Blog

Several false starts have finally ended in a real Camp. The changes were important. I was pushed to do a Camp by someone else’s rules and it kept falling apart. I finally decided to have the Camp right where I want it: a short walk from my tax office. 

I also decided I would run it my way. These things are a lot of work and I expected somebody else to do all the lifting. I would show up would be my contribution. That does not work.

Instead of the traditional FI and FIRE camps around the country, I settled on a one-day event. I brought in two speakers and all attendees get a Wealthy Accountant t-shirt. We also will tour my office so the proletariat can see how the bourgeoisie works in his natural habitat.

Blogging is a business. Sometimes it’s hard to believe, but it is true. Along with podcasting, speaking and every other form of training and education, blogging is a business. Sometimes a really big business. And businesses take work to manage and grow.

It is easy to forget that those friendly bloggers you communicate with work some serious hours to bring you information and perhaps a laugh or two. Most people don’t realize bloggers are sweating it out at the keyboard in the wee hours of the morning to get a post out on schedule. 

And then there is the invisible work. It seems like blogging is about the cheapest hobby going until you realize that every part of the platform demands a fee and usually loads of time. And that is where this blogger enters.

I originally planned a detailed post of the coming collapse of China when the IRS released another 249 pages of regulations on Section 199A. The ink wasn’t dry before the calls flooded in for a brief post on the IRS release. The good news is we finally have a definition for a trade or business as it applies to 199A. The bad news is those 249 pages contained a lot of material and one simple post wasn’t going to cut it. A series was in process before the next hammer fell.

I have three short bits for your review. It will only take a minute, but still important stuff.

Plutus Awards: The Plutus guys wanted me to inform my readers nominations are closing July 31st. If you haven’t made your nominations known do so quickly or forever hold your piece. I’d encourage you to consider this blog for Blog of the Year. It’s okay if you choose someone else, but if you do my cat Pinky will have a stern “meow” for you.

Copyright Issues: A lot of things go on behind the scenes of a blog; what you see is only the tip of the iceberg. One of the increasing demands on my time involves copyright issues. Many of the tax issues I cover (and other subject matter, too) is in demand by certain media outlets and academic papers. Several requests per week show up. I point them to my post allowing use of my material. Not good enough, they say. They need copyright paperwork in place. This requires reading contracts which is very time consuming.

I have a confession. I was jealous of Mr. Money Mustache. Well, not exactly of Pete himself, but of something he has been able to do for a long time that has eluded me.

Several years ago before I met Pete I read how he periodically traveled the country and rarely paid for a hotel room. There was always someone willing to put him up. One summer he spent in Hawaii at a guy’s house and he helped him with some remodeling as payment. There were several other incidents where he mentioned couch surfing.

My first attempts at this fell flat. You can’t just bed down in anyone’s home. What if your host is a serial killer (notice the empty corn flakes boxes behind the house)? What if the host thinks you’re a serial killer?

It’s hard to believe The Wealthy Accountant blog has six months under its belt. A year ago I started the process of creating this blog due to demand from followers of Mr. Money Mustache and speaking engagements I did involving Mustachians who knew I prepared Pete’s taxes. I knew I would get an initial kick in traffic when Pete, the man behind Mr. Money Mustache, mentioned The Wealthy Accountant.

I was unprepared for the response. Over 12,000 requests for information or help swamped my office. In the end I accepted only 200 new clients. We are still digging out. The Wealthy Accountant also received a nice traffic boost. Then it was up to me to keep it going. There are three stages to building a successful blog. I have written extensively online over the years, including several blogs. I currently write two flash fiction blogs and The Wealthy Accountant. The other two blogs have been around for a few years and get slightly more than 4 million pageviews per year. Not bad for fantasy flash fiction.