I have deliberately made this a light posting week because of personal commitments (its summer, I get to have a life!) and to give myself some perspective on this blog. The blog is 14 months old now with over 260 entries and, over that time,
it has evolved quite a bit. I now have a regular columnist who is a nice change of pace from my very male perspective on personal finance and I have an insider’s series now. I perceive the blog as less of a personal finance journal now than an alternative on-line money magazine; its just kinda of evolved that way. Do the readers see the same thing?
I am trying to figure out where to go from here so your comments are greatly appreciated. What’s working? What isn’t? What would you like to see more of? Less? Want to get something off your chest?
The one thing that will happen over the summer is a migration to a better WordPress template and I will finally get around to categorizing my posts better than shoving them into “misc”.
If you want to rant to me personally, email me at thickenmywallet (at) gmail.com. Otherwise I look forward to your comments. Thanks.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:21 am
That’s a good question. I don’t know where my blog is going, so how can I tell someone else?
The one thing I do know is that you have to write about what interests you or this will become a job.
June 19th, 2008 at 9:22 am
If you want to experiment with a great looking template that is free, try the Arthemia theme. Looks as pro as they come. Just google Arthemia and you will see it as the first result.
I love your blog. Content is key, and you score a 10 out of 10. So I don’t know how you could improve it.
June 19th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Keep doing what you’re doing TMW. The content here is among the best and part of my daily blog reading routine.
June 20th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Thanks for all your comments and kind words.
June 21st, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Your blog is interesting and thought-provoking. I’m puzzled at how you find the time to write so well, so frequently, on so many topics and at such length. It would be unfortunate if you “burned out”.
What are you trying to achieve? The answers will help you decide where to head. Do you blog for “fun” (in which case keep doing what you’re doing) or are you trying to achieve particular goals (which may require more focus, or even separate blogs with different focuses).
Analyzing your traffic can help you decide on your direction? I use Google Analytics and Google Feedburner. The results provide valuable insights. For instance, headlines matter, especially when readers find a post through a search engine. Interesting visuals seem to help, and so do cross-links among posts.
The natural evolution of a blog is interesting. I like your shift towards topics other than investing. Your insights as a lawyer and entrepreneur are most welcome and helpful. Those are the ones I’m most likely to forward to others.
Here are ideas for your consideration:
- allow commenters to be notified by email when there are subsequent comments
- an insider series on how you blog (source of ideas, writing/editing process, how much time you spend)
Thanks for your past posts. Keep ‘em coming!
June 25th, 2008 at 10:41 am
I’ve said elsewhere that of all the “personal finance” blogs I read this one has the best and most consistently varied and interesting content, hands down. So I agree with what the lads up above are saying, from my perspective keep doing what you do. But like most(?) people I read via a feedreader and rarely notice how often people post, I’d hate to think you felt you have to post on a predetermined schedule to keep us reading.
FWIW I agree with riscario about the comment notification, which I like. The other thing that is unique about this blog is that you don’t (I think?) do so much of the networking with US bloggers/carnivals thing. Maybe that would drive more comments and suggestions and guest posters your way. But I know that’s time-consuming and not for everyone.
June 26th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Thanks for the comment. I will add a comment notification.
With respect to the carnival participation, it is partially by design and partially by accident. I don’t have enough time to do it consistently and I tend to concentrate more time on writing content than attracting traffic (whether this is the right priority is a question I can’t answer).
June 30th, 2008 at 8:53 am
I agree - great content. As Guinness said your posting frequency is not that important. Unfortunately if you want more readers, you have to go and get them.
Guinness - you mean you like this blog better than QFFP? Sniff…
Mike