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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I loved following your RV life, and I dream of doing the same…what kind of RV did you have? How did you schedule your work around travel days? Did you boondock or stay in campgrounds? Anything you’re willing to share about your RV Life would be so appreciated.
I would love to WATCH an AMA with you, but I can never find video of you! I occasionally find podcast interviews with you, but they’re rare. Please let us see you and your life…we love to follow you, but the written word is only part of the story. Make a video for us, please?
Thanks for all you do,
Dixie
We’ve had many different RVs, and it all really just depends on what you’re wanting to do. We’ve had a gas Class C, a gas Class A, a diesel pusher, and we now have a camper van.
You can read a Day in the Life here – https://fund-rise.live/2018/06/digital-nomad-lifestyle.html%3C/a%3E. Luckily, I do run my own business and create my own schedule, so I basically just work when I want to, and schedule work around doing something fun during the day (such as a long hike).
We have boondocked and stayed in campgrounds. We usually chose where we wanted to stay depending on what was nearby (such as if there was a trail nearby that we wanted to do).
I have done a TON of podcasts, and several videos as well. You can find them all here by scrolling to the bottom – https://fund-rise.live/about-me%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I haven’t really ever published many videos of myself personally as I try to be more in the moment, and I usually don’t have a camera on me. Maybe one day, but I also like my privacy, haha.
I have everything setup and ready to start posting my blogs but do you have any advice on how to formulate your blog? As of now, I have a rough draft sitting in my folder I’m just having trouble making it perfect, I guess.
Hmmm I’m not sure if I understand your question. I recommend just publishing and learning as you go. Perhaps see how your favorite blogs format their blog posts (if that’s what you mean?), to see the type of style that you like.
Would like to know how you went about paying off your student loans.
I have a very good article on this subject here – https://fund-rise.live/2021/02/best-way-to-pay-off-student-loans.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Would you be open to a partnership project that support social good with our non profit?
At this time, I am not looking to join any new partnerships. Sorry.
Hi Michelle, I have a question about affiliate marketing. I am starting a blog, but my content is pretty short articles and more entertainment oriented (about small dogs). They are more like longer IG posts.
Do you think I could still do affiliate marketing successfully? Would your course work for me? Or is it more for “real” bloggers? Or should I try to write longer more “helpful posts?
I am sorry I have more than just one question..
Thank you so much for all your content and articles. I read your blog regularly and love it .
Hey Eva,
I definitely think that affiliate marketing could still work, as plenty of people make affiliate marketing income from their Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and more and that’s all short content.
My course would be helpful, as you would still have a blog.
Thank you so much!!
Mine’s regarding a new blog. I got the Blog name domain title but how you I make a responsive blog? How do I set up Google analytics and Jetpack and all of that I’m so confused there’s so much going on
What do you mean when you say responsive blog?
Hey Michelle,
I hope your sailing smoothly 🙂
The niche of my brand new blog is much different from yours, but I was wondering if you could provide feedback on my resources page. Is there anything you see at a glance that should be changed in order to score more affiliate sales?
Feedback on the “about” page would be great too – whatever advice you could provide would be much appreciated. I think one of the first things I could change here is to add a photo of myself, but I want to get this done professionally instead of using a random photo.
All the best,
Francisco
Your resources page looks great. One thing I’d change is getting rid of the pop up. That way, it doesn’t distract your readers since you have affiliate links on the page and you want their attention to go towards that.
I may have missed it, but on your about page, I always like to read more about the actual author. Such as who they are, where they’re from, etc.
Thanks, Michelle!
Hi Michelle!
I’m currently working on Pinterest as a source of traffic for my blog for about 3 months now but I only got very very few outbound clicks. May I ask how long did it take for your Pinterest to bring a significant amount of traffic to your website?
I honestly cannot remember, as it wasn’t something that I really tracked. You may want to try taking a course on the subject of Pinterest, creating different style pins, creating story pins if you haven’t yet, and more. Here’s a good recent blog post on this subject – https://fund-rise.live/2021/04/8-things-i-did-that-helped-me-get-over-200000-pageviews.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I’m gathering from one of your responses that you started on blogspot. Did changing to WordPress effect your traffic? I have a long term plan to setup another blog with WordPress, which is intended to be my big venture. At the time all I could afford was blogspot and a domain I had previously purchased. I know WordPress and hosting isn’t that expensive, but when I came across your programme on blogging, I just wanted to jump on the wagon as fast as I could and start putting out content. Which is what I did. I’m on my third month and am nearing a 100 articles. I had been a hobby blogger on blogspot for a decade or so, hence found it comfortable setting up my first blog for business purposes with them. I’ve been posting on Pinterest but haven’t had any luck with traffic yet. How long did it take for Pinterest traffic to pick up? When do you feel a new blog usually starts seeing an increasing traffic trend through Google?
Yes, I started on Blogpost. Being on self-hosted WordPress helped my blog in many ways, such as making more money, having more freedom and control, and so on.
I didn’t keep track of my Pinterest success back then, but I don’t think it took very long.
For your last question – there is no set amount of time. It depends on so many factors, such as if the blogger is spending any time on SEO.
Thanks for your words Michelle!
Honestly, it was your programme that woke up the curiosity within me to try blogging as a business. There was never any initiative from my end prior to having come across you. Hence, if I do attain a level of success as a blogger, I will have you to thank for that!
I’m working on my SEO and am pinning on Pinterest. However I feel it is a matter of trail and error and there is a learning curve as with everything.
Once again thank you for your time!
Keep up the inspiring work! Your blog is really helpful for newbie blogger as myself!
Thank you so much!
Hello there I have followed you for awhile. I have so many things going on … my husbands smoking meat, my kitchen creations, healthy recipes, living a healthy lifestyle, gardening, remodeling my house, budgeting, I mean I keep myself busy. I want to start earning money for all the things I do, I have a small following. Do I post more? Add more affiliates?
Are you wondering how to make money through a blog? Or something else?
Hi Michelle!
I am starting a new blog as a business. In order to apply for affiliates I need my website up and running. So when writing my first blogs which are meant to contain these affiliate links (of which I have not yet applied for) how exactly do I go about this?
The affiliate wants to see my website, to approve me. But my website blogs are written based on these affiliates! Help!
Also do you have any advice on trying to create privacy policies etc for living in Alberta, Canada? Where would I find that info?
Could you not write a few blog posts that aren’t entirely about the affiliate products? Or, will 100% of your blog posts be reviews?
For your privacy policies question, you may want to reach out to the writer here by emailing her – https://fund-rise.live/2019/07/3-super-common-legal-mistakes-bloggers-make-and-how-to-fix-them.html%3C/a%3E. She may have options for Canada.
Hi Michelle!
Love the blog content, design, style and your business ventures!
I’m also launching a blog soon (Wordpress Dev team is finalizing branding ideas and design), and bought an Airstream I’ll be full timing in around November. Considered sailing but my girlfriend and I are too afraid of sharks lol.
Couple questions 🙂
1. What daily tools, apps, websites or resources do you use? For example: Evernote, Grammerly, Waze etc. Anything cool you’d recommend?
2. Any tips how to finalize my blog domain name? It’ll be similar topics as to yours except not finance. I’ve searched a million names but 99% of them are already taken. How long did it take to decide on your blog name? Were you happy with it at first or did you just decide it then it grew on you? I’ve tried rhyming it, bunches of words and nothing seems to stick yet. It’s my biggest hold up. I already have articles done, and topics ready.
3. What are your long term personal (not blog) plans? Goals?
Love the blog, keep up the good work 🙂
Scott
(IG: iamscottkeenan)
Hey Scott!
1) I really don’t use anything daily that I can think of. Mainly just WordPress. On the boat, I use Windy and PredictWind nearly every day to track the weather.
2) I randomly just thought of my name, so it couldn’t have been easier, haha. It’s a hard task to accomplish, and I completely get that. Perhaps looking up synonyms of words to try and get some ideas flowing?
3) My long-term goal is to simply be happy and do the things that make me happy. I’d eventually like to probably visit every country, drive from Alaska to the southern tip of South America, van around other continents, do some backpacking, and more.
Hi Michelle! What are your best tips for someone looking to grow both their engagement and following on Pinterest?
Take a Pinterest course. That would be my very best tip. You can find the course that I recommend here – https://fund-rise.live/2018/05/how-we-went-from-0-10000-month-blogging-in-less-than-a-year.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Growing your following doesn’t really mean much these days on Pinterest – I’m all about those outbound clicks. Having high quality images with engaging phrases on them is key.
Hi Michelle,
Is there workable way without spending too much money to increase the traffic on Youtube Channel and Blogging?
Thanks!
Eric
SEO, Pinterest, growing an email list, and more 🙂
What is your opinion about local lead generation? Regarding its business model.
Have you tried it? Would you recommend it? Do you have a good source one can learn from?
I have not done this, sorry.