How Tanya Grew Her Blog to $800/Month in Under a Year
• Originally broadcast April 29, 2025 via email •
One of my favorite things lately has been sharing success stories and behind-the-scenes tips from real travel bloggers inside Scale Your Travel Blog.
And if you’ve been wondering whether it’s still worth starting a blog, or whether you should keep going, use this success story as proof that it absolutely is.
Today, I want you to meet Tanya from The T Word on Travel.
When Tanya started her blog in 2024, she didn’t have a website, didn’t know SEO, and had zero experience with blogging.
But she knew she needed a change, and she was willing to bet on herself, just like most successful bloggers do.
Fast forward less than a year later, Tanya’s blog is bringing in steady affiliate and ad income, and she’s only getting started!
HOW TANYA GREW HER BLOG TO $800/MONTH WITH JUST 4,900 SESSIONS
(AFTER LESS THAN 1 Year of Blogging)
In March 2025, Tanya hit 4,900 sessions on her blog, a 30% jump in traffic from the previous month.
Her income that month came from the following:
- Stay22 affiliate commissions: $609
- Other affiliates (TravelPayouts, car rentals, GYG, etc): $83
- Display ads (Journey Ads*): $120
That’s over $800 in blog income with traffic still under 5,000 sessions.
That’s nuts!
*Tip: Journey (powered by Mediavine) officially says you need 10,000 monthly sessions to qualify for their ad network, but in reality, they’ve been accepting bloggers who are showing strong upward momentum even if they’re far below that number.
If you have a couple thousand sessions per month and your blog traffic is trending upward, give it a shot and apply. You could get accepted sooner than you think.
Reminder: You don’t need massive traffic to start earning. You need a strategy that focuses on helping readers make decisions (not just inspiring or entertaining them).
Want To Start Travel Blogging?
Join my free LIVE workshop where I show you how I turn travel blogs into 6-figure businesses (without Instagram).
▶️ Click here to register for free!
4 SMART BLOGGING TIPS YOU CAN BORROW FROM TANYA’S JOURNEY
TIP #1: LEAN INTO AFFILIATE PROGRAMS THAT NATURALLY FIT YOUR CONTENT.
Tanya found strong success by incorporating Stay22 into her blog posts, offering readers easy ways to book hotels that matched the trips she was writing about.
But remember, the right affiliate program is going to vary depending on your blog’s focus.
- If you’re writing about van life, your audience might care more about outdoor gear, portable solar panels, or campground memberships than hotel stays.
- If you’re running a Japan-focused blog, your readers might be looking for Japan Rail Passes, guided city tours, or local SIM cards and WiFi rentals.
Tip #2: LEARN FROM OTHERS WHO’VE ALREADY DONE WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.
One of the biggest reasons Tanya was able to grow faster was she didn’t try to reinvent the wheel.
She showed up for live workshops, coaching calls, and trainings inside our course and coaching program, Scale Your Travel Blog.
She took notes, implemented quickly, and stayed open to learning new strategies (something a lot of bloggers, especially at the intermediate and advanced stages, forget to do).
Tanya says:
You don’t know what you don’t know. But when you surround yourself with the right teacher and community, you can shortcut the trial-and-error phase, and grow faster than you think.
Tip: Success leaves clues. The more you learn from others who are a few steps ahead, the faster you can avoid common mistakes and find your own path.
TIP #3: TREAT YOUR BLOG POSTS LIKE DECISION-MAKING GUIDES.
Instead of just sharing her experiences, Tanya writes posts that help readers make a choice (like where to stay, what tours to book, or how to organize their trip).
If you want your blog to make money, ask yourself every time you write:
- Am I helping my reader decide something?
- Am I solving a specific problem they’re trying to figure out?
- Am I offering clear options (and linking to them) where it makes sense?
Tip: Readers who are planning are far more likely to book or buy than readers who are just daydreaming. Write for the planners!
Tip #4: Focus your niche around what you actually love.
Instead of trying to cover every destination or trend, Tanya leaned into writing about the types of trips she’s most passionate about.
Readers trust you faster when it’s obvious you genuinely know (and care about) what you’re talking about.
And most importantly..
..you’ll actually want to keep writing when it’s about something you love, which is crucial for long-term growth.
(Burnout is NOT fun. Trust me on this.)
WHAT HELPS TANYA STAY ON TRACK WITH HER BLOG
Tanya currently balances her blog with managing autoimmune health conditions, which sometimes makes it hard to concentrate.
Here’s how she’s been able to keep focused on her blog:
- Weekly “non-negotiable” task lists
- A clear sense of why she started (written right on her wall!)
- Consistency over perfection
- Staying connected to new ideas and strategies through Scale Your Travel Blog
Important: You don’t have to be perfect, you just have to keep showing up for yourself.
HER LONG-TERM BLOGGING VISION
Tanya’s goal isn’t just a side income.
She’s building a blog that will eventually give her the freedom to move her family to a dream location, live anywhere she chooses, and support them 100% from her laptop.
And I can tell you from personal experience this isn’t just a fantasy.
When I first started blogging back in 2014, I had the exact same dream: to create time freedom and be able to live and travel anywhere I wanted.
Fast forward to 2025… and that’s exactly what I’m doing.
Blogging now fully supports my family of three, and we’ve chosen to make Northern Minnesota our home while traveling part-time.
Big goals start with small steps, and she’s proof it’s never “too late” to start.
How To Start A Travel Blog
(Even With No Experience)
If you’re brand new and thinking, “This sounds amazing, but I don’t even have a blog yet,” I’ve got you.
Starting a blog is simpler than it seems, as long as you don’t waste time going down the wrong path.
Here’s what I recommend:
1. Set up your blog the right way
Choose to self-host your website using WordPress.org.
Do NOT use Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress.com. The freedom, SEO potential, and monetization options are way better on WordPress.org.
I have a free guide below that will show you how to set up your blog (the right way). Grab it below:
2. Learn how to get traffic from Google & Pinterest (Give Up On Instagram
Most social media platforms, like Instagram or TikTok, might give you a quick burst of views, but that traffic disappears almost as fast as it came. It’s exhausting to chase trends for a few clicks that don’t last.
Search engines work differently. When you learn how to optimize your blog posts for search engines like Google, Bing, and Pinterest, those same posts can bring in traffic for years.
That’s exactly how Tanya grew her blog without ever going viral.
Instead of spending hours on content that disappears in 24 hours, focus on creating blog posts and Pinterest pins that people are actively searching for.
Don’t waste time writing blog posts no one sees. Join my FREE upcoming workshop and learn how to create content that actually gets promoted on Google, Bing, and Pinterest. >>> Click here to save your spot!
3. Monetize with affiliate marketing & Display Ads
Affiliate marketing is one of the fastest and most beginner-friendly ways to start making money from your blog, even if your traffic is still small. You don’t need thousands of readers to start earning. You just need to be strategic about what you promote and how you promote it.
I always recommend students start with affiliate marketing for a few reasons:
- It’s low-effort compared to creating your own product.
- You can earn while building trust with your audience.
- It works seamlessly with the travel content you’re already creating.
A couple of great networks to join as a travel blogger:
- Travelpayouts: Gives you access to travel-related programs like Booking.com, Viator, and more.
- Stay22: A unique affiliate tool that uses dynamic technology to automatically serve the best hotel or accommodation aggregator for each user.
As for making money with your travel blog through display ads, they typically become more profitable once your blog hits 10,000–50,000+ sessions/month (depending on the network).
But it’s never too early to start planning for ad monetization. Once your traffic grows, consider applying to networks like:
- SheMedia
- Journey
- Monumentric
- Raptive Rise
- Mediavine
- Raptive
Having display ads on your website can bring in consistent monthly income without selling anything at all.
Pro Tip: Start weaving affiliate links into helpful content early, like hotel guides, destination reviews, or gear recommendations. Don’t wait until you feel “ready”; those early posts can start earning passively over time.
4. Grow your email list
If your blog is the engine, your email list is the fuel that keeps it running.
An email list is the most valuable asset you can build as a blogger.
That’s because it’s the one platform you actually own. You’re not at the mercy of algorithm changes, social media reach, or affiliate program rules.
And unlike blog traffic, which comes and goes, your email list grows in value every time someone signs up.
It’s also one of the best ways to make money, especially if your blog traffic is still small. You can use your list to:
- Sell affiliate products with personalized recommendations
- Get sponsored by brands looking for direct audience access
- Launch your own offers, like itineraries, guides, or services
- Drive repeat traffic to your blog for higher ad income
Pro Tip: Create a freebie that solves a specific problem for your reader (like How To Stay in an Overwater Bungalow For Free or How To Fly Business Class For The Price of Economy) and deliver it through an automated welcome sequence. From there, you can build trust and recommend products or services that actually convert.
Want to grow faster? Add email opt-ins everywhere: in your blog posts, your Pinterest pins, and your homepage.
Start growing your email list through a platform like:
– Kit (formerly Convertkit)
– Beehiiv
