How Do I Make Money Travel Blogging?

As the person who has kept up with this madness for over nine years my answer to the above question will be as honest as they come.

How do you make money with a travel blog?  The simple answer?  You don’t.  You make money by selling things.

I think the general impression most of my readers have had over the years is that I’m somehow getting paid to write my Jamaica blog.  Proof of what they think comes in the form of many emails asking me how I get paid for this and I’m not lying when I say that I DON’T GET PAID!

Here’s an excerpt from an email I received years ago from one reader:

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READER:  “Hi there! I’m trying to figure out what I really want to ask you. Truthfully, I just admire that you’re able to travel so often and found a way to make money doing it. I’ve just been trying to figure out a way to make something like that happen for myself as well. After more thought I figured that’s probably not really something you can help me with, I just love reading your blog and I’ve lost several work hours daydreaming about not being in Canada during the winter!”

MY ANSWER:  If you want the honest truth I don’t make money doing it.  I make about $120.00 every three months from Google ads and that’s it.  I just decided I had enough of being a slave to my work life and somehow money always comes when I need it.  I don’t know how it works out but it does.  Still glad to chat any time if you feel like you want to.  And I’m really glad you’re wasting your work hours reading the blog!!  I appreciate your support!

READER:  “Oh I thought you made some money when you do reviews and what not!  Either way, great on you for doing what you want. “

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It’s crazy what impressions people have of what you do, isn’t it?

A blog in general isn’t something that generates money.  It does, however, provide a vehicle for you to generate money and if you look around at the thousands and thousands of travel blogs on the internet the majority of them ARE selling something!  Whether it be travel guides, affiliate products such as travel insurance, ebooks, etc.  Everyone who is making money travel blogging is selling something.

Over the years I have chosen not to weigh my blog down with items for sale because I felt that it takes away from the real reason I’m blogging.  I suppose that makes me a martyr because I’ve basically paid for fifteen years worth of travel and nine years worth of travel blogging all on my own, but at the same time I’ve always been in this for the LOVE, not the money.

I have experimented with a few ways to earn income from the blog before.  At one point I was offering custom trip planning packages to the many people who inquired by email.  The reason I decided to do it is because answering multiple questions over and over about Jamaica travel TAKES TIME and everyone’s time is worth something.  But I learned a valuable lesson trying to charge money for planning trips – everyone LOVES your work until they have to pay for it.

I used to get at least ten emails per week asking for help planning custom vacations and when I suddenly started replying with a price tag it was radio silence.  Tumbleweeds.  I never heard back from the people again.  In the long run that never made me cry because trip planning wasn’t my favorite thing to do anyway.  I’d rather be on the ground DRIVING the people around than telling them how to do it.

Bloggers can also earn money from selling affiliate products through their blog.  I dabbled in it a little bit but ultimately I didn’t want to junk up my blog with image ads and banner links that take people away from the purpose of my writing.

Sponsored posts are another way to earn money through a blog and yes, I have posted a few sponsored articles.  These articles are typically written by a marketing agency and they contain links to products or websites that generally have nothing to do with your blog.  That’s why I have been VERY selective and only a precious few have ever made it onto Jamaica My Way.  My blog is very personal and it is very niche so not everything fits into my content so I have tried to keep it real and related to Jamaica.  In fact, one of my sponsored posts about shipping a vehicle to Jamaica happens to be one of the more popular articles on the blog so that’s great!  I got paid to publish it and it brings traffic to my site.

Sponsored posts pay pretty well, usually around $100.00 USD per article but you would want to be careful that they aren’t promoting ridiculous products because that takes credibility away from you.

Probably the most profitable way I’ve made money through my travel blog is by writing for other publications.  Travel and tourism magazines, other travel blogs and other Jamaica blogs have all paid me very well for being a contributor.  I’ve never been paid less than $100.00 USD to write an article and sometimes up to $700.00 USD for contributing to certain magazines.

BUT keep in mind, paid writing gigs don’t come along every day nor do they happen in the beginning of your blogging career.  It took a few years for the writing gigs to find me since I didn’t seek them out on my own.  Many travel bloggers actively seek out paid writing opportunities but I never did.  I just obliged when the right offers came to me.

At this point in the game, the ONLY way I currently make money through this blog are Google ads and through the scandalous section about dating and relationships.  However, the dating section really only earns enough to cover the monthly fee for the subscription software protecting that content.

So….to conclude this post, I’m sure I could have made much more money over the years writing Jamaica My Way but I never wanted to stray from my REAL purpose of writing about Jamaica.  I do it for the love, not the money and I guess I’ve just held on to the ideal that some day something amazing will come from it.  That “amazing” has shown up in many forms over the years in the form of fantastic property review opportunities and an amazing vehicle sponsorship.  And THAT, my dear readers, sits very well with me.

So be honest.  Did you think I’m somehow earning money by writing Jamaica My Way all these years?  And have I answered that question sufficiently to quash those thoughts?  Comments and questions are welcome below!