One of my main goals at Beautiful Dawn Designs is to help bloggers grow their blog and make money online by following their passion. I decided to start the Grow Your Blog Interview Series as a way to help bloggers grow by taking a peek into the journey of other bloggers. The bloggers I interview will be sharing their successes and even their biggest mistakes.
In this interview, I’ll be chatting with my dear friend Alexis from FITnancials.com. On FITnancials, you’ll learn advice on how to become the best you by managing your finances and living a healthier lifestyle. If you want to learn tips for living your best life, make sure you check out FITnancials.
1. Tell us about yourself.
Hi! My name is Alexis, and I am a full-time blogger over at FITnancials, a finance and fitness blog with a little bit of travel, too.
2. Why did you start blogging?
I started blogging after kicking off my fitness journey. I’d lost over 60 pounds and totally transformed my life around.
My sister who was blogging for a while told me that I should start a blog of my own. If it weren’t for her, I 100% would not be blogging today.
I’ve had my blog since 2013 or so, but didn’t take it seriously until the end of 2016. I ended up quitting my full-time job and pursued blogging full-time and now make more money than I had ever dreamed of.
3. What is your top source of traffic?
Currently, my top source of traffic is Pinterest and Facebook. I’ve been actively working on my email list, and I’m also just recently starting SEO so I can start ranking on Google.
4. What strategies did you use to make that your top traffic source?
I enrolled in a few Pinterest courses and read many articles and ebooks on gaining traffic on Pinterest. I get around 3 million Pinterest viewers in the fall and winter time, and around 1 million in the spring and summer time.
I make sure to create high-quality pins and also test out different images to see what works and what doesn’t. I post at different times of the day to see when works best for my viewers. Pinterest Analytics is also incredibly helpful and lets me see what content is getting viewed the most, which allows me to brainstorm ideas on what I should be writing.
5. What is your favorite way to attract new readers?
My favorite way to attract new readers is via Pinterest, and I always make sure to have a proper opt-in on each post. Though I get a lot of page views from Pinterest, I’ve had the realization that I can’t rely on Pinterest traffic. So now I make sure to create free resources for my readers that will get them signing up for my email list.
6. What has been your most successful blog post? Why do you think it’s appealing?
My most successful posts are Healthiest Foods for a Tight Budget and 16 Real Work From Home Jobs.
These both tie up as the most successful depending on the season. It’s really funny because I wrote the Healthiest Foods For A Tight Budget article pretty quickly. The topic went viral and has been one of my top articles for several years now. I did NOT think this article would become anything special and I even wrote it when I was hobby blogging. Now, the post is optimized for affiliate marketing and has related links, etc., because it’s a high-performing post and I need to take advantage of it!
With the 16 Real Work From Home Jobs, I believe it went viral because a majority of people want to work from home. I rarely wrote about this topic beforehand, and now I write about it frequently.
7. How do you stay motivated as a blogger?
It is so hard for me to stay motivated, honestly. I recently took a personality quiz, and the quiz told me I have a burnout personality. I’m also in college (I graduate in the fall of 2018!). Because of this, I’ve learned I need to do certain things in order to stay motivated.
A few things I do to stay motivated is making sure my work environment is always clean, and all of my outside errands are completed. I create a to-do list of things I need to do each day, and I make sure that I don’t overwork myself. When I’m feeling unmotivated or stressed, I take my dogs for a walk outside and get some fresh air. Then, I can start working again with a clear head.
8. We all make mistakes, what is your greatest mistake as a blogger?
Deleting posts that I no longer wanted on my blog. This was my worst mistake because I not only deleted the posts, I emptied my trash too, so the posts are gone forever.
I had most of these posts on Pinterest, so now the pins are coming up as errors and “this page cannot be found.”
9. What is your favorite way to make money blogging and do you think it can work for everyone?
My favorite way to make money blogging is sponsored posts. This month I’m set to make over $6,000 just from sponsored posts, which is very good considering I’m currently getting 100,000 page views per month.
Make sure you check out Alexis’ course Making Sense of Sponsored Posts, where she shares exactly what she does to make thousands of dollars per month from sponsored posts. I think you’ll find it really helpful.
I read that a lot of bloggers are against sponsored posts, which I think is pretty silly. Sponsored posts are incredibly similar to affiliate marketing – you’re talking about products you genuinely enjoy and believe in. But with a sponsored post, you’re getting paid a flat fee to publish the post. I do think sponsored posts can work for anyone as long as they are staying genuine to their readers and only writing about things they believe in.
10. What are some of your favorite blogging tools or resources?
Your blog, Beautiful Dawn Designs, Elite Blog Academy, and Create and Go.
11. Are there any bloggers that inspire you?
You! I love reading Beautiful Dawn Designs for blogging tips. Every single article is well-thought out and helps my blog tremendously.
I also enjoy reading anything from Making Sense of Cents, Natalie Bacon, Melyssa Griffin, Ruth Soukup, and several others.
12. Do you have any additional advice for helping bloggers grow?
Don’t give up! I read that over 90% of bloggers quit and it’s mostly because they realize blogging is a lot harder than they realized. Nothing good comes easy! I thought about quitting a thousand times and I’m so happy I didn’t – otherwise I wouldn’t have the life I have now.
13. Can you share three fun facts about yourself?
#1. I’m half Korean! My mom was raised in Seoul, South Korea, and my dad was raised in the states.
#2. I’ve traveled to 5 different continents by the time I was 23 and lived abroad in Italy and Peru.
#3. I’ve been vegan for 3 years and I also have a vegan blog called Thyme To Go Vegan!
14. Can you share your products or any blog posts you would like us to check out?
I actually just launched a store! The store is filled with printables related to budgeting and weight loss.
Make sure you check out the FITnancials Shop as well as Making Sense of Sponsored Posts, her online course that will teach you how to make money through sponsored posts.
Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us, Alexis. It was great learning from you! Make sure you check out FITnancials to learn more from Alexis.