Comments on: Personal Finance and 1,000 True Fans

By: Rajeev Kumar Singh

Rajeev Kumar Singh — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 07:59:39 +0000

Great article Trent, guess you hit the nail on its head.. one needs to have his fan base to be able to succeed and that comes with some effort and dedication.. keep writing and helping us …

By: antiSWer

antiSWer — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 04:13:53 +0000

I enjoy the variety of content available. Some of the posts I bookmark and come back to, while there are others I skip right over. That’s ok, cuz there’s enough content for me to always have something to read and make me think about!

By: Vivian

Vivian — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:09:02 +0000

Hi Trent, Just want to let you know that I really look forward to your daily articles. You’ve put into simple terms things that I did not understand. You’ve confirmed that I’m doing the right things to get myself out of debt. You’ve reminded me of other things I should be doing towards that goal. In the past 2 years I’ve gone from 80,000 to 25,000 in credit card debt. Part of that was accomplished by refinancing my house. I was able to get more money and a lower interest rate without raising my monthly payment. At this point in time, my retirement plan is to get out of debt as the interest rate I’m paying is higher than anything I can get in investing. (I am contributing to 401K to get the company match.) Investing, stocks, bonds etc. is another area I do not understand at all. But with your help, I will have a handle on it by the time I’m ready in 2-3 years. Thanks again for your efforts.

By: Mule Skinner

Mule Skinner — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:59:30 +0000

Pardon the cold water here, but this is a meta-discussion. A blog about the blog.

By: Jeannette

Jeannette — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:58:25 +0000

Trent – Huge Thanks for all of your tremedous efforts in the care and feeding of this site’s content.

I look forward to reading the site everyday – to identify new tips and tricks and to realize there is a huge network of like minded people out here each and every day trying to achieve financial independence.

You serve as friend, advisor, and community leader to this community of well more than a thousand fans.

Hat’s off to you!

By: Corporate Barbarian

Corporate Barbarian — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:52:31 +0000

I’ve always believed that the more you give, the more you’ll get back. I enjoy your writing, and I applaud your success. You can count me among your 1,000 true fans.

By: Kelsey

Kelsey — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:04:12 +0000

I agree with the 1,000 true fans concept. I was childhood friends with Sara Barellies, who was just nominated for two grammys! She slowly built her fan base during college and after, around the clubs in Hollywood. She had a lot of loyal fans before she became an “overnight success.”

Very intersting idea…

By: Marta

Marta — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:58:21 +0000

Trent,
I’m your friend on facebook, I forward and print your articles to share with people, I talk about your website, and I read every day.
I live in Wisconsin, and was raised in much the same way as you, so I feel a closeness to you, though we have never met or spoken.
I am one of the 1000.
Let me know if your family takes a trip up this way again this summer. I just might have a picnic for you ready on the back porch.
Wishing you all success and happiness, Marta :)

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:10:32 +0000

On Trent’s comments or lack thereof: There must be a way that a balance can be struck. You don’t have to stay out of the discussion entirely, and you don’t have to respond to every comment individually. Likewise, you don’t have to argue back every time somebody challenges you, nor do you have to back down every time somebody challenges you. Both extremes are less than ideal. There must be a sweet spot somewhere in the middle. I encourage you to try to find it. But it’s your blog, and you can do as you like.

By: Judie

Judie — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:16:30 +0000

Thank you for sharing your ideas on your blog. Love the 1000 fans idea. I totally agree with the helping of others, and I agree with your “pay it forward” feelings, something I’ve always done.

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:01:46 +0000

I just paid off my student loans 7 years early. I’ve been pretty lucky in that time, always being employed at a decent paying job, but I also have used a lot of the tools on TSD to get there.

Feels good to be completely debt free at 26. Now I just have to figure out how to buy a house :)

Thanks.

By: Associate Money

Associate Money — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:31:25 +0000

I am a true convert of your articles and especially touched by this one.

All great things start small and when you put your heart and soul into your writing, a lot of your readers feel it too.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:59:11 +0000

You are such a blessed man, to have followed your dream of writing, and you are such an inspiration. I’m glad to be one of your 1000 fans. (Just wondering why I haven’t been receiving you daily posts in my e-mail anymore? I just logon to the website anyway, and just wondering about that.) Thank you for following your dream, and inspiring all of us in the process.

By: dawn

dawn — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:46:55 +0000

awesome :) gave me an idea for my own 1000 fans too!

p.s. as expected, trent does read all the comments. if u read regularly u’ll see he posts in response to some too.

By: make money home

make money home — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:41:39 +0000

Good post, I am a true believer in this, writing like you want to make money and push a product is really transparent, people will know you are trying to push something on them. Writing because you are interested in a subject is the best way to get readers and also to help them interacting.

By: Maarten (the Netherlands)

Maarten (the Netherlands) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:22:05 +0000

Count me as in one of your 1.000 fans. I started reading blogs not long ago, first Zen Habits and now the Simple Dollar. Thank you (these words can not be said often enough) for your ideas, useful information, inspiration and for motivating me to live a more frugal life. A few months from now I will change jobs. After 15 years in banking I decided that I wanted to help other people; instead of pushing money around. So I applied for a job as a trainee at the local hospital. That will have a serious impact on my income and finances. The Simple Dollar helps me to pursue my dream, otherwise I would have been put off by the idea of having my income halved during the next three or four years.
(The trainee salary is less than minimum wages).

Also your comment on helping other people reminded me of the movie ” Pay it foreward”. For many years now I am giving masterclasses in sculling and crew rowing. Although I expect nothing in return, I am allways pleased to see my students advancing and enjoying themselves, reaching a higher degree in technique. Nothing in return might be impossible, but non-financial rewards are the most sweet of all. Last week I read a comment about motivation. Are your really expecting nothing in return? Imagine the people you are helping refusing to accept your help; if that is annoying for you, it is time to re-evaluate your motivation and maybe start doing something else..

Please do keep on writing this blog Trent!!
I need your advice and really like to read your blog, not only for motivation, but also for the joy of reading something nice.

Maarten, the Netherlands

By: almost there

almost there — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:18:46 +0000

Great writing on many subjects and I look forward to the dialy reading. Also breaking the finances down to TP in a way that everyone can relate to. Just my two squares worth. :)

By: Tessa

Tessa — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:12:21 +0000

Wonderful post! I do agree with IRG #15 in that bloggers are basically columnists and really should enjoy a decent income for their work. I am new to blogging and read yours every day and enjoy it a lot! Please keep up the good work.

By: Trent

Trent — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:14:46 +0000

I don’t typically comment on threads because I don’t want the comments to be about ME. I want them to be about the readers and the ideas they have.

I’ve already said my piece in the original post. For me to pop up over and over again in the comments merely overshadows the voices of the many commenters, and that’s the last thing I want to do.

Personally, I find it quite annoying when I go to a blog and half the comments are from the blogger themselves. Comments are valuable because they provide *other* voices and info that contrast my own, not because they’re an extension of personal brand marketing.

It’s that very reason that I don’t just delete negative comments like many other bloggers do. Jimbo and Joey are expressing their own opinions and I welcome them.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:25:28 +0000

I’m one of those thousand fans too, and I think what you’ve done is create a community feeling– a place where visitors feel welcome, where they find something rewarding, and where the bar is set high enough that we know we’ll have a good chance of finding something rewarding every time we come back. We feel connected to you and your work, and that manifests as loyalty, for sure.