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The Crew at Modest Money Is Teaching Us a Big Lesson

 

Hidden Nuggets Series #38 – “…he who gives, with liberality…” – Romans 12:8

Logo from the personal finance blog Modest MoneyJeremy Biberdorf of ModestMoney.com is killing it. I know Jeremy only by his reputation in the personal finance blogosphere, a few casual emails and comments and the fact that he shares my content via Twitter. I’m thankful for his site though because he’s really helping personal finance bloggers out.

In case you are unaware, Jeremy has put together a Top Finance Blog List on his site. If you run a personal finance blog, you can submit it there and get listed/ranked versus other blogs based on your site’s traffic, social media reach and SEO quality. As of today there are 183 listed.

So why would he do this? I mean there are other well established lists out there at Wisebread and MoneyCrashers that do the same thing. Do we really need another one?

Well the obvious answer is that it helps drive traffic to and enhance his site. OK…I can buy that.

I’ve got a sense though there is a deeper issue here. There is something very generous about what he’s doing, allowing us to create a link on his well-established site. It feels “beyond-the-call-of duty-ish” – something he didn’t have to do, but maybe wanted to in order to help others out.

Whatever his reasoning, I still draw a big lesson from it. In the bigger picture for me, it reinforces the need to give and do so liberally. In my mind and my heart I know this concept. I simply tend to forget it.

It’s incredibly easy to get focused on my own blogging tasks – writing, studying, building my site, etc. At times, I get so locked into those tasks I forget why I started writing in the first place – that being to help others. Doesn’t matter whether that’s a casual reader or another blogger, that’s my goal.

While writing and putting out a quality product is important, it doesn’t bring me the highest levels of fulfillment. Ultimate levels of fulfillment come when I know others have actually been helped through my efforts. Your fulfillment may come in a different way…that’s just what gets my engine humming.

So how can bloggers help one another?

Step one would simply be to read and share that content on the various social media outlets (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.). To take it a step further, you may take a minute to comment on something interesting in the article. Commenting regularly has helped me establish relationships with people I have never met.

If you publish a roundup of your weekly activities, list some interesting articles you’ve read in that post. Some even host blog carnivals where writers can submit their content for publication.

Another idea is to guest post for another site, without expecting anything in return. Or you could arrange to do a blog swap (exchanging posts to publish on each other’s site).  I have some coming up soon with several bloggers who have recently contacted me. I’m looking forward to giving them a platform here to share their work.

You may even go as far as to collaborate on a bigger project. My blogging friends John and Grayson from Frugal Rules and Debt Roundup respectively, have teamed up on a new site called Sprout Wealth. I’m sure their combined talents will take that site further than if they were working on their own.

Those ideas for helping others may not have been revolutionary. That’s not the point today. The issue I’m reminding myself of (and challenging you on) is that if I want to have success as a blogger (or for that matter in life), I have to get outside of myself more and see what I can do for others.

The little things like sharing and commenting are important. But in the end, in order to have big success and achieve the highest levels of fulfillment, I have to go above and beyond the call of duty. Giving generously and liberally to others would be a step down the right path.

Want to get started on your giving journey today? Then share this post and help spread the word about what Jeremy is doing.

What’s the coolest thing any blogger has done for you? How are you helping others succeed? What other ways could you give assistance to another blogger? What ultimately fulfills you?

Next Post: 5 Coping Strategies For When the Busyness of Life Causes the Dam to Break

Prior Post: Moving Back In With Your Parents at 50? It’s Happening a Bunch

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Comments

  1. I’m so excited to be included on Modest Money’s list. I love scanning through it and finding new bloggers to connect with. You’re so right about making connections and helping each other out. It’s all about the network. There’s so much noise in the blogosphere and having buddies to bounce ideas off of and share struggles and successes with make it feel more intimate.

    • I know what you mean Taylor. Believe it or not, after almost two years of doing this connecting with others is one of the things I find most challenging about blogging. It’s very rewarding, just takes so much time.

  2. Cashville Skyline says

    I agree that Jeremy is totally killing it! I’ve loved seeing and being included on this list. I’ve been shocked by everyone’s willingness to give selflessly in the personal finance blogging community. My blog is still only four months old, so I get excited by every comment, tweet, or link. I truly believe that we’re all rising together.

    • Four months is great! Most bloggers die out in the first six months. That was a significant barrier for me to break through and when the writing started to become a bit easier.

  3. I try to just focus on commenting on the blogs that I really appreciate or make me think. My social network might be small at the moment, but over time and consistency I hope to build relationships that help me grow my site. At this point I’m less concerned with things like SEO and social networking. While I do have all my profiles setup and linked I find a hard time promoting myself beyond just letting followers know I have a new post up.
    The things that I really like the most about my blog is when I check my stats and I find that someone found my blog through the search term “How do I write a workplace bulling complaint” because then I know that someone read my post on workplace bullying and hopefully it really helped them. It makes me feel good knowing that I can help people who might be struggling. Those are the things that I love about blogging.

    • Self-promotion is something I also struggle with but it’s necessary to drive traffic to our site. The more traffic, the more people that are being helped.

  4. Jeremy’s list inspired me to do something about my SEO. I love checking back in on the rankings to see if my numbers are improving. My lack of facebook fans are my other major downfall.

  5. My blog is less than two months old and I’m pretty impressed with the support received from fellow bloggers. I’ve been able to help out a bit with others too, which I enjoy doing. I’ve been linked 3 times already and I’m super razzed about that. Still a lot to learn, but I’m figuring out some things and would be happy to help other new bloggers learn the ropes.

  6. Kassandra says

    I agree 100% with what you said that for you feeling really fulfilled is when you know that your efforts are helping others. Many in the PF community are very helpful and willing to support one another’s efforts and it has helped numerous blogs gain more traction and growth.

    • I know many are in it for the money and I don’t have a problem with that. I hope to profit a bit from what I’m doing here also. But money is not everything. For me, greater satisfaction comes from helping others. That’s why I’m here. Thanks for stopping by to comment Kassandra!

  7. I feel that the blogging community is the ultimate test of your true character. Some people naturally want to help people and make them better (which I believe we are all called to do) and some people are just in it for themselves and what they can make. DC at YAM was my first regular blog commenter and I will never forget that and how he has supported me and my blogging journey.

    • Weren’t those first comments exciting! It was like “Wow…I’m finally getting noticed by someone.” I try to remember how that felt when I run across someone new who has just started.

  8. Thanks for the mention Brian, we appreciate it! I learned awfully quickly that if you’re blogging in a cave then you’re likely not to make it anywhere of substance. I could go on for quite some time on the number of bloggers that have been helpful to me over the time, though Jeremy and Grayson would both be at the top of that list. We all start somewhere and what I love about the PF community is that so many are willing to give a helping hand when there’s a need.

    • You bet John! I’ve said before that the willingness of the community to help and encourage has been the most pleasant surprise of this whole journey for me. I was very fearful of backlash and criticism in the beginning. I’ve found that not to be the case, at least not from other bloggers.

  9. Girl Meets Debt says

    That Jeremy. He’s so nice. I heard his fiancé is a super nice Girl too. 😉

  10. I still love getting comments on posts as I really like being able to interact with my readers. It makes blogging worthwhile when I can make connections with others. Even though I’m still relatively new, I also like getting the chance to help others out.

    • I agree…I know many people simply blog in a vacuum, posting content only and don’t really want the interaction. There is nothing wrong with that…I just couldn’t do it.

  11. It would take too long to mention how many times other bloggers have helped me. I do try and do my best to help out other bloggers any way I can. We all started at the beginning at some point and it’s always hard to get noticed at first, so I try and remember that.

    • I remember those first few months of no one visiting or commenting. I think that’s why so many bloggers quit during their first six months. It’s tough to get traction and build any momentum but getting some feedback from other bloggers sure be an encouragement.

  12. getrichwithme says

    I like it when people comment on my site – it makes me think that people are interested in what I’m writing.
    Dialogue, feedback, retweets etc make it all worthwhile

  13. Peter from Bible Money Matters has helped me out countless times. It was especially nice when I was a newer blogger and needed some advice as well as troubleshooting help. Honestly I think commenting on each other’s sites is the biggest benefit bloggers can provide each other.

    • The commenting goes a long way in enhancing the site. I find myself gravitating toward sites where there is a lot of dialogue going on in the comments section and the site owner is responding to those comments.

      • Yes i totally with both of you david and brain, but in most cases your comment can be snub or even deleted.
        so in that case i believe you need to be patient as it takes time to build trust.

        • That’s true…and you build trust by not posting offensive comments that the site owner would want deleted. I’ve deleted very few in my time here (mostly spamming ones)

Trackbacks

  1. […] The Crew At Modest Money Is Teaching Us A Big Lesson – In this post at Luke1428, Brian explains how Jeremy at ModestMoney.com is teaching us all a lesson about being a part of the blogging community. If you’re a PF blogger, this is a great post for you! […]

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