Blogger Confessions #44: Nathan from Millionaire Dojo

Happy Saturday and welcome to the 44th episode of the 'Blogger Confessions' interview series on the blog. Today, I'm bringing in Nathan from Millionaire Dojo to talk about blogging and how they've managed to keep everything straight as a personal finance blogger.

Nathan, take it away.

Blogger Confessions with Nathan from Millionaire Dojo

1: In at least 100 words, describe the target audience of your blog.

I’m writing for anyone interested in watching the journey of a 20 something couple pursue a net worth of a million dollars on a median household income. My audience could include anyone interested in money topics. I interview millionaires and also talk a lot about my eBay side hustle.

I’m seeing a growing interest in my eBay content and I’d like to continue feeding that. I want to be a resource for people to learn one of the easiest side hustles to start and then show them what I’m doing with the money I make to eventually become a millionaire.

2: What makes your blog different from other blogs in the PF blogosphere?

I’ve got a martial arts theme to my blog and I actually practice martial arts. On my blog, I share monthly net worth updates, interview financial black belts (millionaires) and am developing myself into an eBay expert. I see blogs who cover at least one of these three topics but I think I might be the only one who does all three.

I also try to put something personal in each article I write and since I’m the only me, that alone makes me different. I think being genuine and telling your story is the best way to stand out in the personal finance blogging world. 99.99% of the subjects you write about have been covered, so people are going to follow you for your story, not generic content.

I’m a lot more transparent with my blog than most financial bloggers and I think readers like knowing they’re reading true stories about my life.

3: What’s the thing that you’ve struggled with the most since starting your blog?

I’d say learning how to effectively market my blog has been the biggest struggle. I’ve tried to be everywhere at once and should have picked one social media platform to master before moving to another.

Now that I’ve been at it for a year, I’ve decided Facebook is where I’m going to focus my efforts. I like Facebook because of the group aspect. I’m able to be more conversational inside my Facebook group and I feel like that’s more helpful for my audience.

Sure, you have to pay for Facebook ads to get your posts in front of people on Facebook, but if you link to your Facebook group on your website, people will trickle in and you can slowly grow a tribe of followers who love hearing what you have to say.

I had a guy that just joined my group and that’s where he let me know he had been reading my eBay content and made an extra $800 that month. If I didn’t start that group, I may have never known he existed! That kind of stuff makes blogging worth it to me.

4: Do you publish your net worth on your blog? Why or why not?

Yeah, I published my net worth in the very first post I wrote and have been doing so every month since. I’m trying to show people that they can become millionaires themselves if they do the things I’m doing and I have to share my net worth so people can see my progress.

I kinda wish I didn’t share my blog with friends and family because I don’t want them to think I’m bragging about how much money I have. A lot of them have been making money on eBay after reading my content though, so there’s that.

5: Have you monetized your blog (ads, affiliate marketing, etc)? Why or why not?

I’ve got one ad on my blog’s sidebar and a few affiliate links sprinkled out on the site. I haven’t really earned any money yet but hope to in the future. Once I hit 25,000 sessions in a month, I’ll sign up for the Mediavine ad network.

I don’t personally like ads all that much, but I’m going to use the money I make from them to run ads on Facebook and get more people to my site. I believe I can help a lot of people with the content I write, so the more people I can get reading, the better.

Companies have been paying for advertising for decades, so I don’t see what’s wrong with blogs paying for advertising.

I’ve also got a work with me page where people can contact me for freelance writing, digital marketing, and eBay consulting services. I haven’t had any clients yet but I feel like freelancing is one of the quickest ways new bloggers can earn money with their websites.

6: Would you rather be loved, hated or controversial? Explain, please!

I would like to be loved, but for every person that loves what I write, there’s probably a person that hates it. I think most bloggers are loved, hated, and controversial due to the differing opinions in society.

I’ve only received positive comments on my blog posts though so the ones who love me are the ones who stand out.

I’m sure I’ll write a controversial post at some point and will have to deal with haters. I’m not sure who’s quote this is but I like it - “To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, and be nothing.”

7: Who would you be horrified to know read your blog?

The only person I can think of is my boss at work.

I’ve shared how much I earn at my job and when I get raises, so he probably wouldn’t like that. I’m not very worried about it though. I have a positive outlook on my skills and ability to earn an income, so I think I’ll be fine if something were to happen with my job.

8: What’s your most favorite, least favorite and most embarrassing post on your blog?

My current favorite is How We Reached a Net Worth of $100k at Age 25. Hitting that first $100k was a nice milestone and I believe it could be inspiring to young people out there just starting on their financial journey.

My least favorite is Vanguard Introduces Two Eco-Friendly ETFs. I wrote that post thinking I was getting out in front of a new movement in the investing world but I don’t think I provided much value with the post. I only invest in index funds, so I wouldn’t advise people to specifically invest in the funds anyways.

My most embarrassing post is probably Are Your Anchors Keeping You Broke? I wrote it a long time ago and it’s definitely not my most valuable piece of content.

9: Explain your writing process

A typical article usually takes me 3-4 hours to complete. I start out by just writing a jumbled mess of thoughts down, and then my brain clicks into writing mode, and I’m able to write more fluidly. I don’t have a set amount of times that I edit, but I read the entire article 3-4 times before publishing.

I don’t bug anyone by making them proofread.

I probably have more errors than I should because of this, but this is my hobby and no one else signed up for it. I try to keep blogging from affecting other areas of my life by not spending too much time on it or making anyone else spend their time helping me.

10: What is your favorite blog in the PF blogosphere (other than your own!)?

Like so many others, Mr. Money Mustache is my favorite. His is the only blog that I’ve read every article of and I didn’t know to retire at age 30 was even a thing before reading his content.

My favorite post of his is Getting Rich: from Zero to Hero in One Blog Post.

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