Interview with six-figure blogger Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

One of the most effective ways to monetize your blog is through affiliate marketing. If you’re not familiar with affiliate marketing, it’s basically recommending various products and services to your readers and then receiving a commission if someone signs up or purchases what you recommend.

This goes without saying, but it should be done honestly and you should only promote things that you would use or buy yourself.

You should also make sure your readers are aware of your affiliate relationships by using a mention at the top of your posts (similar to what you see on this blog).

So, how much can you earn using affiliates? Quite a bit, if you do it right!

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner Making sense of cents earns around six figures a MONTH from her blog, a large portion of which comes from affiliate marketing. Yes, six figures a month! You read that right.

Even though I don’t make a lot of money, I can also say that blogging has changed my life in terms of income, and I like to inspire you with success stories that show that can be done. And Michelle is hands down one of the most inspiring examples of blogging I can share with you!

Check out our interview below:

Can you tell us a little about your blogging journey?

I started Making Sense of Cents in August 2011, after reading Cosmopolitan magazine (yes, that magazine actually had a good personal finance section that month!) which featured a personal finance website in one of their articles.

I got hooked on this personal finance website (this website is called DailyWorth) and it all grew from there. I didn’t start my blog with the intention of making a living, it was just a hobby.

At first, I blogged about things I was going through, like my father’s passing, living paycheck to paycheck, and other personal topics that I have since removed from my blog (I used to blog completely anonymously – even with a fake name!).

I then realized how much I loved blogging and realized it was for me, so now I’m a full-time blogger! It’s funny how life can change so drastically.

Approximately how long did it take you to go from zero to six figures a year, and approximately how much of that percentage came from affiliate marketing?

You can find all my income reports here.

Like I said above, I didn’t start my blog with the intention of making money, so I never thought about it or even tried it until almost a year later.

I made about $1,000 a month the year after I started and now, four years later, I make about $100,000 a month from my blog. Around $50,000 per month comes from affiliate marketing.

On average, how many hours per week would you spend working on your blog?

This is a difficult question for me to answer. We travel full time, so our weeks and schedules change all the time. In July I barely worked on my blog, but in August I regularly spend 12+ hours a day on it almost every day.

I’ve been working a lot because I’m trying to move forward and right now I’ve pretty much done all my work for a month and a half, so that’s good.

Of all the ways to monetize a blog, what do you like best about affiliate marketing, compared to display ads and direct advertising?

I prefer affiliate marketing over other methods of making money blogging because it can seem quite passive.

You can create a single blog post or social media post, and potentially make money years later, as long as you maintain it and continue to drive traffic to it. Through affiliate marketing, I can enjoy life more and know that I am still able to make a good living promoting the products that I use and love.

Think of it this way: if you already like a product, why not get paid to promote it?

Do you think it is possible to succeed with affiliate marketing even if you get less than 100,000 page views per month?

Yes of course. Even when I had less than 100,000 pageviews per month, I was still making money through affiliate marketing with very little work. It’s all about effectively and efficiently promoting affiliate products to your subscribers, which is what I teach in my Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course.

I get around 400,000 page views per month and make around $50,000 per month from affiliate marketing.

I know people with millions of monthly pageviews who don’t earn as much as I do – so this goes to show that it’s all about promoting affiliate products the right way.

What would you recommend a new blogger, with a very limited budget, try to invest in during their first few months if their ultimate goal is to do it full time?

I know I’m promoting my own course, but I think the course is of great value to a new blogger. Several new bloggers are taking the course and have already earned their first affiliate commission after just their first month of blogging.

Making sense of affiliate marketing is a great learning tool, even if you’re a brand new blogger. By taking this course, you will start blogging the right way.

You can learn from my affiliate marketing mistakes and discover the best ways to start earning income by being an affiliate. By taking this course, you are guaranteed to grow a profitable blog faster than the average blogger because you will learn exactly what you need to know about affiliate marketing.

Your success in blogging is such an inspiration, especially since there are so many people who don’t even realize it can be a career! Can you tell us what’s next for you?

For now, I mainly plan to focus on my blog, growing my email list, and providing quality content to my readers. I might start another course, but for now I plan to slow down and enjoy life. 🙂

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Thanks for the interview, Michelle!

I would like to add that I can personally vouch for Michelle’s eCourse if you want to check it out. I signed up in early August and completed it in about a week.

August was very I was busy with the kids starting school, so I didn’t have much time to strategize and do much with what I had learned.

However, I still made almost $2,000 more from affiliate marketing than usual! This surprised me. I hope this number continues to increase as I spend more time implementing Michelle’s strategies.

The course is very complete and easy to understand. I think it’s especially helpful for new bloggers who want to make money blogging and are feeling frustrated with their efforts through things like display advertising and direct mail ads.

And even if you’re already making money blogging and feel like you understand affiliate marketing, chances are you’ll still learn new, effective strategies from this course (like I did). You also have access to a private Facebook group for bloggers, which is very useful!

The course costs $197or you can set up a payment plan for two months of $105 per month.

Good luck!