How This 43-Year-Old’s Travel Blog Earns Income Using 9 Different Monetization Methods

When Megan Wristen was shifting round loads along with her household, it was tough to discover a regular job. Then an opportunity encounter with a coupon blogger modified her life.

She began her weblog, Mommy Travels, again in 2008 and has documented her adventures whereas touring to twenty-eight international locations along with her three youngsters.

She has grown it over time to earn sufficient revenue to place two youngsters by means of faculty, and she or he has diversified her revenue, incomes from 9 totally different sources. She’s additionally began further blogs within the meantime.

Preserve studying to seek out out:

• How she discovered about running a blog
• How a lot she’s incomes
• The place her revenue comes from
• Her foremost advertising methods
• What distinctive approaches she makes use of to get site visitors
• Her ideas on search engine marketing
• Her key phrase analysis technique
• Her ideas on hyperlink constructing
• How she creates content material
• How she grows her e-mail listing
• Her favourite sources and instruments
• Her largest problem
• Her best accomplishment
• Her foremost mistake
• Her recommendation for different entrepreneurs

Meet Megan Wristen

As a former Air Drive spouse, I moved 9 occasions in 11 years, so I discovered myself taking no matter job I might get regardless of having a level. 

It was extraordinarily irritating to observe an interviewer throw my resume within the trash proper after I was about to get employed as a result of he realized we have been stationed there. Though that is unlawful, there was nothing I might do about it.

In 2008 we have been stationed within the panhandle of Florida. On the time my youngsters have been 7, 4, and 1. 

In an try to make mates, I joined a MOPS group (moms of preschoolers). At one of many occasions, that they had a coupon blogger are available to visitor converse. I didn’t perceive her methodology; it was difficult and appeared time-consuming. 

However what I did perceive is that she was plugging her weblog continuously all through her discuss. 

I went to her weblog and realized quickly that she was making money off of it. I contacted her and requested some questions. 

Throughout our discuss, she wasn’t comfy disclosing how a lot cash she was making, however she did say that she would by no means train once more. 

I had a historical past and English diploma with plans to show, however might by no means get off the waitlist earlier than we moved once more. For sure, this assertion spoke volumes to me. 

By the top of the month, I had began two blogs, considered one of which might go on to grow to be my foremost job and revenue. The opposite I should have deleted it in some unspecified time in the future. 

I began Mommy Travels in October 2008 as a blogspot weblog, since there was no such factor as WordPress at the moment. 

How A lot Meagan’s Incomes

I make sufficient to place two youngsters by means of faculty on the similar time. 

I make advert income, affiliate revenue, influencer revenue, and receives a commission to go on journeys. 

I additionally sell photos to manufacturers like GoPro and AmaWaterways and on locations like iStock and Shutterstock. For cellular phone pictures, I promote them on Stockimo.

I additionally supply SEO consulting and social media consulting companies. I both cost a flat fee for this or an hourly fee; it is determined by the consumer’s wants. 

I additionally wrote a cookbook, so I get royalties from that, and I simply launched a month-to-month clothes rental subscription at Travel Style Expert, although it’s too quickly to say the way it will do. 

I’m on liketoknow.it/mommytravels, so I make commissions from the outfits I put on on journeys. 

I’ve a copyright infringement service that tracks down unauthorized use of my pictures after which collects cash for them. 

The youngsters and I are in so most of the pictures that it’s fairly apparent when my pictures have been stolen. 

As for site visitors, Mommy Travels obtained between 80,000 UMV and 115,000 UMV over the past 10 months. 

Through the pandemic, journey stalled, so I ended up operating a small media firm in Dallas for two.5 years. 

I transitioned again to my weblog final November. 

Covid affected it as a result of I had such little USA content material versus different international locations. For instance, I had many Thailand articles that did fairly nicely, however Thailand was one of many international locations that closed the longest, which meant no site visitors throughout that interval. 

Since Covid, I’ve labored laborious to extend the quantity of articles I’ve within the USA whereas persevering with to construct content material about different international locations. 

I work on my enterprise 40 per week, however after I’m touring and having to create content material, it could possibly be extra. I see folks saying they’re solely working 10 hours per week and marvel if that’s true. Perhaps if they’re outsourcing loads. 

Her Most important Advertising and marketing Technique

Again within the day, I used Pinterest probably the most. At one level, 60% of my site visitors got here simply from Pinterest. Sadly, that bubble burst fairly a while in the past. 

I nonetheless proceed to make pins when I’ve additional time and feed the content material into Pinterest, but it surely’s a low precedence for the reason that return is so little. Now, as an alternative of Pinterest as a site visitors driver, I have a look at it as a backlink. 

I verify my analytics each day and particularly watch to see the place site visitors is coming from. 

If I see site visitors coming from a supply I’ve by no means seen earlier than, I’m going and analysis it to see if I can leverage it in my favor. That is how I discovered about Whisk. 

I’ve recipes on my weblog and somebody had shared a recipe or two on this platform. 

Once I noticed site visitors coming in from it I went to see what it was. I then began an account and added my very own content material to the system in hopes of getting extra site visitors. Whisk is now Samsung Meals and now not driving a lot site visitors, sadly. 

The Significance of search engine marketing

At this level, search engine marketing is tremendous necessary, however I’m undecided how necessary will probably be a yr from now with the rise of AI. 

I search for issues to jot down about that I’m an authority in and for “low hanging fruit” locations that aren’t nicely lined and I can simply rank for. 

I watch articles to see in the event that they rank for something I didn’t embody after which will add details about what it’s already rating for. I attempt to solely use my very own pictures in hopes of exhibiting up when folks do a picture search. 

If I’ve one thing climbing in Google search, I’ll add a photograph and even create a video only for that article in hopes of bumping the article even increased. Lumen5 is a free product that makes use of AI that can assist you create movies tremendous quick. 

I’ll geotag pictures to assist the put up rank for a particular location. 

Key phrase Analysis

Ahrefs is my foremost instrument, adopted by RankIQ. 

I additionally spend a number of time wanting by means of Google Search Console. 

There I search for key phrases that I’m rating for however shouldn’t be as a result of that’s not what the article is about. 

I subscribe to the Exploding Matters e-newsletter for concepts. I take advantage of it for a more moderen weblog I began, Her Life Expert, to attempt to write one thing immediately that’s on an upward trajectory. 

Hyperlink Constructing

I’m in a personal Slack group that provides backlinking. There are lots of of content material creators within the group, which makes it straightforward to construct backlinks. 

I take advantage of FatJoe to syndicate one piece of content. They’ll get an article positioned on 100 to 200 information web sites for a price. 

I additionally hyperlink swap with creators I meet on press journeys. After the journey, I’ll attain out to them personally and ask to swap two hyperlinks with them. 

I’m syndicated on MSN, in order that’s a straightforward manner for me to get backlinks. 

I’ll put up a recipe after which share it to Samsung Meals, Yummly, FlipBoard, FoodGawker, Pinterest, and different food-related web sites. 

I push articles out to each doable social media platform, together with random ones like MeWe, Padlet, and Peartree. I don’t care if I get site visitors from these, I simply need the backlink. 

Anytime there’s a new social media platform on the market I be a part of it and begin posting. I don’t care if the platform is controversial, a backlink is a backlink. 

I additionally assume it’s necessary to construct internal links. I by no means have an article exit with lower than two internal links. Once I write an article I do know I ought to rank for, I’m going and discover some outdated articles and instantly put in inside hyperlinks to the brand new article. 

I joined FB teams which might be for hyperlink constructing by letting them use a few of your content material in a round-up. 

For instance, in the event that they’re trying to create a round-up of the very best resorts in Riviera Maya, I’d submit a brief paragraph a few resort we’ve been to with a backlink to my full overview on my website. 

I’ve discovered submitting to round-ups to be a good way to quickly construct backlinks. Nevertheless, it has not often led to site visitors. 

Meagan’s Content material Creation Course of

I really feel like I’m in every single place on this. 

My content material creation is a continuing mixture of articles I’m doing as a result of they’re straightforward to rank for, articles about one thing I used to be paid for, and articles to cowl issues we’ve accomplished or locations we’ve stayed. 

I do have sure cities I attempt to add to no less than as soon as a month like Las Vegas, Dallas, NYC, and Portland. 

Like many bloggers, I attempt to cowl each angle I can consider on one metropolis if that metropolis is doing nicely on my website. If issues to do with youngsters in Portland, Oregon is doing nicely then I’ll write issues to do with youngsters in Portland, Oregon. 

I attempt to replace a number of outdated articles per week, however I’m fortunate if I get to 1 per week. 

I’ve tried to area of interest down over the past yr, which I consider has led to a rise in my RPMs. I’ve moved a number of my life-style content material, meals content material, and automotive content material to different web sites. 

Her E mail Record

I’ve an e-mail listing and I e-mail each Wednesday, often or on the very least 2 to 4 occasions per 30 days. 

Typically, I’ll e-mail on the day I do know the RPMs would be the highest that week based mostly on a calendar Mediavine supplies for the month. 

If Wednesday is a low RPM day however Thursday is tremendous excessive, I’ll e-mail on Thursday as an alternative. 

I take advantage of the Develop plugin. They embed a subscribe type into each single article that pops out a bit when somebody is scrolling. 

I do an occasional giveaway utilizing a funnel to gather e-mail addresses. I supply a free printable child’s journal for subscribing. 

Her Favourite Sources

I take heed to a number of podcasts, just like the Social Media Advertising and marketing podcast, Area of interest Pursuits podcast, and Pat Flynn’s Sensible Passive Revenue, however solely sure episodes. I additionally just like the Running a blog Millionaire podcast.

Her Go-To Instruments

I take advantage of the next instruments most frequently on my weblog:

To resize and compress pictures earlier than I add them, I take advantage of a website known as I Love IMG. 

To geo-tag pictures, I take advantage of Geoimgr. 

And for video, I take advantage of CapCut. Increasingly more locations are extra eager about being featured on Instagram or TikTok. If video isn’t your factor, it will prevent a great deal of time. 

Meagan’s Greatest Problem

There was little-to-no details about running a blog after I began. I needed to study the whole lot from scratch. 

Now, I’d say my largest problem is Google’s algorithm modifications. I haven’t been deeply affected like many others, but it surely’s nonetheless a ache. 

Her Biggest Accomplishment

I’ve gained awards, and had my pictures featured on GoPro merchandise and been featured in outstanding magazines. 

However I believe the power to make sufficient cash to boost three youngsters, ship them to varsity, and present the youngsters the world is my largest accomplishment. 

The satisfaction I felt publishing a cookbook was excellent, but it surely’s not the sensation you get if you watch your baby develop and study by means of new experiences. 

What She Needs She Knew When She Began

I began in 2008. So, mainly the whole lot. 

I want I had began an email list from day one. I want I had promoted my e-mail listing far more from the very starting as nicely.  

Her Most important Mistake

Oh gosh, the place to start out?

I made a mistake in not switching to WordPress sooner. WordPress is simply a lot simpler than another web site on the market. 

I do a number of consulting and I’ve had purchasers utilizing all types of options. Why, I’m undecided. One factor I do know for certain, one thing that’s tremendous easy to do inside WordPress will be difficult and time-consuming on different platforms. 

I made a mistake by not ensuring each single article has one thing for buy in it. 

I nonetheless wrestle with this as a result of it’s time-consuming. I make extra off of Mediavine adverts than I do affiliate hyperlinks so it’s a decrease precedence. 

Her Recommendation for Different Entrepreneurs

Be life like. You’ll not see in a single day success. These programs telling you that you’ll make six figures are mendacity. 

Running a blog is difficult and there are tons of issues it’s important to know tips on how to do.