Travel Blogger Makes £2K+ a Month While Raising a 1-Year-Old

Let’s be honest…

…hitting a full-time income from your blog can feel like chasing a unicorn, especially when you’re not getting 100,000+ pageviews a month.

But this week, I want to share a real success story from a Scale Your Travel Blog student who’s proving that it’s very possible to hit those income goals, even before qualifying for an ad network like Mediavine or Raptive.

Meet Jordie Flain from The Flains Travel.

Last month Jordie brought in £2,268 from her blog, and £2,203 of that was from affiliate marketing.

But here’s what makes this really impressive… She’s doing it with just 12,000 to 15,000 monthly readers.

No viral traffic. No massive audience. Just the right strategy.

Let’s break down what’s working for her:

The Breakdown of Jordie’s Blog Income

Affiliate Income: 97%

Not sure what affiliate marketing is?

Not to worry, it’s simpler than it sounds.

It just means you earn money when you recommend something to your readers and they decide to book or buy it through your special link.

For example:

Let’s say you stayed at an amazing hotel in Paris and wrote about it in your blog post. If a reader clicks your hotel link and books ANY hotel, you earn a commission.

It doesn’t cost the reader anything extra, but you still get paid for helping them make a decision.

About 80-90% of medium to large-sized companies already have affiliate programs set up, including (but certainly not limited to): Amazon, Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Target, Walmart, etc. etc. etc.

Display Ads: 3%

Jordie is currently with SheMedia, bringing in about £60–£100 per month from ads. Not a huge chunk of her income (yet), but it’s something, and once she grows her traffic, this income stream will increase.

That said, Jordie’s blog is a perfect example of how you don’t need ads to earn a living. You just need the right kind of posts, the right links, and most importantly, the right strategy.

“Affiliate marketing is where I’ve focused, and it’s what’s working best right now. Ads are fine, but they’re not driving the needle for me yet.”

How She’s Making Affiliate Sales

One of the biggest myths in blogging is that you need tons of traffic to start making real money.

But Jordie is proof that strategy matters more than pageviews.

As mentioned earlier, Jordie is earning £2,200+ per month from her blog with just 12,000 to 15,000 monthly sessions.

Here’s what she’s doing that’s working right now:

1. She creates super helpful hotel roundups

Instead of writing blog posts that list 50+ hotels (and leave readers more overwhelmed than when they started), Jordie creates curated, focused lists that make choosing a hotel simple.

She narrows it down to just a handful of great options, based on what the traveler is actually looking for like rooftop pools, walkable neighborhoods, or family-friendly stays.

Important Tip: Most people hate making decisions. Don’t give them 47 hotel choices and expect them to feel confident.

Choose for them. Make the process easy, clear, and helpful and they’ll be way more likely to book through your link.

2. She writes honest, personal reviews of tours she’s actually taken

Jordie isn’t just copying and pasting details from a tour listing. She’s writing from personal experience.

Her blog posts include:

Real photos from her trip (not just promo shots from the company)
Honest opinions about what she liked and what she didn’t
Specific tips about what to expect like where the pickup spot is, what to bring, and if it’s worth the money

This helps readers feel more confident in booking because they know exactly what they’re getting into.

And here’s what’s really interesting…

Sometimes Jordie shares that she didn’t love a tour and recommends a different one she thinks is better.

Even if the better option is more expensive, people still book it because they trust her honesty.

“I wrote about one tour but recommended a better one—and people kept booking the more expensive alternative. That honesty builds trust. And it converts.”

Bottom line: Be real. Be helpful. Tell the truth.

3. She tracks what’s working and uses the data to grow her income

This is a small step that makes a big difference.

Jordie adds custom tracking codes to all her affiliate links (*cough cough* you should, too).

So at the end of the year, she can export all her affiliate sales and instantly see:

Which blog posts drove the most bookings
Which tours or hotels were the top earners
Which part of the post actually converted (intro, image caption, comparison paragraph, etc.)

Then she uses that info to double down on top-performing destinations, fine-tune her link placements, and stop wasting time on what doesn’t work.

Her Advice For Bloggers Still Under 15,000 Monthly Readers

If you’re sitting under 15,000 monthly readers and wondering if this whole blog thing is ever going to pay off..

…here’s what Jordie wants you to know:

“If you wouldn’t recommend it to a friend, don’t recommend it to your readers. Be honest, be helpful, and stay focused on what actually lights you up, even if the money hasn’t shown up yet.”

For a long time, she was chasing keywords just because they had traffic.

She was writing about topics she didn’t care about, like ski resorts in Finland (even though she’s never been skiing and has zero plans to).

Eventually, she realized: This is my blog. I get to shape it around what I actually love.

Now she focuses on creating fun, flexible itineraries for travelers with limited vacation time.

Her content helps people squeeze the absolute best out of every trip, without the overwhelm.

The shift to writing for her people, in her way, changed everything.

So if you’re feeling stuck, burned out, or like nothing is clicking yet…

Pause. Zoom out.

Ask yourself:

What do I actually care about? And how can I help people with that?

Start there. That’s where the momentum begins.

Her Future Goals

Pushing for Mediavine or Raptive Rise ads
Dipping her toes into digital products
Keeping things as passive as possible so she can enjoy time with her son

She even started creating “draft itineraries” on her blog. These are real, inspiring plans for destinations they haven’t visited yet with links to hotels and tours she’d actually want to try.

It’s a smart way to build affiliate income now while continuing to build trust with her audience (and plan her future vacations).

Coming Up Next…

🚨 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)

🚨 From 0 to Thousands: How Samantha Grew Her Email List Using Her Travel Blog

Talk to you soon,

Laura