We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maria Munoz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Maria thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

For me, success is measured in my business growth. I have to constantly see the growth whether in my blog pageviews, ad revenue, or sessions in order to keep going.

Instead of focusing on a specific number — I mean, yes I have goals I want to reach — I focus on a constant increase. This takes perseverance and consistency even during those times when you may think you’re not making any progress.

Businesses ebb and flow and you can take that period of decline as a failure and quit, or motivation and keep churning out the content and stay consistent to greatly impact the regrowth to come.

I’m also a big believer in constantly learning. Looking for courses and opportunities for me to learn something new in my business to help me grow. Always keep learning.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve always been into fashion and entertainment — E! was one of my favorite shows in high school. So I decided to pursue broadcast journalism to get on the path to becoming an entertainment reporter.

While in college, I started working at a bank. I’ve lived a pretty sheltered life and, after graduating college, the thought of moving alone to a smaller news market was terrifying. So I continued working at the bank — for the next 17 years!

In 2018, I started learning about fashion bloggers and the thought of creating my own online magazine really piqued my interest. At the time, I was married and had two kids under 5. I was working a bank job I had no interest in and battling mom guilt. So I started my blog as a creative outlet and tried to consume as much free content as I could about blogging.

At the time, I was a bank manager and constantly had to cover shifts and/or work weekends, so I decided to quit managing and took a position at the bank’s corporate office. I traded unstable schedules for a typical 9-5 in a cubicle.

During COVID, the lending department I worked in went into overdrive processing PPP loans. I was working 7 days a week, 12-hour shifts, and felt like I was back where I had started.

At the time, I didn’t know how long that period would last, but I did experience a few meltdowns on my hour-long drives home. Sitting at a computer in a cubicle, typing data was not fun for me. I was trading time for a paycheck. That is when I decided to plan my exit.

I had the hardest time growing a following on social media and felt there was more growth opportunity on my blog. So I read up on SEO and blog writing to start to get some traction on what was just a fun side hobby.

My schedule was full with my corporate job and home/mom life so I could only devote a couple of hours (lunch hour included) to my blog. I was crawling at a snail’s pace.

In the summer of 2022, I decided to take the leap. My blog was still nowhere making any type of sustainable income, but I was 37 and felt like it was now or never. I didn’t want to live a life of regret. I had already regretted never taking the chance on myself to really pursue my broadcast journalism career and I didn’t want to feel that again.

I also wanted the opportunity to work my hours and be more available for my kids while they were still young. I also hated the fact that someone (my boss) determined when I could take a vacation and how much money I could make. I wanted financial freedom.

So with my husband’s blessing and support, I quit my job after 17 years.

That fall, I immersed myself in learning even more about blogging. I found a course and applied the strategies and saw my blog growth double in a couple of months. Now, with more time to work on my business, I grew my blog exponentially. A year after quitting my job, my blog has grown over 1800% in traffic.

My blog Bella Style Living is a resource site for women searching for styling ideas, outfit inspiration, and product reviews and recommendations.

I provide solutions for women who need a little wardrobe guidance. Whether it’s starting a basic capsule wardrobe collection or navigating the best finds for a specific sale.

As a working mom (and previous banker), a budget is also something I take into consideration. While I value the quality of the clothes I purchase and share, I also consider the price points and gear it toward a more modest household income.

I also focus on a more neutral, classic style find that will help that article of clothing have a longer wardrobe life.

My plans for BSL are to start bringing on contributors and editors to help diversify the site. I’d love to get different viewpoints on fashion and opinions on the products we feature. I’ve learned early on to cater to your audience. And the reality is that not everyone looks like me. I’d love to provide alternative perspectives to serve more women.

In addition to my site, I’ve also started a section on blogging where I share tips and truths I’ve learned in the past 5 years. I’m an open book and can really get excited when chatting about blogging as a business. I want to help women who, like me, felt trapped in the daily grind and hesitant to take the leap into entrepreneurship.

I hope to encourage and guide others to write their own story and live a life that they are proud of.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Social following can be a great tool for fostering relationships with your audience. However, it’s not always the most stable. The inconsistency of social media algorithms means you may not always be able to reach your audience.

Instead, I focus on my email subscribers. I know, I know — how ancient. But in reality, obtaining someone’s email address means you have access to them whenever you want.

It also means that they are a warmer lead than a follower on Instagram. Also, when IG goes down (like it has in the past) you still have a way to reach your audience.

When someone subscribes to your newsletter, they become more accessible. But getting someone to subscribe is harder than just asking, “Hey! subscribe to my newsletter.”

People already have a ton of emails coming in so you have to make it worthwhile. Me, I started to see my email list grow when I implemented my monthly lookbooks as an incentive.

I let my readers preview a few looks in my pop-up and give them an opportunity to sign up to view the entire free and shoppable lookbook. What’s in it for them?

Once they are on your list, stay consistent in your email strategy. I send out about 2 emails a week. I share personal stories, share the latest blog post, and also exclusive content. Give this group all your love, because they have let you in to their inbox and that is HUGE!

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Courses! I wish I had researched and purchased more courses in the beginning. I spent the first 4 years of my blogging journey learning as I went.

Looking at my previous blog posts, I cringe at the lack of structure and SEO strategy. While I consider myself pretty scrappy and resourceful, you only have a number of hours in the day to search the internet for answers. Why not learn from somebody who has already run the course — so to speak.

Save yourself the time and get yourself a course that will get you that shortcut to seeing the results that will help drive your business forward. Blogging can be slow to grow and many quit before seeing any results.

Keep at it and trust the process because once you have the formula down, the earning potential is huge.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bellastyleliving.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariasmunoz
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MariaSMunoz

Image Credits
loiscamposfotography