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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Hello Michelle,
I recently came across your story on a podcast and now see your story everywhere. You are often showcased (on many blogs) as the model to follow when it comes to making money online with blogging… so great job.
Question: You blog is a mix of lifestyle, how-to, and list posts. Do you think an even amount of each is ideal for getting traffic and converting into customers? Or do you favor one over another?
I’d be interested to get your take on your content strategy in regards to content types that “move the needle.” Thank you.
Thanks Paul!
I simply just write however I feel like, so there is no strategy that I stick by. Probably not the answer you are looking for, but I just write according to however I feel that day, haha.
Hi Michelle,
This is not a question, but I really wanted to say thank you for all your hard work and the stellar job you do of keeping in touch with your audience. You’ve personally answered my questions before and it’s obvious how genuine you are in creating content you love and that helps people. This is something both valuable and rare with bloggers who are making millions, so thank you. I learn a lot from you even though I’m not in the personal finance niche.
That’s all 😉
Thank you so much!
Michelle, I’ve enjoyed your blog for several years now, even though I did not read as diligently these days. I am wondering, if one considers to pick a place to live, say for the child’s school continuity, what would be a list of criteria given one has flexibility of a financially successful blogger.
I do not have children so I don’t think this question is something I can answer. Perhaps schools, things to do, likes, etc?
Hi Michelle!
Thanks for being open to questions!
I have relatively simple question, How long it took you get 50k pageviews and then 100k? What are your best strategy tips for growing Traffic for a new blog?
Thanks a lot!
Julia
I actually didn’t track pageviews in the beginning, so I am not sure. I think maybe a year to get to 50,000 page views a month?
Traffic is a question that I’ve gone over a lot, so I hope you don’t mind that this will be the same as what I’ve said to others (as it doesn’t really vary much anyways).
There are so many ways to grow traffic such as:
1) SEO
2) Pinterest
3) Facebook
4) Guest posting
5) Instagram
6) Starting a Youtube channel or podcast and so much more!
I recommend reading this for more info: https://fund-rise.live/2019/04/how-to-earn-money-blogging.html%3C/p%3E
I want to be location independent, please explain in detail how I could have plenty of WiFi in my TT with a complete office set up and not in an RV Park while traveling/boondocking.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to ask questions
There’s plenty of options. I recommend looking at https://www.rvmobileinternet.com to see what the best option for you would be.
We used to have the unlimited plan on AT&T, but now we’re on Google FI. Things change all the time so looking at the resource above is your best bet.
Thank you for taking questions!!
I am hoping to get a blog started here in the next couple of months, but I am interested in your perspective. From your point of view, is the “blogosphere” completely saturated with blogs that it is harder to successfully monetize it?
Thank you!
There’s plenty of room for new bloggers still. You just need to find your own voice and your own angle.
Have fun blogging!
Thank you so much! I have been planning this blog for a few years but waiting until I finished my Master’s in Nursing Education and I have a full-time position to help fund the blog. Since I have been in waiting mode, I was getting antsy about there not being as much opportunity as there was a few years back. I am so close now, just finishing my last paper! Can’t wait to get on this exciting project!!
Mary
You’re welcome Mary!
Hi Michelle,
I am working on starting a blog would you advise from day 1 to have affiliate sponsors or after you’ve built up a following? How do you start picking affiliates and is there a negotiation for what they will pay you?
Hey Vince!
1) You can start from day 1, but there is a wrong and right way to approach affiliate marketing on a blog.
2) I recommend starting with products that you already use.
3) Yes, you can negotiate sometimes.
I go in detail about affiliate marketing for bloggers here – makingsenseofaffiliatemarketing.com
Hi, I’m Rosa! I think you are super inspiring an I’d love some of your feedback! I’m looking into taking your course with affiliate marketing. I’m currently takin another course right now on blogging answering if I should start your curse after I complete that one. I recently launched my blog two months ago and have been trying affiliate links But haven’t grasped it yet. I’m really looking to monetize my blog fast and if you have any extra tips on making money for my blog in general that would be great! Also, what are your thoughts on hiring a virtual assistant to delegate tasks and help with blog management? Why are some of your strategies?
Thank you
Hey Rosa!
1) Affiliate marketing is my favorite way to monetize. So I would definitely recommend trying to spend more time focusing on that.
2) Virtual assistants are great. I have one and she is a lifesaver.
Hi, Michelle:
I love your blog! I’ve been kicking around the idea of starting a blog and despite all the successful bloggers saying there is still plenty of room in the blogging industry I’m hesitant. Any advice (beyond your blog posts) to help me decide if this is the route I should go? Context: I have a clearly defined niche, understand bluehost and WP, and am not overwhelmed with the work that will go into it to make it successful. I do want to start a blog to help people but also to make additional income, but can’t seem to get off the fence.
Hey Reba!
I’m not really sure if I 100% understand your question, but if you are wondering if it’s for you or not, then I recommend doing this – Brainstorm a list of around 10 possible blog posts to see if it’s something you are interested in and motivated to write about.
Yes, that was my question. Thank you for responding!
Hi Michelle
Thanks for this Q&A opportunity
I’m starting with my blog and as soon as I save the necessary money to take your affiliate marketing course I will do it. But right now what is the easiest thing you can recommend for starting making money with a blog?
Thanks again and I wish you more success
Hey Laura!
Do you mean in terms of growing traffic? Or what is the best way to monetize?
I don’t know if there’s a single best way, as there are plenty of ways. There’s display advertising, affiliate marketing, sponsorships, and creating your own products.
I go more indepth here – https://fund-rise.live/2019/04/how-to-earn-money-blogging.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Thanks Michelle. I will go on reading your blog. Have a nice day
How do i become an affiliate of the credit card company you represent of your Blog ?
Which one?
Hi Michelle!
First off thank you for sharing and helping rookie bloggers like myself get started on my business.
Currently am struggling with my blog not showing me current articles I post or have saved to finish later. I have reached out to bluehost and they tried changing purging all cache and changing A records to point to BlueHost from there end. I waited 8 hrs max as they suggested to be sure changes had time to go through. Yesterday I had started working on an article and it didn’t save.
Frustrated. Do you have any other ideas.
Thanks again!
Melissa
Hey Melissa!
Can you send me an email at michelle@makingsenseofcents.com and I can connect you with someone there who may be able to help you?
Hey Michelle,
Hope you are doing well through all of this with the pandemic and such. My question is a bit unique….how did you keep/find hope through all of the trial and error and not give up? When something seems almost impossible to reach….how did you still find the determination and hope not to give up? Obviously with blogging there’s a lot of trial and error and i just feel like I’m stuck in a rut and can’t move. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Hey Alexis!
I’ve never really had this issue, as I have always really enjoyed the business that I run. So, simply running it is motivating and refreshing. However, I also started my blog just for fun and not for money, so the first ~2 years meant that I made a lot of mistakes that I simply did not really care about, because it was all just a hobby.
Hi Michelle! Hope you and yours are all well during these challenging times.
If there is a positive thing that happened to me during the pandemic, is that it has freed up time that I can now dedicate to continue building my online business. I’ve been following your posts for quite some time, and I thank you for inspiring me in my quest to become financially independent.
Although I’m now familiar with many aspects of the ‘process’ involved in building an online presence, I’m having a hard time to choose the ‘specific’ tools to efficiently build the underlying software. I understand I need a blogging platform, and I understand the strategies around affiliate marketing (I took your course makingsenseofaffiliatemarketing.com!). But I’m overwhelmed when it comes to deciding which are the actual software tools that play well together in order to manage the business’ back-end.
For instance, should I use a collection of Wordpress plugins or a subscription-based CRM? If choosing a CRM, which plugins play well together with that CRM? I noticed that as one adds to the software stack, one ends up:
– paying for features you don’t need in order to get that one you ‘do’ need.
– having software components with ‘overlapping’ features.
– having to overpay for services to integrate and maintain the stack.
Can you provide some guidance on which software stack to choose when getting started without braking the bank, while at the same time having a solid base that one can grow on?
Thanks for taking questions.
Cheers.
Hey Mathias!
There isn’t one solution for all, as every bloggers needs different things.
Some of the things I pay for include hosting, email (Convertkit), Teachable for my course, Tailwind for pins, Hootsuite for Twitter and Facebook groups, and a whole bunch of other plugins.
Is that what you are asking?
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for sharing.
Yes, I see how there are different needs and individual preferences that will dictate the software stack that gets chosen by a particular blogger.
I understand there is no size-fits-all solution, but can you recommend a ‘zero-to-hero’ sort of ‘template’ course that would show one specific example of how someone has successfully combined and configured its own selection of software components to work together?
Regarding your Facebook ads for learn how to blog…what/who is the audience you target with those ads?
Hey Julie!
I usually target those who have read a related article on Making Sense of Cents in the past.
I recommend reading this – https://fund-rise.live/2019/01/how-one-blogger-grew-his-blog-to-over-2-million-visitors-in-a-year.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E