Yakezie.com

As the Yakezie Network is a network of personal finance bloggers, it’s easy to get lost in our bubble, especially when we first go on our journey. The first people we reach out to are bloggers in our genre who hopefully reciprocate. Other bloggers are going to be the ones who help get your name out. However, if you get stuck catering only to your blogging buddies, you’ll have a very hard time rocket launching your site to the next level if you want to create a business.

Unless you are a blogger who makes money about blogging or host a blogging network site like this one, make sure to focus the content based on your expertise that’s relevant to your audience. Groupthink is a very dangerous phenomenon that not only stunts your blog’s growth, but also your mind and your potential income.

There is hardly ever any content about blogging on Financial Samurai. Everything is straight up real estate, stocks, bonds, investing, saving, refinancing, developing multiple income streams, and early retirement. Even though my readers see the Yakezie badge and hear about my occasional blogging related endeavors, nobody ever e-mails or comments about blogging. This is exactly how I want things to be.

TIME TO NARROW DOWN THE FOCUS Read More

I’d like everybody to take a look at their most frequent commenters and ask yourselves some questions:

* What is the gender makeup split?

* What is the gender split who comment?

* What is their socioeconomic background?

* What percentage are bloggers vs. non bloggers?

* Do they always agree with what you are saying or do they test your thoughts?

Knowing your audience is crucial for blogging growth as well as general personal growth. You don’t want to live in a bubble, where the only thing you believe in is what you experience and see. The internet is about bringing different viewpoints together in a hopefully harmonious way.

The audience on Financial Samurai is 48/52 men/women readers, 65/35 men/women commenters, 80/20 bloggers/non-bloggers commenters, who earn roughly $80,000-$120,000 a year, and frequently challenge my opinions. With this demographic understanding, I can write more relevant content. Or, I can write content that completely goes against the mix.

I’m aiming fora more balanced mix of everything because 1) Everybody can learn different perspectives, 2) The site can appeal to a wider audience, and 3) I won’t get bored writing the same old things. Financial Samurai is less opinionated than it was 3.5 years ago is because I’ve read some wonderful perspective from thousands of people. As a result, I always try to weave a counter viewpoint in my editorials.

FOCUS IS IMPORTANT TOO  Read More

I’m bullish on blogging as a form of mass communication for the following three reasons:

1) Trend from offline to online: More readers are opting to consume information through their computers and mobile devices rather than by print. The structural shift has decimated traditional print and any organization who fails to adopt an online model. Newsweek magazine’s recent decision to go completely online is a great example.

2) From mass media to thought leaders: No longer do people want to just read the news, they want to get thought provoking analysis of the news. Readers now demand interaction with their authors. They want to feel more connected. We bloggers provide this connection through our voice and our inherent proclivity to respond.

3) Collaboration. Blogging can be one of the most competitive industries or one of the most collaborative industries. Barriers to entry are low and everybody can provide their two cents. Through collaborative organizations such as the Yakezie Network, we are able to effectively cross promote our content much more effectively than traditional media. All it takes is a link back and an agreement in most cases to use someone else’s content.

Given my optimism, I was somewhat hesitant about spending the day down at Stanford University’s Department of Communication as a blogger. Would they take me seriously? I remember getting made fun of in 2009 by a colleague for starting Financial Samurai. He was a prick who discredited my hobby as he pretended to type on a air keyboard and look all goofy during dinner. Three years later, he’s still slaving away at his day job so he can make fun of me all he wants!

Furthermore, what if the department saw me as an enemy? Bloggers are a crucial reason for the disruption and some might even say destruction of traditional media. My hesitation quickly disappeared after everybody I encountered at Stanford embraced new media and blogging as an acceptable form of mass communication. I don’t know why I doubted they would given they are a cutting edge university right in the heart of Silicon Valley, but I did. So for any of my fellow bloggers our there who might feel embarrassed about your hobby, be proud instead!

I met up with Peninsula Press editor and founder, Kathryn Roethel who gave me a rundown of the online newspaper. Kathryn was a 2010 graduate of the Masters program and decided to put into action what she learned in class. Peninsula Press runs on wordpress just like most of all our sites. Whereas most of our site’s only have one main content creator, Peninsula Press is like a mega blog with 20 staff writers and multiple editors. In fact, Peninsula Press is much like Yakezie.com where Members contribute their knowledge every so often. The good thing is, we aren’t graded!

THE CHANGES WE FACE Read More