Sunrise view of Tamraght village, Morocco.

How I Make an Income from Blogging

I started Daytrips when I was living in Tamraght – dirt broke – having been ghosted by my (very reputable) employer. Amongst other dismal pursuits, my friend and I tried our luck as beachfront sandwich vendors. The spiced chicken sandys were bang on – but ultimately, one rained-out day was enough for us to realise our hearts weren’t really in it. So with bellies full of bread, we sifted our way through the wildly over-promised Google results for ‘How to make money online’.

For those playing along at home, here are the online jobs I do and don’t recommend:

❌ Data Entry jobs – I applied for loads of these jobs, but didn’t hear a peep. Still not quite sure what it entails.
❌ Selling foot pics – Very competitive market to break into – even after you wrestle with the morality of it.
❌ Teaching English online – I think this used to be pretty lucrative, but these days it’s oversaturated and you earn peanuts.
❌ Take surveys for money – Often get paid in gift cards. Plus, the income is so small, it’s not worth your time or the exploitation of your personal data.

✅ Ask your current job to go remote – This is the golden ticket. Ideally, get the job locally first before running away to Morocco.
✅ Sell digital items on Etsy – I sell my film photography as digital prints and actually earn a little bit of money from it.
✅ Blogging – Defs not a get-rich-quick scheme. But so much potential for a genuinely livable income.

Anywho, after scraping the barrel, I was left with the most energy-intensive option on the list. So I finally pulled my finger out, put aside my reservations about the title of ‘blogger’, and created Daytrips. Eight months later, I made my first few pennies. And now I make a humble, but consistent income from the blog each month.

Blogging Tools I Use (And Recommend)

Below are the exact tools and resources out there to make this side gig profitable. There is loads of nonsense in this space, but these are the ones I would suggest to a dear friend.

Some of these are affiliate links (meaning I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you), but every tool listed here is something I personally use or have tested myself.

Blogging Courses

  • Profitable Part-Time Blogger by SheKnowsSEO – The GOAT of SEO and blogging. If you’re starting from scratch, I highly recommend this course.

WordPress Themes and Plugins

  • Kadence Theme – Best lightweight theme for WordPress.
  • WP Rocket – Speeds up your site for better SEO.
  • RankMath – Best SEO plugin. Free or paid option.

SEO Tools

Email Marketing

  • ConvertKit – My preferred email marketing platform.

Travel Affiliates

  • Stay22 – Great travel affiliate network. I make a consistent income through them.
  • TravelPayouts – A similar affiliate network. I use both simultaneously. They include loads of travel-related companies like Airalo, RentalCars and Omio.
  • BookSurfCamps – This is my favourite. You receive 30-50% commission for each surf camp booking. Amazing.
  • SafetyWing – Travel insurance affiliate program. Great for digital nomads as you can book on the go.

Best of luck.