More from your blog

After a little break, I’m back with another featured blogger! Meet Rose from What Rose Knows. Rose recently underwent a URL change and was quite successful before that, so I wanted to hear a little more about why she decided to make the change.

Rose keeps it old school and doesn’t use a standard blogging platform. I like it – and it proves that you don’t have to blog on a certain platform or in a certain way to succeed. Great content and hard work trumps all else. Among here impressive statistics, Rose sports a profile of over 12,000 Facebook fans and 5,000+ Twitter followers.

Formerly Rose Knows Coupons, Rose still posts deals frequently on her blog, but it’s the DIY stuff that both she and her helper are putting out that will really impress you. Another cool thing she’s doing right now is a 52-week money challenge. The goal is to save $1400 over the course of a year using a really great method. Check it out here.

Now, on to the interview.

How did you choose your url?  What does it mean to you?
I chose my URL, What Rose Knows, because I didn’t want to feel limited by a name like I was in the past when my URL was Rose Knows Coupons. What does my URL mean to me? It means that when I  know something, I’m gonna tell ya. In all seriousness though, bloggers can be quite resourceful and we love to share what we know with our readers…so my URL just happened to make sense. Plus, when I was throwing around ideas for my new URL, my awesome blogger friend Zack who runs this really cool blog “More From Your Blog” suggested it and BAM! just like that, I had my new URL! (Zack here: see, I have good ideas on occasion!)

In one sentence, describe your blog.
Save money where you can so you can splurge where you want.

How long have you been blogging?
4 years, but probably became serious about it in the past 2 years.

How long did it take you to earn your first $100? My 1^st month.
I quit my part-time job within 6 months because I was making triple on my blog than I was at my job. I was fortunate enough to be able to work on my blog at my part-time job so that is why I stayed at my part-time job as long as I did.

What is the best piece of advice you have received about blogging?
You HAVE to work at it. Success doesn’t just fall into your lap overnight.

What is one thing that you wish you knew about blogging before you started?
Social networking, one of our biggest traffic sources is constantly changing. You have to be creative, make changes, and experiment.

What is the most recent “aha” moment you have had about your blog?
I can make up my own rules as I go along (well, as long as I follow the FTC guidelines of course) because the only person I have to answer to is myself!

You recently changed your URL and blog’s name.  What is the main reason for doing that?
I felt extremely limited when the name of my blog was Rose Knows Coupons. I want to post so much more than just coupons. Plus, I feel as though some people get turned off,  and purposely steer clear or reject a website because of the word “coupons” being in the name. I don’t want my blog to be all about coupons anymore, because I am no longer all about coupons.

What concerns do you have, if any, about the future of your blog and its income?
I’ve never been that blogger who wanted to go big. I’m happy with the size of my blog and at this time I don’t really have any concerns about the future of it. My income is always increasing and there are always new/different affiliates to work with. I guess if a few of my stronger affiliates would close up shop, then I would be concerned.

Do you do it all yourself or do you have a VA?  How many hours does your VA work?
I had a VA for a little over a year but recently changed that because I did not feel I was getting the return on my investment. A VA needs to know how to speak in your voice otherwise you start to get a disconnect from your readers. If you have two different personalities posting, you will appear bi-polar because the reader doesn’t know, and shouldn’t have to decipher who is posting. Your VA needs to be able to speak in your voice. There is a big (ok HUGE!) deal blog out there that has probably 3 – 4 VA’s posting and unless you see the author in your RSS feed, you would never know it’s different people posting! I must say they all do a great job speaking in her voice.

At this time I do have 2 helpers working with me. My reader turned friend Amanda has been doing a few DIY/Craft posts for me and also a weekly round-up of a few Target deals. At the bottom of the DIY/Craft posts I do let my readers know it was her artistry and work with a photo and bio. My friend Kari is my go-to person when I need pictures of product at Pick ‘n Save. They are both a HUGE help to me and I appreciate their time and effort a great deal!

How many hours per week do you work on your blog?
30+ During the holiday season obviously a little more. Who am I kidding, during the holiday season a whole lot more!

Do you try to keep set hours for yourself or do you just work until the work is done?
That varies. I guess it all depends on what I have going on. It used to bother me when I would miss something that was time sensitive but I no longer care about that because my readers will still be there!

What advice do you have for someone who wants to start a blog (any blog)?
Start by learning the ins and outs from the blog http://morefromyourblog.com (I didn’t even pay her to say this!)
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Great stuff again!

I think the highlight of this interviews is Rose’s opinion on VAs. I completely agree. Unless you’ve got a magazine style site or openly have contributors that focus on different areas of the site, I think the whole blog has to be written with one “voice”. This touches on the importance of finding a great VA. It can be hard to do, but once you find the right one, it will really pay off big time. I think it’s awesome that one of Rose’s helpers was a reader. If you remember, that’s how Katie of Kroger Krazy found her VA too. It makes so much sense because if they’re reading your blog, they are obviously interested in the content!

If you have not started a blog yet, take note of Rose’s statement about why she changed her URL. She felt limited by the name. This is important to think about up front. Think about your content and where it might go. Is your title and URL flexible at all? If it leaves no room for changing of content, you might want to choose a different URL.

I love Rose’s assessment of social media today. It’s so true. As a blogger, you DO have to pay attention to every new network and embrace the changes that are happening in the social world. How many of you said, “I’ll never get a Twitter because it’s a stupid idea and it won’t catch on”? I know I was one of them!

Anyway, head over to Rose’s blog and snoop around. You’ll pick up some awesome DIY ideas and will probably find some ways to save money while you’re there as well.

Hey there! If you’ve been following along, you know that each Monday, for the past 8 weeks, I have been featuring a successful blogger here. I started this feature to try and help motivate others who are trying to find success in the world of blogging. It’s been nothing short of amazing and I certainly plan on keeping it going.

This week though, I wanted to look back at the first 8 features and highlight some of my favorite things.

For quick reference, here are the bloggers who I have featured – in order of appearance:
Josie from Southern Cali Saver – feature | website
Shanna from Because Shanna Said So – feature | website
Rachel from Mashup Mom – feature | website
GiGi from GiGi Eats Celebrities – feature | website
Jessica from Living Chic on the Cheap – feature | website
Kilee from ONE little MOMMA – feature | website
Katie from Kroger Krazy – feature | website
McKel from Nutrition Stripped – feature | website
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One of the reasons that these features have been so awesome is that they are straight from the mouths of people who have actually been successful with their blogs. You can read tips and “stories” anywhere, but to find a group of actual bloggers who have found (and are still finding) a ton of success through blogging is rare.

When I started this, I hoped that the answers from these bloggers would closely match what I have been “preaching” on this blog, and I got my wish. Just about every single answer from all 8 bloggers is right in line with my philosophy of blogging.

I have always said blogging isn’t easy. I also say that if you’re only in it for the money, it’s probably not going to work. The reason for this is that it will most likely take quite a while to see financial gain from blogging. 7 out of the 8 bloggers said it took them at least 6 months before earning their first $100 from their blog. This means that if you don’t LOVE what you’re doing, you are probably going to quit.
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Hard Work
One of my favorite quotes that came from these (there are a LOT) is from Shanna, who said, “I had to realize that if I was going to grow, nobody out there was going to make it happen for me. I had to put in the time and effort.” There are a few reasons why I love this quote. Some people seem to think that blogging is easy, and “my content will sell itself” so I don’t have to promote. Well, the chances of that happening are one in ten million. Yes yes, on the occasion, a blog will go viral and the owner won’t have to do much to “get huge”, but that is rare. Just as in the “real world” where you’re not going to just show up for a management job, do about an hour of work and wait for someone to promote you, you can’t spend an hour a day blogging and expect to get results. You have to be out there, in the trenches selling yourself and your blog. Anyone who thinks otherwise is most likely just wasting their time.

My favorite quote from Rachel is one of the most simple, yet ignored ideas: “Treat it like a business.” This one is so great! I mean, if we can all agree that you are trying to make money from your blog, why wouldn’t you treat it like a business? It’s crazy to me to see people asking me how to turn a blog into a full time income who have such a casual approach to their blog. From day one, you have to be constantly thinking about where you want your blog to be in one year, three years, five years and beyond. You’ve got to be willing to sacrifice some fun time because you need to get a post done. As Josie says, “It’s not a ‘sit back and watch the benefits’ type of thing. You must work hard at establishing a following.”

Several of the bloggers features worked on their blogs for 40+ hours a week, with a couple of them working over 60 hours a week. I’ve always said I’d rather work 60 hours a week from home or wherever I want than work 40 at a desk somewhere. I would guess a lot of you agree with me on that one.
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Making Money
In the very first feature, Josie has a really good piece of advice. “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.” This is a very important idea. Just because the money is nice from one source, doesn’t mean you should stop looking at other ways to earn money from your blog. You never know when that one source is going to go away and it’s important to have other options and other streams of income. This point is driven home by Katie, who mentioned “to diversify” as a goal she has for her blog.

We were reminded of the value of a loyal reader by Kilee and McKel, who said this of sponsored posts: “I don’t want to jeopardize my relationship with my readers because I’m getting paid by a company to write.” – Kilee and “I would never engage in a sponsored post just because I was paid to do so” – McKel. While I don’t have a problem with sponsored posts in some cases, other times it is painfully obvious that a blogger simply took an opportunity because it was paid. To me, that’s a bad road to go down. We turn down sponsored post opportunities almost weekly on my wife’s blog because they don’t fit with what we’re trying to do there. Sometimes, you have to look at the big picture and pass up the $150 that’s right in front of your face. Unfortunately, some bloggers can’t resist and it leads to their blog’s ultimate demise.

Just from these features, we can see there are a lot of ways that successful bloggers make money. Among the top revenue sources listed are: AdSense, Glam ads, Coupons.com, Amazon, Advertising.com ads and even freelance writing gigs. Some of these are obviously going to work better in certain niches, but you get the idea – there’s going to be a way to monetize your blog once you build a readership.
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Concerns
Even “big bloggers” have concerns. We explored some of them in the features.

Rachel is in the deal blogging niche and is unsure of its future as the economy improves and less people are trying to pinch pennies. As she says, “It’s a field in which you constantly have to be evolving and improving.”

Jessica is wary of Google’s ever-changing algorithm and social media (Facebook) changes that seem to be unfavoring toward businesses. While I think it’s good to realize that things can change at any time, I like Jessica’s attitude toward it – “I can’t control it so I don’t waste my time worrying.”

Shanna is concerned that her readers will think she is “too old to blog about fashion”. I’m sure her readers would be the first to tell her that she has nothing to worry about!

Josie takes a different approach to blogging concerns – “I feel secure in knowing that I have a good relationship with my readers, that they will always be there as long as I blog.” That’s what being likable and building a readership does. Josie feels that as long as she keeps blogging, her readers will follow, even if she shifts her focus a bit. That’s the power of building a solid readership.

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Being Awesome
Katie taught us how to deal with haters by adopting an awesome mindset: “Am I going to expend energy playing defense against the 1% or building awesome for the other 99%?” If you let the haters and mean spirited people change the way you run your blog, or if you take time out of your day to try and fight fire with fire, you’re taking away from the great content that you are providing the readers of your blog.

Another aspect of blogging that I’m glad we heard about was the fact that most non-bloggers just don’t get it. As Jessica says, “Get a support team. You need BLOGGER friends who understand what you do and support you.” I think this idea is so important. You want someone, or a few people who you can bounce ideas off of, who you can share tips with and who can support you. Again, this is one of the biggest complaints I have heard from bloggers – “nobody gets what I do”. That may be true to a point, but there are a lot of people who DO understand, you just have to make connections and build a little support system. As a matter of fact, Rachel even said the one thing she wished she knew when she started blogging was this: “That there was a whole community of support and wealth of knowledge out there that I never knew existed.” You just gotta look around!
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And I’ll wrap this up with a quote from GiGi to get you motivated: “The sooner you start, the sooner you will be rewarded for your hard work!” So if you don’t have a blog, start one! And if you do have one, it’s time to set some new goals and get re-motivated!
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I hope you have enjoyed the first 8 features and I sure hope you’ll stay tuned for the next one! As I said at the beginning, I fully plan on continuing these as long as I can find enough awesome and willing bloggers to participate! I want to reiterate that I am not trying to be discouraging with these features. What’s discouraging is starting a blog with high hopes and an unrealistic set of expectations. It sounds cliche, but if it were really truly that easy, everyone would be doing it. These features are supposed to introduce you to bloggers who have put in the work and who are successful in hopes that you will learn and find some motivation to make your own blog successful.

The truth is, it can be done. Most of all, it takes hard work, laser focus and dedication. If you can create a steady income stream from a blog, you’re doing something very good. If you can replace a “real job’s” income and actually quit said job, you are doing something amazing (and terrifying).

Until the next feature…

Ok, I am beyond excited about this week’s feature. Not only is Katie from Kroger Krazy an incredibly successful blogger, she’s also just a really awesome person in general! Her site is the place you want to go to if you shop at Kroger. She is the perfect example of finding success by choosing one thing and simply doing it better than anyone else. When it comes to Kroger deals, Katie has them on lockdown.

The things Katie shares below can help anyone looking for some quality blogging advice from someone who has found success through her blog. Trust me guys – she is very successful and you’re going to want to read what she has to say!

Another reason I wanted to hear from Katie is that she went through a re-brand that turned out to be wildly successful, and she shares some of her experience with that below.

How did you choose your url? What does it mean to you?
Well, that one is easy. I post All Kroger, All Day so Kroger Krazy seemed to fit with that.

How long have you been blogging?
Just over 4 years.

What is your main blog niche?
Deals (Kroger)

Who designed your blog?
I have design elements from both Mortiz Fine Designs and Pixel Me Designs.

How long did it take you to earn your first $100?
I made $100 in my first month of blogging.

What is the best piece of advice you have received about blogging?
Serve your reader.

What is one thing that you wish you knew about blogging before you started?
I wish I had known how much technical skill you needed. I just wanted to post the DEALS! I had no idea about all the backend stuff that goes on. I used to stay up until 3 am every night trying to figure it all out. I taught myself a lot, but if I had to do it all over again, I would have invested in a designer and tech person right away and saved myself so many headaches.

You re-branded very successfully. What was the main reason behind doing that? What was the biggest challenge with the re-brand?
So, I started off like every other deal blogger posting EVERY SINGLE deal out there. This included free samples, online deals, coupons, national store deals as well as Kroger deals. I operated as CouponKatarina.com for 2 ½ years and had SOME success with that. I then hit a plateau and realized that I could no longer compete with the huge blogs who were posting the same exact deals I was – except they had teams, where I just had me and maybe one other helper (sometimes). I decided to just focus on ONE THING. I checked my analytics and noticed that my Kroger deals were my readers’ number one destination. And my heart was absolutely with those posts as well and it showed. It was a no brainer. So in May of 2012 I rebranded as Kroger Krazy and have never looked back. It has been the BEST decision I could have made. Not only have I set myself apart from “the pack”, but I have made myself the expert on all things Kroger. Being able to declutter and focus on just one store has enabled me to ROCK it out.

The biggest challenge was getting readers acclimated to the new focus. Many of them were very disappointed because they relied on me for freebies and other deals. Those who did not have a Kroger store near them, I lost as readers. Some of them were not nice about it too. I went through a couple of very low months (traffic-wise), but once people realized that I was providing useful content, that changed. Regardless, I still felt very strongly that this was the right decision for me.

What is the most recent “aha” moment you have had about your blog?
Recently I have started posting a lot of personal pictures and doing videos. This requires me to “put myself out there” so to speak, which is difficult. The majority of my readers LOVE getting to know me better in this way. However, when you put yourself out there like that, it also brings out the haters. For the first time in 4 years I am getting mean and hateful comments from people. Let’s face it, those words are hurtful. And I found myself spending WAY too much time on them. So, my aha moment was realizing that every moment I spend on those comments is taking away from the rest of my readers who DO NOT feel that way. That’s when I adopted my new mantra: “Am I going to expend energy playing defense against the 1% or building awesome for the other 99%?”

What goals do you have for your blog?
To be awesome. To diversify. To grow so that I can hire more help and focus on my videos and other projects instead of the daily grind.

What concerns do you have, if any, about the future of your blog and its income?
Being a store-specific blog, I have 2 MAIN sources of income: Coupon prints and ads. If either of those go away, I am in big trouble. So my main goal for 2014 is to diversify. I have a few things in the works as far as working with brands directly…just waiting to sign on the dotted line. 🙂

Do you do it all yourself of do you have a VA? How many hours does your VA work?
Oh goodness no. There’s no way I could do this all by myself. I would be a crazy person. I have the most amazing VA ever. She probably works 30 hours a week, but I pay her per TASK so I’m really not sure on that. She is a huge TEAM player and works toward the success of my blog, not what she can get out of it. I tell her every day that she can never leave me. HAHA! How did I find such a gem? I advertised for Help Wanted on my blog. I highly recommend it!

How many hours per week do you work on your blog?
About 80 hours a week.

Do you try to keep set hours for yourself or do you just work until the work is done?
I really struggle with trying to balance everything. It’s hard to turn it off because it’s MY business. I pretty much have the computer always open. Phone under my pillow at night. 🙂 I do try to take at least ONE weekend day off. And when I say day, I mean afternoon. 🙂

What advice do you have for someone who wants to start a blog (any blog)?
Pick something you love. It will show. Be the expert on it. Be prepared for LONG endless hours before making any real money. Get a great support system. This not only includes design and tech people, but fellow bloggers who can relate to what you’re going through, to whom you can bounce ideas off, etc.

What is your #1 revenue source?
Coupons.com, Google adsense follows that

What is your #1 traffic source?
Facebook, then Direct Traffic

Do you have another job, or is blogging your main source of income?
My blog is enough. 🙂

How long did it take to start making an average of at least $1,000 per month from your blog?
About 3 months
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Can I just say wow?! Such great stuff from Katie!

First up, I’d like to address Katie’s quick success. This is the 7th feature I’ve done here and she is the first blogger that made $100 in her first month of blogging and the first who made $1,000 per month within 6 months of starting. I am not quite sure what to attribute this to, since I know some of the other bloggers I have featured have tremendous work ethic just like Katie and it took them longer to find financial success through blogging. I am guessing it’s because she is just that good at what she does.

I would also like to highlight Katie’s #1 traffic source. People are constantly complaining about Facebook and the way they are handling business pages, yet Katie is seeing tons of traffic from her page. This is due to incredibly high interaction with her fans. I still don’t believe (and Katie proves this idea) that Facebook should be ignored in any way as a source of traffic for a blog.

I also like that Katie has addressed the challenge with putting herself out there more. Deal bloggers are generally a lot less personal that lifestyle bloggers, so sharing parts of their lives can be scary. I like that Katie has grabbed the bull by the horns and just gone for it, ignoring the haters. Her quote about spending her energy on the haters vs. supporters is one of my favorite blogger quotes I’ve ever heard.

So as we do here on the More from Your Blog features – let’s show Katie some love and check out Kroger Krazy. If you’re a Kroger shopper, something tells me you’ll be following her site very closely after just one look!