Wow. It was great to take the weekend off blogging. Without worrying about what I have to write, I came up with some fun ideas for posts and a few minor improvements to the site (which you may not even notice). It seems like I spent much of May in a mental fog, which made it hard for me to keep things straight. But the weekend off helped.
Now I’m asking you…what do you want from financefreelancelife.com?
For example, I read skim over 100 personal finance blogs almost every day. Some days I’ll notice that 30 or so are talking about some piece of financial or blogosphere news or some program like Smarty Pig. Then 10 more do it the next day and another 20 bring it up over the course of the next week.
I often end up not writing posts on things like “How to Save Money on Gas” or “Why I Do/Don’t Like Smarty Pig” because I think you are probably flooded with that information elsewhere.
Am I correct?
I’ve put together a poll below (I think people using feedreaders will need to come to the site to vote) which I’m hoping with help me gauge my readers’ exposure to PF blogs in general as well as what you all want. You may check more than one box, just please check either 1 or 2 and then one box of 3, 4, and 5.
Are there any topics, series, etc, you’d like to see? I’ve been spinning my wheels on the alien abduction series, but I’m going to buckle down on that again. I also have a couple PF books for teens that I’m looking at.
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{ 19 comments }
More cowbell!
just kidding, i like how you’re doing things, but some more news posts wouldn’t hurt! :). The things I like reading most on the PF blogs though are the personal anecdotes, people relating their stories, things they’ve done right -and things they’ve done wrong.
Love your site!
Less news, more personal. for me, that is why I read blogs. And the blogs I read for the personal aspect of things, I just skim or don’t even read the newsy stuff. I like what you’re doing. Keep it up, you have a great site.
I like the coverage about kids stuff. There is not much out there in the way of kids and personal finance so when I see that stuff I kind of perk up.
I agree that a lot of personal finance blogs repeat. I tend to wait for links to accumulate and then use them in a post about the topic, summarizing what is in the blogosphere (and I always give credit and a backlink).
I’m with Emily. Keep things just the way they are. If you do report news items, I’d still like to see your personal take on them.
Yup, we are flooded daily with informative and self-help posts so the run of the mill content will not do.
What I like about your site is the personal commentaries and opinions rather than regurgitating what others have said.
I have to agree that the personal stories are a big part of what draws me to your blog. I love that you post frequently, I love your sweet, youthful, intelligent perspective, and I love that you are creative and crafty! I would be interested in more posts about your Etsy experiences and using creativity/hobbies to create income/fundraising opportunities.
I’m not a subscriber but a regular reader. I like the anecotes found on blogs and in the comments section. That’s what keeps me reading.
I would also like to see more ideas and sharing of what people do to keep their lives simple, centered, and frugal in the best sense of the word, similar to what Amy Dyczyn (sp?) did in her Tightwad series.
Ideas to make money. Everyone is talking about saving money. I already save as much as I can/ or am willing to. I’m now looking for new ideas to make more money.
100 PF blogs a day? Wow, that’s a lot of reading….:)
I think quality posts are the best, whether they happen to be about “news” or not… just posts that show how you think, what you think about the things you think matter.
It’s tough (I don’t want to say impossible) to be original in the PF sphere: everyone has the same $ issues to deal with. I guess originality can only come from each person’s POV.
I like things as they are — if we’re going to get picky, though, I’d like a cleaner layout (less clutter, maybe a different theme, etc..)
Mostly I just read to keep track of you, although some of the pf stuff has been useful to me.
Honestly I’ve gone through the same thing, and what I always come back to find is that I get the most hits and most love out the posts that are unique. I’ll occasionally hit up a post that everyone else is themed on and it feels almost “dirty” with used content! 🙂
Stick to anything fresh I find; honestly, if you’re writing about twice chewed bubble gum and relate it to Personal Finance, it is unique and people will come… 😉
I like the comment about needing more cowbell. 😉
I’m not a regular in the PF world, so I can’t (and shouldn’t) give you expert advice. I say you just keep doing your thang, Missy! I’ll be here reading.
I see that there are points to more ‘technical’ articles and more personal point of view articles. I’ve like it when you mix the two. So I would suggest more of the same that you’ve been doing.
I like reading unique things. Personal stories and funny thoughts interest me more than the usual “how to save” pieces. I think you should just write whatever you like to write about, because this shouldn’t be a job to please your audience.
I also enjoy the articles which could have only come from financefreelancelife.com. Do what nobody else can do or will do and make a name for yourself.
I love the DivaCup stories — could we get a few more?
Just kidding. But all the other personal stories are cool!
Coincidentally, just a couple of days ago I was thinking about your site and asking myself what it is that I like so much about it (and how can I do that, too…). Why IS this site so appealing?
There’s something about the way you present yourself and your thinking that is very comfortable. You come across a) as very human and b) as a very nice human.
Just this minute I can’t quite articulate what specifically succeeds in that way…it has to do with the combination of the personal and the general that you achieve, I think. For example, the posts you published on escaping from an abusive relationship: they intertwined your own strong empathy with people caught in these predicaments with practical advice and appeals to readers for practical advice. The result was pretty riveting.
Whatever you’re doing, if I were you I wouldn’t change it. Not much, anyway.
I hate reading pf articles that tell me what to do, like your “How to Save Gas” example. However I love blog articles like, “Top 5 Ways the Micahs save Gas” because they are both personal and informative. No one uses the exact same methods of frugality, so I love reading about everyone’s personal combinations. And I would also like to hear more about your experiences making money on the side, not just saving it. But thanks for your blog, it’s great!
I like your blog topics the way they are. Most other PF blogs all seem to write about the same items, products, books, ‘here’s how we save money’ type stuff and it gets old after a bit. Your blog has some PF stuff (which is how I originally found it, I think), but you also have other stuff that isn’t quite all PF. The posts often relate to PF, but not so “strictly”. There’s more “life” in them, more “Here’s what we’re doing”. I like that. I also like reading your blog because I can relate to a lot of what you say – I’m in a similar “life situation”. Keep up the good work!
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