Imagine if you could fast forward 5 years from now…
You’ve created this blog that makes over $1 million a year and you’re travelling the world on a sailboat.
You have systems in place so that you can step back from your blog when you want to. And your work is helping millions of people.
Now imagine you could travel back in time to today. You could give yourself the advice that you needed to make this happen and sidestep a load of silly mistakes you made on the way.
Well, time travel isn’t possible (yet!)
But speaking to Michelle Schroeder-Gardner is. She started her award-winning blog Making Sense of Cents in 2011 and has gone on to earn over a million dollars per year for the last few years in a row.
And she is about to walk you through some of the things she would do differently if she had to start over today.
In this chat we talk about:
- Why Michelle and her husband lived in an RV and now are on a sailboat.
- The 4 things Michelle would do if she had a new blog.
- How anyone can use affiliate marketing to boost their income (in fact her course Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing can help with this!) (in fact her course Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing can help with this!).
- The importance of networking and how you can do it right.
Listen on Apple Podcasts/ Google Podcasts
Useful tools and tips mentioned in the podcast
There are so many amazing takeaways and useful tips from this chat with Michelle.
To take everything in you really have to listen to the full podcast above.
But there were a few things that she mentioned that had really helped her or what she would do sooner if she started again.
Here are some of the tips and tools that Michelle recommends:
- FinCon (
an awesomethe BEST Financial Conference- it’s an amazing place to network for bloggers) - Bobby Hoyt’s Facebook Side Hustle Course (FB ads)
- Mike Pearson’s Stupid Simple SEO
- Focus on building an email list (there was no course mentioned here, but a big talking point)
- Michelle’s Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Course
- Pinterest – continually updating images (check out this amazing podcast and article on pin design if you want to learn more about this)
- Simple Pin Media– outsource pin scheduling
Note- these are recommendations from Michelle (the blogger who makes over 1 million dollars a year) none of these are affiliate links as I have not personally taken these courses (yet!)
Popular related content:
- 25 Proven Ways to Make $1,000+ a Month Online
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- How do Bloggers Make Money?
Full Michelle Schroeder-Gardner Podcast Transcript
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner Podcast Summary
If you want to get in contact with Michelle then check out Making Sense of Cents and you can find her social media accounts in the top right corner.
So here are the 5 key takeaways that I took from this chat with Michelle:
- She would spend more time building her email list earlier if she started again today
- Find what serves your audience and offer it to them using affiliate marketing
- Find your top 10 performing posts & optimise with solutions that can help i.e. affiliate links
- Learn more about SEO and implement this sooner
- Network with other bloggers and online entrepreneurs
But I’d love to hear from you…
Did you pick up on anything different or did Michelle say something that really hit home for you?
What were your main takeaways from this chat? Drop a comment below and feel free to share your own blog too!
Great article. I’ve always been interested in Michelle Schroeder Gardner. When I started affiliate marketing, her blog was one of the many I went to glean for information.
I think I found a way that speaks to my audience. I’m not doing affiliate marketing in the sense that I’m teaching people how to make money online, it’s for my own website where I do affiliate marketing and selling Amazon products. I haven’t started an email list yet, just don’t have enough readers coming around.
It seems like she is doing really really well. I wish I had started this a lot sooner I know I could’ve been doing really well now too. But I guess there’s always room to grow in affiliate marketing.
Hey Eric, yeah Michelle does have some great wisdom about building a blog from the ground up!
Touching on not having enough visitors… Michelle says in the chat that she really hustled originally… guest posting, using social media, sharing other people’s things and connecting with bloggers. Most of her traffic actually came from these things initially rather than SEO.
Keep in touch, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.
Hey, Mike,
What an excellent read! I’d never heard of Michelle Schroeder-Gardner, but after reading your post, I think we can all learn from her experience.
Many of us dream of quitting our full-time jobs and travel around the world. Well, I know I do. I’d love to have that flexibility in my life and not be limited by someone’s decisions (ahem, my boss).
However, the road to achieving that is not easy. Many people think blogging is a piece of cake, and the truth is, it isn’t. It takes time if you really want to make it work.
I knew about the importance of networking in a traditional setting, but not regarding blogging. I need to look into that. Also, I need to build an email list. I think that will be my next step.
Thank you for the pointers. I still have a lot to learn. Keep up the good work.
Hey Enrique, I’m glad it could help! Michelle is awesome definitely check out her blog.
Yeah, networking is actually probably more important in blogging than bricks and mortar business as other bloggers can become some of your best fans and help share your stuff! You can always return the favour too.
It’s not as easy in most bricks and mortar businesses to do that. Glad it’s got you thinking about an email list too