How To Make Money From Travel blogging

Wondering how to make money from travel blogging? In this article, I will be sharing different ways how I do it.

I won’t be discussing how much I make from this blog. For that, read this blog on how much money I make from blogging.

If you are new here, let me tell you that I am one of those people who quit their job to travel the world. In 2016, I started this travel blog, and since then, I’ve only been travelling and blogging.

Since 2016, I have worked with brands like Germany Tourism, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airlines, Incredible India, Indonesia Tourism, Air Asia, and Nissan Motors, among others. I have attended over 50 Media Trips and have travelled to over 25 countries all because of this travel blog.

Other than this blog, I have nearly 70,000 people following me on social media channels like Instagram and Facebook combined (you can find me as ‘Footloose Dev’).

If you’re starting blogging, I suggest you read my other blog on how to start a travel blog. And for how to make money from blogging, keep reading and learning…

How To Make Money From Travel Blogging

Before I tell you ‘HOW’ let me confess that if you dedicatedly work on your blog, you will start making money from your travel blog in less than a year.

Though of course, the money generated from a blog is often never enough (at least for me!) and most bloggers rely on other sources of income (for example, I initially relied on freelancing and now I organise camping tours to support my travel needs) if you’re someone who can travel on a budget and need very little to survive, the money generated from a blog can just be enough.

Different travel bloggers use different ways of making money. And before I disclose all the ways I know of (or have tried in the past) let me put a word of warning first…

If your goal of starting a travel blog is to make money, don’t even bother starting! Because there are far easier ways of making money online than this. I would only recommend travel blogging if your goal is to travel and you enjoy writing about your journeys.

Travel blogging is more about following your passion for travel than seeking ways of making money.

So, if you still want to be a full-time travel blogger, this is how to make money from travel blogging…

Different Ways of Making Money From Blogging

Banner Advertisements

Placing banner ads on your blog is perhaps the most traditional and commonly used way of making money from a travel blog. It is also ineffective if your travel blog doesn’t have much traffic.

There are quite a few ad networks that pay on Cost Per Click & Cost Per Impression basis (meaning every time someone clicks or sees an ad on your website you earn money) but I’ve personally been using Google Adsense and recommend it — if you still decided to go for banner ads. Google Adsense is easy to use and trustworthy. And no matter what, Google isn’t going to shut down tomorrow.

But as I said earlier, if the daily traffic on your website is less (than a few thousand visitors per day) don’t even bother running ads on your travel blog, because, you’re not going to make anything.

Affiliate Marketing

As I said, there are different ways of making a travel blog. Other than banner ads, affiliate marketing is another way. Affiliate marketing is wherein you place a special affiliate tracking link on your website to a merchant’s website, and when someone buys a product after getting redirected from your website, you receive a commission.

Again, the success of affiliate marketing depends on the traffic you’re getting on articles including an affiliate link. But how smartly have you embedded the link is also likely to play a role.

For travel bloggers, websites including Amazon (for products) Booking.com (for hotel suggestions), and Skyscanner (for flight booking) are most useful, but please read the terms and conditions before you apply for their affiliate program.

I’ve been currently using and getting most of my affiliate revenue from Amazon and Booking.com. Here’s a good example of one of my pages full of affiliate links: Jawa 42 Bike Accessories.

Link Selling

Third, in my list of how to make money from travel blogging is by link-selling.

Also known as text-link advertising, link selling is when companies would pay just for giving a do-follow backlink to their website in one of your already published posts, or provide a full pre-written “guest post” with one or two do-follow backlinks.

Why?

Because it helps their website increase its search engine results, sending more people to their website from search engines and thus growing their business. (Tip: Google to know more about a no-follow and a do-follow backlink).

The practice is however frowned upon and is strictly against Google’s guidelines. And if you’re caught by Google, it can backfire, so I don’t recommend it. Yet many bloggers still make money this way.

Influencer Marketing

Now, moving further in our list of making money from a travel blog, but outside of it, Influencer marketing is the most effective way to do so.

Once you gain some readership and a good social media follower base, you are no longer a storyteller, but an influencer whom people would want to follow, with brands wanting to hire you to endorse their products and services. And in the process, you make a little money.

Read this other article I’ve written on How People Get Paid To Travel As Influencers to learn about the entire aspect of making money as an influencer, in detail!

Instagram is the most popular influencer platform, with most companies wanting to travel with influencers to do a marketing campaign for them on Instagram and Instagram alone.

So if you’re new in the blogging industry (or in other terms, new in the influencer industry) start investing your time on Instagram from day 1.

There are several Influencer Networks out there that help influencers in different niches (say fashion, adventure, or travel) find influencer campaigns. Just sign up on them and wait for some work to come your way.

To name a few, influencers.in, Socialbeat, Blogmint, Buzzoole, and Glambassador are a few popular influencer networks that I use, among others.

Direct Selling

Another suggestion in my different ways of making money from a travel blogging list is the indirect way of Direct selling. Sounds confusing? Well, it’s simpler than you think…

Some bloggers also work as an intermediate for connecting travellers with hotels and tour operators and earn a commission in between. The idea is simple — you write an article about an offbeat destination and mention where you stayed.

Now people read your article and come to you asking for contact details about the property (provided they are not smart enough to find it online). Now, you connect the two parties and earn a commission in between. This is how to make money from travel blogging without selling something on your blog directly.

I tried making money this way during the initial six months of blogging, but the problem is it takes a lot of time convert leads and you only end up making a little money — usually less than 20% of the total sellout. I no longer use this way to make money and support my travels, but as I said, initially I did.

Now that I own a camping business of my own, in the mountains, I work on the other side of the spectrum. I now give travel bloggers and tour leaders a chance to make money by bringing people to my campsite.

For example, I charge 1500 Rupees per night per person for my full board plan. If someone brings me a person on their behalf (as a travel agent), I give 200 Rupees to them as an agent commission. Check the Instagram page of my business: instagram.com/footloosecamps, and contact me if you’re planning to bring a group for camping!

Stock Photography

If you’re a good photographer, consider investing some time and building a portfolio on various stock-image websites.

Websites like 500px, Shutterstock, Alamy and Getty Images (there are over a dozen others) allow photographers to list their pictures, place a bid and monetize per sale.

Paid FAM Trips

Though most of the FAM trips (or familiarization/media trips) only bear your cost of travelling, experiences and stay, some of them pay as well — depending upon your market credibility as a travel journalist, or the publications, you write for.

I’ve attended nearly 50 FAM trips so far since I started travel blogging and was paid only twice, and it happened recently after my blog was featured in two leading national newspapers in India The Economic Times & The Statesman in August 2017.

Moreover, other than increasing blog readership, I now offer a 70,000+ fan base on my different social media networks — which certainly acts as another driving factor for sponsors taking me on a paid Fam trip.

FAM trips are mostly organised by tourism boards. Read: How To Contact Tourism Boards

Teach Travel Blogging

Teaching your fans about the art of travel blog and charging for it is another way of monetizing — and many successful travel bloggers do it, though some do it by organising events and in-person (as I do) whereas others create online courses and sell them.

Freelancing

Last but not the least, in our list of different ways of making money travel blogging is by freelancing.

Freelancing is, by far, the most common way most bloggers rely on for an additional source of income — including me. And I believe this is because once you start blogging and gain a bit of experience in writing, it becomes fairly easier to write for other publications, and gain their trust as a freelance writer in the first place.

During my initial days of blogging, I relied on freelancing platforms like Upwork and Freelancer to find any travel writing or photography-related work.

With increasing credibility as a travel blogger, I now write for a couple of print magazines and an in-flight magazine.

This is all in this blog about different ways of making money travel blogging, if you know of more ways, please share in the comments below and help the community. 

If you are a budding blogger and don’t understand any part of how to make money from travel blogging, you can contact me on my Instagram.