Today is my very first interview with an established personal finance blogger. This is a new feature that I have just added to Studenomics. This feature not only benefits me but it greatly benefits the readers of Studenomics. The valuable insight that is provided by the establish personal finance bloggers that I interview should provide a great wealth of knowledge. Even the bloggers being interviewed benefit because they have the opportunity to reflect on their blog and the level of success they have been able to attain. Anyways on to the very first interview.
Today I will be interviewing PT of Prime Time Money
Me: What key factors are attributed for the level of success you have reached with your blog?
PT: Having a Passion – Making the most out of my personal finances is really fun for me. Therefore, it’s easy to write about it most days.
Friends – Making friends in the personal finance blogging community (M-Network, Money Life Network) has been huge for my success. The knowledge I’ve gained and shared amongst these other bloggers has helped tremendously to make the most of my efforts with my blog, Prime Time Money.
Being Consistent – A quick look at my archives will show you my path to success. My goal is to provide at least two quality content posts per week. I think I’ve been able to do that pretty consistently over the past 12 months. People for the most part know what to expect from me on a weekly basis. That builds an audience and it gives Google a lot to index for their search results.
me: Would you recommend blogging as a full time source of income? If so,then for what type of individual?
PT: I’m not a full-time blogger yet. But I’ll try and share what I know. Unless you’re a professional writer paid to blog for a company, you can’t exactly start out at the full-time income level. It takes time to even bring any revenue in (3-4 months). Plus, ad revenue from content web publishing isn’t exactly an established revenue stream. Who knows when the current profit model will change. Google traffic has only been around for so long.
Someone just starting out should think about blogging as a way to eventually bring in a little extra income. When you get to that level then start to think bigger (e.g. making your mortgage payment with blog income). I suspect when you get to that point you can begin to think even bigger.
I suspect to become a full-time blogger you have to do a couple of things well: (1) Produce consistent content that people want and will want to share. (2) Learn to monetize that content efficiently.
me: Given the current state of the economy, what is your number one tip for saving money?
PT: My #1 tip for saving money is to do it automatically. Throughout my life, I never saved consistently until I set up an automatic direct deposit from my paycheck directly into my savings account. Half goes in there, and the other half goes to my checking account. I spend the heck out of every last dollar in the checking account and know that I’m still saving money because I’ve already stashed money in my savings account. Essentially I pay myself first and then I spend the rest.
me: Best financial decision you made in your early 20s?
PT: Listening to Dave Ramsey and subsequently avoiding incurring any bad debts. He just made sense to me and got me headed in the right direction. Listening to the radio is something easy that anyone can do. It was enough to jump start me into a better financial life.
Advice for a new personal finance blogger?
PT: Just make sure it (personal finance) is something you enjoy writing about. There needs to be a bit of a passion for the subject to do what it takes to have success blogging about it. Best of luck to you in your journey.
me: What are your future plans with your blog?
PT: No big plans yet. I’d just like to keep learning and writing about personal finance. At some point I’m sure life will get in the way or I’ll get really bored of writing on this subject. Maybe I could see the blog. But for now I’ll just work on increasing my subscribers and traffic, and enjoying the ride.
me: What type of reader would you recommend Studenomics to?
PT: I’d recommend Studenomics to anyone who’s looking for a young and fresh perspective on personal finance information. Definitely those people in college or just entering the workforce.
Thank you for reading my very first interview. Chances are you have already heard of PT and his personal finance blog. In case you haven’t had a chance then I highly recommend checking out Prime Time Money and reading the great articles!