A great way to get more money on caravan escort missions is to trade a bit yourself. Buy cheap and sell at a high price. Some core items to profit on is Iron, salt, furs and linen.
Iron is cheap all over Northern Europe, including Poland and Hungary. Sell it in Spain, Italy or Middle East. Depending on your trade skill, you can sometimes get it as cheap as 29 gold. I never sell below 300, even if the nominal price is 264. Highest price I've gotten is around 360.
Salt is cheapest in Poland and the Holy Lands/North Africa. Prices can be as low as under 50, though I usually buy all under 120. Nominal price is 255, and you can sell all over Western Europe/Turkey/Balkans. Highest price I've gotten is less than 300.
Furs are cheap in Bulgaria, North of the Carpathians(Vladimir Rus) and in Lithuania and Northern Russia. Also Morocco. Can sometimes be lower than 50. Nominal price is 391. Sell all over Europe and Holy lands/Egypt. I rarely sell below 400.
Linen is cheap in the Baltic/Teutonic Order lands. Less profit margin here. I buy all below 170. Best prices are in the Holy lands, where you can get the nominal of 250+.
As for tournaments, a key to early success is companions. If the town is empty when there is a tournament, your companions will join in to fill the empty places. If you are alone, some random knights will fill the empty ranks. Since they are well armoured, they're tough to beat early on. If you manage to have 6 companions early on, there will be only 1 place filled with a knight, and the important part is winning most of the bouts. If you win 6 of your 7 bouts, you often get the price.
PS. If you want to try escort missions/trading, try getting horses for as many of your companions as you can. Remember that pack horses in your inventory help with speed if you carry a heavy load.