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My guest today is Carrie Smith Nicolson. Carrie’s been blogging since 2011, and in October of 2018, she sold her first blog, carefulcents.com for nearly six figures!

And she’s on the show today to share with you exactly how she did it.

Today we’re talking about:

• Why Carrie decided to start a personal finance blog when there were already a lot of personal finance blogs out there.
• The steps she took to quit her day job two years in and start blogging full time.
• Unconventional strategies Carrie used to grow her audience.
• Exactly how Carrie monetized her blog.
• How she came up with the idea to sell her blog, how she found a buyer, decided on the price and what she put in her sales contract.
• Blog growth strategies that Carrie’s most successful 6 and 7 figure clients are using.
• The most important thing to make sure you include in your blog.
• What pillar content is and how to use it to your advantage.
• Carrie’s advice if you’re struggling to get traction with your blog.
• The beliefs Carrie had to change about herself to get where she is today.

Before we dive in, what’s crazy to me is that when I was preparing the show notes for this interview I searched my inbox for Carrie’s bio, I found this email thread from 2016 where Carrie writes:

“Shannon, I just finished going through your entire Free 5-Day Website Challenge and have completely overhauled my website and membership site: http://www.carefulcents.com/ THANK YOU! This is something that's been on my list for a long time and I'm thrilled that I was finally able to get moving on it.”

And then she goes on two years later to sell her blog for almost six figures. Wow.

So if you’ve been wavering on whether you should start a blog, or you need a website for your side hustle, or your website frustrates the heck out of you and holds you back, seriously, you need to sign up for my free training - I’ll tell you how at the end of this episode.

My favorite quotes from Carrie:

• “You have to invest in yourself.”
• “Once you put it out there, even just by thinking it, the universe just brings you the right people.”
• “If so many people are asking, maybe your experience can help.”
• “Figure out what you really love - and what you are good at.”
• “Niche down, you can always expand later.”
• “I would do stuff that I love, that I’m good at, and that doesn’t tie me to a desk.”
• “Quitting doesn’t mean failing.”

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Dave Ramsey
• Careful Cents (the blog Carrie sold)
• HashtagColoradoLife Podcast
• Carrie’s E-book: The Ultimate Guide to Selling a Blog: How to Sell Your Blog for Six Figures and Be Your Own Broker

Bio:

After being a workaholic in her twenties, Carrie Smith Nicholson became debt free and then quit her job in 2013.

During this time, she founded the blog carefulcents.com and grew it into a well-known financial resource. Earlier this year she sold her business for six figures to dedicate more time to growing Hashtag Colorado Life!

Over the past 7 years Carrie has worked with companies like Chase, Capital One, FreshBooks, QuickBooks, and many other well-known brands.

When she’s not selling blogs and living the #ColoradoLife, Carrie helps her clients with building virtual teams and project management for their online businesses over at https://carrieconsiders.com/.

Connect with Carrie:

Website: https://carrieconsiders.com/

Instagram: @carrieconsiders