I began working on what would eventually become “Michelle is Money Hungry” in 2012. In fact, the project had a completely different name and slightly different focus. But, like with everything, things changed. I feel in love with personal finance content during a moment when I needed help and community. I would go online almost every single day and read, yes read, about how some of my favorite folks were paying off debt, earning more and changing their lives.
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I found out that I wasn’t the only person dealing with financial stress. Then there was that random day in August (I’m pretty sure it was August) when I head about a new conference in it’s 2nd year that would be hosted in Denver 2 weeks from the time that I heard about it. I was broke, but I scrounged up around $100 bucks to attend and the event, FinCon, would also be providing meals. What’s hilarious to me know is that a lot of people don’t remember that I was there.
I fan-girled.
But, because I went I met so many people who changed my life for the better and I consider lifelong friends. But it’s now 2023 and we’ve been through some things. And for the past year, I found myself really thinking about the goals of this project and what was next. In this short podcast episode I will share why I’m taking a break from actively producing my podcast Michelle is Money Hungry for the forseeable future and what I’m focusing on instead.
Welcome to Michelle is Money Hungry. I’m your host, Michelle Jackson, and I focus on holding financial conversations that lean into social equity policy and access with a splash of pop culture. My goal is to lead these conversations with empathy and help both my listeners and myself learn more about money.
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Support the Michelle is Money Hungry Crowdfunding Campaign
I love partnering with brands to bring free and discounted content to my listeners. My goal is to share helpful content and hold conversations that wouldn’t be held in traditional personal finance spaces. Leading into this year’s Black History Month I started to hear from other creators that they were noticing a significant drop in brands reaching out to partner on content. In my case, I actually think this is a good thing because I plan on holding some difficult conversations that I don’t want to have to reframe or change because I’m worried about upsetting a brand partner.
With that in mind, I’m launching a crowdfunding campaign with the goal of earning at least $5,000 in the month of February. What is the money for? To cover the cost of running the show for one month. This money covers the following: time, administrative tasks and production of each show. How you can contribute. I’m keeping things simple: Send your donation via PayPal:
michelleismoneyhungry@gmail.com Thank you for your continued support!
Show Notes
Right now Michelle is Money Hungry, in my mind, runs a lot like a personal finance lifestyle brand. And while that is fine, it’s not working for me anymore. I love this project and the work that I do with it so much. I love sharing nuanced and original podcast episodes and written content that leans into equity, access and policy. But, I have to be candid and say that it can be heavy at times energetically and that It’s very difficult for the actual website to make money as it’s set up now.
When I first started working on my blog many years ago, I imagined making money via “passive income” you know with MediaVine ads, affiliate income and whatever else came. Instead, I ended up making money through incredible brand partnerships and projects, affiliate marketing and product sales.
I regret nothing.
I’ve won awards, had incredible transformative conversations, met amazing people. But now I want something different.
It is more than 10 years in and I need a break from having the conversations that I’m having on an ongoing basis. I want to have different conversations and there are unique seasons of content that I would like to produce moving forward about different financial topics but before I will produce them, I need to have the money in hand.
In this, I’ve changed.
In fact, for almost a year, I’ve been thinking about what is my goal with my work online and specifically this project? What’s in alignment? What would I work furiously on and be excited about that could come easily?
In the end I realized a couple of things.
- I still want to reach the original goal that I had so many years but wasn’t ready to pursue when I first decided to monetize my work online-I want that passive income.
- I have a few niche sites that I’ve talked about on occasion in passing. One of those projects is so much easier to monetize and I’ve decided to shift my focus and work on that project. Basically, leaning into the goal that I had so many years ago but with a different website. Ironically, all of the hard work that I’ve done on this website will make reaching my goals easier to attain with the easier project. I just want to have some easier wins.
- I want to start leaning into sharing how to make money online via content and podcasting and in order to do that I need to position my brand from that perspective. Don’t worry, that content lives on a different website called The Brand Building Lab, that I’ve been working on quietly for the past year. The Brand Building Lab is where I talk about all things content creation and monetization, a topic that I’m excited to have and will be sharing more in the future.
- Right now I would like to work on Michelle is Money Hungry without worrying that my audience is expecting certain things from me on a specific schedule that I can no longer meet. The enthusiasm just isn’t there. I want to try something new in this space and while you will see me producing written content on the website, the podcast is being paused for awhile as I make space for different conversations and my easier project.
I appreciate your support during this time and I’m excited to trust my gut about I should be focusing on moving forward. I’m anticipating that I will take a minimum of 3 months off from the podcast but it’s likely that I won’t begin publishing again until the fall.
Until next time! Michelle
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