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Advice for New Personal Finance Bloggers

January 12, 2007 by Lazy Man 28 Comments

From time to time, a new blogger comes across Lazy Man and Money and sends me an e-mail. Typically they have only a handful of posts and are looking for is a link to their site. I like to see a plethora of posts before giving my stamp of approval. Instead I offer them something better. I would have traded 100 inbound links, to have this information, when I was starting out
1. There’s Blueprints for Financial Prosperity’s 25 Steps To A Wildly Successful Personal Finance Blog. Here are some of my own thoughts:

    • Buy the domain from FX Domains, where you can get private registration for less than $2 a year. It can be nice to be anonymous.
    • Get a theme that allows for WordPress widgets. Widgets are an easy way to add great functionality.
    • Take the date out of the permalinks and just use the title. This can be a personal decision, but I really like the clean URLs you see up top and it’s really hard to change after you get too far along
    • I want to stress the read and comment on other blogs. I do this almost exclusively and I find people come to my site because they read a comment posted on theirs. A good place to start? Each day I try to read PFBlogs.org’s Popular Posts. I leave comments when I can find something to say, which is almost always.

2. When you are done with that there’s The Simple Dollar’s Building a Better Blog for 2007 Series. More of my thoughts:

    • You’ll notice that “SEO doesn’t matter” contradicts the previous article. I’d say it’s worth spending two hours learning about when you start and maybe 8 more two months later. Overall, it’s not going to make or break you, but it can definitely help. Just put 90% of your focus into your writing, 9% into your design, and 1% for things like SEO.
    • I’d like to emphasize the idea of not cluttering your site with ads and not blending them to trick the user.

3. Lastly there’s one more series you have to read. Free Money Finance brings you How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond.

    • I loved the part about picking popular search terms for your domain name. I don’t know how popular Lazy Man is, but I’m pretty happy with my choice.
    • I like the idea of including your blog in your e-mails, but if you are going to be anonymous, this might not helpful.
    • Join a Network? I need to listen to this myself. If you are a new blogger though, you shouldn’t worry about this for some time.

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Comments

  1. FrugalTrader says

    January 12, 2007 at 7:28 am

    1and1 has domains for $5.99/year which includes PRIVATE registration.

    FT
    http://www.milliondollarjourney.com

    Reply
  2. Lazy Man says

    January 12, 2007 at 7:36 am

    FrugalTrader, that is indeed a good deal. I guess my point should be to shop around for domains.

    Reply
  3. Martin says

    January 12, 2007 at 8:39 am

    Lazy Man sent me these links and it has greatly helped me out.

    My site will soon, hopefully by the end of the weekend, have a list of WP plug-ins I use (they seem to be scattered all over with not very good descriptions or install instructions) and a tutorial on how to host your own website from your PC.

    I use/used 1and1 Domains, but I did not get the Private Registration. Where do I find that?

    Thanks again Lazy for these links!

    Reply
  4. Lazy Man says

    January 12, 2007 at 9:13 am

    Martin if you scroll to the bottom of one of their screens it mentions the Private Registration. I tried to go through and see where I could buy multiple years, but it didn’t seem I could do that without entering my name and address. I didn’t want to go too far since I just wanted to see the process.

    You are welcome for the links.  I just wish I could have said it as well as the people I highlighted did.

    Reply
  5. Deyl says

    January 12, 2007 at 9:36 am

    thanks for the advice and links!

    Reply
  6. My Financial Journey says

    January 12, 2007 at 5:06 pm

    Cool didn’t even know about the PFBlog.org’s most popular posts and what do you know my post from today is #1 :-)

    Reply
  7. UKMoneyPot says

    January 18, 2007 at 11:47 am

    I don’t think UKMoneyPot is a particulalry popular search term but it does bring up adsense results for food when used as a page title, FMF might have a point!

    Reply
  8. Henry @ Binary Dollar says

    April 20, 2007 at 4:48 am

    Golly. I still think I’m a new blogger. I sometimes forget that there are new new bloggers!

    Reply
  9. Plus6 says

    May 15, 2007 at 5:56 pm

    Good tips for us new guys!

    Reply
  10. used vans girl says

    July 12, 2007 at 1:27 am

    Great advice and very generously given to help others.. Thank you. I will be following your advice after a bit more preparation and thinking what exactly it is id like to talk about. One thing Im not too sure about which hopefully I could get advice on is whether to bolt on the blog to my existing site with a link to it or set up a new domain name for the blog?

    Reply
  11. Hoobin says

    August 12, 2007 at 12:20 am

    In blogging, what you don’t know might hurt you. Time is the most valuable asset here, I will definitely willing to trade something for the time spend:)

    ken

    Reply
  12. sfordinarygirl says

    September 24, 2007 at 11:27 pm

    I didn’t see it on your site but which hosting company do you use if you don’t mind me asking. Thanks for the helpful tips! I’m really excited at making some major changes and moving to my own domain.

    Reply
  13. Jorge Sierra says

    January 2, 2008 at 11:53 am

    Excellent advice! So excellent that you’ve inspired me to revitalize my blog, and start posting more about personal finance. :)

    Reply
  14. Dana says

    May 25, 2008 at 2:38 pm

    I got my hopes up when I saw your link for purchasing domain names, hoping against hope that it wouldn’t be a GoDaddy affiliate… but it is.

    And that’s important to me because I’ve seen one of their famous sexist TV ads, back during SuperBowl 2006. My jaw dropped. I haven’t been watching a lot of network TV over the last ten years and I guess I had hoped that gender relations had moved into at least the nineteenth century… but in some areas, apparently not.

    (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, don’t worry about it–I’m not gonna sit here putting everyone through Feminism 101. Just take it to mean that what they put out in advertising messages goes against my personal values and we’ll leave it at that.)

    And I’ve already been giving them my money forever because they allow so many other people to resell domains through them that I have no idea who’s GoDaddy and who isn’t. So every time I see one of these new discount domain sellers, I Google them to make sure. Every single time, it’s them behind it all.

    And then I stopped and thought about it. OK, I’m aware of the principle that every penny you don’t spend is a penny you keep and maybe even invest. Fair enough. But is it worth it to scrounge every penny you own if your money’s going to something you really don’t like, something that violates your core beliefs? Sometimes you can’t help it, as in when you pay taxes and the government turns around and does something you don’t agree with. But when you can help it, and when what you’re buying is something you don’t strictly need, why not be a bit more discerning?

    And let’s face it, what you pay for a domain name is per year, unless you pay ahead for longer. Is it really a problem to pay ten dollars a year instead of seven or eight or nine? Especially if it means you are not bankrolling a TV ad with old men leering at a young woman’s bare torso right in front of your year-old daughter?

    I know GoDaddy is using Danica Patrick for advertising now, which is a slight improvement. (It’d be a monstrous improvement if she didn’t keep trying to capitalize on her sex appeal. Even if the male racers are doing it too, the important distinction is that men are not generally *expected* to do that.) But they’re going to have to do quite a bit more to balance out what they’ve pulled in the past, and the CEO’s having made excuses for it all and mocked the viewers who were concerned. A million-dollar donation to NOW might do the trick, but I think hell will freeze over first.

    So… I’ll look elsewhere when it’s time to renew. And if anyone knows of any domain seller who is NOT affiliated with these bozos and who sells for cheap, I’d love to hear about them. Feel free to get in touch with me. (No spam, please.)

    Reply
  15. Lazy Man says

    May 26, 2008 at 10:17 am

    My favorite drink, Diet Coke, had sexiest ads in the 80s with women all flocking to see a construction working at their lunch break. I separate the product from it’s advertising much of the time (Toyotas are one notable exception that I’ve written about before – but that’s because they promote violence).

    Reply
  16. David Ahmad says

    July 15, 2008 at 4:44 am

    Great Blog. Just read this article. Felt slightly bad to read this line of it

    “I would have traded 100 inbound links, to have this information, when I was starting out”
    since I’m just starting out and seemingly getting this advantage that you didn’t.

    Anyways, the biggest reason why I’m commenting on your blog is because we share many things in common: such that: we’re both lazy, your an engineer, I’m in my third year of engineering,our blog features on money, and lastly we don’t see blogging as work, although we’ll spend hours (late night hours-till mourning) blogging. Well good luck and best of wishes. How’d the whole engineering turn out with you?
    –

    Reply
  17. Jesse says

    April 10, 2009 at 12:09 pm

    I think its interesting that so much focus goes into staying anonymous for some bloggers. I didnt even think of going anonymous when I started my blog, and I dont think I would change my choice now.
    Great tips here that I will have to study

    Reply
  18. Joe Gelb says

    April 16, 2009 at 3:34 pm

    Great post. Thanks for the advice. Can I have my links now? Just kidding. Great blog.

    Reply
  19. Sandra Dee says

    May 22, 2009 at 5:30 pm

    Hi Lazy Man,

    Wow! What a stellar resource for newbie Bloggers like me. I knew about the 25 Steps to a Wildly Successful Personal Finance Blog but had no clue about the PFBlogs.org’s Popular Posts. I can’t wait to start checking out all of the great PF blogs out there.

    Thanks so much! You rock, Lazy Man!

    Reply
  20. Southern Investor says

    September 16, 2010 at 8:59 pm

    Just ran across your site because of Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income — He said that you have him his big break into some real traffic. Enjoyed looking at your site — joined the RSS — expecting to get some great tips from this!

    Reply
  21. RJ says

    November 15, 2010 at 2:38 pm

    This is great practical advice. How long did it take you to get 1000+ daily visits into your site?

    What other “marketing” venues did you pursue?

    Reply
    • Lazy Man says

      November 15, 2010 at 5:38 pm

      Guest posting and joining a network with other bloggers helped me the most.

  22. Yosef Katz says

    July 20, 2011 at 4:00 pm

    Hi Lazy Man,

    What blogger networks have you joined? How do I find and rate them? Thank you in advance,

    Reply
    • Lazy Man says

      July 20, 2011 at 5:23 pm

      Just ones that I’ve started with other bloggers.

  23. Kathie says

    August 27, 2012 at 10:25 am

    Enjoyed your site. I am a new fan!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Another reason to opt-out « Graduated Learning: Life after College says:
    October 11, 2007 at 8:03 am

    […] blog. He saw that I’m looking to officially start a personal finance blog. He sent me a link to an advice list on how to start a personal finance blog. It references quite a few other blogs, […]

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  2. Why My Blogroll has These Blogs | Green Panda Treehouse says:
    July 18, 2008 at 7:59 pm

    […] Lazy Man and Money: I actually got a comment from him! I emailed him a thank you and discovered his blog.  ”He has great advice. You should check out his tips for BF bloggers. […]

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  3. Welcome US News Readers says:
    August 20, 2008 at 7:47 am

    […] what I’ve learned by blogging and, if you are interested in giving blogging a try yourself, Advice for New Personal Finance Bloggers (much of it applies to blogging in general, not just personal finance […]

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