Today we have Angela, an amazing blogger and illustrator who makes a full time income from her blog. In this interview she has shared all the blogging secrets, tips and income. If you want to know how she makes a full time income from blogging and works from home, keep reading.
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1. Tell us about yourself, Angela. What is straycurls.com about? How long have you been blogging and how did you come up with this unique name?
Hey there! I’m a 27 year old Illustrator and Blogger currently living in Bangalore, India with my 2 Labrador pups.
Stray Curls originally started as a Comic Series about Curly Hair. I have curly hair and I wanted to share my curly hair humor with the world. But gradually, this went on to become a Blog and Business that teaches young and creative women to build powerful and fun Online Businesses.
I use my own hand-drawn Illustrations in my website to make business more colorful and interesting!
2. Do you have some previous blogging or digital marketing experience?
Oh yes! I’ve been in this field since 2015. I started with designing work for clients abroad. It was so much fun making logos and websites for women bloggers. But I wanted to do so much more!
Eventually, I got myself a drawing tablet and learned how to create illustrations. Drawing for people was much more fun.
I made comics and illustrations and for a long time I freelanced by working with clients all over the globe.
I even sold clipart on platforms like Etsy. I never had a website. My comics on Instagram brought me a lot of clients.
I created merchandise with my illustrations on them like notebooks, badges and bookmarks and sold them on my website.
Instagram was my jam.
But I realized after a bad instagram glitch, that depending on Social media alone is a bad idea. So I created a blog and continued to work for clients.
However, the itch to create my own content just got bigger and I found it difficult to juggle clients, comics and my blog. So I slowly shifted over to blogging full-time.
I very occasionally take clients when the project interests me.
So www.straycurls.com is my full-time Business.
3. How long did it take you to reach your first $1000, & how much are you earning with your blog now?
Because I was freelancing on the side, it didn’t take me much time. I was making that amount within a month of Blogging. I already had plenty of experience writing and drawing. And I loved learning.
So, when I was not creating incessantly, I spent a lot of time educating myself about Online Business.
I don’t have ads on my website, so I knew that making an income from my Blog alone via affiliate marketing, would take some time. But I wrote an eBook within 6 months of Blogging and when I launched, I made over $1K with a tiny list of 600 people.
This was the proof I needed to pursue Blogging and I’ve never looked back since.
Click here to start your own blog with this step-by-step guide.
Side Note: Angela is offering a 65% discount for this week only on her Money Making Bundle which has 7 resources that are all focused on blogging and making money online. You can grab this bundle here for just $79 only although it’s originally worth $199!
4. I absolutely love your branding. How do you come up with the ideas to make your blog creative + professional?
I found it very difficult to be interested in Blogging and Business initially because most blog posts about Business were all serious and dry.
I realized I couldn’t be alone in feeling this way. To make Blogging and Business more interesting and fun for people like me, I broke down complex concepts into easy tid-bits and added a lot of jokes and comics.
It was a fun experiment. I tried to see if people liked reading posts like mine.
It took off.
I wanted my Brand to be natural, kind, honest and funny. And with time, I was able to succeed with growing a Brand just like that.
Being an Illustrator and Storyteller at heart, nothing excites me more than to merge my content and illustrations and see them become one big unified ball of creative gold.
5. Most New bloggers find it difficult to get blog traffic. Do you have advice for them? Does a blogger need to have a certain number of monthly page views before they start seeing some income from their blog?
When we’re starting out, we have to hustle. Nobody knows us. In order to get people to your website and make them stay there, you need to write good quality content consistently in 1 specific profitable niche.
That’s it. This is the only way to grow fast.
When you prioritize your reader’s user experience on your blog, you will automatically attract a large and loyal following.
You have to be consistent and patient. When you’re seeing something not working, then you need to tweak and adapt. Monitoring your monthly progress is the best way to grow as a Blogger.
I explain this in detail in my Blogging Traffic eBook.
You have to focus on becoming an expert in 1 field. Once you do this, SEO becomes very easy to master. And I delve into SEO in this eBook as well.
Pageviews aren’t proportional to blogging income. I was making over $3K blogging with less than 30K pageviews.
I make over $4.5K blogging with just 40K pageviews selling only digital products and via affiliate marketing. And I don’t use ads.
It all depends on how you monetize your Blog. If you’re selling products or services, it becomes very easy to make more money with less traffic.
6. Did you invest in some blogging courses?
I truly believe in investing in education because it speeds up your progress vehemently. It also makes sense to learn something specific from people who have already mastered the particular task.
There’s no point struggling with facebook ads for 2 years when you can take an online course and master it in 2-3 months.
7. Working from home as a blogger is difficult because of lack of productivity and discipline. Please share how you stay productive and disciplined?
When you really love something, it cannot possibly feel like work. However, there are tasks I absolutely hate doing, like researching for keywords or editing and proof-reading posts.
So, a good way to get through dull and boring work is to work on something exciting for a bit and then get back to your big task. For instance, if I’m tired of researching keywords, I’ll work on the blog post featured image for a bit and then get back! It works!
The best way to be productive and stay highly motivated is to keep yourself accountable. I am a pen and paper girl so I write in my Blog Planner.
Additionally, I use Trello. When I see how many tasks I’ve finished, I feel satisfied.
I also like to take breaks. After every 45 minutes, I take a 15 minute break by playing with my pups, drinking some chai or catching up on reading my current book.
This helps me get back to work fresh and pumped up!
8. Most bloggers set a goal of getting accepted into premium ad network (like Ezoic, Mediavine). What would you advise them?
I would advise you to look ahead. Once you get accepted, what’s next? Always plan your monetization strategies before you start monetizing your blog.
Make targets and goals.
For instance: After this quarter, I’m going to apply to Ad Programs and I will continue to promote my affiliate products side by side to hit the $500 mark.
Additionally, create a list of posts that you’re going to publish once you get accepted so that you can boost your traffic. Write posts on topics that are trending. Brownie points if you can write a blog series!
Your goal should be to work your way up.
9. Was there a time when you felt you should give up blogging?
I think everyone feels like quitting at some point. I’m no exception.
But I cannot imagine going to work in an office and waste time commuting. I love creating so much that I’ve done everything possible to make it work.
When you don’t take no for an answer, it’s very easy to make anything work. You just have to be willing to stick it out and work on your goals no matter what.
For me, every time I felt like quitting, I’d go read a Business Book or look at a famous Author Profile as to how they started from scratch. Or watch Shark Tank.
This inspired me.
And then I’d say, “If he/she can do it, so can I.”
If you know for sure that someone in the same niche as you has made their blog or business work, then there’s nothing stopping you from doing the same thing!
This one simple tactic has helped me stick it out and stay focused.
10. Do you have some favorite blogs that you use to browse on a regular basis? If yes, please share any 3.
Meerakothand.com because she’s the Queen of Email Marketing.
Adam Connell because he breaks down extremely complex concepts into nice and neat pieces. He cuts straight to the point. There’s no fluff.
Paul Scrivens: I love his sassy and sharp way of writing.
11. Please share 3 things you wish you knew when you were starting your blog.
1. Plan your content in advance.
This is very important if you want to grow as a blogger or get traffic that converts. I explain this in detail in this post.
2. It’s very easy to compare yourself to others. Don’t.
Remember, you’re comparing your beginning to someone else’s middle. They’ve probably spent tons of sleepless nights growing their blog to this point.
So, put your head down and work hard and you’ll get to where you want to be!
3. Monitor your growth each month in order to accelerate your growth
Every month, write down what worked, what posts did really well and which didn’t. Accordingly, tweak your traffic or social media strategies.
Write down what didn’t work and list steps you can take to overcome these roadblocks.
If you do this, you cannot fail as a Blogger.
12. You’ve just written a brand new eBook – Evergreen Sales Funnels. What is it about?
This eBook is all about setting evergreen sales funnels in your blog that continuously brings in an income even while you sleep.
Instead of getting random sales and commissions here and there, this eBook will teach you how to stabilize your income by creating content that converts Readers to Buyers.
I break down the Customer’s Roadmap and their psychology so you don’t have to second-guess what type of blog posts or emails to write.
The best part is you can make use of the traffic you already have to make more money. You don’t need to go chasing traffic with this approach.
How can KinggsWriter readers stay in touch with you?
Just sign up to get my free 12 page blog planner.
You’ll receive my weekly newsletter updates where I give you easy-to-use blogging advice and productivity tips so you can blossom into a full-time blogger!
If you like this post, please share it on Pinterest, Facebook. Also, check out another awesome interview from Dale, who makes $5000+ from her blogs in a month!
Wish to start your own blog and earn online? Check this step-by-step guide to get started.
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