Two Monkeys Travel was a blog created in 2014 by the couple, Kach and Jonathan, after they had been together for a year and traveling in Vietnam.
At first, they didn’t plan to monetize the blog, but it became apparent quickly that other travel bloggers at the time were. The couple just needed to figure out how it was done.
Two Monkeys Travel has now been featured by Time, Forbes, Business Insider, PopSugar, the BBC, and more. Clearly, they did something right.
So, how did they monetize it?
They invested a lot of time and some money. In fact, in the first few months, they spent fourteen hours a day writing for the blog.
They were getting offers for sponsored trips and didn’t actually have the time to go on all of them! They were spending their time learning about how SEO works, how to get brands working with them, and how to turn the blog into a real business. They also invested $1,000 in having the site redesigned. Later, they would begin to get camera equipment and even drones to make their photos more professional.
It takes a team
That’s when they began to create what the blog would be today. They created a network of freelance bloggers to represent them on some of the press trips so they wouldn’t be the only ones writing and could cover more areas of the globe.
In fact, they have brought on a whole content team over the years. They also have someone who does SEO and photo editing as well as a website manager. All Kach and Jonathan need to do these days is to oversee content and do some of the editing. There are no more fourteen-hour days for them, thankfully.
What’s their advice to new bloggers?
Invest your time in learning how to take professional photos, do real SEO, and monetize your blog. Also, don’t be afraid to get help, especially if you’re not particularly tech-savvy.
Kach sits down and talks more about strategies in this week’s video interview with Leaving Work Behind. You can also follow then on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
