Meet The Blogger – Milena Corleone

In our latest interview series which I like to call “Meet the Blogger”, where I spotlight inspiring creatives on this Blogger Magazine. We caught up with Milena Corleone who runs Lenas Around The Globe. Covering luxury cruising & travel.

From a spontaneous trip to a luxury blog – Lenas

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your Blog?

Lenas Around The Globe is an unconventional blog about luxury cruising & travel. Why unconventional? We are two best friends (MiLENA & MagdaLENA, hence Lenas), and we show the true colors of what happens on our trips & the cruise and travel industry. Funny enough, we first met as coworkers for a project and didn’t even like each other. One day though, while leaving in two different countries, we out of the blue decided to go on a cruise together (first for both). And look at us now! Frequent cruisers & travelers sharing our experiences with the world. Our blog covers topics you can’t really find anywhere else -> the truth behind the hidden costs, the unwritten dress code rules, best itineraries for travels including reviews of hotels & restaurants. We want every reader to be prepared for his/her experience, because thinking about our first trip, there is so much we wish we knew.

2. Describe what inspired you to start your blog?

One of the many times that we were sitting together with Magdalena and planning our next cruises, we realized a lot of people are asking questions about our travels, asking us what do we suggest, recommend, and saying that the cruise industry is a big question mark for them. That’s when we thought about it – and we needed to act on it. I have had a fashion blog in the past, so I already was practical. In 3 days from that moment, our blog was up and running.

3. How do you motivate yourself to keep the blog up and running?

It’s not easy. Sometimes I think that if it was just me, I would give up long time ago. That is why I realized the importance of being in it together. And honestly, it’s all about accountability. When you have someone who motivates you and vice versa, working is suddenly much easier. Fortunately, even if we have our ups and downs, there’s always one of us at least that is keeping the things in order.

4. How active are you on a weekly basis? How often do you communicate with your followers?

We post a new blogpost every Friday. However, we are active on social media. We post a post reference on Facebook every day, so that even new followers wouldn’t miss a post. Instagram is our go to platform – we share our moments in the Insta story & post every other day.

5. What do you think is the best social media strategy for getting more visitors to a blog?

Interest people with your content. If your readers like it, they are going to talk about it with friends. These friends are going to talk with others. Might seem vintage, but it’s the best strategy. If you have good quality content, it will sell itself.

6. Would you encourage other people to make their blog?

Having a blog is not for everyone. It requires a lot of time, energy. Sometimes it included working late nights, and when it comes to a travel blog, working on trips that others would treat as vacation. But it is worth it? Yes. And not for the money, but for the self: you find out how much you know when you share it with others and one way or the other, it makes you learn something new every day.

7. A lot of people think that blogging is an easy way to make money online. Do you have some tips for those people who are interested in making money from the blog?

Making money in the blog is not something that happens overnight. If you love what you do, money will follow. If you love your content, people are going to love your content, brands will be willing to work with you & ads will be generating passive income. But if you’re doing it just for the money – then it’s not worth it. There is a lot of other more profitable income sources that don’t require that much time, energy and creativity.

8. What was the most challenging moment in your blogging journey so far?

For us, it is always challenging to come back from the cruise and put everything that happened there in words. The first week or two after the comeback, it hurts that you had to get off the ship. You want to stop writing and go back on board. But then, with time, it gets better, and we manage to write about these things without the overwhelming nostalgia.

9. What is your greatest achievement outside of blogging?

I think of my graduation as one of my greatest achievements. I was studying two psychology courses on two universities in different countries at the same time. I would go back and forth during the exam session to pass. These countries were Italy – Poland. There were times when I would have an exam in Italy in the morning, a flight to Poland in the evening and an exam there the next day. It was challenging, but I finally graduated. But I also have to mention building my career as a Dj on an international scale. I have played in different countries all around Europe – and it really is rewarding when you are being paid so much to travel and share your musicality with others.

10. Who Is Your Blogging Hero And Why?

Ode To My Travels. She built the website relatively recently, however the way she grew her Instagram community is amazing and I really admire her for this, for her positivity and original content.

11. What Advice Would You Give To A New Blogger Starting Out?

Don’t be discouraged easily. People would be saying you won’t succeed and it’s normal – internet jobs are still not so popular. But if you work hard enough, you can prove them wrong.

12. Have you collaborate with brands? If yes, name few brands you worked with

We have worked with many brands already. Some of them are fashion brands, such as Mockberg, Bonprix, some accessories brands, such as iDeals of Sweden, some hotels depending on the destination.

13. Finally, what are your thoughts about BloggerMagazine?

I think an initiative like this is a wonderful idea! The blogging community is a wonderful space to find inspiration, motivation and will.

Follow Milena Corleone on her journey at:

lenasaroundtheglobe.com | instagram.com/milenacorleoneofficial | instagram.com/lenasaroundtheglobe | facebook.com/lenasaroundtheglobe