Case Study👉 How YOU Can Earn a 4-Figure Revenue via Ads and Affiliate Marketing

The Scott Max Newsletter

In Partnership with Stat Significant

Hi 👋, this is the Scott Max newsletter. The soon-to-be-daily newsletter brings you one step closer to your own thriving online business.

We analyze a wonderful, small, online business each week with a full breakdown of how it makes money, why it makes money, and its opportunities to grow. Below that, we give you the action steps to build a business like this to create freedom for yourself.

This is the best way to learn the tactics, skillset, and nuance of making money online.

Let’s get to the good stuff you'll see in this email:

• A thriving online business making a steady income.

• Unique techniques enable this business to stand out in its niche and achieve success.

• A step-by-step guide to setting up a business like this one for yourself!

But first, let me introduce our partner for this email,

Stat Significant

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Are customer reviews impacting purchase decisions? Is Digital Marketing ROI on the rise? What's the True cost of employee turnover? Join now to find out!

The What 🚀

This week's newsletter will focus on a Travel blog designed to help clients plan when it comes to traveling.

Everyone has a dream to travel, but not many follow through with the planning. This blog is a good guide and an exciting online business to analyze.

Its main traits are unique as the blog has designed its content around the needs of the client.

We will have a closer look into how it drives traffic, how the blog makes a stable income and leave its clients satisfied, 

The How 💻

This online business made a steady income of $7,665 in May. Marking a very impressive month for the travel blog.

The blog has made a good reputation for itself as an advertising platform.

It has partnered with various brands, hotels, and travel agencies, from small to well-established businesses.

Interested brands are charged a fee for the blog’s advertising services, linking readers to a destination, resort, or service.

Below is a list of the packages the travel blog offers that serve the client’s specific advertising goals/objectives.

The blog also uses Mediavine for all its display/banner advertisements, which earns them an income through clicks.

Affiliate marketing for other reputable agencies and brands has indeed contributed to the 4 figure monthly income.

Most of its affiliate commissions come from online businesses in the travel niche market.

Including participation in 3rd party affiliate programs (Amazon, hotel booking engines, etc) that may track referral data once you leave the site.

This travel blog has made the most of affiliate marketing, as it celebrates a total of $2,000 per month just from affiliate marketing.

These two proven monetization strategies have secured a decent amount of income for a small travel blog.

This blog also accepts sponsorships, paid insertions, or other types of partnerships.

The Why 🔥🔥 

This section is focused on the positives the blog displayed that make it a success.

A wide coverage of good content, and pages that are optimized to rank high on Google search results.

Visitors can enjoy blog posts that are very helpful in the planning phase of a vacation trip.

The blog has devoted numerous articles that review get-away spots and agencies that can help with travel costs and accommodation.

Each article is a recommendation to visit and explore.

To enhance the effectiveness of these blog posts the founders have made the content rich in strong keywords related to trending topics.

The blog has established a good reputation for itself in a very competitive niche market.

As mentioned before, the business made a great effort to guarantee high quality content and gain credibility as a travel blog.

Below is a representation of the blog’s domain rating score reaching as far as 2016, sourced from Ahrefs.

We see a steady rating, that ranges between 40 - 50, which is a positive sight for a small-scale travel blog.

Domain rating score according to Ahrefs focuses on the quantity and quality of external backlinks to a website.

These scores are plotted on a 100-point scale (1 being a very low score and 100 the highest score).

Furthermore, the business has implemented a robust and effective SEO strategy, enabling them to achieve prominent visibility and organic search rankings across various search engines.

By employing keyword optimization, content optimization, and backlink building, they have successfully enhanced their online presence and increased their website traffic.

Their strategic approach to SEO ensures that their target audience can easily find and access their products or services, resulting in improved brand visibility and a significant boost in online conversions.

The Opportunities 🔥🔥🔥

Here are some areas the blog can improve on:

Diversify service delivery:

The blog has a lot of potential to offer more services, such as digital products, to better equip and inform its audience.

The travel industry has a large audience willing to see the beauty of our world, but lack the knowledge to do it successfully.

Hence providing inexperienced clients with downloadable printables such as spreadsheets to manage finances and cheatsheets to better help them with planning their trip(s).

These can be sold for a reasonable fee, to earn an extra income from the services offered.

Integration with Social Media accounts:

It is not a secret that social media is a huge player when it comes to advertising products/services and interacting with one’s audience.

Upon analyzing this travel blog and its social presence we noticed the untapped potential the blog has to promote its content and connect with its audience.

The blog could use its social media presence as a marketing agent, by managing ads and saturating its feed with enticing posts.

Instagram and Facebook, for instance, are video and picture-orientated. Which are good platforms to grow the brand.

Moreover, they have the ability to produce videos, which is considered the most effective method of advertising for tourist destinations, and upload them on YouTube while incorporating links to their website.

The Big Reveal 👀

This newsletter focused on a growing Travel Blog, that is certainly a good source of inspiration.

All its success is accredited to Jeremy Jones, the founder of Living the Dream.

The business started out as a typical travel blog to document his trip in 2010 - 2011 and with his now wife, Angie, 2013 - 2014.

Only to gradually grow into a popular travel blog focusing on adventure travel, food and beverage, and off-the-beaten-track destinations. It has featured 74 countries on five continents so far.

This Travel blog has very strong characteristics of a well-thought-out business.

Analyzing its content, marketing strategies, and monetization strategies has only left us with gems of good ideas and also encouraged me to travel.

It has made a good reputation as a travel blog, for both readers searching for inspiration and brands looking to advertise on the blog.

The Takeaway, What We Learned 🎓

• Make use of popular social media platforms to market and foster a relationship with your active fan base.

• Offer advertising services to brands/businesses looking to reach out to new markets through your blog. This works well for blogs with high traffic volume and a good strategy.

• Provide different products and services to better help your audience, at the same time monetizing your knowledge.

• Create content that is diverse and interesting. Also optimizing it to rank high on Google search results, to drive traffic.

Action Steps, From Day 0 To ∞ 👩‍💻

So, you will have your own website, hosting account, and a good grasp of digital marketing fundamentals if you are a student/graduate of Max Business School.

If not, get started here, it’s totally free and will teach you all the skills you need to build yourself a business (and the freedom it provides you) similar to the one we’ve analyzed today.

Day 0

You’ve read this email and love this particular business model and/or niche.

If not, we'll be sending more ideas in our next email or check our archive here.

If yes;

Consider if this is a business you can happily commit to for 3-5 years.

If yes;

Is it a customer/topic/day-to-day activity you can't get passionate about?

If yes;

Would starting this business cause you to lose focus on the business that you are currently building?

If yes, don’t do it.

Focus on building what you have and take lessons from my analysis above to implement them into your current business.

But if not, then move to day 1.

Day 1

• Choose your niche: Start by choosing a niche that you are passionate about and that has the potential for profitability. Research different niches, and choose one that you believe you can add value to.

• Conduct market research: Conduct research to determine the viability of your niche. Look for competitors, their strategies, their content quality, and their target audience. Ahrefs will be an essential tool to assist you in this task.

• Create a business plan: Create a comprehensive business plan that outlines your mission, vision, and objectives, as well as your target audience, marketing strategies, and pricing.

• Choose a name and register your domain: Choose a name that is memorable, unique, and relevant to your niche. Register your domain name and choose a hosting provider. We suggest taking advantage of our DreamHost offer.

• Choose a website template: Choose a template that is optimized for blogging, easy to navigate, and mobile friendly.

Day 2

• Set up your social media accounts: Set up your social media accounts and start building your brand's presence online.

• Content creation: Perform thorough market research to identify the content that is most likely to connect with your target audience. Identify the content formats, such as blog posts, videos, or infographics, that are likely to drive traffic and engagement. Once determined, start the creation of high-quality content in those formats.

• Set up your monetization strategy: Explore strategies to generate revenue from your blog. You can contemplate options like partnering with an ad network such as Mediavine or engaging in affiliate marketing. In order to facilitate affiliate marketing, it is important to utilize a CRM system. Make sure to explore our post on that topic to identify the most suitable option for your needs. 5 Best CRM for Affiliate Marketing.

Day 3 to ∞

• Track the effectiveness of your content: Use analytics tools such as Ahrefs to track the effectiveness of your content. Determine what is working and what is not, and update your content as needed.

• Engage with communities related to your niche: Identify and join relevant online forums, groups, and communities where your target audience is active. Engage in discussions, provide valuable insights and information, and offer helpful advice. This will help you establish your brand presence and build relationships with potential customers.

• Connect with industry experts: Identify and connect with industry experts, influencers, and thought leaders in your niche. Engage with them on social media, attend industry events where they speak, and reach out to them for collaborations or partnerships. This will help you establish a reputation as an expert in your domain and gain valuable insights from experienced professionals.

• Keep up with the trends: Stay up-to-date with the latest trends and techniques in your niche. Attend industry conferences, read relevant publications and blogs, and network with other professionals to stay informed and on top of new developments.

Before You Go 👋

Thank you for reading.

In my next email, I’ll have another business breakdown for you.

Remember, if you know someone who might like this newsletter, sharing is caring.

If you are ready to get started with your own business, one of the first steps is always a website. Click here for our exclusive hosting deal and click here for an invite to our Max Business School community where you’ll hang out with thousands of fellow ambitious business builders.

Remember to check out the classroom tab (top left corner) for all of our free courses teaching you all you need to succeed online.

Bye for now,

Scott Max