Sometimes it’s easy to read someone’s mind. When I wrote about my first year writing experience at Travel with Grant, I wrote about the questions people ask me about travel blogging. Sure, they want my thoughts on where they should travel to and specifics about how using points and miles work. But often I can read their minds and sense that the number one question they want to ask is, “Do you REALLY make money doing that?” It’s a valid question because even in today’s internet climate, most people still don’t understand how people make money online. You, our readers, may be wondering the same thing, so I thought, why not write about this? Why not write about monetization, affiliate links, and ad revenue?

Travel with Grant makes money in 4 ways:

1. Commission from Amazon orders
2. Display ads
3. Affiliate links from businesses we use and recommend
4. Credit card affiliate links through CreditCards.com

Here’s more detail about all four sources of money.

1. Commission from Amazon orders

Grant and I each have our own Amazon links. Grant’s are on Travel with Grant and mine are on my health and fitness sites. Revenue from Amazon links vary each month for us both, but probably fall between $10 to $50 per month. From time to time, we write about products we genuinely use and like. We recently added a Travel Resources Page to TWG to make it easy for readers to find our current recommendations. It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, you are under no obligation to use any of these links. But if you do make a purchase through these links, we will receive a small commission. We thank you for your support!

2. Display ads

This is the main source of income. Grant came over to BoardingArea in 2015. Every day he thanks his lucky stars for the opportunity and continues to feel honored to be among such a great accomplished team. In the time I’ve been a part of TWG, I have also experienced amazing levels of support from BoardingArea. BoardingArea manages the ads and TWG receives the ad revenue generated. Knowing we have the BoardingArea platform to write from, allows us to focus on writing and creating content that we hope our readers will enjoy and benefit from.

3. Affiliate income from businesses we use and recommend

You wouldn’t believe how many emails Grant receives from businesses wanting us to write about them or try the products they sell. Every week, they arrive in Grant’s inbox and then what does he do? He sends them all to me! Being a business person myself, I know what it’s like to solicit business connections, so I do take a look at them all, and maybe check them out a bit. But few make the cut in terms of taking a deeper look. Not because they’re bad businesses necessarily, but rather because they wouldn’t be of benefit to you, the readers. So the few that we do recommend, like Juicy Miles, or the others that will come along in the future, we’ve really gotten to know from the inside out because of our own personal experience. Of course, we also recommend services like Pruvo which we do receive an affiliate income from. Earning affiliate income isn’t our only criteria for recommendations! There are also times we’ll offer readers the opportunity to increase their miles or points accounts by purchasing miles/points. We’ve done this ourselves and earn an affiliate fee when are readers do, as well. We appreciate your trust in our recommendations when you do use these services!

4. Credit card affiliate links

Grant gets a few credit card sales each month, so these provide some revenue for him. It’s enough for a few extra Chai Tea Lattes from Peet’s Coffee and an extra bear claw every now and then! I know he’s grateful when readers use one of his links when applying for a card.

So that’s it. We may be excited and passionate about travel, using miles/points, and exploring the world, but it’s all up to you, our readers, as to whether what we share is valuable for you. We very much appreciate and of course welcome your support, however you choose to show it. We enjoy the interactions with you all whether through email, comments, or especially for Grant, meeting you in person.  I hope this glimpse into the business side of TWG answers any questions you may have had. If you have any other questions, please let us know.