A Simple Guide to Monetizing Your Travel Blog

Maybe you are new to the world of travel blogging or perhaps, you’ve been doing it for a while, either way, you’ve decided you want to start making the blog pay for itself or your trekking expenses. There are many ways to make that happen. Just know that it will take time, the income will be small to start, and it’s a lot of work that takes intentional efforts. However, if that doesn’t daunt you, here are some suggestions for getting started.

Direct Monetization

Implement affiliate advertisements and links. Research companies of all kinds that are willing to advertise on your blog. These can be related to travel or not. It only matters that there is a place for them to insert an ad on your blog. Strategically speaking, advertisers that a related to the travel industry will be the best.

Another option for producing income through your blog is to create a physical product to sell. In your ventures, perhaps you have found a fair trade, eco-friendly product that you really like. Consider setting up an e-commerce portion of your blog to sell that item. You’ll take a percentage of the sales, then pass the rest onto the creator. This works especially well with groups or businesses that are seen as charitable recipients.

If you have not found a particular item that you want to resell, consider building a site that is sell-able. Cultivate a blog site that has value in and of itself that can be sold and continue to function seamlessly after its sale. The key is to look for a market that is not being served and fill that niche. Once you have it established, you can sell it and look for another. Doing this repeatedly, you can build up a portfolio of successful sites each of which build value for the other.

Direct affiliate sales take place when you know your niche and want to work with local companies in a particular area or in a specific tourism focus. Sit down with the company owners and present the benefits of working together on each other’s blogs. Do this for enough businesses, and you quickly become an expert on site as well as on the web.

A popular idea is the creation of eBooks. These can be general or specific in focus. You may want to provide one eBook with information for a whole region or country, but you could also create multiple eBooks that focus on particular cities, events/attractions, restaurants, or any other specific niche you choose.

Similar to an eBook, build an eCourse. These can go hand in hand or be sold separately. eCourses can cover a wide variety of topics, so the world is your oyster! Teach others through your blog and they will come back for more. They will also buy your eBooks if you cross-promote well.

People and businesses love a giveaway. Team up with a brand to run a sponsored competition. This will take collaboration with the brand regarding the product, but the rewards can be handsome as well as the exposure for your blog – and the brand’s product!

Sponsorship

Sponsored posts are blogs that are created for a particular company with a specific focus. You’ll write an article on your site incorporating a link back to the sponsor’s site, thus driving up their SEO and yours. You may have a little less control over topics, but you’ll be paid rather handsomely for setting it up, adding to it, and maintaining its integrity.

Set up a paid campaign for a distinct tourism location. You will work directly with a tourism board and set up a campaign to highlight all their best features for a designated period of time. This is a great way to really delve into the culture and allows you to spend some time in that area to get into the heart of the customs and events. Once you have explored and posted about that location, pick up and move to another tourism board that wants or needs your promotion.

Become a brand ambassador for a company. For example, you may find a company that sells gear for surfing that will let you try it out, put it to the test, and promote sales of that gear. This also applies to other products or services for a particular brand – restaurants, attractions and the like.

Do your research and find podcasts that want to be promoted or that you want to boost and cross-market each other. You can write about what they are talking about and they can talk about what you’re writing about. Win-win.

Indirect Monetization

Freelance writing is a great way to create a revenue stream for your blog site. By incorporating an eBook and/or eCourse while boosting your SEO and another’s, you can rock the freelance writing job. Do your homework and find other blogs that are looking for content. Show them what you have and what you can provide, and you’ll get the work.

Consider turning the blogging gig into a full-on tour guide business. Work with tourism boards, travel agent schools, and other experts to build a business that helps other tourists get to and enjoy areas where you have explored.

Become a social media manager for travel brands. Seek out those in the industry who need someone to coordinate their marketing efforts. As long as you have internet access, you can run a social media campaign from anywhere as an employee or as an independent contractor and make a steady income as you roam.

Whether you appeal to plethora advertisers for a product, collaborate with a specific target or become a steady employee, you can still roam and support your blog. Why wait for the money to come in before you take a trip? Start your global and financial journey today!