In 2009, I earned $10,390 from travel blogging:
- $7,251 – Direct banner/text link sales
- $910 – Linkworth
- $840 – TextLinkAds.com
- $785 – Freelance work
- $362 – Google AdSense
- $19 – Miscellaneous affiliate sales
- $13 – Amazon.com
As you can tell, selling advertising directly is by far the biggest way that I’ve monetized my travel blogs. In the second half of 2009, after updating the theme of Go Backpacking, I began to sell much more banner advertising, which is billed on a monthly basis, or 3 months at a time in the case of the 125 x 125 banners. I learned to use PayPal subscriptions to automatically bill the customers.
Advertisers still prefer to pay for 6-12 months in advance on text link ads. I started turning them down for the first time because I didn’t want to see Go Backpacking overrun with text link ads.
I started to monetize Medellin Living through text link ads, and was earning more than I expected for such a niche travel blog. The consistent PR 3 has helped, I’m sure.
The freelance work consisted of 3 articles I wrote for AskMen.com, and a payment for the Colombia trip I didn’t get to go on (through no fault of my own).
I scaled back the Google AdSense on Go Backpacking, and instead, relied on the Lonely Planet’s Blogsherpa program to help me earn those dollars. I continued to earn a minimal amount of money per month on Medellin Living and this blog, but nothing much. At the time I’m writing this, I’ve removed AdSense from ALL of my blogs.
I received feedback through the Problogger.com forum in the latter half of the year that my traffic numbers should equate to higher earnings, and that I wasn’t making more money was a sign that I wasn’t monetizing properly – specifically that I wasn’t leveraging affiliate marketing. As a result, I started to focus on that area more. It’s not reflected above because I have yet to receive payouts from World Nomads, and my first Woo Themes payout was received in January 2010. Together, these two affiliates account for more than $300.
I should also mention that I spent more money on my travel blogging activities in 2009 then any other year. I bought a new laptop, Blackberry, upgraded my hosting package on GoDaddy, registered a bunch of new domains, invested in premium WordPress themes, joined AWeber, and started hiring designers to help with small projects on a freelance basis.
All in all, I’m super psyched that I hit the $10,000 mark for the first time, and that reflected a doubling of 2008′s achievement. The stars are aligning, and I see no reason why I can’t reach $25,000+ in 2010. And that’s just through Go Backpacking and Medellin Living.
To take things a step further, after 4 months of hard work, I’m launching a new membership site called Travel Blog Success. My goal is to help others build quality travel blogs through a 12-week online course blog, and members-only forum. I’ll be offering personalized support and guidance to everyone that joins.
Travel Blog Success launches at 10 AM (EST) Monday, February 1, 2010.
Check it out!
Tags: earnings
Happy New Year!
After my record-setting month of November 2009, I expected to see a dip in December. Plus, with the holidays and people traveling, I knew the traffic to Go Backpacking would dip.
In December 2009, I earned a total of $568:
- $520 – direct banner/text links
- $35 – Linkworth
- $13.50 – affiliate sale (money collected)
Go Backpacking received 16,000 unique visits, up about 5% from the month before.
I’m actually happy with this because I don’t think I had any new sales, so it’s a reflection of recurring monthly income. I was sad to lose a long time $35/month Linkworth advertiser though.
I turned down a handful of text link ads, and my prices were simply too high for other interested parties. I raised them extra high to get a feel for a ceiling on what companies will be willing to pay, yet as my traffic grows, I continue to think the site’s value is headed towards those dollar amounts.
Now that I have 3 years of earnings on record, I can tell January 2010 is likely to be a slow month too, but then things should pick up heading into the Spring.
A few affiliations are starting to pay off for me, though not yet in collected money:
- World Nomads – I’m a few dollars shy of hitting their $250 minimum payout for the first time.
- Woo Themes – I made 4 affiliate sales in December, and that affiliate link is the 2nd most clicked at Go Backpacking (as it appears on every page in the footer). This is almost enough for me to break even on the cost of the Gazette premium theme I use there. And I am flabbergasted at how many owners of premium themes don’t use an affiliate link in their footer! They’re leaving money on the table and they don’t even realize it.
- How to Make Money with Your Travel Blog – I’ve sold a few of Nomadic Matt’s ebook, though in December he was offering a discounted price so the commission was lower.
In 2010, I’ll likely transition Medellin Living and Blog to Travel over to Woo Themes as well. Picking a preferred brand and standing behind it makes a big difference in earning money through affiliate sales. It’s akin to shooting a distant target with a sniper rifle vs spraying machine gun fire in the hopes a bullet strikes the bullseye. If that analogy didn’t make sense, then I’ll just add that affiliate marketing requires a lot more precision than I initially realized.
I intend to post a few more times this month, including a year-end report for 2009′s online earnings. I’ll give you a hint as to the results: I more than doubled 2008′s earnings, and cracked the 5-figure threshold for the first time!
Plus, I’ll share my 2010 goals for travel blogging.
Tags: affiliates, earnings
I am writing this as the final hours wane in November, 2009. Just last month, I set a new record for online earnings, and I knew November had great potential due to a lot of links up for renewal. But I didn’t expect the results to be so awesome.
I almost doubled the earnings of October!
In November 2009, I earned a total of $2,971:
- $2,752 – direct banner/text links
- $143 – Google AdSense
- $70 – Linkworth
- $5 – affiliate sale (money collected)
All but $200 of this was earned from GoBackpacking.com too, which goes to show that you can earn good money by focusing on a single site.
I was especially excited to sell my first 486 x 60 banner advertisement in the header. It was my highest priced option at $200 per month, and I think I first saw the e-mail notification of payment from PayPal after working out at the gym.
Time after time, I check my BlackBerry mid-morning, as I’m walking out of the gym, and see money being sent to me for building a travel blog I’m passionate about. It’s an incredible feeling. I’ve learned so much over the last 3 years of blogging, with a whole trip around the world sandwiched in between.
The reason I’ve been so quiet here at Blog to Travel is the attention I’ve been giving my new travel blog project – a membership site due to be launched in January 2010.
I’m excited to be putting together my own product to sell, and think it will have a lot to offer the travel blogging community. I’ve already given a few previews, and I am confident it will kick butt when all is said and done.
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PS – if I factor in uncollected affiliate earnings for Nov ’09, I surpassed the $3,000 mark Nomadic Matt cites for his ebook about How to Make Money with a Travel Blog. And I’m poised to easily surpass $10,000 for the year!
Tags: earnings
