFITS OF GUEST POSTS

13.  If within my niche, is the audience
around my size or larger?
 If outside my niche, does it have at
least ¼ of my visitors monthly?
 Decent social media following?
 Newsletter?
 Good SEO score?
 Minimal sponsored content?
 Does the site have lasting power?
 Would I be proud to be on it?
FINDING BLOGS TO POST ON

14.  Write posts before you even pitch:
• Research the site (know it
backwards and forwards)
• Think of a topic for their
audience
• Create an angle for their genre
• Write the post
• Have it ready so the site owner
can easily accept it
 Find their guide to pitching posts
 Do you know a mutual friend you
could ask to introduce you?
PREPPING YOUR IDEA

15.  Use his/her first name
 Introduce yourself
 Briefly say what your blog is about
 Let them know you read their site:
• Why do you like it?
• Why do you want to guest-post?
• How is it relevant to their readers?
 Suggest the topics you want to write
about. Be specific. List the titles and
write a short summary of the articles.
 Be succinct
Word of caution: You will get rejected.
CRAFTING YOUR PITCH
Bad: I was thinking of writing a
post on non-touristy things to
do in Bangkok. Or I could do a
post on food in Bangkok.
Good: Off the Beaten Track in
Bangkok – A list of 10-12 items
(with photos) of things to do in
Bangkok that you can only
really know about if you’ve
lived there like I have, with a
primary focus on food and
activities.

X

16. #2 GET MEDIA
ATTENTION

17.  Build your website and authority
 Build your credibility in your feild
 One mention begets another
 “No” just means “no for now”
 Be persistent
 The more you’re mentioned, the
more people will seek you out
 Don’t burn any bridges
 Let journalists get to know you, so
you become their go-to source,
and once you are always in their
mind, you end up in their articles.
GETTING MEDIA MENTIONS

18.  “Draft” journalists who already write
on your topic
 Investigate major newspapers. Who
edits and writes in the
travel/finance/gardening section?
Follow them, read their writing, get to
know them.
 If a friend gets interviewed, follow up
with that specific journalist
 Interact with journalists on Twitter
 Sign up for the HARO (Help a
Reporter Out)
FINDING JOURNALISTS

19. EMAIL EXAMPLES
Dear Bob,
My name is Matthew Kepnes and I run a travel website
(nomadicmatt.com) on the topic of budget travel. I’ve
been following you for a while and really love your work.
I especially loved your article on [XX] and your latest
tweet on sushi. If you’re ever in NYC again, visit Yuba.
Best toro around!
I saw your latest article on [website name]. I found it
informative and excellent. I’ve spent a lot of time [in that
country/doing that activity] and can say your
[tip/advice/suggestion] was spot on.
I’m not writing for any particular reason other than to say
hello. As a fellow writer, I know how appreciative
feedback is, so I wanted to send you some.
Sincerely,
Matt
Dear Bob,
My name is Matthew Kepnes, and I run a travel
website (nomadicmatt.com). I saw your latest article on
[website name]. I found it informative and excellent.
I’ve spent a lot of time [in that country/doing that
activity] and can say your [tip/advice/suggestion] was
spot on.
I’ve written a lot about that subject (here are some
links).
If you need an expert on your next article, I’m always
available to be quoted.
Sincerely,
Matt
 X

20. #3 ALWAYS DO INTERVIEWS

21. GETTING INTERVIEWED
 Always say “yes” to interviews
 Especially ones via email
 Extremely easy to write
 Answers are in your own voice
 Get you in front of other audiences
 Build your network of bloggers
 Extra and residual traffic
 Incorporate many (5-10) relevant links
back to your site

22. #4 BUILD YOUR NETWORK

23.  Networking is not transactional; it’s
relationship-centric
 I’m friends and colleagues with the
people in my network
 I help them, they help me when they
can, and even if they don’t - we’re still
friends
 Care about people! That’s the central
part of networking that most people
miss and the good ones understand
FOSTER RELATIONSHIPS

24.  Comment on every single blog
 Not to make BFFs with site owner
 To get on other commenters’ radar
 Get the attention of small and
medium sized bloggers
 Commenters click through
 Inject yourself into a community of
like-minded individuals
 Takes time, be patient
Pay attention to bloggers
commenting on your blog early on.
They’ll become your superfans!
COMMENT ON BLOGS

25. Think of these as daily conferences
 Introduce yourself and your blog once
 Don’t self-promote
 Don’t post your own links
 Don’t spam
 Avoid arguments
 Don’t ask for liking/sharing of your
posts
 Be nice and helpful
 Find collaborations
ENGAGE IN FACEBOOK GROUPS

26. #5 NETWORK OUTSIDE OF
YOUR INDUSTRY

27.  Successful people hang out with other successful people
 They lift you up!
 You are the average of your five friends – so get better, smarter, more successful
friends than you
 They can connect you to their network
 Other people run businesses too – and business advice is pretty universal
 These people become mentors: they give ideas, tips, help, and advice based on
their own successful business experience
BEYOND YOUR INDUSTRY

28. #6 IN-PERSON EVENTS

29.  Every major city has events geared
toward like-minded people
 Meetup.com
 Google search for local meetups
 Travel Massive (global)
 Facebook events, especially in
groups (i.e.: Girls Love Travel)
 Join a mastermind group
 If one doesn’t exist nearby, create it!
 Nothing you do online is as powerful
as meeting people in real life.
MEETUPS & EVENTS

30.  TravelCon – Travel media
 Women’s Travel Fest – Female
travelers
 Women in Travel Summit –
Female travel influencers
 FinCon – Finance
 South by Southwest – Music
festival, marketing, storytelling,
branding
 World Domination Summit –
Personal development gathering
for entrepreneurs and
unconventional thinkers
GREAT CONFERENCES
 SumoCon – Business growth and
scaling
 VidCon – Online video creators
 BlogHer – Female bloggers across
industries
 WTM – World Travel Market –
Networking with large brands and
tourism boards
 Craft & Commerce – Online marketing
geared towards bloggers

31. READERSHIP
GROWTH HACKING
#1 WRITE GUEST POSTS
#2 GET MEDIA ATTENTION
#3 ALWAYS DO INTERVIEWS
#4 BUILD YOUR NETWORK
#5 NETWORK OUTSIDE OF YOUR INDUSTRY
#6 GO TO IN-PERSON EVENTS

32. PLAY THE LONG GAME
MOST PEOPLE QUIT RIGHT BEFORE THEY SUCCEED.
DON’T BE LIKE THE OTHERS.

33. Thank you for joining HOW TO GET 1 MILLION READERS!
QUESTIONS?
#TravelCon18
MATTHEW KEPNES
matt@nomadicmatt.com