Today I speak with Jackie Laulainen,  Travel Blogger and host of The Budget Minded Traveler podcast. Jackie began traveling worldwide in 2003 and has turned her passion for travel into a lifestyle business that inspires others to travel the world on a budget.

Jackie shares her story of being a traveler at the age of 18 and studying in Costa Rica.

When asked if there were any anxieties or apprehensions about leaving her home and studying in Costa Rica, Jackie responded "no" she was excited for the opportunity to study abroad.

Jackie's website, The Budget Minded Traveler share her best strategies for preparing your travels to any destinations on a budget.

Her book The Aspiring Traveler's Handbook: A preparation guide to international travel also helps you save hundreds of dollars in planning your next trip.
The Business of Travel
Before starting your blog, Jackie recommends you listened to Pat Flynn's Smart Passive Income to properly build your blog.
Jackie's Advise To Future Bloggers
If you are starting a blog, be sure you start with WordPress first. Jackie explains, when starting her blog, she created and posted her content on a free platform. When it was time for her transfer her content over to a personal WordPress blog, there were lots of issues during the process, which left her very frustrated.
Strategies For Starting Your Lifestyle Business

Focus on writing about what you know. If you're thinking about starting a blog, make sure you can write 50 ideas for blog post. if not, move on to a more familiar subject.
Master one or two social media platforms. You want to reward people for following you in different places, therefore, you want to use the platforms the way they were intended to be sured.
You can get exposure for your blog by going to a site called Help a Reporter Out.com. Sign up for an account and you will get emails every day from journalists who are writing about your subject. You can be feature in their media outlets by answer their questions or being interview. Its a great way to build your online credibility.

Jackie would like to be remembered as someone who inspired others to live life to its fullest and explore more of what life has to offer.

Jackie can be found at:

TheBudgetMindedTraveler.com
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