Travel blogging can be one of the most exciting niches in the blogging world. Travel blogging will take you to many beautiful places, both locally and internationally. For me, what’s good about travel blogging is that it allows me to do two things that I do love, and that is traveling and writing stories about my adventures.
Admittedly though, travel blogging is one of the most expensive niches to be in. You have to pay for airfare, airport fees, visa application, hotel bookings, tour packages, travel insurance, travel gear and gadgets, and so on. But there are many ways you can earn money while travel blogging.
- Affiliate Income
Simply put, affiliate income is revenue gained from selling the products of your affiliate partner. Think of booking sites like Agoda for hotels and resorts or Airbnb for private accommodations. Once an individual books a room through your affiliate link or banner, that’s already income for you.
You can also sign up with Amazon and add affiliate links to travel products like cameras or travel bags. Again, if one of your readers buys through your affiliate links, you will get a commission for it.
Affiliate marketing is big because it can guarantee good returns as long as you can anticipate the buying intent of your readers. That’s why seasonal articles like “Christmas Gift Guide for Travelers” or “Valentine’s Gift Ideas for Your Picky Partner” remain popular.
- Familiarization Trip
A familiarization trip is a way for tourism agencies to promote a local destination. When doing a familiarization trip, a tourism operator will organize a tour, invite bloggers and journalists to join them, then take the guests around to the different tourist spots in that particular destination, and have them sample local cuisines.
Bear in mind though that not all familiarization trips are paid but it’s a great way to network with fellow travel bloggers as well as local tourism offices.
- Display Ads
Running display ads on your blog is also a popular way to earn money. Depending on how big your monthly traffic is, some popular ad networks and ad managers that you can apply to are Google Adsense, Monumetric, Mediavine, and AdThrive. These companies pay bloggers based on clicks and impressions or views.
- Direct Ads
In getting direct ads, you don’t have to partner with an ad network to run advertisements on your website. You partner directly with companies or brands in running their ad banners on your website. The cost of direct ads will depend largely on several factors such as your blog traffic, domain authority, where your readers are from, and the location or placement of the ad banner
- Sponsored Posts
Sponsored posts are somehow similar to direct ads but instead of placing ad banners, you will publish brand articles in your blog. For sponsored posts, the cost of the article placement is usually determined by blog traffic and domain authority.
- Write and Sell a Book
A good way to earn from your articles is to convert them into a book, either a paperback or an eBook, and then sell it. You can sell your book on your website, on Amazon, or on Google Play, just to name some.
