Welcome to the Scaling Success Stories series!
If you’re new to this series, I ask online entrepreneurs questions regarding growing and scaling their business.
This is the series description:
You can get your fill of online business tips by reading the other interviews on the Scaling Success Stories page.
Interview with Alexis Schroeder from Fitnancials
It was my pleasure interviewing Alexis Schroeder from Fitnancials, a popular blog on how to achieve financial freedom and grow your online business. Fitnancials began after Alexis dove into many side hustles while in college and it bloomed into a full-time business. She’s also the proud sister of Michelle Schroeder-Gardner, whom I interviewed a few months ago.
Check out what Alexis had to say to my questions!
1. Why did you start an online business and how does your passion still drive your business’ growth today?
My business didn’t start like others.
I never created Fitnancials with the intention of making any money from it.
My blog started purely as a weight loss blog. I would publish weight loss updates and fun workout tips.
About 3 years in, I noticed I was making money without necessarily trying. This is when I started getting intentional with my blog and business and created a plan for the direction I wanted to take it.
I recently decided to eliminate the weight loss aspect of my blog and am currently going through a rebrand, where I solely focus on personal finance and entrepreneurship.
My passion drives my business’ growth today because talking about growing an online business and achieving financial freedom comes natural to me. If I wasn’t passionate about these topics, my business wouldn’t be enjoyable for me anymore.
I get happiness from knowing that I’m helping women achieve financial freedom and find their dream online job.
2. At what point did you realize that your business was “taking off” and that you could really make money from it?
I realized that my business was taking off when I wasn’t even trying to make money from it. Fitnancials started as a hobby blog, meaning that I never had the intention of making money from it.
I was working full-time at a job that made me miserable, so I knew it was the right time to treat my blog as a business and go full-time. I was ready to take things seriously, instead of dabbling.
3. At what point did you realize you were living the life you wanted to?
When I woke up and genuinely enjoyed living every single day. Before, I was waking up completely dreading the work day and dreaming about the moment I would get home from work.
One of the proudest moments I’ve had because of my business is being able to take my mom on her dream vacation, which was a cruise to Alaska. I felt really proud to be able to do that at only 23 years old with my business income.
4. One of the biggest fears of outsourcing is trusting the people you hire to run your business the way you would. How did you overcome this and where did you find the right freelancers and employees to help you grow your business?
I do not have any team members on board in my business, but I do often hire out for various projects. I find my freelancers from Facebook blogging groups, Upwork, and word of mouth from blogging friends.
Right now, I am working with a professional branding and website designer. We are working together to create a branding and website theme that better explains how I can help women achieve financial freedom and grow their online business.
I’ve also outsourced graphic design projects, such as designing printables, freebies, and Pinterest pins. I’m not a graphic designer and don’t pretend to be.
Outsourcing has saved me countless hours, days, and weeks from doing a design project.
Editor’s note: Sarah Titus, Leah Gervais, and Melissa Stephenson all used referrals when outsourcing.
5. A common myth is that as you grow and scale your business, you have to sell your soul to make money, especially when you venture into paid advertising. How do you debunk this myth in your business?
The key is to create a strategic plan to grow and scale your business.
As my income started to plateau, I knew I needed to create another way to make money that is mostly passive and consistent with growth.
This is why I recently launched a digital product on making money with sponsored posts.
I’m also working on creating more digital products that my audience wants.
6. Why do you think most people fail to grow their businesses and what advice would you offer them to keep pushing, despite all the setbacks?
Most people do not treat their business as a legit business and give up when things get tough.
Growing a business is hard and can feel like an emotional rollercoaster.
There are months where things are going great – you’re making great money, feeling motivated, and putting ideas into action. Then there are times where things get tough, you hit roadblocks, and you’re not sure what your next move is.
It’s easy to quit – it’s harder to keep going when things are not smooth sailin’.
In my business, I’ve had times where I wanted to quit. It seemed like growth was stagnant and I felt lost. When this happens, I reach out to my friends that are business owners.
It’s great to get ideas from other people and work through the issues I am facing in my business.
Editor’s note: Carly Campbell, Suzi Whitford, and Jeff Proctor all mention how success doesn’t happen immediately, but that you still have to continue pushing.
7. How important has niching down been (no matter how hard it hurts) to your business’ growth and profitability?
I have found that niching down has been incredibly helpful for my business because when people land on my blog, they know exactly how I am going to help them.
Eliminating the fitness portion off my blog was a tough decision, but I’m glad I did it. It’s been tough writing about weight loss and personal finance – I think I confused a lot of people when they landed on my blog in the past.
Now, I’m an expert in a field and give my all to women who have 2 goals – achieving financial freedom and growing an online business.
8. What do you attribute your success to and how do you explain it? Do you think the same strategies will help you reach your next monetization goals? Why or why not?
There are several things that helped me achieve success in my business.
The biggest reason I have the success I’ve created from my business is due to my mindset.
Every day I devote about an hour a day to personal development and truly believe it’s been a game changer for my business.
When I first started taking my blog seriously, I had a lot of doubts in myself and struggled daily. Once I started working on my thoughts, things really changed in my business.
The second reason I have success is due to continuously working on education. I never stop learning when it comes to business and marketing.
I’ve enrolled in various courses that have been SO valuable to growing my business. These courses range from learning about getting traffic from Pinterest, Google SEO, creating six-figure digital products, affiliate marketing, and more.
I don’t think the same strategies will help me reach my next monetization goals. This is because I am currently building a six-figure business and what takes me to the next level will be different.
9. To scale, you really need to have a systemized business. What steps have you taken to build those systems and how do you optimize them?
I believe organization and time management is key to building a great business.
To make things easier for me and my business, I use different tools to stay on track and organized.
These tools range from a productivity planner, Gcalendar, Trello, and a simple note pad on my computer. Organization is a must for a successful business.
10. If you could speak face-to-face with yourself when you first started your business, what pearls of wisdom would you impart?
I’d tell myself that building a profitable business isn’t as easy as it may look and that I need to create a strategic approach for making money.
I wish I would’ve created paid products sooner than I did.
I’m still working on this but find that paid products are the best way to create consistent income from an online business.
Last but not least, I would tell myself to start an email list from day 1. I waited way too long to create a freebie opt-in and email list.
About Alexis Schroeder
Alexis Schroeder is the owner of Fitnancials, a blog dedicated to serving women who want to achieve financial freedom and grow their online business. With budgeting and numerous side hustles, Alexis paid off over $40,000 of student loans and debt in under 5 months. If you want to pay off debt, start a new career, you’ve landed in the right place.
Conclusion
Thanks for participating in my series, Alexis!
As you can tell, it’s NOT EASY growing and scaling an online business, but there are some things you can do to aid you in the process.
Inspired by Alexis?
Now, it’s your turn!
I assembled the Scaling Blueprint to show you how to…
- Outsource Effectively
- Systemize Your Business
- Shatter Your Revenue Goals
After working with six-figure and seven-figure clients, I know the difference between how they function.
Let me help you start scaling successfully.
Cheers to future success!
