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Smart Success Stories: Michelle Schroeder

Smart Success Stories: Michelle Schroeder

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~ This article may contain affiliate links. I only suggest product or services I believe will benefit my readers. All opinions are 100% mine! ~

I am excited to introduce to you, Michelle Schroeder of Making Sense of Cents.com! She has turned a blogging hobby into a blogging business. She is now a full-time blogger, location independent, enjoying the adventure of RV living.

I love reading her blog where she breaks down personal finances so that anyone (like me!) can understand how to get control of their budget, savings, and earning extra income.

One of the best parts of Michelle’s blog is how she shares her monthly income reports based on her blog earnings. If you’ve never seen an income report, a blogger will give you a rundown of how much money they earned through their blog the previous month.

Michelle is consistently earning over $50,000 per month in affiliate earnings from her blog! So…yeah, I was dying to ask her how she has turned blogging into a successful business!

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Michelle Schroeder from Making Sense of Cents

1. Please give us a little background on yourself, how you started Making Sense of Cents (what gave you the courage to start your own business), and how it’s going for you right now.

 Making Sense of Cents was started in August of 2011, after reading a magazine that featured a personal finance website in one of their articles. I got hooked on that website and everything just exploded from there. I did not create my blog with the intention of earn a living – it was all just a hobby. I then realized how much I loved blogging and realized that it was for me, so now I am a full-time blogger! Everything is going very well right now and me and my husband are very happy.


Michelle recently launched her first ever online course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. I have just finished the course and couldn’t be more pleased with how much I have learned! It’s not even the end of my first month blogging yet, but I’m so glad I took this course to get me started blogging as a business the right way!


screenshot-2016-09-25-at-9-51-08-pm2.a.  What exactly do you offer with Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. Can you explain this more for those who are unfamiliar with the product/services?

Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing is a course for bloggers and online influencers. In this course there are 6 modules, over 30 lessons, several worksheets, bonuses, an extremely helpful and exclusive Facebook group, group coaching chats, and more. I go through everything that you need to know about affiliate marketing, such as:

  • What affiliate marketing is and how it works
  • Why affiliate marketing is great
  • The exact steps I’ve taken to earn over $300,000 from a single blog post
  • How to pick the right affiliate products to promote
  • How to increase conversions
  • How to build trust and not lose followers
  • Required disclosures that you need to know about
  • The one major tool you need for affiliate marketing
  • Different strategies to use to promote your affiliate products
  • How to use Pinterest to succeed at affiliate marketing (yes, this includes the newest Pinterest affiliate marketing rules!)

And much, much more!

2.b. What is the major benefit of using Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing?

The major benefit of using Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing is that it will help you to increase your online income, while also doing it the correct way. So many bloggers and online influencers are approaching affiliate marketing in the incorrect way and this can really hold bloggers back.

make-money-blogging3. What stage would you say your business is at and how long did it take you to get to this point?

I would say that my business is still growing. It’s at a great point right now, but I would still love to grow it further and reach/help more readers. It took me around 5 years to get to this point, but I still think much more can happen in the future.

4. How does social media & blogging play a role in your business?

Social media and blogging both play a large role in my business. It’s pretty much my whole business because I run a personal finance blog as well as a blogging course. Social media helps me to reach out to readers and engage with them, while my blog allows me to help improve their financial situation.

5. What is your favorite part of owning your own business?

I love everything about owning my own business. I enjoy being my own boss, being in control of my future, the ability to create my own schedule, and more. All of those positives allow me to live the life I want to live, which includes traveling full-time and having one heck of a great life.

6. What advice do you have for someone who is thinking about starting a business?

My top tip is to start your business on the side first, if you are able to. Doing this will allow you to test out your business but still have the stability from the pay and benefits of your full-time job. This is exactly what I did and this allowed me to fully enjoy my business, but not be too stressed if things weren’t going exactly as planned because I still had a backup while I was growing my business.

7. Give us your favorite place to go for business advice books/websites/podcasts.

I have many favorites. I enjoy reading and listening to anything from Melyssa Griffin, Kimra Luna, Amy Porterfield, Mariah Coz, Pat Flynn, among many others.

Reading Michelle’s income reports and personal finance blog gave me the courage to start this blog! I think the best part of taking her course Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing has been the feedback that Michelle gives throughout the course. It’s pretty amazing that Michelle, a very successful busy blogger, is so hands on in the facebook group!

Michelle’s private facebook group that goes along with the course has been invaluable to me as a first time blogger! There are so many big names in blogging in the facebook group. They are providing amazing feedback and helping build a supportive community.

If you are looking for a way to monetize your blog or start a blog as a business, I HIGHLY recommend Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing! Michelle is the queen of affiliate marketing. She has turned her hobby into a profitable business consistently earning over $50,000 per month!

Start Monetizing Your Blog Today!

***Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing is on SALE this week only from Monday, September 26 to Friday, September 30! SAVE $28 with code: 28OFFSALE ***

Plus get these BONUSES!

  • Bonus #1: Access to the private Facebook Mastermind group ($250 value!)
  • Bonus #2: Free Group Coaching Sessions ($100 value!)
  • Bonus #3: Pinterest Strategy – How To Receive Hundreds of Thousands Of Visitors From Pinterest a Month ($46 value!)
  • Bonus #4: 9 Things You Must Do When Something Goes Viral
  • Bonus #5: How To Increase Your Page Views
  • Bonus #6: My Affiliate Products And Services
  • Bonus #7: The Perfect Affiliate Link Checklist

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How to Start a Blog

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