Content Marketing Today

Formidable! Content Marketing Puts Paris Travel Guide and its Author on the Virtual Map

April in Paris and Content Marketing in Blossom

Online research for an upcoming April trip to the wonderful city on the Seine uncovered a delightful content marketing practitioner, Steve Solosky, “The Traveling Professor,” along with his guide to Paris, his website, his eNewsletters, his blog, and his intuitive grasp of content marketing.

I’m sure that launching a successful series of travel guides is almost as challenging as it is for an unknown novelist to create a blockbuster. That’s because everybody who loves to travel thinks they should be a travel writer in spite of long-established competition from Michelin, Fodor, Frommer, Insight Guides, Time Out, and hundreds of others.  In fact, a quick Amazon search for ‘paris travel guides’ shows more than 1000 listings. Steve’s book appears on the first search page and is ranked #40 Amazon’s Books > Travel > Europe > France > Paris.

But, Steve is more than travel book author. He also leads tours to Paris and to other parts of Europe.  What he has achieved is to position himself as an expert so that travelers will trust him as both a virtual and literal tour guide.  He has translated a passion into a business.  His commitment to content marketing over time has certainly helped to make that business a success.

How I Discovered The Professor from his Helpful Comment on Another Paris Guide

Steve offered a very informative and useful comment on Budget Travel’s Romantic French Restaurants blog post. That’s how I discovered him. Because the hyperlink attached to his name took me the The Traveling Professor site, I was able to benefit from much more valuable advice—not just about restaurants, but about everything to do with Paris.  I followed the link because it was obvious that he knew what he was talking about and was being really helpful rather than self-promotional.

Voila! Content Marketing Basics—and More from The Traveling Professor

• He came up with a wonderful brand—The Traveling Professor—that is memorable, comforting, and authentic. After all, he is a professor.
• He created a website that is chock full of information with an integrated blog that provides lots of timely information that benefits visitors who are about to travel—or are already on the journey. You learn important but basic stuff like, How ot Use ATM/Credit Cards in Paris and questions that really concern Parisian newbies, How Much French Do You Really Need to Know to Visit Paris?
• He wrote and self-published a book to position himself as an expert, using Amazon.com’s BookSurge subsidiary. As noted, his book is selling  very well. That doesn’t happen automatically, but requires consistent, long-term content marketing efforts to appeal to information-hungry travelers. 
• He gives away both information and stuff. As noted, his blog is info-rich. But he is currently offering to send site visitors
• a free electronic version of his 2008 travel guide in return for registering (It has more than 10,000 downloads
• free copies of many Paris-related books that he has acquired over the years.
• He includes a ‘Video Blog’ on his home page that is an entree to a set of simple but charming videos on YouTube that he has uploaded to YouTube and that evoke the feeling of being in Paris.  I can smell the just out of the oven French bread now.
• He makes good use of  those YouTube videos with nice, brief invitation to learn more about Paris as on his video above, “A Stroll Down rue Mouffetard in Paris France – January 2010. See www.travelingprofessor.com for more information about traveling to Paris” And, if you are searching for this famous ‘rue’ on YouTube, Steve’s video pops up at position #7.
• Very helpful links, including books, articles, favorite haunts, useful guides, all of his past newsletters, and other blogs worth reading.
• He is actively crowdsourcing for his next book edition. This encourages enthusiastic participation and word of mouth among those of us who love Paris and want to share with others who feel the same way.  And, I’m proud to say that he may include my suggestion of the Cimietiere des Chiens as a fun, off-beat place to visit for veteran Paris voyagers.
• He provides everything you need to know to take the next step and buy his book—or to join his next journey to Paris.  He is turning browsers into buyers.

You may not be a traveling professor. You may not even love Paris. But, like Steve, you will benefit directly by developing thought leadership over time that engenders deep levels of trust among your current and future customers.  Check out his site. You’ll pick up some great tips about the City of Light and about content marketing.