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I recently started this site because I think most money problems are really life problems, but it isn't exactly taking off: http://notanothermoneyblog.blogspot

by Mz 9y ago

I recently started this site because I think most money problems are really life problems, but it isn't exactly taking off: http://notanothermoneyblog.blogspot.com/ http://notanothermoneyblog.blogspot.com/ I would welcome feedback on it. That would help me figure out where to go with it. Most of my financial advice stuff ends up here: http://sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com/p/money.html http://sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com/p/money.ht... I don't really plan to create anything with a subscription because the kinds of problems I talk about tend to leave people with too little money to survive. My hope is that as my writing helps people start solving their problems, they will leave a tip when they can better afford it. But I do have a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MicheleinCalifornia https://www.patreon.com/MicheleinCalifornia

thephyber 9y ago
I don't know if I have any useful feedback for the linked sites. notanothermoneyblog: I tend to be turned off of traditional blog layouts because of navigational structure. As a reader, I don't care about when an article is written, I care about matching my reading interests quickly with what is available on your site (perusing the titles / tags / categories). If there is a config to toggle away the year-month navigation style, I would prefer that. YMMV sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide: The site seems niche and, as you have mentioned in other posts, there is a stigma against homelessness. Non-homeless (awkward description, I know) readers might feel immediately turned off before reading anything. You might be able to convey the same type of message by describing it as "scraping by", although this may be counterproductive. I would suggest you might try to review your previously-written articles and see if you can make them more reader-friendly. Currently, they seem a little writer-friendly and not very optimized for the reader. Having a TL;DR at the top might keep interest. Eg. the "gift card" article #2 was interesting because it mentions the CA state law that gives consumers the right to cash out sub-$10 balances. That is very useful for me, as a California consumer and I probably would not have thought I would find a nugget on a site and wouldn't have found it if I wasn't trying to review your site. Having the nugget of wisdom in the article title (eg. "Gift cards can be cashed by state law") rather than a less-specific "Cash for Gift Cards -- Addendum" Small bug: The link from the /p/money.html page to "Starbuck's and Domino's Rewards and Gift Cards" is broken (there is a stray "http:/" at the beginning). If you can, try to get an Amazon Affiliate account and add Amazon affiliate links when you describe / review books like "Book recommendation: How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt and Live Prosperously". It might not be useful short-term as they won't cut checks for amounts smaller than ~$25, but they pay 4+% on lots of products.
- Mz 9y ago
  Thank you for the feedback. I have fixed the bug. I will look at the navigational options. There is actually an amazon affiliate link for that book on the site. I have not done well with amazon affiliate links. But maybe I will figure it out someday. (Though, I have updated it to make it text on the assumption that you have an ad blocker and that's why you didn't see it.) I am not planning to abandon the homeless survival guide, but the TLDR is that I am more interested in promoting solutions that reduce homelessness than in helping people after their lives fall apart.

by Mz 9y ago

thephyber 9y ago

I don't know if I have any useful feedback for the linked sites. notanothermoneyblog: I tend to be turned off of traditional blog layouts because of navigational structure. As a reader, I don't care about when an article is written, I care about matching my reading interests quickly with what is available on your site (perusing the titles / tags / categories). If there is a config to toggle away the year-month navigation style, I would prefer that. YMMV sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide: The site seems niche and, as you have mentioned in other posts, there is a stigma against homelessness. Non-homeless (awkward description, I know) readers might feel immediately turned off before reading anything. You might be able to convey the same type of message by describing it as "scraping by", although this may be counterproductive. I would suggest you might try to review your previously-written articles and see if you can make them more reader-friendly. Currently, they seem a little writer-friendly and not very optimized for the reader. Having a TL;DR at the top might keep interest. Eg. the "gift card" article #2 was interesting because it mentions the CA state law that gives consumers the right to cash out sub-$10 balances. That is very useful for me, as a California consumer and I probably would not have thought I would find a nugget on a site and wouldn't have found it if I wasn't trying to review your site. Having the nugget of wisdom in the article title (eg. "Gift cards can be cashed by state law") rather than a less-specific "Cash for Gift Cards -- Addendum" Small bug: The link from the /p/money.html page to "Starbuck's and Domino's Rewards and Gift Cards" is broken (there is a stray "http:/" at the beginning). If you can, try to get an Amazon Affiliate account and add Amazon affiliate links when you describe / review books like "Book recommendation: How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt and Live Prosperously". It might not be useful short-term as they won't cut checks for amounts smaller than ~$25, but they pay 4+% on lots of products.

Mz 9y ago
Thank you for the feedback. I have fixed the bug. I will look at the navigational options. There is actually an amazon affiliate link for that book on the site. I have not done well with amazon affiliate links. But maybe I will figure it out someday. (Though, I have updated it to make it text on the assumption that you have an ad blocker and that's why you didn't see it.) I am not planning to abandon the homeless survival guide, but the TLDR is that I am more interested in promoting solutions that reduce homelessness than in helping people after their lives fall apart.