010: How Building a School Changes Lives with Rachel Miller

     Rachel Miller started blogging during maternity leave and while raising her children, with one blog leading to another and another and eventually viral popularity. Today, she is a highly regarded speaker and bestselling author, with some of her work featured on high profile shows such as Good Morning America. Starting in 2017, she began teaching others how to put their own blogs front and centre on the Internet, and through the charity Village Impact she helped build a school and well in Kenya for over 300 students.In this episode, she discusses what set her down the path to blogging, how to optimize monetization for your sites, and how her family's financial attitudes shaped her path to success.Show Notes:What is Rachel most excited about right now?The school she helped build in Kenya.What was her first blog about, and how did it become the launching pad for her accomplishments?“Quirky Momma,” which focused on bringing up her children.Was at home raising her kids/on maternity leave and found herself unstimulated and bored.How did Rachel monetize her sites?Used AdThrive, which allows her to bring it over $5,000 a month.What inspired her to launch another site?Overhearing a conversation suggesting her first site was only succeeding through seed money and residuals.Was it Rachel’s original goal to grow Quirky Momma into a vastly successful site?All she really wanted was to have an impact and to brighten up people’s days.What is a good tip to help bloggers organically expand their readerships?Current Facebook algorithms mean posts are driven and popularized by comments. Engagement = popularity.How do you encourage engagement on your posts?Invite your readers to interact. Tell them to share it with friends who’ll find it relevant. Ask them what they think.How did her family’s financial attitudes growing up affect Rachel’s today?Came from a family of entrepreneurs, with a lot of time spent struggling and just above the poverty line.This meant that she was prepared to go through low-income periods while blogging.What does Rachel think is the biggest obstacle preventing young people from obtaining financial success?They don’t think it’s possible for themselves, but it is achievable if they buckle down and work.What has motivated Rachel the most to achieve financial freedom?Definitely her children and wanting to keep them out of poverty.Where and how did Rachel find fulfillment?She had to find it in multiple places, not just through writing but visual art as well.Has Rachel’s definition of fulfillment changed throughout the years?She’s always found fulfillment in making people happy, but how she can make people happy has changed throughout the years.What cause is she most passionate about giving back to?Right now, it’s helping severely disadvantaged communities.Is giving back something that Rachel has always done, or only once she met a certain level of success?Giving back has always been essential to her, even when money was tight for her.How does she instill the importance of giving back in her own kids?Fostered sharing attitudes from a young age, using questions to guide their thinking.Who has been the most impactful person in Rachel’s journey to do well and achieve financial success?Perry BelcherWho has been the most impactful person in Rachel’s drive to do good?Stu McLaren, the creator of Tribe and Village ImpactWhen Rachel is having a bad day, what does she do to get herself out of her funk?She looks at her “proof folder,” which catalogues the people in her blogging course who are succeeding.What book does Rachel recommend to those seeking a more successful path in life? The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch Eat That Frog: Brian Tracy Explains the Truth About Frogs by Brian Tracy  What are the worst and best pieces of advice Rachel has received?Worst: Hustle hustle hustle at the expense of everything else.Best: Focus on your audience.Places to find Rachel:RachelMiller.comMoolah.Life Do Well & Do Good Challenge Nomination:“Village Impact, formally known as World Teacher Aid, is a Canadian charity dedicated to bringing education to students in rural areas of Kenya. Partnering with the local Kenyan government and VICDA (a Kenyan NGO), Village Impact has successfully built 11 schools. That’s 88 classrooms in Kenya, giving over 3000 students a daily education. As an organization we chose to focus on education as it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Donate a classroom and it will be a gift for years to come. Our schools are not your typical school. Instead of just providing education, we make our schools awesome by fostering entrepreneurship. With this focus the kids then become the spark that reignites the growth within their communities and villages. With this in mind, we have created several entrepreneur opportunities for students within our high schools. These include yearly summits set to inspire and teach about entrepreneurship as well as business clubs and contests within our schools. Together, Village Impact is dedicated to connecting the two villages (Kenya and the world), to have a lasting impact locally and globally. Together we can learn from each other and help each other grow, resulting in lasting change.”About Village ImpactLink to DonateVisit Do Well and Do Good’s free Facebook community here and arrange a one-on-one with Dorothy herself! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.