Personal finance instructor Dana Miranda's first audience wasn't a right fit. In the time she decided to take this move, she saw her audience expand. |

When Dana Miranda shifted her target group to offer educational materials as well as education-related training for educators as well as non-profit organizations, she saw an increase in satisfaction and harmony her company.

While Dana Miranda worked as a personal finance journalist, she noticed the growing trend. "Most content on financial content accessible online, most of the advice and education are based on the perspective of a single person, which is usually white, male, heteronormative as well as coming from a middle class family background."

"I have a middle class family background" Dana shares. "I'm a queer woman. It was clear to me that there was a lack of understanding and awareness about the unique nature of these diverse experience that individuals share in exchange for money."

Instead of re-creating the same details that everybody else was sharing, Dana decided to change the story.

Presently, Dana Miranda is a personal finance teacher and co-founder of Healthy Rich , an online platform that offers affordable, cost-free financial education. The following is the way Dana came up with her own web-based venture, and made sure her mission was seen in the most number of eyes she could even if it meant that she had to take another route.

A monetization plan that is well-known, it doesn't mean that it's the best option for your business.

Healthy Rich began as an extra-curricular activity which Dana operated while she was writing for a firm which was a independent.

"I have created Healthy Rich as a project to write about my own personal financial experiences. It was just a website, but it didn't have any revenue coming in. I wasn't certain how making money would look like, but I knew that at final, I'd want to grow it into a business."

"I decided not to earn money by advertising or affiliates," Dana explains. "That's quite common in the personal finance space but I wasn't happy about the manner in which I saw it on the websites that I'd been involved with. To make sure that we're providing value to consumers I decided to remove ads out of the factor."

Dana enjoyed the curriculum she designed. Additionally, she loved speaking with her students, getting comments, and answering questions. But something felt off about selling her goods to potential customers.

"I am uninformed about this whole event. I resented the entire selling method of convincing customers that they suffer from an issue and I can assist. It never felt right to me." Dana recalls.

Limiting products only to certain customers is not the right way to go. It's a big problem. Despite this being Healthy Rich's strategy for monetization she wanted her fans to be able access all the information for free. Her goal was to make a profit, however she didn't want that money coming from the pockets of those who she was trying to aid.

When creating products to sell to your target audience, you feel unnatural. You can try changing the market you want to target

In order to gain a greater understanding, Dana had conversations with educators and community organizers. In these discussions she learned that there was a huge demand for financial education for individuals -and she could be an ideal person to in delivering this.

"The need for personal finance education is increasing," Dana explains.

"There are numerous states with mandates to must enroll in an individual finance course before you graduate from high school, but the majority of them don't have the funds to pay for it and do not offer specific educational pathways that could lead to becoming an instructor in personal finance. The educators who are entering the field usually are instructed to teach an economics class but not prepared to teach it."

Similar problems were faced by those working for non-profit organizations and individuals who are working with vulnerable populations.

"People employed by non-profit organizations might assist in a different part of their lives. But they are inextricably tied to financial issues. People are posing questions regarding financial situation that they aren't confident about. I want to help people to understand the subject in order for them to be able to answer those questions confidently."

Dana realized her ability to bypass selling products for sale to consumers rather than providing teachers and trainers with a much wider reach. Her message could reach greater number of people. The company could make money and she would be proud of her contribution.

"I love to provide content to the people that are in need, free of charge whenever I am able to. Assisting schools and community organizations can be a means for me to offer this education for those needing it, since they taking part in the courses and classes for no cost," she shares.

"This opened up a potential market for my business because I was able facilitate facilitators and instructors. I am able to collaborate with both groups, without advertising classes for each user."

When Dana started to create her own brand-new curriculum for teachers  the program clicked.

"My initial class launch was a great test. I'm pleased that I learned the information I learned, however I'm also happy that I could learn quickly, and then move on to the next part."

" lets me be flexible to create what I want. I love it that way."

There is no limit to your imagination, and neither will your technology be any less.

To find potential clients, connect on LinkedIn by sharing work

"People are keen to discuss their work. Keep track of the companies you'd like to collaborate with and see the things they're currently working with," Dana notes.

"It's extremely beneficial to me to be aware of the markets I'd like to work with. This includes nonprofits and educators. I'm a native of Wisconsin, so I'm starting locally with organizations in the local area. I can reach out as an association member to tell them, "I'm interested in the good work you're doing within my neighborhood. We can discuss ways we can cooperate.'"

Innovating the target audience she would like to engage and the goods they'll need, Dana transformed Healthy Rich to be more than just a blog with tips on personal finance. It's a chance to transform the way we talk around the topic of money.

"The way we discuss about finances is problematic which I'd like to tackle things differently. I'd like to supply educational resources that are needed by teachers and make sure that it's taught in the most inclusive and broad viewpoint, instead of the typical spending and paying down debt I've seen."

In shifting her audience away from people to teachers and employees of non-profit organizations, Dana stayed true to her ideals and devised a better way to share her knowledge with those who need it most.

Discover new paths and beware of the temptation of comparing your travels to other people's

Dana informs writers that "there's there isn't a perfect method for how this profession looks like. One way to find out is to determine what's the best fit to you."

A key part of finding your own path is not to compare yourself with others who've created. In contrast, Dana recommends looking to your own past to determine how much you've grown.

"Everyone has been at some stage wanting to be at the higher levels. The most helpful thing to me is to reflect about myself in the past five or 10 years," she says.

"When I started my first freelance gig, I envisioned becoming a writer. I wrote a handful of blog posts and freelance jobs in the first few years, I made only a small amount. When I am frustrated by the way I'm conducting my work, I go at my work history and consider what I've accomplished."

"I had the opportunity to be offered a full-time job as a writer for an employer" the writer says. "In the last couple of years, I made six figures through freelance writing. At present I'm preparing to enter an entirely new stage that will see my revenue instead of primarily being from writing freelance I'd like that it come from my business .

"It's difficult to figure out the best way to achieve this, yet if you had 12 years ago predicted my future position in the field, I would have never imagined that this could ever happen. I'd be stunned."

At the end of the day, deciding to follow your creativity can be a major win. it's likely to be more successful than you anticipated.

"I think that pursuing such a dream should be something that is celebrated regardless of the stage you're at."

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