This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.
There’s a joke going around that “digital nomad” is just another word for being homeless. I understand the joke, but you don’t have to be poor just because you’re a traveler.
In fact, if you’re smart, having a travel blog can actually help you become wealthier…
Here’s how.
Anytime, you create a new blog post, plug a product to your audience. Now, I’m not saying you should push stuff onto your audience that’s not any good.
I’ve never tried to sell you guys Twinkees, or Doritos because I don’t believe in those products. I believe in eating a clean diet.
With that being said, when I find a product I love, I remind you guys about it again. And again. And again.
I’m passionate about Audible. I think Audible is a great product. As Bill Gates says, “The more you learn, the more you earn.”
If you don’t have time to sit around and read a normal book, no problem.
Just open Audible and listen to an audiobook.
My life has changed dramatically from being able to use my time commuting from place to place effectively. Listening to Eckhart Tolle’s the Power of Now repeatedly has helped me internalize the concept of being present to the moment and not complaining.
But I don’t matter. Let’s talk about you.
Here’s the thing you need to realize…
There is nothing with recommending products to your audience. If someone is a regular reader of your blog, they’re either similar to you, or they admire you.
If a product solved one of your problems, there’s a good chance it could solve your audience’s problem too.
Put another way, imagine you had the cure to cancer. Would you shut your mouth and not tell anyone because selling is wrong?
Of course not!
You’d tell everyone you know!
In fact, it would be unethical not to tell them.
The same applies with promoting products to your blog audience. There’s nothing wrong with recommending a product. There’s nothing wrong with doing product reviews on your website.
Heck, there’s nothing wrong with doing product reviews of sucky products on your website. If you know a product isn’t worth the money and you tell people, you’re saving them a headache.
If, however, you genuinely believe a product will help your product help your audience, tell them. They will appreciate it, and you’ll make some extra $$$ that’ll free up your time and allow you to produce more helpful content for them in the future.
Making money in this way is called affiliate marketing. You find products you believe in, and then you use an affiliate link. Your website users follow that affiliate link to another website, and if they buy something, you get cold hard cash!
Affiliate programs are pretty cool huh?
Disclaimer: There are a few affiliate links scattered throughout this article. If you purchase anything or join any of these programs, I may receive a small commission.
Anyway, keep reading because now I’m about to dish out some important information for you…
The Problems that Plague Most Affiliate Programs
Being an affiliate is great… when it’s great. Unfortunately, there are no shortage of problems you have to deal with as an affiliate. Here are two of the most common problems you’ll face if you join the wrong affiliate program:
Low Conversion Rates — If you’re an affiliate of somebody with a shady looking website, you’re probably not going to make many sales. People need to comfortable with a website before they enter their credit card number.
Payment Problems — Your affiliate program may be dishonest and claim your website produced less sales than it actually did. Even if your program is honest, however, it may make payouts infrequently.
Finally, if your partner with a new and unestablished affiliate program, you could watch their business go under! In that case, not only will you lose money, but you’ll also have to replace all those old links on your blog. #PainInTheAss
Fortunately, not every affiliate program is like that. If you want to be safe, listen up.
Here are the two best travel affiliate programs for bloggers in 2018…
#1 Amazon Affiliate Program
Everybody and their momma is an affiliate for Amazon already. Amazon has one of the most successful affiliate programs on the internet. You can create an affiliate link for just about anything on their site.
I remember joining the Amazon Affiliate Program right after I’d turned 18 and I was still in high school. I didn’t make much money then, but I just inserted links to the book reviews I was posting back in the day.
Whatever you’re website’s focus is: travel gear, books, whatever. Amazon has it, and they’ll pay you to promote it.
The coolest part about Amazon, however, is that they don’t just pay you for the products you promote directly.
Sure, if someone purchases an Audible membership through you link, you’ll be compensated.
Here’s the cool part though.
Amazon will also pay you for everything else your visitors purchase through your affiliate link. If you sell a book about “digital nomad travel advice,” and your visitor also purchases a computer through your affiliate link, you can make some massive $$$.
At least half of the sales I make through the Amazon affiliate program actually have nothing to do with the products I promote. In fact, my biggest sale this year was for an $1,800 home theater.
You can only imagine my surprise when I saw I made $85 over night!
Pros of Amazon Affiliate
Amazon is one of the world’s most trusted websites. This along with Amazon’s endless optimization has resulted in a website that masterfully converts customers to buyers.
If you can get your visitors over to click your affiliate link… Amazon will do the rest.
Amazon also has a HUGE range of products. Just about anything you can think of, you can quickly create an affiliate link for. Plus, you’re being rewarded on anything your visitors purchase. Not just the products you recommended to them.
Cons of Amazon Affiliate
Amazon’s affiliate payouts tend to be pretty low. My example of selling a home theater by accident is pretty rare. Most of my sales come from selling books or other low-cost items.
When Amazon is only paying you roughly 4-8% on the items you sell, an $18 sale ends up being a commission of a dollar or less.
Generally speaking, you need to push pretty high cost products to make good profits as an Amazon Affiliate. Either that, or you make up for low commissions with high volume…
#2 ShareASale
Most people love Amazon’s affiliate program. Myself included. Yet, those low commissions aren’t always enough to pay the bills.
Listen up. Here’s the realistic way to make solid $$$ as an affiliate.
#1 Have a website that has at least a modest sized audience.
#2 Convert that audience at a high rate.
#3 Get high pay-outs for each conversion.
Obviously no travel affiliate program can accomplish #1 for you. You need to have a decent sized audience if you want to make a respectable income as an affiliate marketer. Building that audience is on your shoulders.
Once you have that audience, however, I can’t recommend enough joining ShareASale. ShareASale has literally thousands of merchants you can partner with.
For example…
You could tell your travel audience about the benefits of having a website. If they want to be a document their travels for their friends and family for example, a website is the coolest way to do so!
If someone signs up for WP Engine, BAM. $200 for you. No extra cost to them.
That’s a travel affiliate program taking good care of you.
Other possible products you could advertise:
— Backpacks
— Neck pillows (for long flights)
— Wheelchair travel cases
— Skin-care travel kits
— Condoms (many countries don’t have Western sizes)
The list goes on and on…
By the way, these aren’t some random ideas I’m just babbling about off the top of my head.
These are real products available through merchants on ShareASale that you could start selling to your audience and making $$$ today.
Pros of ShareASale
ShareASale allows you to work with individual merchants. In many cases, this will allow you to get better commission rates than if you went straight through Amazon.
These higher commission rates are the main benefit of ShareASale as a travel affiliate program.
Oh, wait… I almost forgot…
The coolest part about being using ShareASale’s affiliate program is that you can see how successful each individual merchant’s affiliate program is.
You can view a variety of statistics. Out of all of the available information, however, the one that’s probably most important to you is the EPC number.
The EPC (earnings per click) number shows you how much the average affiliate makes per 100 clicks with that merchant.
There are for example some mattress (as in bed) merchants where affiliates are average $150+ per 100 clicks. While selling mattresses may not be particularly relevant to an audience interested in travel, you get the idea. 😉
Cons of ShareASale
With ShareASale, you’re generally only getting paid on leads or sales you actually generate. It’s like Amazon where you can link to a book, and then get paid when someone also buys a TV.
With ShareASale, you also have to sign up with each individual merchant. While they will usually accept you if you have any decent amount of traffic, it is a small annoyance to not immediately be able to sell anything you’d like as is possible on Amazon.
Conclusion of Best Travel Affiliate Programs
While there are tons of other affiliate programs like Clickbank, ShareASale and Amazon are two of the best places to start if you’re a newbie affiliate marketer. Just remember…
There’s nothing wrong with selling.
If you have a great deal for your audience tell them.
Speaking of great deals…
If you’d like to sign up for ShareASale and start making $$$, you can do so here. It doesn’t cost you anything and it’ll also help to support this small neighborhood site.
Keep hustling!