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Caroline Middlebrook has been on my radar for a long time. I enjoy her writing style, her candor and her honesty and of course, she writes about the industry I love, and mentions my name now and then on her blog too, which is guaranteed Yaro-linkbait. It was about time that I invited her on to my podcast for an interview.
In this call, you will hear Caroline recount her history online, and she’s been in the game for a long time, even doing pay per click marketing back when Overture was the main player and AdWords didn’t exist! You will also hear a lot about Caroline’s techniques for building traffic to her blog, how she built up her audience (currently 5000+ subscribers) and how she’s managed to make at least $1,000 every month (as high as $3,000 some months).
The Bloggers Bible
The Bloggers Bible is Caroline’s latest project, a new book that teaches her methodology for building a successful blog and then generating an income from it. Caroline has some very unique ideas, is a great teacher and is the least hypey person I know in the industry, and her book does a great job of representing all these aspects.
Caroline is offering a 30% discount off her Bloggers Bible (no longer offered) just for my readers, but there’s a catch – it expires January 16th – so you have one week to save yourself some money if you want her book.
You might wonder why bother getting Caroline’s book if you already follow my training on blogging? There’s a simple answer to that – she’s different.
We share many of the same philosophies and Caroline is a Blog Mastermind graduate, but as you will hear in the interview, she doesn’t agree with everything I teach and has her own system, so if you like what she says in the interview, definitely grab her book while the discount is available.
Show Notes
- Caroline explains her first experiences making money online
- We learn how Caroline turned to internet marketing by taking Ed Dale’s 30 Day Challenge
- Next Caroline explains her time spent niche marketing and why she didn’t like it
- Caroline launches a blog after ending her niche marketing/30 day challenge days
- She offers some fantastic advice on building traffic to a new blog and how she did it
- Important: Caroline talks about her free report and how she used it to make thousands of dollars
- Caroline explains why she wrote her Bloggers Bible
Yaro
Loving Success Stories
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Now see, this is why I love hearing success stories so much.
There’s no “cookie cutter” way of becoming successful online. Yes, there’s general business ideas and lessons, ways of going about internet marketing, etc., but always different approaches to meeting and surpassing our goals.
Congratulations Caroline and keep on providing this great content through interviews Yaro!
Caroline has a knack for providing quality content to her website visitors and readers. She truly tells her visitors what is on her mind and gives them great advice when she figures out a solution to a critical problem. She has recently done an interview with me that will be published in February
Yaro;
Caroline is one of the people that got me started. I consider her a friend. She is honest, talented and simply wonderful.
Yesterday (literally), I met with a college from work that wants to start a blog. I gave him three important tips.
1. Join the list at https://yaro.blog
2. Join the list at http://www.caroline-middlebrook.com
3. Work hard per instructions in 1 and 2.
Caroline is a gem, and you are not so bad yourself (even if you both have strange accents). LOL
Regards,
Mark
I LOVE Caroline´s accent and lilting tones !
Yaro,
Very inspiring podcast.
IMO, the proposition of Caroline’s ebook is quite strong, but all in all, finding the right niche to be in (in her case, MMO) is a classic key success factor. No matter how good or bad you are in blogging and/or applying blogging techniques, trial-and-error in finding the niche that you enjoy blogging AND people enjoy reading is all that matters.
Cheers!
Yaro,
You say:
“You might wonder why bother getting Caroline’s book if you already follow my training on blogging? There’s a simple answer to that – she’s different. ”
Isn’t it true with everyone then? Isn’t everyone different? How can one person’s individual style/formula become anyone else’s forte too?
I was just wondering…
Yes everyone is different, which is good, but principles remain the same. Caroline and I both used comment marketing during the early days to grow our blogs, a technique that works, however she went on to do other things (like stumbleupon) to continue her blog’s growth.
The trick is take one person’s system and adapt it to who you are and what you are prepared to do and there’s no reason why you can’t take ideas from more than one person, although you do want to be careful not to overload yourself with too much info and not enough action.
Hey Yaro,
What a great podcast you did with Caroline. If you haven’t noticed I’ve been commenting more than usual here too and do enjoy it but I can see how she said it takes time to do this as well.
I love how she created that report and has generated some steady income from the affiliate recommendation, nice! Something I shall do very soon too.
Congrats to you Caroline on doing such a FAB job on your blog, I tend to lurk over at your blog too. lol.
Vera. 🙂
I did notice the sudden flood of Vera comments 🙂
Well, I’m not a huge fan of forums or commenting due to the time it takes, and then I sit there forever reading everyones responses etc. I like to be a part of things. Plus, I thought I’d give it a try and actually be consistent at a few blogs that I like AND it’s on my Blog Mastermind Checklist ;-).
Hi,
I hear the podcast and its really boost my adrenaline to blog more and better….
Sharing the free info is the best things to do cause its a mind of a billionaire..
Very..very.. inspiring….
Congrats to you caroline…
So very cool to hear a woman interviewed… particularly in the make money on the net niche.
I like how both of you seem quite genuine – almost humble – no hard sell or over promises.
Thanks, Yaro
Anne Wayman, now blogging at http://www.aboutfreelancewriting.com
Honestly I love hearing these success stories but for some reason making money blogging still feels like a distant dream for me. I have been working hard for many months on my blog and have made almost no money. I work hard on producing quality content and marketing but it just seems like I will never make any money. Congratulations to Caroline! She has done what I can only dream of.
You can do anything you set your mind to do. Stay around positive people and hanging around here will certainly help you. 🙂
I’ve been reading Caroline’s blog for quite some time, and love her writing style – good choice for an interviewee, I enjoyed your talk!
I did sign up for the 30 day challenge, but never got around to following it. Guess shows that was a bad decision.
That’s an amazing journey you have there, Caroline. I really admire your courage and that never-quit attitude. Truly a trait of a real winner. I wish you all the best in your journey ahead.
Very impressive.
There are so many ‘over the top’ people who always want to write and talk like pushy sales-people – and all they do is push me away.
Caroline is very ‘real’ and draws you to follow her ideas More, rather than wanting to run the other way.
Thanks!
Fantastic podcast, Caroline is brilliant.
I love her do it yourself attitude, and her idea of the free ebook on using wordpress was spot on.
Thanks for sharing this, I will start following her blog tonight.
Over the past few months I’ve been learning all I can about Blogging and how bloggers make money – not because I want to make money blogging but because so many of my company’s clients are bloggers. I came across Caroline’s site maybe through this one and it’s on my regular reading list. I love her style and she really connects me with blogging – kudos!
And I think I just saw her FeedBurner stats jumped by 300. 😀
Yaro –
Thank you for hosting this podcast with Caroline and for sharing the interview with me! I love that your training is so incredibly detailed, to-the-point and valuable in teaching others. Obviously, Caroline learned a great deal from you and was able to then modify certain techniques to her liking, so she could continue on in achieving her success. That’s what it is all about!
I appreciate Caroline sharing her thoughts regarding the importance of commenting on other people’s blogs for initial traffic generation, as well as her technique in integrating affiliate links into her free training module. Great points and good insight into the new blogger’s train of thought.
– RhondaH
http://www.SavvyBeginningsBlog.com
Enjoyed the interview. I love Caroline’s blog…And this interview gave a good insight into Caroline’s business.
Caroline is one of those creative people that doesn’t always follow the rules, and that is what makes her special, and able to adapt well with the changes we all face on the Internet.
Cheers, Amr Rezk
Good stuff.
Nice insights and I like the practical experience from the school of hard knocks.
Caroline has a great story but she is an example of distinct trend in blogging:
Only people who sell advice about making money, make money blogging.
(With the possible exception of sex related bloggers.)
I would like to see examples of $1000+ dollars a month bloggers who write about gardening or car maintenance or any of the 1000s of subjects that most blogs are about.
Bloggers who blog about making money are really just part of a pyramid scheme. They only keep making money because there are always 1000s of people who also want to make money.
You might want to check out this other interview with a student of mine, Leigh Peele –
https://yaro.blog/999/leigh-interview/
She’s in the fitness niche.
The claim that you only make money by teaching how to make money has been circulated for a long time. Thankfully it’s not true, so don’t let that discourage you.
Also check out this interview I did last week with Leslie, another student of mine. His niche is freebie offers –
https://yaro.blog/1029/leslie-interview/
Yaro thanks very much for interviewing me, it was great fun to do 🙂
@Party Games, I had somebody ask me this a while ago and I published a post about it. The answer is YES everybody is different, you have a voice that is uniquely yours. There is ALWAYS room for one more blog, one more product, one more anything in any niche as long as you bring something unique to the table.
@Studenomist, work on that dream. Something we didn’t talk about in this interview is that I believe that a large part of your results come from your mindset. If you believe that making money from blogging is something that only other people can do, that is what will be true for you. Start to see yourself doing it in your mind and over time you’ll change your reality!
@Laurence, yes it did hehe. My feedburner integrates with AWeber and I saw 300+ emails pop up in my inbox this morning – nearly all Bloggers Bible sign ups!
Yaro,
You couldn’t pick a more relevant, knowledgeable, or quality person to interview. Way to go!
It’s only fitting to see the student become your colleague.
Jeff
That’s a great success story to hear about. Caroline has a great blog too. Looking forward to checking out the Bloggers Bible
Yaro,
Thanks for the inspiring and insightful podcast. It’s great to hear real life success stories – I think those who are struggling to make it online often feel as though they’re going it alone.
Caroline, I wish you the greatest of continued success!
Lee
Nice podcast. How often do you do them?
Quite often – take a look at my podcast archives:
https://yaro.blog/category/podcasts
Another excellent podcast, Yaro! I love seeing up-and-comers being showcased for all to benefit. I’ve seen Caroline around and agree that she’s the real deal. Great tips and a genuine voice. Eric.
A very cool story. Not bad for just over a years worth of trial and error. There’s some wisdom in this approach.
Everyone starts someplace, but man its great to hear inspirational stories like this. Great Podcast Yaro!
She is a very interesting person, her ideas are well worth hearing about.
I enjoyed hearing the podcast. I am looking into offering a podcast on my blog.
I have great news. I just made my first $6.00 with blogging. I am very excited. I just started my blog back in the latter part of November. I have build up enough traffic to qualify for blogsvertise.com and that who give me my first blog paying job. I have adsense, put just got 15 impressions no clicks yet.
Happy Blogging
Serena at http://www.taylorbrownrealestatetalks.com
how she can live with $1.000 in london??
My income does not yet fully support me. Thankfully I have a large amount of savings from the sale of my house which will keep me going for quite a few years so I am free to keep experimenting 🙂
Also, I don’t live in London, I live in Essex which is significantly cheaper!
That’s great you have enough savings to keep experimenting, Caroline. I see that you’re really into internet marketing and while you’re still not making ‘a killing’ yet, I bet you enjoy every moment of your journey =)
This is a great podcast and I agree with the comment that you have to hang around positve people. Since I have teamed up with others and we hold each other accountable things have begun to come together and I have gained momentum.
Love and Sucess
Karmen
Thank you for the podcast, I’ve now listen to it twice. After hearing about the things she was doing to generate traffic – comments, networks, I feel like I’m on the right path.
great podcast, just finished listening. I have also signed up for the bloggers bible, so I will see where it leads. Thank you Yaro for great interview!
Love Caroline’s interview. She is such an inspiration to me. I just started blogging 3 months ago and have been getting a reasonable amount of traffic using some of your ideas. I love submitting articles to Ezine articles and having it feature on other blog.
I just joined BecomeABlogger.com a few months ago and ‘am really learning a lot. I will be joining BlogMastermind.com when it reopens.
Enjoy,
Joyce
You’re a busy dude Yaro. Between member calls, podcasts and posting, you sure do help a lot of people. Thankyou for answering my questions on the call the other night. I really appreciate your help.
I’m a big fan of Caroline’s blog so I’m definitely gonna listen to this one. Good choice for your interview Yaro.
I loved the interview! Caroline always speaks from the heart. Great Job!
I really enjoyed Caroline’s blog, it is really insightful and includes alot of valuable information. I also wanted to thank you personally for the becomeablogger.com videos, they helped me immensely in starting my blog recently.
Indeed – very interesting and “encouraging”, especially for those who still insist that it’s impossible to make real money online. I am always certain that they to such success as Caroline’s is to KEEP GOING and NEVER GIVE UP. Eventually the success and the money comes, if one continues and never gives up. Thanks for sharing.
Caroline is sort of a joke. She hardly makes over a $1000.00 a month and she has been going at it almost two years. Hardly a good example of a successful make money blogger. She even admits on her blog she doen’t really know how to make money and especially with Adsense.
I don’t think its fair to Caroline a joke. She probably makes more online than 98% of the bloggers and marketers trying to make money. I actually respect her openness and honesty. Its better than all the bloggers who claim to be making a fortune but you know they don’t have 2 pennies to rub together.
It’s nice to hear some success stories from your students, Yaro.
I have a response to Chris, who said:
“I would like to see examples of $1000+ dollars a month bloggers who write about gardening or car maintenance or any of the 1000s of subjects that most blogs are about.”
We’re out there. 😉
It’s actually a *lot* easier to make money from sites that are linked to consumer products. I have a home improvement blog that made $50,000 last year, and I spend about a half hour a day working on it. Granted it’s more than 3 years old now, but it’s been making more than $1,000 a month for a long time.
I imagine Caroline picked this niche because she enjoys it more than car maintenance (imagine that), but it’s not an easy one to make money in, so I think any success in that area is impressive. She’s working hard and following her dream–that counts for a lot.
as said by the first commentor on this article, I love the fact that there is no hard-and-fast, set-in-concrete method for succeeding in blogging.. Generaly the only rule for making it into the higher echelons of professional blogging is to not do the same thing as everyone else.. be unique and offer somethnig new, using a different technique in achieving your goals
Caroline’s latest income report is about $1,500 which is good.
I don’t know though if I could follow her template for making money online. It seems that most of her money comes from her products and courses, and I just don’t know if the average blogger can take that path and achieve success with it.
The Carolina’s success in blogging is a great example for those who sometimes do not believe they will succeed. Yaro, thanks for this great opportunity to see and listen to the interview. It was a pleasure to behold. It inspires me on blogging more and more.
Thanks for sharing the interview. It is definitely inspiring to see people success in the field of blogging and it also serve as a motivation for fellow bloggers like me.
Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
This blog, Caroline’s blog and a very small number of similar blogs are definitely proving that a real income can be made online by blogging. Obviously there are the copycatters but the cream always rises to the top. At least now there are quality examples for the crowd to learn from.
Carolyn sounds and writes like she’s good people. It’s good to hear and read of other bloggers’ successes.
Yes, these kind of details revealed in the interview and the comparison that made Caroline different from Yaro and others in the same niche is good to hear.
Hearing the history of her efforts online and what she’s tried, how she spent and spends her time on is really helpful.
I’ll have to go read about her niche sites like the ones they teach you on 30 Day Challenge. I’m wondering if she still has them running and needs to let them sit for a longer period of time or if she was shooting for a quicker response from those niche sites as far as making money.
What I find amazing is looking back at all the earnings reports month by month. You can see how far Caroline’s come in the last year. I last checked her blog a few months ago and it’s amazing to see how much more money she’s making per month now.
Hats off to you Caroline.
I have read caroline’s blog and bookmarked it after I read the first article. I found my self bookmarking this site too after one read. I hope my blog can be like this some day. Thanks.
I liked Lindsay’s comment. It kind of confirms that I’m on the right path. I have a large site with tons of content but it’s mostly instructional and the smaller sites that I have that are more product related have a way better future potential.
Really informative podcast, just listened to it and it has really inspired me to try some new things and given me the confidence to keep going with the things I am already doing. Thanks for sharing this 🙂
Linked to this after listening to it hoping that readers who come to my blog can find something they can use to grow their businesses.
I think she make more than 1000 a month, period. In 2012. Congratulations, and for you to Yaro.