In October of 2017, I published my first Ask Me Anything here on Making Sense of Cents. That went super well, so I decided to make it more of a regular thing!
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
- Being location independent
- Business
- Making extra money
- My favorite TV show
- 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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Hey Michelle!
I don’t really have a question, but more of a request, and I’m hoping you can help! I’m in my mid twenties, and I’m trying to optimize my retirement options. (I’m active duty military, and I’ve recently opted into the Blended Retirement System.) A lot of people will say it’s still to early to concern myself with retirement, but I strive to build a multimillion dollar retirement nest-egg. Maybe you can do a post about saving for retirement?
Hey Jenna!
I do cover retirement on Making Sense of Cents – https://www.makingsenseofcents.com/category/retirement
My question is how many hours do you put in a week? I know since I started giving my blog full attention on a regular basis I feel like my nose is always in the business of working or writing. I recently organized everything and set daily schedules so I hope that will help me get more done in less time.
Thanks
I work anywhere from about 5 hours a week to 100, haha. It all just depends on the week.
Thanks, guess I’m on the right track. Hard work keeps me out of trouble.
Hi Michelle!
I love your blog and I think you’re super inspirational 🙂
Question for you:
Do you hire someone to run your Facebook ads for you or do you manage them yourself?
Thank you Chloe!
I manage my Facebook ads myself.
Hi Michelle 🙂
Love your blog and your life seems amazing!
How long did it take you to earn your firs affiliate commission?
Did you affiliate income become consistent once you earned your first sale,or did it take some time for it to become consistent on a monthly basis?
Hey Aleshia!
It didn’t take long for me to earn my first affiliate commission once I actually tried. I can’t remember the exact timeframe, though.
It depends on what you mean by consistent. It continued to grow after I made the effort 🙂
What are some tips you have on staying focused and motivated when starting a blog? I’ve started my blog but haven’t promoted it yet since I’m just now trying to get some post up and still need to find images to go with some of them and enrolled in EBA and was sooo excited! Then life happened, my father in law that I was taking care of passed away, my job, which I desperately want to quit, is stressing me out and I am exhausted!!
Hello Karen! I wrote about staying focused here – https://www.makingsenseofcents.com/2017/03/how-to-stay-focused.html
I have a question about the different ways that you earn extra income. In particular, you list surveys and you receive a large amount. My question is this, most of the surveys that you list I also use and have been for a while. I make no where near the amount that you have listed. Does your earnings mainly come from completing the surveys or from referrals that sign up for them? I struggle to even get qualified for a survey.
The survey income is listed under “affiliate income” if you look again.
Hey Michelle!
So last week I was trying to figure out my taxes since this is my first year with my own business and doing soley contract work. I was trying to see if I need to pay my first quarterly tax and after filling out what I think was the correct form I apparently didn’t have to file. The new single individual deductions for 2018 is $12,000. If you didn’t think you would make more than that you didn’t have to pay. I guess my question is, what if your situation changes and I see myself making more before the end of 2018? Do I get penalized? Do I just make an amendment on the Q2 taxes?
This would be a question for an accountant. Unfortunately, I cannot give legal or tax advice.
Hi Michelle,
How do you write your blog posts?
Do you use a structured outline? Do you do research and formulate your findings to your own words?
Thanks
I’m not a very structured person to begin with (I tend to just go with the flow). I usually just write and then attempt to put it all together at the end, haha. I do have an editor, so she helps make everything flow better.
Hey Michelle,
I am 15 years old and have just started a blog (I run other businesses on the side, and work as an independent product developer). In regards to posts, how many should I be writing before I try to really promote my blog?
Also, on Pinterest how often do you repin past posts? And when you do repin them, do you create a new design with the same link or just keep the old design?
Many affiliate programs such as Bluehost and Convertkit do not allow for people 18 and younger to join. Amazon Associates is the only affiliate program that accepts people under that limit I believe. Do you know any more that I could use, or should I be spending more of my time writing my own eBooks and making my own courses for monetization?
Lastly, do you have any tips to gain a small following? I am talking about how to get the first 100 pageviews and the first 10 email subscribers. Should I be guest posting, using Pinterest, or doing something else?
Sorry for the length of my inquiries.
All the best and thank you!
Hey Emet!
1) This is a very common question. Really, you won’t have a ton of readers in the beginning, so you really don’t need a ton. Just start with a few and regularly publish more from there.
2) It just depends. My top pins get repinned regularly. Yes, the same pins. I recommend taking a Pinterest course to really learn about this.
3) Unfortunately, I haven’t really ever kept track of that.
4) I go over my top tips here – https://www.makingsenseofcents.com/2018/04/making-money-from-a-blog.html 🙂
Hi Michelle,
Love your blog, it’s so inspiring! I have a blogging question: I am a fine art photographer and started a blog last year, to be perfectly honest, just to have one more space online where people can find me, and also so that I could Pin from it and use Pinterest to market my art. I don’t post regularly partly because I don’t have the time and partly because I hate writing. I really struggle with it, a 300 word post takes me an entire day to write. The vast majority of my posts are announcing my latest print series (so I don’t really want readers to click on anything else than the images in the post, which are linked to my store), but I’ve been thinking that maybe I am not using the blog as “smartly” as I could be. Maybe I should put more effort into it and see if I can get some affiliate income from it as well? My question is: If you were me, what would you do with my blog? Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!
This is hard because you say that you hate writing. Have you ever thought about perhaps not writing your own content? You could have staff writers instead.
Well, I kind of feel like if the blog is supposed to help with the “know, like, trust” factor that hopefully leads to sales, it has to be my voice, by me.
Perhaps you can figure out why you hate writing? I know many people who hate writing, but enjoy blogging.
For me, I hated writing when I was in school, absolutely hated it. However, I really love blogging and writing here on Making Sense of Cents.
Perhaps, you could have an editor help you out? I pretty much just write whatever I want, and then my editor helps put it together better and makes it flow better. It saves me a lot of time and I don’t have to read the article 75 times, haha.
Hi Michelle,
How did you find an editor and what does it cost to have an editor edit per post?
Hey Courtney!
My editor is my sister-in-law. You can find her contact info here – http://arielgardnerediting.com/
Hi Michelle!
I have a question about your blogging journey. How long did it take for you to earn anything from your blog once you started trying to monetize? And how much was it? I wanna get a sense for what’s normal I suppose. Haha. Thank you!
Hey Jenn! You can find all of my income reports here – https://www.makingsenseofcents.com/extra-income. They start at pretty much the very beginning.
Once I realized I could make money, it was pretty instant. I don’t remember the exact amount, though.
Hey Michelle, my question is: Do you have everything prepared, like Pinterest graphics, instagram, facebook posts, all ready before you post on the blog?
It depends on what you mean by “prepared.” All graphics are ready. I create the social media posts (the wording) as I go.
What impact do you think net neutrality changes will have on the blogging industry? Do you see this as an issue for beginning bloggers?
I haven’t seen this impact blogging at all. Nothing has changed that I know of, not yet at least.
I don’t see this as an issue at all.
I don’t have any questions for you. However, I just wanted to say I think it’s great that you have a post like this and answer everyone’s questions. 🙂
Thank you 🙂
Hi Michelle, any thoughts on posting on Mediium ?
I have never posted on Medium so I have not thoughts on it, haha.
And, one other thing, meant to ask a month ago and forgot …. I already have a WordPress-based eCommerce site, with a built-in blog tab (woefully neglected, few regular posts)
Any necessity for having a standalone blog page ?
I needs reformatting, and ability to add in affiliate links etc, but it seems like I would do well submitting posts on any and everything, not necessarily business or my website-related.
Here’s the tab:
http://qlu1.com/blog/
Cheers and stuff !
It all just depends on what you want to do. Some people run many websites and others just like having one.
Thanks Michelle!
Hi Michelle!!!
I really enjoy reading your blog! You are truly an inspiration.
I have a personal development blog that I just launched about 2 weeks ago. I’m not really promoting it yet. One of my categories is “personal finance”. I really don’t know a lot about finances like you and other financial bloggers/gurus. But I LOVE learning about it and applying it to my life. My family and friends are always asking me for financial advice even though I feel like I don’t know everything.
My question is how do I start blogging about this if I’m not really an expert or even close to it? I was thinking of documenting my progress of paying down my student loan debt on a modest income. I have a ton of student loan debt. I also have children, so it hinders the amount of debt I can pay down because I am paying for childcare. So I was thinking that I can document this journey, discuss what I am cutting back, what side income I am making.
I am so sorry for the long comment. I meant to only type 2 sentences but for some reason I can never stop typing.
Thank you so much for any help and advice.
Hey Alayna!
Thank you 🙂 I talk about this a little in the featured question here – https://www.makingsenseofcents.com/2018/04/how-i-made-241649-in-march-2018-blogging.html
You definitely don’t need to be an expert 🙂 People love reading REAL stories.
Hi Michelle!! I would love your help!! I read alot of your blogs and money saving tips and how you made your blog such a success. I launched my online boutique/website “Rock N Threads” back in October 2017 – which you can find at http://www.rocknthreads.com – I would love for you to take a look at my website which I sell women’s clothing and accessories (purses, bags, and shoes coming soon) What do you think is the main pros and cons you see when looking through my website? Do you think that you could help me improve my website? If so, I would love to work together also. But just my question for now, what are the pros and cons you see on my website? Thank you!!! Also check out my 2 blog/articles pages under “Inspo” and read those
Hey Jordan! I don’t work with bloggers on a personal basis, if that’s what you mean by working together. My time is limited so I don’t provide personal blog coaching at the moment.
My top suggestion would be to change your pop up settings. I think your pop up on your homepage comes up too quickly. It popped up right away before I could even read your website. That could cause new readers to close out completely.
Greetings!
I love your site. I was wondering, if you are just starting out, what’s the best way to learn SEO. Also, when just starting and if on a limited budget, what is the best way to help readers find your site?
Thanks a bunch!
Janelle
I don’t do any SEO on my blog, but I would say the best way is to take a course on it.
I recommend reading this blog post for traffic tips – https://www.makingsenseofcents.com/2018/04/making-money-from-a-blog.html
Hello Michelle, what would you do if you had to start all over from scratch and only have 3 months’ worth of savings left? What other advice would you give?
Thanks in advance, appreciate it! 🙂
Do you mean if I had to start my blog all over again? I would probably do the same thing! Blogging is super affordable.
Hello Michelle,
If you were to start over again from scratch knowing everything you know now, what would you do/focus on?
I would probably still do some of the very same stuff. I would definitely outsource from the very beginning, instead of waiting as long as I did.
Hi Michelle – pertaining to outsourcing do you have any recommendations or can you point me to some legit info on outsourcing blog content?
I don’t outsource blog content. I have always done all of my own writing. There are TONS of freelance writers out there, though. You can find them just by asking bloggers that you know (many do freelance writing), asking in Facebook groups, etc.
Hey Michelle,
1.) Just wondering what advice you would give to new bloggers concerning setting up your blog as an LLC? Just start blogging and only set it up if you start seriously monetizing it, or set up from the very beginning despite no income?
2.) It seems like there are some very successful finance bloggers out there. I love finance/investing – is there room anymore out there for the newbee finance blogger to make a living at it?
Hey David!
1) Legally, I can’t give legal or tax advice. I can say that I have an LLC taxed as an Scorp and I started it nearly from the very beginning, though. But, I recommend contacting a CPA or an attorney to help you further determine what you should do.
2) Yes, plenty of room! 🙂
Thanks for sharing all your experiences. I’m re-branding my blog right now. It’s really hard to be at the bottom but I know with hard work it will grow.
Have fun!
Hi, Michelle! I really enjoy your blog and admire your success! My question was, how many followers did you have when you decided to start monetizing your blog, and how long did it take you to get them? How long did it take you to get your first 1,000 subscribers? Thanks!
– Alison
I didn’t have many followers. I can ‘t remember the exact number, though. It was small, haha!
I didn’t start focusing on my email list until after I was already a full-time blogger. I don’t think I even had one for the first several years. Huge mistake!
Hi Michelle!
I love your blog, I would like to know if there is a pinterest course that you can recommend?
Kind regards
Claudia
Here’s my affiliate link for my favorite one – https://courses.createandgo.co/p/pinterest-traffic-avalanche?affcode=119684_em78z7wf
It’s a great course and they have a bunch of other great courses as well!
Hi Michelle, I’m stuck unable to even customize my wordpress page. How did you learn how to navigate that?
Hey Roberta!
I learned just through trial and error, and Google searching everything I was stuck on. If you’re having a tough time, then you may want to look at purchasing a premade theme.
I’ll keep trying a little longer and if I can’t make it work I’ll have to throw the towel and get it made for me. Thanks for inspiring me to start one though! You make it look easy when it’s truly overwhelming 🙂
Hi Michelle-
2 questions:
1) I have some credit card balances that I have transferred at a low promotional rate on a card I already had. However, I took out a debt consolidation loan about a year ago that has still has almost 2 years left to pay on. Would it be more beneficial for me to pay off the loan first and keep an eye on the promo times for the others (saving on interest)? Or knock the debt out with the general Snowball method (lowest balance first)?
2) Would it be smart/financially responsible to get another CC w/ a promotional balance transfer rate and transfer what left of the consolidation loan to it saving a ton of interest? Or is the hit on the credit not worth is (score currently in the 720s)?
P.s. I just launched my blog/website after years of procrastinating. Thank you for the inspiration.
Hey TJ!
I’m definitely not an expert at debt consolidation. If you have credit card debt, though, I’d personally want to pay it off as quickly as I could. If there are ways to save on interest, then it may be something for you to look into. Personally, this is something I’ve never really read about, but I have heard of people doing things like this.
Hi Michelle!
I have never had a blog before but I love writing. I have no idea as to a niche, so my question is this, can I write about several different topics from humorous to educational, or is this not advisable?
Hey David!
I talk about this a little in the Featured Question here – https://www.makingsenseofcents.com/2018/04/how-i-made-241649-in-march-2018-blogging.html.
There’s really no right or wrong answer to this question. It’s more about what you want to do.
Hi Michelle!
I am struggling getting started and knowing where to start. Literally, what was your first two steps?
Thanks!
Staci
Hey Staci!
I’m not sure if you know my story of how I started my blog (you can read it here – https://www.makingsenseofcents.com/2017/04/how-to-make-money-blogging-online.html), so I’m not sure if you mean from the very beginning of when I started my blog, or from when I learned I could make money blogging.
If you mean the very beginning, I can’t remember what my very first two steps were but they were probably just create/design a blog and write a blog post.
Hey Michelle,
Just thought I’d throw you an easy question: What’s your favourite colour?
Mines purple!
You know, I think you’re the first person to ask that, haha!
I really love light green and coral 🙂
Hello Michelle,
I’ve been a fan of your blog for several years, and my friend and I recently started our own finance blog. Would you be interested in us doing a free guest post? No pressure, but it would be absolutely amazing to see our work on a blog I’ve admired for so long.
Hey Tawnya! I’m not currently accepting guest posts as I’m super full with them. You can send me an email in a few months (with topic ideas) and I can see if I have room.
Awesome, will do!
Hi Michelle,
Huge fan of your blog.
I saw that you’re transitioning into yacht life now (which is awesome!)? Why the change? What are your plans for the near future?
Janet
Hey Janet!
We’ve been interested in sailing long before we even started RVing. Lately, we’ve had the sailing itch so we decided to just jump into it and get started. We absolutely love RVing but we’re ready for our next adventure 🙂
With the nomadic life, it’s hard to make any plans so what I’m about to say will most likely change. Our plans for now are to hang out on the east coast for the next 5-6 months and get comfortable with the transition, and hopefully then go to the Bahamas for about 6 months.
P.S. This will be a whole blog post in a few months (already started working on it but I’m a few months out scheduling-wise)!
Speaking of scheduling, how do you go about scheduling your content calendar and when do you start working on the different posts? I imagine it would be quite hard to talk about a big life change like going from RVing to Sailing so I’m curious how you decide that you’re going to talk about certain topics months down the road?
Thanks!!
Hey Katie!
I usually am around 1-3 months ahead in content. Since I travel full-time, I always like to be ahead since I don’t always know when/if I can work.
My content is usually evergreen so there’s never really a problem. If I want to squeeze something in sooner, I can just change the dates and rearrange the schedule.
I love sailing too and I hope I can do that one day. Thanks for the inspiration and I’m looking forward to this post!
Hi Michelle, may I know how did you find people to interview?
Do you have to know them well enough first?
Do you conduct the interview in person or just via email?
What kind of questions to ask so that they accept your interview?
Thank you!
Hey Erina!
1) Most people contact me, but I have contacted a few people after I heard their stories.
2) Not necessarily, but networking always helps.
3) Just via email.
4) It all depends on the type of interview you are wanting. You can see the exact questions I ask in each interview.
I’m considering starting a blog. I’ve looked at both Bluehost as well as GoDaddy for domains and hosting and am wondering why you recommend Bluehost. GoDady’s price is about the same, they offer free domain names with hosting, and have a ton of extras included as well. What is it about Bluehost that makes you such a big fan? I’m just wondering if I’m overlooking something. Thanks!
Bluehost has a free domain and other free extras too 🙂
They’re pretty much the same.
I just can’t figure out what to start a blog about. On one hand, if I choose a subject I love, such as anything music related I get stuck trying to figure out a direction to go and then how I could monetize it, create products that I could make money from. If I chose self-improvement since I am reading books on this subject I get stuck in the same rat race of trying to look far enough ahead to see product potential. How do you just get out of your own way? I’m 50 years old and wanting to create a side hustle. Thanks
You just have to get out of your own way! I know that’s easier said than done, but many people who are thinking about blogging have the same problems. You just have to make the leap!
Hi Michelle,
I have started a blog and would like to include other’s bloggers/websites on mine as resources for others and am wondering what the proper procedure is. For example, if I wanted to list something from your site as a resource on my resource page, how would you prefer it to be done? I’m not sure if I need to always get the bloggers permission first or what the proper protocol is.
Thanks!
It depends – how do you plan on listing this resource? Just linking to my website or something else?
Thank you for your response. So for example, if I wanted to refer to one of your articles in your Make Extra Income Series or one of your other series or promote one of your courses. If I said, “Michele Schroeder-Gardner says on her website Making Sense of Cents…” or “Go to Making Sense of Cents to learn more about…” and then included a link. Would that be okay? Another consideration would be on a resource page where I have topics such as working from home, earning extra income, starting a blog. etc. If I listed a link under the topic title, would that work?
This is all new to me so I want to make sure I am following proper procedures. Thanks for your help!
You can link to something on a website, but you cannot copy and paste sentences, paragraphs, or full articles.
Okay, sounds good, thanks for the clarification! Best of luck on your boat living!
Hi Michelle,
I hope I am not late.
My concern is I have taken your short free course on how to start a blog and I really appreciate it very much. However, in your short course you don’t talk about how to set permalinks the necessary plugins and google analytics. I have heard about this things but I have no clue on how to set them on my blog. Your help will be much appreciated.
Hi Michelle,
Your post always have a lot of good well researched information. How long does it take you to write content for a post, editing included? Thanks!
Hi Michelle 🙂
Love your blog and your amazing RV life!
My question is related to blog traffic. My blog currently gets fewer than 1000 pageviews a month (I’ve been blogging properly for only three months now, tho the blog is way older), and I’ve made a few dollars on Amazon through sheer luck. Now I’m trying to figure out how to turn that into a deliberate strategy!
So, my question: Do you think there’s a minimum traffic threshold that is required to bring in money? If so, what might that number be?:)
Thanks! Keep up the brilliant work!
Hi Michelle,
Your journey is an inspiration to all new bloggers. I have a quick question for you;
What platform do you use for your courses on site? Do you host videos on wordpress site itself or there’s some kind of plugin involved?
Appreciate your response on this. Thanks
Do you have blog insurance?
Did you pay an online website to help write your disclosure statement and privacy policy?
How do I know what kind of statements I need in my disclosure statement?
Do you have to have 100,000 views for all ad places?
Is there a section on how to write to affiliate companies to ask them to promote on your website?
Do you have a step by step entry for starting a blog?
Love your blog, it’s so inspiring! I have a blogging question: I am a fine art photographer and started a blog last year, to be perfectly honest, just to have one more space online where people can find me, and also so that I could Pin from it and use Pinterest to market my art. I don’t post regularly partly because I don’t have the time and partly because I hate writing. I really struggle with it, a 300 word post takes me an entire day to write. The vast majority of my posts are announcing my latest print series (so I don’t really want readers to click on anything else than the images in the post, which are linked to my store), but I’ve been thinking that maybe I am not using the blog as “smartly” as I could be. Maybe I should put more effort into it and see if I can get some affiliate income from it as well? My question is: If you were me, what would you do with my blog? Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!