Entrepreneur: Logan Allec

Biz: Money Done Right

Tilt: Helping everyday people make, save, and grow money.  

Primary Channel: Website (150K views monthly)

Other Channels: YouTube (122K), Pinterest (117.8K monthly views), Instagram (1.2K), Twitter (1.9K) 

Time to First Dollar: 1 month 

Rev Streams: Affiliate links

Our Favorite Actionable Advice: 

  • Become the expert: Logan used his site’s top Google rankings to determine what content verticals he would double down on and become a subject matter expert.
  • Think useful first: Content needs to help the reader first. Quality information will net clicks, which could lead to affiliate or other revenue. 
  • Repurpose content: Logan doesn’t have a one-and-done publishing mentality. He transforms his blogs into related videos to attract a wider audience.

The Story

In early 2017 Logan Allec, a certified public accountant, turned his money know-how into a consumer finance blog called Money Done Right. His mission? To help everyday people make, save, and grow money. While he started the blog to earn some money, he never anticipated it would become his full-time job, with affiliate links earning the majority of his revenue. 

In the past four years, he has grown his site to more than 150K views per month, earning $500K in revenue in 2020. He and his editorial team provide readers “with informative, positive, appealing, and actionable financial content.”

Logan Allec of @MoneyDoneRight started his #personalfinance blog to earn some money, but he never anticipated earning $500K in 2020. #contentbusiness #creatoreconomy Click To Tweet

Here is how he has done it. 

Nail your vertical 

Logan believes the key to his success has been nailing his vertical. And no, we aren’t talking about the orientation of images on his blog. A content vertical (or tilt) is a niche within a bigger topic. Logan’s blog is about personal finance, but he writes extensively about verticals inside that topic. His goal is to be the subject matter expert on his chosen verticals.

“When I looked on Google Analytics, my site originally was earning (traffic) for all kinds of stuff. We had a vertical in banking, insurance, and even had a little mortgage stuff,” Logan says. “I can tell what Google views the site is about by looking at what it ranks. So if Google thinks my site is about these things, I’m not going to try to fight that. I’m just going to try to double down on it,” he says.  

Over the years, this method has helped Money Done Right rank well on Google. “Over 90% of our site visitors are direct traffic (from search),” he says. An in-depth content library for his verticals makes that possible. 

“You want readers and Google to see you as the most authoritative site on the web on whatever you write about,” Logan says.

Build a content library in your vertical to be seen as the most authoritative site on the topic, says Logan Allec of @MoneyDoneRight. #contententrepreneur Click To Tweet

Content before money

Logan also knew his content library had to be useful or it wouldn’t attract readers who would click on the affiliate links published on Monday Done Right, which could bring him revenue if the reader converts on the affiliate site (signing up for an email, purchasing a product, etc.)   

“We’re not gonna over-monetize the content,” he says. “Our role is to inform the reader about whatever the topic is, and if they think whatever we are promoting in that article is a good fit for them, they can click the affiliate link if they want.”

Transparency is so critical for Logan that he detailed how he makes money on his site. “While our partnerships may influence which companies we review, they do not influence the reviews themselves,” he writes. 

Brand partnerships may influence which companies are reviewed but not the reviews themselves, says Logan Allec of @moneydoneright. #sponsors #contentbusiness Click To Tweet

“I think that’s our main differentiator – the integrity and the objectivity of the content. We really leave it up to the reader to decide for themselves if they want to click links. We aren’t writing the article almost as an advertisement to significantly influence them to click,” Logan explains. 

Same content in another format

To expand access to his content, Logan has added videos to his lineup. While this is new content per se, it also is repackaged content from the blog.

“Right now, I’m creating a YouTube video for every blog post that’s published. I think that integration is somewhat notable because while I do see some other sites doing this as well, it’s not necessarily mainstream,” Logan says.

The videos also allow Logan to promote additional related content too. “If someone searches for a Robin Hood app review, we have a blog post explaining how it works and the pros and cons.  But then we can say, ‘Hey, if you want a full walk-through of the app, check out this video,’” he says.

“It is all about putting yourself in the reader’s shoes to determine what would be the most helpful for someone trying to make a decision,” Logan says. 

About the author

Kimmy Gustafson is a freelance writer with a passion for sharing stories of bravery. Her love for world traveling began when her family moved to Spain when she was 6 and since then, she has lived overseas extensively, visited six continents, and traveled to over 26 countries. She is fluent in Spanish and conversational in French. Currently, she is based on Maui and, when not writing or parenting, she can be found kiteboarding, hiking, or cooking.