We were lucky to catch up with Nikola Webster recently and have shared our conversation below.

Nikola, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

I write an online travel publication. Many would call this a blog because it’s a small business and a small website compared to the big corporate players. I don’t because it’s not just a blog, it’s a professionally run publication.

From day one, I vowed not to do what the average writer in this industry does: paint a rose-colored image of ALL travel destinations, accommodations, or experiences. Whether the experience is sponsored or not, I will tell the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’ve turned down a few offers to collaborate where a company is uncomfortable with this.

I don’t bash places; instead, I add a section on what could be improved and whether shortcomings reflected the price and value. But, I will always tell my audience the truth as I experience it. When collaborating with a brand, I let them know in advance that there are some things they need to address – before I release the article. This way, they have the opportunity to address it or add comments.

Unlike many in my industry, I prefer to fund my own endeavors. Contractually, a sponsored gig can have many clauses. More importantly, I find that when you do a sponsored gig, the red carpet is rolled out, and you get treated like royalty. It sounds great in theory, but it’s not what a typical traveler will experience.

Another controversial thing that I do is not to ignore trolls or allow them to come onto my site to cause trouble. Content publishers can delete comments, hide them, or turn off comments. I do none of the above. If someone offers constructive criticism, I acknowledge it. If someone finds an error, I correct it and give them credit. However, when a troll comes on to debate “my experience” or throw shade, I take them on head to head. I start very professional and witty, but if needed, I’ve taken it to the gutter with a few. Now, most say it’s a waste of time. However, the sole reason trolls exist is that most people ignore them. In other words, they rarely get “checked,” so they feel it’s their right to come onto a professional website, drop hate, and then simply move on to the next site. I don’t tolerate this and take great pride in bringing down a troll. The pro side to this is whenever I have a “troll on the line,” it generates tons of engagement because I am well known by my audience for my no-tolerance stance, and most find the takedown entertaining.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I originally started my career in Commercial Insurance however, I’ve always been an avid traveler and explorer. Over the years, as my travels expanded, I learned a ton of information about various ways to save money and travel for free using credit card points and a timeshare that I purchased outright for $99. I also learned about my rights as a traveler untangling many challenges that leave most stranded. The more I traveled, the more I learned, and the trips became more elaborate, combining several hacks, such as using flights that offer free stopovers (time in the connecting country). As I traveled, people always asked how I could afford it, and when I shared the costs, the question became how. I found myself writing up the steps to various tips and tricks that I had used. Eventually, I decided I might as well publish the material.

It was initially a hobby, that is until I realized there was a legitimate business model, and that’s when the original writing became today’s publication.

My site offers genuine, tried, and tested travel hacks that will save people money and honest, objective reviews of the places I visit. The goal is to motivate people to use their time off to actually take a vacation, get out of their comfort zone, and explore the world or the state of Florida that I write extensively about. I also want to share with people how they can afford to do it.

I get lots of requests for help with flight cancellations, I’m an expert on passenger rights, I also get lots of questions about tour operators that I’ve used. My audience asks me questions about destinations I’ve been to that they are traveling to. Ironically, it’s not just the tours or what to see and do that people are interested in; it’s often questions around transportation, safety, and medical concerns.

What separates me from the pack is real experience!

The thing I am most proud of is when someone takes the plunge, and many have based on my advice and then shared back that everything I told them was on point. For example, someone recently visited Iceland and asked me about what to wear. This might seem like a silly question because you can look up the weather. However, the weather in Iceland changes on a dime, and it’s unpredictable, so you have to either wear layers or be prepared for outfit changes!

What I want people to know is that I am not governed by a large corporation or investors. I have full creative control of my brand. I stand by what I share and I tell it as I experience it.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

I recently purchased an existing website that has content and traffic for my cousin’s son. We’ve been working on building his brand together. We decided to purchase an existing site because it already had revenue, so we could skip the initial challenges of launching a new website, like creating all the content from scratch, getting backlinks, advertising, etc.

Taking over an existing website vs. building one from scratch has been a learning curve. Acquiring the site was simple; we did this through an auction but at a fixed price. The challenges came in left and right following this. For example, it took several weeks to transfer the domain legally and set it up on our host. Then, we had to apply to all affiliate programs and update links. Then, there’s tons of content that we are optimizing and adding new content. This is one of a few ventures we plan to include under the umbrella of Alfie’s portfolio. The biggest challenge to date is that one of the affiliate programs we have to have is almost impossible to work with, and we have still not secured that transfer yet, so there’s money left on the table. We also have not tackled or even begun social media “yet”.

In the long run, if you know what you are doing and know how to optimize and monetize a website, buying an existing one is the way to go, but it’s not something you should do unless you already have the experience.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I mentioned earlier that I first worked in corporate American, and the website was a hobby so I could fund the outlay myself. And initial costs were relatively low. It was my time that cost, and it was at least thirty hours a week, which I did in addition to my corporate role.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.britonthemove.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/britotmove/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BRITOTMOVE
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikki-webster-8b2b04b/
• Twitter: https://x.com/BRITOTMOVE

Image Credits

No credits neeed