The Interview

1. Where do you live?

West Virginia…for now. But we like to work from our RV all over the country. 

2. When did you start creating content?

I started creating content about 2 years ago. 

3. Are you a full-time Creator?

Yes and no. I have a full-time income from 1 of my sites, but I still work full-time as an SEO Strategist. It’s easy to manage them both for now. 

4. What was the “Click” that made you decide you can make full-time money online?

I wanted to make $1 online to prove to myself that I could do it. Five months later, that happened.

Then I set a goal of earning $500 per month. On month 8, that was done too.

Now I’m making about $500 per day on that site.

5. How many niche sites or online businesses have you created?

5

6. How many are you still running now?

3

7. Have you sold any sites or online businesses? And what was the ROI like?

Yes – I sold a couple of starter sites. The costs were minimal going into it, so it was just my time. In the future, I’d definitely just sit on these sites instead of selling. 

8. How many sites or online businesses have failed or not gotten going?

0

9. How much are you earning each month?

• $10,001 – $50,000

10. What are your current streams of revenue?

• Affiliate Sales
• Display Ads

11. What are your Top 3 on-page SEO strategies?

My headers are to let Google know what the page is about, but the paragraphs are what keep the readers coming back. That’s the best on-page SEO strategy there is. 🙂 

12. What’s the biggest issue(s) that you’re facing today?

Finding good writers was an issue. I finally found a content agency that can produce high-quality posts at decent rates. I also have 1 in-house writer who has been amazing to work with. 

13. What tool(s) do you rely on the most?

I’m constantly in Ahrefs and GSC. Not that I need them, I just really like using them to get insights into my sites’ performances and competitor sites. 

14. What has been the biggest mistake you made?

When I started, I was only posting 1 post per week. I thought it was enough. In hindsight, I had much more available time then, and if I could go back, I would’ve buckled down and written much more content. 

15. What has been the best decision you’ve made?

The best decision I’ve made is hiring an in-house writer. It helps with scale, but more than anything it proved to me that I don’t need to be involved in every aspect of the business for it to succeed. It allowed me to breathe and see the big picture and the long-term potential. 

16. What’s one thing that you felt accelerated your journey the most?

(Same as above)

17. What’s your 12 month goal?

To hit 1MM monthly sessions with site #1 and to sell sites #2 and #3.

18. How do you stay up to date on SEO, affiliate marketing, display ad, and other news?

I work in SEO full-time at Forbes, so I’m surrounded by great people every day that share great insights into what’s happening in the world of SEO. Otherwise, I get the rest of the news from Twitter and LinkedIn. 

19. What do you eat or drink for fuel to keep going?

I’m a sucker for pizza ?

20. Where can people follow you?

Twitter – @shwnhll

BONUS: Anything else you’d like to share that can help others?

Start where you are with what you have. You don’t need fancy equipment or to know everything about SEO or blogging — just start and never look back.