How This 43-12 months-Outdated’s Journey Weblog Earns Earnings Utilizing 9 Completely different Monetization Strategies

When Megan Wristen was shifting round lots along with her household, it was troublesome to discover a regular job. Then an opportunity encounter with a coupon blogger modified her life.

She began her weblog, Mommy Travels, again in 2008 and has documented her adventures whereas touring to twenty-eight international locations along with her three youngsters.

She has grown it over time to earn sufficient revenue to place two youngsters via school, and he or she has diversified her revenue, incomes from 9 completely different sources. She’s additionally began extra blogs within the meantime.

Maintain studying to search out out:

• How she realized about running a blog
• How a lot she’s incomes
• The place her revenue comes from
• Her primary advertising methods
• What distinctive approaches she makes use of to get visitors
• Her ideas on website positioning
• Her key phrase analysis technique
• Her ideas on hyperlink constructing
• How she creates content material
• How she grows her electronic mail checklist
• Her favourite sources and instruments
• Her largest problem
• Her best accomplishment
• Her primary mistake
• Her recommendation for different entrepreneurs

Meet Megan Wristen

As a former Air Drive spouse, I moved 9 instances in 11 years, so I discovered myself taking no matter job I might get regardless of having a level. 

It was extraordinarily irritating to observe an interviewer throw my resume within the trash proper after I was about to get employed as a result of he realized we had been stationed there. Though that is unlawful, there was nothing I might do about it.

In 2008 we had been stationed within the panhandle of Florida. On the time my youngsters had been 7, 4, and 1. 

In an try to make pals, I joined a MOPS group (moms of preschoolers). At one of many occasions, they’d a coupon blogger are available to visitor communicate. I didn’t perceive her technique; it was difficult and appeared time-consuming. 

However what I did perceive is that she was plugging her weblog continually all through her discuss. 

I went to her weblog and realized rapidly that she was earning profits off of it. I contacted her and requested some questions. 

Throughout our discuss, she wasn’t comfy disclosing how a lot cash she was making, however she did say that she would by no means educate once more. 

I had a historical past and English diploma with plans to show, however might by no means get off the waitlist earlier than we moved once more. Evidently, this assertion spoke volumes to me. 

By the tip of the month, I had began two blogs, one in all which might go on to change into my primary job and revenue. The opposite I should have deleted it sooner or later. 

I began Mommy Travels in October 2008 as a blogspot weblog, since there was no such factor as WordPress at the moment. 

How A lot Meagan’s Incomes

I make sufficient to place two youngsters via school on the similar time. 

I make advert income, affiliate revenue, influencer revenue, and receives a commission to go on journeys. 

I additionally promote pictures to manufacturers like GoPro and AmaWaterways and on locations like iStock and Shutterstock. For mobile phone pictures, I promote them on Stockimo.

I additionally supply website positioning consulting and social media consulting providers. I both cost a flat charge for this or an hourly charge; it is determined by the consumer’s wants. 

I additionally wrote a cookbook, so I get royalties from that, and I simply launched a month-to-month clothes rental subscription at Journey Type Skilled, although it’s too quickly to say the way it will do. 

I’m on liketoknow.it/mommytravels, so I make commissions from the outfits I put on on journeys. 

I’ve a copyright infringement service that tracks down unauthorized use of my pictures after which collects cash for them. 

The youngsters and I are in so most of the pictures that it’s fairly apparent when my pictures have been stolen. 

As for visitors, Mommy Travels bought between 80,000 UMV and 115,000 UMV over the past 10 months. 

In the course of the pandemic, journey stalled, so I ended up working a small media firm in Dallas for two.5 years. 

I transitioned again to my weblog final November. 

Covid affected it as a result of I had such little USA content material versus different international locations. For instance, I had many Thailand articles that did fairly effectively, however Thailand was one of many international locations that closed the longest, which meant no visitors throughout that interval. 

Since Covid, I’ve labored arduous to extend the quantity of articles I’ve within the USA whereas persevering with to construct content material about different international locations. 

I work on my enterprise 40 every week, however after I’m touring and having to create content material, it may very well be extra. I see individuals saying they’re solely working 10 hours every week and surprise if that’s true. Perhaps if they’re outsourcing lots. 

Her Important Advertising and marketing Technique

Again within the day, I used Pinterest probably the most. At one level, 60% of my visitors got here simply from Pinterest. Sadly, that bubble burst fairly a while in the past. 

I nonetheless proceed to make pins when I’ve further time and feed the content material into Pinterest, nevertheless it’s a low precedence for the reason that return is so little. Now, as a substitute of Pinterest as a visitors driver, I take a look at it as a backlink. 

I verify my analytics each day and particularly watch to see the place visitors is coming from. 

If I see visitors coming from a supply I’ve by no means seen earlier than, I am going and analysis it to see if I can leverage it in my favor. That is how I realized about Whisk. 

I’ve recipes on my weblog and somebody had shared a recipe or two on this platform. 

After I noticed visitors coming in from it I went to see what it was. I then began an account and added my very own content material to the system in hopes of getting extra visitors. Whisk is now Samsung Meals and now not driving a lot visitors, sadly. 

The Significance of website positioning

At this level, website positioning is tremendous vital, however I’m unsure how vital it is going to be a 12 months from now with the rise of AI. 

I search for issues to write down about that I’m an authority in and for “low hanging fruit” locations that aren’t effectively coated and I can simply rank for. 

I watch articles to see in the event that they rank for something I didn’t embody after which will add details about what it’s already rating for. I attempt to solely use my very own pictures in hopes of displaying up when individuals do a picture search. 

If I’ve one thing climbing in Google search, I’ll add a photograph and even create a video only for that article in hopes of bumping the article even larger. Lumen5 is a free product that makes use of AI that can assist you create movies tremendous quick. 

I’ll geotag pictures to assist the publish rank for a selected location. 

Key phrase Analysis

Ahrefs is my primary instrument, adopted by RankIQ. 

I additionally spend loads of time trying via Google Search Console. 

There I search for key phrases that I’m rating for however shouldn’t be as a result of that’s not what the article is about. 

I subscribe to the Exploding Subjects publication for concepts. I take advantage of it for a more moderen weblog I began, Her Life Skilled, to try to write one thing instantly that’s on an upward trajectory. 

Hyperlink Constructing

I’m in a non-public Slack group that gives backlinking. There are a whole lot of content material creators within the group, which makes it simple to construct backlinks. 

I take advantage of FatJoe to syndicate one piece of content material. They’ll get an article positioned on 100 to 200 information web sites for a charge. 

I additionally hyperlink swap with creators I meet on press journeys. After the journey, I’ll attain out to them personally and ask to swap two hyperlinks with them. 

I’m syndicated on MSN, in order that’s a simple method for me to get backlinks. 

I’ll publish a recipe after which share it to Samsung Meals, Yummly, FlipBoard, FoodGawker, Pinterest, and different food-related web sites. 

I push articles out to each potential social media platform, together with random ones like MeWe, Padlet, and Peartree. I don’t care if I get visitors from these, I simply need the backlink. 

Anytime there’s a new social media platform on the market I be a part of it and begin posting. I don’t care if the platform is controversial, a backlink is a backlink. 

I additionally assume it’s vital to construct inner hyperlinks. I by no means have an article exit with lower than two inner hyperlinks. After I write an article I do know I ought to rank for, I am going and discover some previous articles and instantly put in inner hyperlinks to the brand new article. 

I joined FB teams which might be for hyperlink constructing by letting them use a few of your content material in a round-up. 

For instance, in the event that they’re seeking to create a round-up of one of the best resorts in Riviera Maya, I’d submit a brief paragraph a few resort we’ve been to with a backlink to my full assessment on my web site. 

I’ve discovered submitting to round-ups to be a good way to quickly construct backlinks. Nonetheless, it has not often led to visitors. 

Meagan’s Content material Creation Course of

I really feel like I’m everywhere on this. 

My content material creation is a continuing mixture of articles I’m doing as a result of they’re simple to rank for, articles about one thing I used to be paid for, and articles to cowl issues we’ve carried out or locations we’ve stayed. 

I do have sure cities I attempt to add to a minimum of as soon as a month like Las Vegas, Dallas, NYC, and Portland. 

Like many bloggers, I attempt to cowl each angle I can consider on one metropolis if that metropolis is doing effectively on my web site. If issues to do with youngsters in Portland, Oregon is doing effectively then I’ll write issues to do with youngsters in Portland, Oregon. 

I attempt to replace just a few previous articles every week, however I’m fortunate if I get to 1 every week. 

I’ve tried to area of interest down over the past 12 months, which I consider has led to a rise in my RPMs. I’ve moved loads of my life-style content material, meals content material, and automotive content material to different web sites. 

Her E mail Record

I’ve an electronic mail checklist and I electronic mail each Wednesday, normally or on the very least 2 to 4 instances per thirty days. 

Generally, I’ll electronic mail on the day I do know the RPMs would be the highest that week primarily based on a calendar Mediavine offers for the month. 

If Wednesday is a low RPM day however Thursday is tremendous excessive, I’ll electronic mail on Thursday as a substitute. 

I take advantage of the Develop plugin. They embed a subscribe kind into each single article that pops out a bit when somebody is scrolling. 

I do an occasional giveaway utilizing a funnel to gather electronic mail addresses. I supply a free printable child’s journal for subscribing. 

Her Favourite Assets

I take heed to loads of podcasts, just like the Social Media Advertising and marketing podcast, Area of interest Pursuits podcast, and Pat Flynn’s Good Passive Earnings, however solely sure episodes. I additionally just like the Running a blog Millionaire podcast.

Her Go-To Instruments

I take advantage of the next instruments most frequently on my weblog:

To resize and compress pictures earlier than I add them, I take advantage of a web site referred to as I Love IMG. 

To geo-tag pictures, I take advantage of Geoimgr. 

And for video, I take advantage of CapCut. Increasingly more locations are extra excited by being featured on Instagram or TikTok. If video isn’t your factor, this can prevent a great deal of time. 

Meagan’s Greatest Problem

There was little-to-no details about running a blog after I began. I needed to be taught every part from scratch. 

Now, I’d say my largest problem is Google’s algorithm adjustments. I haven’t been deeply affected like many others, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a ache. 

Her Biggest Accomplishment

I’ve received awards, and had my pictures featured on GoPro merchandise and been featured in outstanding magazines. 

However I feel the flexibility to make sufficient cash to lift three youngsters, ship them to school, and present the youngsters the world is my largest accomplishment. 

The pleasure I felt publishing a cookbook was excellent, nevertheless it’s not the sensation you get while you watch your little one develop and be taught via new experiences. 

What She Needs She Knew When She Began

I began in 2008. So, principally every part. 

I want I had began an electronic mail checklist from day one. I want I had promoted my electronic mail checklist far more from the very starting as effectively.  

Her Important Mistake

Oh gosh, the place to start out?

I made a mistake in not switching to WordPress sooner. WordPress is simply a lot simpler than some other web site on the market. 

I do loads of consulting and I’ve had purchasers utilizing every kind of options. Why, I’m unsure. One factor I do know for certain, one thing that’s tremendous easy to do inside WordPress will be difficult and time-consuming on different platforms. 

I made a mistake by not ensuring each single article has one thing for buy in it. 

I nonetheless battle with this as a result of it’s time-consuming. I make extra off of Mediavine adverts than I do affiliate hyperlinks so it’s a decrease precedence. 

Her Recommendation for Different Entrepreneurs

Be real looking. You’ll not see in a single day success. These programs telling you that you’ll make six figures are mendacity. 

Running a blog is difficult and there are tons of issues you must know the best way to do.