Free Money Finance

Comments on This Blog

I have received several emails lately from FMF readers who have tried to leave comments. In many cases, they seemingly posted the comments only to have them disappear. I have been working with Typepad (my blog software and host) to try and determine what the problem is, but they can't seem to crack it.The situation is made worse by the fact that there seems to be no pattern to the problem. It's not like all comments are blocked as I have had hundreds of comments left over the past week. Just some seem to get caught and lost somehow.

If you've had this problem, please send me an email with a DETAILED (the more detail the better -- which post, how long was it, what browser were you using, and so on) explanation of what happened. This information will be vital to helping them sort out the issue.

As most of you know, I do not delete comments as a matter of policy. Spam comments do get deleted as do some that are offensive (name calling, bad language, etc.) or useless (like "great post.") But I usually error on the side of keeping as many comments up as possible. Even those that seem like they are left to help with keyword Google "juice" are often left up if they are valid (though I do change the keyword.) Bottom line: if you've left a valid comment here and it's not showing up, it's not because I've deleted it. It's because the system has somehow eaten it. Hopefully, we can get this resolved quickly.

Thanks for your help and understanding.

What I Have to Deal With

I don't write much about the ins and outs of having a blog because I assume most of you don't really care. As long as the site is up and continues to offer updates regularly, that's all that matters. And that's as it should be. After all, if the blog talks too much about blogging, it's not a personal finance blog now is it? (Unless it's about how blogging can earn you some money.)

But after about a ga-zillion messages like the one that follows, I've lost it. I HAVE to say something.

What's setting me off is an email that I received recently. It reads as follows:

I found your site while searching Google and have found your website information and advice to be a very good fit for our visitors. As such, we are interested in buying advertising space on your home page http://www.freemoneyfinance.com.

Our budget is within $10/month. If you are interested, please send me your rate per month and PayPal information.

If we are happy with your price we will send you the link details that you can place on your website and we will make the payments to the PayPal ID provided.

Thanks for your time.

Here's my rant:

1. READ MY ADVERTISING POLICIES -- I DO NOT SELL TEXT LINKS!!!! This is plainly explained, so why do you send me an email about buying text link ads? Are you so dense or lazy that you can't even take 30 seconds to locate and scan a post on a site you want to advertise on (for those of you wondering, Google frowns on selling text link ads because it screws up the way they rank content -- which is what the buyer is hoping for.)

2. If I did sell text links, it sure would be for more than $10 a month. A WHOLE LOT more in fact. Why is that? Because after about three months Google would crush me and I'd no longer have a site.

3. Looking at #1 and #2 above, I need to restate my position. I think I will sell text links. The price is $1 million per month. But if you buy multiple months (payment in advance and non-refundable, of course), I can get that down to $500,000 per month. :-)

4. From now on, anyone sending me a text link ad request will get no response. I've been responding "I don't sell text links" for some time, but now you won't even get that courtesy. Take that!

Ok, I feel much, much better now. Thanks for letting me vent. This personal finance blog will now resume its normal topic and schedule.

Notice to Readers: Could Be a Bumpy Ride

Typepad is eating my posts, so things may get a bit sporadic here for a few days as they sort it out. I have emailed them and submitted a help ticket, but I'm not sure how fast they'll get it fixed. Stay tuned...

Meanwhile, you can follow me on Twitter. :-)

How to Write a Guest Post for Free Money Finance

Update 8-29-16: I do not accept sponsored posts from anyone on any topic for any reason. If you email me asking to do a sponsored post, I will not respond as you should have done your homework in advance and have read this.

Update 8-15-15: Either people are not reading this post or they are not reading to the end. I can't do anything about the former, but I can the latter. Just to save you from reading further, here's the summary (as I said below): I'm not accepting guest posts from anyone on any topic for any reason. Unless you have $1 million to pay me. Then I might consider it. ;-)

If you email me asking to do a guest post, you will not get a response. It's not that I'm trying to be rude, but seriously, people, read the instructions!

Every once in awhile I go on vacation and ask other bloggers to submit guest posts to fill in for me. Other times I simply get requests from others asking me if I'll run a guest post from them and, if so, what they should write about, how long should it be, etc. (By the way, I'm always open to receiving a submission to review.) So I thought I'd write a post and put all the details in one place where I could direct people in the future.

So here are my thoughts on writing a guest post for Free Money Finance:

1. Anyone can do it -- readers of the blog, other bloggers, etc. I take submissions/post from everyone.

2. The post can't be from a strictly commercial site and especially one touting their great services (in other words, no self promotion.) That's called advertising. Likewise, the post can't be from bloggers who simply state "here's how great I am, please come visit my site." The piece needs to deliver value to the readers here -- something that will help them think, help them with their finances, etc.

3. What sort of stuff do readers like/get value out of at Free Money Finance? Read the site and find out. Or check out my top posts for 2008 -- these should give you an idea of what "works". If you're wondering what topics I cover, check out the list here (scroll down).

4. Your post does NOT have to agree with my line of thinking. I like posting pieces with different points of view. For example: Should You Buy More House Than You Need?

5. If you have a website, you'll get one link from me as an introduction to your post. The link will be to your homepage and use the title of your site/blog -- not some selected "key word(s)" that you'd like highlighted. Don't include five to ten (or even one) additional link to your site in the post. Otherwise, it will be rejected.

6. Posts need to be original, written by you, and not previously published on any other sites (including your own). 30 days after I post it here, you can feel free to post it on your site, offer it to others, etc.

7. Write your best stuff. If you write a good, interesting, useful article, people will click through and visit your site. If you don't, they won't visit. It's that simple.

8. Length doesn't matter. It needs to be long enough to add value and develop the point fully. If it's too long, I'll simply break it up into several posts.

9. I'm not your editor. If it's not good from the start, it will be passed over. I wish I could help but I simply don't have the time.

10. Once you write something, email it to me in Word or notepad (text) format. I'll get back to you on whether or not I think it works for the site.

For reference, here are some examples of successful guest posts from the past:

• Using Your Health Savings Account as a "Super Roth" Investment Vehicle

• A Real-Life Example of How to Save $1,300 in Less than Two Hours by Shopping Around for Car Insurance

• An Investor's Perspective

• Tricks of the Trade: An Insider's Look at Saving Money at Grocery Stores

I'll add to these thoughts as time goes on (and issues arise), but for now this should get us 90% of the way home.

Update (4-21-10): I'm getting a lot of submissions that are short in length, poorly written, don't offer any useful tips, and are written for those who do not know much about personal finances. So let me be clear about what sorts of articles work here:

• This is supposed to be your best writing (so readers will like it and visit your site.) If you can't put the time and effort into doing a good job (or if you are simply writing to get a link to your site), don't waste your time.
• Tips, tips, tips. Readers love lists of tips. And not tips they have heard before. We all want new, useful tips to make the most of our money. Give us these and you'll have a good post.
• The readers here did not just drop off the potato truck. They know a good bit about personal finance, so writing basic, entry-level posts on any personal finance subject (investing, budgeting, debt management, etc.) is going to be too simplistic for the readers and will thus be rejected.

Update (3-2-11): I'm suspending guest posts for now. I'm getting bombarded by commercial sites that simply want to write for "free links/marketing." I'm not interested in this. If a legitimate personal finance blogger wants to send me something UNIQUE, REFRESHING (not the same old stuff), and WELL-WRITTEN, then I'll consider it. Otherwise, I'll pass.

Update (3-25-11): Obviously, I wasn't clear enough since I'm still getting lots of guest post requests. So I'm updating my policy. As of now, I'm not accepting guest posts from anyone on any topic for any reason. Unless you have $1 million to pay me. Then I might consider it. ;-)

Typepad Down Much of Yesterday

For those of you who tried to get to this site yesterday and couldn't, here's why.

I know -- isn't technology wonderful? :-)

Make Money Blogging

Since I've suggested that people can make some extra income by starting their own blog and since I run a fairly successful blog myself, I regularly get questions about how to start and run a blog that can earn some extra money. In the past, I always referred people to my series on how to make money blogging. But that piece is a bit dated (I've now had over 2.7 million visitors -- not just 100,000) and I need to update it (though, I must say, the tips there are still pretty right on.) Plus, there are those of you who need a bit more detail on the various steps to take to set up and develop a money making blog. Well, I've got good news for you.

Darren Rowse of ProBlogger fame has written a new book titled ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. My advice for those of you interested in making money with a blog: get it. Buy it or go pick it up at your local library. It's a fairly quick read (at least it was for me -- it will probably take longer for someone not used to the various issues associated with blogs) and chock full of great tips (I found several that I'm going to apply myself.) Darren is a great expert on making money with blogs, and that certainly comes through in this book. It's a must read for those of you looking to pad your income a bit with a blog.

By the way, if you're interested in more details on making money with a blog, here are three sites that can give you more information and details on how to do so:

• ProBlogger
• John Chow
• Shoemoney

I read these three and almost always learn something new to make this site better.

Where's My $300k?

Never heard of this site until today. Now he has a $300k book deal. What am I doing wrong? ;-)

Question for Regular Readers

I have a question for my regular readers. Currently when you click on a link here at Free Money Finance, your browser will take you to that link's page (in other words, it will replace your current page with a new page.) I had a reader say that he would like it better if clicking on another link would open up a whole new tab/window.

Which would you prefer -- links that take you to new pages or links that open up new windows?

Update: Thanks for the responses. It appears to be a clear choice -- leave it the way that it is. The people who want is as is will be satisfied and the ones who want a new page/window now have an easy solution to make that happen (see the comments below for details.)

Changes Coming to FMF: What's Your Opinion?

Not sure if you'd noticed or not, but I recently had Free Money Finance reviewed by ProBlogger readers. Here's a summary of what they suggested and my thoughts on each of them. Note that these recommendations aren't from regular readers, so I'm not going to do anything until I give regular readers a chance to chime in. That said, here we go:

A number of ProBlogger readers found the number of strong colors and shades in the design (green, yellow, red, black, white and blue) jarring and dissonant, and that the logo looked a bit like a DIY job.

Ha! It looks like a DIY job because it is one!

But I do need a new logo (the name and tagline will stay the same) and I am thinking of limiting the main colors. Which do you like best -- my green, yellow, red, something else?

Few reviewers had a bad word to say about the content. It struck me as very clear and concise. However, I probably wouldn’t want to read it on the site as my screen’s resolution is 1680 x 1050 and the content area stretches very, very wide. Consider fixing the width of the site to fill the screen at 1024 x 768, but allow for whitespace or a background on the sides at higher resolutions.

I've been toying with this idea for some time. What's your take on it?

In regards to the color of the excerpts (FMF had wondered if red was working) I would suggest switching this to an easy to read gray. A number of readers pointed out that red is more eye-catching than black and thus excerpts are emphasized more than the author’s content. In the context of some critiques on the amount of colors utilized in the design, it makes sense to strike red off that list by switching to gray.

When I quote a person or article, I've been putting that quote in red to make it stand out (just like that paragraph above.) Do you like this or do you think gray (or something else) would work better?

Use post excerpts on the main page with a Wordpress ‘More’ tag. This will encourage readers to navigate to the post-page to keep reading. When they click their browser’s social media buttons, they’ll be voting for the specific page, rather than the site as a whole. Specific blog posts tend to do a lot better than whole blogs.

What do you think of this idea -- basically having a summary of the post on the home page and the rest of the post on another page? Good idea? Bad idea? Doesn't matter?

Use more descriptive and inspirational headlines. As seen in the ‘Best of’ list in the sidebar, post headlines which tapped into reader aspirations (being ‘Rich’ or a ‘Millionaire’) have tended to do very well.

If anything, I think I'm often over-the-top with my headlines. Thoughts here?

Develop the habit of adding images to posts. Social media users browse the web very quickly and rely on visuals to communicate with them initially. An eye-catching image can mean the difference between a visitor who stays on your blog and a visitor who leaves the way they came.

I have opted for a more "clean" content area. Any thoughts on images versus no images?

Consider writing longer, thematic posts or resource lists. Short posts rarely do well on social media unless they’re incredibly profound or very useful. Longer, value-packed posts tend to be a favored format.

Yep, I need to set a goal for this (such as one per day, etc.) 

A number of readers suggested placing some form of advertising in-post, as these tend to perform better in comparison to ads in sidebars.

I have two issues here: 1) Typepad isn't the most friendly option for adding ads in the content section and 2) I'm not sure how readers will respond to ads in the content section. Your thoughts?

There is an incredible amount of stuff packed into the sidebars on either side of the content. There are some really important elements in the sidebar coupled with a lot of unimportant elements, and I think a lot of what’s important is probably getting lost in the clutter.

This is true. I have way too much on my sidebars. When I changed it last time, I wanted enough on the sidebars so they went down fairly far with the posts. But Now I'm thinking "less is more." The only questions are 1) what stays and 2) where does it go. Some of their suggestions.

• Move a Feedburner subscription icon above the fold.
• Move up and emphasize: reviews (good social proof from sources who’re authorities to your target audience) and ‘Best of Free Money Finance’. People want to see the best very quickly when they first visit your blog.
• Remove: recent posts element (it’s easier for users to just scroll down), recent comments (”person I haven’t heard of” commented on “post I haven’t read yet” — not so exciting for a new user), simplify your category list down to 10 - 15 (it’s so big as to be intimidating), move the blogroll to a separate page, remove lists of posts from the sidebar or put them on a separate page.
• Move your About and Contact information above the site sponsors on the right. Your About page must be easy to find because new visitors will often give up if they can’t get quick and concise information on what your site is about.

What are your thoughts on these?

I'm currently deciding what actions to take, but there are changes coming. I won't be able to incorporate everyone's suggestions (nor would I want to -- I have to decide what works best for me and the majority of readers), but I do want to give everybody a chance to be heard and comment before I start a re-design. After all, this is "your" blog too. Your thoughts are welcome and appreciated. Thanks for your input.

Ha! This Explains A Lot!!!

Now I know why I get some of the comments I do. (Scroll down a bit to see the "John Gabriel" graphic.) Priceless (and true.)

Typepad Spam Police in Overdrive

Just a post to let you know that Typepad (the company I use for blogging) has done something to its spam filter that's making it hard for many people to comment. I have a note into them to ask what's going on, but for now, I'll be checking the spam filter fairly regularly. If you try to leave a comment for the giveaway and can't, I'll rescue it eventually and you'll be considered as a participant.

$10k Challenge: Start a Blog

Here's another idea for those of you playing along with my quest to raise an additional $10k this year in income -- extra income outside my regular job. (The numbers I ran show that making this amount and socking it away year after year can yield quite a sizeable next egg.) What's the idea? Start a blog, of course! Here's what CareerJournal has to say about making money by having a blog:

Most self-employed bloggers take in between $2,000 and $10,000 a month from ad sales, says Henry Copeland, founder of BlogAds.com, a Web advertising concern based in Carrboro, N.C. The few that have huge audiences make significantly more, he adds. During election time, for example, a political blogger can bring in $20,000 to $30,000 a month, says Ken Layne, West Coast bureau chief for Wonkette.com, a political gossip blog owned by Gawker Media.

Ha! I wish it was that easy! ;-)

Then again, you can earn a decent side income with a blog -- if you do it the right way. For my thoughts on how to start and run a successful blog, check out How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond.

Great, New Blog

Here's a blog that's unrelated to money, but one I just HAD to tell you about.

DigitalRichDaily is a new blog written by a friend of mine and I've been enjoying it tremendously. It's written about a family's everyday life -- which would be boring if they didn't have such "fun" lives. For instance, you can read about how he got his truck stuck in four feet of mud, how his builder tried to cheat him out of a repair (and how he got it done), how he fought to get a better seat on an airplane, and how his car got stolen. I really loved each of these posts!

But it's not all fun and games. For instance, he tries to decide the best way to give to a beggar and has even graded himself on his life goals. And just to round out the list of posts, he includes his secret recipe for a bonfire and lists his 5-year-old daughter's prayer list.

The posts are long, but there is only one a day, and I must say I look forward to reading his next post every day as much as I look forward to reading any other blog I'm subscribed to. Maybe it's just because I know him, but I don't think so. I think you'll find his stuff interesting too. Stop by, then come back and let me know what you think.

ReviewMe.com Launched, Should I Use It?

If you're a blogger and you're looking to make a bit of extra money, there's a new site out there called ReviewMe that you'll want to check out. Here's what the site says about itself:

Get paid to review services and Web sites that are of interest to your readers, and reap the benefits of conversation with advertisers.

I know, kinda vague. Basically, you submit your site and advertisers ask you to write posts about them (along with a stated fee for the post.) The post can be positive or negative (so at least in theory it's an honest review), and once you write it, you submit the URL and get paid. Not, bad huh?

Personally, though, I'm not sure how much I'll use this. It is good money (for instance, I get $125 just for writing this post about the service. Yes, even this is a paid for post.) And since I give all my revenues to charity, that's $125 to help out some needy people. But still, it's kind of cheesy -- being paid to write reviews. It seems like it's a built in conflict of interest. Then again, I get paid whether it's a positive or negative review, so what's the problem?

So I'm asking you readers -- what do you think of the idea? Should I use it? Why or why not?

What I Would Do If I Had to Start Free Money Finance Again

My hero, Darren, at Problogger is asking bloggers what they would do differently if they started their blogs from the beginning. So, do you have an extra three hours? Seriously, it's not that bad. In fact, there's not much I'd do differently (maybe you think differently -- if so, leave your thoughts in the comments below). ;-) But there is one change I know I'd make:

I wouldn't use Typepad as my blogging platform. When I started, I knew nothing about blogging. So Typepad, as a hosted service with an easy interface, was a great alternative. However, now that this blog has grown and I've learned a TON about the do's and don'ts of blogging, I want to do several things with this blog that just can't be done easily in Typepad. Yet I have almost 2,500 posts, so switching would be hard. (But maybe not impossible.)

BTW, I do like the people at Typepad, and if they'd just add a few more pieces of functionality, I'd be as happy as a clam.

So now, you tell me -- what else should I have done differently? Maybe you have some ideas I could implement that would make Free Money Finance better. If so, I'm all ears.

Review: Blog Wild! by Andy Wibbels

Here's a short and quick book review for you bloggers out there. I just finished reading a copy of Andy Wibbels' Blog Wild! Here's my take on it:

Book Summary

The book is a short, but thorough detailing of how to set up and operate a blog.

What I Liked

• It was a short, quick read (small in size and only 165 pages). It took me half an hour to read it (though I knew most of the stuff, so I skimmed those parts).
• It was very practical. Handled all the blogging to-dos in a no-nonsense fashion.
• All the blog examples dealt with Typepad -- my second language. ;-)
• Lots of great examples of people using blogging to grow their business.

What I Didn't Like

Only one thing I didn't like: It was very basic. If you've been blogging for more than six months, I think you'll view it as too simplistic.

Conclusion

For new bloggers or people/companies considering a blog, this book is a no-brainer -- it's a must read/buy. I'd say the same for anyone considering using/switching to Typepad. However, if you've already been blogging for some time, I don't think you'll learn much. It will be a quick, fun read, and you may learn a couple things (I did!), but you'll already know most of it.

Ratings

I'm giving this book two ratings:

• For a newbie/someone considering blogging, the Free Money Finance Rating for Blog Wild! (based on my 0 thru 10 rating system) is: 7 Stars.
• For people who have been blogging for awhile, the Free Money Finance Rating for Blog Wild! (based on my 0 thru 10 rating system) is: 3 Stars.

Review: An Army of Davids

If you're a blogger, chances are pretty good that you've heard of Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit. His blog is one of the oldest and most popular in the blogosphere. And for me, it's a must-read several times per day. So when I received a copy of Glenn's new book, An Army of Davids, I was thrilled!

The premise of the book is described as follows:

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when large companies and powerful governments reigned supreme over the little guy. But new technologies are empowering individuals like never before, and the Davids of the world -- the amateur journalists, musicians, and small businessmen and women -- are suddenly making a huge economic and social impact.

Then, at the end of the introduction, Reynolds gives specifics on what the book covers:

In the chapters that follow, we'll look at how technology is empowering ordinary people in all sorts of ways -- from journalism and entertainment, to homeland security and counterterrorism, to manufacturing and scientific research -- and at how it's likely to influence the world in the future. Because in the future, the efforts of individuals and small groups, acting sometimes on their own and sometimes in informal cooperation with others, are likely to make a bigger difference than they've made in centuries.

And that, quite simply, is what the book delivers.

The first six chapters cover the changes we've already seen caused by blogging and technology, while the last six give Reynolds's thoughts on what the future will bring (including predictions on space travel, human longevity, etc.) In between is an "interlude" that contains Reynolds's thoughts on "good blogging" -- an oh-so-short six pages from the Master of Blogging.

When I first heard that Reynolds was writing a book on blogging, I was hoping it would focus on his thoughts about "good blogging" and be more practical in nature. But this book contains only a splash of that sort of content and instead is an intellectual treatise on the current and future impact of technology on people's lives.

The book does an excellent job of covering what it promises. Reynolds is not only a great blogger, he's a big thinker who explores technology in a fascinating manner by merging seemingly disparate thoughts and weaving them into logical, meaningful conclusions. If you like thought-inspiring, challenging, futuristic reads, you'll love this book.

I, however, do not like this type of book. To me it's about as exciting as a graduate school textbook (which, by the way, I tried to read as few of as possible when I got my MBA). Call me an intellectual lightweight, but I like stuff a lot more entertaining and practical. In addition, I mourn what could have been -- 250 pages of "here's how to be a great blogger" by the Instapundit.

So while I love Reynolds and his blog, the Free Money Finance Rating for An Army of Davids (based on my 0 thru 10 rating system) is: 5 Stars.

Calling All Bloggers: Does Free Money Finance Owe You a Link?

I was reading some new personal finance blogs last night and realized that there are several money blogs that link to Free Money Finance but I don't link to them. It's because they are under my radar (I've been really busy the past few months) and I just haven't seen their links and/or had the time to link to them.

In general, my link policy for personal finance (could be money in general, taxes, investing, etc. -- anything having to do with money) blogs is:

1. If you link to Free Money Finance and...

2. You've been posting regularly for at least a month and...

3. You're not some sort of psycho-money person (in other words, you content is at least "decent") then...

4. I want to add you to my Bloglines feeds as well as the list of finance blogs on the right side of Free Money Finance.

So if you fit 1-3 and I haven't linked to you, leave a comment below or email me and I'll check your blog out.

If you're not a personal finance site, it's a bit tougher, but you can leave a comment as well and I'll look over your site. If I like it, I'll list it in my non-money sites listings.

BTW, I review my links every month or so and try to weed out the ones that have been abandoned, but I can't promised they are all up-to-date.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 22; Trade Links/Posts with Blogs Outside Your Topic Area

Step 22 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Trade links/posts with blogs outside your topic area.

Once you've networked with the blogs covering your topic, you'll want to do the same with blogs outside your area of expertise. It's likely that you have found some blogs that you like that don't deal with your subject area -- and maybe even corresponded with them a bit. Ask them to trade links or be willing to trade "introductions", posts you each write to your readers that introduces the new blog to your readers. It's a great way to expose your blog to new people, many of whom will become regular readers (assuming you're following the other tips in this series).

I did this last summer with a site called Business Opportunities. It's a blog that's somewhat related to personal finance (in that it talks about starting your own business and earning more money), but not so close that we have the exact same audience. I read the blog and enjoy it, so I contacted them to ask about trading links/posts. This made sense for them as well since they were readers of FMF, so we each added links to our sidebars for the other. I later introduced my readers to Business Opportunities (and have done so a few times since -- it's a great site) and he later did the same for me when I hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance.

Start making your list of potential partners today. Read their blog, study it, and consider if you think your readers will like knowing about it. If so, contact the blogger and propose the mutually beneficial idea discussed above. Done properly, it's a win for everyone: you, them, and the readers of both blogs.

Click here to read part 1 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct and You Need A Budget.

Personal Finance Bloggers Covered in Business Week

Congrats to all the personal finance bloggers covered in Business Week's recent article on money bloggers (It's premium content now -- accessible only if you're a BW subscriber -- but I'm assuming they'll free it up sometime and/or run it in the magazine as it's dated March 6, 2006). The piece focuses on Jonathan at MyMoneyBlog and also highlights the following blogs:

• Make Love Not Debt
• NYC Money
• My Open Wallet
• Boston Gal's Open Wallet
• 2million
• Networth IQ

There's also a graphic that includes other blogs:

• Pfblog
• MoneyBlogNetwork
• My Open Wallet
• Savvy Saver

Congrats to all!!!!!!

I'm Cruisin' -- Come Join Me While You Can Get the Best Deal

Last month I posted that I'm going to be part of the first annual Blogonomics Blog Cruise taking place on this ship this October 5th thru 9th. I also highlighted the itinerary and the cruise's blog. However, I forgot to encourage you to sign up now. Why is it important to sign up now and not wait? Because people who commit early save $300 (if you sign up by March 15).

So what are you waiting for? Take that income tax refund and make an investment in your blogging career -- and have some fun while you're at it. You can get all the details you need at the main Blogonomics site.

Hope to see you in October!

FYI -- Jeremy also has some good thoughts on the cruise -- namely, it's half the cost you'd normally pay for a cruise and a conference combined.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 21; Write Offline Articles

Step 21 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Write offline articles.

Three to five times a year, I write a financial article for a publication that has 7.2 million weekly readers. At the end of each piece, they refer the readers to Free Money Finance. Now it doesn't drive as much traffic as you'd think, but I do get a good spike every time one of those articles hits. That's why I encourage you, if you have the ability and desire, to write articles for offline publications as a way to drive traffic to your blog.

Now many of you haven't been a part-time freelance writer like I have for eight years, so you may not have the skill or connections to write for a very big publication. That's ok -- do what I did. Start small, keep at it, and slowly write for larger and larger publications. Yes, it will take time, but you'll generate traffic for your blog, plus make some money along the way! ;-)

If you want more information on becoming a freelance writer, there are two resources I recommend:

• Writer's Digest -- The leading magazine for writers. It's full of helpful hints every month. See if your library gets it and read all the back issues you can.
• Writer's Market -- Annual publication that lists a vast number of publications, the stories they are looking for, how much they pay, who the main contact is, etc. The book also has several "how to" articles that will help get you started.

Beileve it or not, there's a publication (or several) for almost every topic. So no matter what your blog covers, it's likely that there's a publication that deals with the same issue. If you have the skill and desire, you can write for publication and drive traffic to your blog.

Click here to read part 22 of this series.

Click here to read part 1 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct and You Need A Budget.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 20; Write Guest Articles for Other Bloggers

Step 20 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Write guest articles for other bloggers.

This is a really simple, but really powerful idea.

If you've been networking like I've recommended, it's likely that you'll run into a blog every now and then that asks for guest bloggers for either a single article, a series, or a limited amount of time. When that happens, I suggest you volunteer -- especially if it's a highly-trafficked blog.

Why? Because writing on another blog will expose your blogging to a new audience. And if you write good stuff (which I'm assuming you do or else no one would let you blog on their site) you'll drive lots of traffic to your site. And many of these people will come back again and again and ultimately become regular readers.

To make the most of writing on someone else's blog, there are a few rules you'll want to abide by:

• Make sure you put your best foot forward. You're representing yourself to a new audience, so you want to be sure they like what they read. In addition, you're a steward of someone else's blog, and you want to honor their willingness to help you out. As such, bring your "A" posts to their blog.
• Honor your commitment. Be sure you do whatever you promise the blog host concerning number of posts, timing of posts, and the like. If you do a good job and honor your commitments, you might be invited back.
• Say thanks. After it's all over, be courteous and thank the host for letting you participate. Though it's likely that they got as much or more out of the relationship, take the initiative and thank them for including you.

I've written guest posts on several occasions and it's always been a good use of my time. I suggest you do the same as it will certainly drive solid levels of traffic to your site.

Click here to read part 21 of this series.

Click here to read part 1 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct and You Need A Budget.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 19; Get Offline Media Coverage

Step 19 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Get offline media coverage.

I mentioned offline media coverage in the last tip, but wanted to be sure it had a place of its own. As such, I'm making it tip #19.

I've had a couple offline successes including mentions by Business Week and The Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately, these were more "luck" than the online coverage I discussed last time -- I was in the right place at the right time. However, there are two steps that work for online coverage that you can also be used to get offline mentions:

• Network. If people don't know what you're up to, how can they talk about it? Communicate to reporters and writers of offline publications. Invite them to visit your blog to see what you're doing. Another idea: offer to be a source for stories they are working on. Do all you can to be known as a helpful source. Then, when the need arises, they'll call on you. (BTW, networking with other blogs helps as well. After all, reporters may contact another blogger and ask him who he'd recommend for a story in your subject area. If you're known to him, you'll get the referral and the publicity!)
• Have a good blog -- people will notice -- even offline publications. If you simply cover the basics of picking the right topic, picking a good name, having a compelling tagline, creating a usable and attractive design, and writing compelling content, you'll be well ahead of the pack. Then, offline media outlets will find you and use your blog as an example when they have need to.

Click here to read part 20 of this series.

Click here to read part 1 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct and You Need A Budget.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, All the Links So Far

As many of you know, I've been writing a series titled "How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond." I'm on step #18 and probably about half way through the series, so I thought now was a good time to break and list all the links to the posts so far. I've had several requests for this, so here they are:

• Step 1: Pick the Right Topic
• Step 2: Pick a Good Name
• Step 3: Get a Compelling Tagline
• Step 4: Create a Useable and Attractive Design
• Step 5: Write Compelling Content
• Step 6: Read Other Blogs in Your Subject Area
• Step 7: Leave Comments and Trackbacks
• Step 8: Trade Links with Like Blogs
• Step 9: Put Blog URL on All Emails
• Step 10: Email All Your Contacts
• Step 11: Join a Network
• Step 12: Find Unique Places/Ways to Promote Your Blog
• Step 13: Participate in Carnivals
• Step 14: Post Frequently
• Step 15: Write Unusual Posts to Get Attention
• Step 16: Experiment with Blog Traffic Exchanges
• Step 17: Host Carnivals
• Step 18: Get Online Media/Blog Coverage

Click the links above to check out any of the posts you missed or start at the beginning and read all the way through. FYI -- each post has a link at the end that leads to the next one in the series.

Enjoy!

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 18; Get Online Media/Blog Coverage

Step 18 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Get online media/blog coverage.

I know this tip falls into the category of "it's easier said than done", but if you can get big online and offline "media" to mention your blog, it will mean BIG traffic for your site.

I've had several successes in this area including mentions by Business Week and The Wall Street Journal offline and Business Week, Instapundit, Business Opportunities, and Scobleizer online. While many of these were "lucky" occurrences, there are some things you can do to make it more likely that you'll get noticed. Fortunately, many of these are tasks you should have already been doing on your blog including:

• Write compelling content and unusual posts that will get attention. In short, write about things people want to read about, talk about, and link to.
• Publicize what you're doing. If people don't know what you're up to, how can they talk about it? Where appropriate (translation: don't spam), mention one of your topics in some of the comments on other blogs. And if you are covering a topic you think people will want to read about, email them to let them know what you're up to.
• Find unique places to promote your blog and include your topic in blog carnivals. These are great ways to get noticed by others.
• Network. Email other bloggers and develop friendships. Then, when you have a hot topic you want to promote, tell them about it.
• Read and be active on other blogs. People read (or at least look at) blogs that comment on their blog.
• Have a good blog -- people will notice. If you simply cover the basics of picking the right topic, picking a good name, having a compelling tagline, creating a usable and attractive design, and writing compelling content, you'll be well ahead of the pack. Then, other blogs and media outlets will find you and tell others about the great job you're doing.

Click here to read part 19 of this series.

Click here to read part 1 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct and You Need A Budget.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 17; Host Carnivals

Step 17 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Host carnivals.

Earlier in this series we talked about the advantages of participating in blog carnivals. But after awhile, that isn't enough -- you want to host one. And if you're up for a lot of work in a short amount of time, blog carnivals can be traffic goldmines.

Each blog carnival "founder" has his or her standard way of awarding hosting privileges, but I'd say that most will give you a slot as long as you've participated in the carnival at least a few times, have a decent number of posts under your belt (30 or so), you post regularly, and you/your site is a positive reflection on the blogosphere -- all basics you should have covered easily by this point in this series.

However, be warned: hosting a carnival can be a LOT of work and the payout can be dubious. For a carnival like the Carnival of the Vanities, you could get 40-50 submissions, all with varying levels of partial information in place/missing (and you have to track down), and you need to get the post up soon after the deadline (usually a day at the most). Plus, gone are the good old days when Instapundit would link to every carnival a send a ton of traffic (1,000 visitors at LEAST) your way. (I guess we killed the golden goose with too many carnivals.) So now you're relying on the sites submitting articles to link to you and send lots of readers your way. Many will link to you (which is good as links help you out with the search engines) but traffic is questionable. Many of the submitters will have far less traffic than you will.

So how do you make the best of this situation? Here are my suggestions:

• Don't wait until the deadline to start putting the carnival together. If you do, you may have to weed through a ton of submissions all at once. I start putting together a carnival a few days before it's due. I take the submissions already in, put them in a post, and save it as a draft. I then add other submitted posts each day as they come in. This way, it's a little bit of work for three or four days rather than a huge amount of work all at once.
• Develop an easy posting formula that will help you quickly complete the carnival. I do two things: 1) I post according to date -- the first submitted are the first included. I don't spend time on an elaborate story-related post, a theme post, or any other sort of creative effort. 2) I use a summary of the post itself to describe what each post is about. I simply copy and paste the key parts from the post -- just enough to let readers know what it's about. This way, I don't have to write something new and unique for each post (which takes a lot of time and effort), yet the readers know exactly what each post covers. It's a win for us both.
• Record the email and trackback URL of every site included in your post. You'll want to use these later as you market the carnival. See below for details.
• Unless they are a psycho or the post makes no sense at all, use everyone's submission. I believe in a "the more the merrier" philosophy. Not only is this in the spirit of the blogosphere and carnivals, but it also makes sense for you -- the more people included, the more who can link to (and drive traffic to) you.
• When you post the carnival, be sure to send trackbacks to all the sites you collected trackbacks for. This will leave a small comment on their site that will send some traffic your way.
• Once the post is up, be sure to check that it looks good and that the links work. The carnival is a direct reflection on you and a lot of people are watching. You want to be sure you make a good impression (you may want to host again) and ensure that the carnival is a good experience for all participants and readers.
• Send an email to all the sites involved and ask them to notify their readers. It's common courtesy for sites involved in a carnival to post about it and most of them will. This is the single-biggest source of traffic for you (unless you get lucky with the next step).
• Publicize the carnival with interested, non-participating blogs. Send emails to larger blogs you think might have an interest in telling their readers about the carnival. The best way of knowing what blogs publicize the different carnivals is to read the blogs regularly. When you see them consistently talking about a certain carnival, make a mental note to email them about that carnival the next time you host it. The right blog posting about your carnival may send a great amount of traffic your way.
• Be sure to thank the carnival founder and make a note to volunteer again. Be thankful and gracious to the person letting you host their carnival. Even if you don't want to host again, it's simply common courtesy. If you do want to host the carnival again, make a note to ask for a slot at a later date.
• Look at your stats. Note how much traffic you got from the carnival and determine whether or not it was worth the effort. For me, as long as I get a fair amount of traffic and several links, it's a good deal. If you use the tips above and minimize the amount of time hosting the carnival takes, it's likely that being the host will be a worthwhile endeavor for you.

Click here to read part 18 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct and You Need A Budget.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 16; Experiment with Blog Traffic Exchanges

Step 16 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Experiment with blog traffic exchanges.

In the early days of this blog, I experimented with three blog traffic exchange sites: Blog Explosion, Blog Advance and Blog Clicker. They each have their positives and negatives and to be honest, I haven't visited them for awhile, so they may have totally changed in the last several months, but they all work on the same principle: you review other blogs and for every two you view, they send one person to look at your blog. It's an easy way to get traffic if you have some time to kill and want to see what other blogs are out there (in a random sort of way).

If you decide to use/experiment with these sites, there are a few things you should know:

• Don't expect high quality traffic. Most of the sites that sign up for these are of low to mid level quality (yeah, I know, I was one of them), hence the people coming to your blog (the owners of the other blogs in the group) probably aren't that great either. That said, if you're good and on the ball, your blog will stand out as a star.
• Don't expect a wide number of blogs. When I used these sites, I could view them for 15 minutes or so and then started seeing the same blogs over and over again. This may have changed as more people have joined these sites since I last visited.
• There's a large percentage of "this is my life blogs" in these groups. Lots of people talking about their lives. Their boring lives. Be sure to have a can of Diet Coke handy.
• Be ready to be surprised. You'll just be sitting there, almost asleep, reading another worthless blog and BAM -- a great blog will pop out at you. Don't be surprised if you find a handful of good blogs that you add to your blogroll. In a way, finding these makes all the time spent viewing the other sites worth it.

Plan to use these sites for a time and then split. Sign up, get the traffic bonuses, view some blogs over a few days (or weeks), send all the traffic to your sites, then never go back again. By then, you'll be up and running on your own and won't have time for such a labor intensive activity.

Click here to read part 17 of this post.

Free Money Finance recommends: Emigrant Direct and You Need A Budget.

Promote Your Personal Finance/Money Blog for Free!

For those personal finance bloggers out there looking for some free promotion for your site, the MoneyBlogNetwork has an opportunity for you.

We're naming a Site of the Week every week -- a spotlight on one specific personal finance blog. If you want to be considered, stop by AllThingsFinancial and email JLP. He's collecting the applications.

Speaking of AllThingsFinancial, I have to say a public thank you to JLP. He's answered a few tax-related questions that FMF readers have had and he's always done a great job -- very thorough. Thanks, JLP!

Finally, AllThingsFinancial has a post on how Ameriprise Looses Data on 230,000 Clients and Advisors that you may want to check out. Here is an overview:

Ameriprise Financial, the investment advisory unit spun off from American Express last year, said today that lists with the personal information of about 230,000 customers and financial advisers were potentially exposed to fraud.

The breach occurred in late December after a company laptop was stolen from an employee's car. It contained lists of reassigned customer accounts that were being stored unencrypted on a computer in violation of Ameriprise's rules.

The information on the laptop included the names and Social Security numbers of more than 70,000 current and former financial advisers and the names and internal account numbers of about 158,000 customers. The data was being stored in separate lists, but it is possible that there could be some overlap between the two.

Are these companies crazy!!!!???? This info is on a laptop -- in a car -- unguarded? When will they learn????

Add Ameriprise Financial to the identity theft blacklist.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 15; Write Unusual Posts to Get Attention

Step 15 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Write unusual posts to get attention.

Nothing gets you attention (translation: traffic) like a unique spin on an old topic, an unusual piece of information, or a detailed viewpoint on something everyone is interested in. The blogosphere LOVES these sort of posts, so the more of them you can come up with, the more traffic you can generate.

Here are some examples from Free Money Finance:

• Several months ago, I wrote Best Practices for Driving Traffic with Blog Carnivals. In the piece, I gave a detailed viewpoint of how carnivals drove traffic (and how much traffic). It dealt with a topic that many people are interested in including many high-traffic sites, so when I posted on it, so did they. The resulting traffic was very, very nice.
• I continue to post on the costs of pets (and how expensive they are). As you might imagine, this isn't the most popular topic I write about as people love their pets to death. But it creates conversation and interest, and thus traffic. So I continue to talk about how Fido might cost you a fortune.
• My latest venture, the Bible and Money, has started to generate some traffic with a whole new audience. I post on the topic every Sunday (how fitting, huh?) and it's started to attract attention, and traffic, from a new audience.

So think about topics you could talk about that are a bit unusual. If you do, someone may notice, tell their friends, and on and on -- and you may have a stampede on your hands. ;-)

Click here to read part 16 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends: Emigrant Direct and You Need A Budget.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 14; Post Frequently

Step 14 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Post frequently.

This is probably the best tip I'll give in this series. If not, it's certainly close to the top. The simple fact is:

The more you post, the more traffic you'll get.

Yes, there are exceptions to the rule, but in most cases as soon as you increase posting frequency, traffic will go up. Mine did. Dramatically.

I covered many of the reasons and benefits in posting often in FMF Speaks: Why I Post So Often. Check out the post if you want more details.

The main issue of posting more often for most bloggers is that is takes more time -- time that they don't have (or can't find). I have several ideas on how to post more in the same amount of time, but that's for a later post -- if anyone's interested, that is.

Click here to read part 15 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 13; Participate in Carnivals

Step 13 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Participate in carnivals.

I am a long-time participant in blog carnivals and have seen lots of benefits from being involved with them. I have already written on how to drive traffic with blog carnivals, and I'm not going to re-hash that information here (BTW -- if you don't know what a blog carnival is, check out that post). But here are a few things I do want to say about participating in blog carnivals:

• Almost everyone gets in. When I first started participating in carnivals, I wondered if my posts were "good enough" to make it in a carnival. In reality, unless it's a really bad post, if you submit, you'll get in.
• It's easy to participate. You can use handy submission forms at the Conservative Cat or Blog Carnival and submit to many different carnivals in just a few clicks.
• Be a courteous participant. When you participate, be sure to include all information the host might need to put together the carnival. Remember, he or she has to sort through 30-50 posts sometimes, so help him out a bit. My pet peeve is people who submit to a carnival without listing a trackback URL but they have trackbacks on their site. It's just plain discourteous (BTW, I always place people who do that at the END of a carnival I'm hosting).
• Link back. When you're included in a carnival, it's standard operating procedure (at least for cooperative bloggers) to post on your site and direct people to the carnival. This rewards the host for hosting and drives lots of traffic from various sites. Many of the people ultimately coming to your site to read your submission will come as a result of some other participating blogger posting on it. You want to be sure and return the favor. I always make one weekly post of all the carnivals I'm in, as long as the host gets them up in time (I like to post around noon on Wednesdays at the latest). To see an example of how I do this, look at this post.

When Free Money Finance was a new blog, I got a substantial amount of traffic from blog carnivals. Now that the blog is older/bigger, I still participate because it drives good traffic and doesn't take much time to submit each week -- even though I participate in 6 to 8 per week. Try a few out for yourself and I'm sure you'll see that it's a great way to drive new people to your blog.

Click here to read part 14 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 12; Find Unique Places/Ways to Promote Your Blog

Step 12 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Find unique places/ways to promote your blog.

There are a ga-zillion small/unique ways to promote your blog that drive a decent amount of traffic if you're small. They won't make sense if you're already getting a few hundred visitors per day, but when you're at 50 per day, every little bit helps. Here are a couple I used:

• The Beltway Traffic Jam -- Nightly linkfest. Good exposure to a new audience. For an example of how I used it, see this post.
• Carnival of the Trackbacks -- Not a "true" carnival (I'll discuss those on an upcoming post) but a Saturday linkfest on popular blog Wizbang.

Again, neither of these will break the bank, but they don't require a lot of time either. And if you consistently use them (and a few others -- readers, what are your favorites?), you could see your traffic grow a good amount.

Click here to read part 13 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 11; Join a Network

Step 11 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Join a blog network.

One of the first true marketing efforts I made was to join a start-up personal finance network where I double-posted the entries from my main site (I know there are other network models where your main site IS part of the network, but I'll cover those types in a later post.) It allowed me to get my posts out to a wider audience, drive traffic back to my main site, and keep an eye on what was happening in the personal finance blogosphere. Early on, this site was responsible for a good chunk of Free Money Finance's traffic and the relationship was mutually beneficial (as I got bigger and the network became less active, it got to be worth less and less).

If you're thinking about joining a network, there are a few things to consider including:

• Know the rules. Who owns the content? What can and can't be posted? Can you link to your main site? Do you get part of the site's revenue? If so, how much and how are you paid? Basically, know what you're getting yourself into.
• Consider the company. You want to be associated with the best (or at least good) bloggers, so don't get into a network with sub-par bloggers. It won't get the traffic you'd like to see and as such won't send very many people your way.
• Factor in time. Do you have the time to post to your site and to another one? It's a big consideration as many bloggers barely have enough time to do all they want on their sites -- much less add the extra commitment of another site.
• Know when it's time to leave. If you do things right, at some point you'll probably outgrow the network (or at a minimum it will be much less important to you to be a part of it). When this happens, decide when and how you want to cut back/leave and then execute the plan to maximize traffic to your site (based on your agreement with the network, of course).

Click here to read part 12 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 10; Email All Your Contacts

Step 10 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Email all your contacts telling them about your blog.

Here's another simple idea -- but one that works pretty well.

After you get your blog up and have 15-20 posts, email all your friends, family, and business associates and tell them about it. I did early on in the life of my blog and because 1) they liked the subject, 2) they liked the content, and 3) they knew/liked me, I got many subscribers right off the bat. It was as simple as that.

However, there are some tips for making the most of this tip:

• Invite people you know fairly well. Don't email someone you haven't had contact with in two years. It's bad form and likely won't result in anything other than them feeling like they've been spammed.
• Make the message personal. A group email is ok, but a personal one is better (believe me -- I've tried them both). If you can, send a personal email that includes something that you know fits the interests of the person receiving the email. Something like "I know you're interested in investing" makes the email more personal.
• Be ready for rejection. Someone (or maybe many) on your list won't be interested in what you're doing and will tell you so. Don't take it personally. Your blog isn't for everyone (many people still don't even know what a blog is) and as such you shouldn't be offended if someone isn't interested.

Click here to read part 11 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 9; Put Blog URL on All Emails

Step 9 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Put your blog URL on all your emails by using it in your signature file.

This is a simple tip and while it certainly won't drive a ba-zillion people your way, it will send some and it costs you nothing (other than a few minutes).

Early in the life of my blog, I added the blog's URL and a brief description to my email signature file so that every message I sent, every message I replied to, and every message I forwarded (not to mention all the messages of mine that people sent on to others) included a small advertisement for Free Money Finance. It simply reads:

Looking for something interesting, exciting and educational on the web? Check out www.freemoneyfinance.com for inspiring personal finance information

I know, it's not great. I could make it much better. But since this is sent from my work email, I toned down the hype-meter to make it subtle. It works in this context.

Here are some other ideas to make the most of this tip:

• Add it to all your emails. You could also a signature to your home email address.
• Ask others to do the same. I had people at work who added Free Money Finance to their email signature files too.
• Be sure it attracts some attention. I made the "ad" for my blog a bit smaller than my name, title, etc. to call attention to it. I also put it at the end, as the last thing on the signature. It stands out a bit more as a result.

Not rocket science by any means, but just a small tip that can work with all the others to help drive your traffic to new heights.

Click here to read part 10 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 8; Trade Links with Like Blogs

Step 8 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Trade links with blogs that cover the same topic you do.

Once I started becoming "known" to a few other personal finance bloggers (after all, I had been posting for a few weeks and leaving comments/trackbacks on their blogs), I contacted them asking for link trades. Before I did this, I created a section on my blog titled "Money Sites" (since reorganized into "Money Blogs") and I put a few blogs on the list. Then I started contacting all the other personal finance bloggers and asking for link trades. I sent them an email that was similar to the following:

Hello! My name is FMF and I have a personal finance blog called Free Money Finance at www.freemoneyfinance.com. I think your site is one that my readers would like to know about and as such I'd love to trade links with you. I'd gladly put you on my list of "Money Sites" if you'd add me to your list as well.

Please let me know if this is of interest to you and I'll get your site up right away. Thanks for your consideration.

This worked about 95% of the time. The other 5% I either got no response or answers like "I'll link to you once you've been blogging for three months".

Here are a few keys to my success:

• I was polite -- I was kind and friendly in all my communication. Remember, it's easier to give a friend a link.
• I approached blogs in my topic area and relatively close to my size -- I didn't email Instapundit and ask for a link trade. I emailed sites that had similar topics as mine and only slightly larger traffic.
• I offered them something -- I offered to drive traffic to them (small as it might be), so they got something out of the deal as well. And my readers did as well -- they learned of new sites.

Finally, I can't end this post without telling you what my policy is today regarding link exchanges. As you can imagine, I get quite a few, and here's what I do when someone asks me to exchange links:

• I look to see how long they've been posting -- I want someone who's been around a couple months or so, not just someone who started yesterday and may quit tomorrow.
• I look to see how recently they've posted -- Someone whose latest post is two months old doesn't need a link, they need a blogger.
• I review the content -- I want to see if the content is something I agree with (for the most part.) I'm fairly lenient on this, but I'm not trading links with an inappropriate or spammy site.
• I ask myself whether or not my readers would like to read this blog -- If they would, it's ok with me.
• I try to be gracious -- All else being equal, I trade links. If I can help someone else out a bit, that's great.

Finally, I check my links regularly and if someone either quits posting or takes me off their list for some reason, I remove them from my list.

Click here to read part 9 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 7; Leave Comments and Trackbacks

Step 7 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Leave comments and trackbacks.

As we go through this series, there are probably a lot of you thinking one (or both) of these things (because I know I am thinking them):

1. Wow! This guy's a real rocket scientist. Tell us something we don't know, dunce-head!!

2. Some of these suggestions are so simple. Do they really make any difference?

Let me address these two issues before I continue with today's topic:

1. Yes, this stuff is very, very basic, especially at the beginning. I'm going in chronological order, so the first items you've already read may seem really simple to you. They seem simple to me now as well. But when I was at 20 visitors a day, they didn't seem so simple to me -- they seemed like ideas that would help me grow -- and they did. As such, as time goes on, the ideas will get more and more sophisticated and drive more and more traffic. Stay tuned.

2. I believe every one of these ideas has some merit. They have all worked together to get the results demonstrated on this blog. To me, these ideas are cumulative. I did them all and if you want to try and replicate my results, my suggestion is that you do them all as well. If you pick and choose, you might not get the same results. I think of it as a battle of inches and if I can gain one more inch every day, and have one more visitor, I'm making progress. Yes, some of the ideas will be bigger than others, but in many cases you have to do the little ones to earn the right to do big ones. If you're looking for the one great idea that moves you from 12 visitors per day to 1,000 the next day (consistently), I don't have an option for you. But these ideas, when added together, will get you there.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.

As I read all the other personal finance blogs I could find, I started leaving comments on their sites. Not "hey, visit my blog" sort of comments, but meaningful, intelligent (at least intelligent for me) comments that contributed to the content and spurred learning and discussion. This, in turn, drove traffic back to my site as people saw comments they liked and wanted to click through to see who was writing them.

I also discovered articles I really liked and I started mentioning these articles (with a link, of course) in my posts. When I did so, I would leave a trackback on the other site's post. Again, people interested in the topic/discussion would click through when they saw an interesting comment from my trackback and I would get traffic.

Again, these aren't rocket science. But they are the fundamentals, the blocking and tackling if you will, of good blogging. Use them and your traffic will grow.

Click here to read part 8 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 6; Read Other Blogs in Your Subject Area

Step 6 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Read other blogs in your subject area.

While you are getting your blog set up and developing your first posts, you should also be looking around the blogosphere at other blogs in your subject area -- and not only reading them, but studying them. Subscribe to every site you find, using the blogrolls of sites you visit to find even more blogs in your area.

Here's what you should do while reviewing like-subject blogs:

• Consider what is out there and what your "competition" is like.
• Consider what you like/dislike about various blogs. What are their strengths? Weaknesses? What can you learn from them and apply to your own site? Pay special attention to layout, colors, and ad placement -- especially if the site is "successful".
• Learn their "voices". It will help you know what "having a voice" means and thus assist you in developing your own.
• Start building a list of potential marketing partners. You'll want to work with some of these sites one day.

Here's a secret tip that REALLY worked well for me: Early on in the life of my blog, I picked a few sites and benchmarked my site against theirs. I saw what they were doing and copied what I liked. I took some ideas they had, put a unique spin on them, and made them my own. I aslo tracked their stats as religiously as I tracked mine -- even going so far as developing a plan so I could pass them in overall traffic. This "competition" with some of the best personal finance blogs out there made me and my site strive for excellence -- and we were both better off for it.

Click here to read part 7 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct.

Top 10 Post Topics of 2005: #9 Blogging

Here's #9 in the list of the ten biggest issues/concepts/thoughts at Free Money Finance during the previous year: Blogging.

I didn't write a tremendous amount about blogging during the year because:

• This is a money site and readers (usually) don't come here to read about blogging
• I didn't have much to say about it.
• I don't know much about the subject.

But I did write a couple of pieces that made a fairly big impact, so I listed this topic as #9 for 2005.

The first "splash" was a post I wrote on blog carnivals titled Best Practices for Driving Traffic with Blog Carnivals. It was one I worked on quite a bit and it got me several links from many prominent sites (which drove a good bit of traffic). The post itself needs to be updated as the advice isn't spot on any more, but it does have enough good tips to still make it a worthwhile read if you're interested in blog carnivals.

The second piece is actually a series and it's one I started at the end of the year. The title is How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond and it details the steps I took to get up to and passed 100,000 visitors at this blog. I think it has potential to be one of my greatest pieces ever as it will help many people who are starting blogs and want to get traffic for them. So far, I've posted five steps (and there are probably 15 more to come).

Click here to read topic #8.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 5; Write Compelling Content

Step 5 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Write compelling content.

Obviously, if you want a blog that anyone will visit, you have to write something that other people want to read. Part of this is simply picking the right topic, but you also have to write compelling content. But what makes content compelling? While this certainly isn't an exhaustive list, it should help you get most of the way home:

• Develop a voice and personality for the blog. Every form of communication has a voice/personality. USA Today has one that's different than what Business Week has which is different than ABC World News Tonight. Your blog needs to have its own as well. It needs to speak and communicate in a certain way that makes it unique. In this uniqueness, people who identify with the voice will find it compelling.
• Be creative. Find something interesting, controversial, unusual, etc. and write about it. Give your readers a different take on an old subject and they'll keep coming back for more. One of my more unusual topics is talking about how much pets cost and their negative impact on people's finances. Few things are as dear to people as their pets, so even bringing up the subject is risky, but it has generated a lot of conversation and is certainly compelling.
• Take risks and say what you think. Be willing to tell it like it is. Even if people don't agree with you, they'll still respect your opinion (as long as it's presented correctly) and see your blog as a place with compelling content. Case in point, the "expensive pets" posts noted above.
• Stick to the topic. If you're writing about personal finances like I do, planning for retirement is a subject within the topic. However, underwater basket weaving probably isn't of interest. Stick to the subject area you defined in step #1, and your readers will come back. (Note: You can go off topic every now and then, but don't do it too often.)

I want to end by opening this up to readers for comments. Why do you read certain blogs? Have I missed anything? (I'm sure I have.)

Click here to read part 6 in this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct.

Money Blogs: Saving Money/Bargain Living

Here's the list of saving money/bargain living blogs I track:

• Frugal for Life
• Lo-Fi Living
• Savvy Saver

Money Blogs: Investing

Here's the list of investing blogs I track:

• Asset Allocator
• Controlled Greed
• Daily Dose of Optimism
• Fat Pitch Financials
• Growing Money
• In Cash Flow We Trust
• Kimmunications
• Phil Town on Investing
• Retire Young and Wealthy
• The Dividend Guy

Money Blogs: Debt Blogs

Here's the list of debt blogs I track:

• Defying Debt in 2 Years
• No Credit Needed

Money Blogs: Specialty Money Blogs

Here's the list of specialty money blogs I track (they all follow money from a unique perspective):

• Adult ADD and Money
• Chief Family Officer
• NevBlog
• Sound Money Tips
• You Need a Budget

Money Blogs: Personal Finance

I'm going to be doing some house cleaning here at FMF, and before I did I wanted to post on the various money blogs that I track. For this post, I'm listing the blogs that specialize in personal finance (that is, they cover multiple money topics):

• 2million
• Alpha Guy
• Boston Gal's Open Wallet
• Canadian Capitalist
• Canadian Financial Stuff
• Cap'n Arbyte
• Clutter 2 Cash
• Everybody Loves Your Money
• Finance 'n Stuff
• Finance Choices
• Finance Professor
• Financial Fruition
• Financial Rounds
• It's Your Money
• MMB's Personal Finance Journal
• Mighty Bargain Hunter
• Million Dollar Goal
• Money Turtle
• Money and Investing
• My Money Blog
• My Open Wallet
• My Personal Finance Progress Report
• NYC Money
• Neo's Nest Egg
• Our Money
• Personal Finance Advice
• Stop Buying Crap
• The Happy Capitalist
• Wealth Junkie
• Wealth Today
• Young Miser

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 4; Create a Useable and Attractive Design

Step 4 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Create a useable and attractive design.

Ok, I'm venturing into deep water here -- an area where I'm not quite comfortable. I'm certainly not an expert or even a designer of any sort (that's one reason I use Typepad -- it makes designing easy), so for specific, design-related advice, you'll have to go elsewhere. But I can certainly give you tips that will help out with any design you select including:

• Focus on usability. Above anything else, the blog needs to be usable to readers and potential visitors. Nothing will kill a blog faster than one that's not usable (or difficult to use), so this must be your primary objective in the design of your blog. Think about what audience would like to see, where and how they'd like to see it, and so on, then incorporate your conclusions into your design. You may even want to ask some of your first users what they like and don't like and adjust accordingly.
• Make it attractive. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there are certain design rules that are simply unattractive no matter what eye is viewing them. When deciding on color, layout, and other elements that impact attractiveness, again consider who your main reader will be and what he/she would think is attractive (hint: pink and neon green probably aren't the greatest colors for a blog intended for 60-year-old men). Incorporate these findings into your design.
• Use descriptive titles. In your sidebars/sub-sections on the side of your blog, tell what each is about in simple, straightforward, descriptive language. For instance, "My Favorite Blogs" is better than "Blogs" since it gives readers a good sense of what they are seeing.

I realize this probably isn't a tremendous amount of help. There are plenty of resources out there though and in the end, be sure you like it and it works for your audience. If those two things are taken care of, you'll certainly be fine.

Click here to read part 5 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct.

Financial (and Blog) Resolutions for 2006: Blog Goals

I've already listed all my financial goals for 2006 and now that I've reported my blog stats for 2005, it's time to set blog goals (and the finances that go along with them) for 2006.

It's hard to predict what blog traffic, pageviews, and the like will be given that this blog is still relatively new (as is blogging as a whole), so I'm going to estimate low, medium, and high goals for 2006. The low numbers will be the lowest I can realistic see this blog generating, the medium goals will be what I'd most likely expect to happen, and the high being goals will be ones that currently seem to be the outer limits of what I can reach. Here are my estimates for each scenario along with the assumptions listed:

Low Estimate

• 365,000 visitors -- 1,000 per day
• 657,000 pageviews -- 1.8 per visitor
• 1,460 comments -- four per day
• 800 trackbacks
• $3,870 Revenue

Medium Estimate

• 566,700 visitors -- Start at 1,000 per day, grow 100 per day per month
• 1,133,400 pageviews -- 2.0 per person
• 1,875 comments -- Five per day
• 900 trackbacks
• $5,500 Revenue

High Estimate

• 728,060 visitors -- Start at 1,000 per day, grow 180 per day per month
• 1,601,732 pageviews -- 2.2 per person
• 2,190 comments -- Six per day
• 1,000 trackbacks
• $7,100 Revenue

Just as a reminder, all the revenue from this blog goes to charity.

I'll be updating my results monthly, so stay tuned to see how I do.

2005 Blog Stats in Review

Here's the first of a short two-part series. The first will cover the stats for Free Money Finance during 2005 while the second will list my blog goals for 2006.

For now, let's review 2005 for Free Money Finance. Here's what happened:

Free Money Finance started on April 6, 2005 (though I post-dated a couple entries before that date). Through the end of the year, here are my blog stats:

• 1,153 posts
• 160,272 visitors
• 388,760 pageviews
• 1,202 comments
• 448 trackbacks

Free Money Finance earned just over $1,700, all of which went to charity (see The Sparrow's Nest).

Highlights include the following:

• Raising over $10,000 for Hurricane Katrina relief.
• Being recognized by Business Week and The Wall Street Journal.
• My first day with over 1,000 visitors was Wednesday, July 6, my first over 2,000 was Tuesday, July 26, and my first over 3,000 was Wednesday, October 19 (which was also the highest day of traffic this year).
• We gave away lots of items to celebrate milestones here including 10,000 visitors, 30,000 visitors, and 100,000 visitors.

Thanks to all of my regular readers and visitors for making 2005 such a great year. I wish you all the best for the coming year and hope that this blog will continue to help you grow your net worth.

How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Announcement

I know from the comments/emails that many of you are reading my series on "How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond". That's great! I hope it helps you drive lots of traffic to your site!

Since there seems to be such an active readership for this topic, I wanted to make some general announcements about it:

There will be no post today on the topic. I figured blog readership would be light today. Same goes for the weekend and Monday (which I have off.) The series will resume with part four on Tuesday, January 3.

There's a lot more to come. This series will have 15-20 parts, so stay tuned.

There are several ways to follow along with the subject if you are reading the series:

• Simply visit the site every day. I'll be posting every week day starting January 3rd until the series ends.
• Subscribe to Free Money Finance and read the posts in your reader (Bloglines, News Gator, Yahoo, etc.).
• See the listing on the left side of the blog titled "How to Get Your Blog to 100k Visitors". It includes an individual link for each post.
• Click on the "blogging" category on the right side of this blog. It will contain all the posts in this series.
• If you've saved the last post on del.icio.us or another social networking site, click through to that post. When a new post in the series is available, I'll add the next post link to the previous post.

Hope this helps! Glad you all are enjoying it!

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct.