Today’s newsletter is a little different than usual.

Normally I like to go deep on one topic, but this time I’ve got a few quick updates and tips I think you'll really appreciate, so grab some coffee (or water, if that's what you prefer) hang with me!

In Today's Newsletter:

• How Emily Built Her $10K/Month Travel Biz With Less Than 10,000 Blog Sessions
  ​
• What’s Working Right Now On Our Blogs
  ​
• Google Algorithm Updates = HCU Recovery
  ​
• Coming Next Week: New Blogging Email Series

If you haven’t signed up for Emily Concannon’s free workshop yet, now’s the time:

>> How To Turn Your Passion for Travel Into a Profitable Planning Business​

Emily went from working a traditional 9-5 to building a successful travel planning business that now brings in $8,000–$11,000 per month, all without becoming a traditional travel agent, and with a small audience.

She’s one of the most genuine, helpful people I know, and tomorrow she’s going live at 11am Central Time to teach how she did it, and how you can, too.

The workshop is free, packed with value, and runs about 75 minutes.

If you’ve ever thought about offering trip planning services (or even just making money helping others travel better), you don’t want to miss it.

>> Free Workshop Click Here!​

Since launching our new blog on May 31st, 2025, things have been moving quickly.. in a good way!

⭐ New Blog, Mediavine, Facebook Pages

Based on current traffic, we’re also on track to get into Mediavine within the next month, which is exciting.

Here's how we have grown this one:

​I recently took Kristin Hanes’ Facebook Traffic Gold Mine Course (highly recommend), and it’s made a huge difference. We’ve now set up several niche pages for different blogs, and the results have been incredible.

And I just have to say.. I honestly love courses. They save so much time, stress, and second-guessing.

The other day, I saw someone on Threads mention that they’ve grown their blog without taking a single course or buying any ebooks. And honestly, that’s impressive.

Buuuuut it also made me wonder.. what about all the stuff they don’t even know they’re missing?

Personally, I’d rather fast-track the process by learning directly from someone who’s already done it.

It’s the same reason Alex Hormozi paid Grant Cardone $50,000 for a one-hour call. Not because he couldn’t figure it out himself, but because he wanted fast access to the insights Grant had that most people didn’t.

In the long run, that single hour saved him time and made him more money; money he would’ve missed out on by trying to do it all alone.

That’s how I see courses. They’re not just information, they’re a shortcut to experience you haven’t had yet.

Anyway, back to what’s working well on our blogs.

Once we start seeing which posts are taking off, we use a tool called Strevio to dig deeper into the data. It helps us pinpoint our top-performing content so we can double down on what’s already working.

When a post does really well, we’ll often republish it, and if it makes sense, we’ll also create a related blog post to go with it.

We do that because if a post performs well once on Facebook, there’s a very good chance it’ll do well again the second, third, or even fourth time.

And when we pair that high-performing Facebook post with a blog link, that can mean a huge surge of traffic to our site without having to reinvent the wheel.

Truthfully, I didn't even plan for this post to be a promotion of sorts, but I couldn't talk about my results without mentioning Kristin's course and Stevio.

>> Here's Kristin's course if you're interested <<

*Note: I am an affiliate for Kristin’s Facebook Page course (because I genuinely loved it), but I’m not affiliated with Strevio. I just really like using both tools and wanted to share.

⭐ Running Meta Ads for Email Subscribers

Since this isn’t our first rodeo, and we’ve got some budget to work with, we’ve been running Meta ads to grow our email list.

The tricky part is reaching the right audience.

If you’re thinking about speeding things up and using ads to grow your list, you absolutely can.. but it’s crucial to have a solid funnel in place (and you should know how to run Meta ads - a skill I've recently dusted off from years ago).

Your funnel should that not only capture new subscribers, but also vet them for engagement. Because if people aren’t opening your emails or clicking your links, you’re just burning cash.

I also recommend mapping out a way to quickly recoup your ad spend. Whether that’s through a tripwire offer, affiliate product, or paid service, you don’t want to keep shoveling money into a funnel that doesn’t send money back.

That’s a fast track to frustration, and not the good kind of funnel math.

*Note: This is an advanced strategy, and not something I recommend if you're just starting out with blogging.

A bunch of students from my coaching program, Scale Your Travel Blog, are seeing major traffic growth after the most recent Google updates.

Some are joining Mediavine, others are having their highest income months, and it’s amazing to see.

But let this also be your reminder: Google (and any platform) is not your long-term strategy.

It’s amazing when it works… until things turn into a rollercoaster ride.

So if you’re seeing recovery or traffic growth right now... please, please don't lose sight of what's most important. Your email list.

If you haven't started to grow and nurture your email list, do that this week.

Your list = your control.

And that’s the real safety net in blogging.

And just a reminder: you don’t have to spend money to grow your list. In fact, I don't recommend that for those just starting out. There are tons of free ways to grow your email list, too.

Starting next week, we’re kicking off a fun series of emails, and I think know you’re going to love it.

We’ll be featuring in-depth interviews with fellow travel bloggers who are killing it.

Whether they’re bringing in hundreds of thousands of monthly sessions, landing premium sponsorships, building powerful email funnels, or creating unique ways of making money with their blogs, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at what’s working for them, and how you can apply it to your own blog.

Stay tuned!

Talk to you soon,

Laura

P.S. Scale Your Travel Blog is currently CLOSED for enrollment until January 2025.

​To join our waitlist, please click here!​