{"id":28527,"date":"2026-01-14T08:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T05:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/?p=28527"},"modified":"2026-01-15T13:25:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T10:25:20","slug":"yuriself-success-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/yuriself-success-story\/","title":{"rendered":"One tool, 3x income: Yuriself Media\u2019s success story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Hong \u0421hen\u2019s Chinese-language site <a href=\"http:\/\/yuriselfmedia.tw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">yuriselfmedia.tw<\/a> focuses on travel in Asia, especially Japan and South Korea. He does decently well, with over 55,000 unique monthly visitors. (Here\u2019s the <a href=\"https:\/\/www-yuriselfmedia-tw.translate.goog\/?_x_tr_sl=zh-TW&amp;_x_tr_tl=en&amp;_x_tr_hl=en&amp;_x_tr_pto=wapp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">site in English<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;69e796b796302&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" class=\"wp-block-image size-large wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"641\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-async--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on-async--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-async-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-1024x641.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28528\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-1024x641.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-768x481.png 768w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-779x488.png 779w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-416x260.png 416w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image.png 1260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on-async--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Yuriself Media\u2019s home page, with articles on Seoul<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Hong has been a Travelpayouts partner for a while, and his links and widgets for Booking.com, Agoda, Klook, and Trip.com have brought him steady but modest earnings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But in December 2024, he started getting anxious about his business. He had plenty of ideas for winter travel articles, but how could he earn money the rest of the year? He asked Eugenia at Travelpayouts for advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She gave him three suggestions:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Spend part of the winter writing posts for other seasons and spring-summer destinations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Create niche guides for specific months or seasons, such as \u201cHokkaido in March.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Make sure Drive is fully enabled.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Drive&#8230; What?&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Eugenia explained that Drive is a single AI system that powers all Travelpayouts AI-tools and works across the entire site. Drive can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Switch links to Travelpayouts offers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Link relevant keywords automatically<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Insert contextual recommendations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Display smart previews<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Show targeted offers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of these features were already active on Hong\u2019s site, such as switching links to Travelpayouts, but Targeted Offers was not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This feature uses AI to analyze user behavior and intent, then displays the most relevant travel offers in real time. Setup is minimal, and once enabled, it works autonomously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTrust me, it\u2019ll help,\u201d said Eugenia. \u201cAnd if not, you can just disable it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hong shrugged. \u201cOk, let\u2019s try.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"d-flex justify-content-center col-12\">                         \n    <a class=\"tpe-btn tpe-btn-article\" href=\"https:\/\/app.travelpayouts.com\/tools\/drive\/?tp_place=blogpost_yuriself-success-story\/\">                                \n        Enable Drive  \n    <\/a>                        \n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3\u0445 revenue surge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Targeted Offers started bringing in bookings for Hong in March 2025. At first, it only showed offers from one brand, Trip.com, but it still brought in about $250. By July, Hong earned $1,700 with this tool, most of it from Agoda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#x261d;&#xfe0f;Here and below, the numbers include both confirmed and pending (potential) bookings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;69e796b7968f7&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" class=\"wp-block-image size-large wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-async--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on-async--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-async-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tp-blog-1864x980-2-1024x538.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28543\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tp-blog-1864x980-2-1024x538.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tp-blog-1864x980-2-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tp-blog-1864x980-2-768x404.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tp-blog-1864x980-2-1536x808.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tp-blog-1864x980-2-932x490.jpg 932w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tp-blog-1864x980-2-928x488.jpg 928w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tp-blog-1864x980-2-416x219.jpg 416w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tp-blog-1864x980-2.jpg 1864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on-async--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Yuriself Media\u2019s Booking Booster income in H1 2025<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>What started as an experiment turned into a major revenue driver. By the end of 2025, Targeted Offers brought more than $5,000, making up nearly one-third of total earnings generated via Drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hong was able to track his bookings using Travelpayouts\u2019 free <a href=\"https:\/\/app.travelpayouts.com\/statistics\/content_analytics\/?tp_place=blogpost_yuriself-success-story\/\">Content Analytics<\/a> dashboard:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;69e796b796bd5&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" class=\"wp-block-image size-large wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"383\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-async--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on-async--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-async-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/targetoffers_yuriself-1024x383.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-29295\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/targetoffers_yuriself-1024x383.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/targetoffers_yuriself-300x112.png 300w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/targetoffers_yuriself-768x287.png 768w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/targetoffers_yuriself-1536x575.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/targetoffers_yuriself-1304x488.png 1304w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/targetoffers_yuriself-416x156.png 416w, https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/targetoffers_yuriself.png 1999w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on-async--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Targeted Offers bookings in 2025<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Hong admits he had low expectations:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"blockquote\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>I really appreciate how it automatically tracks highly interested buyers. It\u2019s truly impressive. In the past 30 days, it has generated 90 orders for me. Without Targeted Offers, they would have been lost.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"d-flex justify-content-center col-12\">                         \n    <a class=\"tpe-btn tpe-btn-article\" href=\"https:\/\/app.travelpayouts.com\/tools\/drive\/?tp_place=blogpost_yuriself-success-story\/\">                                \n        See Drive in action \n    <\/a>                        \n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A new chapter for Hong<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Hong is clear: enabling Drive doesn\u2019t mean bloggers can stop working. Content is still king, and you need to find ways to grow your traffic. That\u2019s why content and growth remain his priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to his increased income, Hong is now spending a year living in Japan and writing about it. While there, he\u2019s expanding his presence on YouTube, Instagram, and Threads to drive traffic to his blog \u2014 with Drive monetizing that traffic in the background.(Check out our article on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/social-media-traffic-guide\/?tp_place=blogpost_yuriself-success-story\/\">driving traffic using social media<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lessons for bloggers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>So, what can we learn from Hong\u2019s successful 2025?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Choosing the right tools can make the difference between doing ok and doing great.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Whichever tools you use, your readers still need quality content.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Successful bloggers are always looking for ways to improve. Have a solid blog? It may be time to move into social media.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consolidating monetization into a single system like Drive on Travelpayouts reduces complexity and saves time.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>As Hong says: <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"blockquote\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>If you can&#8217;t produce valuable content, then even the best tools won&#8217;t help. But if your content is valuable and you&#8217;re struggling with too many travel platforms, slow response times, or not reaching income thresholds, then Travelpayouts Drive is definitely the right choice!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How a travel blog from Taiwan tripled its income using one smart tool.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":28541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[527],"tags":[346,588,704,20],"class_list":["post-28527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-affiliate-tools","tag-ai-tools","tag-drive","tag-travel-blog"],"acf":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/96"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28527"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29392,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28527\/revisions\/29392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}