chloedickensonLast Updated on 29th February 2024
This post about how I make money online while travelling contains affiliate links.
While I’ve written numerous posts about how you can make money travelling, I haven’t actually written a full post about how exactly I make money online while travelling full-time.
As a travel blogger and freelance writer, I wear many hats and play numerous roles as a content creator. Not only am I a writer, but I’m also my own publicist, social media whiz, accountant, CEO, director, manager, negotiator and so much more.
Making money online while travelling full-time is something that I’m sure many people would love to be able to do, and while I don’t want this post to come across as boastful in any way whatsoever, I do hope that it somewhat inspires you guys or helps you in any way.
Here are just some of the ways I make money online as a travel blogger, freelance writer and content creator.
Read more: How To Make Passive Income While Travelling – 7 Best Ideas
Sponsored blog posts – make money online
In terms of making money from my blog, the number one way I do this (as of March 2021) is by creating sponsored blog posts in collaboration with relevant brands and businesses.
While I am incredibly fortunate enough for some sponsored blog post opportunities to land in my inbox, more often than not, they arise by me reaching out to brands and asking to work with them by showing what I can offer from a sponsored collaboration.
Oftentimes, a sponsored blog post coincides with sponsored social media promotion too. So, depending on the sponsored content package agreed upon by myself and the brand, this could include a blog post, Instagram promotion and shares across Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest too.
Here are some examples of some of my favourite sponsored blog posts with various brands:
- 10+ Travel Inspired Date Night Ideas
- How To Make Money Travelling With The TEFL Org
- The Ultimate Food Bucket List – Best Dishes From Around The World
Freelance writing
In terms of making the most money while travelling (and at home like I have been for the past year 🙄 ), freelance writing is where it’s at for me.
I’m lucky enough to write for and work with some truly incredible clients across all kinds of niches including travel, dental, home, finance, insurance and more. The freelance element of my work usually combines both my blog experience and clients who work with me through my company, We Write Your Content.
I have a few clients who I work with on a monthly retainer basis and these long-term projects are what make up a good chunk of my monthly income, but I also work with many clients on one-off projects too, creating content and various forms of copy for their business such as articles, landing page copy, SEO content, meta data and more.
Social media promotion
While it seems that many content creators and ~influencers~ (not a term that I’d use to describe myself, I much prefer content creator if we’re going to use anything!) make their money on social media platforms these days such as Instagram and TikTok, it’s not something that actually makes up a huge portion of my income as a blogger.
I do occasionally work on paid social media campaigns for different brands which definitely helps to contribute to the money I make online, but it’s certainly not something that I could solely rely on, at least not right now.
Link insertions
As well as producing unique sponsored content in the form of blog posts for brands and businesses, I also sometimes offer link insertions into existing content on my blog.
This is a means of income that I never actually considered as part of making money as a blogger, but it’s contributed to a small percentage of my income over the last few months.
Paid link insertions typically involve a brand getting in touch with me asking if they can add a relevant link to an existing post on my site. It’s almost like a sponsored post, but it doesn’t involve actually writing a new post from scratch. Instead, I just add the client’s link to their chosen, relevant existing post on my blog in exchange for a fee.
Again, this isn’t a money-making method that would sustain my income entirely on its own, but it’s definitely a welcome bonus each month.
Affiliate income
I know so many bloggers who make a tonne of money through affiliate marketing (Michelle being one of the OG gurus for this kind of thing!) and while I do make a little bit of money using this method here and there, it’s something that I still continue to work on.
Some of my highest-paying affiliate programmes each month include Amazon, Booking.com and Get Your Guide.
Selling on Redbubble
I’m cheating somewhat with this money-making method while travelling as I technically started using Redbubble to make money after we arrived home from travelling, but I’m sure it’s something that I will continue to use while travelling in the future.
Redbubble is a platform that enables you to sell your photographs or various forms of other artwork in the form of prints, posters, t-shirts, keyrings, notebooks, mugs and so much more. I only heard of it for the first time last year when I saw another blogger using it to sell their photos online and while I haven’t exactly become a millionaire with it overnight, I have seen a gradual trickle of income through Redbubble by simply uploading my photos to the website and letting them take care of the rest!
Ebook sales – make money online
Being a published author has always been one of my ultimate lifelong dreams and so I made my first attempt at writing a “proper” book (instead of just blog posts and articles for clients) in December 2019.
Titled “Project 2020 Vision“, my first ebook was designed to help you live your best life, with all my top tips and advice on saving money, making more money, affordable travel tips, advice on finding your passion in life and so much more.
Of course, then the Coronavirus pandemic hit in early 2020 which rendered my book on how to have the best 2020 pretty much irrelevant. Thankfully, the initial sales of the ebook were pretty respectable before people realised that their 2020 was pretty much ruined…
I’m definitely keen to create more ebooks in the future, primarily on the subject of money and travel, so if there’s a particular subject that you’d like to see included in a specific ebook, please get in touch or leave a comment below!
Paid guest posts
Another way that I make money online is by writing paid guest posts for other bloggers’ sites, or other websites in general.
While many guest post opportunities won’t be paid for, there are some websites out there that offer compensation if you write a blog post for their site.
Guest posts are a great way of link building as well, as you can usually add a link to your own blog or website into your guest posts, which in turn helps to boost your DA and will hopefully drive more visitors to your site!
Gifted experiences – make money online
The below section isn’t technically how I actually make money while travelling, but it definitely helps me to save money while travelling.
Many bloggers (myself included) will work with brands on gifted campaigns, product reviews or press experiences and events. These types of collaborations don’t always include actual monetary compensation and instead you will be “paid” with a gifted experience or free hotel stay, for example.
Of course, these kinds of collaborations don’t pay the bills at all and many bloggers are slowly starting to move away from purely gifted campaigns and instead will require compensation for the work they produce (again, myself included).
However, there are a few instances where I work with brands on gifted campaigns whereby I’ll receive a product or experience for free, in exchange for promotion for the brand.
Transport
When travelling in Asia, I worked with Bookaway on a freelance writing basis (where I wrote numerous articles each month for their website) and I also received free transport on their bus, minivan and boat services in countries such as Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
While you might not always be paid to review a service like this, we were planning on paying to use the various modes of transport that we were very kindly provided with for free anyway, so while it wasn’t money in my pocket, it meant that we saved money on transport that we would be spending anyway.
Accommodation
This also applies to “free” accommodation as well. We’ve been incredibly lucky in the past to work with hotels, hostels and glamping businesses on a “gifted” basis, whereby we were provided a free stay in their accommodation, in exchange for a written review on my blog or social media promotion.
Again, this isn’t always paid for in physical cash, but these types of collaborations are always so well-received by us because it means that not only do we get to experience an incredible brand’s facilities, but we also save money on the accommodation that we would have paid for ourselves anyway.
Activities
“Gifted” activities such as the tour we took of the Golden Circle in Iceland or the bus tour we took in Singapore, were very kindly gifted to us by the brand, meaning that we received free tickets for these experiences.
Again, these were already experiences that we were going to pay for ourselves, but by working with the brand on a gifted campaign where we produced content and promotion in exchange for complimentary tickets, it meant that we saved money on the experience and we were also able to work with an awesome brand.
When it comes to working on “gifted” or “press” collaborations with brands, it’s important to remember your worth and if the work that the brand is asking for in exchange for something free from them is too much, don’t be afraid to ask for monetary compensation as well! I’d only recommend working with brands on a purely “gifted” basis at first if there’s room for paid work in the future, or if it’s a brand that you already truly love and really want to work with, or if it’s an experience you were going to pay for yourself anyway.
My absolute top tip, if you’re looking to make money online, is to diversify your income streams! Don’t just pick one method of making money online; you never know what could happen to a certain platform, so it’s always best to diversify as much as possible while remembering not to take too much on so that you’re incredibly overwhelmed!
Related posts:
- How I Quit My Job To Travel The World At 20 Years Old
- How To Find Clients As A Freelance Writer
- How To Find Your Passion In Life
- How To Make Money While Travelling With The TEFL Org
- My Career Journey So Far – Barista To Blogger & Businesswoman
Pin for later – make money online
Do you think you would like to make money online in the above ways? What are some of the ways you’d like to make money while travelling? Let me know in the comments or on Instagram @imjustagirl_16.
