As we hurtle towards our 6th-anniversary of being bloggers, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the ups, downs and pivots we have had during that time. It seems everyone has a blog and why not? Having your own personal piece of the internet to showcase your content is a great outlet. The idea that influencers and bloggers are just after freebies is crazy. Yes, we do receive things for ‘free’ that others have to pay for. However, the work associated with reviewing, photographing, recording etc basically means that our time covers the cost of the item/experience. That is why a number of people in the industry especially if you are a travel blogger or influencer also charge for work. After all, we all have bills and exposure certainly does not pay them.
As travel bloggers with nearly 6 years under our belts, we have had the pleasure of working with some of the biggest names in the travel industry. These include airlines, tourism boards, hotel chains etc. Some months we have made more than our monthly salary for our day jobs. We have won a number of awards for the content we have created. We have also accumulated nearly 50k social media followers and over 31k blog subscribers. These things did not happen overnight. If you have aspirations of becoming a blogger or influencer and making it a profitable/full-time career, you must be prepared to put the groundwork in at the start and grit your teeth through the slow (both work and monetary) months.
Here are a few ways we have built up our following, allowed us to travel the world and earn cash from our blog.
Social Media
Using social media is a great way to connect with readers, other bloggers and companies. We have had a number of offers land in our inbox stating they have seen our content on social media. There are so many social media channels now, it is difficult to commit fully to them all, although a presence on all if possible is recommended.
However, if you want to be a travel influencer solely publishing photographs then focus on Instagram. If you enjoy making in-depth videos or want a platform to use as a stepping stone to starting your own travel TV show then YouTube is ideal. Whereas short often lighthearted/funny videos are more suited to TicTok/Instagram Reels etc. If writing a blog is your thing then sharing your posts and engaging with others on Twitter and Facebook can draw a lot of traffic to your site.
Sponsored Work
Many companies want to boost their sales by having bloggers and influencers promote them to their audiences. This could be via a blog post, a photograph or even video. Therefore, if you are a travel blogger or influencer with a large number of followers, especially if your audience is engaged, you are more likely to get sponsored work. However, this sometimes does depend on the product and the marketing budget available to the PR company.
Affiliate Links
Ensuring your posts contain affiliate links is a great way of making money even when you are not working. Many bloggers and influencers rely on passive income streams, especially during quiet months. If you are not familiar with affiliate links, basically if a reader clicks on one, you could earn a few pennies. If they then go on to buy something from the site the affiliate link is directed to, you get more. Therefore the more affiliate links you use and the more readers have, the more likely it is you can make money this way.
There are also a lot of other passive income streams you could look at. These include advertising, creating your own products (these could be physical or electronic depending on your blog’s niche), public speaking etc.
There is not a one size fits all for all bloggers, especially if you are/want to be a travel blogger or influencer. This is because it is a diverse niche. Some focus on luxury travel, whereas others focus on backpacking. There are family travellers, solo travellers and everything in between. However the common factor regardless of your field of ‘expertise’ and something we have found out along the way – the more you put in, the more you get out.
Here’s to the next 6 years and whatever they may bring!
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