I have always been a big fan of Reddit’s Ask Me Anything threads, and then recently, I saw that Steve published an Ask Me Anything on his blog. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to decide to do one of these. But, here it is, and I hope you think it’s going to be as fun as I do!
Ask Me Anything is literally that – you can ask me anything. If you’re struggling to figure out what to ask, here are a few of the topics you may want to know more about:
- Personal finance
- Blogging
- My life
- Travel
- RVing
- Being location independent
- Business
- Making extra money
- How much candy I eat on a daily basis
- My favorite TV show
- Questions about my dogs
And so on, and so on.
Seriously, ask me anything in the comments below, and I will take the time to answer every single one. Of course, please nothing inappropriate or creepy. I’ll let you be the judge of what is creepy, I guess, haha!
All right, go for it, ask away!
P.S. If you’re looking to see all of the comments and questions, make sure to hit “Older Comments” or “Newer Comments” below. The comments break apart in pages once there are over 50 comments.
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I have a tough one for you. What’s your favorite song of all time?
This has to be the toughest one today! I actually don’t know if I have a favorite song of all time, haha.
I do have a favorite song to listen to while working out and it’s Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream
and you should see them in concert. they’re awesome.
Oh, I bet!
Hi Michelle,
What was the biggest obstacle or roadblock on the way towards monetizing your blog and how did you overcome it? Thanks!
Jules
Since I started my blog entirely as a hobby, I didn’t really have any obstacles because it was all just for fun 🙂
Do you think you’ll ever have kids?
One day!
Michelle, thanks for all your hard work and the inspiration it provides.
I am 68 years old and want desperately to have a money making blog that will allow me to live in retirement. I do not have the same tech-savvy skills that younger people have, but I have some great ideas. I respectfully ask, would you be willing to mentor me from scratch to implementation (i.e. monthly income summary)?
I know this is a lot to ask…. perhaps more than you are willing to even consider. I have tried to start a blog at other times, but I get stuck because I don’t even understand Tech-Language. Some have taken advantage of this and I lost $$$$. I currently live on $775.00 a month and so I cannot afford to lose more.
I trust and respect what you have achieved and this is why I am asking for your help.
Thank you for your courtesy.
Unfortunately, I do not currently provide any coaching services. Sorry!
I do have a free course – https://fund-rise.live/2016/05/how-to-start-a-blog-free-email-course.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
My question is,
What role does your husband play in all of this blogging business? I’m trying to get my husband in on it, for it to become our thing but don’t know how to let him help me. Pointers?
Thanks Lady!
Wes’s main role in our relationship is taking care of me, the RV/home, our travels, cleaning, etc.
What’s your strategy on linking to other pages on your site? Do you have a certain number of links you place on one blog post to link to another post? How many links do you think is too many?
Thanks Alot for this thread!
I link to other websites whenever it is a natural fit.
Hi Michelle,
We just bought your affiliate program. A lot to learn 🙂
I want to learn more about pinterest as well but not sure where to find information.
Saw your Pinterest bonus but would like to know more.
Can you recommend a good site/course to look out for?
Should I use hashtags or keywords in description?
Should I change/add information on other pins?
Thank you!
I recommend taking this Pinterest course (this is my affiliate link) – http://momsmakecents.teachable.com/?affcode=76689_ywcvfw-6
Not sure if you will be able to answer my question, but here it goes…
I am wondering if it would be a bad idea to quit my full time job to be able to cash out my 401K to pay off most of my debt. I have a part time job that would be able to pay for our regular expenses and help with anything else, but is it a bad idea to wipe out my retirement and start all over? I am 42 years old and married.
Here are some great articles I recommend reading:
1) http://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/10/paying-off-debt-401k.asp
2) https://www.thesimpledollar.com/emptying-out-a-401k-to-pay-off-credit-card-debt/
3) http://time.com/money/4429603/using-401k-to-pay-off-debt/
Thank you so much!
HI! I am a CPA and am beginning to focus my practice on bloggers. I want to get a better understanding of the industry to see how I can tailor my offerings to the industry. What kind of services would help you?
Perhaps a course on taxes for bloggers? 🙂
Charlene, you might consider expanding the service niche beyond bloggers to include freelancers/self-employed. Could also separate solopreneurs vs those working w/partners, staff or other freelancers.
Freelancers need to know how to manage their books, how to profitably & legally operate their business. Some topics might include a list of obvious as well as little-known write-offs, importance of using an LLC, keeping biz earnings separate fr personal funds, records mgmt, cost-tracking, quarterly vs annual tax prep, etc.
You could tailor content in lots of ways to help bloggers and freelancers.
Hi Michelle,
Are you an introvert or an extrovert? And whichever is the answer, how does it factor into your blogging, online marketing, and business in general? Have you taken a personality test to determine your degree of extro- or introversion, or are you making an educated guess based on your own self-understanding?
Plus, what are your dog’s names and how old are they? 🙂
Thank you!
I’m both, sort of. It all depends on the day for me, haha!
I will say that blogging has made me more of an introvert as I really like to work alone now, haha.
Dogs –
Sailor is a little over 10 years and and Frenchie is around 9 🙂
Michelle, check out the Myers Briggs personality test, it’s amazing.
Here’s a link: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
It’s free and can help anyone learn more about their personality, their strengths and weakness to name but a few invaluable insights.
Enjoy 🦋
My top tip for free resources would be to read all of the featured questions in my monthly income reports (you can start with this one -https://fund-rise.live/2017/10/september-blog-income-report.html%29.%3C/p%3E
I have the same question, regarding time. @Michelle, what does your working calendar look like? How many hours do you work on your blog or blog related business?
Thank you, Michelle! You are truly an inspiration!!!
The amount of hours I work varies widely. It may be 0 hours one week and 100 hours the next.
Hi Michelle, I want to offer ebooks, workshops, and possibly products on my site, so I’ll be needing e-commerce. Is Wordpress.org suitable for this? I see a lot of advertisements for Shopify, Wix, etc., and would prefer not to build e-commerce from scratch, so going with one of those options is tempting. I’ve heard different things and am confused on what to do. I appreciate your help. Thank you!
I really don’t know enough about ecommerce to give you an opinion. So sorry!
I’ve been thinking about blogging/teaching, but always hesitate because I worry about losing privacy. How do you balance sharing info about yourself so people believe your credentials (schools, degrees, etc), but not enough that they can find out where you live, etc.
I don’t think readers care enough to hurt someone. I’ve never had that fear and I share pretty much everything on my blog.
I just read an article in Fast Company about mattress bloggers/reviewers and affiliate marketing. It gave me the impression that the bloggers were merely salespeople for the mattress companies as opposed to offering unbiased reviews with a lot of money being paid to the bloggers by the companies. My question is, how do you ensure that people visiting your site know that you are reliable and above board?
Thank you!
By always providing high-quality content 🙂
Hi Michelle,
I love reading your blog articles on your income reports!
Can you tell me if you have a blog specifically on the online survey companies that you work with?
I’ve tried a few from your list but a lot of them want me to make a purchase to “be on the list” etc…how did you determine the ones that would be reputable vs the ones that just want you to join a paid membership?
Yes, here – http://fund-rise.live/2015/09/best-online-survey-sites-for-free.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
They should all be free.