8 Ways to Overcome Self-Doubt Like A Boss

by vanessa | Oct 10, 2019 | Blog, Entrepreneurs, personal development

8 WAYS TO OVERCOME SELF-DOUBT LIKE A BOSS

These are 8 simple ways you can overcome self-doubt and work on your dreams at the same time.

Anyone who steps out of their comfort zone will ultimately doubt themselves. That is the truth about life, but it doesn’t have to remain like that. The unfortunate thing is most people allow their doubt to cloud their vision of their life. Doubt itself is harmless because we all do it, but once it turns to self-doubt, that is where the problem arises.

Self-doubt can it make harder for you to chase after your dreams. It can make the journey a lot harder and fuel your anxiety to the point where you stop believing in your dreams and vision. Once that happens you will give up because self-doubt has festered in your mind. Most people have no idea how to overcome self-doubt seeing it as something that doesn’t need to be overcome, but that is so untrue.

Think of any of the great artists, musicians, and painters of our time and throughout history. All of them have doubted at one point in time. When Giovanni dei Dolci was building the Sistine Chapel, he doubted himself. Even Michelangelo who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel doubted himself. Even people with the biggest egos doubt themselves sometimes. It is human nature.

J.K Rowling for years doubted the success of Harry Potter. When you look through history, all these famous poets, writers, artists and entrepreneurs doubted themselves. Self-doubt is the mind’s way of protecting ourselves from the unpredictable. There’s no probability equation for success, if that was the case then I am sure many people would have cracked success.

Unfortunately, many of us have to venture into the unknown to figure life itself. To understand what makes us tick and to understand how to be successful. On the journey, self-doubt will come into play. The reason why many people fail is that they allow their self-doubt to stop them from going after their dreams.

And if you don’t learn how to overcome self-doubt it will always push you back. When you want to do a new project, self-doubt will come into effect. It will tell you that you aren’t good enough and stop you from creating an impact. Leaving a legacy or even going after your dreams. It is your choice what you do in the end with what you want in life. It is your decision to choose what you should focus on. But when the cards are laid on the table, isn’t it bed to jump with both feet than to be cautious. Isn’t it better to go all-in and the only way you can do that is to learn how to overcome self-doubt?

Allow yourself to feel

We are told emotions make us weak and we shouldn’t doubt ourselves or our abilities. We have been told since we are kids that we should pretend to not

doubt or be emotional because this reveals our insecurities. Human beings all have insecurities and many of us try to hide them as if that will protect us

from the harsh cruelty of the world.

If only that was the case. For the longest time, I thought I was a terrible writer and then when I was older I tried my best not to think about it. I thought, I

was helping myself, but I was doing more damage than I like to admit. I didn’t learn what I needed. No one is born being great at something and unless you

learn how to be great at it you never will. A golfer who never practices never wins the tournament. A painter who never learns from the greats never achieves

greatness.

A singer who doesn’t learn the techniques of singing will never be anything more than a one-hit-wonder or mediocre. If you don’t allow yourself to feel doubt,

you will never learn what you need to improve and because of that, you will never progress in life. This is by one of the best and simplest ways to overcome

self-doubt, you need to be open to learning the tricks of the trade.

The comparison trap won’t help you

Comparing ourselves is something we are taught unfortunately by society and our family. As a child, I was always being compared to my siblings and my

parents’ friends’ kids. Yeah, it was endless, but many of us understand this because we have gone through it so many times. Our parents do it to inspire us

but it has the opposite effect.

It makes us doubt our worth or value. When we are older we do the same, compare ourselves to the person next to us. The person who got the promotion

or the person who is more confident. It is like pouring gasoline on an open wound. The scar never heals because we refuse to allow us to. I call comparison,

the comparison trap because once you are used to it that’s all you know to do.

If you want to overcome self-doubt then you have to stop comparing ourselves because that is the only way to stop eating at your confidence. When I was

younger, I believed that if I was like everyone else then I wouldn’t feel like I was a weirdo or so different.

Even as a kid, I felt odd because I didn’t act like other kids. Everyone is different, we all have unique perspectives and want different things. We all have

different backgrounds because if we had the same the world as we know it would be boring.

Comparing yourself won’t make you more like someone, it will stab your insecurities until all that is left are your harsh thoughts. I know, it is easier said than

done. But you have to start somewhere. Appreciate that we all have different abilities and because of that we won’t all be a like.

Also Read: Why You Compare Yourself to Other People and How to Stop?

Work through it

Nothing good ever came from ignoring pain. That is while you need to work through your self-doubt. Try to figure out why you feel this way, what happened

in your past to make you look at the world like that. Once you figure out the source, you can understand how to overcome self-doubt. For everyone it is

different and you just need to understand what it is for you.

Yeah, I know this can be painful or even will make you remember things you rather wish you would forget. One thing I have come to understand is that the

successful work through their emotions and that is why they have accomplished a lot. You have to sacrifice discomfort now so that you can be free from self-

doubt. I am not saying you will curb doubt because that is what being human is all about. Doubting ourselves, but self-doubt won’t have a hold on you as it

did before.

You won’t feel as though you are beating your head in and this is one of the ways you can overcome self-doubt without feeling as if you are hitting your head

against the wall.

Your Why will push you

When you have a reason for why you are doing something then no matter what comes in your way you will pull through it. No this is no one slogan fits

all kind of thing or a magical button that will make your wishes comes true. However, your why does help to motivate you. When I heard about this I

thought that it was ridiculous. I was one of those people who believed self-help books were weird and I rolled my eyes at people reading them.

In time, I learned that you can only move forward if you understand that growth will get you to your destination faster. This is one of the ways to overcome

self-doubt and it will help push you past your obstacles. You need to know what your why is. So, if you want that promotion then why do you want it? If you

want to start a Youtube channel or business then why do you want to do it?

This is where most people get lost attaching a monetary value to their why. Money isn’t a big enough reason to go after something. It won’t push you to

where you want to go. Yes, there are people who use money as a motivator, but the vast majority have other reasons why they are doing something.

Also Read: Why Following Your Passions is The Secret Ingredient

Be compassionate

Usually, when we talk about compassion, it is referring to other people, but what about you. The reason why it is hard to overcome self-doubt is because of

how hard we are on ourselves. It is almost as we think that if we are harder on ourselves then we will get more done. But it actually does more harm than

good in the end.

It makes life far harder. You need to be compassionate to yourself because only then can take time to figure out what matters. You need a self-care

package that you can use as a way to lift yourself up whenever you are feeling low. You can even use it when self-doubt is playing tricks on your mind. When

you do something for the first time it is never easy.

Stepping out of your comfort zone is never easy. In fact, it is one of the hardest things to do because there’s so much doubt that comes in your way. Often,

you will wonder if you are making a fool of yourself or if anyone will understand where you are coming from. This is why you need to be compassionate to

yourself. Before you can do anything great, one of the most important lessons you will ever learn is that you matter and what you are doing matters.

Stick with your decision and move forward

Do you remember how it felt to drive for the very first time? To sit behind the wheel and hold the steering wheel, while your instructor stared at you. The fear inside you was building up to the point where your face was hot. Your eyes are moist, your throat tight and your stomach flip-flopping. One wrong move then you have failed.

But even when you passed and got your license, the fear didn’t go away. For months or even years you had to battle with the trepidation and the hesitance. On the road, that hesitance can be life-threatening. Even if it isn’t on the road it can affect you from the time you make the decision and after. Because whatever decision you make, you will still be reeling from it. You will still have to ask yourself if what you did was the right thing.

It will still affect you because you can’t run away from the after-effects of a decision. You need to stick with your decision Whatever you choose to do. If you decide to step out of your comfort zone then move forward. Don’t look back. If you decide not to then stick with it. Whatever you decide you need to be comfortable about it.

The reason why self-doubt often messes up with people’s lives is the hesitancy and regret. To overcome self-doubt you need to be comfortable with your reasoning and decision making skills as hard as that is. And if you made a mistake. Okay. Move forward. This is all about moving forward and not looking back at all the mistakes you made.

We all have made mistakes. It is what makes us human and I know that is corny, but it is true. Mistakes play a large role in our lives and it is supposed to teach us lessons. More importantly, we make mistakes so that we can sympathize with people. Whatever you decide move forward in your life and choose not to look back.

Talk about it

To overcome self-doubt you need to talk about what you are going through. You need to talk to someone about it. Even if it is something as simple as telling

someone that you doubt yourself. As I said before, doubt is a normal reaction to stepping out of your comfort zone. Often, we think that we are alone and

there’s no one out there who can understand what we are going through.

That is a normal reaction, but it is further from the truth. Everyone has doubts, that is why sometimes people get cold feet on their wedding day or why new

graduates wonder if they will make it in life whether at university or in the workforce. It is why parents want to hold their kids’ hands harder because of that

fear of the unknown and the doubt that filters in their minds. They have questions that won’t get answered until their children are older and have their own

families.

Doubt is a part of us and the best way to deal with self-doubt is to talk to someone about it. When you realize that everyone feels the same way at a certain

point in their lives, it will open your eyes. You will realize that doubt can only harm you if truly believe in what it says about you.

Find a source of inspiration

Have you ever watched the movie Rudy, it is an old sports movie. Even though I have never been an athlete, I always enjoyed watching a sports movie. Most

of them are incredibly inspiring and I used to watch them get my dose of inspiration. Rudy tells the story of a young man with Dyslexia who wants to play

football at the University of Notre Dame and decides to go for it despite not having the money to do so. He also doesn’t have a scholarship and he’s tinier

than what a football player should be.

What I love about Rudy is it tells the story of the underdog and I have always felt like an underdog. We all relate to things differently and find different

avenues for inspiration. Whatever it is you use that to get going because when you find your source of inspiration you will keep pushing yourself. You can

have more than one source of inspiration, the point here is that it belongs to you and no one else.

For some people, it is a great song, one that makes you feel as if nothing is impossible. Maybe it is a really good book or a motivational podcast. Whatever it

is you can use that to push yourself out of the bed. There have been people who were in the same footsteps that you were. People who climbed mountains,

who ran impossible miles, beat the odds and I know it sounds like a montage of motivational movies.

I want you to realize nothing is impossible and when you watch something that inspires you, it will make you believe that. Whatever feeds your mind can

either build yourself up or tear you down.

Find out what works best for you and use that to push yourself out of your comfort zone.

What is your main takeaway from this blog post? Have you struggled with self-doubt in the past? If so, why and how did you deal with it?

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

26 Highest Paid Bloggers in 2019 (Crazy Rich Bloggers)

by vanessa | Sep 25, 2019 | Entrepreneurs, motivation

top 25 highest-paid bloggers in 2019 (Crazy Rich Bloggers)

These highest-paid bloggers will inspire you to start a blog because most of them started from zero.

In 2018, Crazy Rich Asians took over the world. People all over the world flocked to cinemas to watch a movie that was adapted from a best-selling novel.

Most of us look at the wealthy as celebrities or CEO in companies making decisions that will affect the world. They jump into expensive cars, live in exotic

locations and for many of us that kind of wealth is unattainable.

The thing that we forget is that being wealthy is more than just having money. It is a lifestyle, a way of life because the most successful people have similar

traits. Most of them want to create an impact, make a difference and help people achieve their dreams. I am not talking about CEO’s or celebrities. Not saying

these kind of people want to help people, but in recent years a new group of people have emerged.

They have been made rich by the internet. Yes, these new rich kids hire out private jets, but what makes it interesting is most of them go out of their way to

make the world better. Their history is marked with poverty, struggle and working tirelessly to get their dreams to come true. Now, they are known as the

new celebrities.

What makes them even more interesting is the majority of them make more money than CEO’s. I know I am losing you, but I read something interesting. The

median salary for a CEO is about $250, 000 + and yes, there are bloggers making more than this. As unbelievable as it is it is true.

When I was a kid like most kids, I wanted to be my own boss and I was told the only way to do that is be a CEO. Let’s be real, twenty years ago being a CEO

was one of those hard to get positions and it is still today. So, maybe you will never be a CEO, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make CEO money or even

more.

There are a lot of bloggers out there who make $10,000 per month and there are some who make $20,000 per month. In a year, these bloggers are making

CEO money. I wrote this blog post as a way to inspire you to sour to greater heights so that you can realize you can make your dreams come true. What it

takes is a little consistency and putting the effort, but anything is possible.

Not every blogger was chosen

A lot of bloggers make serious money, but you wouldn’t know unless you have done some sleuthing. Most bloggers don’t share how much they earn and

for good reason to. Why would they share their income reports? They probably have a lot of good reasons why they don’t do this, but there are a lot that

share their income.

Most would think that it would be for bragging rights. As great as that is, you don’t really go far with bragging rights and bloggers do this as an inspirational

guide. For years, there has been speculation that bloggers don’t make a lot of money. Many of us believe that or we doubt that bloggers even make money

at all.

So, there are a lot of bloggers out there who make serious money, but you will never know. There are twenty-six bloggers, these are some of the rich kids on

the internet block. The new wave of celebrities that are taking the internet by storm. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the highest paid bloggers, if

there’s a blogger I left that you believe needs to be on this list let me know and I will add them. A lot of these highest paid bloggers have made the rounds for

many years. They have appeared on major publications such as Forbes and Huffington.

How do these bloggers make money

When you first start out blogging, it is hard for you to understand how bloggers make money. It is almost as if bloggers are the new version of the door to

door salespeople. Who all seem to sell something. But usually there’s a gasp followed by a hundred question marks. Do bloggers sell anything? Unlike, door-

to-door salespeople, bloggers want to solve problems.

And nowadays people are desperate to solve their problems. If you have a problem, there’s a blogger out there who can solve it. Well, the most successful

bloggers solve problems. Newbie bloggers fail to gain any traction because they are thinking of how much money they can make instead of how they can

help someone solve a problem. These highest paid bloggers are doing something right and we will explore who these bloggers are and how they are making

money online.

What I have come to understand in my research is that many highest paid bloggers have different income streams and majority of their money comes their

own products.

Here’s a breakdown on how highest paid bloggers make money:

Affiliate marketing – this is where most new bloggers start out because it is a lot easier than selling a digital course. Affiliate marketing is when you send

your readers to someone else’s product. You can big bucks here because you don’t necessarily have to advertise the product, you explain what it is an how it

can help solve your problems. It is the vendor’s job to then go and sell the product. If the reader buys the product using your link then you can make a

percentage of the sale. It can be anything from 10% to 70% of the sale. So, yes, you can make a lot of money doing this. One of the most profitable

commissions you can make is from software companies.

Advertising – place Ads on your blog.

Sponsored posts – companies pay you to post something specific on your blog in relation to their product or brand

Digital products – you can make a lot of money off selling your own digital products. In fact, this is what has helped many people earn hundreds of

thousands of dollars a month. A digital product can be anything from software to online courses. Though the most profitable are online courses, the easiest

thing to create is ebooks.

Selling physical products – once you have a little bit of experience, you can start selling physical products. This can range from t-shirts to supplements,

journals and anything in-between. You need to understand dropshipping and how you can sell physical products. What a lot of bloggers are doing is selling

hard copy books on their websites and offering free shipping depending on where you are based.

Printables – this has become incredibly popular in the last few years. Printables are like digital products, but the difference is that you can easily print them.

So, these can be calendars, journal entries, workbooks, and the list goes on. The great thing about printables is that it is easy to create them and you can earn

a considerable amount of money from it. Most printables cost around $7 to $50. This is a rough estimate, but it is easier to sell printables to people so there

are a lot of people who buy them.

Also Read: How to Start a Blog in 10 Minutes with

1. Horkey Hand Book by Gina Horkey ($20,492 per month)

Niche: Virtual Assistant

Gina is the founder of Horkey HandBook, she’s a millennial mother who teaches people how to become virtual assistants and make money from it. Her

the background is interesting because it includes making a living as a writer, being an online marketing consultant and a decade of experience in the

financial services industry.

However, the last time Gina published her income reports was in 2016, so for all, we know she could be making more money now. She does publish her

student income reports and student success stories. Gina has a number of awesome courses on her website, she also offers a VA membership to anyone

who wants to scale their business and start making money online.

What makes her different: Gina provides testimonials or case studies of her successful students who completed her courses. This gives her credibility and

also shows that she knows what she’s talking about.

Takeaway:

If you can get case studies or testimonials that would be a great way to build credibility

2. Club Thrifty by Greg and Holly Johnson ($21,566 per month)

Niche: Budget Living and Travel

Greg and Holly Johnson are a couple in their late thirties who teach people how to save money in every aspect of life. They teach people how to save money

while traveling on Club Thrifty.

They traveled the world on a normal income and they are dedicated to showing people how they can do that as well. They make most of their money

through affiliate marketing as they advertise the best places to stay in countries. They also give free guides on saving more money and how to make money

through investing.

What makes them different: Greg and Holly Johnson are known as the highest-paid bloggers in 2019 because their life story is inspirational. They talk

about how they traveled the world while working a minimum wage job. This here makes them more relatable. People love those who can they relate to

or who understand where they are coming from.

Takeaway:

Share your story with people to make you more relatable. For example, Greg and Holly talk about budget travel. A lot of people are interested in knowing

how to travel on a budget.

3. Art of Manliness by Brett and Kate McKay ($33,333 per month, $400,000 per year)

Niche: Men’s lifestyle

Art of Manliness was founded in 2008 by Brett and Kate McKay and it has grown into one of the largest men’s interest magazine in recent years. A lot of

people would say that this is more of a publication than an actual blog. Though there are a lot of blogs that tend to be in the middle and I’d say that is

what Art of Manliness is and it doesn’t have a huge team of contributors like most publications.

Brett actually started the blog as something fun on the side, this was when he was studying law while attending the University of Tulsa College of Law. When

the blog took off that is when he brought his wife on. Brett and his wife making money from selling their courses, digital products and through affiliate

marketing.

What makes them different: They know how to talk to their readers, even their website describes the kind of reader they are looking more.

Takeaway:

When you know how to talk to your audience, you engage with them and they are likely to buy from you because they trust you. the lifestyle niche

is incredibly big and if you do it the right way, it is incredibly profitable.

4. Yaro Starak ($40,000 + per month)

Niche: Entrepreneurship

When I first started blogging in 2016, I discovered Yaro Starak and at the time, he had started making a lot of money from his blog. Around, $10,00 + per

month. Fast forward to 2019 and he’s making more than $40, 000 per month. If we were to guess how much he’s making a year, I’d say around

$500, 000 per year.

He teaches entrepreneurs how to succeed online and build their businesses. Most of his blog posts are about how to start a business and included all

the neccessary things you need to know. There’s a reason why he’s one of the highest paid bloggers, he’s articles have a lot of information and he

provides quality information for free.

What makes him different: His approach is like a good friend who wants to make sure you succeed. The very first blog he created was about a card game

called Magic the Gathering. This is how he rose to success. Then he started making $1000 per month. This is when he started a new blog and wrote about his

success.

Takeaway

Yaro’s blog is focused on him, his success and how to use that as a template for your success. His picture is on every blog post and page.

5. Problogger by Darren Rowse ($40,000 per month)

Niche: Blogging

Google Darren Rowse and you are guaranteed to find a number of blog posts on blogging and related topics. Darren knows what he’s talking about, all you

have to do is read his articles or visit his website. His blog is an authority site and many famous bloggers quote him or interview on how to blog like a pro.

Pro blogger is one of the most profitable blogs out there on how to blog like a professional.

He makes most of his money through affiliate marketing and ads, but he also has a popular course on how to build a profitable blog in 31 days.

What makes him different: Darren screams of professional. Going to his site you can tell he knows what he’s talking about.

Takeaway:

What your site looks like matters, it is here that you can either build or break trust. It is important what message you are giving out to people who go to your

site.

6. Just a Girl and her Blog by Abby ($41,700 per month)

Niche: lifestyle

Abby started Just a Girl and her blog way back in 2013. It was that simpler time and she started her blog on a whim. Now, she’s one of the highest-paid

bloggers in the world. At the time, all Abby wanted was a creative outlet and chose blogging as a way to do it. She didn’t think that anyone would read her

blog, but six years later, it has become a family business.

On her blog, she writes blog posts about how to decorate, practical guide to organizing and productivity. She also has ebooks where she talks about these

topics in more detail.

What makes her different: Abby talks a lot about her life story, she is open to expressing all the ups and downs she has. She also talks about how she never

thought she’d raise boys because she’s a girlie girl. However, sometimes life doesn’t happen the way you want. Her decorating and blogging tips are easy to

follow. Her being a mom of young boys also makes it relatable for people of young children.

Takeaway:

When it comes to blogging, people are attracted to your content as well as your personality. Talking about your personal life makes you far more relatable.

7. Show me the Yummy by Trevor and Jennifer Debth ($46,000 + per month)

Niche: Recipe blog

Yes, it is possible to make $552,000 by just sharing recipes. Of course, it is more complicated than that, but this married couple are some of the highest-paid

bloggers for a reason. What most people don’t understand is that when you offer to solve a problem, you are helping people cope with life better. Show Me

The Yummy is one of the best recipe blogs out there. There are hundreds of people who struggle when it comes to cooking or even coming up with ideas on

what to cook.

This is where Trevor and Jennifer Depth come in by sharing ideas on recipes. So, if you are unsure that a recipe or food blog can be profitable, this couple

knows what they are doing. Follow their example and you will figure out how to make money from a recipe or food blog.

They make most of their money from advertising, freelancing and sponsored posts. They also make money from affiliate marketing and from their own

courses or videos

What makes them different: they understand how to remain relevant and use video to engage with people on their Facebook page. So, if you were thinking

that Facebook pages are just for vanity points and nothing else then you are wrong. You can use your Facebook page to create your 1000 fans. There’s a

saying online that if you can attract at least 1000 fans to you then those people will buy whatever you sell.

Takeaway

Videos are the future of video marketing, every one and their cat are doing. So, why not jump on the bandwagon while it isn’t crowded.

8. Ryrob by Ryan Robbinson ($50,000 per month)

Niche: personal finance

Ryan Robbinson of ryrob.com teaches people how to make money blogging, how to start a side-hustle business and discusses making money online in

general. I have been following on him for a while, he hardly ventures out of these three topics and that is what makes him an authority figure. From the get

go, he explains that he isn’t a guru or an expert.

His honesty is refreshing and has made him more relatable. He never pretends to be what he isn’t and because of that people follow him, pay for his courses

because they know that they are getting value for money. Ryan is different from most of the highest-paid bloggers in this list because he makes most of his

money from affiliate marketing and a few of it comes from his course sales.

What makes him different: the internet is littered with people who claim to experts. Ryan is different, he’s like a friend advising you on how to get a date.

He’sapproachable and that makes him relatable. His friendly nature oozes out of his writing and it is easy to follow and understand. He doesn’t use jargon

that requires you to have a dictionary next to you.

Takeaway:

You don’t need to be a jack of all trades for people to follow you. You can focus on a few topics and that will make you far more relatable if you do that. Find

your strengths and use that to build a brand.

9. Pinch of Yum Lindsay ($60,000 per month)

Niche: Recipe blog

Lindsay of Pinch of Yummy is one of the highest-paid food bloggers and bloggers in general. Her story is both moving and inspirational. When she started,

she was a fourth-grade teacher who was working on her blog as a casual hobby at night and during the weekends. Now, it has grown into a full-time business

that reaches millions of readers with a fun recipe every month. She makes most of her money through affiliate marketing and sponsored posts.

What makes her different: Her website is stunning and the photos she takes for her recipe can take your breath away.

Takeaway

Great photos have the ability to sell your website and using colors that explain your brand helps you stand out.

10. My Wife Quit Her Job by Steve and Jennifer Chou ($80,000 per month)

Niche: Making Money online

Steve and Jennifer run the popular website My Wife Quit Her Job. They show people how to make money online with an eCommerce store and online.

What makes them different: their story is relatable. They talk about how they wanted kids, but Jennifer wanted to be a stay at home mother so she

could take care of them. So, Jennifer quit her job and they started an eCommerce store and a blog. Many people would resonate with their story

because it speaks to them on a deeper level.

Takeaway:

You don’t have to have a breaking point story or even an underdog story to sell your brand. What you need is to be relatable and use that to get people

to engage with you. Your story ultimately sells your brand.

11. Busy Budgeter by Rosemarie Groner ($86,000 per month)

Niche: Budget blog

Rosemarie blogs about dinner, money, budgets and everything related to being a mother on Busy Budgeter. She’s one of the highest paid budget bloggers

out there. Rosemarie pulls in slightly over one million dollars a year.

She makes most of her money through affiliate marketing, sponsored content and ads. However, she makes most of her money through her own products.

What makes her different: Rosemarie knows her audience well, she understands what it most mothers want to know about and how to use that to entice

her readers. A lot of people are terrified to niche down, but there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, this is how you build an authority, by understanding what

your target audience is and what they require of you.

Takeaway

You must know your audience well. A lot of people struggle because they don’t know their audience and what they are looking for.

12. Smart Blogger by Jon Morrow ($100,000 per month)

Niche: Blogging

I have known about Jon for years, he constantly inspires because his story is one of tragedy, but despite that, he has created an impact. Jon teaches

bloggers how to be successful online. Smart Blogger is known to be one of the best high quality blogging blogs out.

He makes most of his money through affiliate marketing, his digital products, and courses that help bloggers to succeed online.

What makes him different: years ago, Jon got involved in a serious accident and since then he is wheelchair-bound. He can’t feel his face or type properly,

but despite that, he is a millionaire who constantly proves that anything is possible.

Takeaway:

Limitations should never stop you from achieving greatness. In fact, you can use your limitations to push you to new heights. Whatever your limitations may

be, don’t allow this to stop you from going after your dreams.

13. Createandgo and Avocadu by Alex Nerney and Lauren McManus ($100,000 per month)

Niche: Blogging and Health and fitness

Alex and Lauren inspire me, their blogging journey pushes me and I always look to them as examples of what can be done. The difference here compared

to the others on this list is because Alex and Lauren are only in their late twenties.

They have achieved so much success with blogging, that you can’t help inspire to be like that. If I am sounding like a fangirl, I probably am. They are my

favorite bloggers and by reading their blog post, I have learned so much about what it takes to become the highest-paid blogger in 2019.

They make money from their courses and affiliate marketing.

What makes them different: Their first blog was Avocadu then when they became successful at that. Then they started Createandgo. The underlying story

is they didn’t start a blog about blogging. And I love how honest they are about what it takes to be profitable at blogging.

Takeaway

Success doesn’t come off the bat, it takes time and often you don’t need to know everything about your topic. After, some time you will see results.

14. Nerd Fitness by Steve Kamb ($100,000 per month)

Niche: Fitness

Steve Kamb started Nerd Fitness way back in 2009, Steve teaches people how to lose weight and become fit. They receive over 1 million subscribers each

month. Nerd Fitness makes money from their online coaching programs, affiliate marketing, courses, and training.

What makes him different: Steve Kamb makes sure he delivers his promise. On his course page, he has the before and after pictures to show what

someone looks like before they take his course and after they complete it.

Takeaway:

Make sure you deliver on the promises you offer. When people see other people getting results, this makes you an authority on the topic. When you

deliver your results this makes people comfortable in going to you.

15. Making Sense of Cents by Michelle Schroeder-Gardner ($100,000 per month)

highest paid bloggers

Niche: Personal Finance

Michelle left her job as a financial analyst in 2013 and then she started her blog Making Sense of Cents. Michelle is known as one of the highest-paid

bloggers and she rose to fame because of her finance blog. Her story is incredibly inspirational and she teaches people how to make money on their blog

and make better financial decisions. She makes most of her money from affiliate marketing, in second comes sponsored posts and a small percentage of her

income comes from selling her courses.

What makes her different: Michelle isn’t a marketer, but she truly cares in helping her audience. She’s also a great blogger and that is why people are

attracted to her. Because of her awesome content.

Takeaway:

Provide value and this will set you a part from everyone else.

16. A Beautiful Mess by Elisa Larson and Emma Chapman ($125,000 per month)

Niche: Lifestyle

Imagine starting your blog with your sibling, this is what these two sisters did, They started a blog together. Elisa and Emma talk about how to decorate,

fashion and share recipes on A Beautiful Mess. They mostly make money from affiliate marketing and digital products.

What makes them different: I love their warm autumn colors, there’s something welcoming about their website and if I am being honest, their site reminds

me of childhood.

Takeaway:

What makes you different, makes you stand out. For me, it was that they are sisters who have a business together talking about things that we struggle with

on a day-to-day basis. Majority of their blog posts are extremely relatable. They discuss topics like what you should eat for breakfast to how to ripen

bananas. What I have come to understand is what makes these two some of the highest-paid bloggers in 2019 is that they are not ashamed to be relatable.

17. Car Advice by Alborz Fallah ($125,000 per month)

Niche: Car advice

Can you imagine making $125,000 all from giving people advice on cars? I am not that much of a car person, in regards to searching on how to fix cars.

But, there are hundreds of people out there, who want to know how to make sure their cars run properly. This is what Alborz does, he gives advice on how

to take care of cars. He mostly makes money from advertising and sponsored posts.

What makes him different: Years ago, I never would have thought the car advice niche was big, but it is in fact enormous. Alborz turned his personal blog

into a business model. He now has over 30 employees and is one of the biggest car advice websites in Australia. He is also one of the highest-paid card

advice bloggers in Australia.

Takeaway:

Most people are terrified to follow their passions and Alborz is a perfect example of where your passions can take you. You never know the places you can

go to if you don’t follow your passions.

18. Good Financial Cents by Jeff Rose ($135,000 per month)

highest paid bloggers

Niche: Financial advice

Jeff runs Good Financial Cents which is a million dollar blog, where he teaches people how to make the right financial decisions and how to be smarter with

your money. Jeff makes money through his financial planning practice, he also makes money through insurance and affiliate marketing. He also makes his

money selling digital products and courses. A small pecentage of his money comes from sponsored posts and advertising.

What makes him different: When I was university, I had professors who spoke about the subject matter, but did preach what they taught. Jeff has his own

practice, so you always know that the information he gives is not going to be outdated and this cements his authority on the topic as well. This is what makes

him of the highest paid financial bloggers out there. He has already cemented his knowledge by using his business as an example of his success.

Takeaway:

It is possible to use your business as a way to build authority and use that to help your blog succeed.

19. It’s a Lovely Life by Heather and Pete Reese ($175,000 per month)

Niche: Family and traveling

Heather and Pete in recent years have been taking the blogging world by storm because of their success. They run It’s a Lovely life and has grown a

big community in recent years. They make money through affiliate marketing and selling courses.

What makes him different: What makes them different is they combine lifestyle with educating their readers on a variety of topics. This why Heather and

Pete Reese is among the highest-paid bloggers in 2019. They understand how to provide value, entertain and engage their readers.

Takeaway:

It is possible to combine a variety of topics and educate your readers. This has made their blog highly profitable.

20. Entrepreneur on Fire by John Lee Dumas ($195,000 per month)

Niche: Entrepreneurship

John Lee Dumas and his wife runs Entrepreneur on Fire, he teaches his readers how to start an online business and make money from it. The podcast is

highly profitable and attracts millions of people. They have done 1,900 interviews with successful entrepreneurs. He makes his money from affiliate

marketing, his podcasts, selling his courses and journals on Amazon.

What makes him different: John publishes a new podcast every day, come rain, sunshine or even thunder. That is beyond impressive, but he’s dedicated to

making sure he provides value on a consistent basis.

Takeaway:

If you show up every day on a consistent basis then your customers will do the same. This is the reason why John Lee Dumas has amassed a huge following

and is one of the highest-paid bloggers in 2019. He shows up.

21. Smart Passive Income by Pat Flynn ($200,000 per month)

highest paid bloggers

Niche: Passive income

Pat Flynn is one of the OG bloggers out there, he started Smart Passive Income way back in 2008, before blogging became what it is now. He shows how to

make passive income the smart way online. His strategies are easy to implement and compared to most bloggers out there, he’s incredibly authentic.

Pat Flynn makes money through affiliate marketing, selling his digital products and courses and his podcasts.

What makes him different: Pat Flynne is an authentic guy and that makes him relatable. People want to buy products or courses from authentic people.

That is why Pat is one of the highest-paid bloggers. He isn’t a marketing salesman who just wants to sell the latest thing, he wants to help you build a

business.

Takeaway:

People don’t want to buy from a poster of a salesperson, they want someone authentic. Being yourself is how you build trust and create a long-lasting

brand.

22. The Blonde Salad by Chiara Ferragani ($200,000 per month)

Niche: Fashion Brand

Calling Chiara Ferragani one of the highest-paid bloggers in an understatement, she took her personal blog and built a brand around it. She started her

a personal blog in 2009 and now it is a million-dollar fashion brand. The Blonde Salad attracts a million visitors to her website every month. Chiara makes

money through sponsored contents, ads, she also sells clothes and accessories on her blog.

What makes her different: She is the epitome of a girl boss, she truly proves that you can do anything with your blog. The fact she turned her personal

blog into a fashion brand us beyond inspirational.

Takeaway:

You can literally do anything with your blog. All it takes is the imagination and willpower to keep pushing yourself.

24. Sarah Titus ($200,000 per month)

Niche: Parenting

Sarah Titus is one of the highest parenting bloggers out there. Sarah Titus teaches mothers how to make money online and everything related to being a

mother. She makes money from affiliate marketing and she also sells printables.

What makes her different: Sarah doesn’t shy away from sharing her story and talking about God. Most bloggers are terrified of sharing their story,

experiences and talking about God. This is what makes Sarah different, she allows people to get to know the real her and therefore, that is how they

connect to Sarah.

Takeaway:

Never shy away from sharing your life story, your readers will love you for it.

24. Melyssa Griffin ($238,000 per month)

Highest Paid Bloggers

Niche: Entrepreneurship

Melyssa Griffen is one of the highest-paid entrepreneurship blogger and for a good reason. Melyssa knows how to talk to her audience, she uses a friendly

light tone to engage with her readers and that makes it feel far more friendly. Even her website screams of friendliness. I mean makes sense, who doesn’t

love yellow. Melyssa is the queen of hustling and she is truly an inspiration. She makes money by selling other people’s high priced courses, selling her own

courses and through her podcast.

What makes her different: She launches courses to her email list frequently. Melyssa friendly tone makes it feel as if you know and because of this, her

audience loves her. The more your audience gets to know you, the more they are willing to buy from you.

Takeaway:

Connect with your audience and keep hustling so that you can help them more.

25. Survival Life by Ryan Deiss ($1,000,000 per month)

Niche: Survival

Ryan Deiss started Survival Life to show people how to survive in the wilderness or in general, you will learn how to do that. The survival niche is

actually really big right now as odd as that sounds. When I think of the survival niche, my mind wanders off to weird places, but I guess it comes with

the territory. Ryan makes money mostly through affiliate marketing and selling his courses.

What makes him different: He provides value and mostly talks about other people. He’s also honest and as I said before, honesty is incredibly important as

you are building a brand.

Takeaway:

You can make money from your passions. As long as you are solving a problem, it is possible to make money from anything.

26. Tim Sykes ($1,000,000 per month)

Niche: Penny Stock Trader

Tim Sykes is a penny stock trader turned blogger. He teaches people how to make money from trading stocks online. He makes most of his money selling

DVD courses showing people how to do penny stock trading and trading online.

What makes him different: Tim is active on social media, he has 1.2 million followers on social media and he uses that to sell his business.

Takeaway:

He sells his lifestyle and that is what makes people interested in what he’s doing. There are a lot of bloggers out there who use social media to sell their

business,

What do you think of these highest-paid bloggers and what is your main takeaway from the blog post? Please comment below.

KEEP PUSHING

VANESSA

How to Win The Day With Your Morning Routine

by vanessa | Sep 11, 2019 | Entrepreneurs, personal development, Success

HOW TO WIN THE DAY WITH YOUR MORNING ROUTINE.

How you start the day matters because it determines whether you will have a successful day or you won’t.

It has taken me years to understand how important it is to have a morning routine that helps win the day. My mornings used to be the worst, I’d wake up at 10 am, be too groggy to do anything constructive and I’d watch television, as a high school, this was normal for me. Then I went to college and it was rough, my bad routine made it hard to do anything. I was always late for class and when I’d go to class, I used to sleep.

It is embarrassing to admit that I was that kind of student. It took me years to realize that we take mornings for granted and because of that most of us don’t excel at our mornings. This is normal, but the most pivotal hours in your day are the early mornings. By the time mid-day comes or the afternoon, it is hard to be alert or to concentrate on certain things.

When I was twenty-one I realized that if I wanted to win the day, I had to understand how to create a morning routine that will help me win the day. The last couple of years I have discovered the secrets behind a successful morning routine so that you can win the day. Most of us underestimate the importance of routine so we don’t win the day. As a result of this, we don’t make as many strides as we would like and we don’t progress past a certain point.

Here’s what you need to realize we all have choices and it starts early in the morning. Every bad decision we make doesn’t push us forward instead it pushes us back. The more we keep going back, the harder it is to become successful in our efforts. The more cumbersome it is to excel in any area and that is the problem.

When you make the decision to not listen to your alarm, you are training yourself to not follow-through. And that is why many people struggle with self-discipline. How you end the day starts with how you begin it. I have listed all the ways you can win the day, this is a snippet of what a successful morning routine looks like.

This is so powerful that when you start implementing it your life will change.

Hour of power

I learned about this from the great Tony Robbins who advocates how important it is to spend time thinking about your day. An hour is a lot so you don’t have to do it for that long. This strategy will help you win the day because it consists of you thinking about what you want to do. When you are clear with your goals, it is easier to achieve.

How you go about doing this depends on how much time you have to give and what you want to achieve in the day. When I was doing this, I did it to the tee. But with time I shortened it to 30 minutes. The hour of power consists of visualization, writing down your goals, reflection, exercise, meditation, and gratitude. Why should you try out the hour of power because it is Tony Robbins. He is the leading expert on how to have a successful morning routine to win the day.

What I like about the hour of power is that it will help you build your life. When you are starting from scratch it is difficult to know which direction you should take and that is where the hour of power comes in. It will help you change the way you think and give you a start to your day that is guaranteed to make you happier.

If you want more information on how to do it and what it entails, you can find it here.

Protein breakfast

Carbs will make you feel tired and it is the worst thing to have in the morning. Not saying you can’t have carbs, but make sure your breakfast is for champions. Have you ever wondered why athletes drink egg yolks. When I was I kid, I used to think they were crazy, but now I have come to realize that is not the case.

Despite, it being disgusting egg yolks actually fuel athletes. I am not saying go and eat egg yolks, that is crazy and unless you are training for a marathon and are used to eating raw things, I don’t recommend it. Though, you can still have a protein breakfast. There are dozens of recipes out there with eggs in it that will give you energy so you can win the day. The key here is to find out which one works for you.

Another secret to getting energy is by making yourself a banana chocolate smoothie. When I started drinking this early in the morning, everything changed for me. I used to be so tired in the morning and I’d drag my feet, but when I added a banana chocolate smoothie to my morning routine everything changed. I no longer was dragging my feet through the day, but I was now doing more. Learning more and I wasn’t as tired as I used to be.

When I don’t drink my smoothie, I do feel extremely tired and I struggle to do any work. If you follow any successful person, you will realize that many start their day with a breakfast that helps give them energy. If you want to start the day right, I’d recommend changing your breakfast. Figuring out what will give you the best chance to win the day.

Your go-to mantras

What do you do when things get difficult? What do you do when you are stuck on a problem and there seems like there’s nothing you can do about it. Everything you do, you have to be careful because it can affect you in more ways than you can imagine.

It is so easy to lose sight of things, for you to get lost among the rumble and have no clue on what next to do. No one is born being great at solving problems and it does take time to figure everything out. For you to understand what you should do next. I get that, but that is why it is great to have a go to mantra so that when life gives you lemons you can make something out of it.

Throughout your day there will be times when life gets a hold of you and won’t let you go. Your emotions will run rampant and your thoughts will go wide. Negative thoughts will plant in your mind and it will be difficult to get rid of them. So write down your list of mantras and look at them when you are down or when you lose sight of your dreams.

Here are a few examples of what it could look like

I can do this
If I have problem X, I need to take time to think about how I can fix it
I made this mistake, how can I make sure that I don’t make it again
What should I do when I am not getting the results that I want
Reflect on my successes through the month
What did I do right?
This is not the end of the world

These are a few examples, right down your go-to mantras or sayings that you will tell yourself. Why is this important? Because if you want to win the day you can’t think negatively. You can’t dwell on your emotions, you need to focus on your strengths. That is what makes the successful who they are, they try to not let doubt affect how they run the day.

Practice Stoicism

Marcus Aurelius is known for being a stoic philosopher and he used this philosophy to live his life. You might be wondering what is stoic philosophy. It is an

ancient Greek Philosophy that was developed by Zeno Citium basically it teaches people self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming destructive

thinking.

Why is this philosophy important to win your day? This is where Stoicism comes into play and why Marcus Aurelius is known for his display of this philosophy.

Many of us spend the day angry over things we can’t control. We are so used to using our emotions to control our days that by the end of the day, we are so tired

because we were consumed with things that had nothing to do with us.

It takes time to implement this, but you will have a more productive morning if you start practicing this philosophy. How do emotions ruin our day, because

throughout the day they will be things that test us from the driver who almost caused an accident to the annoying traffic jam, you co-workers who are talking

about you or your boss that refuses to give you a raise.

If you can’t change anything about it, stop worrying about it and refuse to let it control your day. Most successful people use stoicism to control their morning.

Why should this be part of your routine because, in the beginning, this won’t come naturally?

Whenever something happens that you can’t control, you need to take a few seconds to ask yourself if it is worth worrying about it. If it isn’t, take a deep breath

and concentrate on your goals and think about how you want to achieve them.

Gratitude list

Most of us think about think about anything else because you ask yourself what did I do wrong. This is a normal response to life not happening the way you want. We all go through it, but when you focus on what you don’t have, you will never be grateful for what you have. It is important to be grateful. There’s an awesome exercise you can do to make life easier for you and also to help you win the day. I learned this from Peter Voogd who often talks about how important it is to have a routine that will help you win the day.

Though this exercise is not solely a gratitude list, it does help you reflect on what you should make life happen for you. Life doesn’t happen to you even though we have been made to believe that, it happens because of you. Your decisions impact how your day will start and end. Every little thing you do matters, so this might seem stupid, but in the long run, it is beneficial. If you want to know more about what habits you should have to make your life better, here’s a post about it.

Three things you are grateful
Three things you are committed to making happen?
What are you willing to give up?

Wake up early

I didn’t start with this because I wanted to show you how important it is to start the day and have a morning routine that will help you win the day. However, you won’t be able to win the day if you don’t wake early. How early you want to wake up depends on you and what your goals are? It depends on where you want to go and what you want to do.

Some people wake up at 5 am and that works for them, some wake up at 4 and there are few who wake up at 3 am. Waking up early is not only mentally beneficial for you, but it is also physically beneficial. The reason why most of us are always tired is that we sleep late and wake up late. When you sleep late, you sleep longer than you normally would have if you went to bed earlier.

It does matter what time you wake up and what you sleep. And I can’t stress enough how important it is, but I will list a few benefits of how important it is to wake up early. Hopefully, I can convince you how beneficial it is.

Get things done in a shorter period of time
Can concentrate and prepare for the day
Won’t have to rush to get to work therefore making you stressed
This will take the pressure off
Can think about how the goals you want to achieve throughout the day
You will feel lighter and happier
Reduces grogginess
Reduces brain fog

Review your morning

When it comes to your morning routine, it will constantly change and that is a good thing because what works for someone else might not work for you. But you won’t know what is working and what isn’t if you don’t review your mornings or your days.

This is by far one of the most important things to do so that you can win the day. Reflect on what you achieved, what mistakes you made or what you didn’t do. Keep reviewing your life so that you can understand how to improve it.

Reviewing doesn’t have to be bland as you might think it is. Imagine your life as a movie on a big screen and you are watching yourself on screen. Think about every action you did in the morning as if you are watching a character. If you were a movie critic what would you say about that character?

This is more than just about your morning routine, but also about your actions. What decisions are helping you and which ones are messing you up? Maybe, you spend too much time gossiping with your co-worker, does this help you or does it do more harm. Maybe, you yelled at a friend because they said something you didn’t like.

It is normal to become emotional, but you need to ask yourself if it is worth arguing with your friends, manager or co-worker. Does that help you achieve your goals? Write down your trigger words. These can be anything that makes you emotional and next to it, you can write down how to let yourself not get emotional.

When we are emotional, we make rash decisions that can affect us long after the day has gone. To win the day, you have to understand how to control your emotions.

When you start implementing this, your life will change and you won’t believe how so much will change. It will be much easier for you to win the day. Here’s a post on why self-reflecting on your day is important.

What is your main takeaway from this and does your morning routine look like? Comment below

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

Make Money Blogging For Beginners (Free 2019 Guide)

by vanessa | Aug 28, 2019 | Blog, Entrepreneurs, Side-Hustles

Make Money Blogging For Beginners in 2o19 (Free Guide)

This free guide will show you all the ways you can make money from blogging online.

Is it possible to make money from blogging in 2019?

Hasn’t YouTube replaced it as the new medium for making money?

Do people even read blogs anymore?

These questions circulate the web every so often while people are searching for ways to make money. Blogging is one of the oldest ways to make money online. When it started, it was a way for people to communicate. Remember one of Hilary Duff’s movie, “The Perfect Man,” when that movie was released blogging became incredibly popular among the teen angst crowd. It became a new thing before then it was mostly used by marketers and then blogging grew in popularity.

In the early 2010’s, that is when more and more people were hopping onto the fandom and making money from blogging. If you were to take a look at

a lot of popular blogs many of them started in 2010 and 2011. Not all, but there are a lot who started then and there’s this perception that blogging is dead and you can’t make money from it or that you can’t do that as a beginner blogger.

Blogging isn’t dead, in fact, it is still one of the best ways to make money online. It easier to setup then a YouTube channel especially if you are camera shy and a lot of bloggers eventually start YouTube channels.

Just because you start with one medium doesn’t mean you can’t venture out and try new things. If you are on the fence about blogging, keep reading about the earning potential. I will list a few reasons why you should start a blog. So, here we go. Here’s an article about overcoming the fear of blogging.

Why start a blog in 2019

When it comes to the online space, there are a lot of people who are dubious. The internet in the past couple of years has gotten a bad rep. There are far

too many scams that whenever someone reads something about making money online, an eye roll usually follows and they log off. If Instagram influencers are making money online then why would it be impossible for people to make money online?

Another thing a lot of people believe is that blogging is too hard and you need to be a genius when it comes to writing. Any skill can be learned and mastered, even writing. I was an awful writer growing up and I would never have imagined years later, I would be a blogger. When you practice on a consistent basis you will master any skill.

Now, on to the interesting bit, why should you start a blog in 2019. I want to list down a few of the benefits of blogging, keep reading and I will get on to the best and easiest ways to make money from your blog.

1. Financial Freedom

2. Passive income (make money while you sleep)

3. Time freedom (have more time to spare with your family)

4. Awesome opportunities (you can start a YouTube channel, become a motivational speaker, start a clothing line, etc)

5. Write a book

6. Create an impact

7. Change the world

8. Support a cause

How to start a profitable blog in 2019

If you want to make money from blogging then there are a few things you need in order for you to do that. You can’t set up any ole site and think that it will make you a million dollars. Blogging is like any other business, it requires dedication and effort so I want to let you know the few things you need in order to make money from your blog. Don’t worry it isn’t a long list, but it is crucial for you to setup your blog the right way.

Needs to be self-hosted

A self-hosted blog is a blog that you setup using a hosting service. When it comes to blogging most of us are familiar with setting up blogging with WordPress. This is the free version and it won’t make you any money. It is also extremely hard to customize. So when you are setting up your blog, you need to set it up with a provider.

I recommend using Bluehost.

The link to the how to start a blog is below, this is a step by step guide on how to set up your blog the right way.

Start A Blog (Step-By-Step Guide) 2019

Good Design

Another thing that you need is your website needs to have good design. When you are starting out, you can use a free theme, but I do recommend going

for something with a bit of a kick. I use Divi which is one of the best themes and the great thing is you can customize it the way you want, you reduce

a lot of the costs because it comes packed with a lot of features so you won’t need a developer.

If you choose to go with something else then get a theme that works well for you, that will help you with your brand. You need to know this if you plan on making money blogging in 2019. Don’t skip this step. You can check Divi theme.

Target audience

If you want to make money blogging you need to know your target audience well, it helps if you are part of the demographic or if you understand the target

audience well. When I started my blog, I knew my target audience would primarily be people from the ages of 25 to 38 because I wanted to focus on millennials and since I am a millennial it made the most sense.

I understood that most millennials want to do their own thing, but are scared of doing it. That they want financial freedom and to have enough money to travel the world. I listed all the things that millennials would be interested in, that way I could target them and help them achieve their goals. So, when you are identifying a target audience, you create an avatar.

Why is this important? So, you know what topics you should write about and what products you should promote.

Business plan

Many of us thought we would never have to do a business plan once we left school, the thing is a business plan is important. It can actually be a lot of fun.

It doesn’t have to be too long or technical.

List down all the important things that you need to focus on, such as target audience, demographic, geographic location, marketing plan and etc. This way you have an idea of what to do next after you set-up your blog. I have come to realize when it comes to business that marketing and strategy is key. What is the main driving force you will use for traffic.

An example is there are a lot of blogs out there that use guest posts as a way to drive traffic to their blogs, I use interviews. This is one of the ways I get traffic to my site. Another way is Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram. That is part of my business plan and I wouldn’t have known what would work with my blog if I didn’t write a business plan. This will make it super easy for you to make money blogging in 2019.

Make Money Blogging in 2019

We are finally here, this is the part where I show you all the ways you can make money blogging. If you want to get access to more ways, keep reading, I have

included an awesome infographic for you to show you how to make money blogging. There are so many ways you can money blogging, it is unbelievable, but it does take time for you to understand what works and what doesn’t.

Even though you can make money blogging, it still requires patience and effort to get everything going. A car with a well-oiled machine runs better than one without, so it is important you build your blog the right way so that you can make money blogging.

Here are the top ten ways you can make money blogging, keep reading to get the extra twenty and those are definitely game-changers. Okay, so here we go.

1. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is by far one of the easiest ways to make money because it doesn’t require that you have a huge list or a lot of traffic. Most affiliate

programs just require that you have a blog with a great design and that’s literally it. Not much to it, you can start with a lot of awesome programs out there.

The great thing is affiliate marketing is free to start, I wanted to just put that out there. Remember when it comes to making money online you won’t have to pay for any program to make money. You sign up and if you get accepted, boom, you make money.

Why do I love affiliate marketing because you sell it once and make passive income from it? You promote something and then you make money even while snoozing on the couch and that’s why there are a lot of people who love affiliate marketing

If you do it the right way, you can make a lot of money from affiliate marketing. An unbelievable amount of money. Here’s a great article on how much money you can make.

What are some awesome affiliate programs?

When I was first starting out, I had no idea where to look for when it came to affiliate programs so I have taken out the work for you. Here are some ideas of

affiliate programs. Look at your niche and use that as a guide to find what affiliate programs you should be a part of. It makes life a whole lot easier if you look through the list of affiliate programs.

73+ HIGH PAYING AFFILIATE PROGRAMS FOR BUSINESS BLOGGERS

100 BEST AFFILIATE PROGRAMS FOR FASHION AND BEAUTY BLOGGERS

LIST OF TRAVEL AFFILIATE PROGRAMS FOR TRAVEL BLOGGERS

59+ ART AFFILIATE PROGRAMS FOR CRAFTY AND CREATIVE BLOGGERS

67+ FOOD AFFILIATE PROGRAMS FOR BLOGGERS AND CONTENT CREATORS

Bonus: When choosing the right product, go with something that you use or that you have done research on. Don’t just promote a product you know nothing about, that can cause a lot of headache for you and your client down the road.

2. Coaching

When I first started out this is the first thing I tried out because it is easier to start with. You don’t need to be great at marketing or have an awesome product. All you need is yourself and your expertise. You can make a lot of money from coaching. There are a lot of people who use coaching as a way to make a name for themselves so you are hitting two birds with one rock.

You can also be seen as a mentor or a guide, it is pretty much the same thing except for a few things. When it comes to mentorship it is usually more personal and informal, it is also long-term. You get a mentor if you want to make six-figures a year. Most people start with coaches and make their way up to mentors. Mentorship tends to be more costly than coaching that is done on a short-term basis.

So, here’s an article about how you can start a six-figure coaching business.

3. Freelancing

This one is awesome pretty easy to step up and that is what most people do when they are figuring out what they should sell or offer when it comes to making money with blogging.

This is one the best ways you can make money blogging in 2019 and there’s a lot of potential for growth. You start off small and as you grow, you can add many services or products to your list.

Freelancing though is not for everyone, it requires a lot of work and you will be getting more active income than passive. Basically, if you don’t work then you don’t make money. In the beginning, you will be your own boss and you will have to do your own work. There are a lot of people who start this way and then they hire people as they grow, but who knows how long that can take.

If this interests you slightly, here’s an article on how to make money from freelancing.

4. Services

This is another easy way for you to make money blogging and you don’t require technical skills. When I first started out, I used this as a way to make money blogging, the great thing about this is you can scale it in time.

All you do is offer a service, for example, I offer a Done-For-You Blog service where people purchase hosting through my link and I set up a blog for them for free. I incorporate affiliate marketing with this and that’s also how I make money. If you don’t want to do that, you can still charge your clients and maybe you give them a discounted price if they purchase through your link.

Blog done for you services is incredibly popular because not a lot of people to do it. If you are wondering what services you can offer to clients, I will list them down.

A lot of people offer services as a way of making money and the great thing is you can grow as much as you want. There are companies that are worth millions of dollars and when they started all they did was offer a service that people loved.

Designing logos like on 99 Designs or Dribble

Editing podcasts using your audio engineering skills

Offering social media marketing services

Offering to create FB Ads

Designing Book Covers

Writing blog copy or content for brands

Building websites

Any skill you have can be used to offer it as a service

Where to find clients?

I listed below some of the places you could start with to find awesome clients so that you don’t have to scourge the internet to find it.

60 Places You Can (Quickly) Get Great Remote Jobs

72 Best Freelance Jobs Websites to Get Great Clients (Fast)

Get Free Infographic

5. Sponsored Posts

The last five are the most difficult because it requires you to have an email list or be a little experienced when it comes to blogging, but it is still a lot easier than the others you can pick up. If you want to make money blogging, you should consider this one as it does have a lot of earning potential as long as you have a couple of email subscribers and thousands of followers on your social media accounts.

If you are in the beauty and fashion niche, sponsored posts are a great way to create an income stream that works for you. This is one of the most popular ways to make money from blogging for beginners for beauty and fashion bloggers. Though, you can still make a considerable amount of money from this even if you aren’t in that niche.

What is sponsored content?

This is content that has been paid for by a big brand think of Apple sponsoring a tech company to promote their latest product or Gucci sponsoring content to talk about their latest product line. You agree on the price and it can be anything from a couple of hundred to even a thousand. Depending on how much money you are already making and how much traffic comes to your site.

That is the problem, if you don’t have a lot of visitors it will be hard for any brand to take you seriously. My suggestion is to keep this in the back burner and plan this is as a way to make extra content further down the line.

6. Display Ads

I have a hate and love relationship with display ads. Far too many bloggers promote it, but what they never tell you is you need an influx of traffic so in the thousands and not hundreds. Another thing is if you aren’t careful it does make your website look like it came from the 2000s because of all the ads appearing on your website.

Do people make money from it?

Of course, they do, but those are established bloggers who have been in the game for a while and who have a lot of people on their mailing list. So, I would be careful if you choose to go with display ads.

Another thing is you don’t have enough control of how much money you make or where you put the ads on your site. My recommendation is to go with Sponsored posts. The earning potential is more and you have more control. If you still want to know more about display ads, you can find it here.

Get Free Infographic

7. Sell An EBook

I am a little biased, but this is one of the best ways to make money blogging. Once you build an email list, you can sell them your eBook. You decide though where you want it to be either on Amazon or on your website. Both do perfectly and each has its advantages and disadvantages. All you have to do is choose wisely.

The great thing about selling an eBook is it instantly makes you an authority on a subject and that makes you more credible than someone who doesn’t have a blog. I would put this down as something you can do later on. EBooks are also one of the best ways to earn passive income. It is a great way to make money blogging in 2019 and more people are using this as an income stream.

There are a lot of ways an eBook can change your life and you can even use it to build your business. Here are a couple of ways you can use an eBook to grow and scale your business.

A publisher can approach you and decide they want to publish your book to a wider audience

It can be turned into an audiobook

You can use a book as a way to start a podcast

You can start a YouTube channel using your book

Become a public speaker

Become a consultant

It can be turned into a TV or reality show

As you can see there’s a lot of earning potential when it comes to selling an eBook, if you want to make money from your eBook then you need to be decent at marketing.

Bonus: If you want to make money blogging, selling an eBook is a great way to do that. However, you can earn more money from it if you have products in the back-end. This is how you do it, people who buy your book sign up to your mailing list and then you can sell products to them and make more money from it.

8. Sell digitals products

Depending on your goals you can sell different types of digital products and use this as a way to make passive income. That’s what makes selling digital products awesome, you can make a lot of money through it.

There are a lot of websites who sell several types of digital products, so focus on the ones that you prefer to sell. Courses and eBooks usually fall under the bracket of digital products, but I decided to separate them because the earning potential is larger than most digital products. It is also a lot easier to set it up than an eBook or a course. They are also easier to create, so here is a list of all the digital products you can create. There are a few I didn’t include because those are going into my infographic.

Templates

Journal

Customizable graphics

PSD Files (this a file type Photoshop creates)

Swipe Files (used to recreate something specific such as email swipe files)

Media kit

Audiobook

Music Clips

Photos that can be used commercially

Workbooks

Marketing material

Video stock

You can create numerous digital products and because they are usually cheap to produce and affordable, you can make a considerable amount of money from it.

Bonus: Make sure that your digital products have the same branding as everything else you sell. Same colors, fonts and etc so that there’s consistency for everything.

This is how you stand out compared to everyone else, if your branding and messaging align.

9. Sell online courses

This one will turn you into a millionaire. No kidding, making courses is incredibly profitable, but you need to have at least 1000 subscribers to make money from it.

Without that, it will be hard pitching your idea to people and one thing you don’t want to do is go to groups and start screaming about your products. That will get you banned and you will get a bad reputation.

Reputation is everything when it comes to business. It is the foundation you really need to be successful and here’s the thing most people don’t know how to do courses and that is why they struggle when it comes to selling them. There’s a lot of factors that come into creating a successful course. I want to emphasize that this is one of the best ways to make money blogging in 2019.

Once you have the systems in place then you can make a lot of money. It is also one of the top income generators when it comes to make money blogging. There are a lot of people who don’t like the idea of being teachers. Same. What I have come to understand is educating is not only rewarding, it helps you create an impact.

Education is in high-demand, look at the videos online. Social Triggers wrote an awesome article on how you can create a course. If you still aren’t convinced with how much money you can make from selling courses, here’s one article on how much money you can make.

10. Sell physical products

In the last few years, dropshipping has become incredibly popular. If you always wondered how people were shipping physical products from an online store

the answer is dropshipping. This basically is when a seller uses a middleman to produce and ship the product and all they are doing is facilitate the sale.

When it comes to dropshipping you need to have marketing expertise and understand Facebook Ads because it is more complicated than the others. This is however, a profitable way to make money blogging in 2019. And there are a lot of successful people who are also dropshippers. That golden pen that you once saw probably is dropshipped.

The reason why people do dropshipping instead of shipping the products themselves is it becomes too costly to do that. Fulfillment is incredibly expensive and it is time consuming and most successful people want to afford having to take care of all the stress that comes with it. Enter dropshipping, one of the easiest and most cost effective ways of selling physical products.

If you want to learn more about dropshipping, this article will show you all the ins and outs of the dropshipping business.

What is your main takeaway from this and what make money blogging method are you interested in learning about? Comment below and I will reply as soon as

possible.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

12 Productivity Myths You Need To Stop Believing

by vanessa | Aug 21, 2019 | Entrepreneurs, motivation

12 productivity myths you need to stop believing.

These are many productivity myths that you have believed in and it also has stopped from truly becoming productive.

I sat on a chair twiddling my fingers, trying my best to concentrate. The room was beaming with noise coming from all four corners, kids screaming at the top of their lungs. A cloud of questions hovered in my mind, my seventh-grade teacher walked, she glared at us.

She said with a perfectly calm voice. “Why don’t you something constructive?”

That changed the way I looked at life, but I still had no idea what being constructive meant or what it meant to be productive.

I spent years reading and watching videos on productivity. “You must wake up early,” one entrepreneur said.

So, I started waking up early, my mother would tell me that I needed to learn about multitasking, but everyone said the opposite. “Multitasking doesn’t work, you need to focus on one thing at a time,” so I learned to stop multitasking.

There were so many productivity hacks out there, but everyone said something different. There were people saying work harder than you ever have ever worked. So, I learned how to do that until when I reached the age of twenty-five and I was burnt out.

“Is this what success is supposed to be like, I mean I wake up at 3 am, but I still am not doing much with my time,” I said to one of my friends. “I am always tired, I’m pretty sure that’s not what success is supposed to look like.”

“Have you tried doing something different, changing things around,” the answer was so simple, I grunted as if I hadn’t thought of that, then I realized she had a point.

I was doing everything wrong, listening to millions of Tom, Nancy’s and Dicks who had a say on how to be more productive, but it wasn’t working for me. I spent the next couple of years figuring out that there are a lot of productivity hacks out there that are myths.

I know, it almost seems like you have spent the last couple of years wasting away your life. Here’s the truth, productivity comes in many shapes and forms. You have to decide which ones haven’t worked for you and if you truly want to be productive here are a few myths that I hate to burst.

It will help you in the long run, don’t believe, you would be shocked at how myths you have believed. Here are 12 productivity myths that you need to stop believing.

Productivity Myth 1# Multitasking doesn’t work

Put down your pitchforks, I know in a recent post I said something completely different, but this is where the trick lies. Multitasking depends on who you are,

I have ADHD so multitasking for me is like breathing, I can’t stop it even though I want to, but I have learned how to use it in small doses. So, you might be one of those people who is good at multitasking. Our mothers do it well, they can manage to cook four different things and not burn anything. That’s hard, by all accounts.

But many of us do multitasking and we don’t realize it, we do it while listening to music and working at the same time or listening to an audiobook while cooking.

So, this one depends on who you are as a person. If you are the type of person who can’t concentrate on doing two things at the same time then this isn’t for you. So, the advice that multitasking doesn’t work well is dependent on who you are as a person. Sometimes, not every piece of advice that we get works in our best interest.

This is where it comes in handy to know yourself, your ins and outs. If you don’t, it easy to follow every advice even if it isn’t meant for you. So, this is the first

productivity myth I had to burst, for all those people that thought your mother’s advice was wrong.

This was is complicated because it is both a myth and true. Multitasking to a certain degree doesn’t work, but as I said before, it helps if you are doing things that don’t require too much of your attention span. Listening to a song while you are writing works. Listening to a podcast while you are writing doesn’t work.

Just be careful when you use it. I wrote an awesome post on productivity hacks that can help you manage your time better.

Productivity Myth #2: The early bird catches the worm

Yes and no. It all depends on you again. Most people are just not early birds and that is okay. Just because you don’t wake up when the owls are up doesn’t

mean you won’t be successful. It all is about whether you are a lark or a night owl, some people can work until 2 am and still be running on fumes while

others can’t.

For the longest time, we have believed that if we don’t wake up early we won’t be successful. It all depends on when you are the most alert, I have been a

morning person since I was eight. I would wake up before everyone else did, eventually, with time I started waking up later on and it took me time to figure

this out and once I did, everything clicked for me. So, the early bird does catch the worm, but you can still catch the worm despite waking up later than usual.

Know your body and how it works so that you can be more productive. That is how you will learn how to be more productive. This is productivity myth is one of those that many of us believe and with time it does become how undoing.

Productivity Myth #3: Work Harder

Just because you work harder than everyone else doesn’t mean you are more productive. This is one of those myths we have been going around saying for years.

“Work hard so that you get the life you want,” teachers would say.

“What does that look like?” A student would ask.

“Well, you must always be buried in a book. work until you see results even if that means leaving work later than most people so that you get more done.”

And people wonder why most of us are so sleep deprived and our bodies are failing us. It isn’t because of Tom and Jerry on Cartoon Network teaching us how to play.

No, it is the advice that we have gotten since we were kids. Just because you work more than others doesn’t mean you are productive. The exact opposite, you could be buried in a book and yet, not understand what you are reading. You could leave work later than most people and still be behind everyone else.

Why? Even our bodies can’t keep with the tiresome demands we require of it. Coffee isn’t a miracle drug that will push us past exertion. Everything has its limits and this is why you need to learn how to work smarter and not harder. Find ways to make life easier for you so that you can accomplish more. Here’s a simple analogy, I hate washing dishes as most people do, but I realized I spent far longer washing plates if I allowed them to pile up so I started washing plates every time I used them, I cut my time in half.

Find ways to work smarter and you will realize that you will be far more productive if you do that. It sounds simple, but it isn’t. With everything it will take time to understand this. The work harder productivity myth causes a lot of grief, it pushes us to the extent of our body breaking down. Keep telling yourself you need to work smarter and not harder.

Productivity Myth #4: I don’t have time for a system or routine

This is an excuse that many of us use, but the truth is you need a routine and this is coming from someone who has used the whole I will wing it speech.

Starting a business has made me realize two things; one a system is the difference between success and failure, and two if you want life to be easier you

need a system.

So, I dragged my feet and started working on a system that will help me progress quicker than the tortoise in the race but will also make me smarter than the hare.

There are countless people without systems and that is why they aren’t successful. So, yes, developing a system will take time, but once it is up and running you won’t have to worry about it.

This productivity myth needs a serious makeover because so many of us believe it. If you can make time to watch your favorite television show be it Game of Thrones or the Big Bang Theory, you have time to create a system that works for you. The reason you use that excuse is that you don’t want to it and I understand, doing something that’s different is terrifying, but one step forward and you will get there. Keep remembering that and you will be fine.

Having not enough time is an excuse we use often, even when it comes to productivity. Many of us believe in this productivity myth.

Productivity Myth #5: Creativity has no business being part of my

system

So, this productivity myth is for creative types. I understand how hard it is to wade through all the business talk when you are a creative person. I regard myself as a

creative type and for the longest time, I believed I couldn’t be a business person. It is ironic how I realize that was a creativity myth. That is coming soon to a blog post near you, but for now, let us burst this myth.

Creative work is still working, whether we want to accept that or we don’t. We still need to deal with procrastination, shoddy work or even drifting off between edits.

The most successful creative types have a system so why do most of us creative types think that we can deliver a Van Gogh without having a system. Even Van Gogh himself struggled to deliver his work in time because he had no system. So, unless you want to be successful when you are deceased, I think its best that you work with a system. I went a little dark there, but I just wanted to show you how important it is to have a system.

Those who don’t can spend years working on their projects and get noticed much later on in life. If you ever wondered why it takes some creative types years to

deliver their best work, that is because they have no system in place. Have a system for everything you do in life. This will be the difference between you being

successful and unsuccessful.

Productivity Myth #6: I will wait for my muse

This is one of those productivity myths that has become so common people actually believe that if they wait for a muse, that is when they will be more productive.

You will be waiting for years because it is true Success, waits for no man. And that is why waiting for inspiration or a muse is not only a waste of time, it is a waste

of your potential.

It is incredibly easy to believe this myth that many of us have been saying this for years. But this isn’t true at all, no matter how many times you want a muse, you

have to learn to work despite being unmotivated. You have to learn to work even when your brain is foggy and you need to understand that when you push yourself that’s when you can be more productive.

A lot of these things are mind over matter, it sounds simple, but it does take time to use this to your advantage. Keep in mind that when you push yourself, this will

train yourself how to respond to moments when you don’t feel like it. This always helps you when dealing with procrastination. So, for all those that aren’t sure how

to get rid of the terrible P. This is one way to curb its effect, do work even when you don’t want to.

Productivity Myth #7: I work best under-pressure

Delayed action has become the default setting for most of us. I did this for the longest time. I definitely understand this because I did for years. I always would tell

people that I worked the best under pressure and as a result, I was always tired, overworked and stressed. I put my health through the grinder that most times I

would see bright hues of colors dancing in front of me.

Then I realized I was messing up myself up, here I was thinking that being under-pressure upped my game, but I still was so tired. I hate planning, but I have come

to understand and appreciate how important it is. My teacher had this saying, she’d say “fail to prepare then you must prepare to fail.”

It was brutal hearing that as a sixteen-year-old awkward teen, but now as an adult I understand how important it is to plan. Without planning, you make more

mistakes so unless you want to get sick to the point where you give yourself a stroke then you need to stop working under-pressure.

And yes even people under the age of forty can get a stroke, life is more stressful and after a while of putting your body in the ringer, it gives in. So, don’t be like

everyone else and work under-pressure. Plan so that you can actually succeed.

Productivity Myth #8: Organizing is extremely boring

When it comes to organizing there are two camps of people; those that adore it and those that equate it to boredom. So, I was in the latter camp,

and I understand how it might appear boring, but it definitely makes life a little less chaotic and a never ending nightmare compared to everything else.

Being organized is a lifesaver, those who are organized, have their ducks or socks in a roll.

They don’t have to worry about missing deadlines, interviews or anything else. No, things work out for them and there we are rolling our eyes, but the truth is they

are having a laugh our expense. Why? Because organized people get to the top a lot quicker than those that are not, they always find a way to make time for things

and we could learn a thing or two.

To truly be productive you need to be organized. You have to be that kid who walked around with markers and colored sticky notes. You know the kid, who

always highlighted their notes and used a different pen for important points. The kid whose desk always looked like it was on sale at IKEA. You know, that kid.

Once you do that, you will look at life a lot better than most and yeah, you will actually become extremely productive. So ignore this productivity myth that

organizing is boring and start to embrace it,

Productivity Myth #9: No routine is my routine

I was a big fan of Mean Girls as a kid and my favorite line even up today is, “Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen!”

As much as we think that having no routine is a routine, it isn’t. Having a routine can change your life, it certainly did and this is coming from a person who

wanted so badly to make the no routine happen.

If you want to be productive then you need to have a routine or system in place. It is highly unlikely that without a system you are more productive with one.

The kids in school who had a system for studying always came up with higher scores than those who didn’t. From an early age, we have been trained to

accept that systems are actually a good thing, but the reason why we don’t follow through with it because we terrified to fail.

Doing anything that you aren’t used to is terrifying. I would say that just do it. If you fail at least you can say with a brave face. you tried it out.

Productivity Myth #10: You need a to-do list

Gasp, yeah you have read it right here, you don’t need a to-d0 list to be super productive. Nope, you don’t need a to-do list. The problem with to-do lists is

many of us go overboard. For a day we can list ten to twenty things we want to accomplish. There’s no amount of time in the day that will make it possible

for you to achieve twenty things unless you have eight arms or have a secret.

Most of us normal human beings have limits and that is the problem with to-do lists. I am not saying that they aren’t great, but it is the way we are doing them. It just doesn’t work out, the way we hope it will. So, what should you do instead of to-do lists? I would say have goals for the day. At least about five and focus on those goals. Every time, you make progress, this is a milestone you can use towards your monthly or yearly goals.

Productivity Myth #11: A productivity app will help me

No, the new productivity app that you found on the Apple store or Playstore won’t make you a productivity guru. Yeah, even if they promise

you that it will solve your productivity woes it won’t. Any app is simply a guide for you, that’s all, it won’t change your life or give you the will to.

So, you need to start working on your productivity before you invest your time with a productivity app. This is just a helpful guide to get you started.

Nothing can beat a good old-fashioned system, having a system in place is hard, but just take your time and you will figure it out.

Productivity Myth #12: Everything needs to be perfect

This is the messiest productivity myth out there because people don’t realize this until it is too late. There’s no such thing as perfectionism,

not even for Disney characters. Working on a project tirelessly until it reaches your standards of perfection drains you of energy that you

can use on other things.

When we spend way too much time trying to perfect things, that stops us from actually being productive and achieving our goals in time. If you are dying to know more productivity myths you need to stop believing, here you go.

What is your main takeaway from this and what productivity myths did you believe in and why did you? Comment below and I will reply as soon as possible.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

What I Learned About Success From Vanessa Lau

by vanessa | Aug 14, 2019 | Blog, Entrepreneurs, Success

What I learned about success from vanessa lau.

Vanessa is a business coach that helps millennials quit their 9-5 so that they can chase after their dreams.

I was lying on the couch one day, staring at the ceiling and I had a pit in my stomach. I was struggling to grow my Instagram account and make waves with my blog.

For months, I had been waking up at ridiculous times, all so that I could pursue this thing called starting a business for myself. I had a headache that just wouldn’t go away and I was feeling defeatist which was my normal mood.

Most times I was on cloud nine, but today I was tired of endlessly pursuing my dreams and hearing crickets. I just wanted to give up. What is an unemployed girl supposed to do.

I had given up years ago on pursuing a 9-5 job because when I sent out fillers all I heard was the clicking of my keyboard and then nothing. Most days were spent with me watching television and I was starting to become a couch potato. Flash forward years into the future and I was actually doing it. One day, I decided to talk to my niece about was I going through.

“Maybe, I should change my brand. I mean, it could be that I am just not getting fillers because no one is interested. It is not like I can sell products to myself.”

She looked at me and with the wisdom of most nineteen years old, she said. “Yeah, maybe.”

No one was going to give me the answers I needed so I decided to search for myself. After that is what Google is there for so I have been told countless times and I dove headfirst into the murky waters to see what I could find.

This is what most gurus talk about when it comes to success, that there’s no such thing as overnight success stories. We hear all about it because who doesn’t want to be motivated and they are motivating. I couldn’t find anything on Google to ease my heart so I went to Youtube and something popped up in my feed. What drew me to the video was that we shared the same first name then the second thing I looked at what was the title. It was about how to grow your Instagram account.

I watched the video, it was the first time I heard about Vanessa Lau, I have embarrassed to even say that especially when I found out that she was a millennial business coach. I had believed for the longest time I knew all the top dogs in the millennial niche. I realized with shame that wasn’t the case at all and I started to look up anything, I could about her.

Vanessa saw the world in a way that almost every successful person does. I subscribed to her email list then and then hoped onto her Facebook group. I knew of a few people who had achieved the success she had, but I discovered that she was different from most entrepreneurs.

A question played in my mind, “how much are you willing to sacrifice to go after your dreams?”

It was from a documentary I watched weeks ago called the “Age of the Entrepreneur,” and now I had to ask that question. Often when it comes to entrepreneurs or anyone that’s successful, we never see their sacrifice or hard it was to reach to the top, but with Vanessa Lau, I came to understand that nothing comes easy.

In fact, most things are hard to achieve and it takes time to move the needle. These are the five things I learned about success from Vanessa Lau.

Not everyone’s backstory is the same

“You need a job, most successful people had a job and then they made their money on the side,” I often heard when I spoke to people about my dreams.

“Yeah, I have been trying that for years, still have no job. It isn’t like I can go to someone else’s office and do a whole Beautiful Mind thing and be offered a

job.” They’d shake their heads and mumble something under their breath.

When you listen to the advice of successful people, most of them say things like don’t quit your job. Instead, keep working and start saving money for your dream career. Well, they have a point, but there are a lot of people who don’t have that choice.

A lot of people no matter how much they try, can’t get employed and find themselves watching Youtube videos of how to make money online. Take Lewis Howes, for example, he was sleeping on his sister’s couch and came up with an idea to help people on LinkedIn get jobs. Eventually, with time, he started making strides and he then created the School of Greatness.

Then there’s Vanessa Lau who quit her job without a backup plan. She left her glamorous corporate job and ended up working as a part-time coffee barista to support herself while working on launching her business.

Invest in yourself

“I mean why would I pay for something if I can get it free online,” I hear a lot of times.

“Well, Youtube is great and all, but you still are missing out on important information.”

“Online courses are a scam,” after hearing that I would nod and change the subject.

It is normal to want to not pay for anything after all nowadays you can literally get anything for free. And that is the problem, I get it, spending money that you don’t have is terrifying because if everything plops then well what do you do next. You can’t exactly go to your family members and ask for money.

But investing in yourself is important, more than that it is necessary if you want to be successful. In my early twenties, all I did with my money was buy food from expensive restaurants and movie tickets. I didn’t invest in myself, I saw no need to do that, I didn’t learn any new skills and that was the problem.

Vanessa Lau while working as a barista invested in herself, bought courses and surrounded herself with six and seven-figure entrepreneurs. We all know that

that what a barista earns is crummy and yet she found a way. Danial DiPiazza from Rich 20 Something was a waiter before he started his freelancing career and within four months had made enough to launch his business.

Vanessa Lau knew there was more to life

I had a dream internship way back in 2014, the first six months of the year was like a dream. I had lived in Switzerland and now I was living in South Africa, doing my internship. I was also getting paid, it was unbelievable, but the problem was that I was depressed. I had to get onto a train to get to my workplace and I dragged my feet ever day.

The job was boring and I looked forward to Fridays like most of us do when we are working. For other people in certain parts of the world they look forward to their Saturdays.

“Is this what working is like?” I asked my mother on the phone.

“That’s what growing up is like,” she said. “With time you will get used to it.”

I nodded, even though I knew she couldn’t see me. I felt this emptiness that I couldn’t describe. Later on, I realized most people feel this way, they don’t like looking forward to their weekends. They drag their feet on Mondays, over indulge in coffee, they loathe their bosses and don’t believe the message of the company.

Even people from Facebook eventually lead their jobs because there’s no perfect job unless you work for yourself.

Peter Voogd, the millennial thought leader, once said, “you either are building your dream or someone elses.”

That statement changed the way I looked at life. Vanessa Lau must have felt the same at one time because she worked on her dream knowing that there was

something more out there and she just had to followed the yellow bricked road or in this case the steps to get to where to wanted to go.

Hustle is the name of the game

I was at the top of my class in Switzerland, I can’t tell you how competitive schooling in Switzerland is like. They believe in bulking one year of school into six

months.

For me, getting there wasn’t easy. My parents had to take a loan to pay $24,000 for the six months I’d be there and I had got there late. Normally, nothing

happens in the first week of school. Boy, was I wrong? I was so behind, they had already begun writing their thesis report papers and I had to catch up and

that wasn’t easy.

I believed as most millennials do that if you go to an overly priced school, hustle until your eyeballs pop out of your skull, make it into the top position and

you will get a good job. I did all that, had an internship and I found myself unemployed despite pulling all the stops. Most millennials believe that a job will fix

everything, in the past it did, but now it doesn’t.

I am not saying that a job is bad if it is for you then great. Vanessa Lau like a lot of millennials are made to believe in a lie that society often tells. Unlike most

millennials she went after her dreams despite the odds because she understood that a job won’t satisfy you.

I know a lot of people who feel as if their job isn’t satisfying them, but they still do it because they think that’s the only choice they have. That it is the only

thing that they can do. I get it, but at the same time. I ask myself the question, is it worth it in the end.

If you are strapped for cash and want to start making money on the side to help you build your business, here are quick side-hustle ideas to get you started.

You need a mentor

One thing that people always struggle with is paying for a mentor, but here’s the thing if you want to get to the top a lot quicker then it is important that you

have one. The difference is paying for a course or a book is that it only delivers a handful of great advice. A book can only tell you so much about how to

achieve success before it becomes redundant and the same thing for a course.

There are so many books that I read and invested money in buying courses. Invested time in watching webinars, but I couldn’t ask questions. Before Vanessa

Lau could achieve success, she had to surround herself with people who where were she wanted to be. Last month, I invested in a mentor. It was worth every

penny because even though the information is free there are still missing pieces. For example, how to successful people find affordable virtual assistants?

You can only learn this from investing in a course or how do you find a loan for your business. There are plenty plus solutions out there to meet your needs,

you just have to look for them.

I have learned so much in one month then I have learned in three years of paying for courses. Every successful person has had a mentor and still has one.

Vanessa Lau is no different.

You need to be consistent

Every entrepreneur says the same thing, you need to be consistent, whether it is with your blog, growing your Facebook groups or Instagram. You have to be

follow through, but I had no idea how powerful it truly was until Vanessa Lau sent an email letting her email subscribers know that she has grown her

Youtube account to 100,000 in a year. Yup, not an exaggeration. In a year, that’s incredibly inspirational and I think most people don’t talk about consistency

enough and it can get overlooked.

Being an entrepreneur is a lot of work, in fact, it requires dedication and effort to make things work, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Nathan Chan always

says, if you want to grow your Instagram account be consistent, post once to twice a day. How many of us actually do that, but Vanessa Lau kept doing it and

she’s the epitome of what it means to hustle for your dreams. She has an awesome course on how to grow your Instagram account, you can find it right

here.

Vanessa Lau shows us that success is possible, but it all comes down to how dedicated you are in actually making it happen. She’s a millennial that

understands how important to chase after your dreams, no matter what anyone says. Here are some awesome free resources from Vanessa Lau on

dominating social media and creating an unstoppable brand.

Be respectful and resourceful

I am part of Vanessa’s awesome 10, 000 member group and one of the things she lists down in her announcements is to be respectful. When you are starting

out, it is easy to forget your manners. But even social media requires you to be respectful. Sending messages to people in Facebook groups is disrespectful

and yet a lot of us do it.

Another thing that we do is go to groups and start asking questions without doing our research. When you are starting a business, you need to be

resourceful.

Google has to become your new next best friend and that is the only way you can grow. If you want to achieve momentum then that’s what you have to do.

Vanessa Lau reminded me of that, you need to learn how to be resourceful and then what you learn you can then use to build your brand,

What lessons did you learn from an influencer and it is your main take away from this post? Comment below.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

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