Kim Orlando, Founder and Publisher of SheBuysTravel.com

I’ve known Kim Orlando for more than a decade and at times she has been a partner in my 360 Degree Travel Network travel bloggers agency, where we worked on campaigns for major industry clients. She appears often in the media as a female travel expert and is a publisher who has managed a large team of contributors. We wanted to circle back with the head of She Buys Travel for an updated interview to see where things stand after recent upheavals in the world of search. 

How did the original Traveling Mom site get started and then what’s the story with the change to She Buys Travel?

I started TravelingMom waaaay back in 2006 with 3 kids ages 10 and under. I knew that moms were the largest percentage of travel planners in the family and I wanted to make that easier for her. And me.

I wish I could say I was a world traveler, sitting on the beach in Rio when inspiration struck but the truth is that I was in Jersey. As a pharmaceutical document management consultant I traveled some for work and later commuted weekly from Connecticut to New Jersey, usually staying over 1-2 nights. I had 3 kids at home, an au pair, guilt, stress, no time and was looking for inspiration and absolution. When I realized there was no one place that had that plus ideas for places to take my family, I created it.

Fast forward to 2022. We had always intended to expand the audience to all women and post-pandemic, when we were starting over in many ways, seemed like a great time to make the change to SheBuysTravel.

How has the editorial focus changed over the years and what will you be doing differently post-Googlegate?

Editorial focus for us has always been on good writing. Our editor, Cindy Richards, is a Pulitzer nominated journalist who has never wavered when it comes to great storytelling.

Post Googlegate, we will go back to our roots in community building via social, email, and maybe even events. We are mindful of search results but it is not our primary focus like it once was.

What about the business model? Where did your revenue come from a few years in and how has that evolved?

In the past, revenue came from live event sponsorships more than anything. That changed over the years to ads plus affiliate marketing. Over the years we did a lot of different things like Twitter parties hosted by big-name sponsors and product affiliate/sponsorship promotions like with luggage companies.

Now we have combined our strengths in storytelling and affiliate into content marketing—using content, our forte, as a foundation to drive audience and conversions.

You grew a site to be much larger than many others with a similar angle that started out around the same time. How do you explain your success in scaling up? Which actions moved the needle the most?

We have bootstrapped the business from Day 1. We grew to a sizable website audience because of great writers and solid SEO efforts—before Google search results went into decline. Now our content is syndicated and that drives views and exposes SheBuysTravel to new audiences.

We are constantly looking for content distribution opportunities. I have done major broadcast shows like Good Morning America, the Today Show and numerous news appearances but nothing moves the needle better than community. And when I say moves the needle I am referring to conversion, not just increased traffic.

If you had to do it all over again starting now, what would you do differently?

In some ways, I am starting over thanks to Google’s devaluing of content from experts. But with a lot more knowledge. At SheBuysTravel, we will let the data clarify who our reader is and serve her first and fully.

Someone hands you a suitcase full of money and you can go anywhere in the world for a week or two with whoever you want. Where are you going?

I am taking Cher to Bhutan for a week and having dinner with the royal family in the palace, and then flying my family to meet me there for a week to play baseball with the girls team and then helicopter to Laya (the hike is 9 hours and 14,000 feet!).

Kim Orlando is a dynamic CEO, entrepreneur, and in-demand social media and marketing consultant who turned her passion for travel into a thriving career. Hailing from the hills of Kentucky and taking her story to New York, Los Angeles, and beyond, Kim’s journey has been nothing short of epic. She originally created an online platform that reached millions and inspired moms everywhere to explore the world with their families. Now, as the driving force behind SheBuysTravel, she continues to inspire women of all ages and stages to create their own adventures.

Kim has been featured on Good Day Los Angeles, News Nation, Good Morning America and on numerous satellite media tours. She has contributed travel advice to outlets including The Washington Post, Good Housekeeping, Forbes, and the Wall Street Journal. In her free time, Kim enjoys visiting her adult kids, creating trips and traveling with her BFFs to explore the world. Her most recent adventures can be found on Instagram and Facebook.