Cate Rosales: How to Simplify Blogging and Finally Make Money Online

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 Cate Rosales from Sweet & Simple Life

It was my pleasure interviewing Cate Rosales, founder of Sweet & Simple Life, who helps other women learn to make money blogging and live life on their own terms.  Cate loves to help her audience simplify the daily grind so they can enjoy the sweetness of life and motherhood.

Check out what Cate 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?

There were really a few underlying reasons for starting my business, but the one that stands out in my mind is being tired and discouraged from my day job.

The days were long and stressful, and my boss didn’t appreciate me… On top of that, I barely made enough money to cover living expenses.

I remember long conversations with my husband about how much he loved his job and enjoyed the daily challenges that came with it, and I felt a little jealous.

I couldn’t imagine LOVING going to work!

I started doing some research and brainstorming potential business ideas, but the REAL motivation came when I got pregnant with my first baby. There is just something about becoming a mother and knowing that this human life will be relying on you.

I remember thinking…

How is my crappy day job going to put her through school? How am I going to teach her to respect herself when I allow my boss to bully me constantly?

My husband was working overtime and going to school, so picking up the slack was on me.

That realization changed my whole thought process, from just paying the bills to actually choosing a life and future that I wanted for myself and my family.

I know it sounds cliché, but that’s what drives me to work hard every day.

Failure is not an option.

I never want to find myself in the position I was in back then, working for a mean boss at a job that actually keeps me from excelling in life.

And I never want my children to worry about where their next meal is coming from. Being strong, and reliable, and setting a good example for them will always be motivation enough to keep me in business!

2. At what point did you realize that your business was “taking off” and that you could really make money from it?

After about six months of hard work in my business, I started to see promising growth. It wasn’t massive on the grand scale, but I was making over $1,000 each month and I was LOVING my work.

To think, it all started because I just woke up one day and told my husband…

I think I want to start a blog and try to make money from my writing.

We talked it out and did our research and decided we would give it a one-year trial period.

I had done the hobby blog thing and the freelance writing thing a bit over the years, but never even tried to build a sustainable business from it.

The fact that I was working for myself, making money, and having a positive impact on my readers?

Man, it was just the best feeling ever!

Every blog comment made me do a happy dance. Every sale had me jumping up and down. Every new follower made my heart skip.

I felt empowered in a way I never knew existed.

And I felt more motivated than ever to keep growing my little side business so that I could actually walk away from my soul-sucking day job.

3. At what point did you realize you were living the life you wanted to?

I remember the day like it was yesterday. It was about a year and a half into my self-employed journey and I had finally walked away from that day job that I hated.

It was my highest earning month from my blog and it was also the first time in my life I had earned over $7,000 in a single month.

I was at the beach on a random Tuesday with my two babies, a toddler and a newborn. For the longest time, I dreamed of being able to just drive down to the beach on a weekday, just for the heck of it.

I dreamed of being able to pay for beach parking without having to check my bank balance.

And out of nowhere, I was there. Working for myself, spending my days with my babies, making good money, and answering to no one… and also living without the fear of getting an overdraft fee just because I made a small unplanned purchase.

Now, don’t get me wrong: my life is far from perfect.

I’m still learning big lessons and working toward a better life all the time.

I’m still paying off debt from a car accident that nearly killed my husband. I’m still working on streamlining and automating so that I can have more time for the people that I love.

I don’t make seven figures or own a summer house or a yacht.

This is my reality and I’m perfectly fine with it!

It’s still the life that I want because I’m living it on MY TERMS and I have the means to take care of business… and that is an amazing feeling.

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?

This is definitely (and by far) one of my biggest fears in running my business. This is my baby and I have worked so hard to nurture it and make it grow. I have outsourced a few small things this year, and I know that I need to outsource even more to keep these wheels in motion!

What I am learning is that building a network of trustworthy business owners in your field is invaluable.

The recommendation of a trusted friend is a beautiful thing. Whenever I need to outsource something, I immediately go to my trusted network and ask for recommendations. They haven’t let me down yet!

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?

There are so many ways to ethically and responsibly scale your business. If you are working hard to provide value for your audience, then the best way to serve them is to get that value in front of them, whether it’s through organic reach or paid advertising.

As a business owner, you should always be willing to try new things, and paid advertising is one of those things that works for a reason.

As for my own website: I have never had any form of advertising on my website that I did not approve of or believe in wholeheartedly. I personally don’t run ads through an ad network at this time, but I do a lot of affiliate marketing and sponsored work.

Priority number one is giving my audience something that will make their life easier or better.

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?

I think a lot of people have unrealistic expectations about the work and the investment involved.

Because we see these gorgeous “laptop lifestyle” Instagram accounts and these massive income reports that make everything seem so easy.

It’s a common theme for some people to want things to come “easy” or “free.”

And there’s just no such thing.

Growing your own profitable business takes time, effort, and investment. And it isn’t for the faint of heart! I might look like I have it all together some days, but there have been a lot of tears cried on this dusty old laptop.

My best advice for someone dealing with a setback: if you’re tired or discouraged, you should take a break, but you shouldn’t give up.

Because we’re all going to have hard days (and hard months). We’re all going to second guess ourselves and wonder if we’re just wasting our time.

You are NOT wasting your time.

You have something valuable to offer and you are capable of so much more than you realize. So, take a walk or take a nap, and then get back to work.

If something isn’t working, don’t be afraid to ask for help or make an adjustment. Consistent strategic action is going to get you where you want to go!

I heard this quote once, and I don’t know who it originally came from, but it always stuck with me: “I can’t promise that it will be easy, but I can promise that it will be worth it.”

7. How important has niching down been (no matter how hard it hurts) to your business’ growth and profitability?

Oh man, having a niche audience has been essential for my growth and profitability.

I preach about this constantly and it’s a huge pet peeve of mine when people say you don’t need a niche. To me, your niche is the specific audience that needs specific things from you.

If you don’t have your own well-defined audience in mind, how will you ever know what your people need from you?

Granted, I do come from a business background and I studied business in college, so I already knew (long before starting my own business) that you can’t be everything to everyone. You have to choose a targeted audience and fill their needs if you want to have a profitable business.

If you want to buy a car, you go to a car salesman. If you want to get your hair done, you go to a hairstylist.

Those businesses are successful because they know their audience and they focus on filling that specific need for that specific person.

From my experience as a blogger, I’ve learned that you can write about a variety of things, but you can really only profit from that “specific thing” that creates value for a specific group of people.

I truly believe niching down was a huge key to my success.

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?

My success comes from my desire to help people, my consistent effort, and true grit. I love doing the hard, scary, uncomfortable things that push me to do better and be better.

The strategies I’ve used in my business have served me well over the past few years, and if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it!

I’m always investing in new resources and finding ways to improve my efficiency, but other than that, working hard and helping people will always be my strategy for success.

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?

Having a Type-A personality makes this pretty easy for me.

I’m all about systems and organization.

I have a daily to-do list that I follow religiously and a monthly calendar that I fill/organize on Sunday nights. My days do have some level of flexibility, but there are also several non-negotiables in my schedule.

I also invest in a few helpful tools to automate things that don’t require my direct attention, like Tailwind and email automation.

10. If you could speak face-to-face with yourself when you first started your business, what pearls of wisdom would you impart?

Everything is going to work out in the end, so remember to take deep breaths, take care of your body and mind, and enjoy yourself along the way!

About Cate Rosales

Cate Rosales is the blogger and business owner behind SweetandSimpleLife.com and the online community Becoming a Blogger. Her passion is for helping aspiring entrepreneurs SIMPLIFY the business of blogging and make more money so they can live life on their own terms. You can find her roadmap to blogging success in her premium program, Becoming a Blogger.

Interested in Learning From Cate?

Cate has multiple courses that help newer bloggers progress their businesses. Start with Becoming a Blogger, an easy step-by-step guide to starting, growing and monetizing your blog (in one year or less!). Once your blog is up and rolling, you’ll definitely want to take Pinterest, Simplified and Affiliate Marketing, Simplified! in order to boost your traffic and your income!

These courses are designed for people who…

1. Want a step-by-step guide to walk you through starting, growing and monetizing your blog.
2. Feel like their spinning their wheels and want to gain traction.
3.  Need a Pinterest road map to get started.
4. Are Looking to make money with affiliate marketing.

If this sounds like you, then Cate’s course might be exactly what you’re looking for!

The best part about these courses is they are reasonably priced. All the information you get is a steal! They are easy to follow and easy to apply to your own blog. 

That’s right…

Even as a successful full-time blogger, there are things that I’ve learned that I would have never thought of!

If you are looking to learn how to blog, how to grow your traffic and how to earn money, these courses are a must.

Start Earning Today!

Conclusion

Thanks for participating in my series, Cate!

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 Cate?

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.

Get My FREE Blueprint!

Cheers to future success!