Self-employment Archives - Making Sense Of Cents

How To Monetize A Blog: How I Grew A $5 Million Blog

Last Updated: May 22, 2023 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 21 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.

Want to learn how to monetize a blog?

What started as just a hobby turned into one of the most life-changing things I’ve ever done – that’s starting my blog, and learning how to make money with it.

Since learning how to monetize a blog over 10 years ago, I have now earned over $5,000,000 from my site. This is still hard for me to believe, and I’m the one who’s lived it!

I started Making Sense of Cents around 10 years ago, entirely as a hobby.

In the beginning, all I was doing was tracking my own personal finance progress as I finished school and started paying off my student loans. Blogging was a very new concept to me at the time – I heard about it from a magazine – and people were just learning how to monetize blogs back in 2011.

Most bloggers started back then with display ads and sponsored posts, but the options have only increased.

Because of all of the new ways to make money blogging, like affiliate income and selling your own products, you can make somewhat passive income as a blogger.

Passive income is my favorite way to make money because it makes blogging even more flexible and something I can do as I work from home, travel, and work whenever I want.

Blogging has changed my life for the better, and I’m now earning thousands of dollars a month doing something I love.

Learning how to monetize a blog takes work and time, but it’s 100% possible to do. I started earning money after just six months of blogging, and I didn’t even set out to make money when I created Making Sense of Cents. Just think of the potential if you start out knowing that making money blogging is possible!

Starting my blog is one of the best things I’ve ever done for my work, personal, and financial life. And, I urge anyone who is interested to start a blog and learn how to monetize it.

Today, I’m sharing how I built a blog that has earned me over $5,000,000 over the years and my tips so that you can create a successful blog that you enjoy. [Read more…]

How To Quit Your Job And Become Self-Employed – 5 Steps For Success

Last Updated: July 18, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 5 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.

Do you want to learn how to quit your job and become self-employed? Are you wondering how do I quit my job and work for myself?

Perhaps you’ve finally found your passion, and it means running your own business. Maybe, your side hustle has grown so large that it’s time to make a decision between keeping your day job or turning your side hustle into your full-time career.

Whatever reason you may have, I recommend taking some steps so that you can prepare and make the transition to self-employment as easy as possible.

I have been self-employed for around 8 years now, and there were several things I did to prepare for the switch.

I was a little scared to leave my day job in order to work for myself full-time, and preparing helped me with the transition and made me feel more comfortable.

Of course, not everyone has the opportunity to prepare for self-employment, as I know that some people may be laid off from their day job, maybe you have to quit a toxic work environment, and so on. [Read more…]

How To Take Maternity Leave When Self-Employed – What You Need To Know

Last Updated: August 1, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 12 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.

Are you self-employed and pregnant? Are you wondering how to handle maternity leave when self-employed?

Big news if you haven’t heard yet – I am pregnant!

When I announced this news, I received many questions, especially ones revolving around what I am going to do for maternity leave since I am self-employed.

I am very grateful for the life that I get to live, and I realize that I run a truly amazing business that will allow me to focus a lot of time on this next exciting part of my life.

That being said, there are so many things about maternity leave when self-employed that I want to talk about!!

One of the first things I thought about when I found out that I was pregnant was what am I going to do when it comes to running my business?

As a self-employed person who is currently pregnant, I am in charge of my own maternity leave – there’s no official blogger maternity leave, haha!

Yes, the Family Medical Leave Act gives employees in the United States up to 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave.

However, that doesn’t exactly apply to me, as I want to take a self-employed maternity leave (there are a couple of states that do offer paid leave for self-employed workers, but that’s not the norm). [Read more…]

What Is A Blog, How Do Blogs Make Money, & More

Last Updated: February 6, 2023 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 14 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.

What is a blog and how does it work? Can you really make money blogging? How much do bloggers make?

Over the years, I have received many questions about blogging. People want to know what is a blog, how they work, is it really a way for people to make money, and so on.

I completely understand all of the questions. While blogging has now been around for more than a decade, it’s still a fairly new way to earn money. I still have people give me funny looks when I tell them what I do for a living.

But, I didn’t really know what a blog was when I first started mine. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

I didn’t know how people made money from blogs or anything else like that.

Pretty much everything I learned about blogging was through trial and error, and I made a lot of mistakes over the years, haha! Honestly, it’s because of those mistakes that I’m where I am right now.

My life has completely changed because of blogging. I was able to quit a job I didn’t love, I travel full-time, and I can retire pretty much whenever I want.

It’s funny to think about how far I’ve come, especially since I had no idea what blogs even were. [Read more…]

How I Made Money in One Year With My Blog – Annual Wrap Up

Last Updated: December 20, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 40 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.

Welcome to my annual business report where I show you how I made money online.

If you’re new to Making Sense of Cents, you may be wondering why I would want to publish my business report each month.

This all started out as my extra income report because, in the beginning, it was all about the money I was earning from my side jobs. In my side income reports from the beginning, I included all of the income I made except for what I made at my day job.

However, I left my day job as a financial analyst in October of 2013 and now my monthly business reports consist of the many ways I earn a living with my business.

Many have asked why I would ever want to publicly talk about what I’m working on each month. Some think I’m crazy, whereas some are glad I’m open about what I’m doing. Whatever you think, I enjoy publishing my monthly business reports and I share them publicly for three main reasons:

Before I started blogging, I knew nothing about side hustling and making money online. I didn’t think side jobs were worth the effort and I thought the only way to significantly increase your income was through raises at your full-time job. If it weren’t for others publishing their monthly income reports, I don’t know if I would have ever tried side hustling. I want to help show others the positives in side hustling and how it can change a person’s life. There are many different ways to make money online, and I like to share my story each month to help motivate others to improve their financial situation by making more money.
Secondly, I like to publish my business blogging reports because it’s a way for me to look back, learn from my mistakes and actually see what areas need improvement. I use my monthly blogging reports as a way to track how I’ve done and it helps to keep me accountable.
Lastly, I like to show others that making side money is possible and that there are many legitimate ways to make money from your home.

I know I say this every month, but it’s the truth. Life is great now that I’m my own boss and a full-time blogger. I look forward to each and every day and it’s a wonderful feeling. I truly love waking up every single morning. [Read more…]

How I Made Money Online In October

Last Updated: March 17, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 10 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.

Welcome to October’s business report where I show you how I made money online and traveled full-time last month. It’s time to look at this month’s update and see how I did.

If you’re new to Making Sense of Cents, you may be wondering why I would want to publish my business report each month.

This all started as my extra income report because, in the beginning, it was all about the money I was earning from my side jobs. In my side income reports from the beginning, I included all of the income I made except for what I made at my day job.

However, I left my day job as a financial analyst in October of 2013 and now my monthly business reports consist of the many ways I earn a living with my business. [Read more…]

How I Made Money Blogging In September + Best Ways To Grow A Loyal Audience

Last Updated: March 17, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 22 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.

Welcome to September’s business report where I show you how I made money online and traveled full-time last month. It’s time to look at this month’s update and see how I did.

If you’re new to Making Sense of Cents, you may be wondering why I would want to publish my business report each month.

However, I left my day job as a financial analyst in October of 2013 and now my monthly business reports consist of the many ways I earn a living with my business. [Read more…]