Being A Blogger

Today’s guest on BaB is Aaron Stroud. Aaron has recently launched his own personal Web site and blog, On Financial Success. In this interview, Aaron very graciously talks about his new blogging experience and take-aways. He also offers some great tools for Mac users. If you have any specific queries, feel free to write to him. As per him, he loves to write posts tailored to specific questions.

Hi Aaron, Welcome to Being A Blogger!

Tell us about yourself and what this blog means to you?

I was just an average guy until one day I fell in love. I was faced with marriage, fatherhood to a half grown son, responsibility for two college tuitions, a new private school tuition, and the rest of the regular day to day living expenses. I had to get responsible fast, so I started seriously studying personal finance and investing. A few books later and I was hooked.

You can read more about my background here.

I started On Financial Success as a place to write about the right path to financial success because there is a lot of misinformation out there.

Also, many people find financial information boring and confusing, so I also strive to make my posts interesting.

How and when did you start blogging?

I started following financial blogs over four years ago, but my life was too busy to dive into blogging. Although On Financial Success was only launched last month (Nov 2007), I’ve been planning the site, articles, and some long term projects for a couple of years.

How has your blogging journey been for you?

The ride is just starting, but it’s been both fun and a learning experience. When I first launched, I requested feedback from bloggers at the Authority Blogger forum.

Much to my dismay, I discovered my design had some serious layout and accessibility issues. Now that I’ve fixed those design issues, I’m focusing on writing and growing my readership.

How did the idea to blog about finance hit you?

All my life, I’ve bounced from interest to interest.

Generally, I’ll study a new skill or subject intensely for a couple of years. But, eventually my interest wanes and I start looking for another “intellectual fix.”

Blogging about money is different from my previous interests. There are so many ways to look at personal finance, investing, and economic issues. Obviously, there’s the mathematical component, but there are also psychological, moral, and practical issues involved.

The financial subjects that you address in your blog address are localized or they can be useful to anyone globally, irrespective of their location and economy.

Naturally, many of my articles are written for Americans. Governments put a lot of restrictions on how people use their money, so I write about situations I’m familiar with. I’d also like to expand into different venues (magazines, books, etc) where I almost certainly will be writing for my fellow citizens, so I need the practice.

But I also strive to write articles that will be useful to readers around the globe. My first post explaining What is Financial Success was my first attempt at this. As I look beyond my country’s borders, I see a world that is experiencing an explosion of prosperity. Many nations are transitioning from agricultural economies to industrial economies to information based economies! All within a few short generations. This is truly amazing, but also comes with new challenges.

The western world has demonstrated that it is all too easy to pursue instant gratification, inflicting financial harm on oneself. I’d like to be there to help people everywhere avoid and recover from these types of challenges.

You have a self-hosted web site, how difficult is that?

The decision of where to blog (self-hosted web site vs blogger, etc) hinges on the blogger’s goals. If you just want to have a place to casually share your thoughts, blogger or wordpress.com is a fine choice.

However, if you have long term goals to develop your blog into a business or would like that to be a possibility at some point, having your own domain is the best way to go. If you start with a free blogging account but eventually switch to a self-hosted blog, your search engine rankings will be hurt and you’ll probably lose some of your readers.

As far as complexity goes, setting up your own domain can be complicated, but several web hosts offer 1-click installations of popular blogging software like Wordpress. So going with your own domain isn’t too hard.

Every image that is uploaded on your blog is credited. Was that a conscious decision? How does that work for you?

I decided to use pictures after reading Skellie’s guide to finding and using incredible Flickr images. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of photographs, but it really helps to draw readers in. In the end, the blog design and post format is for the readers, not my personal preferences.

As far as photo credits go, I think crediting artists, writers, researchers, investors, etc is essential. Both from a moral standpoint, but also for practical reasons. When people’s contributions are not recognized, we lose an important incentive to produce. How many people would blog if they were not allowed to claim ownership over their posts?

You have a tumblelog link on your blog? How do sharing links with your readers help?

Links are what distinguishes the internet from simply being a large library. The ability to instantly discover new ideas is a powerful experience. So I wanted to have the opportunity to share interesting articles and resources with my readers. However, I would overwhelm most of my readers if I pointed them towards every article or site I found interesting.

I decided a tumblelog would be an excellent compromise. I can create as many or as few links as I like without crowding out my articles. Readers can even subscribe to the tumblelog if they’d like.

Are you part of any blogging groups and communities? How do blog communities help?

I frequent the Authority Blogger forum where I’ve made several friends, received a lot of encouragement, and gotten great feedback on my design. Participating in blogging communities also helps your blogs visibility. Honest, generous contributions can result in a lot of readers, if you can find a forum that matches your topic closely.

Were there any embarrassing or sad moments during your blogging journey?

Not yet, but I once accidently sent a private reply to the entire computer science mailing list my first week at university. It was particularly embarrassing because I knew better. I was just frazzled because the power supply in my brand-new computer had exploded the day before.

What keeps you motivated to keep on blogging?
Three things:

1.My wife is my biggest inspiration. She truly believes I can accomplish anything I set myself too which helps me overcome my fears.

2. My huge backlog of ideas. I have literally hundreds of article ideas and points I’d like to make organized on my hard drive.

3. The fact that I don’t have a choice—that is, if I want to succeed, I have no choice but to keep writing. (I always keep a few finished articles on-hand just encase life happens.)

Have you ever faced abusive comments in your blog? How do you handle them?

Not yet. I suppose they are inevitable though.

How do you manage time for blogging? (Any time management tips)

At the moment, I’m a stay at home father. I’ve discovered that it is almost impossible to write during the day, while my wife is out. There are a few rare moments when inspiration alights on my shoulder and my daughter is napping. But usually, the best I can hope for is to outline ideas and jot notes throughout the day.

The evenings are when I take my piles of hand written notes and store them in my electronic writing folder. Once the kids are in bed, I am free to develop my ideas into finished articles.

Ever thought of making money through blogging?

That’s the long term plan. One day, I hope to be able to support my family by blogging, but also writing for more traditional formats. I find decisions involving money fascinating and would like to help others learn to make better financial decisions.

Do you read other blogs? What interests you in other blogs?

I follow a hundred or so blogs, but I only consider a few must read blogs. I follow a lot of finance related blogs for fun, but also to keep in touch with what is working. I’m continually studying what types of posts, examples, and writing styles appeal to readers.

I follow several blogs about blogging for the same reason.

But I also get local news from blogs and I follow several blogs run by economics professors. Blogs allow readers to be their own gatekeepers. I think this is why I enjoy blogs so much; I get to pick my sources for information.

What are the things that may cause you to delete a blog from your reader?

I only delete blogs when I stop reading them. Too many off topic posts might cause me to move on, but I also delete blogs when they fail to distinguish themselves.

For example, I could easily get everything I need from Problogger, so a ‘blog about blogging’ or about ‘blogging for money’ really needs to offer something different and special to get me to subscribe.

Skelliewag, Blogging Bits, and DoshDosh are some good examples. Skellie has superbly written articles that always seem to complete ideas bouncing around in my head. Mohsin’s Blogging Bits has turned me on to some useful tools and his articles on blogging often prompts me to do things I should have done long ago. And DoshDosh has in-depth articles that contrast with Problogger’s generally shorter posts.

What are your top 5 blogging tools?

1. OmniFocus is simply the most flexible, powerful, and attractive Getting Things Done organizer. OmniFocus is only for the mac, but the true power comes from following David Allen’s GTD system.
2. Newsfire is another mac-only program, but it’s interface is almost beautiful enough to cause someone to switch OSes. Newsfire helps me rapidly scan hundreds of posts everyday.
3. Markdown is method for slightly marking up plain text which is then
   automatically converted into html. I prefer to compose in Markdown because I
   can focus on the actual words and structure, without being distracted by a web
   interface or word processor like MS Word.
4. My office is one of my favorite resources. The office is attached to my bedroom, so it’s a great retreat when my wife is with the kids. Half of the room is covered with shelves, resulting in plenty of extra space. I’ve found I’m most creative when my notes, books, and office junk is organized, but not tightly packed.
5. Firefox has so many useful plug-ins for web design and interacting with the social media sites out there.

What are your 5 take aways from your blogging journey?

• Start now. Just like with investing, a head start brings you closer to success.
• Comment. One of the strengths of blogs is their interactive nature. Commenting is something you can do today, even if you don’t have a blog up yet.
• Write often and to completion by following a realistic writing schedule.
• Link out. Find a way to work links into your site and your articles. Links beget more links.
• Join communities. I have received a lot of encouragement and assistance from the Authority Blogger forum. It’s nice to have a place to go to ask for help, and sometimes you even find a few new readers in the process.

Any favorite blogs? (You can not name yours)

Sure, but I have already listed few favorites, so I’ll just mention one more of my favorites.

Success from the Nest is Tony Clark’s personal blog where he shares productivity and quality of life tips for people working out of their homes. The site hasn’t been updated in a few weeks, but that is because Tony is busy with his new learning venture Teaching Sells.

What are you future plans for your blog?
More articles. Longer features. A response to every comment and email. I am also open to suggestions from readers. I would love to write posts tailored to specific questions.