After observing the users of promotion sites like TIP'd on Twitter, I've come to the conclusion that there needs to be an endless amount of self-promotion to initially move up the rankings. Nobody really cares more about you than you though. It just feels weird asking for votes. So I don't think I'm going to bother participating too often. I'd rather just focus on publishing good content here.
Tomorrow we'll talk about how a new hoard of students will grow up to be ardent fiscal conservatives and agree with our flat tax argument. We'll also talk about work place equality, dealing with cock-ups and one of my favorite inspirational videos for the rest of the month so stay tuned!
I enjoy posting every other day because I'm selfish and like reading other sites on my “days off”. Furthermore, there's such a good amount of community participation, it's fun to learn from all of you.
BG, David, LeanLifecoach, and Credit Card Chaser were particularly insightful this week, highlighting hybrids could actually be WORSE for the environment than gas guzzling SUV's.
Nobody Really Cares About Blogging Except Bloggers
Blogging is the best thing that I discovered in my career journey. It gave me the freedom to escape the corporate grind. Not only that, it's taught me so much over the years. And I really enjoy helping others along the way too.
In case anybody was wondering how to get an Avatar next to their name when they comment and input their e-mail address, simply go to GRAVATAR and follow their instructions. It's so easy to sign up.
Finally, publishers and readers should really think about installing the Alexa Toolbar owned by Amazon. For those who don't know, it's a nifty tool which gives you a ton of traffic data about the site you're visiting (supposedly 50mil+ have signed up). For publishers, it's particularly fun to observe your own rankings and see if they improve.
Related: Why Blogging Is The Best Business In The World
Favorite Posts Of The Week
* “How I Fixed My Water Heater Without A Plumber & Saved $400” from Len highlights his handyman skills. I learned that a water heater's bottom literally gives away over time due to rust, and it's best to replace it sooner rather than later.
* “Fight For Your Right To Be Miserable Once In A While” from Neal tells us it's ok to be miserable, grieve, and reflect. Bad stuff happens to us all, and we just need to soak it in, before we march forward. Neal says he's unplugged, so I wonder if he'll see this.
* “What Is The Average Cost Of Long Term Care?” from Jeff highlights some very important data for all who have parents or who are over 50 years old. The AARP estimates that 60% of people over 65 will require LTC, and the costs are $50-80,000 year if you don't have LTC! Parents, please read this post, and let's talk later about what you have so I don't have to worry. Thanks!
Publishers, please send me an e-mail if you ever highlight any of our posts, as trackbacks don't work sometimes. We want to know so we can thank you and help contribute to your site!
Further Reading
- Financial Samurai 1Q2018 Investment Update And Outlook
- LendingClub 10 Years Later: A P2P Investing Update
- Patch Homes Review: A Better Alternative To A Home Equity Line Of Credit
- The Freelance Writing Lifestyle: An Easy Way To Make Money Online
- Stop Self-Sabotaging: You’re Really Your Own Worst Enemy
- The Time I Almost Bought A Bentley: The Crazy Ways We Justify Our Spending
- How Would You Spend $500 On Kids?
- The Katana 11/18
- Samurai Reflections For October
- Forbes Forgot
- Wall Street Pay Regulation
- Slapping Hands With Famous People
Keigu,
Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money's Mysteries”
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I’d be cautious with using and relying on the Alexa toolbar if you’re in it to get Alexa rankings or use their numbers – it’s not very reflective of traffic performance. Your Alexa traffic numbers can drop even when your actual traffic numbers go up.
MoneyEnergy – Yup, I hear you. That said, the correlation with the rise in Alexa rankings is high with the number of visitors I see from Google Analytics and my Wassup visitor tracking plug-in. Like I write, it’s just fun to see the dynamic rankings in action.
Nothing is a perfect system, so I’m looking into other systems as well. Any suggestions?
If you built a relationship with the person, I don’t think there is anything wrong with asking for Tipds. Maybe not every article, but twice a week. Feel free to ask me anytime and I will help out.
Thanks Craig! I just feel bad for asking :) But, when people ask me, I gladly oblige, in fact, not just tipping their latest article, but the last 5-10 of their articles. But then, I just wonder if it’s just a big game and an UNneccesary evil.
@Credit Card Chaser
Ah-so-ka. Interesting. Thnx for letting me and anybody else out there who is kinda clueless know!
In order to bypass a registrar like GoDaddy you would have to become your own registrar which = $$$
@FS
Just wanted to give you a heads up that I tried to reply to an email from you but it got rejected twice so your mailbox might be full – Joel
Hey Joel – Yeah, my site went down from around 3pm-7pm PST b/c I was migrating to a new server on Media Temple. I twittered a warning earlier, but you may have not seen it. Safe to always e-mail me at financialsamurai AT gmail DOT com. Thnx! Sam
Thanks for linking to the article and glad you liked it! Website owners certainly own their website (i.e. the actual files, databases, and code that make up their website) but you are right in that owning domain names involve an annual registration fee that costs somewhere around $7 – $10 / year. It is important to distinguish between the domain name (i.e. financialsamurai.com) and the website itself (i.e. the content of your blog, the code, the blog template you are using, etc.). Think of the domain name as the location or address and the words and code of your site as the “physical goods” in this analogy. Since every domain name is unique (there can only be 1 financialsamurai.com just like there can only be one cars.com) then each domain name has inherent value (i.e. as you will admit freely I’m sure the domain cars.com is inherently worth more than financialsamurai.com and creditcardchaser.com). Here is an article I wrote that has 25 different criteria that go into choosing a good domain name:
Hi CCC – Thanks for the info. So just wondering why I can’t just own the domain name like Godaddy owns the domain name? Why do I have to pay Godaddy the annual fee? Can’t I just bypass them somehow since I own my domain name now? Put it another way, how did GoDaddy get my domain site in the first place, or are they just a middle man?
Ahh, love learning the basics, and will check out your article.
Thnx, Sam
I love the Gravatar feature you added to your site and another great recap. I enjoyed the link you mentioned about the smart car adventure in Germany. I’d probably start hyperventilating if I was in one of those on the Autobahn!
I’ve just started noticing the Tip’d stuff in Twitterland. Not sure how I feel about it. I’m dabbling with the self-promotion, because you can’t just do nothing, but I don’t want to drive readers away, either.
RainyDay – I think the most important thing a writer can do is just write good content on their site. If you start doing everything else (b/c there is an endless amount of other stuff to do), you end up not focusing on what matters most.
It’s one thing to Twitter your new post, then it’s another to re-twitter your post that’s on TIP’d or whatever asking to Tip, and then Twitter again that evening asking to Tip again! lol.
@FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
FB, so tell me how you really feel about forcing people to tweet and vote for them?? :) Yeah, I don’t mind THAT much when people ask… I forget which one, but I noticed one article of mine was Tipped 10X or something, so I did go and see who Tipped it, and proceeded to methodically Tip the last 5-10 articles by every single one! Dang, I’m a nice guy.
However, maybe I burnt out cuz I just don’t have enough time. Maybe if I did this full time and made bagillions, but not now.
Great money hat article again btw! I left you a comment or two, but I think they are stuck in quarantine land!
I don’t bother with Tipd or forcing people to Tweet..
Just annoys the eff out of me, and if anyone on my list did/does that, I just stop following them.
Self promotion is necessary, but when you start harassing or begging for tips from “friends” when they may not have thought your post was all that great, I draw the line there.
I do however, love commenting :D
Thanks for the mention, Sam!
Len