Travel Blog Accelerator is an online course created for female travel bloggers. In the comprehensive course, Kristin Addis shares strategies on affiliate marketing, high-level SEO, and expert branding, plus how to stand out and get paid in a saturated market. These strategies helped Kristin make 6 figures as a travel blogger. The program is ideal for new bloggers and “those who have been at it for 5+ years,” according to the website.
In a SEMRush report, we read that travel belongs to the top 5 blog niches making a median income of at least $5,000 monthly. Meanwhile, ZipRecruiter says travel bloggers make an annual earning of up to $73,199 on average.
While it’s possible to create and grow a profitable blog, a common challenge in the industry is the fierce competition. Newbies may have a hard time competing for traffic and attention from established bloggers. Also, it takes a while to make money from travel blogging. It’s possible to earn nothing for 1 to 2 years, especially if you’re just starting out.
Can Travel Blog Accelerator help you go the next level and finally become a six-figure travel blogger like Kristin Addis? We look at what the course has to offer, its advantages and disadvantages, and what people are saying about it. We also share another business model that can generate passive income faster - and with far less work and investment than travel blogging.
Travel Blog Accelerator Review: Pros and Cons
Pros
Travel Blog Accelerator teaches about travel blogging and entrepreneurship. The self-paced course is designed to help hobbyist travel bloggers become successful entrepreneurs.
1-on-1 coaching. For a fee, Kristin Addis hosts an hour-long 1:1 coaching session for travel bloggers who want to learn directly from her.
A private Slack community. Members get to fellow female bloggers” through an exclusive Slack chat group.
Other courses are available. Kristin Addis also offers short programs, namely the Photo Muse Masterclass: Become Your Own Pro Photographer and the BMTM Virtual Retreat: A Journey Through the Rainbow.
Cons
The program is not for advanced bloggers. Looking at the curriculum, the information is mostly basic and may only be ideal for starting bloggers. Those with years of experience may benefit best from 1:1 coaching.
Lack of negative reviews. While many positive testimonials are posted on the website, it’s hard to find any reviews elsewhere. Some potential students may consider this as a red flag.
Even the positive reviews are not as substantial. Unfortunately, most of the positive reviews do not go into specific details when discussing their progress as bloggers.
Cost
The cost of Travel Blog Accelerator is $499.
Refund policy
The refund policy for Travel Blog Accelerator is a money-back guarantee for students who “have followed the journal prompts and done the work” within 14 days.
Origin
2012
Reputation
Travel Blog Accelerator's reputation is positive. Kristin Addis is a trusted industry expert who has won awards and made six figures through travel blogging.
Is the Travel Blog Accelerator Free?
Travel Blog Accelerator is not free. It costs $499 to enroll in the program. Upon enrollment, members get access to the program’s curriculum, the private Slack group, group calls, and 5 productivity journals.
Travel Blog Accelerator's 3 Keys to A Successful Travel Blog
1. SEO is important.
Search engine optimization is crucial for any travel blog to succeed. In a Niche Pursuits feature, Kristin Addis shares that SEO accounts for around 80% of her blog’s traffic. “My goal is to provide the best possible answer to any question that someone might have regarding our chosen topic, supported by great photos,” she also adds.
Part of Kristin’s SEO strategy is to do quality link building by “writing for bigger publications, being a source for journalists (HARO), and making the site the best it can be so that when a journalist needs a source, they find us.”
2. Put affiliate links in your blogs.
In one of her YouTube videos, Kristin tells travel bloggers about how affiliate links can help them earn extra income online. “Think about the products and services that you love and rave about that you've tested yourself and write blog posts to recommend them,” she says. “Just make sure that every time you recommend something, you're always putting your audience first.” That said, Kristin also reminds people they should not “expect to make money from (affiliate links) right away.”
3. Hire people to lighten your load.
“I've had people helping me out since the very beginning,” confesses Kristin in another YouTube video. I know the places where I am stronger and can shine and that's where I want to focus my time.” So while a beginner blogger may have to do all the tasks initially, Kristin says they should eventually hire people because it can lead to greater growth.
What is Included in the Travel Blog Accelerator?
This module starts with a welcome message and the Niche Accountability Journal. It also
discusses how to make a blog stand out in the blogging community, along with what makes Instagram, YouTube, and blog posts effective.
This module has an SEO Accountability Journal. It also teaches about SEO Mastery, along with backlink building and mastering Google Analytics.
This module has a Social Media Accountability Journal. It focuses on the best social media practices, plus it features an interview with Pinterest Pro Ashley Yap.
This module goes in depth about utilizing the power of video content and understanding YouTube analytics as a tool.
This module has a Monetization Accountability Journal. It talks about important topics, such as making money, creating and marketing products, becoming virtual assistants, mastery of emails, and more. It also includes media kit templates.
This module has a Biz Accountability Journal. It shares tips on blogging as a business and in managing time.
This module shares insightful interviews from top travel bloggers namely Matt Kepnes (Nomadic Matt), Kristen Bor (Bearfoot Theory) lifestyle blogger Silvia Lawrence (Heart my Backpack), Alyssa Ramos (My Life’s A Travel Movie) and Liz Carlson (Young Adventuress).
What are Travel Blog Accelerator Reviews?
Travel Blog Accelerator reviews are mostly positive. These reviews are written by actual students of the program.
“I feel like the information is invaluable to my success in the future,” writes budding blogger Roxy. She also praises the community, saying it is “much more supportive” than other groups she has been a part of.
Eden Fite of Rock a Little Travel loves the quality resources and the Slack group. “I'm finding tremendous value in the content of the program, but more than that, I'm having fun,” she says.
Meanwhile, Shae Isaac of The Bright Eyed Explorer declares learning from Kristin and “a small group of like-minded women” is “so valuable.”
Finally, we have Theresa McKinney of Fueled by Wanderlust who managed to grow her blog traffic from 2,500 to 25,000 page views a month. According to her, joining the Travel Blog Accelerator made a big difference because it gave her the knowledge and feedback she needed. “I've gotten clarity on my niche, as well as a strategy for further growth,” she also adds.
Elsewhere, we only see two reviews online at MyGlobalViewpoint.com (Jon Miksis) and Fueled By Wanderlust (Theresa’s blog). We see no reviews on Reddit, Quora, Trustpilot, and other online sources.
Who is Kristin Addis?
Kristin Addis is a solo female traveler, writer, and blogger. She is the founder and CEO of Be My Travel Muse. Born on April 26, 1986 in Los Angeles, she is now known as the founder and CEO of Be My Travel Muse, one of the world’s top women travel blogs.
Kristin took up B.A. Global and International Studies: Socio Economics and Politics; Focus on East Asia in the University of California, Santa Barbara from 2004 to 2007. She also studied Mandarin Chinese at the National Taiwan Normal University from 2007 to 2008. Kristin later worked as an Associate for Harvey & Company, LLC from July 2008 to February 2012. She was eventually hired as a director for Insight Recruiting where she worked from March to September 2012. That same year, she left the corporate world, sell everything, and pursue her lifelong dream of traveling the world. She packed her bags, purchased a one-way ticket to Bangkok, and started blogging to document her travel experiences. She has since become an inspiration for countless female travel bloggers across the globe.
Kristin has been featured in various media sources, including Business Insider, Cosmopolitan, Daily Mail, INC, Marie Claire, Nerd Wallet, USA Today, VICE, Vogue, and Washington Post, among others. She is also the author of the books A Thousand New Beginnings: Tales of Solo Female Travel Through Southeast Asia (2016) and Conquering Mountains: How to Solo Travel the World Fearlessly (2018).
On social media, Be My Travel Muse has 119k followers on Instagram, 59k followers on Facebook, 27.9k followers on X (Twitter), and 66.2k subscribers on YouTube.
What is Kristin Addis' Net Worth?
Kristin Addis has an estimated net worth of between $1 million to $5 million. She has been growing her Be My Travel Muse blog since 2012. Today, she has traveled to more than earns up to $50,000 per month from blogging and has traveled to more than 60 countries across the world.
As a successful blogger and influencer, Kristin also makes money from affiliate link sales, sponsored posts on Instagram, YouTube ad revenues, plus the sales of her two books and online courses.
Kristin Addis' Claims
1. Students can make six figures from travel blogging.
The Travel Blog Accelerator program invites site visitors to “turbo charge” their blog growth. An initial glance at the website shows us the question “Do you wish that you could comfortably live off of your blogging income, making it a six-figure job?”. Furthermore, we read Kristin ensuring learners they can “make money… and make this your full-time gig faster.” She also promises she will guide students through their blogging journey.
2. The course' high-level SEO strategies will help bloggers “stand out in a saturated market.”
According to the website, Travel Blog Accelerator teaches about high-level SEO strategies and how newbies can drive traffic to their blogs and rise above competitors. “I promise to hold nothing back,” says Kristin, “and to help you find your way in a saturated market.”
Kristin Addis' Claims Debunked
1. We see no mentions of students achieving six figures yet.
A big selling point of the program is that Kristin is a six-figure earner and she’s ready to teach students how to reach that level. So far, we see no student testimonials mentioning anything about hitting six figures yet. We look forward to that day when we can hear actual stories from learners, sharing how they’ve earned $100,000 (or more) after applying the lessons from Travel Blog Accelerator.
2. Only 1 student has shared statistics about her blog’s growth.
As mentioned earlier, Theresa’s Fueled By Wanderlust jumped from 2,500 to 25,000 page views per month after taking Travel Blog Accelerator. While other students confirm they’ve benefited from the course and community, we also want to hear more specific stories on how the program helped improve their individual travel blogs.
Is being a travel blog creator lucrative in 2024?
Yes, travel blogs really make money. Travel bloggers can make up to $73,199 per year on average, according to ZipRecruiter. The website also shares that the average hourly earning for travel bloggers in the US is currently at $35.19. It takes 6 months to 2 years to make money from a travel blog.
The total earnings and how soon a travel blog starts generating revenue depends on several factors, such as:
- the number of new blogs uploaded per week
- the number of unique visitors the site attracts per month
- how soon the blog qualifies for Google AdSense monetization
How much do travel blogging courses typically cost?
Travel blogging courses typically cost between $50 to $2,500. It all depends on the scope of training and the type of learning modules provided, plus the qualifications of the blog course teacher. Also, some travel blog courses only require a one-time fee from their students while others offer a subscription-type program where members have to pay per month.
Travel Blog Accelerator Alternatives
How Travel Blogging Compares to Local Lead Generation
While travel blogging can be profitable, lead generation is an alternative worthy of serious consideration if you want to get your investment sooner. With blogging, you will have to keep producing content regularly to attract new readers and maintain existing ones. To do travel writing effectively, you’ll also have to travel constantly - which can be expensive and time-consuming.
In comparison, you won’t have to work as much with lead generation. Case in point, it took me about $500 and around 15 hours to build and rank this tree care site. Since ranking it, the site has brought me a monthly income of $2,000 for the past 8 years. My client pays me as I deliver 30 to 50 leads per month for their business. I usually do all my work from home and I just bring my laptop in case I need to travel. Competition is not as difficult, either. Besides, I’m not competing with thousands of travel bloggers but just several small businesses specific to the area I’m targeting.
I own several of these rank and rent sites and I make up to $52,000 per month. No wonder, lead generation is my recommended business model for 2023 and beyond. It’s just more profitable and stress-free than other types of online businesses.
