Fr todays edition of my interview series I will be speaking with the man responsible for The Financial Blogger. If you have never checked out the site then I highly recommend you do. The Financial Blogger is not just a name because he also happens to work in the financial industry and he is very well educated on various different investment options. After reading this interview you should definitely give his blog a read.
Me: What is it that separates your blog from the other pf blogs out there?
TFB: #1 The first thing is probably the fact that I am making more grammar mistakes and spelling mistakes than any other pf bloggers. Since I’m French, this is quite a challenge to write on a daily basis in English.
#2 I try to give another point of view on personal finance since I has been working in a bank for the past 5 years. I have experience in leverage strategies, credit and financial planning (I am a working as a financial planner since the beginning of 2008). My job obviously help to get the most updated investment strategy and more accurate information on specific topic (such as my estate planning series).
Me: What was your first major “break” when it comes to gaining popularity?
TFB: My first major break was when I got mentioned for the first time in a comment of Canadian Capitalist post on the Smith Manoeuver. This is when I realized that I can use promotion across other blogs in order to increase my traffic. It had a dramatic effect on my way of blogging and promotion The Financial Blogger.com.
Since then, I never stopped blogging and promoting The Financial Blogger. I hope my blog will keep growing for several years!
Me: If you had to start from scratch today how would you compete in such a competitive niche?
TFB: My blog is actually still new (I started in Nov 2006). However, the PF blogosphere was not as competitive as it is today. I think that if you want to start a blog today, you need to communicate with other bloggers and get noticed. You can use their blogs to leverage your traffic and make more friends!
Guest posts, great comments and emailing PF bloggers should be the first things to do. Once you get more notoriety, you can surely create a blogroll and exchange links with other bloggers.
I might try social bookmarking sites as well (stumble upon, tip, pf buzz, etc.). These site won’t bring quality traffic but it will increase temporarily your traffic and encourage you.
Me: What are your future blogging plans?
TFB: I am actually working on a new design for The Financial Blogger and also working on 3 different blogs:
www.intelligentspeculator.net : This is an investment related blog that gives tips and information on the market and possible trades
www.donotwait.com : This blog is brand new but it will be related to retirement and retirement planning.
www.thecredittoolbox.com : This one is more related to credit as the name says. You will find information on how to improve, understand and keep a good credit score.
My biggest dream would be to live from blogs
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great piece, always an interesting read when the topic is fellow bloggers out there. Let me know when you need another one!
To The Financial Blogger, kudos for you working around the French to English writing on a daily basis, I can’t imagine trying to do something like that!
Great review! I love how often we get to learn about the PF blogger community!
The advice on increasing traffic is very good. Thanks for sharing.
I’m glad you liked the interview and the tips to get more traffic.
Have a great weekend ;-D