This is the 116th post here at The Wealthy Accountant. The average post has been around 1500 words, meaning I have published approximately 174,000 words this year so far on this site. That is enough words to fill two average sized novels! I also write two other blogs of flash fiction adding another 153,000 words to my output. That is a lot of stuff to say in one year and it is giving me a sore throat.
Before you recoil in horror, understand I am not going away! For next few weeks to two months I am cutting my publishing pace to three posts per week: Monday-Wednesday-Friday. That is still an annual output of 156 posts or a 234,000 word pace, enough to fill three average sized novels. I would post more, but I’ve already told you more than I know. (Keep your eyes on the ball so the fast ones don’t get by you.)
There is a logical reason for the temporary slowdown. I have plenty of ideas to share, but many of my favorites are festering in the queue waiting for the necessary research. You see, many ideas I can lay on paper in a few hours because they don’t need much research or the work is already gathered and just needs organizing on the page. To give these future posts justice I need to make phone calls and research deeper. I could always throw a few basics out and let you figure out the rest, but that is sloppy journalism and robs you, the reader, of the information you expect and deserve.
I am also concerned over my current quality. I have noticed spelling and grammatical errors when I re-read posts weeks later. Without a separate set of eyes reviewing my work things like that can happen. It is important for me to say what I intend. This is communication and if I talk so fast I stumble over my words no one benefits. Also, most people don’t read as much as I publish. If I kept my daily pace of publishing I would nail over 547,000 words per year to this blog, the equivalent of nearly 7 full-length novels. Communicating solid information is worthless if people never read it.
My final excuse is I have homemade wine that needs processing and a man has to have his priorities.
Blog Work
I have an unwritten (well, okay, it is written here now) set of rules when running a blog: 1.) Build content; 2.) Drive traffic; 3.) Monetize. I broke my rules. Fortune gave me a nice push out of the gate, but I placed the poor horse behind the cart. In other words, I cheated and it shows. Because I got a free push I decided to focus on content since I started with so little; I also monetized right of the gate.
My traffic has started to stagnate because I have done nothing to promote this blog. It is time to take some active steps to increase traffic to the material already published. You can help. Share interesting articles here on social media. It is an important area of promotion and I am not very good at. The Share button at the end of each post gives several choices of social media to automatically post to. By sharing with your circle of friends this blog will grow. Always share on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and the million and five other forms of social media I don’t understand.
When I publish a lot there tends to be fewer comments as people don’t have time to digest the information and then start a dialog before another 1,500 words comes barreling down the pike. I encourage you to share your thoughts in the comments section of each post. I may know a lot of stuff, but I have no lock on the subjects covered here. For The Wealthy Accountant to realize its full potential it needs to be a participation sport.
Upcoming Posts You Don’t Want to Miss
Finally, I want to whet your appetite with a short description of a few posts in the queue I am working on. Some may never see the light of day if I can’t find an angle that works or if my research doesn’t provide the powerful information you deserve. Most should get published soon. The extra time involved coupled with additional research might cause a few posts to get longer. I promise to edit; we don’t want a 10,000 word diatribe on any subject; solid information is all you want with a few entertaining stories to keep your mind glued.
Increase Blog Traffic Faster Than Naked Kim Kardashian Pictures: I want to share several insights into growing blog traffic. My two flash fiction blogs get close to 3 million pageviews a year. That is huge for a fiction blog! There are several online resources I want to share once I give them a run around the block. Many WA readers are also bloggers and want to know how they can amp their traffic. I’ll tell you more than I know. (Check the similar joke at the beginning of this post.)
Get Ready for Suicide Season: I am still debating if I will ever publish this one. It is waaaay too personal. It is an important topic people need to understand and the surprising people it affects. You will learn a thing or three about your favorite accountant, too, if I do hit the publish button. The best way is to pull the Band-Aid® off fast. If I don’t I may never publish the article.
Library Millionaire: This is my favorite project in the queue. I need to make several calls before I can finalize this baby. To whet your appetite: How would you like $800 a month just for belonging to the library? You can visit the place too, if you want. Investing the windfall into the S&P 500 index fund at Vanguard should turn that revenue stream into a cool million dollars in twenty years. I think I have enough to write the article, but I want more from additional libraries. I don’t want people thinking this only works somewhere else.
They Said It First . . . and Better: I want to review personal finance bloggers of yesteryear. Before blogging existed there was the Tightwad Gazette. There are plenty of additional personal finance sources long gone and frequently forgotten. The hard part is finding these people and information of their work. If I can pull it together expect a post on it.
Hidden Value in Home Owner’s Insurance: Insurance is one of those things we hate buying until we have a serious claim. Home owner’s insurance does more than protect your home. Getting the right insurance can help build and preserve wealth.
Credit Card Secrets: People use credit cards all wrong! In this post we will take a walk down the paperwork from the credit card companies that no one reads . . . except the Wealthy Accountant. Imagine all the free stuff: interest free loans without a fee; free replacement or money back if you lose, break or have an item stolen (great to know if you own a smart phone); free trip insurance; free health insurance (now you really want to read the article, don’t you?); and price guarantees. Even people who know this stuff exists rarely use it. But not after you read this post.
That is enough for one day. Enjoy your weekend; comment below any idea you would like me to tackle; be sure to subscribe, and share this blog with friends on social media.
Talk with you on Monday. If you are bored in the meantime, feel free to browse around here.