How This 6-Figure Travel Blogger Grows Her Email List
• Originally broadcast April 22, 2025 via email •
You know I love a good blogging success story.
Especially one that doesn’t come from someone with 500K Instagram followers or a perfect Pinterest account (though that’s cool, too).
This week, I want to introduce you to Samantha Hamilton, a Scale Your Travel Blog student and the full-time blogger behind New England Wanderlust.
She’s a perfect example of how leaning into what your audience is already asking for can unlock major momentum without needing to go viral.
| 💡 Blogging Tip of the Week 💡 Full-Time Blogger: How Samantha Turned Her Itinerary Posts Into List Growth |
From Casual Blogger to 6-Figure Business Owner
When Samantha realized her full-time job might not be around much longer, she decided to finally go all in on the thing that lit her up most: helping people plan unforgettable trips around New England.
She niched down, launched a new site, and after a little over a year (and about 80 blog posts), she qualified for Mediavine.
Now, about 2.5 years in, she’s built a $100,000+ per year blogging business, and one of the smartest things she’s done is….
Start growing her email list.
(Yes, yes, yes, you’re hearing me talk about this AGAIN – and that’s because it’s THAT important 😉)
How She Grows Her Travel Email List
Like many bloggers, Samantha started with a few generic freebies: packing lists, hidden gems, that kind of thing.
But her audience wasn’t interested.
Then she noticed something…
She kept getting emails from readers asking:
“Do you have a printable version of this itinerary without the ads?”
So she made one.
A simple, no-frills PDF version of her post, cleaned up in Canva (which is completely free, by the way).
People wanted it. Immediately.
Samantha’s Step-By-Step Process (That Works)
- Publishes a new itinerary blog post
- Creates a printable PDF version of it in Canva
- Uploads it as a freebie on her site (you’ll need an email marketing platform for this)
- Watches the email subscribers roll in
Her conversion rate is…
➡️ Consistently 3–7% (and sometimes higher with Grow Spotlight Forms)
Even smarter, she has an entire Free Resource Library that her audience can easily access from the homepage, which helps new readers discover more value and stick around even longer.
What She Sends Her Email List
Samantha emails her list once a week, and keeps it personal, useful, and light:
- A quick note or fun update about New England
- Three related blog post links (she calculated that this traffic alone pays for her ConvertKit plan!)
- A personal sign-off with something simple, seasonal, or travel-related
- Plus, a travel resources section with her affiliate links
It’s thoughtful and it’s consistent.
That’s why her open and click rates are strong, and her audience keeps coming back.
Her #1 Tip for Email Growth?
“Your audience is already telling you what they want; just pay attention to what they ask you for.”
Samantha’s big shift didn’t come from copying what was working for other bloggers.
It came from tuning into what her audience was already asking for, then giving it to them in a helpful way.
Living the Blogging Dream
“I still have to pinch myself every day that this is what I do for a living.”
A few years ago, Samantha had no blog. No readers. No clear plan.
And now she’s a full-time blogger making six figures, growing her blog and email list every single week, and getting heartfelt messages from readers who used her itineraries to plan their dream trips.
The blogging world isn’t just for influencers or people who got in early.
It’s still very real, very possible, and Samantha’s story is proof.
Coming up next…
🚨 How To Monetize Your Blog Like a Funnel (Without TONS of Traffic)
🚨 How To Turn Your Blogging Skills Into Income, No Matter What the Economy Looks Like
🚨 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.)
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