Dozens of bloggers have successfully made thousands of dollars while doing their fun traveling abroad. Would you also want to make money while traveling? If you would, then you're not alone.
There are a lot of people that are dreaming of making money while traveling, and honestly, it’s not that impossible.
If you want to gain the upper hand and make money in this arena, you need to know how to get it done. That’s what the following is about.
This will help you understand how to make money while seeing the world, and enjoying every minute of it.
Successful Bloggers Who Make Money Online While Traveling
Before getting too far ahead, take into consideration a couple of people that are making this reality an everyday dream.
1. Matt Kepnes – Nomadic Matt
One of the most interesting people to look into as far as making money with travel is concerned is that of Nomadic Matt. This is a person that took the idea of blogging and travel and threw it out the window.
He started a brand new blog, with the goal in mind to travel the world on $50 a day.
Well that idea took off, and he went for it, blogging along the way. It is now reported that he is making more than $50,000 a month through his blog.
Of course, these estimates may be up and down. But overall, he’s one of the most influential travel bloggers, and he’s a New York Times Best Selling Author.
More than 1 million people take his advice monthly, and his tips are sent across all social platforms.
This is one success story for travel and blogging that you may be inspired by, because anyone can do it. More interestingly, he even teaches you how if you want to learn from him directly.
2. James Hills – Man Tripping
James Hills is the publisher and editor of the website mantripping.com. The site was initially a travel blog, and it started to grow into a little bit more than that.
At this point, the site is one of the largest travel blogs that talks about lifestyle, luxury travel, adventure, and much more.
James Hills and his blog have taken him across the globe from Canada to Australia through Europe and much more.
The site publishes travel industry interviews, expertise, and lifestyle content that focuses on the male experience across the world.
It started humbly enough as just a challenge to see the world and see new places, document them, and see what would occur.
Today, it’s one of the premier sites that is making upwards of $5,000 a month in ads, and more.
How to Make Money from Traveling
At this point, you may know that you can make money with travel blogging, but how? How are you going to turn what seems like a hobby, into something that could get you paid a full-scale salary?
Well, that’s where the following options are going to shed light on the matter. These options are how many bloggers and travelers make money.
1. Google Ads (known as Adsense)
The first major option is a simple solution that uses advertising to the advantage of the blogger or traveler.
You see, when you sign up as a publisher for this solution, you’ll be getting codes that you can put on your site.
Once confirmed, Google will publish ads on your site that are paid for by advertisers in the industry that you’re in. When someone clicks on the link, you get paid a small commission for the lead.
The commission could be anywhere from a few cents to hundreds of dollars depending on how competitive the advertising slot may be.
The potential here is that you’ll get a lot of traffic, people will see the ads on your site, and click through. Once they click on the ads, you will get paid; it’s that simple.
The downside of using Google Ads is, if you only have a small monthly website traffic, do not be surprised if you'll only see revenue of $100-$200/m. But when you get a lot of traffic, you could very well see revenue of upwards of thousands a month.
Furthermore, Google Adsense pays out monthly, so it’s a great way for beginners to put advertising on the site, from a resource that is known for making money online.
2. Affiliate Marketing
The next way that travel bloggers make money is through the recommendation of products and services in what is known as affiliate marketing. This method is more promising to generate higher revenue.
What this does is simple, it provides you with a link that you can promote. When someone purchases something coming from that link, you’ll get paid a commission.
You will get paid with relative ease, and you’ll end up promoting things that people are already going to use.
Some of the most compelling options to use include Agoda, Booking, and other travel affiliate programs. You could also make money with affiliate marketing sites that promote books, travel services, and much more.
Booking.com, for instance, allows you to promote hotels, accommodations, or places to stay. You could get paid every time someone uses your links to book a trip that you recommend. You just have to use a particular link, and that’s it.
A Few More Travel Affiliates
Agoda – this is a company that promotes travel and other elements that are directly associated with travel. You could make a good deal of money promoting their products. This is an easy option that people trust already, so you just have to promote it on your popular pages.
Tripadvisor – this is one of the premier travel websites for reviews, and booking travel across the globe. People trust this website, so adding this to your list of affiliates, and getting people to that page is an easy thing to do. Just tell people to visit and read reviews, and let Tripadvisor do the rest.
Skyscanner – another affiliate program, this focuses on cheap flights and deals for people that want to get away. This is a simple solution that can give you a secure marketing channel to promote to those that are looking at booking airfare.
Amazon Affiliate – you can become an affiliate for Amazon, and simply send people to this trusted source for travel guides such as books, videos, and much more. Once people are on Amazon, you’ll get paid for every order, simple as that.
How To Get Started Right Away
If you’re interested in working with travel and blogging, then you’re going to need to follow a few simple steps.
These are the steps that professionals have taken to start their journeys in making money online.
It’s an exciting path to work with, and proven effective if you work with the following solutions.
Step 1: Start A Travel Blog
The first thing that you need to do is simple, start a travel blog.
Not sure how to do this? Well, then simply follow these steps to start one.
It’s easier to do than ever, and you can do it for very cheap if you look at the right options overall.
The site will show you how to get started and how to get moving forward with a blog that you can be proud of. Oh, and more importantly, one that will get you paid.
Step 2: Take A Lot of Pictures
As you travel, even if you’re local, take a lot of pictures.
Think about what people would want to see most, and take pictures of those things.
That includes pictures of food, parking, how to get to different areas, and other insider things that will help you illustrate your trips.
Think about the things that others would want to know about where you are going, and document them with a lot of pictures. Then separate them into categories.
Step 3: Review Places and Write Stories
Look at any travel magazine and read through what people write regarding their trips.
You will want to emulate the style of their writing, by simply adding photographs, tips, and tricks to where you’re going.
The more you describe the places you are going, the things that you see, and what is available for them to visit, the more you’ll get more attention to your site.
Compelling stories are more than the basics. Be personable, tell something funny, and share what you were thinking, and anything that may have gone wrong, as you’ll find that it can be endearing overall.
Step 4: Use Picture Social Messaging Pages
There are several social media options that you can use, and one of the most important overalls is that of Pinterest and Instagram. These are two sites that you can use for posting pictures.
They will help you not only post pictures of your trips, but they will also help you connect with others that are traveling, as well as get traffic sent to your page.
How to Grow Traffic to Your Travel Blog
After you’ve set up your blog or website, and you are getting some posts up, you’ll need to know a little bit about marketing the page.
The following will help you learn how to grow traffic for your blog because traffic is the critical element of what you are going to be doing overall.
Without traffic, you can’t really make money with your site. Use these tips and tricks to help you out.
1. SEO (search engine optimization)
When you post different things about travel, you should use keywords that are used in search results often.
To do this, you’ll need to use keyword tools like Google’s Keyword Tool, and other resources that tell you what people search for the most.
This will help you connect with audiences that are searching for terms that relate to what you’re doing.
You can’t just use the word “travel” all the time. You’ll need to be more specific, especially about the places that you’re going to be seeing. This includes information demands such as “budget hotel”, “travel insurance”, “where to go in –Bali, for instance-“.
2. Use Social Media
Another way that you can build traffic is through the use of visually based social networks. This includes Pinterest and Instagram, which are great overall.
You will want to post your images on these pages, and then link your followers to your blog, and as you do this, others will like, comment, and share the photos that you have.
To get more followers on these pages, you need to be social. That means that you will need to like, share, comment, and befriend others.
Don’t just put your own images up and link people to your site, make sure that you’re active, add others, and chime in with notes on all posts that you see. That will help you gain followers over time.
It’s Crucial to Create Travel Pictures That Appeal to Many for Better Engagement
One of the best things that you can do is use PicMonkey and other image editors to create more compelling images out of the shots that you take.
When traveling, take a lot of pictures, and then enhance them with this editor, and post them across many different areas of the internet.
The Monetization Phase
There comes the point when you should monetize your website. You will want to use the traffic that you receive to get a lot of money flowing.
To do that, you’ll need to monetize things properly.
With that in mind, the following will help you get to that point.
Some of it was mentioned above, but this is where you will need to garner a little more attention.
1. Place Google Adsense on Your Blog
Sign up for Google’s Adsense program and use their tips and tricks to place ads on your website.
There’s a wealth of resources that they provide to help you put ads in the right places, and make money.
We've also covered this up on our previous Google Adsense guide.
2. Sign Up As Many Affiliate Marketing Programs As You Could Find
Sign up for affiliate marketing programs that you find online. There are a lot of different options that you can pursue. All of them have reviews, and different positives to consider overall. The legitimate ones are what we have mentioned above.
Whatever the case may be, make sure that you pick an option that relates to your niche, which is travel, and then use their tools to promote their programs and services overall.
You could place links in different areas of your site, including any places where you mention discounts, airfare, and other notes that you recommend for travel.
Your Turn
At the end of the day, if your goal is to start a travel blog, then you can quickly do it.
You just have to follow the steps above, and keep publishing content, pictures, and growing your online presence.
Done correctly, you will end up with right size audience, and will be able to get paid for traveling and blogging alike.
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