Are you always either on a trip or planning your next one? Instead of watching television or reading novels, do you spend your free time browsing Skyscanner, surfing Hotels.com, or reading Travel and Leisure?
They say that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. So if money is the only reason you don’t travel more often, you might be surprised to hear that it’s actually realistic to earn some extra cash by simply following your passion for travel.
Starting your own travel blog on WordPress.com, just like the ones you probably already spend time browsing each week, can help you document your adventures and generate funds for your next one.
Why start your own travel blog?
A blog on WordPress.com gives you ultimate flexibility when it comes to the content you create, the way you share it, and how you control access and revenue.
A blog on WordPress.com is something that you own. A YouTube channel can be a good way to find new followers, but you’ll always have to conform to YouTube’s rules. One violation and your tens of thousands of followers can be erased. And the same thing goes for any platform that you don’t own — Instagram, Facebook, or even other blogging tools.
With a WordPress blog, you’re in charge — you set the itinerary and steer the ship. You can use other media channels to find followers, but your “home base” should always be your site. Direct visitors to connect with you there for more (and exclusive!) content.
There are many different ways to monetize a WordPress.com blog. We’ll explore a few of the most popular for travel bloggers.
Top ways to make money with a travel blog
Growing a following and income from travel blogs isn’t an instant thing. But if you put your passion behind it, keep it fun, and remain persistent, you can be successful. Here are some of the most common ways to make money with a travel blog:
Advertising
Perhaps the easiest way to start making money from your site is to allow advertising. On WordPress.com, you have the major advantage of the WordAds platform. So instead of trying to sell banner ads yourself, calling potential sponsors, and dealing with the technical aspects of placing ads in the right sizes and on the right pages, WordAds takes care of everything for you.
It pulls ads automatically from top platforms like Google, Facebook, AOL, and more. Then, as your share of advertising revenue accrues, you’ll be paid directly to your PayPal account.
And WordAds has a number of settings to determine who sees your ads, pause them all together, or choose where on your site they can be shown.
Since you’re paid based on the number of people who view your ads, the more site visitors you have, the more money you can make. That does mean that, unless you start out with an audience, it may take a bit to make a lot of revenue from ads. But this is a simple way to start making money from day one and be rewarded for creating great travel content.
Affiliate advertising
Do you have a favorite luggage brand? A certain refillable water bottle that you take everywhere?
Affiliate advertising allows you to link to products from within your posts and earn a commission when someone makes a purchase.
The best part is that you can work these links naturally into your blog posts without compromising the integrity of your advice. Recommend brands that you truly love and care about. Talk about what helped you during your last trip or what new gadget you’re looking forward to using on your next one.
The best way to get started is with Amazon affiliate advertising — learn how to set that up here.
Sponsored posts
Sponsored posts are similar to affiliate advertising in that you can work them naturally into the stream of content your followers already love. Sponsors pay you to create content — posts, videos, etc. — that mentions their product or demonstrates how it works. So, as a travel blogger, you might partner with a boutique hotel, luggage brand, or on-the-go cocktail company.
The good news here is that you can choose who to work with. You decide what brands fit with your mission and who you want to recommend to your followers.
As you grow your following, you may even get offers from resorts or other travel-related companies who’d love for you to try their offering for free in exchange for promotion.
Premium content
With a growing list of followers, you’ll have many who are willing to pay for exclusive content. You can use this method to fund specific projects and more directly monetize your hard work. Once you create the content (which should be some of your best, by the way), you can almost “set it and forget it” to earn a passive income for years.
With WordPress, you can easily start offering premium-only content with the Premium Content Block. Accept readers’ payments on a weekly, monthly, or annual basis, then give them exclusive access to your best content!
Pro tip: Another awesome way to offer premium content is through a paid email newsletter full of super valuable, ongoing information in exchange for a small fee.
Skift is an online travel blog that also has display ads and membership options
Memberships and subscriptions
Similar to premium content, you can offer memberships or subscriptions to your site for regular access to your best and most exclusive material. Your top supporters often appreciate the opportunity to feel part of your journey and contribute financially to your ongoing success.
Learn more about creating memberships and subscriptions with WordPress.com.
Sell your own products
Maybe you have your own branded t-shirt, travel mug, or portable charger. Perhaps you created a coffee table book of your travel photos. But whatever it is, if you have a product — digital or physical — you want to sell, you can do it quickly with WordPress.com.
The Pay with Paypal button, which you can put anywhere on your site, allows you to accept payments for absolutely anything at all.
Want to create an entire eCommerce store? You can also do this using WooCommerce.
Donations and tips
Donations are often overlooked but surprisingly effective!
Perhaps you don’t want to restrict access to your content and you’re not ready to offer a membership, but people keep asking how they can support you. This is a wonderful question to get, and an easy one to answer!
You can accept one-time donations on your WordPress blog. People who find your advice particularly helpful or who felt a serious connection with one of your stories may be truly delighted to give you a tip.
And you can promote this as little or as much as you’d like. For example, you might ask folks to “pay for a coffee on my next trip!” or “contribute to my airport transfer!” — whatever feels appropriate and on-brand.
Leave your desk behind and take to the skies (or seas, or mountains, or jungles, or…)
What some might only consider a dream — getting paid to travel — is achievable for many who are willing to consistently pursue a following for their WordPress travel blog. Even if it’s just additional part-time income, avid travelers can share their experiences, help others, promote products they believe in, and generate revenue doing it.
WordPress.com provides the tools to create something you own and acts as a central hub for everything you can create.
Start with passion, help others enjoy it, and you’ll find that you can go far!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Go WordPress 