1. OFFICIAL STATE OF THE
FINANCIAL BLOGOSPHERE
2012

2. The state of the
financial blogosphere is…
STRONG
STATE OF FINANCIAL BLOGOSPHERE – FINCON12

3. About Us
GREG GO
Chief Technologist
ASHLEY JACOBS
Community & Social Media Maven
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4. Obsessed With Numbers
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5. Pulse of the Community
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6. Agenda
Bloggers
Readers
Topics
Social Media
ACTIONABLE
Expert Tips
TAKEAWAYS
Community
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7. Don’t Take Notes
SLIDES
VIDEO
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8. What is a
Financial Blogger?
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9. Everyone has a Blog
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10. Company Blogs
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11. The Writer is the Blog
Miranda Marquit Jason Steele
JasonSteele.com
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12. Advanced Self-Publishing
TODD TRESIDDER
FINANCIAL MENTOR
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13. Jeff “The Rock” Rose
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14. #rothiramovement
Huffington Post (3/20/12)
“Roth IRA Movement Takes To Twitter”
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15. TAKEAWAY #1
Think of yourself
as a BRAND,
not just a website.
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16. Financial Blogs
by the Numbers
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17. Too Much Info!
ALL BLOGS TOP 100
Median: 999 Median: 9,999
Average: 9,999 Average: 99,999
Highest: 999,999 Highest: 999,999
Lowest: 9 Lowest: 999
Better than half the sphere. As good as a Top 100 blog.
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18. Linking Domains
ALL BLOGS TOP 100
Median: 593 Median: 7,572
Average: 2,410 Average: 10,530
Highest: 139,210 Highest: 139,210
Lowest: 1 Lowest: 705
Source: Majestic SEO
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19. Alexa Rank
ALL BLOGS TOP 100
Median: 795,531 Median: 90,411
Average: 3,277,673 Average: 106,885
Highest: 11 Highest: 11
Lowest: 25,665,064 Lowest: 770,920
Source: Alexa
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20. Monthly Pageviews
ALL BLOGS TOP 100
Median: 2,601 Median: 37,158
Average: 28,413 Average: 120,844
Highest: 1,891,584 Highest: 1,891,584
Lowest: 39 Lowest: 14,050
Source: Compete
Note: directly measured traffic is typically 3x more.
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21. Feed Subscribers
ALL BLOGS TOP 100
Median: 639 Median: 5,151
Average: 3,374 Average: 11,701
Highest: 114,284 Highest: 114,284
Lowest: 1 Lowest: 42
Source: Feedburner
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22. Facebook Page Likes
ALL BLOGS TOP 100
Median: 260 Median: 3,939
Average: 6,778 Average: 24,873
Highest: 862,662 Highest: 862,662
Lowest: 1 Lowest: 47
Source: Facebook
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23. Twitter Followers
ALL BLOGS TOP 100
Median: 925 Median: 5,403
Average: 2,810 Average: 10,343
Highest: 123,970 Highest: 123,970
Lowest: 1 Lowest: 517
Source: Twitter
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24. Klout Score
ALL BLOGS TOP 100
Median: 40 Median: 53
Average: 36 Average: 54
Highest: 79 Highest: 79
Lowest: 1 Lowest: 32
Source: Klout
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25. WiseBread.com/FinCon12
bit.ly/top-pf-blogs
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26. What Readers Need
&
What We’re Writing
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27. The Great Recession of 2008-?
Unemployment
spikes in 2008.
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28. Long-Term Concerns
LOW-WAGE JOBS
HIGH-WAGE
MID-WAGE
JOBS
SOURCE: THE ATLANTIC
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29. What We’re Writing
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30. Topic Distribution
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31. Top 10: What You’d Expect
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32. 10 Least Covered: Opportunity!
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33. TAKEAWAY #2
You can (and should)
write about more topics.
Finances touch every part of
our readers’ lives.
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34. Browser & Device Trends
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35. Browser Share
4 0 8/2011 – 8/2012
STATCOUNTER.COM
3 5
3 0
Internet Explorer
2 5
Chrome
Firefox 2 0
Safari
1 5
Opera
Other 1 0
5
0
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36. New King Since Forever
Chrome overtakes IE as
top browser in May 2012.
8/2011 – 8/2012
STATCOUNTER.COM
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37. Rise of Mobile
16
SOURCE: STATCOUNTER
14
12
10
Mobile Visitor %
8
6
Mobile website 4
visitors are 2
doubling every year. 0
2009 2010 2011 2012
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38. 13% Own Tablets
18
SOURCE: GOOGLE INSIGHTS
16
14
1 in every 7 users
12
use a tablet to
10
browse Internet.
8
6
4
2
0
Feb-11 Oct-11 Jan-12
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39. 45% Own Smartphones
60
SOURCE: GOOGLE INSIGHTS
50
Over HALF the
40
population
30 use smartphones!
20
10
0
Feb-11 Oct-11 Jan-12
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40. TAKEAWAY #3
The small screen is back.
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41. What are the Social Media
Options for Bloggers?
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42. Well-Known Outlets
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43. STATE OF FINANCIAL BLOGOSPHERE – FINCON12

44. Non-Traditional Outlet
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45. Most Popular
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46. Stats: Based on the Wise1000
• 79% of blogs use Twitter
– Average Number of Followers: 2,810
– Average Number Following: 1,360
• 53% have a Facebook
– Average Likes: 6,778
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47. Facebook is Underused
Facebook
Facebook
Twitter
Twitter
Usage Followers
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48. Twitter: Stats and Patterns
of the Top 50 Twitter Titans
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49. Top 50 Twitter Titans Breakdown
29 are PF
Blogs
Top 5 are Deals &
Coupons Blogs 21 are
Deals &
Coupons
Blogs
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50. What are the Top Twitter
Deals & Coupons Bloggers
Doing?
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51. Two Strategies
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52. What are the Top Twitter
Personal Finance Bloggers
Doing?
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53. 1. Share articles.
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54. 1. Share articles.
2. Interact with
followers.
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55. 1. Share articles.
2. Interact with
followers.
3. Get personal.
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56. Unexpected Findings for the
Top 50 Twitter Titans
• 6 haven‟t tweeted in the last 2 months.
• Pretty even split between tweeting a lot and
tweeting a little.
• 11 employ a follow back strategy.
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57. THE OATMEAL
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58. Facebook: Stats and Patterns of
the Top 50 Facebook Titans
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59. Top 50 Facebook Titans Breakdown
1 4 Are
The Top 19 Facebook PF Blogs
Titans are Deals &
Coupons Blogs 3 6 Are
Deals &
Coupons
Blogs
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60. What are Deals & Coupons
Bloggers Doing Differently?
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61. Making it Personal
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62. What Strategies are Both PF
Bloggers and Deals & Coupons
Bloggers Using?
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63. Sharing Content
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64. Interacting with Fans
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65. Added Sharing
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66. What Other Strategies are the
Top PF Bloggers Using on
Facebook?
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67. A New Level of Asking Questions
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68. Giveaways
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69. Overall Social Media Strategies
from the Heavy Hitters:
Wise1000 Top Bloggers on
What TO Do
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70. “Hold occasional gift card giveaways - the
reader can qualify to win by liking and
answering a question about personal
finance.” -Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers
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71. “The more you get personal and have
FUN on Twitter and other social media
channels, the more you‟ll „connect‟ with
people.”-J. Money, Budgets Are Sexy
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72. “My only real strategy is to personally
and manually post updates.”
- Jeremy Vohwinkle, Generation X Finance
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73. “We work to reach
out and support other
key influencers in the
savings and financial
blogosphere.”
-Teresa Mullins, Get Rich Slowly
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74. “Asking open ended questions has been
the single best way to get people to
chime in on Facebook and Twitter.”
-David Weliver, Money Under 30
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75. “Hosting events like
a weekly Tweetchat
is a great way to
engage followers
and get a discussion
going!”
-Will Chen, Wise Bread
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76. Wise1000 Top Bloggers on
What NOT To Do
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77. Don‟t Be
Boring
“
” J.
Money, Budgets Are Sexy
“
” David Weliver, Money Under
30
GEEK AND POKE
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78. “The worst strategy for me was having my
Twitter feed duplicated on my Facebook status
updates since I only used my personal Facebook
account as a personal tool.”
-David Ning, MoneyNing
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79. “We initially failed to realize the importance
of Facebook in the marketing of our small
business.” -Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers
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80. TAKEAWAY #4
Create and Use Your
Facebook Page
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81. What About Emails/Newsletters?
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82. “I have an email newsletter that ends up being
one of the more „social‟ outlets on my site. It‟s
practically the most social thing I do for
MoneyNing!” -David Ning, MoneyNing
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83. Others Agree!
“My email list is still “I follow a few people
my best way of that send out really
communicating with good weekly email
my readers.” newsletters.”
-David Weliver, Money Under 30 -Ben Edwards, Money Smart Life
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84. So What’s the Bottom Line?
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85. TAKEAWAY #5
Engagement is Key
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86. “
”
- J. Money
Budgets Are Sexy
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87. This Year,
Our Community…
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88. ...Had Babies
GOOD FINANCIAL
CENTS
BUDGETS ARE SEXY
WISE BREAD
SQUAWKFOX
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89. ...Bought or Built (!) Homes
BUDGETING IN THE
FUN STUFF
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90. ...Made Feature Movies
ADAM BAKER
MAN VS DEBT
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91. …Asked the President Questions
DAVID NING
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92. ...Escaped the Rat Race
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93. ...Connected in Person
FinCon lives on throughout
the year via FinCon Locals.
Thanks PT!
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94. Thank You!
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