On our own 2. Vitaly Ichin and Lisa Gracheva: “We have chosen a different path - the path of a free life
In this article we’ll talk about popular travel video channels on Youtube – what I personally watch and who I recommend. Some channels are dedicated not only to travel, but also just videos from life. Let me immediately note that the order of blogs is not based on importance or popularity, but rather chaotically. So let's get started:
TOP video blogs about travel on Youtube
Very exciting channel and presenter. Everything was filmed professionally and broadcast on television channels (the project itself is Ukrainian). Many seasons have already been filmed: Vietnam, Indonesia, Africa, India, Cambodia, Cuba, Mexico, etc. Everything is very interesting, fascinating and shown from the inside out, not the tourist side. The videos from the World Inside Out channel are decent in length - about an hour, but watchable in one go.
The host Dmitry Komarov himself is very simple, positive and kind - a pleasure to watch. The way they built a house in the trees in Indonesia with a wild tribe - generally something with something - is very atmospheric, which can be re-watched.
The world inside out also began to be shown on the Russian channel “Friday” - so the video is available not only on YouTube.
Youtube channel subscribers: more than 62,000
A channel that is gaining popularity. Initially, the project developed as a reference book and guide to interesting places - useful routes were given, recommendations for visiting places were given. And recently, the blog has become more entertaining - videos began to be recorded directly from travel in real time, day after day. This format is more suitable for the public.
A lot of travel around Asian countries: Thailand, Malaysia, Bali, Philippines, India and a bunch of other interesting countries.
Goodbye normals – Trip around the world – https://www.youtube.com/user/goodbyenormals
A sensational, crazy project that was even featured in the news on federal channels because of a not-so-good story involving a quarrel between two video blog characters - Hannah and Nikita. I won’t go into details, but the essence of the channel was to travel around the whole world under its own power, with a delay on each continent for a long time and by train to various countries of this continent. I started watching this video blog with episodes about India and Goa - Hannah and Nikita pulled me in from the first episodes, so I watched every episode of Goodbye normals with great interest.
Unfortunately, after the African season of Goodbye Normals, the guys began to quarrel, and by the time they traveled to South America, a well-known scandal occurred - they broke up and Nikita continued traveling alone. The videos have slightly lost their charm, the number of episodes has decreased, but lately Nikita has returned to a good volume of episodes - it turns out interesting + he began conducting interviews with various people, adding translations - listening is interesting and informative.
Youtube channel subscribers: more than 35,000
The guys travel a lot and make very high-quality videos about their travels. The channel's specialty is the use of aerial filming using a helicopter - they were one of the first to use this tool, which has won them a large army of fans. The quality of filming and editing is a huge amount of work and the highlight of this channel. An interesting trip through central India also brought popularity - a lot of trash, indescribable footage and an Indian atmosphere.
Youtube channel subscribers: more than 36,000
Adventures of the Flying Penguins https://www.youtube.com/user/FlypengsTV
Pasha and Tanya travel together around Asian countries: mainly Thailand and Bali, filming it all on video. One of the last grandiose projects was a hitchhiking trip to China from Moscow - a really crazy idea that was interesting to watch: moving between cities in Russia with truck drivers, different stories, beautiful views, adventures in China, etc. Interesting and easy to watch. The guys from Flying Penguins are very positive - I recommend watching and subscribing. I love this blog precisely because of the video from Thailand - they have traveled a lot and annually gather groups for independent travel around Asia - a cool idea.
In the summer of 2015, Tanya from the Flying Penguins left for the USA, so there were no new videos from Asia - a little sad, and watching videos in the concrete jungle and without Pasha is not so dynamic and interesting. I hope that new adventures in exotic countries are just around the corner. Unfortunately, by 2017 the guys abandoned the channel, although they live in Vietnam. It's a pity.
Youtube channel subscribers: more than 13,000
Perhaps the most popular travel show right now. The non-standard approach and high-quality stories made the program very popular on YouTube and on TV - now the program is shown on the Pyatnitsa TV channel. Many presenters add variety to the programs, but one of the best, in my opinion, is Andrey Bednyakov. In recent seasons, the program Orel and Tails has fallen out of favor or the format has simply become boring, but in any case, excellent work.
Youtube channel subscribers: more than 400,000
A popular channel about the trips of Max Golopolosov, the host of the show +100500. It’s difficult to call this format educational and about travel in general, since it’s more of a show and tomfoolery of a famous blogger. Not everyone will like this, especially since there is swearing in the videos. The channel is suitable for the younger generation who loves an informal approach.
Youtube channel subscribers: more than 950,000
Alexander Kondrashov - https://www.youtube.com/user/Justdoit150gmail
Just a popular blogger who travels a lot. Some videos are interesting to watch, some are boring. It was interesting to see about cruise travel, spearfishing in Mauritius, etc. The purpose of the channel is not educational videos about travel and routes, but entertainment content. It is also gaining popularity due to the use of a quadcopter in filming, like the guys “On Your Own Move,” as well as a gyroscope. Alexander Kondrashov also breeds piranhas at home in an aquarium - sometimes it’s interesting to watch this.
Youtube channel subscribers: more than 166,000
Sergey Simonov - https://www.youtube.com/user/ssimonov100
The author of this channel is nicknamed the king of dislikes, as he makes very controversial videos, but nevertheless he travels around Europe quite often, including on cruises. There is no point in looking at this blog from the point of view of useful information, but you can look at what it’s like in Europe. Sergei Simonov often lives in Montenegro, so there are many videos from there. In 2017 there were releases from the USA.
Youtube channel subscribers: more than 280,000
This is where I’ll finish the list about useful video blogs on YouTube - of course, there are more, but these are the main ones in descending order of usefulness about travel. Everyone has their own TOP travel video channels on Youtube - mine turned out like this. Among them there are both professional programs and amateur projects, which in terms of information content and usefulness are not inferior to television projects with large budgets.
Enjoy traveling, watch the best travel video channels!
To quickly gain access to videos about my travels, I recommend subscribing to the channel on Youtube, where video clips are primarily posted online. Go to the site channel:
Leave your comments below about your favorite YouTube channels - what do you watch?
Hero of the interview
The first trip was to Thailand In five years we have visited in 39 countries Favorite place on the world map - Bali island, Indonesia We miss you on the road Internet
Arrivo: I admit, I got hooked on your YouTube channel - a week passed by watching videos. Do you review them yourself? You know, some actors say: “I never watch my films.”
Lisa and Vitalik: Sometimes we like to sit down in the evening and watch a series or two. But I don’t have time to watch all the videos, there’s too much accumulated. The funny thing is, when someone leaves a comment under an old video, you come to reply and get stuck on your own videos (smile).
In my opinion, traveling is similar to acting. If you take them too seriously, the trip will be uneventful. Do you agree?
If you take everything seriously when traveling, then there will be no pleasure from the trip. You need to be able to completely change your mind and not pay attention to many things (garbage, for example).
Well, after returning from another trip, you are already a completely different person.
You start each video with the phrase “Hey everyone, guys!” You smile. And you just radiate happiness. Is this also acting on camera or are you the same behind the scenes?
We try not to record videos in a bad mood, this is immediately conveyed to the viewer. Also, there is no negativity in our videos - there is enough of it in life as it is. And if we talk about something bad, then with optimism. We help people recharge, not sit at home and not be sad.
In life we are just as lively, cheerful and love to communicate, shoot videos - we get pleasure from it!
Who is your boss? If Vitalik both films and edits videos, what is Lisa doing that is useful?
Lisa does the rest (smile). Lisa is the brains of the team; the entire organizational part rests on her: from the route to finances. Lisa communicates with viewers, answers questions, provides consultations and much, much more. Sometimes it seems that Lisa works more than Vitalik (smile). Lisa also inspires and gives a kick in the ass when needed.
I can’t help but ask: what does it mean to move on your own? Where did you come from, where are you now and where are you heading?
A year ago, we chose countries based on only three principles: warm, cheap, we haven’t been there. Now that we have visited most of Asia, half of the criteria have disappeared. Drawing up the concept for the winter of 2016-2017 looked something like this: Vitalik made a list of countries for the next six months in the evening, and in order not to jump off the planned route, he did it in the form of tours. We invite you join us on the journey!*
*The interview was recorded in the winter of 2017
.jpg) |
The country is not that important. We have been to the same places several times - Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines. Impressions are always different.
Traveling on your own means the way you want, not the way you were told. This is a journey that does not hold or tie.
It is now January 2017, we are in the Philippines and we are on a 21-day trip to the islands, and literally in half a month we are going to explore the paradise island of Mauritius. No one knows where the journey will lead next, only time will tell.
Our editor once remarked that travelers are intertwined with each other. For example, you are giving an interview and Vitalik gets his hair cut by a traveling barber . Do you feel like part of the party? Which travelers do you communicate with?
We know and communicate with almost all travelers. Some of them we have never met, but the Internet allows us to practically “live with them.” You know everything that is going on with them, and it feels like you know the person personally (smile). True, the number of travelers is growing, we don’t have time to keep track of everyone.
We are always pleased to communicate with like-minded people. These are such unique, interesting and sociable people, each with their own story, but we have one thing in common - travel! And to be a part of this is very cool and cool!
I wanted to hug you... You have blogs on all platforms, the most popular are YouTube and Instagram. I conclude: a novice blogger should come here. Where did you start? Are you satisfied with what you have achieved in five years?
Not really. The topic of travel is the least popular and profitable of all, sadly. We don't leave it just because we like it. The whole project is based on enthusiasm. Yes, of course, if you think that five years ago we had nothing, and now we are more or less recognizable in this area, then we should probably be proud of this. But [in other topics] people promote channels to a million subscribers in a year. It becomes a little sad and disappointing that you chose to travel.
We used to just make short videos (3-5 minutes long) for home video to preserve the memories. Then we left for the winter in Thailand, and then messages from friends and acquaintances started pouring in with questions about how and what, where to rent a bike, how does it even feel like leaving? And we decided to voice the video, film instructions for traveling to certain places. This is how the first “On your own” videos about the island of Koh Chang and Koh Samui appeared. Entire hour-long films that people use as a guide for beginners when traveling to the islands.
Well, now we have changed the format to life. Every year it becomes more and more interesting.
.jpg) |
What's going on on YouTube right now? There is a video where small children open Kinder Surprises; the father films it on camera. Each video has 20 million views!
YouTube in Russia has just begun to develop, and rapidly. This is a topic for a separate interview. We are involved in this area, we know a lot and can tell you, but not on the topic “How to promote your channel” (smile). Let's say one thing - every content has its own audience.
Instagram - what are the trends there now? As far as I understand, you either like him or not. What do you do to be popular there?
Instagram constantly, daily, needs to be “fed, comb and look after him." Post posts, communicate with the audience, answer questions, organize competitions and be as helpful, kind and bringing something good as possible.
In addition to all this, we invest money in advertising. Without advertising, it is very difficult to promote anything - this applies not only to Instagram, but also to other social networks. We focus on it only because there is a lot of activity there. People are interested in the “At Your Own Move” project, and we are interested in sharing information.
When you travel, you are constantly calculating things and - it seems - thinking about money all the time. Is it so?
Yes, unfortunately, we are not millionaires, the work is not constant, and the earnings are always different and floating. Every day we think about how we can earn more money, what we can do and what we can do. (smile).
We don’t count every penny, but we don’t live large either.
.jpg) |
Comment from one of your subscribers: “Hand on heart, they don’t know how to travel on a budget. But they’re cool themselves.” I agree with the second part. What about the first one?
Hand on heart, we are one of the most budget-friendly and thoughtful travelers. More than one hundred people have already traveled along our routes in Sri Lanka, the Maldives and the Philippines, and a lot of money has been saved.
Now we travel with a team, and each participant saves up to 70% of real prices (wink). Of course, we are growing, and so is the level of travel. We can afford a more expensive hotel, but within reason. We always focus on the average viewer, so that he can follow our route and repeat it all.
Videos on the channel are released late. Now the US and India alternate. And it turns out to be contrasting. Are you doing this on purpose? Which of these trips would you happily repeat?
We do it on purpose because the audience is divided into two camps: some are waiting for the USA, others are waiting for India. Moreover, the demand in the USA is small and there are few views, while India has interested everyone with its flavor.
.jpg)
Definitely, we would return to the USA to travel, but due to the fact that these videos are not available on the channel, there are no immediate plans for the USA yet.
Which dysfunctional (dangerous) country will you go to “for viewing” next time?
Let it be a secret, but we think that it will be one of the countries in South America.
The downside is press tours: a five-star hotel in Turkey, a cruise on the Baltic Sea or advertising wine in Italy. Besides free food and entertainment, what do these trips give you? It's terribly boring.
There are only two or three such trips a year. On the contrary, we love them. Firstly, this is an opportunity to touch something more than we usually allow ourselves. Feel what it’s like to live on a grand scale in order to understand what to strive for. Secondly, such trips are radically different from traveling on your own. For us, such travel is an unusual format.
.jpg)
Everything that is unusual arouses interest.
You probably pay the most attention to food in the video. They admitted that they love Burger King. Both are in excellent shape. How?
We move a lot and lead an active lifestyle. I would like to devote more time to this: going to the gym, eating right - when traveling this is incredibly difficult due to the crazy travel schedule.
Another point that doesn’t fit in my head is magnets. You buy them in every city, in foreign currency, at great speed... What does your refrigerator look like?
Long ago we moved from the refrigerator to the wall (smile). We bought a huge magnetic board covering the entire wall and hung it in the kitchen. There is a map of the world pasted on the board and this is where all the magnets are attached.
This is an inspiration board; when you look at it, you realize how healthy you live.
In all this whirlwind of events, how often are you at home? How do you feel when you return to your hometown: St. Petersburg - more pleasing or annoying?
We love our city very much! We return home with pleasure! Petersburg is parents and friends. Tasty food. Fresh air (as opposed to stuffy Asia). But we don’t come back often; we usually go away for a long time - from six months or more. Once we didn’t return for two years, now we try to come at least for the summer.
.jpg) |
The last two questions are separate. Vitalik, it seemed to me that this was your phrase: “You can travel around the world in search of sunsets, but the most beautiful is inside. Then all the sunsets in the world evoke warm feelings.” If Lisa asks, will you watch the dawn with her? We'll have to get up early.
Of course yes (smiles). Not often, but sometimes Lisa and I get up at 4-5 in the morning and go somewhere on a bike to a beautiful view point to watch the sunrise. Ideally, take some hot coffee or chocolate with you.
Quote and question to Lisa: “At that time I was fond of puzzles, assembled canvases with 9000 pieces, participated in championships and once won a trip to Barcelona. But I didn’t even have a passport!” How does your life puzzle with Vitalik work out?
Vitalik is like a piece that has four different sides and each needs to be attached in its own way (smiles four times). In a relationship, it is important to find an approach and listen to each other.
.jpg)
Traveling is a great time to get to know the world and meet yourself. Are you ready to hit the road or just gathering information? Stock up on guidebooks, buy air tickets, study and cook , but don’t forget about the most important thing – inspiration. And just for this, we have collected for you the 15 most interesting video blogs on Youtube!So we fit together perfectly, like two halves, sometimes even on opposite sides.
1. "Heads and Tails"
Most likely, this travel show needs no introduction - before you is “Heads and Tails”. For those who are not familiar with this program, let us explain the concept: by tossing a coin, it is decided who will travel with a gold card and who with a hundred dollars in their pocket. Accordingly, the entertainment for “rich” and “budget” travelers will be different, which is what they talk about from issue to issue.On Youtube channel videos with old episodes have been collected, new ones are regularly released, several other projects are underway and funny footage from the filming is published.
2. “The world inside out”
Leading video blog “The World Inside Out” on Youtube - this is traveler Dmitry Komarov. The series on the channel are long, sometimes reaching an hour, but the presentation of material and coverage of topics is definitely worth the time spent. He devotes his travels to countries and routes that are unconventional for travelers. Now the videos are not being released, but the next season has been announced for early September. While the releases are being prepared, you can have time to familiarize yourself with numerous videos on the channel.3. Alexander Kondrashov
Alexander Kondrashov maintains a blog named after himself on Youtube. He travels a lot, spearfishes, and is happy to talk about this and much more on on your channel. The picture of his video is very nice, especially the shots with landscapes of the countries that Alexander visits. He covers a variety of topics, from ways to get to a new country to the peculiarities of the culture and mentality of the local population. In addition to travel videos, he often publishes lifestyle videos where he shares moments of his life with subscribers.4. Kasyo Gasanov
Kasyo Hasanov makes videos about travel, about his life in China, about himself, entertainment videos - and posts it all on personal video blog. Among other things, the most frequent videos on the Kasho channel are videos with food from different countries. If you like travel, conversational video format, live filming with a good camera, then this is the place for you!5. “On your own”
Channel "On your own" hosted by bright and positive Vitalik and Lisa. They travel a lot, love to bike several hundred kilometers across unknown countries, actively meet people, share their impressions and make wonderful videos on all these topics. In addition to standard filming with a camera, the guys shoot panoramic shots with a quadcopter, which certainly enriches the visuals. Join their army of fans!6. Activer
Under the nickname Activer he lives and travels, and also runs his video blog, Mark. As he writes in the description block of his channel, in 2013 he decided to radically change his life. Then he made a list of all the things he wanted to learn and a list of places he needed to visit. I compiled and began to cross out the points, and therefore, to implement the plan. In a very relaxed manner, he talks about how he does it on his Youtube channel. From Mark you will find videos where you can see how to get to another country, what is needed for this, what to do in this country, what people are like there and much more.7. "Dharma Bums"
“Dharma Bums” is a public VKontakte page where a huge number of beautiful and invariably inspiring photographs from various travels have been collected. Nature, countries, cities, roads, hiking, new people - all this and a little more is included in their focus. And since 2015, the creators of the public decided to expand and started Youtube channel. The channel contains videos of different travelers from the places they visit. Among the varied content you can find both well-known vagabonds and those just joining the movement. The channel is very atmospheric, diverse and highly recommended for viewing.8. John and Eve
John and Eva are an amazing married couple who have been traveling around the world since 2015 to this day. John is from Canada, and Eva is Russian. After the wedding, the couple decided that they needed to change something in their lives and they needed to see the world not from photographs on the Internet, but in person. Then they came up with the idea of leaving everything - property, home, loved ones - and hitchhiking around the world. The guys talk about their difficulties, joys and adventures in on your video blog.9. Dmitry Dmitriev
Dmitry Dmitriev is passionate about traveling, like all the other participants in our review. To report, preserve and disseminate information about his personal experience, Dmitry leads Youtube channel, where he talks about where he has been and what he saw there. In the description of his video blog, Dmitry notes that many videos are essentially series from the same trip. For convenience, the channel has playlists, but the videos can be watched in no particular order. USA, Asia, Europe - find it all here!10. Maxim Zaselian
Although Maxim Zaselyan named video blog under his own name, actually presents his own project under the self-explanatory name NUISIDIDOMA. As Maxim himself writes, this project serves as motivation both for him and for indecisive dreamers waiting for a magic kick. On the channel he posts videos from his travels, which he likes to do in an unconventional way and challenges himself every time. At the moment, videos are not released often, since Maxim is setting up his own hostel in Cyprus. But he promises not to give up the channel and to travel around the world and beyond.11. Real
Alexander Vinogradov is a traveler, and his Channel "Real" this is the place where he talks about his vision of the world and the adventures he has experienced. In addition to videos from the places he has visited, he uploads motivational videos. In them, he reflects on important topics and helps subscribers with inspiration. Alexander is also a videographer, which has an extremely positive effect on his videos. You can also see his videos on the Dharma Bums channel mentioned above in this review.12. Odyssey of Katya and Sergei
Sergey and Ekaterina are a married couple and like-minded people who love to travel around the world and shoot video reports about it. They have a little daughter Olesya, but the parents do not lose heart and often take her with them. They travel independently, reaching both nearby towns and exotic countries on their own. On on your channel They cover the following issues in as much detail as possible: how to visit interesting countries on a budget, what are the features of traveling with a child and how to prepare for everything, take everything into account and have time to relax.13. Travel “Big Suitcase”
“Big Suitcase” is a group of like-minded people united by a common goal. For one day they find themselves in an unfamiliar country and their task is to learn a local song, thereby earning their dinner. In addition, you need to find the noisiest place and, conversely, the quietest place in each city visited. They release the results of their searches in the form of long videos and short sketches, which they publish on on your channel. Join the acoustic journey with Ruslan Farshatov and his team!14. Sergey Dolya
Sergey Dolya is one of the most famous travelers in Russia. He has a large and detailed diary on Livejournal, but Sergey also turned his attentive gaze towards Youtube. To the delight of all visuals, your video blog Sergei regularly updates and shares with everyone the details of his travels. Throughout his life, he traveled to more than 100 countries and many of them were very exotic, but it’s better to see all the details in person!15. Sergey Nagorny - Travel and Life
As the name suggests, video blog Sergei Nagorny is entirely devoted to various aspects of his life. Sergei generously shares his most significant part, his travels, with his viewers. He travels a lot and often, and makes detailed videos about it. In addition, on his channel you can find reviews of useful products for travelers, videos from interesting events, reflections from Sergei himself and pieces of his life.There are many myths about making money online. Some people think that such an income cannot be high, while others associate freelancing with network marketing and fraud. But there are other people. Some of them are Vitaly Ichin and Lisa Gracheva. This couple is young entrepreneurs, video bloggers and information businessmen. In just 4.5 years of hard work, the guys managed to rise to the top of the freelance Olympus. Now young travelers have their own multi-thousand channel on YouTube and have a network of well-promoted accounts on Instagram and VK. The guys’ story is a powerful motivator for ambitious young people who don’t want to spend their best years in an office.
St. Petersburg residents Vitaly Ichin, 29, and Lisa Gracheva, 27, are the authors and founders of the travel project “On Your Own.” This young couple has left boring offline jobs, Russian cold and routine far behind. And for 4.5 years now, Russian freelancers have been traveling and traveling around exotic hot countries.
The guys are incredibly positive YouTube bloggers with almost worldwide fame. They do not consider themselves either millionaires or cool businessmen. Young people have visited 34 countries of the world, purchased real estate in Russia, have accounts in large banks, which already contain savings. In the interview, Vitalik and Lisa openly say that interest on deposits is another source of monthly, albeit small, income.
When communicating with subscribers on Periscope, the guys easily share life hacks and give useful tips on making money online. They talk about their constantly growing income from advertising on VK and Instagram, and they also have affiliate programs, paid video courses, aerial shooting with a quadcopter and many other ways to earn money.
- How it all began? How did you get into freelancing?
Vitaly: In 2011, I returned to St. Petersburg from the army and got a dull job as a security guard at an amusement park. The gray realities of St. Petersburg were not at all pleasing. The work brought in 18 thousand rubles, but I even managed to save it. In my free time, I worked on a group on VK, made beautiful pictures for posts, mastered Photoshop and other editors. After some time, I realized that you can make real money from the group. By that time, working as a security guard, I had saved up about 30 thousand rubles. I took a risk and invested it in promoting the “Diary of Success” group. The project took off. The first 100,000 subscribers were collected in just a month. The first money came from advertising. They could order up to 10 advertising posts from me per day. One post then cost 500-700 rubles.
Vitaly: After some time, the audience of the “Success Diary” group grew to 800,000 subscribers. Advertising prices also increased in proportion to traffic. For one post they easily paid 1000-1500 rubles. It was at this time that I met Lisa. She became my muse and ideological inspirer. Using advertising revenue, we went on vacation to Turkey (Marmaris), and then went to Thailand for the winter.
Lisa: The group now has almost 950,000 subscribers. We exchanged posts in partner groups, thereby expanding our audience. Such mutual PR is one of the main strategies for the development of groups and publics in VK. They bought advertising from us quite often. Vitalik and I thought that it would always be like this.
– Have you ever had any failures? Or is your life a complete rainbow movie?
Vitaly: Of course there were. And more than once. I’ll now tell you about the most powerful thrash that happened to us at the end of 2014. At that time, a crisis came to Russia, and with it the solvency of advertisers, those who ordered commercial posts in our group, fell. That dark day has arrived. We lived in Bali then. Suddenly, the demand for advertising dropped to 1-2 orders per week. The last 15 thousand rubles remained on our cards. Happy days are behind us. There is uncertainty ahead. We didn't even have money to buy tickets to Russia and return home.
Strategic Mistake #2: “We went on a spree and spent ALL our money without thinking about the future.” I didn't think about tomorrow. Lived here and now. Lisa and I had fun traveling. We thought that such a chocolate life would never end. We were wrong. But now we know for sure: you need to think about where you will be in a month and in a year.
– How did you get out of the crisis? What did you do?
Vitaly: On a warm Balinese evening we sat by the sea and talked. We made plans. We dreamed. Speaking of dreams: we never lost heart for a moment...
We heard about a new and still incomprehensible service for Russians - Instagram. This topic interested us greatly. And no wonder. According to Instagram guys, you can charge up to 10,000 rubles for one advertising post in an account promoted to 100 thousand subscribers.
We borrowed 200,000 rubles from relatives and invested in the promotion of two communities on Instagram: books and horoscopes. Promotion took a lot of time - as much as 3 months. All this time we worked almost 20 hours a day and lived in the cheapest room in Bali. We worked according to Moscow time - this was required by the promotion strategy. After 90 days of hard work, our Instagram profiles had 100,000 subscribers each. We started providing paid advertising. And, lo and behold, our hopes were justified - this is a mega-demand segment. Now we have a network of 18 accounts, and our personal popular page on Instagram. The total audience on Instagram from all accounts exceeds 2 million people. When we started, there was little competition, prices were high, and advertising was bought frequently. Now the market is filled with many pages with the same topics, competition has become very high, and, accordingly, advertising earnings have fallen by about 3 times. We feel that days of uncertainty will soon come again. But this time we are ready for such a turn, since there are already outlines for new projects that we are starting to develop now.
Now we have a network of 18 accounts, and our personal popular page on Instagram. The total audience on Instagram from all accounts exceeds 2 million people.
– Guys, tell us about your YouTube channel. How much income do you make from videos?
Lisa: Our video blog “At our own pace” is our whole life. A brainchild that we have just begun to develop at a decent level. This entire project rests on the pure enthusiasm of two people, that is, ourselves. We love making videos and sharing them. Previously, we shot more amateur films while traveling – just for memory. Then we decided to create a channel about travel, and now this is a whole video blog with a three-year history and a huge amount of useful information. Youtube is another very profitable niche, but becoming popular and getting millions of views is very difficult. We are still at the development stage, and the income from the channel is very small - $200-300 per month. We have several cameras, a quadcopter for aerial filming, stabilizers, microphones and other gadgets necessary for filming; we shoot very high-quality videos and spend 80% of our time on video, so we hope that our efforts will be justified and the channel will truly become popular.
Strategic mistake No. 3: you can earn A LOT on YouTube and NOT on Google Adsense. For a long time, we filmed and posted travel videos more for the soul than for earning money. But in reality, the YouTube channel is a goldmine. The audience is more than loyal, you can sell information. Many bloggers earn hundreds of thousands of rubles a month by selling courses through affiliate programs.
– What do you expect from the promotion of the YouTube channel “On Your Own”?
Vitaly: The video blog does not bring in a lot of money yet, but this income can be considered one of the most stable. This is my dream job. You don't owe anyone anything, you shoot for your own pleasure. You are truly free. Friends, there is nothing more valuable than freedom!
Now we are actively making money on affiliate programs, and yes, this brings us up to 25% of our total freelance income. We traveled far and wide throughout Thailand, Bali, Indonesia and the Philippines. We visited the Maldives and shot a series of videos for our subscribers. We do not advertise cool hotels and places where millionaires “live”. It's boring. Our videos feature real adventures, countries and cities through the eyes of ordinary tourists. This is why our channel is popular.
– Why do you rent budget hotels and eat in street eateries in every new country? Why don't you choose a more expensive type of tourism?
Vitaly: Who needs all this show off? Our audience is the same freelance guys as ourselves. We have many things in common: a thirst for adventure, a passion for travel, FREEDOM from stereotypes, working “for someone else” and domestic realities. Therefore, when we arrive in a new country, we check into ordinary hotels, show ordinary restaurants and cafes - places where locals and tourists with an average income go. And that's cool! We chose a different path - the path of free life where we want, that is, somewhere warm. Our approximate monthly expenses are $1000 for two, which is quite a bit. And for us it’s better to live somewhere in a budget hotel in Bali than in rainy St. Petersburg.
– Guys, tell us about your plans for the future.
Lisa: Work, work and more work. Development of new accounts on Instagram, increasing the client base - advertising buyers, paid shooting of clips from a quadcopter (we also make money from this), self-realization. We will visit new countries and show videos of the most unusual corners of the planet. Nothing is holding us back. We are free and determined. Our thirst for adventure will never dry up!
Vitaly: My biggest dream, which is also my immediate plan, is to travel around the USA in a cozy trailer. Lisa and I also want to travel all over South America and shoot a bunch of videos for our regular subscribers. The most important thing is that the Internet does not let you down. For example, in Singapore and Thailand there are no problems with this. There are Wi-Fi points on almost every corner. And in the Philippines and Vietnam, the Internet is only via very, very slow 3G. The hardest part is filling the rollers. It’s a shame when you start uploading a video to YouTube, a day passes, the screen says “99% loading”, and then the video crashes, you have to start from scratch.
My biggest dream, which is also my immediate plan, is to travel around the USA in a cozy trailer. Lisa and I also want to travel all over South America and shoot a bunch of videos for our regular subscribers.
– Which place on earth seems to you the best?