20 Life Changing Stories from the World’s Top Bloggers

Blogging has completely changed everything on the internet. Through the use of WordPress it’s never been easier to start a web site and create content online. Not only have blogging been powerful for brands and businesses of all sizes, but also as a foundation and platform for individuals to have a voice of their own as well.

When I launched this blog back in 2007, I never thought it would have grown what it is today and brought in many of the amazing opportunities it has. Once such opportunity being the launch of my “Rise of the Entrepreneur“, where I connect with some of my closest friends in the industry and share their stories of how they got to where they are today.

With over 70 episodes in the books so far, it’s definitely become one of the best ways for me to give back to the community, while also building something much more valuable than just another written blog posts. Podcasting is amazing and brings stories and motivation to life.

Of the 70+ shows I’ve done, I wanted to hand pick 20 of the best episodes that were focused on the power of blogging and what can come from it. Enjoy!

20 Great Blogging Stories You Will Never Forget

Jeremy Schoemaker and the “ShoeMoney” Brand

As one of the most well known affiliate marketers and bloggers in our space, Jeremy was not on a path for success when he was first starting out. He was overweight and stuck in a bunch of dead end jobs that he hated. While working at his 9-5 job, he was actually building out his own mobile based sites and eventually got fired. Good thing he did, because everything started to around for Jeremy and through his blog at ShoeMoney.com, he’s been sharing his journey while also creating an amazing seven figure a year brand and business in the process!

John Loomer and the Power of Facebook Ads

Blogs get started for a lot of reasons and it’s always interesting to see how they will develop into much more over time. In the case of Jon Loomer, he wasn’t sure where his blog, or even his future employment would be coming from. After having success in other areas, Jon decided to dive into the world of Facebook Advertising and nothing else — he simply wanted to be the best at Facebook Ads! A few years later and Jon is now one of the most respected and sought after names for everything Facebook Ads related.

Brian Clark and the Power of Content Marketing

I first met Brian Clark many years ago when the affiliate conferences were on cruise ships! Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to watch CopyBlogger grow from a simple blog, to the mega powerhouse company and business it is today. It’s amazing to hear Brian’s story of not only how he got his start in the online world, but also how he was able to scale his CopyBlogger into what it is today.

Michael Stelzner and the Social Media Examiner Brand

Imagine being able to create a blog and having all of your big wig industry friends contribute to it, and then spinning that success into a podcast, online conference and an offline conference that has an opening party on an air craft carrier! Well, all of that and more is the real life story of Michael Stelzner and how he created what is now known today as Social Media Examiner — one of the largest social media based sites on the internet today.

Syed Balkhi, the Wizard of WordPress

Another close friend of mine, Syed is not only the creator of the insanely popular WordPress plugin OptinMonster, but he’s also the brains behind sites like List25.com and WPBeginner.com — he’s also originally from Pakistan and shares quite a story in this interview. I’ve known Syed for several years now and it’s always fascinating to see what he’s working on next. In addition to being an extremely smart persons, he’s also a great guy to connect with and hang out at conferences as well. If you ever see him, be sure to ask him a question about WordPress!

Brian Dean Shares the Secrets of SEO and Link Building

In the world of SEO, there are only a few people that I recommend listening to… and Brian Dean is one of them. Through his blog at Backlinko.com, Brian shares his creative and step-by-step tutorials on how to create killer content and build high value backlinks to a site, there is really no reason for anyone to not find success online. It’s seems like Brian Dean only started online a couple years ago, but his knowledge and skills are that of a well-trained veteran! This episode is a must for every site owner.

Ian Cleary, The Social Media Tools Guy

I heard the name Ian Clearly being tossed around about two years ago, and then I had the opportunity to connect with him while at Social Media Marketing World in San Diego. Long story short, we talked during the conference and have become very good friends every since. In this episode, Ian talks about how he made the decision to be the “go to” source for everything social media tools through his RazorSocial.com blog. The key point here is that he’s the master at “social media tools” and not “social media” — this means all the difference in the world when trying to become the “authority” within any given niche.

Matthew Woodward and How to Create a Top 100 Blog

Matthew Woodward is an affiliate marketer and site owner who uses his blog at MatthewWoodward.co.uk to share his out-of-the-box thinking to make money online through different marketing techniques. That may seem like a mouthful, because it is. Matthew’s blog is packed with so many tutorials and detailed posts, that he’s actually been awarded a top blogger through many different outlets and has successfully made the leap to full-time affiliate marketer and blogger — while also loving every minute of it.

John Chow, the Master of Blog Monetization

If you don’t know who John Chow is, then you probably haven’t been in the world of blogging very long. Several years ago John Chow launched his blog at JohnChow.com with the intention to share picture of what he’s eating for dinner and keeping his friends and family updated with his life. Then John started talking about making money online and one of his readers called him out and said, how can you talk about making money online when you don’t make money with your blog? Well, John took it to heart and soon was making $40,000 a month with his blog. Jump forward to today and John’s blog consistently earns over six figures per month!

Dave Taylor Pays His Mortgage with Google Adsense

One of the most common ways to make money on the internet is through the use of Google Adsense — you get people to your site and make money when they click on your ads. The concept works well, especially if you can get a lot of people coming to your site and clicking on those relevant ads. For Dave Taylor, this concept worked so well that he was able to start paying off his mortgage with is Google Adsense checks and by writing daily content to his AskDaveTaylor.com blog. Want to make money for answering questions? Then this episode will be great for you.

Daniel Scocco Shares His Daily Blog Tips

With millions of bloggers in the world today, when someone wants to start or grow a blog, they are going to search out the top sites and follow what they have to say. Daniel Scocco is the creator of DailyBlogTips, which has become one of the top blogging resource sites on the internet. If you ever get a chance to visit his site, you’ll notice the super clean design and how there aren’t many ads on it. Be sure to listen in to this episode to discover how Daniel has been able to monetize his sites and expand into other areas beyond just blogging.

Neil Patel – Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, and Analytics Expert

When you think about SEO, the name Neil Patel probably comes to mind. Neil is another good friend of mine and it’s been amazing to watch what he’s been able to do for his personal brand, business and his blog at QuickSprout.com. Through a combination of great content, viral infographic, proven results and being a likable guy, Neil Patel has definitely become one of the most well known and successful bloggers and marketers in the world today.

Spencer Haws and Dominating Your Niche

People like to say there are riches in niches, and that was definitely the case for Spencer Hawes, who found early success with the idea of creating mini niche sites and monetizing them through the use of Amazon and Google Adsense. Spencer is also the creator of LongTailPro and blogs at NichePursuits.com, where he shares his case studies, tutorials and what he’s currently working on today. While Spencer found a ton of success in the niche site industry, without his blog he simply never would have been able to scale his name, software and business to what it is today.

Dan Schawbel and the Power of Personal Branding

In Dan Schawbel’s case, he has been able to leverage his blog as one of the leading experts in the world for building your personal brand. Through his blog, Dan shares his personal stories, advice and the best way to build a positive and respectable brand for yourself in this new and exciting world of social media and search.

Jeff Bullas and Blogging the Smart Way

Another amazing story that strictly originated from the concept of building out a blog and having a clear focus on where you want to be. Jeff started his blog at JeffBullas.com after going through a job change and other life-changing situations and was looking to start something new. Through his blog, Jeff has been able to establish himself as one of the most influential bloggers and social media marketers in the world today! Now Jeff gets to travel the world and share his stories of blogging success to inspire others along the way.

Jeni Hott and Becoming a Seven Figure Blogger

Blogging doesn’t have to be about personal stories or daily posts that go in a sequence. For Jeni Hott, her blog was more of a resource site and covers everything you could possibly think of in the HGC Diet space. By ranking extremely high in the search results for many competitive terms and through monetization methods such as Google Adsense and affiliate monetization, Jeni has earned millions of dollars through her site and has never looked back.

Mike Thomas Interviews His Way to Success

Millions of blogs are started for the first time every day. The majority of these new bloggers and online marketers need to walk through the same path as every other blogger and marketer once did… those who document their journey and interview/ask questions from other experts along the way are building up quite a resource for themselves in the process. This is exactly what Mike Thomas was able to do with his site, while also building his own business — which has allowed him to live the dot com lifestyle and generate a full time income from the comfort of his own home, or anywhere else he likes!

Brian Warner Talks Celebrity Networth

Have you ever looked up the net worth of of one of your favorite celebrities or entrepreneurs? If you did, you probably ended up at Brian’s blog at CelebrityNetworth.com. Today the site is one of the largest financial resources on the internet today, but it actually all started off as a side project and hobby when Brian was doing his first write up on Adam Sandler and his movie earnings. The blog has expanded to an amazing resource with not only thousands of individual profiles, but also detailed blog posts on celebrity net worths and more.

Chris Guthrie & How to Make Money with Amazon

We all use Amazon.com on a daily basis, but mostly as online shopper. While some have figured out how to master the art of making money through Amazon’s affiliate program, others are mastering the art of creating their own products and selling through Amazon’s FBA program. This is something Chris Guthrie just got into recently, already having had success making money with Amazon on the affiliate site. It’s a completely different world and the barrier of entry is not only more pricey and time consuming than affiliate marketing, but so it the upside!

John Lee Dumas’ Seven Figure Podcasting Empire

Just like the world of blogging has changed everything over the years, podcasting is now doing the same thing. John Lee Dumas is one of the most well-known and successful podcasters in the world today. While other people are releasing podcasts once or twice a week, John decided to go with a different approach and launch his own daily podcast. The result was amazing and six-figure months are now a monthly occurrence with him. Through his blog at Entrepreneur on Fire, John is able to tap into his audience outside of the podcast, build lead generation to his weekly webinars and also offering an online training course to Podcaster’s Paradise where he teaches other would-be podcasters how to do the same! John has also recently passed the 1,000 episode mark with his show.

Now It’s Time to Create Your Own Story!

Being able to connect with each of these industry experts has been a great accomplishment and I’m very excited to see who else will be added to the list in the coming months and years… maybe it will even be you?

If you are still sitting on the sidelines and haven’t setup a blog of your own yet, be sure to check out my in depth how to start a blog tutorial, where I walk you through the whole process from beginning to end. Just remember… for most of the millionaire entrepreneurs featured above — it all started with a blog!