It’s been a long time since my last Ask Me Anything here on Making Sense of Cents.
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
- Sailing
- Being location independent
- Business
- Making extra money
- 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’ve seen you mention that you waited to quit your full time job until you were making about as much money or more from your blog. I’m considering leaving mine before that point, as I’ve made great progress with views and posts while working, but still feel I’m at a disadvantage having limited time. I feel my growth has been slower because my full time job has to come first. Is it wise to consider leaving to focus on blogging if I’m not nearly monetized to where I want to be yet?
I think this is more personal preference. I know plenty of people who left their day jobs in the beginning of their blogging career, and it worked out great for them.
I would recommend saving as much money as you can and building up a good emergency fund in case it takes a little longer than you think to build up your blogging income.
Thanks girl! I feel like I’m on the right track then, as we’ve been shoveling money away this year. I guess we’ll just keep at it for now!
You’re welcome!
I think you should think of it in having what is either a mini-retirement of sort or full retirement from you last job, or making a change of your type of employment. Either way, saving for 6 months to a year (you can use CD Laddering to do it and get benefits or other investment tools). But be prepared for change.
What are your thoughts on using Shopify or Squarespace as a main blogging platform versus Wordpress? Does it affect your search rankings negatively?
Hey Jenn!
Unfortunately, I don’t know much about how it impacts rankings as I have only ever used Blogspot and WordPress. I really like WordPress so I can’t imagine using something different!
How do you post your instagram photos. Do you use a service like later.com or do you post from your phone.
Has instagram being helpful in generating traffic.
Also how do you post to Pinterest, manually or with a program.
Hey David!
I post on Instagram straight from my phone.
Instagram doesn’t generate a lot of traffic, but it does allow me to connect with everyone on a closer level.
Pinterest is usually scheduled through Tailwind.
What are the most life-changing Disciplines that you have implemented into your routine?
Great question! I don’t know if I’ve ever thought about this. Here are some things that I think have helped:
1) Being positive.
2) Having a to-do list (helps keep me focused!).
3) Learn new things as much as I can.
My husband and I are about three years from retirement. We’d like to relocate to Florida. My blog isn’t location specific, but I am wondering if there is a community of retired bloggers you are familiar with in Florida?
Hey Terri!
I know there are a lot of bloggers in Florida, but I didn’t really meet up with any as I wasn’t there for long (and when I was there, I was pretty busy).
Hi Michelle , I am writing a blog on HAPPINESS.Please let me know how best i can promote it globally to attract more traffic.
Hello!
Ways include: SEO, guest posting, sharing on social media (such as Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram), paying for Facebook and/or Pinterest advertising, sharing with your email list, and more 🙂
I recommend reading this for more indepth ways – https://fund-rise.live/2019/04/how-to-earn-money-blogging.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
What are your suggestions for making extra money when you have limited extra time? I work full time and visit the nursing home to take care of my Dad twice a day. Surveys don’t work for me. I must be an odd demographic as I get turned down for most of them.
Hey Ashley!
There are many things out there that exists, it’s mainly just what you want to do.
Here are some places to start:
1) https://fund-rise.live/extra-income%3C/a%3E%3Cbr /> 2) https://fund-rise.live/2019/09/best-online-jobs.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hi Michelle,
What side hustles hold you recommend that are simple to start with to get into the earning extra
cash side of things? What hustles take the least amount of time and earn cash? I don’t have much time since I work almost 12 hour days Monday thru Friday and catch up
On things during the eeekend.
What I did in the beginning was:
1) Mystery shopping – https://fund-rise.live/2019/02/how-to-become-a-mystery-shopper.html%3C/a%3E%3Cbr /> 2) Selling on eBay
3) Answering surveys
4) Writing online and managing social media for others
Do you consider SEO when writing a blog such as keyword phrases to rank on Google?
Not really, but I am learning as much as I can about SEO right now, so that may change soon.
Hi,
Do you know of any decent advertisers that will work with puny bloggers that don’t have much traffic yet?
Do you mean display advertising? Affiliate marketing? or sponsored partnerships?
Display
Media.net 🙂
Your favorite travel destination in Europe? I need some inspo.😉
I’ve actually never been to Europe! I know, super sad, haha.
Check southern Europe, like Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia,Montenegro, …
How did it come about that Forbes wrote an article about you? Did you pitch them? Do you use HARO? What’s the best way to get a write-up or mention from the media? Thanks!
I’ve been on Forbes a few times, and they reached out to me (from what I can remember).
Here’s a really good blog post on this – https://fund-rise.live/2020/01/how-susie-grew-her-email-list-by-29000-in-9-months.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I’ve set up Wordpress via Bluehost – thanks for the recommendation! I am STRUGGLING with Wordpress. I’ve used shopify, squarespace, and blogger without any trouble.
I know most serious bloggers are on Wordpress but I am worried about the slow learning curve I seem to be on and whether I’ll be responsible in the future for updates, etc.
Could you speak to this concern? Should I cut bait and move to squarespace?
I’m guessing your website isn’t designed yet? Once you’re done with that, there’s really not much you have to do that would be confusing on WordPress.
hi! i am a newbie blogger, using wordpress. i plan on using affiliate links, of course (i bought your course on that). what other beginning methods would be good to generate income? is there a good way to put ads on a site without the visitor getting pop ups all the time? id love to be directed to some of these possibilities.
thanks! 🙂
Other ways to generate blogging include include: Sponsored partnerships, display advertising, and creating your own product. You can simply just choose no popups, and then your visitors won’t get popups.
thanks so much! i know you said one time you use adthrive, but i think they only accept people who have lots of viewers. could you recommend a good ad company to start with?
Media.net is another option.
When do you intend to give me your courses for free, because I’ve been waiting for them to be free for a long time! You are an inspiration (buttering you)
I have no plans to give my courses away for free 🙂