Online Lives: Travel and lifestyle blogger Melanie May
Melanie May tells how she turned her blog into a career
Dublin-based freelance journalist and blogger Melanie May says blogging is a job she loves.
She writes about cars, travel, food, and wine on Travel Eat Write Repeat at MelanieMay.com.
“It’s a nice mix as I get to test drive cool cars, see the world (I’ve been to 50 countries) and eat out a lot,” she said.
“I consider myself very fortunate that I have a job I love. The saying really is true; choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. Thanks to my blog, I managed to turn my wanderlust into a career.”
While her website existed since 2004 and focussed on photography, her blog was only set up in recent years.
“I spent five years backpacking solo around the world. When I came back to Dublin, I turned my website into a food and travel blog, but there is still a big emphasis on photography.”
Melanie shares the stories of her travels on her blog and puts photos of her experiences on Instagram.
“I use my blog to tell the stories of the places I visit, and people I meet, often through food.
“I post mainly travel photos to my Instagram account.”
Social media has had a role to play in Melanie’s successful career.
“Not only did I meet my boyfriend on social media (hi Dave) but my current career was born out of my blog and social media channels.
Social media and blogging have allowed me to become a full-time journalist and content creator.
“In fact, nearly all of the jobs I have had in the last few years have been secured through social media, which is great, because I am really awful at job interviews.”
The ability to be creative is what Melanie enjoys most about her blog.
“It allows me to be creative in an unrestricted way. I write about what I want, in the style that I want, and without any pressure to meet deadlines. What I also enjoy about blogging, is that I own all the content. I think it is very important to own your own work and not to just focus on one platform.”
Finding time to write and share content can be a challenge.
“Because of the nature of my work, I don’t have a regular schedule, so finding time to write a blog post is sometimes difficult. I really need to make the time as I know that regular and consistent posting is the key to a successful blog.”
