I mentioned a few weeks ago about a story I read in the New York Times that discusses the financial blogging world and how many of the most successful writers were not relatable to many readers. The article pointed out that many of the most successful bloggers such as Mr. Money Mustache and Early Retirement Dude are not relatable mainly due to the fact that they are white males. There are particular issues that women and people of color may have to deal with that affects their budget which writers like these may not have to worry about or take into account.

For this reason, the article points out a number of sites such as Rich and Regular and Tread Lightly and Retire Early which highlight and discuss particular issues for people with backgrounds similar to the author’s. At one time, I too dreamed of retiring early and living somewhere on a beach, writing my financial blog everyday before I swim. I also found though, that I had trouble relating to some bloggers as well.

This feeling changed for me when a series of events changed my fortunes and completely changed my perspective on work and finding meaning in our lives. I will get into how this changed my perspective on what I write in a moment.

The fact is however, a large number of readers flock to a few very successful blogs. I believe there is a proportion of readers that read these blogs with a tinge of a natural human emotion: envy. Others, like I was, may be unhappy at their job and read them as inspiration that they too can escape the rat race. Some others are retired early themselves and are looking for other perspectives, tips and networking.

However, I think the blogging community is really lacking a key component that other forms of media have latched on to: niching down.

The Blogging World Seems to be Lagging Social Media

If you google “blogging too white” you will come across a number of threads and posts where people are complaining about how many financial, travel and other themed blogs are almost all from the view point of a certain demographic.

Without discussing my own ethnicity or getting into that part of the discussion, I did have an issue with many financial blogs in the sense that there was what’s called in the funds industry “survivor bias”. That is that the loudest voices were not just people that worked hard, were smart, saved diligently and invested, but also people that had a lot go right for them that was out of their control. These lucky few are the ones that seem to get popular, not the ones that fail or never made it to early retirement.

In my particular case, I was well on my road to retiring early until I was laid off, my side business failed and I started to divorce. Any of these are bad enough but they all happened within about a 1 year period for me. That being said, I saw myself turned off by financial blogs at that point because I felt myself turning into one of the envy readers rather than the inspired readers. I also wanted to read more people who had similar struggles and shared how they got through them, rather than reading about quarterly updates about how their multimillion dollar portfolios are performing. Nor how they managed to save $0.50 on cheese which will bring them $10,000 30 years from now when they manage to invest the difference.

In contrast to the lack of relatability for many who read blogs, when you go on Instagram, you see a bevy of esoteric niche marketers. Take for example The Wall Street Trapper who is focused on inspiring those in the urban community to save and invest in the stock market. Or Arbitrage Andy who has over 100 thousand followers and posts memes about pretty esoteric financial community workplace humor. When you look at the blogging community though, I have yet to find such distinct niches. Where is Divorced Dad Money or Frugal Artist Money? Blogs like these could delve into specific topics that I’m sure there is a large enough market out there for. I can tell you for one that during my divorce I would have been all over a site like Divorced Dad Money. For example, it may be helpful for some people to share my take on the dynamics of marriage where education levels are very different, which even plays itself out in statistics.

Source: Brookings Institution

In fact, this is a financial topic I would like to explore in more detail for readers once my own divorce is finalized so that I can hopefully help other people out there going through something similar.

Write for the Needs Around You

I often try to write posts on requests for people around me for the same reason I write some for myself: to have a piece of succinct research and reference piece so that anyone can refer back to it when they need help. That’s why I write about topics such as saving for college or managing your parent’s retirement portfolio, because these are topics that myself and people I know struggle with and if I have a blog and some expertise, why not help?

If you are reading this, you likely either know me, have been referred by a professor because I cited their research, stumbled upon the site, or are pretty well off already and read other financial blogs. If the latter is the case for you, I encourage you to either promote your own niche or help promote a niche that you feel has not gotten the attention it deserves.

What is great about the internet that hasn’t fully been realized yet is that it allows marketers, writers and just people with a particular interest to find and cater to an interest that may not have had the scale for media companies to reach before. In essence it’s created the micro-niche marketing scheme, which empowers those with a smaller following like never before.

So ask yourself, if the blog you are reading or the site you are following isn’t meeting your needs and make any posts relevant to your situation, is it worth your time? Maybe you could even promote or create the niche that most relates to you or what you would like to read. If the need of you and those around you are not being met by the sites the internet offers so far, then I encourage you to leave a comment, message what you would like to read or take action yourself.

Conclusion

I think we are just in the beginning stages of a new media environment that is both more disbursed but also more genuine, especially for those bloggers that are able to find the area they can speak to best. Forget the hype about fake news, I believe eventually the garbage will filter itself out and options that capture the areas people are looking for will start to formulate.

Think about what happened 150 years ago when there were hundreds of newspapers in large cities and it was difficult to decipher what was fake or just idle gossip and what was fact. From that period emerged a few newspapers that marketed the best to specific demographics, think the New York Times versus the New York Post. Say what you will about either of these papers but they both have a mostly separate and distinct reader base. I think in the Future the same will be true of blogs, people over time will be able to distinguish quality writing and advice from fads and blatant promotions for products. So ask yourself, is the financial site or blog you’re reading right for you?

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