Make Money Travel Blogging w/ Jessie on a Journey

Your 4-step newsletter gameplan 💪

With Google becoming more AI answer focused, it's more important than ever to focus on your email list.

To help, here is a quick action plan:

1️⃣ Create an opt-in freebie that gives your audience a quick win (not a general packing list, but something that helps your people specifically).

2️⃣ Promote it everywhere: in your main website menu, link in bio, within content, collabs with other creators, in ads, etc.
Tip: Don't want to pay Meta? Reach out to creators in your niche to sponsor their newsletter (or another high-converting placement).

3️⃣ Nurture new subscribers right away with an automated welcome sequence.

4️⃣ Send a *weekly* newsletter sharing helpful tips and valuable content to build a loyal community and stay visible to your audience.

Remember, while your newsletter can help grow your traffic, it's also a monetizable asset in itself through affiliate marketing, product promotion, sponsorships, and more!

Questions about building your email list?

Leave them below! 👇

21 hours ago | [YT] | 0

Make Money Travel Blogging w/ Jessie on a Journey

Always prepare to negotiate ✨

I negotiate a lot of brand deals, from sponsored videos to press trips to podcast ads and beyond.

While I always aim to get the brand's budget first and create a proposal around that, often the brand will ask your rates.

Don't start with the absolute lowest you're willing to go. 🚫

Very often, the brand will try to counter with a lower rate. If you start higher with your initial pitch, it gives you more wiggle room to work with.

Also, don't think their lower counter is the final offer. I just negotiated a brand deal where they countered my initial offer and I got them to go up by $600 more dollars by making my audience niche and alignment clear (their counter was based solely on followers & views).

How do you set your rates when pitching brands? 🤔

2 days ago | [YT] | 3

Make Money Travel Blogging w/ Jessie on a Journey

Focus on your owned audience ✨

Many bloggers are talking about the big changes coming to Google (read: AI answers taking over search results). 😣

In my opinion, one of the smartest things you can focus on as a creator is building an email list, which is an asset you own.

The incredible thing about a newsletter is that it's not only great for growing traffic, but can also be used to promote affiliate links, work with brands, and sell your products too. 💸

Another idea: launch a local newsletter!

I just had Michael Kauffman on The Profitable Travel Blogger Podcast to discuss this.

He's grown Catskill Crew to multiple six figures without a paywall. Instead, he monetizes through products, sponsorships, and community events.

He's also able to give back by promoting local businesses and sponsoring farms animals at the Woodstock Farm Sanctuary. 🥰

You can grab the full episode here! ⬇️

bit.ly/local-newsletter

5 days ago | [YT] | 1

Make Money Travel Blogging w/ Jessie on a Journey

"Can you really make money selling itineraries?" 🤔

YES! Personally, this is a big income-generator in my own business.

In the past 2 weeks, I've done two custom itineraries that earned me $1800 total. I also sell a pre-made NYC Christmas Itinerary that sells well during the holidays. 🎉

The things that have been most helpful for building this income stream:

🗺️ Position yourself as an expert on a specific destination or at least a few key destinations (vs trying to cover everywhere).

✍️ Use your content to showcase this expertise and position yourself as the go-to authority on the place you cover.

📍Create itineraries that are not only detailed, but speak to audience pain points (example: since I focus on NYC, I include subway directions throughout my itineraries since this is something that makes many first-time visitors nervous).

Have you tried selling travel planning or itineraries? ✈️

6 days ago | [YT] | 3

Make Money Travel Blogging w/ Jessie on a Journey

Hey travel creators! 👋 If you’re exhausted from chasing social media trends and battling constant algorithm updates, you won't want to miss my interview with creator Michael Kauffman.

After years in the startup world, Michael launched a local newsletter called Catskill Crew—and grew it to over 40K subscribers and more than $200K in annual revenue in less than two years! 🤯

In this video, Michael shares his A-Z strategy for scaling fast, getting creative with monetization, and building something you truly love. ⬇️

bit.ly/local-newsletter

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 1

Make Money Travel Blogging w/ Jessie on a Journey

Hey travel creators! 👋 If you've ever considered changing your niche, you won't want to miss my interview with travel blogger Kristin Addis.

After over a decade of building the popular solo travel blog Be My Travel Muse, she pivoted to Parenthood Adventures—quickly turning it into a profitable business.

In fact, Kristin grew it to over 500k Instagram followers and more than $1M in travel planning bookings in the last six months alone. 🤯

In this video, she shares her top tips for changing your niche and growing an audience quickly—as well as how to monetize through a travel agency model. ⬇️

bit.ly/niche-pivot

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Make Money Travel Blogging w/ Jessie on a Journey

I recently interviewed viral creator ‪@kevindroniaktravel‬, who shared a genius tip:

Before publishing a Reel or TikTok, ask yourself: "Would I actually want to share this with a friend?" 🤔

Shares are one of the most important metrics as it tells algorithms that your content is valuable and worth spreading.

If the answer is no, the video isn't ready to post.

Here is the full interview if you want more of Kevin's tips for standing out on social and becoming a paid influencer: ⬇️

jessieonajourney.com/blogging/become-a-travel-infl…

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Make Money Travel Blogging w/ Jessie on a Journey

Do you post about your trips *before* you go? 🤔

Many travel brands and tourism boards actively look for people posting about their destination, so it's a great way to get on their radar and potentially land some collabs.

For instance, since posting about Morocco, I've had a bunch of local operators reach out to me! ✈️

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Make Money Travel Blogging w/ Jessie on a Journey

Travel bloggers: is your website menu strategic? 🤔

Inside Travel Blog Prosperity, we do small group site audits.

Something I consistently notice is how hard it is to find bloggers' opt-in freebies, products, and core affiliate posts. 🕵️‍♀️

These business-building CTAs should be clear in your main menu, especially since it's:

✨ Something website visitors see no matter what post they’re reading

👀 The place readers look when they like your content and want to learn more from you

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Make Money Travel Blogging w/ Jessie on a Journey

Hey travel creators! 👋 If one of your 2026 goals is to become a professional influencer, you won't want to miss my interview with viral creator ‪@kevindroniaktravel‬.

Kevin is known for his long-haul day trips from NYC—with his videos regularly getting hundreds to thousands of shares and his top Reels reaching millions of viewers! 🤯

In this video, he shares his top tips for growing your influence, increasing video engagement, and turning content creation into a reliable income stream! ⬇️


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-0fS...

1 month ago | [YT] | 0