Entrepreneur: Alex Jiminez

Biz: Travel Fashion Girl

Tilt: How to travel with only a carry-on for any trip length

Channels: www.TravelFashionGirl.com Newsletter (50K)

Instagram (20K) Facebook (77K) Facebook Group (30K) YouTube (15.7K) 

Revenue: +7 figures

Rev Streams: Affiliate sales 

Our Favorite Actionable Advice

  • Narrow your niche: “If I want to talk to everybody and want to talk about everything, I’ll never reach anybody.”
  • Analyze your audience: “I have access to so much data, so I have a really unique perspective of what people are buying, what they want, and what they like.”
  • Don’t do just because you can: When online courses first gained popularity, Alex started an online course about how to be a six-figure blogger, but she stopped because it didn’t feel like her.

The Story

When Alex Jimenez started traveling in 2008, she lugged around a lot of luggage. The more she traveled, the less she wanted to bring with her. However, when she turned to the internet for advice, she didn’t find any. “I started researching and I couldn’t find anything. So I did all this planning, and I got to my destination and I’m still like, “Oh my god, I still failed,” Alex says. 

Eventually, she got better and better at packing light. “I thought I really have to get the word out there. I have to tell people how to plan and pack properly. When you bring the wrong stuff, not only is it inconvenient, but it puts a damper on your trip,” she says and her content tilt was discovered. 

On a work exchange in Thailand, where she learned to write SEO articles, the idea for her blog was born. Armed with the keyword research experience she gained writing content for others and her content tilt, she built and launched Travel Fashion Girl.

Since her 2012 launch, she has been traveling with only a carry-on suitcase or backpack and taught millions of women to do the same. She’s had up to 1M visits a month and has earned more than seven figures.

Revenue evolution

But she didn’t start out with that kind of revenue. Not long after she started, she sold her first sponsored post. “It was just a shady SEO backlink someone paid me for. And it was probably like $100 or $150,” she recalls. 

Slowly she moved away from sponsored posts to more reliable income from affiliate sales. Nearly a decade later, she’s a content entrepreneur whose affiliate income has earned her over seven figures, a steady income, and a blog that has all the answers on how to travel light. 

@TravlFashnGirl helps women learn how to travel with only a carry-on. She monetizes that content through affiliate marketing, earning over seven figures. #contententrepreneur #blogging #contentcreator Click To Tweet

Niche down for your content tilt

A key to Alex’s success has been her narrow niche – how to travel with just a carry-on bag no matter how long your trip (her content tilt). “I want to provide something that isn’t available out there,” she says. 

Travel Fashion Girl is the essence of this advice. Not only is her target audience narrowly focused, but each of the over 2K pages on her website provides very specific recommendations. Want to know what to wear Morocco? What are the best travel sandals? How do you pack light if you are a scuba diver? Alex has the answers.  

“If I want to talk to everybody and want to talk about everything, I’ll never reach anybody,” she explains.

#ContentEntrepreneur advice: If you want to talk to everybody and want to talk about everything, you’ll never reach anybody, says @TravlFashnGirl. #contentcreators #blogger Click To Tweet

“If you’re trying to make money, niche down. It doesn’t really matter if there are a million travel websites or a million websites for women, you need to find a need that isn’t being fulfilled,” she says. “Try to be as unique as possible with who you’re speaking to. It’s a huge world, and having a smaller audience that’s more engaged and more specific is better than trying to reach everyone.”

Having a smaller #audience that’s more engaged and more specific is better than trying to reach everyone, says @TravlFashnGirl. #ContentEntrepreneur #ContentCreator #CreatorEconomy Click To Tweet

Use the data

Thanks to the blog’s tenure and high traffic, Alex has access to incredible insights about her readers. That informs her next steps. “I have access to so much data, so I have a really unique perspective of what people are buying, what they want, and what they like,” she says. “I listen to my community. What do they need? What are their questions?”

By analyzing and using data, not only is Alex able to create relevant posts, but she writes authentically. “I feel like I can just focus on creating valuable content, giving value, and not feel like I have to sell something,” she says. “If I give you content that you need, I don’t have to sell you on anything. I like that fluidity. It’s very organic, and the organic way of making money feels more comfortable and authentic for me.”

Don’t chase shiny objects

Alex’s biggest piece of advice for new content entrepreneurs? “Don’t chase shiny objects,” she says. “Around 2016, everybody started doing how-to-start-a-travel-blog courses and blogs. And I’m like, “Oh, I know how to do that.” So then I launched this course called the Six-Figure Blogger. But that didn’t feel authentic.

“Just because I could do that and I had knowledge didn’t mean that that was the way that I felt comfortable earning money,” Alex says. “ So make that realization and be able to understand what kind of content you like to create and how you like to earn from your content. It’s really important to cut out the noise and do what’s best for you and what helps you meet your personal goals.”

About the author

Kimmy Gustafson is a freelance writer with a passion for sharing stories of bravery. Her love for world traveling began when her family moved to Spain when she was 6 and since then, she has lived overseas extensively, visited six continents, and traveled to over 26 countries. She is fluent in Spanish and conversational in French. Currently, she is based on Maui and, when not writing or parenting, she can be found kiteboarding, hiking, or cooking.