How Attaliah Pivoted and Became a Successful Blogger

Attaliah is a successful blogger and influencer who has pivoted beautifully a few times.

She was already successful, and then she joined the Monetization Accelerator Program. She really grew in that program. And now, she’s gone on to do even bigger and better things.

We’re going to talk to her about her story, how she pivoted, how she was able to increase her income, and how she went from having a beautiful, thriving Instagram account to actually one that was making a full-time income.

Attaliah, go ahead and introduce yourself.

Okay. Hello everyone. I am Attaliah Strubel at attaliahstrubel.com.

Like you said, I’m a stream of everything. I am actually a nurse by trade. In January, I quit my full-time job, and now I work full time online. So, I’m a lifestyle blogger with a social media tea; I have a blog about travel, digital marketing, and lifestyle.

After George Floyd’s death, you pivoted from travel blogging to help companies work on inclusivity. Can you talk about that a little bit – that pivot, what made you pivot, and how you monetized that?

So, originally, I just kind of felt that that was where I needed to be.

I wrote a blog post, and it just talked about Black Lives Matter, sharing the truth. What made me pivot at that point was just because I saw that I opened up conversation in my inbox.

I said, “Let’s have this conversation. Anybody can DM me. I’m not going to judge you, give me whatever it is and I’ll give you a straight up answer.”

And so at that time, I wrote a full-on blog post about it all. And then I started to do brand inclusion audits; I was looking at people’s businesses, looking how are they inclusive or not inclusive. I did consultations for a couple of people. Then, I had a mini training that I then sold to a company for them to use.

What were your next steps after that? You were growing your Instagram, your Instagram account had grown pretty quickly, you pivoted to the inclusivity. What did you do then?

I started creating Instagram Reels.

And then I was offered by a larger nursing company to start doing social media management for them. So, then I started doing that and started managing their social media. Then I started growing like fire with Instagram Reels.

So your Instagram Reels were growing your account, people were starting to take notice. And so at what point did you feel like, “I need help knowing what to do with this”?

I think it was the point where my Reel freebie was doing really well.

Multiple people had signed up, and then I wondered, “Okay, how do I monetize this? Where do I go from here? I can create a freebie, I know how to set up an email list, but then I don’t know where to go from there. I need a funnel and all of this stuff to be a successful blogger.” And I’m like, “I can’t possibly do this on my own.”

So, tell me about your journey in the Monetization Accelerator Program.

In the program, we did our one-on-one pretty early. I knew what I wanted to make, and then I did a beta that month, where I went live and we had the course. And at that point it was like $50. I think I was like, “Okay, just $50. I’m only taking five people just to see and test and see which things stick? Is it working for everybody?”

Because it had just worked for me, and I hadn’t really gone out there and tried to help someone else do it. So I didn’t want everything to be based on just my experience and not other people’s experience.

And then after that, I ended up leaving it on the group, and I sold it publicly. And I remember, it was $97 by then and I had 15 people sign up from that launch.

Then I did a launch at $150. I had 10 people sign up on that one. So it was around $1000. But by then, I finally got ThriveCart and so I had it all on there.

And since then, probably just with that course alone, I made back my investment plus. I think I’ve made over $2,500 ish from just that course, and actually stopped. I stopped because I want to put it on a platform. It was getting to the point where I was like, “I’m constantly on there. I want to make it evergreen.” And so that’s where I’m at now. I’m working on it and it’s going to relaunch again.

I love how you just took action. And you did really, really well for a beta for two launches that didn’t even involve your email list. What do you think it was that really connected the dots for you to finally become a successful blogger?

I think it was all the setting up.

On our first call, you set it up for me to be like, “Okay, once you do this, this is the next step.”

I wouldn’t have known about ThriveCart, for example. It was just that support and those items, those checklist items for me to be like, “Okay, this is what I need to do.”

And with the emails, especially with copying and all of that. As I said, I’m a nurse, so I didn’t go to school for all of that stuff and writing. I enjoy writing, but I’m like, “I want to make sure that I’m direct with my consumers.” And then it was easier to do that because there was just a plan. It was all planned out for me.

I’m wondering if you have any advice on how people can be more competent about when to pivot and how to pivot?

I think for me, the pivot just happened naturally. It was something that people were constantly asking me for something and then I provided what they were asking for. And so because of that, I was able to pivot in that way.

So just paying attention to what it is that people are really relying on you for, or that are asking you for, or they’re wondering if you can help them. Those are the kinds of things that I leaned into and I was like, “This is what I need to lean into more right now.” That’s what makes a successful blogger.

Really paying attention to your market and listening to how people are relying on you so you can sell it. What’s coming up in the future?

So I’m relaunching the Instagram Reels course.

At this point, people are asking me to do one-on-ones with them. So, I have a couple of social media management clients. I am working on that, leaning in, seeing if that’s something that is for me.

And, I have a Instagram Story Vault Ebook that I did last week, which was something that you talked about – having the different levels of products. And so that was my $27 product. Last week I made $500 from that.

And it’s something that I did over the weekend.

How much money were you making per month before the program and how much are you averaging now per month?

So before the program, I was making $0 off of my blog. I had a couple of affiliate links, but I wasn’t really making money off of them. I learned in the program how to market that, how to use those items and put them in the right places, making sure that with my blog posts, I’m directing them to my freebies and then having my funnels. And that for me really was probably the biggest takeaway is having everything to where it leads people to where you want them to go.

Now, I am averaging about $4,500 a month.

I think people hear about blogging and passive income and affiliates and think, “Okay, to be a successful blogger, I’m going to write a blog review about this affiliate and it’s just going to make money.”

But really having that strategy in place of like, “I’m going to bring them into my world. I’m going to educate them. And then I’m going to tell them about the thing that if they buy it, it will help them.” And then you make money from it.

What advice do you have for someone who’s just starting out?

I would say, invest in yourself. My husband’s always like, “Oh, you’re like a chronic investor in yourself.”

That’s the only way to be a successful blogger, though, because it’s going to take so much longer to go Google everything. And for me, last year in March is when I launched my blog. And this year in January, I quit my job.

Do you have advice for the person who has a big audience, like you do, and just doesn’t know how to make money from it?

Successful bloggers stop doing stuff for free!

Think about how you can take your expertise and make an income from it.

Obviously we’re always going to be nurturing, and you’re going to always give your audience information, but to be constantly putting information for free or working for brands for exchanges – exchanges don’t feed you. So just make sure that you’re taking the time to figure out how something benefits you and how you can also provide for others.

You gave us some good advice for new people, which is to invest in yourself, and you gave some really good advice for more experienced people too. Is there anything else you want to add to help people become a successful blogger?

If you are thinking about getting into M.A.P, jump in.

It is 120,000% worth the investment. It honestly changed my whole business. It’s not only about blogging, there’s just so much that’s in there that Alison provides for you. And it is powerful.

Thank you so much. Well, this was helpful. I think you dropped a ton of value. Where can we follow you for your Reels course or for anything else?

My website is www.attaliahstrubel.com, and all my social is Attaliah Strubel. I have YouTube, Instagram, I’m on TikTok – we’re on everything. Repurpose all your content!

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