
On a mobile phone? If you tap the photos they'll get bigger! Tap them again to reduce them.
One of the bestest and nicest humans we've met E-V-E-R is Nathan Buchan – a young cool surfer dude who makes a living travelling the world and writing about it. HOW COOL IS THAT??? We last talked to him two years ago (TWO YEARS!) … although our human caught up with him last December … so we were stoked to catch up with him again at Mount Maunganui, and to meet his lovely partner Hannah Martin. Ferhad Junior had A LOT of questions for the couple. And no, FJ still hasn't learnt how to spell.
4 kids who want 2 do wot U do wen they leave skool, wot advise wood U give them.
Nate: They already have a head start. Most of them have smart phones, tablets, and access to the internet; they're on Facebook and Instagram. Most of our business is done through Facebook and our travel blogs.
How do U make money out of Facebook and your blogs?
Nate: We partner with different businesses, and get paid commission on sales we make for those companies. If you see a travel blog post where someone recommends, for example, a hotel, chances are the person who wrote that post will get paid a small percent in commission if they shared that post and made a sale for the hotel. That's how we started to build the base of our business.
Is it only thru travel blogs U can make money online?
Nate: Not at all. There are many different ways to make an income online. We've managed to build this lifestyle for ourselves because, working from our laptops, we can travel and work from anywhere. Now we're working on a program to help educate people about different ways and methods of making an income online.
Can U give me an eggsample?
Nate: It could be what we do, it could be e-commerce, such as selling T-shirts, it could be freelancing, or anything. I see lots of ads that say “Make a thousand dollars a day as a blogger”, but they always seem dodgy. How do U no your dealing with a good human, not a rippey-offey human?
Nate: Look for transparency. We're as transparent as possible. You can't hide behind the internet these days as much as you could a while ago. Snapchat, for example, is sharing things right now. You can't just be a guy with a page, you have to share you. Look for people who do that, not a “Make money instantly” ad. It takes a lot of work to do what we do, it's not an overnight success thing.
Wot shood U say on a blog?
Nate: The best advice I can give is, be yourself, and share who you are, because everyone is different and unique in their own way. If you understand what it is you're passionate about, then speak about that all day and every day in your writing, and your blog, and the videos you make.
Hannah: If you don't come across as authentic, it's pretty obvious. With my brand, Intrepid Introvert , that was built around me being myself and asking, who am I? I focussed a lot on how I was on the traditional path of becoming an accountant, doing the whole university thing, and then my mindset changed. Is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life, or is this what I have to do?
Clearly U didint haff to do that.
Hannah: Nathan opened my eyes to the whole online world, and that we don't have to be traditional in our work. There are many opportunities out there, and I like to inspire people in similar situations to what I was in. You don't have to follow that path.
U guys haff been a couple 4, like, 4-EVA!!! Y do U have diffrint blogs and diffrint social media pages – Y not B 1?
Hannah: We're very different people. It would be hard to combine us.
Nate: You share your own voice, your own angle on life – the world through your own eyes. You can't do that as a couple. Your thoughts are what connects you with other people, and once you build a following, that's when you can start to build a business. That's why we keep our brands separate, and why we always will. We attract different people, and different audiences.
Wot sort of audeeances?
Nate: Hannah has the ear of the female travel audience in a much bigger way than I ever could. And women may be more anxious than men about travelling, especially travelling solo. They often want to go over things, whereas a guy doesn't really care. It's a perfect market for Hannah to talk travel with.
Wot sort of things do U tell people?
Nate: Things that travellers are concerned about, or want reassurance about, like what insurance company do you use, where do you stay, where do we go so it's safe. Those recommendations we give lead to small sales and commissions, and if you make enough of them, you can make a living from it.
Hannah: So many businesses have affiliate programs these days. For travel insurance I use 1Cover, because they're great, so if people ask me who I use, I refer them to 1Cover because they have an affiliate program, and I use them anyway.
How much money do they pay you?
Nate: It may be a few cents, but it may be as high as 40 or 50 percent, so if you make a hundred-dollar sale, you earn fifty dollars; if you make a thousand-dollar sale, you make five hundred.
Hannah: And if you're using these businesses anyway, you may as well recommend them to people.
Have you eva been offid money to rekamend a company U don't like?
Nate: There have been plenty of offers that we've turned down.”
Hannah: “A lot of offers.”
Thanx heaps guys 4 talking 2 me about wot U do, and 4 giving otha humans an idea of how 2 do it.
For more information, visit:
Nate:
www.facebook.com/worldnate
www.instagram.com/world_nate
www.worldnate.com
Hannah:
www.facebook.com/intrepid-introvert
www.instagram.com/thehannahelizabeth
www.intrepid-introvert.com
To keep up to date with new stories and photos:
 |