We were lucky to catch up with Laura Peters Abalos recently and have shared our conversation below.
Laura, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
When asked to describe myself, my first response is always “relentless”. This is a trait I’ve had my entire life. While I credit my relentlessness to a little friendly competition with my siblings and peers, it’s the lessons my parents taught me in my childhood that are the foundations of who I am today.
My mom and dad helped me believe that dreams are worth pursuing, even as a girl in a male-dominated world. That unwavering determination has been my guiding light in the pursuit of my aspirations, particularly in becoming a travel blogger.
Today, as a businesswoman, my resilience is fueled by the difficult moments. These setbacks are expected in any business, but they are what differentiates those who give up and those who succeed. It’s about confronting the harsh realities of hard work that doesn’t immediately bring positive results.
It took me a few years to realize that every “no” I encounter becomes a stepping stone rather than a roadblock. The setbacks weren’t signs to give up; they were invitations to reassess, learn, and evolve in my business.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Hi, I’m Laura Peters Abalos, the owner and author of Mike & Laura Travel, the CEO of Scale Your Travel Blog, and the host of Travel Blogging Summits. The path to entrepreneurship wasn’t initially in my life plan. However, as Mike and I witnessed the success of our travel blog, a new purpose unfolded.
The desire to assist others in achieving similar victories started to bud. Breaking down the complexities of SEO and sharing our tried-and-true strategies became my mission. My goal is to empower fellow bloggers with the tools necessary to turn their websites into sustainable businesses.
My main offer is Scale Your Travel Blog, a comprehensive course and coaching program tailored to help bloggers with their journeys. We also host conferences, both online and in-person, to bring together like-minded individuals and provide them with a platform to exchange ideas, strategies, and experiences.
My path to creating Scale Your Travel Blog dates back to 2014, when I was preparing to move to Thailand to teach English. There, the world of travel blogging captured my attention because it presented the opportunity to turn my passion for travel into a money-making business. Despite years of hard work on my blog, I didn’t see any success until 2019, when I stumbled upon a game-changing acronym: SEO.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) transformed the trajectory of my blog. Within six months of implementing my new SEO skills, my monthly readership climbed from 3,000 to over 50,000, allowing me to start making real money from our blog.
I knew others were struggling with the same blogging woes that I was previously, and finding the correct information on the internet was difficult, to say the least. With floods of questions each day, I knew I had to turn my expertise into something others could follow. Scale Your Travel Blog was my way of filling this void.
From that point forward, my goal has been to empower aspiring travel bloggers with proven strategies.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Looking back on my journey, three important elements have played a significant role in shaping my path:
1. SEO
From the beginning, I understood the importance of effective SEO in increasing my website’s reach and growing my number of readers. Immersing myself in the world of SEO led to the success of our travel blog and our B2B business, as this was the foundation for my course, Scale Your Travel Blog. For those embarking on an entrepreneurial journey, it’s important to select a means of marketing and master that one thing. For me, SEO was the logical choice as it was much more straightforward than social media, which tends to be incredibly volatile. Stick to one platform when you are just beginning and give it everything you have.
2. Email Marketing
Once I learned how to drive readers to my website, it was time to make those readers my own. Email marketing is a pivotal part of any business. If you do not have an email list for your business, I highly recommend doing that now and working as hard as possible to grow and nurture it. Email marketing has helped keep my business stable through turbulent times. I will always have a secure platform and reader base as long as I have my email list.
3. Positive Mindset
This trait is often overlooked, but it is by far the most critical quality any entrepreneur can possess. Without a positive mindset, you will be overtaken by insecurities. I regularly invest my time cultivating a positive mindset because it’s the backbone of resilience and creativity in business. In the ever-changing business world, staying positive helps me adapt, innovate, and overcome challenges. By nurturing a positive mindset, I’m better equipped to handle the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, stay focused on long-term goals, and inspire others in my community. I credit my positive mindset as the number one reason we were able to grow our business from zero to $1.5 million in revenue in just 2.5 years.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
Believe it or not, the book I’ve found to be the most powerful tool for my entrepreneurial journey is called “You Are A Badass At Making Money,” written by Jen Sincero. Sincero speaks straight from the heart, blending humor with some hard-hitting truths about money and mindset.
Her approach resonated with me because it’s down-to-earth and relatable; it touched on so many things that I didn’t know were holding me back as a business owner, particularly around money. The book dives into the psychological and even spiritual barriers that hold us back financially and offers practical steps to overcome them. Every time I read it, I find new insights and motivation to push my life and business forward, reminding me that success is as much about belief in yourself and the world around you as it is about strategy and skill.
I typically read mindset books since I feel I have most of my marketing strategies systemized and automated already. While I do believe there are new techniques and tools that could help me push my business forward, it’s the mindset blocks that keep me stuck. I believe this to be true for most people even if they are unaware of these blocks. The saying goes, “You don’t know what you don’t know.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mikeandlauratravel.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeandlauratravelblog/
- Facebook: facebook.com/mikeandlauratravel
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-peters-12b416159/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/mikeandlauratravel
- Other: -Course: https://scaleyourtravelblog.thrivecart.com/scale-your-travel-blog/
Image Credits
Mike & Laura Travel
