It’s been a long two weeks, but I think it’s been worthwhile. Thanks for your patience and feedback as the seven Staff Writer candidates shared their articles with you. I still think all seven are great, and wish I could bring all of them on board. It’s going to be difficult to decide whom to add as a Staff Writer.
Before I return to full-time at GRS tomorrow morning, I’d be grateful for one last batch of feedback on the candidates. Again, this isn’t an election, but I will consider your thoughts as I make my decision. What did you think of the authors and articles over the past two weeks?
As a reminder, here are the author bios (and links to their tryout pieces):
Jason Barr is a GRS reader and the author of a personal-development blog called Start Being Your Best. He’s 32 years old, has been married for seven years, and has a 2-1/2 year old son. He’s now a financial analyst, but he spent five years in the army as a Chinese linguist. You can read more of Jason’s background at his site. Jason’s contributions over the past two weeks were What I learned from failure and What is the value of a college education?
Karawynn Long has been blogging since before “blog” was even a word. There would be no Get Rich Slowly without her. I discovered her web journal back in 1997 (via her toilet-trained cat), and it led me to start my own online diary. She inspired me to write for the web. Karawynn now blogs about money at Pocketmint. Here’s more about her story. Karawynn contributed A visit to the Island of Misfit Foods and Discovering (and challenging) your financial values.
Neal Frankle is a Certified Financial Planner, and the author of Wealth Pilgrim, a blog about his own financial journey. He’s an active member of the personal finance blogging community, and has previously contributed two guest posts to Get Rich Slowly: How to read a mutual fund prospectus and How to find financial serenity. For background on Neal’s personal story, check out his recent article about how he went from homeless to homeowner. Neal’s audition articles were The benefits of starting a side business and Do you spend differently with friends?
Lynn is a long-time reader of personal-finance blogs. She is the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) of her family, and is working hard to increase the financial health of her family after years of many poor financial choices. In the past, she has written for other financial publications, and is eager to contribute to Get Rich Slowly. For valid reasons, Lynn is writing under a pseudonym. Lynn shared Where to find free activities and events in your area and How a haircut led to a handy acronym.
April Dykman is a long-time GRS reader and active commenter. If you participate in the discussions, you’ve probably interacted with her. She contributed an Ask the Readers question last year about whether she should buy a car or pay off debt. (You told her to pay off debt, which she did, and she doesn’t regret it.) April’s personal site has a bit more info about her. April’s articles were Freedom from mindless spending and How to earn free plane tickets and cash back by shopping online.
Adam Baker is a relative newcomer to the personal-finance blogging community. He writes about money at Man vs. Debt, and is a frequent contributor to The Personal Finance Hour. Baker and his family recently sold everything they own to move from Indianapolis to Australia. They’re now in New Zealand, hoping to find a job. Here’s more information about Baker’s background. Baker’s try-out pieces were: How to use couchsurfing to see the world and The “do-I-have-enough-for-this?” effect.- A.J. Clark is another GRS reader who asked to audition for the Staff Writer job. A.J. is recent college graduate who writes software in the financial services industry, while trying to find his financial footing in the Real World. For valid reasons, A.J. is writing under a pseudonym, so I can’t give more background or provide a photo. His try-out pieces were Hoping to finish ahead by starting behind and What is your appetite for risk?
In theory, I’ll be back tomorrow morning with a brand-new post. In truth, I’m writing this on Friday morning before leaving for a weekend hiking trip. Depending on what time I return Sunday night, Monday’s post may appear at 10am instead of the usual 5am! I’m back from my hiking trip (very fun!) and tomorrow’s post is finished, so everything’s on schedule for the morning.
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My conclusion: 1. Adam, 2. Karawynn
- Jason (college): couldn’t keep me interested, despite the interesting title
- Karawynn (values): a bit long-winded, but overall a positive surprise, content- and style-wise
- Neal Frankle (side business): lack of original content; writing style is not bad tho
- Lynn (haircut): she can tell a story, but please don’t ask me to read that wishy-washy … crap!
- April (airmiles): lack of depth spoils what could have been an interesting and entertaining post
- Adam (couchsurfing + do-i-have-enough): just awesome how he brought that couchsurfing post! The other post was mediocre but not terrible
- A.J. (starting behind): fails to bring a clear message, long-winded
Apologies for the blunt feedback. I’m judging a piece of writing, not your blogging potential.
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I like Adam’s writing style, and I think his posts were a good fit for GRS. I’m not even interested in travel, but I still liked his couch surfing article (I think it says something when I enjoy reading an article about a topic that usually doesn’t interest me).
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I liked Karawynn and April best. Both had the right tone and are good writers. I especially liked the emphasis on values/conscious spending.
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Personally, I’d rather you cycle through guest bloggers than have a second writer. I like the current feel of your blog and it might get muddled having a second writer. Guest posts don’t really hurt the vibe of a blog.
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Personally, I’d vote for two quality posts a week if that’s all you had time for. I think you’re going to harm the GRS brand by bringing in other voices. I am not interested in reading other writers blab on about money (if I were, I’d already be reading their blogs), I’m interested in reading JD’s writing.
Period.
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I’d like to add that I agree with those who prefer 2 quality posts over many so-so posts. Those quality posts may come from guest or staff writers though, as far as I’m concerned.
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“I realize that this may turn some readers away, but I think it’s a better solution than sharing just two posts a week, don’t you?”
I have to disagree. As a faithful reader who does not participate in comments, I am primarily interested in your unique voice and usually skip the guest posts unless it’s a blogger I already read.
I realize you’re not able to post more than twice a week at this point, but think it would be a better idea to form a GRS blog network and invite other bloggers to join. This would keep the new voices independent and separate from your own.
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I enjoyed all of the posts submitted by the prospective staff writers. I went back and read the ones that I missed. It’s going to be a tough choice. That’s a good thing, of course. Lots of quality people turned out in order to be a part of this blog, which I would say is a testament to the quality of the community you’ve built here.
I would like to make two quick points. I think adding someone is a good thing. I would add someone that’s going to do an adequate amount of research in creating a post. Writing something about yourself is worthwhile at times, but almost any post can be made better by being augmented by research. I think some of the candidates did a better job of this than others. All of them write well enough. All of them are interesting and unique people. I’m not sure everyone is going to do enough research to deliver valuable content day in and day out.
The other thing I would like to say is a simple note on the process. I like it. I think it’s a way of auditioning for a job that makes complete and total sense. The success of this blog is fueled by the community of its readers, so why not get their input on the personalities. I’m not sure posting the articles blind would do the same thing. Understanding the personality behind the perspective is important, because people are more likely to read something written by someone they like or relate to. Just my two cents. Good luck in making this decision!
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I like each of them, as they have something unique to say and bring diverse experience. I like their writing style too. Can you keep all of them? like wisebread, more the merrier. I also have gone and visited their blog (if they have one) and learned more about them.
ZG
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opps, I had by mistake different link above, so reposting.
ZG
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jason barr
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While they were all good, I only read one fully, stem to stern: Lynn.
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I liked Karawynn and AJ best, though all of them had interesting posts.
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April
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Karawynn feels the most GRS, if that makes any sense.
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April is the only clear winner as far as I’m concerned. Her writing style was way better than any of the others and I think her tone and message fits in really well with GRS. Her first article was especially outstanding.
I don’t really care who else you pick out of the remaining six but we’ve gotta have April!
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Hands down, my favorite was Karawynn. I also enjoyed some of Neal and Adam’s posts.
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Though I do have a favorite, I think a thought that I’ve had might be more useful to you than a vote. The thing that draws me back to GRS is the connection I feel to you and your life. While your writing enabled that connection, the bedrock of it is the congruence between our lives: childless-by-choice, married to an opposite-sex partner, similar financial stages, living in the PacNW, etc. You and Kris – neither of whom I ever expect to meet – feel like much-admired friends.
While I personally would like another writer to whom I felt that kind of connection, I encourage you to look to your business plan and consider who you want to reach out to. Ugh, that’s kind of presumptuous-sounding; sorry. There’s a reason I’m not an ubersuccessful blogger.
But if we were real friends, instead of blogger and reader, here’s the question I’d ask you over a cup of tea: Do you want to cement ties to people who are like you or do you want your new writer to make GRS an even better place for people who are in some way different?
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Jason Barr is the best. His story of working himself up from financial rock bottom was the most entertaining and the most relatable.
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Karawynn & Adam for me.
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The easiest to read is Karawynn- she is an excellent writer and I enjoyed her subject matter best. However, I found all the posts either interesting or useful in one way or another. I see that some of the posters feel that AJ is too young and not as far along in his financial journey as most of the readers; still, that doesn’t mean he has nothing to offer. It would be a mistake to think so.
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Karawynn, April, and Adam each wrote articles that compelled me to check out something I hadn’t before. That makes me lean their way.
I agree with other posters, that regularly hearing a female voice and hearing from a parental point of view would complement JD’s POV.
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I think they’re all wonderful people, and I’m glad that I don’t have to make the decision. I will support whomever is selected. If I did have to choose someone though, it would be Adam. Why? Because he walks the walk. You can’t get rich slowly until and unless you learn to control your spending and live below your means. I think we would learn the most from him as far as why we come to this particular blog. Good luck to everyone though.
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Are you still taking opinions? If I had to chose two, it’d be Karawynn Long and Adam Baker.
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I’m glad you are making the decision. The only article I really didn’t appreciate was the high cost of college one. There are lots of ways to make college affordable.
But, that isn’t a “personal thing”. It is a topical issue. I don’t even always read your stuff, JD, so it isn’t anything personal…just not what I want to hear since I have two kids in college right now.
The only thing I’d really like to see is someone with children. Having a family throws a “monkey wrench” in the financial area of the home. Sickness, stay at home mom, schooling issues, birthday parties, thinking about college, teaching values about money to a 10 year old, etc. Without kids, sometimes it seems like JD’s life is a bit “all about us as a couple” and in that way, there isn’t a lot in common with that part of his life. (for me since I have 5)
But, like some of the others, I liked them all–at least one of their posts.
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Love Karawynn, like Adam and AJ too. Thanks!
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My own opinion is that I enjoyed reading Neal Frankle’s post the most.
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All writers were good and here are some of my thoughts. Please take these as constructive criticism. Thanks.
Baker
He brings in a unique perspective in the sense that he looks at quality of life first before money. His first post was unique and provided reliable information based on his personal experience. As for the 2nd one, It did not really get the message across. It seems not concise? Also, he does not live in the US where most of the readers are from and is living a very unique lifestyle that we might not be able to relate too much with.
Karawynn
Her first article was bogged down with details. It was hard to read and her writing is all over the place. However, her second post was a big improvement. Although the topic selection was very common, the writing kept my attention and made me think about my own financial culture.
April
First post is a good topic selection generally speaking but JD already writes a lot about the psychology of money. The 2nd post did not have a lot of credibility due to the unused miles. I would expect a good writer to select a topic which she can stand behind.
AJ
His first post was my favorite. He brings in a younger perspective but Tyler K makes a good point that he might not be a lot of help in money matters due to lack of experience. The second post was less interesting and did not really help me define my risk appetite.
Lynn
Her post on free events is old news. Anyone striving to be frugal probably already knows about free entertainment. You can tell she does not have a lot of writing experience. Very simplistic. However, having kids is definitely different from JD. I see people talk about kids in the comments and usually, JD does not have anything to say.
Neal
I liked both posts. Even though he is a CFP, both of the posts were more about his personal experience than boring topics such as investments. I liked his writing style. His CFP experience will add a lot to GRS.
Jason
Learning from failure is another common topic. He writes good but the topic selections are hit and miss. The college article triggered some good discussion but it really lacked a well-rounded perspective.
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I think that Karawynn or April would be the best balance for your voice. I personally liked Neal as well but he might be a better fit for occasional guest poster. Same with AJ; his youthful perspective has value for some but probably not enough to read every week. Jason and Lynn I could take or leave, and Baker just really annoys me.
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