Microblogger Interviews: Online business, blogging, entrepreneurship and wealth building

Do you know that there are folks out there making five figures a month publishing books directly via Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing? There are and today we talk to Steve Scott, who makes anywhere from $15,000 to $60,000 a month from his publishing empire and all of it is through Amazon’s KDP program. Whether you’re […] The post MBP #38 – How to Dominate Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing with Steve Scott appeared first on Microblogger.

A few weeks ago, Rob Berger, whom I interviewed for podcast episode 35, and Greg Go, whom I interviewed for podcast episode 2, suggested a “reverse interview” where they ask me some questions. Why not? We jump around on topics but we talk about my background, how I got into blogging, how it’s changed over […] The post MBP #37 – Reverse Interview – Jim Wang Answers Questions from Two Blogging Veterans appeared first on Microblogger.

Nellie Akalp is the CEO and Founder of CorpNet, a document filing service company. CorpNet is Nellie’s second document filing service business, the first of which celebrated a liquidity event back in 2005. In this episode, we talk about why Nellie re-entered the same business area, which was now a more mature and competitive market, […] The post MBP #36 – New Business Pitfalls You MUST Avoid, with CorpNet’s Founder Nellie Akalp appeared first on Microblogger.

Rob Berger founded Dough Roller many years ago but has only been podcasting since November 2013. Despite how relatively “new” it is, he’s been prolific… releasing over a hundred episodes (including one each and every day in January). I thought he’d been podcasting for years, based on his episode count, and in terms of lessons […] The post MBP #35 – Lessons Learned from 100+ Podcast Episodes, with Rob Berger appeared first on Microblogger.

When I started Bargaineering in 2005, the words “location independent lifestyle” had not yet been put together to mean what it does today. Lifestyle design and Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Workweek had not yet been published (April 2007). The term digital nomad had no meaning. In 2006, Nora Dunn sold all of her stuff, including […] The post MBP #34 – How a Professional Hobo Works and Travels the World since 2006 appeared first on Microblogger.

Many years ago, internet marketers around the world shouted this “incredible” strategy from the rooftops: “If you could build a site that made $50 a month, all you had to do was make 100 of them and you’d create yourself a nice little income.” All true. But… … rarely does a business just generate cash, […] The post MBP #33: How Tom Drake Built, Bought, and Partnered His Way to a 40+ Blog Network appeared first on Microblogger.

One of the most popular ideas in all of business is known as the Lean Startup mentality. It applies to nearly everything in life, let alone business. While we never actually say the words “lean startup” during our chat, it’s a mentality that pervades everything Jonathan Milligan has done in building multiple courses and several […] The post MBP #32: Jonathan Milligan on How to Launch, Promote & Grow Membership Sites from Scratch appeared first on Microblogger.

Daraius Dubash was working for a big Fortune 500 manufacturing company, traveling the world and accruing airline miles and hotel points, when he left to go to business school. After business school, he began working for another company but he missed all those miles and points for free travel and stays and decided to figure […] The post MBP #31: Learn the Secrets of Million Mile Secrets with Daraius Dubash appeared first on Microblogger.

One of the most important qualities of a successful entrepreneur is the ability to learn quickly and learn a lot. Tim Ferriss has often said that it doesn’t take a lifetime to master something, “based on my experience and research, it is possible to become world-class in almost any skill within one year.” (link) Jaden […] The post MBP #30: How Jaden Hair Built the Steamy Kitchen Empire (then scaled it back!) appeared first on Microblogger.

Does that guy look familiar? Unless you haven’t watched anything on television ever in your life, you’ve seen him. He’s been in a commercial or television show you’ve watched. He’s the dumb guy. The clumsy cop. The dumb white guy who can take a punch, physically or metaphorically (all his words). Don’t believe me? Check […] The post MBP #29: Chip Chinery, Life as a Stand-up Comic, Television and Commercial Actor appeared first on Microblogger.

Say what you will about the value of a Like on Facebook, especially with Facebook controlling how many of your followers get to see your posts, but you can’t deny that more Likes is better. Today’s episode is with Taylor Flanery, the founder of three home management sites that have an incredible reach. So incredible […] The post MBP #28 – How Taylor Flanery Got 125,000 Facebook Fan Page Likes in 2 Months Without Paying a Cent appeared first on Microblogger.

Everyone agrees that differentiation is crucial. If you want to avoid being another face in the crowd, you have to stand out. This means you have to figure out what makes you different and showcase it to the world. Sometimes that means you’ll have to do a little, or a lot, more work. When Bob […] The post MBP #27: How Bob Lotich Married His Faith & His Finances to 55,000+ Subscribers appeared first on Microblogger.

Michael Mindes owns board game publisher Tasty Minstrel Games, publisher of hit titles such as Eminent Domain, Scoville, and Dungeon Roll. You may not have heard of some of their titles, they’re not household names like Monopoly (who actually like Monopoly?), but he’s a known quantity in the board game community. Michael has figured out […] The post MBP #26: How to Raise $962,575+ on Kickstarter with Michael Mindes appeared first on Microblogger.

Location independent living is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days. The basic idea is that when you earn a living online, you can live anywhere. You are location independent. It’s a romantic notion and an obviously fun one, if you like to travel and see new places, because you get to […] The post MBP #25: How an Everyday Nomad Travels the World Armed Only With a Laptop appeared first on Microblogger.

Crystal Stemberger loves to negotiate. And she’s good at it. So good that she negotiates with advertisers on behalf of other bloggers (to the tune of 400+ blogs) and she’s brokered $1,190,560 in sales (as of the end of May 2014). She’s also been doing this for years so you can a little taste of […] The post MBP #24 – How to Sell $1,190,560 in Ads: Ad Negotiation Strategies with Crystal Stemberger appeared first on Microblogger.

Be authentic. That’s a common piece of advice most bloggers hear and read over and over again. I know I say it all the time. But what does it really mean to “be authentic?” To be true to yourself even in the face of adversity? Even when life doesn’t go your way and it seems […] The post MBP #23: Agatha Kulesza on Being All Powerful, Authentic, and Fearless appeared first on Microblogger.

Wise Bread is extremely active in the personal finance blogging community and the cornerstone of that outreach strategy has been Ashley Jacobs. She joined the Wise Bread team in 2011 as a community coordinator and her role has expanded over the years, to include all of Wise Bread’s social media efforts. One of the most […] The post MBP #22: Ashley Jacobs, How to Throw a Successful #Trending Twitter Party appeared first on Microblogger.

Four years ago, Lauren Greutman started iamthatlady.com and has grown it to be a massively popular site through media appearances. In this episode, she gives a great collection of actionable strategies you can use to get more exposure for your blog through media. She got her start after keynoting a seminar and then being invited […] The post MBP #21: How Lauren Greutman Gets on TV All The Time appeared first on Microblogger.

At 35, Todd Tressider sold his share of a hedge fund and decided he’d become a financial coach. He registered a domain, FinancialMentor.com, in 1998 and has, over the last 16 years, built up a very successful practice that includes five published books. What I love about Todd is that he’s always trying something new […] The post MBP #20: How Todd Tresidder Used Great Content to Build a Successful Financial Coaching Business appeared first on Microblogger.

Luke Landes is most well known for building Consumerism Commentary, one of the grandfathers of personal finance blogs, into a business that was acquired for seven figures by Quinstreet in 2011. What isn’t as obvious is that Luke raised the profile of Consumerism Commentary by being an active member of the community. In addition to […] The post MBP #19: The Brilliant Strategy Used to Lift Consumerism Commentary to 7-Figures appeared first on Microblogger.

There are many paths to building a business and today’s chat is with Miranda Marquit, a prolific freelance writer who is very well known in the personal finance blogosphere. She has, in several years, built up an impressive freelance writing career that many would be envious of. Would it surprise you to know that she […] The post MBP #18: How to Build a Prolific Freelance Writing Career, with Miranda Marquit appeared first on Microblogger.

What do you do if you think it would be fun if two hundred of your closest internet friends go together? If you’re Phil Taylor, you throw a conference… despite having never done it before. Then you do it again… and again.

Remember back in the day when people would build websites and blogs just to earn a few dollars a month in Google Adsense? While make money blogs all over the internet talked about building vast blogging empires of 10 sites each earning $50 a month, Chris Guthrie was doing something different. He was building an […] The post MBP #16: Chris Guthrie shares how he made $127,817.68 as an Amazon Associate (and that’s just the icing on the cake) appeared first on Microblogger.

Farnoosh Torabi is the primary breadwinner in her family. Her husband, Tim, is a software engineer but earns less than Farnoosh, which is an increasingly common dynamic. When I first started talking to Farnoosh, I knew I wanted her on the show to talk about this scenario because it’s happening a lot with entrepreneurs. In […] The post MBP #15: When She Makes More w. Farnoosh Torabi appeared first on Microblogger.

What if I told you that you could put into place a system that made it possible for you to leave your blog for several months and it would still be here when you came back? Take a quick peek at The Happy Housewife. Started by Toni Anderson in 2008, the business is now run […] The post MBP #14: Toni Anderson, The Happy Housewife, on How to Build a Rockstar Team to Run Your Blog appeared first on Microblogger.

Jim Rohn once said that “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with” and I believe it. Much of my success, both in business and in life, can be credited to the people around me. It’s a fact I try to remember every single day and one that pushes […] The post MBP #13: John Corcoran on How Relationships Helped Him into the White House (and Beyond) appeared first on Microblogger.

A few years ago, when I was interviewed for the New York Times, a few literary agents emailed me to ask if I’d ever considered writing a book. I passed, knowing that my audience wasn’t large enough to support it, plus I didn’t have the time to write a book on a subject I wasn’t […] The post MBP #12: Erin Chase, $5 Dinner Mom, on selling 150,000+ copies of her books appeared first on Microblogger.

When you have a passion, sometimes it shines through. Matt Jabs’ first blog chronicled his journey in getting debt free. As he was writing that, some of his most popular posts involved him making natural home products, like homemade detergents and soaps, because that’s what he was interested in. As luck would have it, he […] The post MBP #11: How Matt Jabs took 9 posts and created a DIYNatural empire appeared first on Microblogger.

I met Billy last year at FINCON, the personal finance bloggers conference, and we got to talking, as one does at a conference, and I had no idea he built up such a hugely successful business in such a short period of time. The photo in the above might seem over the top (no, he’s […] The post MBP #10: Billy Murphy on building a seven-figure poker training membership site appeared first on Microblogger.

I remember the first time I met Josh. It was at a conference in 2012, FINCON, being held in his hometown of Denver. I forgot how we got to talking but he mentioned he started a site called Bigger Pockets. I’m not a big real estate investor but one of my friends is and my […] The post MBP #9: How Josh Dorkin Attracted 160,000+ to the Bigger Pockets Real Estate Community appeared first on Microblogger.

Jason is one-half of the team behind 100 Days of Real Food, along with his wife and site founder Lisa Leake. Together, they’ve grown 100 Days of Real Food into a real food blog that had over five million page views in January of 2014 and supports both of them full-time (and 7 part time […] The post MBP #8: Jason Leake on how to grow a real food blog to 5 million pageviews (and monetize it!) appeared first on Microblogger.

Paula Pant is a former journalist turned personal finance blogger who runs a freelance writing business and a personal finance blog Afford Anything. Funny story, I met her at FINCON in 2012 but forgot. When I saw her again in 2013, for what I thought was the first time, we hit it off, and I […] The post MBP #7: Paula Pant, How one ex-journo uses humor to write compelling and engaging content appeared first on Microblogger.

You know how sometimes you just look at a site and just instantly fall in love? That was my reaction to Pinch of Yum the first time I saw it. Everything about it is beautiful. I swapped a few emails with Lindsay and Bjork in the past, Lindsay was kind enough to submit a tip […] The post MBP #6: How Lindsay & Bjork Built a 6-Figure Food Blogging Empire appeared first on Microblogger.

Jason Glaspey founded Paleo Plan in 2009, after he discovered it after joining his local Crossfit gym. It was based on a simple idea – produce a weekly meal plan and shopping list so members could eat Paleo, waste less, and buy the right foods easily and quickly. Save time, save money, all for a […] The post MBP #5: How Jason Glaspey Built a Paleo Meal Plan Powerhouse appeared first on Microblogger.

Picture in your mind your average financial planner or money expert, what do you see? Whether it’s a man or a woman, chances are they all look the same – corporate. Professional. That’s what we’ve come to expect from our experts. Even the ones with personality, Jim Cramer comes to mind and that’s mostly an […] The post MBP #4: How J Money, an Anonymous Mohawk, Became a Recognizable Money Blogger appeared first on Microblogger.

What if your future wife to be wanted a beautiful hankerchief on her wedding day and none of the ones you two found would do? If your name is Steve Chou, then you and your future wife would order twenty dozen from a manufacturer in China. And then sell the ones you didn’t use on […] The post MBP #3: Steve Chou explains how a total ecommerce novice launched a six-figure online store appeared first on Microblogger.

Think about two of your friends from high school. Any two will do. Now think about starting a business with them and how that might turn out. Oh, did I mention you all work virtually? That’s exactly what Greg Go, Will Chen, and Lynn Truong did and the results speak for themselves. They are the […] The post MBP #2: How Greg Go at Wisebread Used Collaboration to Reach 2,000,000 Visitors a Month appeared first on Microblogger.

I’ve known JD for many years and he’s a modern rags to riches story. I first met him in person at an event thrown by moneyStrands in San Francisco, a meeting that JD mentions in the chat, and we’ve been friends every since. I could think of no better person to talk to for the […] The post MBP #1: JD Roth on Getting Rich Slowly, How a writer built a blog that transformed his life appeared first on Microblogger.