How This Travel Blogger Makes $900/Month Without Ads
• Originally broadcast February 13, 2025 via email •
Most bloggers assume they need tens of thousands of monthly pageviews to make real money from their blogs.
Ad income is their only target, and they are laser focused on that end goal.
And believe me, ad income as a blogger is really nice. It’s the easiest way to monetize traffic in terms of actual effort.
(So yeah, I love ad income!)
But what if a small audience was all you needed to start bringing in consistent income from your blog?
Inside This Newsletter
- How Robyn Turns 6,000 Monthly Sessions Into $900/Month
- Why She Chose Affiliate Income Over Ads
- What She Recommends (And What Her Readers Actually Book)
- How She Writes Blog Posts That Consistently Earn
- The #1 Mistake New Bloggers Make With Monetization
- How To Apply This to Your Own Blog
- My Favorite Resources This Week
How She’s Turning 6,000 Monthly Sessions Into $900 in Income
That’s what Robyn of Two Empty Passports has done.
She’s built a travel blog that earns through affiliate marketing alone, without relying on ads, and in today’s newsletter, she’s sharing how you can do the same.
Like many travel bloggers, Robyn launched her blog out of a genuine love for travel. She initially thought you needed a big following to make any real money from it.
But she quickly realized something most people don’t know: you don’t need a huge following or tons of traffic to start earning.
Her travel blog focuses on slow travelers and people with hidden disabilities, helping them plan trips with ease.
That mission led her to affiliate marketing, which has become her primary way of earning from the blog.
Her top-performing blog posts? Itineraries.
By walking her readers through the entire trip planning process, her itinerary posts naturally guide visitors to click and book accommodations, tours, and car rentals.
Why She Prioritized Affiliate Marketing Income Over Ad Income
A lot of bloggers focus on getting enough traffic to qualify for ad networks.
But for Robyn, it never felt like the right approach, and here’s why:
✔ Affiliate marketing works with smaller audiences.
Since it’s based on conversions and not pageviews, it allows bloggers to earn even with lower traffic.
✔ She wanted a clean, distraction-free experience.
Ad-heavy sites can be frustrating for readers. Instead, her blog’s design keeps the focus on helpful content that leads to bookings.
✔ It fits her audience.
She shares detailed itineraries and travel guides, making it easy to recommend hotels, car rentals, and tours that fit naturally into the content.
What She Promotes To Her Readers
(And What Earns the Most)
If you want to earn with affiliate marketing, it starts with choosing the right things to recommend to your readers.
Robyn’s strategy is simple.. Travelers need a place to stay, things to do, and a way to get around.
So she includes affiliate links where they make sense, like car rental guides within road trip itineraries.
For Robyn, that means focusing on travel-related products/services like:
- Hotels
- Rental cars
- Tours & experiences
She’s also partnered with affiliate programs that align with her content and audience (slow travelers and those with hidden disabilities) which makes her recommendations feel helpful, not salesy.
How She Writes Blog Posts That Make Affiliate Income
Here’s what’s working for Robyn:
Detailed, high-quality itinerary posts. These attract readers who are actively planning trips.
Strategic link placement. Instead of dropping random links, she integrates them naturally throughout her guides.
CTA (Call To Action) boxes. These highlight her top affiliate recommendations and make booking even easier.
Interlinking. She connects related posts, like accommodation guides and transportation tips, to keep readers engaged and increase conversions.
The #1 Mistake New Bloggers Make with Monetization
One of the biggest mistakes new bloggers make is adding affiliate links to their blog posts without any strategy.
- If a post doesn’t naturally lead to a booking, the links won’t convert.
- If you focus on destination inspiration instead of practical planning content, readers might enjoy your posts, but they won’t be ready to buy or book anything.
Instead, focus on itineraries, accommodation guides, and transportation tips. This is content that attracts travelers who are ready to book.
Robyn’s #1 Piece of Advice for Making Your First $1,000/Month
Double down on what’s already working!
That means:
- Find what makes you money from your blog, whether it’s SEO, Pinterest, or email marketing, and do more of that.
- Write for readers who are actively planning their trips.
- Choose affiliate partners that align with your content (hotels, tours, car rentals, etc.).
- Make the booking process seamless by integrating links naturally and using CTA boxes.
Want to Learn How to Do This for Your Own Blog?
Robyn credits a lot of her success to my program, Scale Your Travel Blog, the same step-by-step system that’s helped hundreds of travel bloggers grow their traffic and income.
Inside the program, you’ll learn how to:
✔ Attract readers to your blog using SEO, Pinterest, Flipboard, email marketing, and more
✔ Monetize your blog, even if you’re just starting out or have a small audience
✔ Build a loyal audience through email, so you’re not at the mercy of Google algorithm updates, platform changes, or AI.
Right now, we’re offering a special promo version of our coaching program; an option that includes everything our full program offers except the site audit.
It’s available for a limited time for $1997.
>> Click here to read more details and sign up,
but if you’re thinking about joining us, don’t wait… this offer is closing soon!
My Favorite Resources This Week
- How To Grow Your Traffic With Google Discover [Ep. 106] (Featuring ME!) – Profitable Travel Blogger Podcast
– and –
- Right Thing, Right Now: Good Values. Good Character. Good Deeds. – Ryan Holiday
Coming Up Next…
🚨 Learn how to design a blog you’ll LOVE, without sacrificing user experience or site speed (without Elementor, Beaver Builder, or Divi)
Talk to you soon,
Laura
P.S. Here are my top recommended blogging resources.
(Links anywhere in this post could be affiliate/sponsored links. If you make a purchase using our links, we may earn commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products or services that we genuinely recommend ourselves.)
✔️ #1 Travel Blogging Course + Coaching + Community: Scale Your Travel Blog
✔️ #1 Travel Blogging Course + Community: Scale Your Travel Blog
✔️ Join my next free live training: 3 Secrets To Exponentially Grow Your Travel Blog
