PF Blogging Philosophy
Recently I’ve received some unsolicited advice about my blog. It thought it was rather interesting criticism. I won’t share any of it here except one point. The critic says that I wander too much off-topic in my ‘personal finance’ blog.
To that I have a few responses which I think help to illustrate what I’m doing here. I’d love to hear from others why they turned to PF blogging and if their philosophy has changed over time. I know mine sure has in the 3 months I’ve been doing this.
1) I think personal finance is about all of your decisions in life to spend money. It’s not only about where to get the best savings rates, buy a home, increase your net worth. It is truly about looking at your ‘Latte Factor’ and the small ’secret economies’ we make on a daily basis about the MOST MUNDANE things. ‘Do I ride the bus today or drive the car?’ ‘Should I eat this large meal and save the leftovers for another meal?’ ‘I can’t live without making a bracket.’ etc. If it’s dry and boring there are other places to read more sexy stuff. Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge is one thing, not sexy. (With apologies to Jeffrey. I know he wants us to think of saving as sexy.)
2) The further afield in topics, the more interesting the Google Adsense ads. I find that the advertisements are contextual and so the wider variety of subjects produces different ads that will appeal to a range of folks. I’m having a ball looking at my stats all the time and I firmly believe (since I don’t *know* this to be true) that because I write about a great many things here, that my readers are seeing ads that are more appealing and on-topic to the content. I think that also contributes to why I got picked up by Yahoo! Blogs Betaas well.
3) There are some topics out there related to personal finance that I just plain avoid. I try to avoid macroeconomic subjects and not get ranty about things that might start to touch upon politics. I try bring in subjects like the environment when it’s pertinent to the personal finance issue at hand, say like long-life fluorescent lightbulbs. (Operative word being *try*.)
4) Personality is a big factor in entertaining readers. I hope I’m not like all the other blogs out there. I hope I have something to say that is useful to someone else. I hope I don’t have too much dreck to filter through when you’re reading.
5) I’m not out to change my career to blogging full-time. If I wanted to make a lot of money off a website, there are more lucrative ways to do it involving a serious reassessment of my personal values. This is fun for me. And hopefully fun for you too.
6) Setting a goal and sticking to it. Caitlin reminds me all the time to ‘Obey the Save-O-Meter!’ and since I put one up, I’ve done much better in my self-discipline to have a brighter financial future. Ok, so joining the No Credit Needed Network has helped a lot too. (Thanks NCNN friends!)
Why are you here? Do you get something from being here? Do you PF blog? Why do you do it?
MoneyDummy wrote:
You’ve received criticism on your blog? That cracks me up! I want some!!!
Posted on 13-Apr-06 at 5:50 pm | Permalink
The Family CEO wrote:
I say it’s your blog so, by definition, it contains whatever is of interest to you. That’s what makes bloggers and their blogs so unique. If you’re feeling off-topic that day…go for it!
Posted on 13-Apr-06 at 6:07 pm | Permalink
lamoneyguy wrote:
The P in PF is for Personal. That’s pretty much all you need to say. We all approach our finances differently. In the way we think about them, the way we discuss them, it’s… well, personal.
Posted on 13-Apr-06 at 6:21 pm | Permalink
mapgirl wrote:
Too true LA Money Guy! I guess for me, I can’t stand a PFblog that I think is all about the F. I want money, sure, but being all about making it takes the balance out of life.
Posted on 13-Apr-06 at 6:52 pm | Permalink
Single Ma wrote:
Hey Missy!!
Well, you already know how I feel about this so I won’t repeat myself. *wink*
If you received criticism for being off topic, I wonder what that person would say about me. Not that it would change my style, but I’m sure it would be hilarious! HA!
Take it with a grain of salt and keep on keeping on. I think you are fab!
BTW, saving is sexy.
Posted on 13-Apr-06 at 8:03 pm | Permalink
Debt Hater wrote:
I think what makes reading someone’s blog worth while is that they aren’t like anyone else. Do you.
Posted on 13-Apr-06 at 9:00 pm | Permalink
udandi wrote:
oh wow!! I read your blog because it is a little bit of everything and your style speaks to me.
I think I’ll answer your questions in a post of my own…
Posted on 13-Apr-06 at 9:52 pm | Permalink
IRA wrote:
I’m rolling my eyes. If it’s off topic, it’s off topic. Who cares? It’s not like anyone’s putting a gun to his head or charging him an exorbitant amount of money to read your blog. It’s free! Yeesh. If he wants to read all about personal finances and nothing else, then he should buy a subscription to the Wall Street Journal. I like your blog because I can relate to your personal experiences.
Posted on 13-Apr-06 at 11:44 pm | Permalink
Miserly Bastard wrote:
A lot of the stuff I write on my blog, particularly the political commentary and the stuff on poker, is only tangentially related to money, but I just enjoy writing down my thoughts. I appreciate getting readers, but it wont ruin my day if some of my entries fall entirely between the cracks.
Posted on 14-Apr-06 at 12:54 am | Permalink
freedumb wrote:
If PF blogs were just about finance, I’d find it really boring…
Posted on 14-Apr-06 at 1:01 am | Permalink
SMB wrote:
The only thing I would add is that there are PLENTY of blogs out there that your critic would probably be very happy with. Maybe he/she is new to reading PF blogs, and doesn’t have a very large reading list and feels like something is missing. I know when I just started reading PF blogs, it took a while to find what I was looking for. Now I have a “top 5,” and, wouldn’t you know, all of them are among the more “personal” of PF blogs.
So, point him/her towards the Money Blog Network, for starters. Just don’t point them to mine–if they’re not happy with yours, they definitely won’t like mine. Dog photos, anyone?
Posted on 14-Apr-06 at 6:45 am | Permalink
TADollar wrote:
What makes PF blogs interesting to read is the personal aspect. For straight financial advice, look elsewhere!
Posted on 14-Apr-06 at 10:58 am | Permalink
Cap wrote:
man I’m one of the ultimate off topic guy. personally, I think you should write about whatever suit your fancy.
if you reach a point where you have an wide audience to consider, then you can adjust as you see fit.
as everyone mentioned, its your blog so if someone doesn’t like it, they can GTFO.
Posted on 14-Apr-06 at 4:56 pm | Permalink
Jonathan wrote:
#1 - As other have said. It’s your Blog. If you listen to them, it will become Other People’s Blog.
#2 - If you’re getting criticism, it means you’re getting popular. So take it as a good thing. =)
#3 - As you get more popular, you will get more criticism, and need to start taking them in stride.
Posted on 14-Apr-06 at 7:45 pm | Permalink