Denice R. Preston
The blogging industry is on the rise, and the financial sector is no exception. Personal finance bloggers usually begin by logging their financial journeys and offering money-saving tips. Some of those travels result in a profitable business.
Since its inception, for the past decade, Plutus Awards has recognized these creators with the annual event and award season that places the spotlight on excellence in financial media. The awards honor independent voices in financial media and the financial sector’s top products and services.
Harlan Landes, founder of The Plutus Awards, says, “It’s been interesting to see how the blogging community and podcasters has evolved. Numerous podcasts and blogs are becoming more professional and easily marketable.” He continues, “People are a lot more interested in creating their own brands and businesses and brands, much more than they were ten years ago.”
Twenty of 2019’s Plutus Awards finalists share what they’ve learned from developing their blogs. Like all small businesses, their path to success can be varied. Many selected are newer, whereas others have reached the decade mark. Some bloggers earn an income through their blogs, while others use their blogs to find customers for different services, like financial planning or writing services.
Everyone has a passion, however, to help others navigate the sometimes tricky world of personal and small business financials. Here’s the way they go about it:
The most important lesson or challenge: “To become a successful business owner you need to have excellent time-management skills. Over the last three years, we have really put a lot of time and effort into being as efficient as possible in everything we do. Things like using the Eisenhower Matrix, utilizing a project management software, setting up systems for everything we do, outsourcing, and tracking our work hours has been instrumental to our success.”
Eric Roberge, founder of Beyond Your Hammock
A blog that aims to help people make use of their money as an instrument to live a life they enjoy.
How his blog earns income: Roberge runs a fee-only financial planner, and his blog is a part of the business helping those who aren’t clients.
The most challenging lesson or challenge: “One major factor in our accomplishment is that I was highly aware of our profit margins over an extended period. Most independent advisors make a profit of about 30%; however, up until the end of last year, we were regularly at the 80% or 90% mark. Being lean has enabled me to be highly flexible and has forced me to think differently. This has also allowed me to create the foundation of my finances, meaning that as we plan to invest more into the company and realize that our profit margin is likely to be slashed (at least in some way) when we hire staff and expand, I am sure that we can be able to afford to take the risk that is essential to take the company to the next stage. It’s more of a calculated risk because we’re not in a precarious situation,, which lets us think more clearly and make less emotional/irrational decisions.
Robert Farrington, founder of The College Investor
A blog that provides financial advice and investing tips for the millennial generation.
The way his website earns income: Affiliate marketing, display advertising, and brand partnerships, as well as the sale of his products
The most challenging lesson or challenge: “For anyone just getting started, I think there are three pillars to success online: 1. Consistency; 2. creating the top products or services and three. Time. When it comes to an online business, such as blog, making the most valuable content is about putting together the highest quality content: audio, written, or video. You must then be consistent in your efforts, which means several times per week, each week. Also, you must keep it going over a lengthy duration of time. This means that you should, at minimum, do it for years. If you can do all three, you stand an excellent chance of succeeding.
Kristen Edens, founder of Midlife Management Midlife
The blog focuses on “family, finances, and entrepreneurship for the Sandwich Generation.”
The way her website earns income: Edens’ primary source of income is her services in the field of content writing, and she claims that the blog “definitely helped me attract business.”
The most challenging lesson or challenge: “My biggest challenge as an entrepreneur is patience. It’s with myself as well as with the process of building a business. There is no quick fix, and every one of those “overnight success stories” they have admired experienced challenges also. It is essential to remember that even when I’m feeling low on myself. In the past, when I attended FinCon18 (a conference for podcasters and financial bloggers), I was amazed by the success of bloggers as well as YouTubers, podcasters, freelancers, and everyone else who, to me, achieved the success I longed for and desired. It’s not easy to succeed. Being an individual entrepreneur (at any stage of life), I was highly outclassed.
“Then, while mentoring a first-timer to FinCon, my mentee admitted to studying me online, and right off the bat said, ‘I’m impressed with all that you have accomplished in your life and want to be as successful as you!’ That changed my view moving forward. That statement helped me understand that what we see is not the reality. Entrepreneurship is a lot of hard work, no matter what level you are at.”
Tori Dunlap, founder of Her First 100K
The way her website earns profits: Speaking and coaching.
Most challenging/essential lesson: “To be a successful entrepreneur, you must serve before selling. I spent two years running my company without selling anything, growing my audience, earning credibility, and establishing relationships. People reacted to my expertise, me, and my business, and when I launched my company the industry, I instantly saw the ability to make sales. I’ve never paid any money on paid advertising,; most of my revenue comes from Instagram. I’ve been focused on providing valuable and attainable direction first before focusing on converting customers.
