Hey!
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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How many countries have you visited and which was your favorite?
I haven’t really kept track but it’s been less than 20 countries. I definitely want to visit them all one day, though 🙂
So far, the Bahamas is my favorite. With over 700 islands and amazing sea life, it’s a great place to be.
As a single parent, able to pay bills, how would I go about making extra money when you have really no support.
What is your biggest source of income? Affiliate? Selling your own course? Etc…thanks
Affiliate income is definitely my largest, but it’s a good mix between affiliate, selling my own course, and sponsorships lately.
Hi Michelle, I have a B2B program with an affiliate program. What is the best way to promote it to affiliate marketers?
One of the best ways is probably to ask those who have already taken your course to become an affiliate.
What’s your advice to someone trying to run their new blog as a business instead of a hobby?
Start on self-hosted WordPress, instead of a free blogging platform. It is a game changer!
Do you rely soley on traffic from Pinterest when you first started gaining traction? Or did you learn SEO as well and get good traffic from both?
Pinterest was one of my largest sources of traffic when I first started gaining traction.
how do you contact cruise lines to do entertainment on them? I can’t find any contact info.
I’d love to hear the answer to this question, TOO!
I’m not sure what it’s like these days due to the events of 2019-2021, but usually there’s a Hiring/Jobs page. Or, you may be able to reach out to them and ask them how to find more about jobs (there’s usually a contact page on the website).
I”ve looked and there is only entertainment of music and dancers. There is only an email and they don’t answer it. Can you talk to whoever mentioned this to you? I’ve tried calling and they don’t have an option to get through to anyone.
I’m struggling to figure out the very best way to make money from home and not have to go to the office to meet a schedule. I have wanted to do this for quite some time–but now that my husband has suffered a catastrophic illness, I need to be able to be home with him and make up for not only my office salary, but his salary as well. We were looking forward to retirement within the next 7-10 years, and now all of those dreams are swept away by the reality of the situation.
Hello Rachal,
Here is a blog post to read that can help you get started – https://fund-rise.live/2021/02/free-work-from-home-courses.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Those are all free courses, so you can try each one to see which you would be most interested in.
Based on your experience, what makes most newbies give up too soon or even never succeed in blogging forever?
Most bloggers give up too early because they think that they should be making an income immediately. However, that is not the case. It is not a get rich quick scheme, and things take time.
What does it take to stay in the game all the years you have done this? If you were to start all over again, how much money would you save and what would you buy to restart your blog and business? What sites and who would you hire and where now?
I don’t think I’d be able to save any money, as I already run a very affordable business. If I could do things differently, though, I would have started to take Making Sense of Cents seriously from the very beginning. Such as by having a professional web design, starting on self-hosted WordPress (instead of Blogspot), having an editor from the very beginning, and more.
How much would that all cost now? As an estimate?
It can be as cheap or as expensive as you’d like. You can find a premade design for less than $50, or you can hire a web designer for anywhere from around $250 to literally hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A new self-hosted blog usually costs less than $100 a year.
What site would you go to look for an editor?
Hi, would like to know the answer to that too. Is this a paid hire, freelancer, someone through Fiverr.com, etc., or someone other arrangement?
What does your day to day look like? There’s so much to blogging that it’s overwhelming at times, especially as a side hustle.
This article is a little older, but here’s something I’ve written in the past that described my day to day – https://fund-rise.live/2018/06/digital-nomad-lifestyle.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Pretty much all new bloggers get overwhelmed in the beginning – that is just normal. Things do get easier with time, especially if you start outsourcing tasks.
Where there any courses or training that you bought that TRULY helped you in the beginning to learn more about blogging and how to monetize and grow traffic??
I feel like there is sooo much out there but can never get my hands on the right trainings/courses.
Thanks for all you do to help others! xoxo
I don’t think I purchased any courses or trainings in the beginning. My blog was completely a hobby for the first year, so I didn’t want to spend anything as I didn’t really know that blogs could even make money. I learned a lot through trial and error.
However, if I could do things over again, some of the courses that I recommend include (there are affiliate links below):
– http://makingsenseofaffiliatemarketing.com/ (my affiliate marketing course)
– https://fund-rise.live/BlogTraffic%3C/a%3E%3Cbr /> https://fund-rise.live/pinterestguide%3C/a%3E%3Cbr /> – https://fund-rise.live/SEOStarterPack%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
If I dont have a niche and dont want to do a a blog. What is a simple but not complicated way to make some extra money on a regular basis staying at home on my own time. I m retiring in about a year and still would like to supplement my income.
Thank you
Debi Oakes
Kasnas City MO
Here’s a great blog post to check out and see what work form home jobs you are interested in – https://fund-rise.live/2021/02/free-work-from-home-courses.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
What are some personal finance affiliate programs you would recommend?
Rakuten, Ibotta, $5 Meal Plan, Policy Genius, Credible, Personal Capital, and more.
Thank you Michelle. I love your affiliate marketing course and need to get more serious about it!
Hi, I used to teach high school until I became disabled. I tried painting to bring in money and sold three to people I knew. Now I’m making jewelry, which I am actually much better at doing, but can’t find the right platform to sell them. Most require money even if you don’t sell anything, and I am not tech savvy enough to set up a website. I would love any advice! Thank you <3
Unfortunately, this is not an area that I am familiar with as I have never sold jewelry. Perhaps Etsy?
OK, personal finance albeit Social Security.
My brother has Parkinson’s. He signed up for SS. SS took out about $112 a month for Medicare.
This was going on for five years. During a visit, I saw a notice alert my brother to his new SS monthly payment and the Medicare rate would go up to $114 or $115.
Well my brother’s wife works full time MAINLY to keep their health insurance, As you probably know, if a person is covered by an on going insurance policy they DON’T have the monthly deduction from their SS account.
Neither my brother or his wife knew this. We immediately sent SS a letter with the proof of insurance. The deductions stopped … BUT … I wanted my brother to recoup over $6,000
($100 approx X 60 months/5 yrs).
I called numerous times, wrote numerous letters, even tried to get his Congressman involved.
Just got ignored. It’s been four years since my last efforts. I STILL think a wrong should be righted.
Let’s see what you got.
Unfortunately, I am not a SS expert so I am not the best person to ask when it comes to this question. Perhaps you could find a SS writer and ask them for more information?
Hi Michelle!
You really inspired me to start a blog…I have just started writing my blog (to go alongside my youtube channel) and I wondered if you can give me any more advice or words of wisdom. I am a student in your Making Sense of Cents class. One of the reasons I chose your class is because I, too, am a sailor/cruiser and would love to earn enough to cruise full time
Thank You so much!
Capt Kris
Sailing Southern Star – Key West
Hey Capt Kris!
Thanks for your comment. What kind of advice are you looking for?
Getting traffic to my blog??? Can I really make a sustainable income blogging?
thanks Michelle!
My top piece of advice would be to start an email list, if you haven’t yet. If you already have, find ways to grow it like crazy. Create freebie optins, create funnels for those who sign up for your email list – basically just engage with your audience as much as you can.