020. Earning six figures is a pretty big motivator, but you know what’s even more compelling? Needing to pay off six figures worth of debt...

That’s exactly what Debbie Gartner of The Flooring Girl blog was facing back in 2016, when she lost her flooring company, and suddenly found herself staring down the barrel of impending financial doom. 

Debbie actually started her first blog to help her get local clients to her physical business. She was a flooring consultant that helped people, mostly women, navigate the complexities of choosing and installing new flooring in their homes. She didn’t have a care or a thought in the world about actually monetizing the site itself.

But through a series of unfortunate events (that she can’t even discuss in detail due to a non-disclosure agreement), she found herself suddenly with no job, almost no money, and more than $238,000 in debt. 

Oh, and to top things off, she lived just outside of New York City, so she needed to be making $10,000 a month just to manage the debt and put food on the table. 

*Cue the panic attack!*

With few options in front of her, Debbie turned to her online blog for answers. She didn’t know anything about monetizing it at the time, but she had learned a lot about SEO in her efforts to use her website to bring in more physical clients to her business.

So, from there, she learned. And through a lot of hard work and what Debbie refers to as “grit,” she was able to: 

• become a highly sought-after SEO consultant, 
• make $1,100 her first month with ads and affiliate sales, 
• write two very successful ebooks on SEO techniques, 
• and grow her blog to over $20,000 per month in income.

Debbie’s journey to blogging success was anything but smooth, and she’s sharing all the gritty details with me in today’s podcast episode. 

In this episode, Debbie and I are discussing:

• Debbie’s journey from flooring salesperson to full-time blogger
• How she dug herself out of over $238,000 of debt
• The major role SEO played in her success
• Affiliate marketing pro tips
• Some big failures and bigger successes along the way
• And more.

For additional resources and show notes, visit the episode podcast page on our website.

Resources and Mentions:

• Debbie’s Blog: TheFlooringGirl.com 
• Debbie’s books, courses, resources, and more
• Debbie’s free SEO course
• Debbie’s free Amazon Associate guide
• Course Mentioned: Six Figure Blogger
• Tutorial: How to Start a Successful Blog
• Start your first blog with our Free 5-Day Blogging Bootcamp

For more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.