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How This 25 Year Old Earns $15,000 A Month From Her Blog

Last Updated: March 17, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 47 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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Hello! Today, I have a great article from my sister, Alexis Schroeder at FITnancials.com. This was edited this morning to reflect an update. Below is her story.

A little over a year ago I decided to go full-time on my blog, FITnancials.

This was incredibly scary since I was used to working for someone else for over 8 years. Becoming an entrepreneur never even crossed my mind in school.

Then, I started a side hustle, my blog, which eventually turned into a website that earns over $15,000 and over 150,000 page views per month.

I remember telling Michelle that I would be grateful for $10,000 per month, and that I’d be content with that amount of money for the rest of my life. It’s crazy to think that I hit that number at 25 years old, while a senior in college.

If I can do it, you can, too. Seriously. A lot of people say that but it’s true. I never thought I’d be my own boss, and look where I am.

Get rid of the negative mentality and stop telling yourself you can never meet your goals. You’ll complete your goals a lot sooner when you get rid of that way of thinking.

Related content:

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Below is how I increased my income and page views in just one year.

 

Ad Revenue

For awhile, ad revenue was my highest income generator. This is also because I had 10 ads blasting through every post.

Once I decided to cut the amount of ads in my posts, my user-friendliness went up tremendously and my affiliate income went up. People weren’t bombarded with ads and clicking out of my site.

I make a substantial amount of blog income from ad revenue, so while I’d like to throw out ads completely to increase user-friendliness, I am keeping them for now since they are such a money maker. 

There are several different advertising companies out there. I currently use Mediavine and have been with them for a long time and don’t plan on switching any time soon. The bonuses and user-friendly website makes it easy for me to customize my ads and things of that nature. 

 

Affiliate Marketing

My affiliate marketing income is higher than it has ever been this year. 

The amount of ads in the body text of my articles played a huge role in this. My bounce rate was VERY high (and still is higher than I’d like it to be) and I believe it’s because of the ads popping up every screen. After I got rid of most of the ads, I did the following:

I started writing posts with a clear purpose and an end-goal in mind. For example, if I wrote a post about increasing my page views, I’m going to highlight often how I got to that point, such as a course or eBook that helped me.

Creating bonuses when allowed (check with your affiliate manager) is a fantastic way to increase conversions. When you give people bonuses for purchasing through your link, you’re giving them an extra incentive to buy the product.

I also like to go through Michelle’s Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course several times throughout the year. Skimming through the course at least once per quarter is ideal just to stay updated and refreshed on the strategies. 

 

Sponsored posts

If you’re struggling with sponsored posts, you’ll want to read my post on how I make $3,000+ per month from sponsored posts.

Getting opportunities for sponsored posts is easier when you have accounts with sites that are specifically for connecting brands and online influencers for sponsored posts. You’ll want to make sure your profile stands out as much as possible. Increasing your page views per month and social media followers is very important for sponsored posts because you will get paid according to your following. 

I make sure to reach out to brands monthly that I am interested in working with, and I also apply for opportunities on websites that list sponsored opportunities. I make sure to stay on email lists for companies that list sponsored opportunities so I’m constantly updated. 

 

Page Views

My page views hit 150,000 page views for March which was pretty exciting. I was stuck at 60,000 for months, maybe even a year and it was frustrating. I switched up many strategies that I was using for awhile and got a little uncomfortable.

Related article: How I Got To 100,000 Page Views Per Month

 

1. Posting less frequently and publishing what people want to read

For awhile I was publishing posts just to publish. I was dishing out 2-3 posts per week and the articles were not high-quality.

Then, I started publishing once per week and saw no dip in page views. In fact, I saw a huge increase since I was focusing on publishing the highest of quality.

 

2. Finding out what my readers want

Last month I conducted a survey where I asked 100 readers to give me feedback on my blog. I asked questions like:

  • What topics do you like to see the most on FITnancials? (making money, saving money, travel, health)
  • What topics do you like the LEAST?
  • What are you currently struggling with?

I learned a lot from this survey because more people wanted to read about travel than I expected. I put this topic on the back burner just because I thought people weren’t really interested in it, but realized that was a big mistake.

 

3. Digging into Google and Pinterest Analytics

Google Analytics and Pinterest Analytics are tremendously helpful. With both services, I can see which posts are read or clicked on the most. This gives me more ideas of what I should be writing about and where I should focus my attention.

Pinterest Analytics also lets me know what kind of pins people like to see on Pinterest. I’ve been studying which pins perform best. Longer, shorter, which colors, etc.

Google Analytics lets me see what content is performing the best, the worst, bounce rate, and so much more. Every blog should be taking advantage of Google Analytics.

 

4. Making my pins click-worthy

I use attention grabbing and emotional words that make people want to quick.

Instead of dark colors, I try to stick with orange, red, pink, and have even decided to start using smaller pins, versus the super long ones everyones using. These pins are performing a lot better than my longer pins. For each post, I am currently making 3 pins and over time I am figuring out what kind of style people prefer the most.

 

5. Create a free product to grow your email list

If you haven’t started your email list, you’ll want to start that ASAP. Your email list will always be yours and no one can take it away from you, unlike sites like Facebook and Pinterest that are constantly changing their algorithms. 

Creating a free product to grow your email list is crucial. People don’t sign up for email lists without anything in return anymore. Some great ideas for free products would be a free resource library, ebook, printables, and so on.

Email can be incredibly personal which can help grow your relationship with your audience. 

 

Future Plans

I have so many plans for my blog, I don’t even know where to begin!

Currently, I’m in the process of creating a few free and paid digital products. Michelle and I are also teaming up on a sponsored course resource, too! 

I finish school this year so it’s exciting to know I’ll soon be able to dedicate 100% of my time to my blog. So much time and energy is focused on doing well in my last semester of college, so being stress-free from that will clear a lot of mental energy.

If you have any questions for me, feel free to leave a comment below or contact me over at FITnancials.

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47 Comments
Filed Under: Blog, Extra Income Tagged With: Blog, Extra Money, Hustle Series

About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  1. Alexis says

    July 13, 2018 at 9:19 am

    Thanks for having me!

    Reply
  2. Kelly McKillip says

    July 13, 2018 at 9:41 am

    Thanks for this post! It’s great to be inspired by how much potential blogs have when everyone is saying we are saturated. I am excited to get mine started!

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 14, 2018 at 11:11 am

      You can do it!

      Reply
  3. Alaya@Hope+Cents says

    July 13, 2018 at 9:42 am

    Hey Alexis, congrats on your success! I remember when you announced that you were going full-time. 🙂 It’s cool to see how you’ve progressed and grown and so very impressive that you’ve been doing this while still going to school! Thanks for sharing some of your strategies.

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 13, 2018 at 9:50 am

      Thank you so much! Ah, I remember that time and being really scared, haha!

      Reply
  4. Ashwin says

    July 13, 2018 at 9:46 am

    Hi Michelle and Alexis,

    I have also started a blog named the free mind Confluence and it is being 1 year since I started this blog(https://thefreemindconfluence.wordpress.com/ ) but there are few hurdles that I am currently facing I have been trying a lot of ideas plans to get in traffic as I am juggling this with a full time job. I am not getting time to write blogs or articles so often, but I have been trying to write an article per month. my main concern or problem is the “traffic”. I am not getting enough traffic to my website. kindly suggest few tips that I can use immediately to get better traffic.

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 14, 2018 at 11:13 am

      Have you tried working on Pinterest? Are you trying to rank for Google? I am not really sure if I am seeing any social media presence on your blog.

      Reply
      • Ashwin says

        July 14, 2018 at 4:33 pm

        I am starting use pin interest from this month. I am already there on fb and insta by yhe name “the free mind confluence”. Hopefully pin interest gives me the expected traffic.

        Thanks for replying!! 👍👍

        Reply
    • Agnaldo Lima says

      July 16, 2018 at 2:07 am

      I am also very new to blogging, but there’s a certain thing that I know… .com’s are way more SEO friendly than subdomains. It has been almost a year now, you should save to buy a 2 or 3 years hosting plan along with a .com domain name and work on your SEO. If you could also use YouTube and PPC campaigns you would see better results.

      Reply
  5. Ashwin says

    July 13, 2018 at 9:55 am

    Hi Alexis,

    Congratulations!! Its great to see you make such good progress in such a short span of time. Inspiring story.

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 14, 2018 at 11:14 am

      Thank you!

      Reply
  6. Michael says

    July 13, 2018 at 10:11 am

    Congrats Alexis! You both are big inspirations! Patience and Progress is the key.

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 14, 2018 at 11:14 am

      I totally agree!

      Reply
  7. Karina says

    July 13, 2018 at 10:21 am

    Love hearing what’s possible… Thanks for sharing your journey and offering us inspiration!
    ~Karina

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 14, 2018 at 11:15 am

      You’re welcome!

      Reply
  8. Heather Boodhram says

    July 13, 2018 at 10:36 am

    This was super inspirational. Congrats on your success on your site and at school, Alexis! I have very high hopes for my new blog!! I think happinessinfectious.com is something we all could use a little more of. 😉 <3

    Heather B

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 16, 2018 at 10:32 am

      Thanks Heather! Good luck!

      Reply
  9. The Savvy Couple says

    July 13, 2018 at 10:41 am

    Congrats on the success Alexis!

    We have loved to follow and watch your blog grow. It’s incredible to see hardwork pay off.

    Excited to see what the next year has in store for you.

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 13, 2018 at 1:53 pm

      Thank you so much!

      Reply
  10. DNN says

    July 13, 2018 at 1:13 pm

    Hi Alexis & Michelle,

    It’s inspiring to see that your sister is blogging and doing the same thing as a beautiful labor of love is you’re doing. Side hustle blogging and well on her way to becoming a future [side hustle millionaire]. I’m confident she’s glad that you’re her sister because she’s well on her way to achieving the same level of success. Both of you are truly blessed 🙂

    It’s amazing how life circumstances can literally test our faith see what we’re made of in entrepreneurship. How was reading the second sentence of the blog post where it says I was used to working for someone else for over 8 years. I too was in that same position in the past where I was working in Corporate America from job to job for off and on roughly 20 plus years. I’ve worked in many banks, a third party outsourcing center that took phone calls not sure if they still do for Priceline.com. I’ve also worked for Talk.com in South Florida in Broward county back in 2000 when they were acquired by AOL America online. That company is no longer in existence. I was just getting started back in the day with affiliate marketing and didn’t understand the entire concept of affiliate marketing and I was stuck on Stupid about blogging because I didn’t know what a blog was. As the second sentence in your blog post said “I was used to working for someone else for over 8 years.” That was my mindset back in the day also. Had I know what I know now back then, I’m quite confident I would have been a few million dollars richer today. But we live and learn, right? 🙂

    Glad to know that you took that leap of faith and started your side hustle blog which turned into a lucrative full-time job for you earning over $10,000. I can imagine the awesome trials and tribulations you went through while building your block such as trying to balance your finances, getting in a consistent mindset to write content and stay on track with daily and persistent content marketing, and balancing your personal life. At 25 years old and having a full-time blog earning over $10, 000 monthly is nothing but sheer inspiration to aspiring affiliate marketers, side hustlers and bloggers looking to maximize the power of the internet so they too can potentially make money 24 hours a day like you and Michelle. I’m very proud of Michelle for being a “side hustle millionaire,” and being an example to you and others that it can happen for anyone who puts their mind to making this work.

    Glad to hear that you’re finishing college. Although you’re probably Won’t need your degree to find a job by the time you graduate, it’ll make a good plaque to hang up on your wall just to look back on and know that you went the extra mile to achieve higher education. It gives anyone a feeling of contentment when they invest the extra leg work in their education and achieve a bachelor’s degree, MBA Masters, Ed.D, or Ph.D or Judiciary Doctorate J.D.

    Congratulations once again to you and I look forward to hearing great news years to come about Fitnancials. 🙂

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 16, 2018 at 10:33 am

      Thanks for your kind comment! Yeah, I probably won’t need my degree immediately but I do think about working a regular job again one day where I’ll definitely need the degree. Until then, the diploma will probably sit in a drawer! Haha.

      Reply
  11. Jamie says

    July 13, 2018 at 2:14 pm

    Great article! Never had much luck blogging, might have to give it another shot!

    Keep up the great content! 🙂

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 16, 2018 at 10:33 am

      You can do it!

      Reply
  12. Janet says

    July 13, 2018 at 3:54 pm

    These are all such great tips! Thanks for sharing! I’m always so inspired by both of you 🙂

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 14, 2018 at 11:17 am

      Thank you!

      Reply
  13. Chonce says

    July 13, 2018 at 4:51 pm

    Congrats Alexis this is amazing!! So proud of you 🙂

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 14, 2018 at 11:18 am

      Thanks Chonce!!

      Reply
  14. Kristin Hanes says

    July 13, 2018 at 6:42 pm

    Hey thanks so much for this post! Which setting are you using on your Mediavine ads? Also, I’ve been stuck at 50,000-60,000 pageviews for months as well. You have some really good ideas on how to write content people want. I think I’ll take your advice and do a survey. Did you survey your entire list? Another one of my goals is to get better at affiliate marketing.

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 14, 2018 at 11:18 am

      I emailed my subscriber list and asked them to complete a survey, about 100 people did the survey and it was really helpful!

      Reply
    • Kathryn says

      July 14, 2018 at 12:25 pm

      I’d love to know what settings you use for Mediavine as well. They’re my biggest income source right now and it’s just set to whatever the default is. I’m also stuck around 60,000 pageviews!

      Reply
  15. Jo@moremoneytips says

    July 13, 2018 at 8:43 pm

    Congrats, Alexis. I’ve always enjoyed reading your posts because they’re not only helpful, but also sincere, and I appreciate it.

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 14, 2018 at 11:19 am

      Aww, thank you so much!

      Reply
  16. Victor Romero says

    July 13, 2018 at 11:57 pm

    Nice to meet you, Alexis!
    I have a question: Do you use an editor too for your Fitnancials blog since you’re your sisters virtual assistant?

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 14, 2018 at 11:20 am

      No, at this time I do not.

      Reply
  17. Travis says

    July 14, 2018 at 4:49 pm

    Hi Alexis,

    There are quite a few sponsored post companies listed on your site. Do you have one or two that you prefer over the rest? I have a decent size website (120k users/338k pageviews last month, 83k IG followers), but haven’t tried any sponsored posts yet. Also, do you have a ballpark idea of what you would charge for a sponsored post on a site this size?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 16, 2018 at 10:35 am

      I don’t really have any I prefer since I’ve only worked with these brands one time, besides one company whom I’ve worked with several times. I’m not totally sure since each niche is different, but I currently charge between $500-$1,500 for 1 post.

      Reply
  18. Ige Lewis @incomefizo says

    July 16, 2018 at 1:15 am

    Great post Alexis,

    From your post that you linked to. I can see that Pinterest seems to be the biggest traffic source.

    That’s quite intesresting considering that you’re in Personal finance niche.

    Thanks for the tips.

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 16, 2018 at 10:35 am

      You’re welcome!

      Reply
  19. ANGE MYLENE HATUNGIMANA says

    July 16, 2018 at 9:35 am

    Hello,

    Your post strikes a chord with me because I am also in college and I want to start a blog. But my blog’s topics are about mental health so I am confused as to how to create products for it and get the right affiliate partners.

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 16, 2018 at 10:38 am

      I am not familiar with that niche but I believe any niche can be profitable! 🙂

      Reply
  20. Kim says

    July 18, 2018 at 7:23 pm

    Thanks for sharing details on your awesome journey! I really found your take on getting more page views to be interesting, especially since it focuses more on quality over quantity.

    Keep up the good work!

    Reply
  21. Stephanie B. says

    July 22, 2018 at 7:43 pm

    This is an inspiring read. I’m completely new to the world of blogging and am still learning to ropes for this ship! Your blog gave me a lot of valuable information that I hope to apply once I get my blog up and running. Congratulation Alexis! I hope to see more news from you soon!

    Reply
  22. Janita says

    July 24, 2018 at 8:31 am

    Congratulations Alexis! I love all of Michelle’s posts like these, it really does continue to encourage me. I’m hoping to one day be in your shoes, but I would be happy with $2000 a month from my blog, that amount would allow me to quit my job!

    Reply
  23. Breanna @eslabroad says

    August 8, 2018 at 3:07 pm

    Honestly reading this post made me so happy because I am 24 too and looking to achieve this! I am glad to know it’s. Really doable and want to try more than ever. Thanks for the advice. Also, I love your site name. 😂

    Reply
  24. DNN says

    January 3, 2019 at 5:40 am

    Achieving entrepreneurial success and making a financial transformation can make anyone a “side hustle millionaire.”

    Reply
  25. Jasper Stojanovski says

    July 13, 2019 at 1:45 am

    I am amazed at how much money you are able to make given your page views.

    Your earnings would be significantly lower while only monetizing with display ads.

    I guess it goes to show that affiliate marketing is king—when done right!

    Reply
  26. DNN says

    December 17, 2021 at 2:59 pm

    I wish I would’ve stayed focused years ago and have a better understanding about blogging and content marketing because I probably would’ve been an online millionaire years ago.

    Reply

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My name is Michelle and I'm the author/owner of Making Sense of Cents. Learning how to save money and make more money changed my life. It allowed me to pay off $40,000 in student loans, start my own business, and I now travel full-time.

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