This week Money Peach is officially a one year old.
On March 24th, 2015, I hit publish on my first blog post of Money Peach. The post was titled:
Read: We Were Paycheck to Paycheck our First Three Years of Marriage…Then we Paid Off $52 in 7 Months
That single post went on to be the most popular post I ever published with over 37k shares on social media as of March 24th, 2016 and now ranks as the most viewed page on the entire Money Peach website!
Random Person: “So, let me get this straight – you’re very first post (when you had no idea what you were doing) is the most popular post you’ve ever had?”
Peach: “Yes”
Both of us: “Holy Crap!”
How Did Blogging Start?
Well, let’s go back about 20 years to get a feel for what a blog really is. Right around the mid 90s, a change started happening in the business world. It went a little something like this…
If You Don’t Have a Website, Are You a Business?
The motto for the business world from….
If you have a business, you may want to create a website to…..if you don’t have a website, then you’re not really a business.
People like you and I like the ability to go online and get instant information about a business, a product, or a service. We like to read a review, see a picture, and find the relevant information in the next 7 seconds. Websites allowed all of this to happen.
Friend Request Sent
The next shift was increasing your exposure via social media. I don’t know about you, but if there is a product or service out there that doesn’t at least have a Facebook Page, I almost feel as if they aren’t a real business.
Think about the last time you visited a website that didn’t have the Facebook symbol somewhere on the homepage. How confident did you feel about that business or product?
Hence, the next step on the ladder was a social media presence.
So, what is going to be the next step after social media?
You guessed it: Blogging.
What the Hell is a Blog?
Great question (Dad)!. I’m sure you have heard the term before, but I am going to still answer the question people always are asking:
What the hell is a blog and what is it’s purpose?
Fun Fact
A blog actually comes from the phrase “Weblog”.
weB LOG → BLOG
Think of it as a website where you journal your thoughts, ideas, opinions, views, or anything else you feel like.
There are those famous Mommy Blogs where moms from all different walks of life tell their stories about motherhood.
There are the food blogs where foodies can post content related to recipes.
You may have seen a fitness blog where you read articles related to fitness and a tattoo blog where you can read about the latest trend on getting some ink.
There are millions of blogs out there from parenting, movie, pets, shopping, decorating, entertainment, and countless others. However in my opinion, the absolute best blogs to read are…..
Money Blogs!
*Note* This is my opinion and I am an expert in my opinion
What is the Point of a Blog?
There are really only 2 reasons for Blogging.
1. Hobby Blogging
You may just like writing and journaling your ideas, thoughts and opinions. Maybe you are going through a rough period in your life, and it makes you feel better to share it with whoever wants to read it. I have a friend who blogs about her strugles with skin cancer. It’s an in-your-face journal that gets to the point quickly of what she is dealing with. You can see more here:
Muscles and Melanoma
Maybe you are looking for advice on a parenting and you journal your struggles and wins with the world and wait for feedback. Maybe you are journaling from start to finish on a project, or you are creating a list of memories you can go back and look at later on.
The bottom line about this type of blogging is it’s simply a hobby. However, there are thousands upon thousands of stories where the Hobby Blogging turns into something much more 
This takes us into our second type of blog.
2. Professional Blogging
What do the following companies all have in common?
Wells Fargo
Reebok
Goodyear Tire
National Football League (NFL)
Southwest Airlines
Impact Physical Therapy
They all have a blog. In fact, just about every large company on the planet has a blog. Many people don’t realize this, but it’s true.
For example, the blog from Reebok has posts about fitness. The blog from Goodyear Tire has posts about tire maintenance and behind the scenes of the company. The blog for Southwest Airlines talks about everything from travel to their employees, and the blog for a small company like Impact Physical Therapy has content related to their services they offer.
For people like you and I, blogs offer us a place where we can go get extreme value for free! We can find a great recipe on a food blog or find the best stretching technique to prepare for our next full marathon <— for crazy people.
The blogs people actually read on a regular basis consistently provide awesome content and extreme value for you to gobble up. The best part is this: It’s Free…..for the reader.
Why Then Was Money Peach Created?
When I first started Money Peach, it was simply a blog roll. The homepage was just a list of articles I had been posting every few days about personal finance topics. My first post was basically an “About Me” post.
The subsequent posts have been topics relating to helping you learn about your money, implementing what you have learned, and thus changing your life by fixing one of the largest problems inside our lives today: money.
In the beginning, there simply wasn’t any money to be made from the blog on Money Peach. That wasn’t my focus at all. My focus was and stil is to provide you with as much value as I possibly can.
I didn’t want to hold back at all, and instead wanted to over deliver on the value each and every post. My goal was to grow an audience in the best way possible – by truly helping people with their money.
And that is exactly what happened.
They Gave Me an Award?
Because of the readers who voted, Money Peach was named the 2015 People’s Choice for the Best Personal Finance Blog in the minds of the people who matter – you!
This was a huge win for me because the only way to win that award is people have to actually go online and vote – which is exactly what many of you did!
By the way, thank-you!
I also started giving away a free monthly budget that Andrea (my hot wife) and I created together for ourselves in 2011. As of today, there are over 10,000 people using our little budget on a month-to-month basis.
10,000 People Every Month Use Our Family Budget
Send Me the Budget!
The emails I have received from people all over the world telling me they paid off a debt because of Money Peach, they finally cancelled their cable because of an article I posted, or they started DRIVING A PIECE OF CRAP, because of Money Peach, is proof that the value I intended to create for my readers is working!
Okay, now I know you must be thinking,
“Chris, you’ve put together this great blog and have helped a lot of people. Why are you continuing to do this if you’re not getting paid for it?”
Who said I wasn’t getting paid?
How Can You Make Money from Blogging?
Bloggers basically money in two ways:
1. Selling Advertisement on your Blog
People visit your blog a lot and advertisers know this. Let’s say you are Mommy Blogger and you have thousands of visitors a day. A company selling baby food or diapers would love to advertise on your blog. When someone clicks on an ad from your site and then buys something, you get a small comission. This may not sound like a lot of money, but think on a larger scale…your blog is available to the whole world.
2. Selling a Product or Service on Your Blog or Website
Someone sees an article of Facebook about the Top 10 Fears of Getting Botox. You are interested in it, so you click on the link and it takes you to a blog about Botox.
You read through the content and find a lot of value. The blogger talks about some DIY beauty secrets, some make-up tips, and something else that has to do with Botox – I am a guy and I am doing the best I can to talk about Botox
After reading through some posts, visiting the website a bunch, and seeing the posts on social media, you decide to host a Botox party at your house for the blogger you found on Facebook.
The blogger comes in and does Botox for 15 women (and men) at the party. She doesn’t charge you since you hosted the party, your friends think you’re awesome because you hosted the party, and the blogger earns $1,000 that night.
Remember how all of this started?
Blogging.
How Does Money Peach Make Money?
Money Peach generates income in three main ways, and they all are directly related to the blog.
Awesome Money Course
One-on-One Financial Coaching
Products or Services I recommend
Awesome Money Course
This was my main focus from day one. I knew that I could only do financial coaching for so many people either 1 on 1 or through my live classes, so therefore I needed to create something that people outside of my local area would benefit from.
I had a vision to someday build an online course where anyone in the world could take the course from the comfort of their home and on their own time.
I also had taken some courses in the past and they were….yawn….boring. I wanted something that people would enjoy, would learn, and most importantly – not want to vomit when taking a course about personal finance.
So, Awesome Money Course was created.
Awesome Money Course
Since the first launch of Awesome Money Course, there have been people from all over the world who are taking the course. I actually had to close the doors to the course offer until I could help facilitate people through the course!
This was all possible because of the blog.
*Note* Awesome Money Course is offered at different times throughout the year. Right now, I expect to open the doors to the course 3-4 times a year in order to be available to the students who are currently taking the course. If doors are closed, just add yourself to the list and I’ll notify a few weeks before the doors re-open.
Financial Coaching
Believe it or not, I didn’t really intend to do any one on one financial coaching through the blog. I didn’t advertise it and I never even mentioned that this was something I would offer.
However, many of you emailed me and asked me anyway. I was starting to receive emails from people all over the world asking if I would be their personal financial coach.
So, I said “yes”.
I have had the unique opportunity that I would have otherwise never had to coach people from all over the United States, Canada, Australia, and just recently in Uganda!
If you are interested in Financial Coaching, head on over to
Financial Coaching FAQs
This was all possible because of the blog.
Products or Services I Recommend
This is the least of my focus, but it is still another income stream for Money Peach. One of the main reasons why I don’t focus my business here is because I feel I can make a much better impact and deliver a lot more value through coaching in person or via Awesome Money Course.
Another reason is a lot of the products and services inside the personal finance space are crap. For example, there are credit companies and other debt products that pay a lot of money, but I won’t put that crap on my blog! I’m trying to get you out of debt, remember ?
Lastly, I will only recommend the products and services I actually use, and I don’t use 10,000 of them. I use the ones that will help you save money, pay down debt faster, and build wealth. If they don’t fall into those categories, you won’t see them on Money Peach.
If you are interested in the tools I use and recommend, head on over to
Tools I Recommend
You Need a Blog
My Grandpa had a bunch of land out in the middle of the desert in the late 60s. He thought it wasn’t worth anything and sold it to break even. A majority of that land out in the middle of nowhere is now called Scottsdale, Arizona. It’s worth millions.
My point is don’t look back and say, “I wish I would have created a blog years ago.”
Start paying attention – blogs are everywhere. What do you love to talk about? What do you love to do? What do people admire about you? What are your talents?
Yes, you need a blog.
Stay Tuned…
Next week’s blog is going to be a step-by-step on how to set up a blog. I will hold your hand through all the scary parts of creating your blog from scratch, and show you how simple it really is.
If a full-time firefighter, part-time blogger, can figure it out, then I promise you can too.
Thanks for hangin’ with me this last year and for all the good times you have shared with me!
Remember, it all started with a blog.
If You Like it, Please Share it!
As always, I first want to thank you for reading this blog because this means you are reaching for awesome with your money! I will keep putting content out there for anyone to gobble up and implement right away, however if you could help me out by sharing this post on your favorite social media platforms, it would mean the world to me! Just click on any of the social share buttons at the top or bottom of this post and you’ll be giving me a virtual fist bump, high-five, and a pat on the back. Thank you again and again!
-Chris Peach
The post It all Started with a Blog About Money appeared first on Money Peach.