The Dividend Guy

In the article you sum up the whole issue with the personal finance world in 7 words:

“There aren’t any secrets to personal finance”

Saving and investing is not rocket science. Good article and congratulations on being profiled.

The Dividend Guy

Akhil

ok….I gotta get something off of my chest. First of all, what you have been writing about here makes total sense. I have been following this blog off and on for about 8 months now…..
But also, to be fair, nothing you say is particularly innovative or beyond common sense. All of this info can be easily had by anyone with the slightest ability with Google. I look at this site, the company you started, and all of the information therein, and I see another person who is very likely wildly successful. Yet the catch for me is that there is no innovative product here….this is all marketing of the same old stuff, nothing more and nothing less. I don’t mean to be critical, but as someone just slightly older than you — who reached adolescence in the pre-internet era (i.e. the 80’s), and then who worked in software for a pump and dump internet company in the late 90’s early 2000’s (H5 Technologies in San Francisco) — I do feel that I’ve been witness to a radical change. As it appears to me, it has become alarmingly possible to earn some measure of fame by repackaging a simple product on the web. Again, I’m not attacking you, but rather a certain web culture that has spawned as much true “value” as it has empty, recycled “value.”

Aara

Akhil:

For many many people, almost every self-help blog or book is “obvious.” For example, Steve Pavlina makes $1K/day off his blog and almost every post is something me and my friends already know. It doesn’t mean his blog is just marketing of old information. The fact that it is popular shows that some people are benefiting (or just like to read) his posts. This also applies to ZenHabits and all the rest.

This is the Internet. The reason you can make a successful business just selling software that defrags your PC or changes your IE’s homepage back to the original is because of the VERY wide audience. Think of any regular store you walk into. They’ll have products that are worthless or counterproductive, and you would say “god, people buy this shit?” Maybe one person buys it a month.. but on the Internet, you can appeal to all of these people that are willing to buy it. 99% of people will view your site and ignore it, but that 1% or less can make you successful.

It ain’t rocket science. It’s marketing — targeting a specific audience is what markets have always aimed to do. The Internet just makes this VERY easy and fast, and gives you the power to appeal to a target audience in the entire world, rather than just a specific county.

In a few years, big corporations will control most of the large Internet sites and getting your rank up on Google will be damn near impossible. If you want to rant about something, it should be.. why don’t people take advantage of this before it’s too late? I’m young, but I’m sure this same thing happened when magazines started publishing ads and when TVs came out.

Mario Sanchez

Akhil:

The Internet (and particularly blogs) has turned information into a commodity. Virtually anything you write can be found somewhere else with one click of your mouse.

While there is ample supply of information, there is a very short supply of attention, and only those who are able to capture that attention will be successful. In this day and age you don’t capture attention with advertising (or what you may call marketing fluff). You do it by engaging your audience in a two way conversation. Let’s review a few things Ramit has done right:

a) He’s spent almost three years working his butt off for free to build this blog, writing compelling posts, and engaging in a lively conversation with his readers (not advertising, not marketing speak, but genuine conversation). He’s followed one of the most important marketing principles: give first, get later.

b) While the concepts are not original, Ramit writes about them from a different angle: “how does PF relate to young people”. This is his niche, and he has more credibility there than others because he belongs to the generation of people he’s trying to reach. If you’re a college student , who would you rather follow: a 45 year old financial planner with Fidelity or Schwab, or a 25 year old entrepreneur who lives what he preaches?

c) These days content is not as important as how it is packaged.
To make his points Ramit uses examples that are entertaining and that resonate with his target audience. He has a unique sense of humor and writing style (his own voice). It’s how he “packages” content that makes his content engaging.

This is the same strategy that Seth Godin employed to become wildly famous. What did he talk about in Purple Cow? Differentiation… You may say: for God’s sake! people have been talking about positioning and unique selling propositions since the 40’s, how can Seth sell so many books today just basically repeating this old concept?

But then you notice that Seth gave away his first book before he became famous (give now, get later), built and nurtured his fan base through his blog, has a unique voice and sense of humor, etc. If I need to learn about marketing I rather read one of Seth’s books than a boring marketing textbook that esencially talks about the same things.

Some people get marketing, some don’t. And I think Ramit gets it.

Tom

Sethi complains of personal finance books that “most of them repeat the same old–and unhelpful–story. “, and further states “that personal finance has been taught by old white men for old white men for way too long.” Then he proceeds to provide us with the brand new, groundbreaking, earth-shattering, game-changing advice of:
1) start early
2) invest in an index fund
3) budget wisely
4) buy and hold
Sethi is the one making money by repackaging the same old (good) advice one more time.

jen_chan, writer SureFireWealth.com

It’s refreshing to hear such clear and possible answers. I just came from the US News link and read your answers word per word. The statistics you gave in question number one shocked me. I didn’t realize how “split” ( for lack of a better term at the moment) the financial situation of gen Y is. On one hand, you receive lower income (compared to the past generation) and on the other, you have the choice of luxuries that didn’t exist before. If this is the case now, what do you think is in store for the future?