So, you’ve decided to stop obsessing over Google Analytics data and monetize your travel blog in ways that don’t depend on organic traffic. Maybe you’ve even chosen a specific digital product you want to start creating, but how do you make it happen?
Here’s where choosing the right services come in – ones that will help you seamlessly create the best content.
Design and layout services
If you’re going to create gorgeous digital content like magazines and thematic guides, you’re going to need the right design and layout tools. These services can help you collate text, source and add beautiful images, assemble pages, and more.
Canva
Canva is perfect if you’re looking for an easy-to-use graphic design tool. Its drag-and-drop interface makes creating everything from social media posts to full-on ebooks a breeze. Plus, there are loads of templates to get you started.
💲 Price: €9–12 per month, there’s a free plan
Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign is the go-to for pros needing advanced control over layouts and typography. It integrates with other Adobe products, supports interactive PDFs and ebooks, and offers cloud services for collaboration. Its advanced design tools, style packs, and templates help you create complex designs efficiently.
💲 Price: $22.99 per month
Marq (formerly Lucidpress)
Marq (formerly Lucidpress) is a web-based service for team projects. It allows you to collaborate in real time and use a wide range of templates to create digital and print content easily.
💲 Price: €11 per month, there’s a free plan
Issuu
Issuu is fantastic for turning PDFs into interactive online publications – perfect for sharing your magazines, catalogs, and portfolios with a global audience.
💲 Price: €19–248 per month
MagLoft
MagLoft makes it easy to create and distribute digital magazines. It’s user-friendly and lets you publish on multiple platforms, including iOS and Android.
💲 Price: $199–499 per month
Joomag
Joomag provides an all-in-one platform for creating, distributing, and monetizing digital products and other content. It’s known for its interactive features and analytics tools, which help you understand how your audience engages with what you produce.
💲 Price: ~$400 per month
Zinio
Zinio is a digital newsstand for distributing your publications. It supports various formats and provides insights into reader behavior.
Travel planning and itinerary creation
With these services, you can offer your readers personalized consultations and create custom travel itineraries tailored to their unique preferences and needs.
Travefy
Travefy creates detailed travel itineraries to share or sell. It allows you to organize flights, accommodations, and activities in one place, making it easy to generate trip planners.
💲 Price: $35–49 per month
TripIt
TripIt streamlines travel planning by automatically organizing your ideas into a master itinerary. A good choice if you plan to sell professional itineraries to your audience.
💲 Price: $49 per year, there’s a free plan
Roadtrippers
Roadtrippers helps you plan and create road trip guides. It helps find interesting stops and hidden gems along any route.
💲 Price: $35.99–59.99 per year, there’s a free plan
Google My Maps
Google My Maps lets you create custom maps with personalized markers and routes. You can use it to visually organize and present travel routes, enhancing your products with interactive maps.
💲 Price: free
TripCreator
TripCreator offers a trip-planning service that helps you craft tailor-made itineraries based on specific interests and preferences.
💲 Price: $59–499+ per month
Wanderlog
Wanderlog allows you to create detailed travel itineraries, collaborate with other travelers, and track expenses.
💲 Price: free
Community platforms
There is power (and, let’s be honest, profit) in a community, but only if you execute it correctly. These services will help you build interactive forums and host engaging live Q&A sessions, creating a space where your audience can connect.
Social media
First, the usual suspects: social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X allow you to create groups, host live sessions, and interact directly with your audience.
Discourse and Slack
Discourse and Slack are forum software tools that help you build online communities. They are great for hosting discussions and Q&A sessions, creating subject-specific channels/groups, and managing user interactions.
💲 Price: $50–300 per month. The cost of Slack depends on the number of participants in your workspace.
Slido
Slido is a Q&A and polling platform that helps you engage your audience during webinars, live streams, virtual conferences, and other live events.
💲 Price: $15–150 per month, there’s a free plan
Crowdpurr
Crowdpurr offers interactive live trivia, polls, and Q&A sessions so you can make your live events more engaging and fun for your audience.
💲 Price: $49.99–149.99 per month, there’s a free plan
Mighty Networks
Mighty Networks is a community-building platform that lets you create your own social network – build interaction, host live events, and cultivate a dedicated community around your brand.
💲 Price: $99–360 per month
Vanilla Forums
Vanilla Forums provides a platform for creating online communities. It offers tools for forum management, user engagement, and community moderation.
StreamYard
StreamYard lets you host professional live streams directly on multiple social media platforms. It’s perfect for live Q&A sessions and interactive broadcasts.
💲 Price: $25–299 per month, there’s a free plan
BeLive
BeLive is another live-streaming platform that offers features like screen sharing, live interviews, and audience interaction tools.
💲 Price: €18–52 per month
Content creation and publication
Have any wild stories about that crazy fruit at the market that you shouldn’t have eaten, or the nightmare guest in the bed next to you? Whether your aim is to create a viral video or pen a must-read ebook, these tools will help you turn your quirky adventures into cash.
Medium
Medium is awesome for writing and sharing your travel stories. It’s user-friendly, and you can reach a huge audience. Plus, you can even make money through their partner program.
💲 Price: $4–12 per month
Literature & Latte (Scrivener)
Literature & Latte (Scrivener) is a writing tool for creating travel guides and ebooks. It helps you organize your notes, drafts, and research all in one place.
💲 Price: €23.99–111.98
Ulysses
Ulysses is another writing app for crafting articles and guides. It’s clean, distraction-free, and syncs across all your devices, making it easy to write from your comfortable hotel room or even while floating in a hot air balloon.
💲 Price: $5.99 per month
YouTube
YouTube is a must for reaching a broad audience and monetizing your travel videos. It’s perfect for vlogs, tutorials, and monetizing through ads and sponsorships.
Vimeo
Vimeo is another top choice for hosting your travel videos. It offers high-quality playback and customization options, so your content looks professional and polished.
💲 Price: €8–60 per month, there’s a free plan
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is ideal for self-publishing your travel ebooks. You can reach millions of readers on Amazon and earn royalties from your sales.
Kobo Writing Life
Kobo Writing Life is another platform for self-publishing ebooks. It’s great for reaching international readers and offers flexible pricing options.
💲 Price: free
Visual content
Why did the photographer go broke? Because she kept losing focus on her business!
Let’s prove the joke wrong. To do so, you first need to master creating photos that can sell. Then, with the right services, you can capture not just scenes, but also sales.
Adobe Lightroom
Adobe Lightroom is an essential photography tool, with powerful editing features and a user-friendly interface. Plus, mastering Lightroom allows you to develop unique presets that you can package and sell to other creators. For a great example, check out this Dreamer Pack preset from Travel with Carla Viana.
💲 Price: $9.99–19.99 per month
Creative Market
Creative Market is the go-to for selling digital assets, including photo presets and templates.
💲 Price: $9.95–99.95 per month
ON1 Photo RAW
ON1 Photo RAW offers a full suite of editing tools, including some nifty AI for creating professional-quality images.
💲 Price: €56.89–136.54
SmugMug
SmugMug is a service for storing, editing, sharing, and selling travel photos. It provides beautiful galleries and e-commerce options to help you monetize your visual content.
💲 Price: $37–54 per month
Zenfolio
Zenfolio lets you showcase and sell your photos in sleek, professional portfolios. It’s perfect for managing client galleries and offering your best shots.
💲 Price: $7–20 per month
Shutterstock
Shutterstock is great for selling travel photos to a global audience. It’s a huge marketplace where your work can get significant exposure.
💲 Price: €29–179 per month
Unsplash
Unsplash is a popular platform for sharing your travel photos for free. Even if it doesn’t generate revenue, it’s fantastic for building your portfolio and gaining exposure, which can drive traffic to your paid offerings elsewhere.
💲 Price: free
FilterGrade
FilterGrade is a marketplace for selling photo editing presets.
Education and training platforms
Yes, we like seeing pictures of your cute face around the world, but do you know what’s truly valuable? Your knowledge, experience, and expertise. With these websites, you can turn your know-how into products your audience can’t wait to buy.
Teachable
Teachable is a platform for creating and selling online courses. It’s user-friendly and offers everything you need to build courses, from videos to quizzes.
💲 Price: $59–249 per month, there’s a free plan
Thinkific
Thinkific is another great option for course creation. It allows you to create, market, and sell your courses all on one platform.
💲 Price: €48–195 per month, there’s a free plan
Zoom
Zoom is obviously a go-to product for live webinars and virtual classes. It’s widely used and offers features like screen sharing, breakout rooms, and recording, making it ideal for interactive sessions.
💲 Price: €12.49–2,030 per month, there’s a free plan
WebinarJam
WebinarJam is another platform for hosting live and automated webinars. It offers a range of features to engage your audience, such as live chat, polls, and Q&A sessions.
💲 Price: $49–499 per month
Udemy
Udemy is one of the largest online education marketplaces, where can create and sell digital courses to a global audience.
Skillshare
Skillshare is another marketplace for online courses, focused more on creative topics like graphic design, animation, and photography.
ClickMeeting
ClickMeeting is a webinar platform that makes hosting and managing webinars easy. It’s perfect for conducting training sessions, product demos, and online meetings.
💲 Price: €28–355 per month
Demio
Demio is a webinar platform designed for marketing. It offers a simple and effective way to host live and automated webinars.
💲 Price: $59–799 per month
KelbyOne
KelbyOne is a great place to start if you’re considering creating and selling travel photography courses. It already has a built-in audience eager to learn new skills.
CreativeLive
CreativeLive is another platform that offers photography courses.
Interactive and personalized content
Imagine this: you’re on a beach in Bali, jotting down your adventures in a journal… and then someone comes up and pays you to read it! Ok, that sounds a little creepy, but not if we’re talking about your online travel business. These services are perfect for helping you create personalized travel journals and interactive guides that travelers will love to buy.
Journey
Journey is one of the best journaling apps. It’s perfect for capturing your travel experiences and turning them into interactive journals you can sell to your audience.
💲 Price: $39–99 per month, there’s a free plan
Penzu
Penzu is another great tool for creating private online journals.
💲 Price: $4.99–9.99 per month
Google Docs
Google Docs is pretty much the go-to service for working on texts. You can easily add interactive elements and collaborate in real-time, making it ideal for creating travel guides.
💲 Price: free
Pages
Pages is a powerful word processor for Mac users. It’s great for creating travel guides and journals and offers a range of templates and design tools to help you craft beautiful content.
💲 Price: free
Day One
Day One is a journaling app perfect for creating and selling personalized travel journals. It offers a clean, intuitive interface and features like location tagging and multimedia support.
💲 Price: $2.92 per month, there’s a free plan
Go forth and earn!
Doing anything well means choosing the right tools, so take the time to identify the best service for your digital product.
We’d love to hear your favorite tools – share them in the comments or let us know what you’re looking for. We and our community will try to help!
Lastly, stay tuned to the Travelpayouts blog for more articles on how to create and sell digital products.
