You start a blog innocently enough - to document a trip, a project, a life - with no intention of it becoming a business. But here's my advice: treat your blog like a business from day one. You never know if / when your blog might start accepting advertising, you might get a book deal, a movie deal and how another company, brand, business partner might co-opt your thoughts and ideas. Learn from bloggers who learned the hard way (myself included) and ten easy steps to follow to make create a business foundation for your blog from the start.

1. STORIES FROM BLOGGERS WHO LEARNED THE
HARD WAYAND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.
PROTECT YOURSELF:
WHAT’S YOURS IS YOURS…
(IF LEGALLY IT’S YOURS)
By Jessica Ainlay

2. PART 1:
You’re not ‘just’ a
blogger…

3. I’M JESS
Serial expat and world traveler
I’ve lived in:
Costa Rica (1 year)
Guatemala (2 years)
Germany (3 years)
England (4 years)

4. © Lost Girls World lostgirlsworld.com
I DREAMT OF BEING A TRAVEL WRITER

5. I BECAME A TRAVEL BLOGGER
Set off to travel the world
as a GlobetrotterGirl…

6. THE YEAR WAS 2010
Bieber Fever had taken over the world

7. THE IPAD 1 JUST CAME OUT

8. J-LAW WASN’T KATNISS YET

9. ICELAND’S
EYJAFJALLAJOKULL ERUPTED

10. The fall of traditional
journalism
Gave rise to the power
of the blog.

11. AS A GLOBETROTTERGIRL
4 years straight traveling & blogging
30+ countries on 4 continents
(Please ask me my highlights after the
presentation, or we’ll never get to Part 2…)

13. Life was a constant adventure

14. Evolution

15. 2010

16. 2013

17. TODAY
© GlobetrotterGirls.com

19. BUSINESS EVOLUTION
First  Bloggers
Then  Advertising
Next  Affiliate Sales
Amazon, Clickbank, e-junkie, private
Finally  Break Free eBook

20. AND THEN THERE’S…
800+ blog posts
Social Media growing
Guest post writing
Podcast producing
Ebook writing
Reader email answering
Ad sales negotiating
Researching travel trends and destination
Own travel planning
Doing all the traveling

21. BLOGGING AND
TRAVELING AIN’T EASY

22. UH OH…

23. OH BOY…

24. OPERATING AGREEMENT
Shmoperating agreement.
The worst time to sort out business
arrangements is at the end.

25. TRULY GLOBAL…
NOT IN A GOOD WAY
2 separate bank accounts in UK  UK taxes
1 joint UK account (not business account)  Travel
1 German account
2 US accounts  received some affiliate payments
1 Shared PayPal  received advertising payments
Didn’t have:
Operating agreement
Business account

26. IDENTITY
Your blog becomes your identity.
Your identity is your brand.
Whether you monetize or not.

27. TURNER BARR

28. TURNER BARR VS ADECCO

29. Photo ExpertVagabond.com

30. DAVID VS GOLIATH
Adecco offered $20k.
Contract akin to gag order.
Legal action too $$ for independent blogger.
That’s what they are banking on.

31. THE POWER OF SOCIAL
Humans of New York vs DKNY

32. DKNY MARKETING CAMPAIGN
DKNY offered Brandon Stanton
$15,000 for 300 photos.
That’s $50 each.
Thanks, but no thanks.

33. IN BANGKOK

34. REBLOG

35. TURNER TRIES TO
#MAKEITRIGHT

36. $50K/$50K
ELEPHANT NATURE PARK

39. SUCCESS!

41. EVEN WHEN YOU WIN YOU LOSE

42. EVERYTHING-EVERYWHERE.COM

43. EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE
2010: T-Mobile and Orange merged

45. NOT THIS TIME, GOLIATH
Gary was lucky.
Nat’l newspapers linked to him by accident.
Helped his SEO ranking.
No trademark issues like with Turner: different
industries, different countries

46. PLANNING AHEAD MAKES SENSE
Why do so few do it? What bloggers told me when I asked:
“It feels weird to just suddenly ask him to put it all down on
paper.”
“We’d love to turn it into a business, but you don’t want to go
into planning to…that takes all the fun out of it.”
Question: So you’ll register in the UK and pay taxes there?
Answer: It’s hard to think about, we’ve been traveling straight
since 2013.

48. PART 2

49. YOU ARE A BRAND
It only takes one time to wipe you out.
You could lose your identity.
Your blog.
Your energy.

50. INSPIRATION VS ASPIRATION

52. TRAVEL BLOGS ARE THAT ASPIRATION
You’re organically ‘creating content’ that
businesses are looking to harness.
They don’t know how to work with you.
Help them, but protect yourself.

53. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Copyright
Trademark
Patent

55. COPYRIGHT
Your work is yours.
Protect it:
1. Use © symbol in your website footer.
2. Permissions page on your site.
3. Check weekly for scrapers/thieves.

57. HOW TO FIND SCRAPERS OR
‘BORROWERS’ OF YOUR CONTENT
1.Google search
2.Twitter search
3.Google Alerts

58. GOTCHA, NOW WHAT?
1. WHOIS.net
2. Google Scraper Report
3. DMCA Takedown Report
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Illegal to produce and share copyrighted works.

60. TRADEMARK
Why doesn’t everyone trademark?
Check before you buy a domain.
A trademark protects your brand.

61. IT’S CONFUSING

62. WWW.USPTO.GOV
Trademark Electronic Application System
(TEAS)
Trademark: $275-$300
Lawyer: $300+
DIY: Free

63. THE BUSINESS
Advantages to forming an LLC
Protect your personal wealth
Price: $500 / varies by state
Don’t need an S Corp or C Corp.

64. 10 STEPS TO PROTECT YOUR
BLOGGING BUSINESS
1. Go through Legalzoom / hire lawyer.
2. Form an LLC.
3. Download an operating agreement through Legalzoom.
4. Customize it by laying out financial & managerial duties.
5. Set up a business bank account.
6. Set up PayPal Business account to collect money.
7. Get a company credit card – Chase Ink
8. Use Freshbooks, keep good track of your finances
9. Copyright your content.
10. Trademark your brand.

66. POWER IN GROUPS
Social Media
Society of American Travel Writers
Professional Travel Blog Association
Small Business Association
International Travel Writers Alliance
Go Girl Travel Network

68. YOUR BEST DEFENSE
Be as authentic as possible.
Find your voice.
Do your thing.

71. THANK YOU

72. CONTACT JESS AINLAY
Email: Jessica.ainlay@gmail.com
Website: jessicaainlay.com
Twitter: @jessicaainlay