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my wife thinks i’ve gone nuts with all the attention to money and retirement funds. she thinks i’m needlessly anxious.
I get that, too. I usually just respond that me paying attention to this stuff now means we don't have to worry about it later.
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I get that, too. I usually just respond that me paying attention to this stuff now means we don't have to worry about it later.I should have been a pair of ragged claws. Scuttling across the floors of silent seas. -
I was #4 all-time poster by volume (behind Johanna, Zaphod, and WCI) before Hatton and Vagabond passed me over the past week. No one ever offered me a modship :'-( congratulations Doc Spouse!
Now to go post "agree with above" to a bunch of threads to massage that post count...Comment
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I was #4 all-time poster by volume (behind Johanna, Zaphod, and WCI) before Hatton and Vagabond passed me over the past week. No one ever offered me a modship :’-( congratulations Doc Spouse!
Now to go post “agree with above” to a bunch of threads to massage that post count…
i nominate dmfa for moderatorship
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I was #4 all-time poster by volume (behind Johanna, Zaphod, and WCI) before Hatton and Vagabond passed me over the past week. No one ever offered me a modship :’-( congratulations Doc Spouse!
Now to go post “agree with above” to a bunch of threads to massage that post count…
Anyone else want to volunteer?Helping those who wear the white coat get a fair shake on Wall Street since 2011Comment
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I was #4 all-time poster by volume (behind Johanna, Zaphod, and WCI) before Hatton and Vagabond passed me over the past week. No one ever offered me a modship :’-( congratulations Doc Spouse!
Now to go post “agree with above” to a bunch of threads to massage that post count…
i nominate dmfa for moderatorship
Second the nomination, for two reasons:
1. He is an excellent poster, great guy and master of financial matters.
2. By creating this post, I can increase the distance between my post count and his.Comment
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i think you did a great thing creating this place. i think you are stretched thin. for some reason, you have a slightly thin skin when it comes to criticisms, which i think are 1)well intended and 2)actually do need to be contemplated. i think you need some time to consider which tasks you can offload. i know that is super hard. it may be that you have to pay someone to help you manage the empire. there are probably plenty of people who spend twice (five times?) the time on the forum that you do, only because they like hanging out. i don’t care about the financials of your website so i can’t possibly begin to understand what goes into the decision making process. really, with all due respect, the only part of your empire i care about is the forum. however, if you want to take the path that most successful forums do, moderation isn’t a benign small task that should be given to people like me who are 1)brand new here and 2)unknown quantities. you would really trust someone with the moderation responsibilities who has the ability to scare off new people, bully known posters with different philosophies, and delete and edit posts without vetting them? that’s my only concern with passive income becoming a moderator without participating at all. you have created something amazing here. but it’s like raising a kid. you don’t get the appreciation you deserve, and they don’t always do what you want, how you want, when you want. moderation is a thankless task. imo, it should really be carefully considered. i hope you can take these comments in a non critical, supportive way. if you are looking for suggestions, i think longevity and history of thoughtful non inflammatory posts are good place to start. i suggest in no particular order (and i’m sorry if this appears as if i’m volunteering anyone i’m not intending to)—vagabond, hatton1, dr mom, would be good places to start. they don’t ever post reactively or with a thin skin. they are always polite and helpful. they are here a lot. jmo, as always. lastly i don’t read chinese. ????
Very well said.
I think this forum works very well. Having different viewpoints without actually coming to blows is a fine line. Most of us self moderate and know which line to not cross. Most of it is because we value ourselves and because good taste and decorum states which is acceptable and which is not.
WCI, you have done a fantastic job with the blog and forum. Do not take this the wrong way but sometimes you come across as angry at criticism even when the criticism is not valid. Take for example the number of ads. The poster felt there were too many ads for the content while you felt the actual numbers were more on your site than his. I think both are right. You on the physical number, and he on the blog value / ad ratio. Maybe a better option would be to state that you feel that the ads are appropriate at both sites and leave it at that. You are the owner and at some point should just brush things off.
I also agree that moderation is a tough thankless job that should be given to only level headed long standing posters. I think q-school, hatton1 and Vagabond would make good moderators. And sometimes moderators have their off days.
Best of luck in expanding your network.
+1 on the ed being quite thin-skinned, grumpy, seems to take a lot of things very personally. Probably the nature of an ER doc.
For what it’s worth, on other successful forums usually the owner/admin is a bit more aloof.
Of course it’s the WCI forum owned by WCI, WCI’s way or the highway. Nothing wrong with that. Only problem is, getting salty with things like well-intentioned criticism from quality long-time posters can lead to many of them choosing that highway option.
Once the quality posters start leaving, you’re left more and more with just the riff-raff, and it’s a bit of a death spiral, particularly for a small community.
[Post deleted as ad hominem. I appreciate the defense but it's not going to take this thread in a direction that furthers the goals of this forum.- WCI]Comment
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Second the nomination, for two reasons:
1. He is an excellent poster, great guy and master of financial matters.
2. By creating this post, I can increase the distance between my post count and his.
thirdsies.
i think he's also probably among the most knowledgeable of the regulars.
i just that by the frequently with which i dont know what he's talking about.Comment
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i think he’s also probably among the most knowledgeable of the regulars.
Strikes me that way as well.Erstwhile Dance Theatre of Dayton performer cum bellhop. Carried (many) bags for a lovely and gracious 59 yo Cyd Charisse. (RIP) Hosted epic company parties after Friday night rehearsals.Comment
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my wife thinks i’ve gone nuts with all the attention to money and retirement funds. she thinks i’m needlessly anxious.
8O I think you might need to see a doctor! Oh, wait...My passion is protecting clients and others from predatory and ignorant advisors 270-247-6087 for CPA clients (we are Flat Fee for both CPA & Fee-Only Financial Planning)
Johanna Fox, CPA, CFP is affiliated with Wrenne Financial for financial planning clientsComment
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Sounds good. Probably I spend the majority of my time on the forum here, so it never bothered me.
My main point is, put out quality content and people won't mind ads and sponsors.
Here is another interesting one:
https://www.samharris.org/blog
No ads, not on the blog or even the audio podcast. He allows one to donate through the site if they so wish. He also says on the podcast: "if you cannot afford to donate, don't donate".
That is just two examples of folks with different convictions, morals, minset, and business ideas.
P.S. Tim F had a blog (strictly written content) from 2007 to 2014 before he started a podcast.
P.P.S I have to confess that my experience biases me. Two of the examples I brought up happen to be the content creators I enjoy and devote my time to the most, and they happen to not have any ads on their website. Despite thier business model, I don't think they have a money problem
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That is just two examples of folks with different convictions, morals, minset, and business ideas.
Maybe it might be time to have you and WCI agree to disagree on what constitutes adequate advertisements.
I think the proof will be in the pudding. If the PIMD blog has more page views it might justify the ads. If the views decrease it might be due to the quality of the posts not being up to snuff or having excessive ads that turn off potential viewers. That will likely lead to less advertisers in the future.
It all works out in the end.Comment
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Sounds good. Probably I spend the majority of my time on the forum here, so it never bothered me.
My main point is, put out quality content and people won’t mind ads and sponsors.
Here is another interesting one:
https://www.samharris.org/blog
No ads, not on the blog or even the audio podcast. He allows one to donate through the site if they so wish. He also says on the podcast: “if you cannot afford to donate, don’t donate”.
That is just two examples of folks with different convictions, morals, minset, and business ideas.
P.S. Tim F had a blog (strictly written content) from 2007 to 2014 before he started a podcast.
P.P.S I have to confess that my experience biases me. Two of the examples I brought up happen to be the content creators I enjoy and devote my time to the most, and they happen to not have any ads on their website. Despite thier business model, I don’t think they have a money problem
You know blogging isn't a business, right? My mom has a blog. She doesn't make any money. If you just want to type stuff into the internet, you can do so. It doesn't have to be tied to any kind of a business. If you prefer to read blogs that aren't tied to businesses, that is something that can be done. In my experience, however, the vast majority of those blogs aren't promoted enough to ever grow to very many readers because there is no incentive to do so. A particularly talented person may still pull it off obviously like the examples you cite.
I've also discovered that asking for donations is not a particularly good business model. I actually had a "donate button" for the first couple of years on this site. I don't think it ever totaled $50.
But yea, if you don't like ads I'm not sure you're going to like any of the blogs I bring into the WCI network, including my own! But bear in mind that those ads paid for the development and hosting of this forum. Just imagine all of the stuff you enjoy in your life that wouldn't exist without marketing.Helping those who wear the white coat get a fair shake on Wall Street since 2011Comment
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Alright, I guess it's time to chime in. Sorry I'm late to the party! I saw this forum thread pop up and read the first few comments and decided to let it run its course for a few days and not lurk or try to drive it. I've checked back today and quite enjoyed the way it's gone.
First of all, I'm extremely excited and humbled to be part of the WCI Network. It's a situation that invites plenty of applause and criticism and I'm fine with that. WCI and PoF have set a such a high bar, and I feel I can only improve by being around them. Obviously they see some value in what I bring to the table, otherwise we wouldn't have formed this partnership.
I know I can't be all things for all people, and I'm content with that as well. The one thing I can tell you is that I'm genuinely trying the stuff I write about. I've never been afraid to try different things or follow a slightly different path. This means I've failed and stumbled quite a bit by not playing it safe, but in the end, I feel I've found some success and I'm letting people know about it. All this in the hopes that some people will be encouraged and inspired to take action on that "thing" that's been on their mind for a while.
I appreciate all the feedback. I really like the ones where people have specifically asked me to explain this or that. That's easy to answer in a post or eventually on the fb group I just formed. As for the ads comments, expect to see some changes soon that have long been in the works. Not because I don't believe in them (because I think there's definitely value there), but because I'm just slowly altering my design. It's funny, when I first started blogging, I hoped to monetize someday (at the minimum to feel like I'm getting some sort of compensation for my time), but even I was surprised when sponsors came knocking on my door.
Well what Jim says is absolutely true, bloggers quit after a while if they don't see a return on investment of their time. It does take a serious amount of time to run a blog - if I'm not writing or reading, I'm thinking about it all the time. For a good number of bloggers, the return is obviously money as evident in their ads, but some people do it because the brand exposure gets them speaking gigs, sells books, tickets to camps/conferences; and that ultimately nets them some financial return.
Trust me, it's so much easier just to pick up an extra case or shift so there has to be more to it than just a dollar amount.
Wrapping up here, thanks to everyone who checked out the blog. I always say this on my newsletters and I still believe it - Your time is precious and worth quite a bit, so spending some on my site or even talking about me means a lot. Thanks everyone!Comment
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Appreciate the reply PIMD and the fact that criticisms were well received
And WCI, the other thread that got shut down it wasn't a personal attack - so I'll take this opportunity to prove why. I said "better than that" at your "content takes time" comment. Seemed like you were just defending and not willing to listen to the other side of arguments. We are evaluating quality of post, not your decision to buy PIMD blog. Assuming you are business partner, I think it's fair we ask the business owner (you) as to watsup.
Second - while your argument to Rei3 is fine, these ads generate significant more income than just breaking even to run the forum/hosting service. Just my take. These are not personal attacks but retort to what you are saying. I may be totally off but this is an online forum and I am posting what I think.Comment
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Sounds good. Probably I spend the majority of my time on the forum here, so it never bothered me.
My main point is, put out quality content and people won’t mind ads and sponsors.
Here is another interesting one:
https://www.samharris.org/blog
No ads, not on the blog or even the audio podcast. He allows one to donate through the site if they so wish. He also says on the podcast: “if you cannot afford to donate, don’t donate”.
That is just two examples of folks with different convictions, morals, minset, and business ideas.
P.S. Tim F had a blog (strictly written content) from 2007 to 2014 before he started a podcast.
P.P.S I have to confess that my experience biases me. Two of the examples I brought up happen to be the content creators I enjoy and devote my time to the most, and they happen to not have any ads on their website. Despite thier business model, I don’t think they have a money problem
Again to take Jim's side, Sam has a very different business model.
He has plenty of followers who simply pay him a monthly fee, has several successful books at this point, is developing an app, and has a much more lucrative speaking schedule. Sam can sell out places like the Chicago Theater when he speaks. He has almost a million twitter followers. Say that even 10,000 of them pay him $10/mo for content he's making bank.
He is also not speaking about financial topics. One of the things I like about WCI is that without it I'd have to spend more time doing my own research or paying people to answer my $$$ questions. Sam is a public intellectual, if he wasn't out there no one would fill that exact space.Comment
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