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As the famous expression goes,” money makes the world go round,” which is why we were super excited to touch base with the site runner for the popular financial blog, Money Crashers!
Money Crashers has built a massive audience of nearly 2M monthly viewers with their educational, money-focused content. Their mission is to educate individuals in making wise choices about finances. From credit cards and banking recommendations to advice on investing and running a small business, their articles are relevant to anyone looking to expand their assets.
We were lucky to get an inside perspective on running such a popular site and how they’ve managed to find success in the affiliate space from their founder and CEO, Andrew Schrage.
Q: What inspired you to start the site, Money Crashers?
A: We believe that knowledge is power and that financial knowledge, specifically, is the key to long-term prosperity. We’ve made it our mission to empower our readers — everyday consumers and entrepreneurs — to increase their financial literacy and improve their collective ability to distinguish trustworthy, accurate finance-related information from everything else.
Q: Who is your target audience?
A: There’s a place at Money Crashers for anyone who shares our aims. If you’d like to improve your personal financial literacy and tap a reliable, abundant source of trustworthy information about all things money-related, you’re welcome anytime.
Q: How were you able to build a readership and how long did it take you?
A: In short, by never wavering from our mission and putting in countless hours to bring it to life. We’ve learned that our audience respects hard work and authenticity, and we’re fortunate that that work has paid off. Of course, our efforts continue; in this business, you can never take your foot off the gas.
Q: How do most people come across your site?
A: We’re fortunate to have a variety of audience touch points, from social media to organic search to earned media to a well-read email newsletter. One of our keys to marketing success is our broad-based approach.
Q: What is the curation process for the content you decide to create and feature? Which type of content is the most popular? Which performs the best?
A: We always reach back to our original mission: to improve our audience’s financial literacy and provide accurate, trustworthy information on subjects our readers want to learn about. We don’t publish or share content that doesn’t meet those tests. With regards to content that survives our rigorous prepublication process, we find a strong correlation between timeliness and performance — though many of our most popular pieces and types of content remain relevant for years.
Q: What do you see in the future of affiliate marketing, especially as it relates to Money Crashers?
A: Affiliate marketing is already important for brands aiming to increase visibility for their products and services, and will only become more so as digital media continue to increase market share over legacy channels. In this environment, partnerships with top publications like Money Crashers will provide essential support for these efforts.
Q: How have you built relationships with the brands you feature on your site?
A: We’re committed to promoting only those products, tools, and services that we know to be high-quality and that we know will provide day-to-day value and utility for members of our audience. In keeping with our broader mission, we only promote what we can stand by.
Q: What is the most unexpected thing you’ve learned in the process of running Money Crashers?
A: Readers are fiercely loyal to publishers that they see as trustworthy sources of value. This cuts against the narrative, often taken as an article of faith in digital media, that brands shouldn’t bother cultivating loyal audiences.
Q: How has COVID affected running Money Crashers?
A: This year, we’ve focused on doing what we’ve always done: publishing the high-quality money-related content that our audience expects from us. Naturally, this has involved quite a bit of discussion of the pandemic, its economic effects, and the implications for our readers’ lives and finances.
Q: How did you begin working with Advertise Purple and what has been the result thus far?
A: We’ve been working with and promoting a number of AdvertisePurple client accounts on Money Crashers. So far, we’re pleased by the great success we’ve seen with regards with the brand exposure and traffic we’ve been able to send to some of these accounts.
Q: What do you see in the future of affiliate marketing, especially as it relates to Money Crashers?
A: Affiliate marketing is already important for brands aiming to increase visibility for their products and services, and will only become more so as digital media continue to increase market share over legacy channels. In this environment, partnerships with top publications like Money Crashers will provide essential support for these efforts.
Q: What are some initiatives you have in the pipeline for your site?
A: In the months ahead, we’re excited to continue growing our social channels, building on the growth we’ve already seen there, while keeping our site design fresh and easy for readers to use. And, as always, we’ll never stop delivering high-quality, unique content that tackles important, timely topics and trends.
Q: Which part of your site are you the most proud of? Do you have any success stories that you want to share?
A: We have a lot to be proud of at Money Crashers, but we’re especially grateful for our hardworking team and our loyal, enthusiastic readers whose insightful feedback makes us better every day.
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Thanks so much Andrew!
