Need Advice about Logical Place to Put Personal Finance Posts | Help Desk | Yakezie Forums

Hi guys!

I'm new here, but am already loving the helpfulness of the community.  I joined the forums, but have yet to add my name to the challenger list because I'm conflicted over which direction to take one of my blogs.  I would love some advice.

A little background to let you know where I'm coming from: I used to be the Personal Budgeting & Finance Feature Writer at Suite101.com for many years.  After Panda hit, I decided to learn WordPress and branch out of my own.  I've started several blogs and have decided to focus on two of them for the time being (I'm a SAHM to two girls under the age of 4 with a third on the way in two weeks, so I have to be picky about my time! LOL).

My primary sites are Taxes and Stuff and What Mommy Does

I originally started posting personal finance type articles on Taxes and Stuff when I realized every time I posted something that wasn't tax related, I lost subscribers.  At one point, I even deleted the RSS feed because it was so demoralizing to see the numbers dwindle (that's why there are only a few subscribers now..I just started it back up).  So I can only guess that my main readership of the more serious tax articles are likely not interested in general personal finance advice.  Makes sense to me.  I wouldn't want to subscribe to a blog that talks about tax code only to see a post the next day about freezer meals.

I had already started WhatMommyDoes where I could post about life as a stay-at-home-mom, including ways to save money, so I've started putting my non-tax personal finance posts here.  But now I'm worried I'll be in the same predicament.  Do you think WhatMommyDoes is an appropriate place to put personal finance stuff like money-saving tricks, frugal tips, etc?  Or should I leave that as a place for mom stuff and have a separate personal finance blog?  I'd like to be able to focus my efforts, but I don't want to go down the wrong path.  Any advice?!  Note: I'm leaning toward letting WMD house my personal finance stuff and changing the categories to read more like an obvious personal finance site.

I'd love any and all advice you can offer!  Thanks! ~Lena

Thanks, Forest!  After I wrote my post above, I started to browse other mom/finance blogs and found a few who were going after what I want, so I agree with you!  You're right – starting out is tough.  When I was in rev share land, we didn't really have subscribers, so I didn't have to consider my audience like I do now.  Blogging is definitely a different beast!

I think it's important to remember that a blog is almost like a living organism. It will change, evolve, and grow as you do as a writer. Unless you're specifically writing for a niche audience, I would expect that there will always be posts that are outliers and I wouldn't worry about it. Some of those were my favorites that I wrote.

Thanks, guys!  This is helping me a lot.  I've been thinking about my blogging strategy all day today (between playdates LOL) and believe I almost have it worked out.  I make the most money from Taxes and Stuff, so I think that's the one I'll enter in the Yakezie challenge.  As for WhatMommyDoes, I think that will be for true mommy stuff for the time-being with some light personal finance tips sprinkled in there (like meal planning ideas, grocery store tips, etc).  But I think I'll make a much more specific personal finance website related to some life goals of mine that can house the more serious topics.   

lgott said:

Barb Friedberg said:

 

Thanks, Barb!  Your site is very engaging!  Nice to meet someone else who likes taxes.  :)

Writing about taxes or paying them? ;-)