Did we really just quote some Dickens’ to open this post? A Christmas Carol was always one of my favorite Christmas stories, but that’s not what’s got me thinking about this topic.
This week I was trying to clean off some of the broken links from my site in hopes of FINALLY raising my Google Page Rank score in the next update. While running the link checker, I kept noticing the same trend of broken links popping up in the results window: Past personal finance bloggers.
Yes, if you really want to bum yourself out, go visit your post archive from about a year ago, and look at the names of the people who used to leave you comments. I was finding that a pretty significant number of them no longer visit my site. I decided to find out why.
With each link I clicked on, I found relics of websites I used to visit, read, and interact with. A lot of them had that sad “final post” that was now months old. You know the one. It’s reads “It’s been fun, but I just can’t do this anymore because of time, family, life, etc”. Or worse, I’d click and find a parked URL of where a blog used to be.
While I was a little sad to see so many people give up, it did give me a great appreciation for how far myself and other bloggers around me have grown. I’ve learned a lot over the last year about not just money, but also in blogging, networking, and advertising. These are areas that I would have never dreamt that a side project such as this one would teach me. And it also isn’t bad making a few dollars along the way either!
Despite what Google thinks, I’ve got a great deal of advice and content on this site, and that’s no small achievement. My ultimate goal is that I hope to attract more people to my site, and that they don’t just learn just a few dollar savings tips here and there. I want them to give them every tool they need to say “Yes, I can be rich. I will retire. I will be free.”
A big thank you to the fallen personal finance bloggers out there. Even though you’re probably not going to read this, the brief love and encouragement you shared was enough at the time to push me on to the point where I am today.
Blog News:
And on that note, I’ve got nothing specific planned for my posting schedule next week. Don’t misread that – I’ve got several posts I’m working on right this minute. However, none of them were finalized in time for my normal weekend broadcast of things to come.
Topics include: My Vanguard picks, budgeting motivation, how much credit card reward money I made this year, and a crazy idea I had to give my kids $100K when they grow up. Any preference on which one you’d like to read next?
Personal Finance Bloggers You Should Check Out:
In case you missed them, here are a few great stories you should check out this weekend:
- Top honors go to Holly at Club Thrifty and her post Toys ‘R Us Corporate Policy: Stealing?!? Don’t mess with a Mom trying to buy or return Christmas presents!!
- Lance from Money Life and More posted on a touchy investing topic in I Almost Made an Emotional Investing Decision.
- Sydney from the Outlier Model had a very moving guest post on Reach Financial Independence called Being Outside of Average
- Kim from Eyes on the Dollar beat me to a topic I was planning to cover Does It Make Sense to Pay Off The Mortgage Early? Read her perspective on this – it’s pretty interesting!
- Even though he just started, his blog is already ranking better than mine. So take John’s tips from Frugal Rules by reading More Blogging Tips From a Beginner
Carnivals & Mentions:
My Money Design was featured on the following sites this week:
- Reach Financial Independence – Friday recap, an herb garden and a casualty
- Eyes on the Dollar – Can’t Take My Eyes Off These Blogs #15-RIP JR Ewing Edition
- Frugal Habits – Great Reads of the Month (Monthly Roundup for November – 2nd Addition) + a video to bring in December with a smile
- Frugal Rules – Frugal Friday: Posts That Ruled This Week, It’s December Already Edition!
Thanks to everyone for linking to my site and enjoying my posts. I really appreciate your support and hope you continue to visit!
Posts This Week:
1) Struggling to Buy Presents? Try These Christmas Gift Ideas for Her
2) The Inevitable Hostess Bankruptcy and What We Can Learn From It
3) Cutting Back on Our 403b Plan for More Dividend Paying Stocks
4) Elderly Care Costs and the Price of Growing Old
5) Don’t Settle for Bundles, Do Your Banking by Design
Image Credit: Unknown
John S @ Frugal Rules says
Thanks for the mention MMD. I’ve already seen bloggers who started around the time I did fall by the wayside and I’ve only been doing this for a little over three months. It does give me an appreciation for those out there who put out good content. Have a great weekend!
MMD says
Wow, you’ve only been at this for 3 months? It feels like you’ve been doing this for a lot longer. I think you’ll notice a lot more fall by the wayside; its only natural. You’re doing a fine job so far!
Justin@TheFrugalPath says
Writing consistently for a blog can be very time demanding. However, I believe it’s worth it. I’ve wanted to help people with their finances for a long time. The problem is when people ask me something and I tell them well you could do this, they say “well yeah, but” and nothing ever changes. At least with a blog people are coming to you for advice about a particular topic.
Good luck with your PR campaign.
MMD says
Thanks, and I think over time your blog will help more people than you can imagine. As people search for particular terms and read through your advice, you’ll be helping them without even knowing it.
Shilpan says
I love this post as it relates to my journey as a blogger. I’ve quit blogging before after a short success with my first blog; but this time around, I won’t quit. I am simply enjoying the slow journey. Where else can I find great friends like yourself, MMD?
MMD says
Thanks Shilpan, and thank you for always being a strong supporter of my work and friend. Like you, I’m also taking this journey slowly and gradual. Your success from before was no coincidence and I’m sure you’ll be there soon again.
Kim@Eyesonthdollar says
I don’t know if I feel sad for past bloggers or think they are pretty smart. It does make you wonder what the heck you are putting all the effort in for at times. I do enjoy the interaction and finally finding people who think kind of like me. It only took 30+ years! I would like to hear about giving your kids $100K. I have a way I plan to do that, but I don’t know if it’s worth a whole post. Thanks for the mention.
MMD says
I had that same feeling myself when the website had no rankings, no visitors, and no revenue. I think you’ve got a great thing going on your site Kim, and I’m anxious to see what a year from now will bring.
Giving the kids $100K it is next week! This is just a crazy scenario I wanted to play out; not actually something I intend on going through with.
Pauline says
I just did the same clean up with my google reader. so many great sites disappeared… I have a plug in for broken links on wordpress and get a mail every time a link is broken. Thanks for the mention!
MMD says
I’ve got a link checker plugin as well, and it does seem to report a few broken links every couple of days. But Jeremy from Modest Money recommended I start using Xenu instead. Xenu does report a TON more broken links than I was aware I had.
Lance @ Money Life and More says
Thanks for the mention. I’ve unsubscribed from a lot of RSS feeds for the same reason. I hope and plan to defy the odds. I’ve made it 7 months and plan to make it for many more years to come!
MMD says
Its a sad feeling when you see the RSS feed slowly never update anymore, and then you finally delete it altogether. I’ve got a feeling you’re going to fine in the long haul Lance!
Holly@ClubThrifty says
Hey, thanks for the mention. I never got a reply from Toys R Us. But I KNOW they read it since they blocked me on their facebook page. Lame!
MMD says
Ha, you still got the message out – blocked or not!
Matthew Allen says
Is it cool to quit a PF blog only to pursue other blogs and sites, like I did?
I see what you mean about the commenters though. You can tell who is serious about growing their audience and building relationships with other bloggers. The same commenters seem to be at the top of the comments section on nearly every single PF blog out there. Those names have certainly changed over time.
MMD says
You’re still cool Matt. You just took a totally different approach and started Internet marketing in a different way. But in reality you never really quit. I do agree that it is pretty obvious who the top bloggers are when you just look around on a few sites. But I’m really surprised by how many “senior” bloggers I used to respect when I first started have let their sites and rankings go down-hill.
eemusings says
True that: blogging is hard to stick with. I had to redo my blogroll testerday after going selfhosted but it let ne clear out those “fallen” links, as you so eloquently put it.
MMD says
Blogging is really hard, but I’m starting get in a good rhythm with the whole process. Nice work going self-hosted!
Mike says
Funny. I just wrote on this, from a slightly different angle! Here’s to us survivors!
MMD says
Wow, that was ironic. You had a great take on the topic!
Rich@MoneyWisePastor says
MMD, great job on this post – and I loved the concept of the Ghost of Personal Finance Bloggers Past!
It seems like everyone and his/her brother has their own personal finance blog these days!
It can relate to the frustration of dedicating hours of time and effort each week to build your blog for months and years and have little to show for it in terms of traffic growth and income generated.
MMD says
Rich, that’s no lie – its been a hard gig! But its also been fun.
Every time I think I’ve seen them all, I always find a new circle of PF blogs I’ve never seen before.
Shane says
It is sad to see the drop off, and it isn’t just in the finance vertical, its in all of them. Many people were hit by the panda and penguin updates. I am grateful I wasn’t hit but I wasn’t pushing anything either. Due to focus being in other areas. For once holding off really helped me.
MMD says
Good point Shane! This phenomenon is certainly not limited to money bloggers. I can imagine that a lot of people in my topics thought blogging would simply be just writing something and hoping that it gets to the front page of Google to be read my thousands. But it just isn’t that easy. If anything, with all the Google updates and changes, there is more of a “game” to all this than people realize.
That’s funny – we always joke at work that sometimes using “hang-back theory” is the best solution.
Azresidence says
Thanks MMD I agree with you nowadays google updation like panda ,penguin roled in monthly wise, so quality content is un negotaiable.
Glen @ Monster Piggy Bank says
I also noticed quite a few blogs that have gone very quiet over the last few 4-5 months I have been blogging. It is a shame, but it does take a hell of a lot of time and sometimes it can feel like a very unrewarding experience.
I think as a PF blogger it is a bit easier to stick it out as there are so many helpful bloggers in this space who are willing to share all with you. I imagine some of the other communities are significantly less accepting of new bloggers.
I hope to be doing this for a fair bit longer yet, I find blogging and reading others posts to be almost therapeutic as many of my friends and relatives are terrible with money and so reading these sites gives me hope that all is not lost.
MMD says
I’m glad to hear you’re finding a lot of value in it, Glen. I think a lot of people thought this was going to be EASY; a cake-walk. Blogging is anything but. The more I want my blog to get the exposure I feel it deserves, the more I need to learn to promote it properly. I agree completely with you that at times reading other blog posts can be somewhat soothing.