Can you really make six figures blogging part-time? One former radio reporter turned it into reality.
If you’ve ever wondered whether blogging can replace a full-time salary, Kristin Hanes has an answer for you. The founder of The Wayward Home shared her journey from unemployed journalist to earning $280,000 annually—while working just 10-20 hours per week.
Her story originally appeared in an interview on Making Sense of Cents, and it’s generating buzz among aspiring content creators who want to know: Is this kind of success actually achievable?
Where This Story Came From
Kristin Hanes shared her blogging journey in a detailed interview with Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of Making Sense of Cents. The interview, published in 2023, breaks down exactly how Hanes built her alternative living blog from scratch after losing her radio job in 2016.
Hanes writes about RV living, van life, tiny homes, and sailboat living on The Wayward Home. She currently lives between a Sprinter van and a sailboat, documenting her experiences while helping others pursue similar lifestyles.
What Happened: From Radio Reporter to Six-Figure Blogger
The Starting Point
In 2016, Hanes was let go from her position as a radio news reporter at KGO in San Francisco. According to the interview, she had worked in radio for 15 years but found jobs in the industry drying up across the country.
“Being a news reporter was the only thing I knew how to do,” Hanes explained in the interview.
She stumbled across Making Sense of Cents while browsing online and was shocked to learn that founder Michelle Schroeder-Gardner earned $100,000 per month from blogging. Hanes said she “had no idea a blog could be a business and make good money.”
The Growth Timeline
Hanes started The Wayward Home in 2017. Here’s how her income grew:
- Year 1 (2017): $7,000 earned, 400,000 pageviews
- Year 2: $65,000 earned
- 2022: $280,000 earned, reaching 2.5 million readers annually
According to the interview, her site now averages 300,000 to 500,000 monthly pageviews depending on the season.
The Investment
Hanes didn’t achieve this success for free. She invested $800 in a blogging course called Elite Blog Academy just two months after starting her site—despite living on unemployment at the time.
“The course was $800 at the time and felt very scary to purchase, especially because I was living on unemployment,” she said in the interview. But that investment paid off when she made her first $500 from a private display ad just six months later.
She also took courses on SEO, email marketing, affiliate marketing, and Pinterest marketing. “I’ve spent thousands of dollars on courses and haven’t regretted any of it except maybe ONE course out of all I’ve chosen,” Hanes noted.
How She Actually Makes Money
Display Ads (Primary Income)
Hanes earns most of her income through Mediavine, an ad management company that places display ads on her site. According to the interview, she makes between $13,000 per month in winter (her slow season) to $25,000 per month in summer from display ads alone.
She recalled making “just a few cents per day from Google Adsense” before switching to Mediavine, where she made $20 on her first day.
Affiliate Marketing (Growing Income Stream)
Hanes increased her affiliate income by $30,000 in 2022, though it hasn’t reached her ad revenue levels yet. She focuses on reviewing camping gear, van and RV equipment, and sailboat gear.
“I’ve found that affiliate articles do much better when it’s a product I actually use and love,” she explained.
Sponsored Posts (Minimal)
She does 4-5 sponsored posts per year at $1,500 each. According to the interview, she “doesn’t particularly love working with brands” and keeps this income stream minimal.
Future Plans
Hanes mentioned she’s creating a course called “Niche Sites Made Easy: The Nomad’s Guide to Making Money Online” to teach others how to build profitable blogs while traveling.
The Strategy Behind Her Success
Google Over Social Media
According to the interview, 60-70% of Hanes’ traffic comes from Google search, with Pinterest bringing in 30,000-40,000 additional pageviews per month.
Her traffic from Google increased dramatically after she took a course called “Stupid Simple SEO” and learned about keyword research. She uses tools like Ahrefs and Surfer SEO to find “long-tail, low competition keywords” in her niche.
“Ranking for Google is almost like following a formula or recipe,” Hanes said.
Note: Google has changed a lot last few years and may not be the reliable source of traffic. You can get traffic from other sources such as Facebook, Pinterest and email list.
Building a Team
Hanes doesn’t write most of her content anymore. She hired writers who actually live the lifestyles they write about—van lifers write van life posts, an RVer writes RV content, and someone living in a tiny house covers that topic.
“Having a team of writers has freed up my time to work on other things,” she explained.
She also hired a virtual assistant and Pinterest manager, allowing her to reduce her working hours while maintaining consistent content production.
Living Below Her Means
Early in her journey, Hanes lived on her partner’s sailboat during renovations—without running water, a stove, or a bathroom. This eliminated rent and gave her the freedom to invest in courses and her business.
Her first major purchase from blogging income was a $6,000 Chevy Astro van in 2018, which she used as her daytime workspace. She later upgraded to a 2021 Mercedes Sprinter funded entirely by her blogging income.
What the Experts Say
The Reality Check
Hanes is honest about the timeline and effort required. According to the interview:
- It took her six months to earn her first $500
- Google can take 6-9 months to start ranking a new website
- She worked 8-10 hours per day in the beginning, often at her gym’s cafe with free WiFi
- Her first year earned just $7,000—not a living wage
“You need to have the mindset that you are growing a business from scratch and it will most likely take a lot of time and effort before you even see a penny,” Hanes said.
The Risk Factors
Hanes acknowledged the risks of relying heavily on display ads and Google traffic. She was hit by a Google algorithm update in 2019 that “demolished tons of my traffic,” though she eventually recovered.
That experience motivated her to diversify her income streams. “It’s never good to have all your eggs in one basket,” she noted in the interview.
Key Takeaways for Aspiring Bloggers
Hanes shared several pieces of advice in the interview:
Choose a Topic You Care About
“Choose a topic you are passionate about,” she emphasized. While some recommend picking niches purely for profit potential, Hanes believes passion is necessary to “stay the course with your site until it makes money.”
Invest in Education
She compared starting her blog to “getting a degree in online business.” Her course investments taught her skills that directly translated to income growth.
Select the Right Niche
According to Hanes, successful niches aren’t too competitive but have enough search volume to generate traffic. She uses email marketing as an example of a highly competitive niche, while sourdough bread baking or hiking offer more opportunities for low-competition keywords.
Be Prepared to Wait
“This wait can be very difficult for many, and that’s why so many people give up on blogging,” Hanes said. She attributes her success partly to “pure determination and grit.”
Balance Work and Life
Now that she works remotely while traveling, Hanes struggles to find balance. She tries to stop working between 3-5 PM daily to spend time with her partner hiking or cooking dinner.
“The tricky part about being a digital nomad is finding balance,” she noted.
What This Means for You
Hanes’ story shows that blogging can generate substantial income, but it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. Her success came from:
- Investing money in education when she had very little
- Working long hours initially while living frugally
- Learning technical skills like SEO and keyword research
- Building systems and hiring help to scale
- Staying committed during slow growth periods
The timeline is also important to note: It took her five years to reach $280,000 annually. Her first year brought in only $7,000.
Could you replicate this?
The interview suggests yes—if you’re willing to invest time, money, and effort into learning the business side of blogging, choose a viable niche, and stick with it through the slow initial growth period.
Join the Conversation
What do you think about Kristin Hanes’ blogging journey? Is a five-year timeline to six figures reasonable, or does it seem too long?
Have you tried blogging before, or are you considering starting? What’s holding you back, or what questions do you have about the process?
Share your thoughts in the comments below. And if you found this breakdown helpful, consider sharing it with someone who’s been thinking about starting a blog.
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