We understand your pain… you want to travel, but you don’t have the money? Or, you have SOME money, but don’t want your travels to stop?
As we are on our monetisation journey too, we wanted to share some of the ways we are trying to earn, alongside some top tips from other creators! We are SO excited to monetise our travels, and we are so excited to help others do the same!
Below we share some key ways to earn money while travelling, ready for your worldwide trips! These will include options for people with NO social media following, people with a following, and everyone inbetween!
*This post includes affiliate links – these do not cost you anything extra, but means we might earn a commission; this helps us to continue making content and chasing our dreams 🙂
Blogging
Like our page, many people have started their travel blogging journey! It isn’t necessarily a ‘get rich quick’ way of earning, and we aren’t yet to see big figures! However, within the first month we did make a few cents, which doesn’t sound a lot; but this was SO exciting for us! It shows that it is possible!
Part of the blogging experience does include some other monetisation links, like mentioned below, but implementing ads is one way your blog can directly earn money! We have the option to add in ads at certain places within a blog… Like we have put just below here!
These spaces can earn just by page views, and some are click-through earners! We would suggest starting the blog sooner rather than later, just because it does take time. Even if you have a decent social media following, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll transfer onto your blog.
Affiliate Links
Affiliate links are a game changer for SO many! As a travel content creator, you are likely to share recommendations naturally… So, why not try to earn from it? Affiliate links come at no extra cost to the customer, but means you can earn a commission based off of their purchase through your links!
We are using TravelPayouts, which has a wide range of travel based affiliate programs, such as HostelWorld, Booking.com, Airalo and more! It shows your commission stats on an easy to use table, with integrated tools and widgets that makes using affiliate links so easy! Find the link to TravelPayouts here.
They have some amazing commission bases, with some being over 50%! Some programs also have amazing cookie lifetimes (with some being 30/31 days), meaning if someone clicks the link, and purchases 10 days later, since its within your cookie lifetime you should earn commission based on that purchase! Some programs do have entry requirements, so it is beneficial to have some sort of social media following! We have been accepted onto quite a few programs when we had just hit over 2k followers, which isn’t massive compared to many travel content creators!
UGC
This seems like the new kid on the block! UGC has taken the online world by storm, and we do see why! UGC stands for User Generated Content, which in essence is creating adverts for businesses to use. These usually differ from sponsored posts, which we will explain more about below!
UGC very rarely requires a social media following, however, if you have numbers to back up your content it is always beneficial! We would also recommend posting to TikTok for your UGC journey, as in time you can apply to the TikTok shop creators program, which can earn you commission for marketing those TikTok products!
There is so much information on TikTok to find about UGC, and we would love to share more about this if it is of interest! Please let us know by either liking or commenting on this post if you would like a full guide into UGC!
Many people are earning hundreds, if not thousands monthly with UGC. It isn’t a ‘pyramid scheme’, as some people assume. It is just a new form of freelance services, You are making quality, relatable adverts for brands to use on social media, that is basically it!
Freelance jobs
UGC is of course a freelance career, however, if you have skills that are transferrable, then maybe look into freelancing! Some skills include graphic design, accounting, travel planning amongst many! You can post your services, or find gigs, on platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork! This allows you to be more flexible with what work you take on!
If you would however want a bit more security, there is a multitude of jobs that allow remote working. You would need to ensure your working hours align with the current time of where you are located, alongside making sure you have reliable wifi, and can meet your job requirements! Some jobs even prefer if you are willing to relocate due to offices sometimes being located across many countries and continents!
Travel Photography
We aren’t yet using this strategy, however this is something we are now starting to organise!
From tourism boards, to airlines, to general online websites, travel photography is used in a variety of places! It builds information into something appealing to the eye!
Think of it this way, you see a holiday to Spain being advertised. If it was just text, you likely won’t be interested. However, if this ad is coupled with beautiful photos of that location, with things to do/see, you are SO much more likely to be intrigued.
Travel photography can be monetised in a few ways.
You can find stock image websites to sell your photos, on websites like Alamy and Shutterstock. There is sometimes content requirements, such as needing certain file sizes and formats. This usually allows multiple people and businesses to buy your photos, with whatever rights you choose to set. This isn’t going to necessarily be a big earner straight away, but will compress and grow as you post more images over time.
Another way to monetise your travel photography is by selling them directly. We know some people who will contact tourism boards directly to offer their travel photography. Photographers will send over some watermarked (this is very important) images, such as a full portfolio, of the photos they are offering to sell, and this will allow the tourism board to pick and choose which images they wish to buy. This can lead to big sums of money, depending on what rights you give to them.
Sponsored Posts
This is one for people with a social media following! If you have a certain amount of followers, and/or a good engagement rate, this could be an avenue for you!
Many businesses see the importance of social media now, so will pay creators to use their product in the form of sponsored posts!
You see this across many platforms, with many successful YouTubers now having sponsored videos with ad deals, instagram/TikTok creators having dedicated posts to products or even hotels/trips!
There is a lot of potential within this route, once you get to a substantial follower count! Do not be disheartened if you aren’t at 10k+ followers, as we have seen some creators be gifted and paid to sponsor items at even a few thousand followers!
We will advise that following a specific niche may lead to more opportunities! From a brands perspective (let’s use lunchtime wraps as an example), would you rather sell to a broad audience of people who like food and food content (such as restaurants, foods to try etc), to a more direct audience who watch recipe ideas and foods to make at home, or to people who watch people who makes wraps as a large chunk of the content? Their marketing will likely be so much more beneficial if they are reaching their ideal customer directly!
How have you monetised your travels?
We hope these tips can help you in your own content creation journey! We would love to hear your journey, so please if you use our advice, let us know how it goes on our instagram @ourtwostepstart. We will happily answer any questions you have, and would love to hear your experiences!
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Thank you for checking out our blog and be sure to see other blogs that we have made talking all things travel about Europe, Asia, Central America and everything in-between!
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