11 Questions with Billionaire Blog Club Founder, Paul Scrivens

Most people come to Lifestyle For Real Life for the crafts and the food, honestly.  I know this.  It’s easy to figure out when I look at my post statistics.

***Update 5/1/2018 The links below are no longer affiliate links.  I love Billionaire Blog Club so much, I got them to hire me!  I’m the Community Manager for BBC, but everything you’ll read below holds true, 100%.  I couldn’t be prouder to be a member of the BBC Team.***

The food and the crafts are creative.  I like making things.  It makes me feel cozy and accomplished.   Cozy is kind of my theme.  I could be totally content puttering around the house making things and cozying things up.  But, I also share the stuff I make here with you on the blog.  Why?

Because blogging is also a great creative outlet.  If you like making stuff like I do, then you might love blogging.  And I’ll share a secret with you. I didn’t start blogging because I wanted to share my craftiness with the world.  I started blogging because I realized it was a way I could make MONEY with my craftiness.  And share things with the world, OF COURSE!

I talked to you in my first income report about Billionaire Blog Club and how it has changed the way I blog.  (That post is a great review of Billionaire Blog Club and will help you understand why I love it so much). I never made money from the blog before.  Not because I didn’t want to, but because I didn’t know how to.  I’ve taken multiple courses, including Elite Blog Academy (which I won’t link you to because I don’t recommend it).  I’ve got a blogging resources file that has every tip in the book on how to make money with a blog.  Billionaire Blog Club is the ONLY thing that worked for me.

I think that if you’ve found yourself here because you like making stuff, then you should think about starting a blog.  I want to tell you it’s not hard to do, because technically it isn’t.  I’m not tech savvy, but I’ve learned a ton along the way.  The hard part about blogging is figuring everything out by yourself.  That’s where Billionaire Blog Club comes in.

BBC has all the steps laid out for you.  And, more importantly than that, it has a community of more than 600 bloggers that have to be the most selfless group of people on the planet.  Honestly, if we put our heads together to do something other than blog, we’d probably have nailed world peace by now.

The group is made up of bloggers who are just about to launch, those that are working on their first 10k pageviews and some that are already getting 100’s of thousands of pageviews a month and making a pretty penny.  When I have a question about something day or night, weekday or weekend, I pop into our Slack community and ask it.  And I get an answer.  And support.  And usually a laugh.

And better than asking a question is when you get to answer one.  I started in Billionaire Blog Club last August.  I was defeated and feeling clueless as I had been blogging for 4 years with almost nothing to show for it.  I’ve learned so much in the past 6 months, that I actually can help other people who are just starting out and I swear that is an amazing feeling.  To be able to pay forward just a little of what I’ve gotten feels really good.

But don’t think you’re just getting answers from other bloggers.  The founder of Billionaire Blog Club, Paul Scrivens (aka @scrivs) is on hand every day, day or night answering questions (even the ones we’ve already asked a million times) lending support and sometimes giving us a much needed reality check. All while he’s busy constantly creating new content and perfecting this community he’s built.

In fact, @scrivs is so available, he even committed himself to answering 11 slightly inane questions that I came up with so that I could share them with you.  Read through them.  They will help you determine if you have what it takes to become a real deal blogger.

11 Questions with Paul Scrivens, Founder of Billionaire Blog Club

1.  I have recently heard BBC referred to as a “cult” and also as the “computer mafia”.  These were slightly twisted terms of endearment.  Why do people think BBC is a cult and/or the computer mafia? 

I think this happens any time you hear a group of people talking about something exclusive that others aren’t a part of, especially if they start raving about it.

To outsiders it just seems weird if people seem to be talking about it ALL of the time.

It’s kind of like yoga people or vegans.

Plus, when you throw in the awesome Slack community where a lot of people spend a lot of their time I can understand why some people see it as a cult.

2.  Did you expect when you started this online community that you would be part life coach and part blogging instructor?  Why do bloggers need a life coach?

While blogging is mostly strategy, some of it, especially starting off, is psychological.

Many people that get into blogging are doing so because they want to change their current lifestyle. They want more for themselves and that usually means doing a lot of things that they’ve never done before.

That’s scary as hell.

For some people it means facing some demons.

Maybe you’ve had people your whole life telling you to stick to the program or you don’t have the talent to do something on your own.

All of this starts to bubble up when it comes to blogging.

Another major hurdle occurs when you realize that at the beginning you aren’t going to be like your blogging heroes. You can spend a lot of time looking up to other bloggers only to realize that you’re starting at 0 and not where they are at.

That’s pretty scary.

3.  What is the number one obstacle every blogger will face? (I’m already well acquainted with the answer, but let’s have the audience hear it from you).

Themselves.

I can give you the formula for successful blogging and it’s pretty easy to follow but time after time people tend to get in their own way.

Maybe they overthink things or they lack patience or they continue to doubt themselves.

Successful bloggers get out of their own way. They understand that the journey doesn’t happen on a flat road. There are bumps and holes all over the place but they keep on going.

4.  Do you wear sweatpants every day? Or, do you just stay in your pajamas 24/7 unless you’re going to Target?

Sometimes I think my wife would prefer for me to get a “real” job since I tend to wear the same outfits over and over again.

And yes, they involve a lot of sweatpants.

Some people follow the philosophy that when you work from home you need to dress like you’re going to work and I understand that but I’ve been at this so long I know how to get stuff done.

I just want to be comfortable. I’m not busting my ass just so I have to dress up to motivate myself.

What would be the point?

5.  My son has ADHD. One of the boxes you have to check on the ADHD checklist is “Acts as if driven by a motor”.  Are you driven by a motor?  If so, what fuels the motor and is it even a bad thing to be driven by a motor?

That’s an interesting question.

I think something has to be pushing you and whatever is pushing you has to be greater than the resistance that you’ll face daily.

The idea of blogging and having freedom to do whatever you want is very romantic and people get caught up in the idea but then reality hits.

They have a job with a pain in the ass boss.

They have kids they have to take care of.

They have duties around the house that need attention.

They have people draining them of their energy constantly.

Most times the last thing you want to do is work on a blog that isn’t producing any money but that’s what you have to do.

Every single day you’ll face some type of resistance. Sometimes it will be minimal and other times it will be huge and ridiculous.

Is your motor going to push you through it all or are you going to…run…out…of…gas.

Oh wait…you wanted to know about my motor. My motor is pretty simple. I came to realize a long time ago that life is easier with money than without.

All of the things that I want to do in life require money so it’s on me to try and make it.

I believe life is all about the experiences that you have and so I’m making sure that my family and I are able to have as many of those experiences that we can.

So while I’m not driven by money I am driven by what money can do for the experiences in my life.

6.  You’ve said before that you’re not a worrier.  What’s that like?  Do you really not worry about big things like, what is the meaning of life, or little things like, did I shut the stove off?  How has not worrying helped you in getting to where you are?

Hm, I guess I shouldn’t say that I’m not a worrier. I’ve been in situations where I worry about leaving the garage door open but that’s because I can control that.

Too often people worry about stuff they can’t control or they just don’t know the outcome about yet.

In the blogging world someone might worry about if a blog post is going to get traffic or not. What’s the point in worrying about it? You wrote the post so you might as well put it out there and see.

I’ve also been in some pretty traumatic situations in my life so a lot of the stuff that I go through in comparison isn’t something that makes me worry.

If I can’t control it then I’m not going to worry about it. I would rather spend my energy moving forward with other things.

7.  Billionaire Blog Club has courses, but is not a course.  What is it, really?  Why does it work for someone like me when nothing else did?

I never really know what to call it.

Is it a resource? Yes.

Is it an experience? Yes.

Maybe it’s like College where you learn in the classroom and at the parties.

I think the act of blogging is simple but understanding ALL of the moving parts is where people get caught up.

When creating the Billionaire Blog Club I imagined someone taking the Pinterest course and then being like “okay cool, now how do I learn about affiliate marketing, SEO, Google Analytics, etc.”

I think it’s crappy having to continue running around looking for different blogging resources that will help you out so I figured why not create them all under one roof?

You don’t go to 5 different colleges to get your degree.

But I also knew that courses alone wouldn’t be enough.

Blogging can be an extremely lonely journey and if you try to do it alone your odds of failure are much higher.

When you surround yourself with like-minded individuals it gets a little bit easier, especially when you can see their triumphs and struggles.

8.  What was the moment like when the first person bought BBC?  Did you launch it and hit refresh every 30 seconds?  Did you launch it and wake up the next day and there were 5 people who bought it?  

I was fortunate to already have an audience with Obstacle.co and a couple of days before launch I emailed them explaining what I was trying to do.

I had enough people email me back with positive things that I wasn’t really worried what was going to happen. I set an email to go out at 9am on launch day and I think at 9:03 I got the first payment notification.

That’s when I knew it was going to be okay.

9.  What’s the worst mistake a blogger can make?  Like, what could you do that could cause the absolute demise of your blog, either a technical mistake or a “bloggy” mistake?  Asking for a friend because I don’t worry about stuff like that, obviously.

Hm, two mistakes pop out on me.

  1. Giving up on themselves. The reason you’re blogging is about you. The act of blogging is for your audience but you’re getting into this to better your future so you can’t give up on you. There are plenty of ups and downs but always make sure to invest in yourself.
  2. Not being able to take a step back from your blog to see what is working and what isn’t. Some people try something one day and if it doesn’t work they get frustrated while others will spend MONTHS doing the same thing and just waiting for it to work out.

People tend to think there is some crazy mistake you can make with your content or the technology side of things but there really isn’t.

10.  Lin Manuel Miranda, as Alexander Hamilton, said, I’ll write my way out.  Did you write your way out?  What did you write your way out of?  

Debt. Ridicule. Misery. Doubt.

You know, the usual stuff.

11.  Which BBC member is your favorite and if you don’t say me you better say me?

This is a dumb question. Some people like to say there are over 600 BBC Members but I don’t see it like that. Of course, there is only one. She is Marybeth.

The most important take away from the interview is this.  Scrivs took the time to thoughtfully answer my questions.  He runs 18 blogs and I’m one of hundreds of BBC members, but I asked, he committed and followed through.  That’s what you’ll get with BBC.

Other important takeaways from this interview include:

  1.  Bloggers can wear sweatpants every day if they want to.
  2. There is a formula for successful blogging (there really is!  and YOU can learn it!  It’s not even that hard!)

If you are interested in learning more about Mr. Scrivens and His Billionaire Blog Club, you should check out his 12 Day Blogging Bootcamp.  It’s free and I know every other free thing you’ve ever done has provided you with no value.  This one has value, I promise.  At the end of it, if you really want to do this blogging thing, you’re going to want to join Billionaire Blog Club.  Enrollment opens monthly, so if it’s not open right now, do the bootcamp and be ready to plunk your money down when it opens up again!

PS!!  If you’re interested in blogging and want to see my income reports and Billionaire Blog Club review you can check the out here:

Blog Income Report: I Earned $575 in my 57th Month of Blogging

Blog Income Report – Was Your February as Bad as Mine?

If You Liked It Then You Shoulda Put a Pin In It!

Billionaire Blog Club is the only resource you need as a Blogger. I got the founder, Paul Scrivens, to answer 11 slightly odd questions.

11 thoughts on “11 Questions with Billionaire Blog Club Founder, Paul Scrivens”

  1. Excellent interview, Marybeth…The questions are almost as entertaining as the answers. Scrivs appropriately focuses on money as the focus of his work, but his interest in helping others sets a good example for anyone in BBC. We blog for income, of course, but I think most of us also genuinely want to help others get over the hurdles in their lives. Blogging let’s us do both, and BBB let’s us do it successfully.

    Thanks,MBA s Paul, for an informative and motivating interview.

  2. Great interview Marybeth! Also forgot to mention that you started a movement inside! It’s not surprising you are the favorite 😉

  3. Billioniare Blog College would have made for nicer looking pins, lol. I’m glad you liked it Megan Nichole! Thank you!! Marybeth

  4. Loved the article Marybeth!!! Listen up ya’ll…BBC really is the real deal! Two months ago I didn’t even know what WordPress was, and didn’t have any active social media accounts. I now have a blog up that i’m so proud of, am watching things grow daily, and am so excited for what the future may hold. Scrivs will give you THE VERY BEST CHANCE of making waves in the blogging world by leading you to every successful pool of knowledge that he knows of. YOU have to chose to drink though.

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