If you’re building a travel brand, your goal is likely to become an influencer in the travel space. Being an influencer allows you to make money with your travel brand, and when your passions help you earn an income, you can continue supporting your dreams and doing the work you enjoy. It’s no secret that traveling is good for the soul; it can enrich your life in unparalleled ways, giving you a sense of purpose and fulfillment. But not everyone who loves to travel can make a full-time career out of it. It will take time, patience, research, and dedication. With that in mind, here’s how you can monetize your career as a travel influencer:
Sponsored Content
One of the best ways to make money from your travel brand is through sponsored content. Sponsored content is when a brand partner with you to promote their content in exchange for a fee. Typically, the larger your following is, the more it costs a brand to work with you. This type of arrangement is the crux of influencer marketing, but sponsored posts can take many forms.
Sponsored content can be blog posts, YouTube videos, podcasts, and more. In some cases, brands will reach out to partner with you. This is common for macro-influencers. However, you can take it into your own hands by handling outreach yourself. Reach out to companies that have similar missions and audiences like you and shoot them 2-3 ideas on how you can promote their company.
Monetize Your YouTube Channel
One of the best ways to generate income for your travel brand is to make money on YouTube, which can be done in a variety of ways. Common ways to monetize your YouTube channel include affiliate marketing, YouTube ads, sponsored content (mentioned above), and selling merchandise. YouTube ads are particularly lucrative once you’ve built a steady brand and post videos regularly.
For example, Kara and Nate, a husband and wife duo that travels the world together, made $50,000 in ad revenue from YouTube between July and September 2019. You’ll find that your ad revenue will directly correlate with your channel growth and consistency. If you’re curious about how much other travel influencers make, you can gain a better idea of their earnings through the website
Pick a Niche – Then Pivot
Within the travel industry, there are many niches. You can focus on camping, living the van life, budget travel, luxury travel, backpacking, and much more. It’s important for you to decide on your niche early on. Having a niche allows you to connect in a more meaningful way with your target markets—the people that are most likely to consume your content.
With that being said, it’s crucial to understand the art of the pivot. Pivoting is when you change the direction of your brand while still maintaining its core values. When you take a look at the most popular travel influencers, you’ll find that many of them go through pivots.
For example, vanlifers choose to pivot to tiny homes, world travelers pivot to living van life, and budget travelers living the nomadic lifestyle might pivot to focus on culinary cuisine around the world. Perhaps you want to research becoming a certified flight instructor and take your followers to the sky, or perhaps you want to pivot to fitness and lifestyle. Whatever the fast, always be forward-thinking about the potential for pivots that help grow your brand and keep your content fresh.
Set Up a Patreon Account
Patreon is a platform that allows loyal fans to support the influencers that they’re passionate about. This membership-based platform is akin to crowdfunding for influencers. Brand owners set up pledge levels that members can donate to, and the higher the donation tier, the better the rewards.
For example, for $ 5-month members are able to receive exclusive content from Trent and Allie, a couple that travels in a converted Dodge Ram Promaster. And for $10 per month, members receive access to members-only YouTube content, discounts on merchandise, and guaranteed replies to messages. Kara and Nate were able to rack in $10,000 over the course of four months during the summer of 2019 from Patreon alone.