Hey,
It has been almost one year since my last Ask Me Anything here on Making Sense of Cents.
Since then a lot has changed, such as I had a baby and she is 4 months old now!
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
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.
All right, go for it, ask away!
If you haven’t yet, please follow me on Instagram.
Here are links to common questions I’ve received in past Ask Me Anythings:
- How To Start A Blog Free Course – With this free email course, I will show you exactly how to create a blog, from the technical side all the way to earning your first income and attracting followers. Each day for seven days, you will receive an email in your inbox that will help you create a successful and profitable blog.
- 29 Best Stay At Home Jobs (#1 Is My Full Time Job!) – Do you want to work at home or work while traveling? Here’s a list to get you started.
- What It’s Like Living In An RV? – We lived in an RV full-time for several years. Here’s what I loved about it!
- Living On A Boat – The Good, The Bad, And The Beautiful – We have now lived on our sailboat for 4 years. Here’s what we like and don’t like about boat life.
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.
Leave a Reply
Hi Jason,
What are the benefits of completely finishing all the work from plumbing trim, electrical trim painting ect….from the top floor and coming down floor by floor? Also, what are the cons. What sequence seems to be more efficient?
Jason?
Any advice for someone who’s blogging for less than 6 months? And is it normal if I didn’t make any money yet?
My top piece of advice is do not give up! Many people will give up right at around 6 months. Yes, it is 100% normal to not make any money at the 6 month mark.
Hi Michelle!
1. How much time per week do you spend on your blog now?
2. How does this differ to when you were getting started?
3. Do you have a team or assistants that help you now? If so, how big is your team?
Thanks!!
Hello!
1) I spend less than 10 hours a week on my blog right now.
2) In the beginning when I first was full-time with my blog, I was spending anywhere from 40 to 100 hours a week on my blog.
3) Yes, I have a virtual assistant, an editor, and I outsource other tasks such as technical management and occasionally graphic design.
thank you for feedback. I haven’t tried batch writing content, but will do that. I have a commute in the morning and can dictate posts on the way!
Thanks again
Hi Michelle,
My husband and I run https://www.thefreedomadventure.com/. We have taken your Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Course and consistently review it. Unfortunately, we are having a difficult time being approved for affiliates. Prospective affiliate partners have not remarked why we were turned down other than we ‘do not fit the criteria’.
Is there ONE specific area we should focus on to increase our chances of approval (IE more social media footprint, website design/user interface, increasing blog post frequency, etc)? We currently publish one per week.
Thank you!
Have you tried emailing them for more information as to why you were denied? What affiliate programs have you applied for? It’s not normal to be denied, so it is odd that this would be your norm.
IHG, Tripadvisor, and Home Depot as of recent. Other than the response that we do not fit the criteria, we have not received any other indications as to why. We were also turned down by AdSense. Any ideas – is there something specific we should be focusing on to try to win them over?
AdSense usually isn’t worth the time. I recommend checking out Monumetric, Mediavine, and Adthrive once you get the page views.
Have you tried emailing the companies to see why you were denied?
Thanks Michelle. I have, but receive a standard reply of “does not fit our criteria at this time.” I’ve sent a follow-up e-mail to inquire about the specific reasons, but have not received a response.
As for Home Depot, however, they provided me the list of “one or more reasons”:
– Publisher Type
– Site Traffic
– Promotional Type
– Brand Safety
I appreciate your time. Thank you for your recommendations regarding Monumetric, etc.
Home Depot may be looking for more home improvement type blogs? I’m not sure as I don’t know anyone who is an affiliate for them. I would continue trying as it may just be that you got unlucky and tried the very few that are just more selective.
Yes, it’s so strange since we have an entire series of rebuilding our entire master bathroom ourselves featured on the blog! In any case, wanted to reach out and let you know that TripAdvisor finally responded!
After 2 applications denied and 2 emails, I received a message from TripAdvisor that stated “I had a second look at your site and think you’d be a great fit.” I received an offer from them today. It’s great news, but surprising it took so much effort for a response!
Oh, well that’s great to hear!
Our house is being sold and my husband and I are going to live in our RV for a year or two in the US until we build a new house in Maine. We are trying to figure out where to receive our mail. Tips?
We belong to a mail forwarding company called St. Brendan’s Isle. All of our mail gets sent there, and then they forward our mail to wherever we are.
Hello,
Can you tell me what is the best way to format my social media page to try to get individuals to donate to a cancer research foundation? Is there a way to DM celebrities to get their attention?
Thank you!
This is not something I have ever done so I have no idea. I recommend hopping on Google and doing some research.
How and why would you outsource your blog writing? Do you just give them ideas(outlines) as to what you want to say?
I do not outsource blog writing, but others do.
Some may give their writers outlines, others may just give a general idea of what kind of blog posts they are looking for.
What’s the best way to make a successful social media account(s) ie. Pinterest and Instagram? Can you have a business account while having a personal one?
How do you organize and manage everything needed for taxes on a blog? It seems so intimidating!
What are the top course that should be taken before or right as I start my blog?
1) This would be a very difficult question to answer in one comment, as there are full courses on each subject. I would recommend finding a course on the subject of Pinterest and another on Instagram to learn more. Yes, you can have more than one account.
2) You could use an Excel sheet, use accounting software, etc. I recommend having an accountant who specializes in blogs if you are intimidated.
3) I recommend reading this – https://fund-rise.live/2021/07/best-blogging-courses.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
What legal documents (Privacy Policy, Terms Of Use, etc.) do you recommend we purchase for a blog. I see that you use documents from DisclaimerTemplate.com. Are these the best ones to purchase or are there others that are also good. I would want something that is cost effective and covers the GDPR requirements and any other requirements that are critical to blogs.
Thank you.
I recommend checking these ones out – https://fund-rise.live/2019/07/3-super-common-legal-mistakes-bloggers-make-and-how-to-fix-them.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hi Michelle,
I’ve been following your blog on and off for years now — congrats on the baby! — and my question is:
What is the easiest side hustle besides blogging? I know blogging is a good one, but what would you do if you weren’t blogging?
Thanks,
DeWayne
CybersecurityAwareness.digtial
Staying Safe Online Rocks!
Hey DeWayne!
Thanks so much.
It’s hard to say what the easiest would be, as everyone is different so what is “easy” will be different from person to person. If I weren’t blogging, I’d probably be doing something like freelance writing. It’s pretty similar, haha.
How do you know the affiliates you advertise for on your website are trustworthy businesses, sure some of these programs look great like the recent Facebook marketing course, but I often wonder if these products are truly effective at all. As a millionaire, you probably don’t have time to try the things your affiliates promote, so how do you ensure these are reliable businesses?
This is something I teach in my affiliate marketing course – https://makingsenseofaffiliatemarketing.com/
I always make sure to do a LOT of research on an affiliate program before I promote a product/service. I turn down probably 99% of the affiliate programs that I am emailed about because they aren’t a good fit for my readers.
Thanks for the response Michelle, I will feel a lot safer purchasing a program if it’s a subject I would be interested in, in the future. I know you have an Amazon FBA affiliate but I don’t like the physical walking into a store model. A reliable and trustworthy dropshipping affiliate would definitely be something I’m interested to see in the future! I’ve been following this blog for 4 years and look forward to seeing your future content!
When you 1st started blogging, how many days a week did you blog until you started making money after your site launched?
I was blogging pretty much every single day, I believe. I don’t recommend that – I had no idea what I was doing.
It took me 6 months to make my first $100 blogging. But, like I’ve said, I didn’t know blogs could make money and I wasn’t trying to make money with my blog.
At least you’re honest, Michelle. Nobody started out knowing everything about the internet and making money online. Not even Sergey Brin, Larry Paige, nor Bill Gates. So hey, consider yourself a champion. You stuck it out and kept going, even in times of uncertainty! 🙂
I am in a huge hole that i haven’t a clue how to get out. Financial, emotionally, physically and spiritually. I need help but dont know where to turn. I want to know how i pull myself out to stay out? I due to demands of family id prefer a self employed option over a 9-5 job as i am a carer for my parents so something flexible or self employed would be best. What ideas do you have? Much appreciated xx Thanks Debs xx
Hi Deborah! I’m not Michelle but I prayed for you.
As for side hustles, I am in the same boat as you having a hard time searching for side job. Maybe check out some of Michelle’s past blogs where she usually has a big list of them in which some are flexible. I would maybe try searching through her entire website for those kinds of blogs of hers and see if they fit with your schedule. Hope this helps.
Hey Deborah,
So sorry to hear this, I hope things improve for you soon. I recommend checking out this list of work at home jobs – https://fund-rise.live/2022/02/stay-at-home-jobs.html%3C/a%3E. Yes, sounds like being self-employed would allow you to have a more flexible schedule.
How do you update your resume when changing into a different career path?
I did some research and here are some articles you may enjoy:
1) https://www.thebalancecareers.com/career-change-resume-writing-tips-4134292
2) https://www.themuse.com/advice/this-is-how-you-spin-1-resume-for-5-different-industries