In my Money Makers interview series, I interview notable professionals and entrepreneurs. Generally, my interviewees have created a successful business or are leaders in their field. In this article I interviewed Lee, a blogger who is experiences in building multiple income streams. Personally, I love his can-do attitude and work ethic when it comes to side hustles. Without further ado, let’s get into the interview!
For my readers who may not be familiar with you, would you please introduce yourself? Who are you? What do you do?
Hi, my name is Lee and I am a mot tester by trade. If you are outside Europe, that means i inspect motor vehicles to make sure they are safe for the road. In my spare time I am also a personal finance blogger and affiliate marketer as well as an avid investor.
What is your blog about, and in your opinion, what sets it apart from the others in your niche?
My blog is about personal finance and specifically how to make extra money or how to save extra money. It is different because it comes from personal experience, seeing as I’m not a financial professional.
When and why did you start blogging? Looking back, would you have gone about starting it differently?
I started blogging around 2 years ago, after I taught a friend how to make hundreds of pounds a month from something called matched betting. He suggested I should let other people know, and my blog was born!
Are there bloggers, authors, friends or anyone else who has really inspired you?
Mike Pearson is a SEO specialist and looking back I wish I had taken his course at the beginning of my blogging journey.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far, through helping people learn about finance as well as in your own personal finance journey?
The biggest challenge for me with the blog is consistency. I have slowed down right now, I have over 100 articles but affiliate marketing is taking over a bit for me at the moment as I earn good money doing it. Personally, with my finances I am a new investor and wish I had started many years ago.
Time for a bit of a loaded question – what is your favorite type of investment and why (index funds, stocks, bonds, real estate, etc.)?
My favourite investment is £VHYL. For those of you who don’t kow, it is an ETF and comprises some of the top dividend paying companies. Not only do you get the safety net of investing in an ETF, but you also get a very nice 2.97% dividend yield.
At the end of the day, what is the main thing you hope your viewers learn or understand?
I hope my readers learn that being poor isn’t the be all and end all. You can work your way up and make money.
What’s the best piece of advice you received growing up? How did it shape you into the person you are today?
The best piece of advice was to work hard if I want to achieve something as it will never just fall in my lap.
Everyone views success differently, what personal metric do you use to define your own success?
Success to me is freedom. Gaining back my own 24 hours each day and having the time to spend with family and a passive income which means not having to worry.
People tend to struggle with finding a good work-life balance, especially these days. How do you manage? In other words, what’s an average weekday like for you?
I work from 8:30-6 PM. I’m out of the house between 8 and 6:20 so it is hard. I usually get in during the week and cook dinner then after dinner if my wife is watching television I will work on either affiliate marketing, my blog, or my ebook for about 90 minutes. During the weekends I spend about 5 or 6 hours working on my side hustles.
What’s something you’re interested in – outside of personal finance?
Outside of personal finance I love to run to keep fit and I love playing video games as it helps me relax.
If you had to give advice to someone who has just joined the job market and started their personal finance journey, what would it be?
My advice would be to start putting 20% of your salary into an ETF that covers the S&P 500. Start investing early and you will reap the benefits!
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed learning about Lee and his views on creating multiple sources of income as much as I did! If you liked what he had to say and want to see more, be sure to check him out on Twitter. As always, if you have any thoughts you’d like to contribute, add a comment!
