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I Am John Schmoll, Founder Of Frugal Rules, And This Is How I Work

John Schmoll

My grandparents were storytellers. I could sit down with any of them and become engrossed in their words. I loved their insight, experience, and thoughtfulness. That love of learning about others continues, and now I’ve been spending some time interviewing the best of the personal finance community (like the founders of Budgets Are Sexy, The Broke And Beautiful Life, and Modest Money).

Surprisingly, it’s a tight-knit group of writers and financial experts. Some are certified financial planners, while others (like me) are experts in another field. Today, I have the privilege of interviewing one of the top financial bloggers, John Schmoll from Frugal Rules. John graduated with upwards of $20,000 in credit card debt after college. That’s when he turned it all around, got an MBA, and worked in the financial services industry. I’m lucky to be able to share his thoughts and insights with you today!

What inspired you to begin FrugalRules.com?

That’s a good question Sam. It really all started as I was looking for a way to be able to talk with others about money. I had just left my job to help my wife run our business and was missing talking about money all day with others. I had been in the financial services industry for roughly 15 years, in various capacities. That’s how it was born. From there, I just started looking for a good domain name and shortly after Frugal Rules was born.

How did people (friends, family, etc.) react when you first started?

Honestly, most of my family thought it was somewhat comical. I have absolutely no technical experience to speak of and have never done anything online in terms of business. They thought I’d either give up due to lack of time or get frustrated with it and throw in the towel. I just took it as a challenge to show that I could do it. 🙂

What was your experience with design, code, web work prior to starting your site?

Frugal Rule Website Screenshot — *A screenshot of FrugalRules.com*

Lol, absolutely zilch. My wife had a bit of design knowledge and that’s stretching it quite a bit. Because of that it was a bit of a challenge designing the site, but I was happy to just get something that worked. This is something I want and need to change going forward though…I just need to get started on it. 😉

What advice would you give to those thinking about starting their own site?

Find what you’re passionate about and go after that so you can establish your “voice.” You could write about many a number of things, but you want it to be something you care about otherwise it’s going to be a challenge. Beyond that, be prepared for some serious time and effort to make a go of it. The writing is the easy part, it’s the technical things, networking, and building relationships that take time. There are many bloggers out there and in order to make some decent headway you need to be able to make connections and get your name out there. The great thing is that many other PF bloggers out there are nice people and more than willing to help. Just remember that it’s a give and take kind of relationship though and really you should be more on the giving end of things than anything else.

Other than that, I say be yourself. Readers can tell when you’re being genuine and if you’re being yourself it’ll likely come out in your writing. Lastly, don’t get into blogging because of the money. Yes, you can make money blogging, but it takes a lot of time to get to that level and many that start out simply to make money most often give up out of frustration.

How do you make money from your site?

I make money from the site in a number of ways: affiliate advertising, freelance writing, and blog writing through our business. Now that I have a blog, we’re able to pitch blog writing to a number of our clients and we get to sign them on for that all because of Frugal Rules.

I also just started a new site recently with my friend Grayson (Debt Roundup), Sprout Wealth, where we plan to do some of the same things. Other than that, I’m looking to buy other websites to add to what I’m already doing.

What do you think you’ve learned from your readers and fans?

I’ve learned a ton from the community over at Frugal Rules, but it essentially comes down to seeing that we all come from different walks of life and that will color our view of money. I had seen that on one level in my last corporate job, but that was strictly with investments. I know it may sound cheesy, but I’ve seen first hand how there are many shades of gray when it comes to finances. There are a few things that can go across the board, but beyond that there are many things which can be done differently.

How can somebody in lower incomes best overcome financial hurdles and prosper?

Start tracking everything you spend. It sucks and is contrary to what we hear preached to us in our culture, but watch how you’re spending your money. Do that for a few months and see what mistakes you’re making and commit to changing. That could also mean starting to budget and, if so, find something that works for you and run with it. Beyond that, look for ways to can create additional sources of income through things like side gigs. Pair that cash with your lower expenses and you’ll greatly increase your chances of climbing out of that.

Who are your financial role models?

That’s a tough one. I don’t know that there is really one or two people out there that stick out to me. What really inspires me is seeing people who make a modest income that are able to really put themselves ahead financially. I got to see that a number of times in my past and was always challenged to see people who made very little, relatively speaking, that were rocking it with their saving and investing. That is what I aspire to do no matter how much we’re bringing in each year.

What personal finance sites do you read?

There are so many good sites out there that it’s really difficult to narrow it down to a small selection of blogs that I visit. My taste is pretty eclectic, but here are a few of the ones I go to on a regular basis:

Club Thrifty
Budgets Are Sexy
The Heavy Purse

And a few others that I’ve really been digging lately are:

Living Rich Cheaply
Broke Millennial

What else would you care to share with the readers of Frugaling?

First off, I’d like to thank you Sam for asking me to do this interview! In terms of your readers, my encouragement is to remember that finances are personal. We all have different goals in life and that is going to mean different things for different people. Just remember to make sure you’re doing all you can to make your money work for you as opposed to being enslaved to it.

Want to read more interviews like this one? Read the entire interview series here!

Should You Write For Free?

By Frugaling 20 Comments

Over the last ten months, I’ve written around 175 articles of varying quality and length. Looking back on this time and effort, I’m astonished that I got through writer’s blocks, time constraints, and various personal/professional issues to keep publishing. As I quickly approach a year of Frugaling, I wonder if I should adopt the “writer” identity. It’s humbling and anxiety provoking, as I question what makes a writer.

When does one become a writer? How much should be published? What degrees/professional experience must one collect? How much money should one make? What hoops must be hooped?

All I know is that people in my life — friends, family, and other writers — are telling me that I’m well on my way. This writing journey is not simple; rather, it contains a variety of choicepoints. One of the biggest forks in the road for writers is to write pro-bono (without commission) — otherwise known as guest blogging. That brings us to the question of the day: Should you ever write for free?

Build and diversify your audience

When you have no audience, brand, and/or name on the Internet, it can be supportive and constructive to write guest articles. If you’re just launching a new website, potential readers don’t know your voice or content. Well established websites can feed incredible amounts of traffic your way, and suddenly you have diversified your early audience.

Writing is potentially one of the strongest meritocracies today. You don’t have credibility–you build it. When offering up a free guest article to another website, it’s advantageous to have a little collection of articles for new readers to see in the beginning stages. These should be strong and exemplify what they could see in the future. This is the sweet spot for new traffic and subscribers. You will gain credibility.

Early days are characterized by single and double-digit days, where it can feel pointless writing a new article. The motivation wanes and many stumble here. The traffic of a guest article is tremendously reinforcing when starting a website. Having a big influx can encourage you to persevere.

Potential opportunity to move from free to freelance

A few months into writing I reached out to a writer in the personal finance community. As a top representative of this niche, I asked him for some writing advice. He made an offer I couldn’t refuse: write a strong guest post and then we’d see about freelance writing opportunities. I immediately said yes.

I wrote my one and only non-paid story, benefited from a little boost in traffic and was offered two, paid articles at 10 cents per word. Suddenly, my free went to freelance in the span of an article. These offers do happen, and they’re essentially trial runs as you build your voice, writing resume, and experience. The important aspect was the early disclosure that this could turn into a regular spot. Without that declaration, the offer of a free article would’ve been less interesting for me.

One of the most important pieces wasn’t the money or coverage; instead, it was this blogger’s advice and experience. He taught me beginning social networking skills and carefully critiqued my writing. He was an experienced editor who gave me priceless information about what succeeds online. I should’ve been paying him — heck, many people do!

What are you worth?

NOT long ago, I received, in a single week, three (3) invitations to write an original piece for publication or give a prepared speech in exchange for no ($0.00) money. As with stinkbugs, it’s not any one instance of this request but their sheer number and relentlessness that make them so tiresome. It also makes composing a polite response a heroic exercise in restraint. — Tim Kreider, NYT

The preceding quote is from a writer that regularly gets paid for his words. He found that many people assume that good writing can be done for free. Many people take that for granted and ask him to share his wisdom for nothing. Tired of the countless asks, he decided to write a scathing critique of this ineloquent demand for more free stuff.

If you’ve been writing for years, I’d be cautious giving away your ability. If you’ve built an audience, being asked to write for free can be insulting. If you’ve honed your editing ability, another person’s perspective may be frustrating. Point is, writing a free, guest blog isn’t for everyone and it frequently comes down to timing. Where are you in your writing career and how is your website performing?

Honestly, the question comes down to your worth. Writing a strong guest post takes time away from other aspects of your life — things you could be doing. Writing 700+ words could take hours. Giving away this time doesn’t come easy for me, and I’d discourage anyone to jump at these free writing opportunities with glee and benevolence for website owner.

Strike a balance and be demanding

Writing is a difficult craft with countless critics. I frequently screen and censor comments that lambast guest authors’ and my work. It’s painful to hear the hatred and tests of ability. It hurts to hear some anonymous person rip out your soul, spit on it, and cast your work aside. There are many judgments, and few answers about the power of your work.

Early in your writing career, guest articles for other sites may build and diversify your audience. Secondarily, they may help you write better content through editing and feedback sessions. There are real reasons to share freely and write without payment in mind.

Strike a balance, and gain that traction that makes you desirable. Just know you’re worth more than $0 — I can guarantee that much. Eventually, you must demand more for your work, because you are worth it!

Some further reading on free writing (there’s a significant debate about this):
Tim Kreider: Slaves of the Internet, Unite!
Matt Cutts: The decay and fall of guest blogging for SEO
Matthew Yglesias: People Writing for Free on the Internet Is an Enormous Boon to Society

I Am Jeremy Biberdorf, Founder Of Modest Money, And This Is How I Work

By Frugaling 8 Comments

Recently, I’ve been going around the blogosphere (what an overused word!) and interviewing the top financial bloggers on the net. Two months ago I interviewed the famous J. Money from Budgetsaresexy.com. You can read that interview here. Today, I had the fortunate opportunity to get to know Jeremy Biberdorf, the founder of Modest Money! His site is rapidly growing and currently ranked in the top 35,000 websites worldwide. As a leader in the financial writing world, I wanted to get to know his tips, tricks, and super secrets for success. Here’s my interview with him:

What inspired you to begin ModestMoney.com?

My main inspiration was a major shift in my personal life. After years of coasting through life, I decided it was time to take my long term goals more seriously. Improving my finances was right at the top of that list. I seriously needed to get my act together with how I was blowing my money and not saving enough. When I started Modest Money, my goal was actually focused on using the blog to increase my income. As an internet marketing professional, I knew a thing or two about website marketing and monetization. Little did I realize that jumping into the finance blogging community would teach me so much. The knowledge, lessons, and contacts helped my finances even more than the extra income.

How did people (friends, family, etc.) react when you first started?

Since I had a history of running financial affiliate websites, nobody was particularly surprised. They probably weren’t expecting me to be so open on my blog though. By opening up I was keeping myself more accountable and ensuring my blog was more personable. My Mom started using my blog as a way to keep up with what was going on in my life. I generally didn’t share my blog with my friends as I wanted to be as open as possible. When I met my fiance and I told her about my blog, I’m sure she was shocked to learn so much about me from my blog. Luckily I didn’t scare her off with all of that public history. Now she is my biggest supporter.

Modest Money Financial Site — *Screenshot of Modest Money*

What was your experience with design, code, web work prior to starting your site?

This is an area where I had an advantage over most finance bloggers. I originally went to college to learn programming and other IT skills. I later transitioned into a website marketing career. Eventually I managed my own websites for several years. So I knew a lot more about the technical and marketing side of blogging than most bloggers do when they first start out. Although I had a lot of those skills, I also knew when it was best to outsource some of that work. Sometimes it’s best to get things done right and without it taking up too much of your own time.

What advice would you give to those thinking about starting their own site?

Do not underestimate the power of networking. At first I didn’t realize how much bloggers are willing to help others within the blogging community. If I had understood this from the beginning I could’ve got off to an even quicker start. Be willing to do lots of favors for bloggers and they’re bound to help you out in some way down the road. Concentrate on networking and marketing as long as you can. The other thing to understand is that blogging is not a get rich quick scheme. Most bloggers don’t make any money at all during their first year, yet they put in a ton of time and effort. Too many of those bloggers do not even get to the point where their blog is making money. To be successful you really have to think long term and be willing to put in countless hours without seeing the fruits of your labor. Work at your own pace and know it will pay off later if you stick with it.