Life as a travel blogger: Why did this influencer give it up for a normal 9-5 job?
Picture the scene; it’s 2010; Gordon Brown had just resigned; social media was dramatically taking off; yet the term ‘social media influencer’ was still years away. You can imagine the surprise when airline management student, Yvette Scott, was offered an all-expenses paid trip to Berlin in exchange for just documenting the experience on her social media accounts.
Yvette is one of the biggest aviation geeks you’ll ever meet… her words not mine. But how was it that she seemingly ‘accidentally’ became an influencer long before the career became mainstream? And what was it that led her to eventually pack her luggage and leave the career behind?
Yvette spotted a passenger reading her article
The passion for aviation struck Yvette at a remarkably young age. “I’ve always, always just loved it. Apparently, when I was a child feeling really unwell, I didn’t ask to go to the doctors like a normal person. I just wanted to go to the airport.”
Anytime I travelled, I always got a model aircraft if I could, to the point where my dad said that if I brought home another aircraft, he’d kick me out of the house.”
Unlike most kids who go through endless phases of different interests, Yvette’s aviation-obsession strapped itself in for the ‘long-haul’. “I have done a few flights throughout my life; it still gets me just getting airborne, just goosebumps. To expand on Yvette’s undying love for aircrafts, she even joined our video call with a view out an aeroplane’s window as her background, whilst she sipped her coffee from an aeroplane mug.
Whilst studying for her Master’s in airline management, Yvette often flew back home to Belfast with British Midland Airways. As much as she tells me this was to see her family, I imagine the experience of flying may have been the primary reason…
“So, I was flying home, and we were delayed because there was fog at Belfast City. And I kind of did a few tweets at BMI saying, how are we doing? Typical. We're delayed, but it's Belfast, so what do you expect?”
“I landed, turned on my phone, and got this ‘ping’ and it was a DM from BMI saying, “Hi there. Hope you're well and had a good flight. Our head of social would like to talk to you”. And I was just like, what? I was like thinking I’d done something wrong”.
“They rang and they said: We really liked how you engaged with us, and would you fancy going to Berlin? Sure. So that was kind of the start of it.”
Brandenburg Gate: Berlin
Simple as that. Who would have thought that a few tweets would land you an opportunity to take an all-expenses paid trip to Berlin?
British Midland International (BMI) Airbus
This was the beginning of a long relationship with BMI, that saw Yvette’s online presence grow in the travel sector. Her second ‘influencer’ travel experience was in Vienna. “I went on a trip to Vienna with them. And again, it's just brilliant. But it was interesting because then you started to see the sort of other characters that come about within the influencer world.” It was this trip that Yvette began to notice some bad qualities amongst some of the other individuals in her space.
One of Yvette’s published in-flight magazine features
“I remember I was like, I'm at the airport, I'm going to Vienna today, this is fantastic! And I didn't really care where I was sitting. I just was going. And one of the girls on the trip, she started tweeting, complaining that BMI had put us in economy.”
I was absolutely livid and embarrassed because I was like, you are not having to pay for this. And then she's like, “I hope BMI gives me my miles for this flight”. You're not paying anything for this ticket.”
Vienna City
This was just the tip of the iceberg…
Why did Yvette leave such a promising career as a travel influencer behind?
“I remember this guy going, oh, you've only got 4000 followers. I've got like 10,000 followers. I was still kind of quite new to the kind of whole blogging thing. And I remember the social media manager from BMI at the time went, just ignore him. We don't go based on numbers. We look at engagement and we'll look at who engages with you and who you engage with. And that's what we're looking for.”
Understandably, the uncertainty factor also played on Yvette’s mind.
“You don't know what your revenue per month is going to be, especially when you're starting out.”
Had this been her primary career, the last 2 years would have been a huge challenge for her. Yvette’s current career as an aerospace lecturer is far more consistent and she still feels passionate about her work.
Would she go back?
“As much as I love flying or travelling every week, if you're doing it for the wrong reason, I think, okay, I've got to do it so I can up my numbers or make sure that my audience are getting content every week kind of thing.”
Blogger analytics: Google
“Don't get me wrong, the perks that I had were fantastic. I got sent to a brand whenever it was launched. The Galaxy S Three, I got sent alcohol to try. It was really nice and good fun, but I just didn't want to do it anymore. And you sort of see the glamorous side of it, but for a lot of it you're planning out your days, you've got to make sure that you can get there before the crowds to get your perfect pictures and that's kind of your focus. And I think for me that would kind of take away the joy of travelling.”
“It's not as authentic as sort of us going along and like wanting to take pictures in Madrid or something and just share them. That's the authenticity that I like, as opposed to people going, ‘right I’ve got to get this shot lined up, can't have people in it, and we want the sunset to be perfect’, and that just detracts from it.”
It’s clear there’s far more to being an influencer than meets the eye. Yvette Scott’s perspective has taught me that, when we follow these influential people, we are only getting a highlight reel; and we don’t get to see the full picture. Somebody’s online persona doesn’t necessarily represent who they really are as a person - and these are things we should always remember.