About Millennial Boss
Julie paid off nearly $100k of debt and is on her way to financial independence. She is the creator of the Make Money with Printables side hustle course where she teaches people how to sell printables on Etsy and blog as a side hustle.
Reader Interactions
Comments
Financial Samurai saysI love new blogs for the reasons you’ve stated. It’s part of the reason why I continuously read and comment on new sites. I remember the days when I first started as well and I think it’s nice to give some love and attention to others who have the Kerge to go on this no-brainer crazy journey of blogging.
What I’ve always believed is that content is more important than any thing else. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you are entertaining, educational, inspirational, helpful etc, YOU WILL succeed.
Just got to keep at it for years and years and years like J and others. If the direction is correct, sooner or later you will get there.
Sam
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- J says
Great advice! Great content keeps people coming back for more.
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- NZ Muse says
I’ve totally see sawed on the anonymity front. Just this week I had an unexpected collision of real life and the blog (at work!) In the past I’ve used my picture, linked to pages that had my full name, I have inbound links using my full name, and I’ve had stuff published under my full name that links to the blog. Sorry that the outing has gone poorly for you and can totally understand your pulling back. Agree that newer, or even just SMALLER blogs are much more real. The bigger sites get and the more they monetise the less I want to read them and eventually, sad to say, I unsubscribe.
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- J says
Yeah, it’s a bummer when sites lose what makes them great in the first place in the pursuit of money! I think many of us try to find a good balance. Sites get more expensive as they grow too with higher hosting costs, etc.
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- Felicity (@FelicityFFF) says
Thank you so much for writing about this.
I’m blogging anonymously, though strangely enough have shared my blog with co-workers. For me, it would be my extended family finding out that I dread more. Or, as you say, random Redditers outing me and having my name associated with a big chunk of change (my boss does not know, though).
100% agree with Financial Samurai that content is king. I’ve read your posts because the content is great, not because your face is next to your words. If you start writing really boring posts that assert useful or insightful, I will stop reading — so keep writing quality content. 😉
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- J says
Thank you! Yeah, the Reddit thing totally freaked me out. Ugh
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- chasesfish says
Please keep up the good work. You had the guts and courage to write a career oriented blog while still working. It was a risk, but it will payoff long-term. You’re “real” in your writing and people appreciate it. I’ve even found myself referring people at work to your site, especially when it comes to being a leader at a young age.
(I can’t figure out how to blog anonymously yet while still working, so have to opt out. I also want to do it without taking money from the side hustling folks if I don’t need it.)
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- J says
Thank you for referring people to the site!
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- Gwen @ Fiery Millennials says
I use my picture and first name on the blog, but keep my real location, employer, and last name out of it. I’m sure I am easily google-able but I like to pretend no one cares and won’t go hunting me down on LinkedIn.
It’s hard to blog and share what you really think. I was doing just great until my mom and immediate coworkers started reading. I can’t keep a secret to save my life and so my friend found out. Well…. now that friend is my manager. Awkward. Now I have to double and triple think about what I put in a post before I publish it. Sigh. I just want to be FI already!
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- J says
Yup #censored. Sorry that your Mom didn’t love some of your posts. 99% of your readers appreciate the honesty~!
See AlsoHow to set short term financial goals and make them success - AimingthedreamsSaving Money - How to Save Money Fast - The Frugal Mom GuideHow to Figure Out How Much Money You Need to Make to Break EvenHow to Save Money Fast (No matter How Much You Earn)Reply
- Matt @ The Resume Gap says
It takes guts to put your whole financial life out there for all to read, and I totally understand your decision to keep things more private. Not everyone takes kindly to this type of content.
New blogs are often great because you’re getting the best of someone’s decades of thoughts and experiences distilled into a few introductory posts. You can only go back to the well so many times before you’re just repeating yourself — especially if you’re writing multiple times a week. Personally, I’ve tried to write at a more relaxed and sustainable pace, keeping a long list of ideas that might take me months to get to eventually.
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- J says
I totally agree – I get into bouts of inspiration and then take longer breaks from writing. At the beginning, it’s all inspirational and new content because it’s fresh.
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- Financial Panther says
I think that’s probably the toughest part with blogging about money because what really makes it interesting is learning how other people do it. It’s hard to make compelling content without getting personal. I’ve had the same concerns with anonymity too, but I’m going with the hope that people I know who find the blog won’t really care about it.
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- J says
Right?! We want to know the *how* but unfortunately that sometimes can’t be 100% shared.
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- Leigh says
Yup this is why I use a pseudonym. That way, I have a real name to feel more personable to readers without using my actual name. I do try though to not blog about things that I wouldn’t want people to read, such as never talking bad about family or employers/coworkers. I also decided sometime last year that I’m not sure I want to publish my net worth anymore since it’s gotten larger. I don’t post any pictures of my life, though I have started posting the occasional vacation photo outside of the US, and I don’t state where I live. It’s certainly a tricky balance for how to de-anonymize and I wish you luck with going back to being a bit more anonymous!
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- J says
Wait your name isn’t Leigh? LOL
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- Leigh says
Lol nope!
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- J says
genius!
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- R says
Financial blog have a very select audience. It is difficult to be open about your financial details. This is the reason I’m in a closet. I agree that new blogs are more personal – it doesn’t matter if it’s anonymous or not. It’s always inspiring to read the start of the journey.
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- J says
I respect your decision to stay quiet about your financial details.
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- David says
Thank you for the insights. I’m trying this all out anonymously. On one hand, its easier because I feel comfortable posting more information about my income, net worth, and goals. On the other hand, getting readers when I’m a single person in a sea of 1,000 new blogs made daily is really challenging. Especially because I work long hours and can’t realistically spend 3-4 hours a day working on content, interacting on social media, increasing my following while also working out, cooking, and enjoying my life. If I shared my name and advertised my blog to my friends, I would probably have started out with 100 or so readers. Now I’m happy with my lone blog follower (at least its more than 0!)
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- J says
Getting readers is the hard part. I’ve found that relationships with other bloggers helps. If you decide to become less over time, you’ll have to decide what to do about the overshares. Do you remove them or keep them?
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- Independent Hoosier says
I have a couple of pictures of me and my girlfriend on my site, but they’re pretty vague. I just wanted people to know I am a real person.
However, I write under a pseudonym as I feel that readers will take away more than finding out my real name. Even in the city I live in people still know one another fairly well. It would truly bother me if someone did not read my site because they know my real name (or family) and think “WTF does he know about finances? I’m not listening to him.” Refusing to view any helpful content from my site or any other blog linking to it.
Plus, Batman just wouldn’t be as cool if everyone knew he was Bruce Wayne. 🙂
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- J says
Haha love that about batman! I also never thought that people wouldn’t want to read because they wouldn’t think I would know something about finance. I guess that is kind of true though. Putting your real name opens it up to other people’s assessment of your knowledge.
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- Will says
Good blog! I’m in a similar situation. I don’t want people to know who I am due to conflicts with my full-time job. I feel there are so many personal finance bloggers which are focused on making money via blogging (I.e. Working as marketing agents for web hosting companies) and lose sight of actually helping people manage their money. There is a lot of “get rich by writing a blog about how to get rich (and click this link to start)”. People should look to manage their money and think of creative new ways to make money. Not just copying others. Easier said than done but making money is never easy!
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- J says
Never easy! I’m not as harsh on the copying others route since as my dad says “there is nothing new under the sun” but aree with the idea that there is a line you probably shouldn’t cross in the blogging quest for money. I noticed many of the non-anonymous bloggers make their money through the blog and SEO/web-hosting, etc. as you mentioned so there is less need to be anonymous probably.
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- Bobby @ Millennial Money man says
I never did the anonymous thing, but I honestly think it’s a really good idea if you are growing your blog on the side and have a great day job. I had several times where I’d write something and be lectured by friends or have coworkers get angry/offended/feelings hurt, etc.
I have a rule now where I will not talk about financial stuff with family or friends. No exceptions. I don’t give out ANY $$$ advice to anyone I know personally that asks. You get a little pushback at first, but then once everyone around you knows the rule, they stop asking. I’ve found that their questions about money always start out super innocent and well-intentioned, and then devolve into crappy arguments and hurt feelings when people get offended by your views haha. Not worth it.
There is definitely an aspect of your voice changing as your site grows (partially from life changing and also figuring out how to make money online). I’ve definitely “softened” my tone, but I think it’s a good thing for me at least. It brings in more people and I get a lot more “thanks for helping motivate me” kind of emails now instead of the “you’re a jerk” emails. 🙂
I think you’re making a great choice with the site while you keep growing. Better to be comfortable and write awesome stuff instead of worrying about people you know getting weird about it!
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- J says
I’ve noticed you’ve “softened” a bit in your tone actually! I remember first finding your blog awhile go and being like wow – this guys is people out – I love it!! It’s great that you’ve found a balance. I still have to re-edit posts after I publish because I think I write very harshly. I typically have 3-4 updates within 30 minutes after I hit publish HA
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- Matt says
Great article. As one of those “new, anonymous bloggers,” I totally get it. It’s like you’re a kid writing in your diary, then hiding it away from mom and your brothers (not totally speaking from experience with the diary, but my siblings certainly found things that embarrassed me growing up).
At the same time, I am weary of your exact experience. Accidentally outing my identity to family and friends. While I am comfortable with the financial life my family and I lead, I wouldn’t share the same level of details with someone I know personally.
Thanks again for the good read. Really enjoyed it!
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- J says
Love the diary analogy! So true!
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- Ninja Budgeter says
Great post, thank you for this. I’ve gone back and forth oh the anonymity thing for a completely different reason. I wanted to build my blog organically, without visits from my friends and family. I have had a fairly high-traffic blog in the past that I put out on my social network and it was important to me to see what I can build organically.
As often happens a friend found me anyways. Something about using the Twitter app on my phone.
Again, great post, thank you!
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- J says
Damn social media sites linking up! Yeah I forgot to mention in the post that I think twitter outed me too. I noticed some friends were following me on twitter as well.
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- Francesca - From Pennies to Pounds says
I felt incredibly nervous when the first person I know found me. Via Instagram – but I had turned the notification thing off so not sure how they did.
I took a deep breath the other week and texted some of my friends to let them know about the blog. Most of them were soooo lovely about it, but a couple of them didn’t reply. Hmm.No-one at work knows about my blog, and I want to keep it that way. It definitely makes things awkward there. I did wonder why you had taken down your photo and name, but that makes sense. Just do what is right for you 🙂
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- J says
Looks like we’re not alone with the instagram. Thanks for the support on the anonymity!
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- TJ says
Be careful with your affiliate links too. There’s something that I signed up through you that definitely gave away your last name.
I’ve found that I just don’t care all that much about blogging anymore. I feel like there are so many significantly easier ways to make $$. I still write on occasion, but I haven’t bothered with adding headings, photos or doing any promotion of any kind for a while.
They say the 6 months point is when people tend to get burned out. And maybe that’s just what happened for me. It feels sort of crazy to me today that there was a time that i thought it was worth spending $$$ on the blog, because i can’t imagine collecting any $$ out of it today.
As far as I know, nobody in my “real life” knows about my blog, and that’s the hilarious part to me – to be writing in the completely wide open, but to also still feel totally anonymous in the real world. I’d be able to talk more transparently about my $$ particulars if I didn’t have my name attached to my blog, but the reality is that what i write is going to reach such a tiny subset of people anyway. Even if it went super viral, it would be a small % of the population. MMM isn’t a celebrity who attracts the paparazzi in his hometown.
I’m sort of screwed in that I have my domain name linked in the comment section of a bunch of blogs, so even if I nuked my blog, there’d still be plenty of PF stuff out there. Oh well.
I had one person who follows me on twitter defriend me on FB when I started blogging. They wouldn’t tell me why. Such is life.
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- J says
It seems now is a great time for you to blog with the road trip and more time on your hands! I’ve found the motivation comes in waves. Thanks for the heads up on my affiliate links. Much appreciated.
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- Stuart @ Epic Quiver says
Thanks for sharing. I agree whole heartedly. Another problem I find myself running into is a need for SEO optimization. Most of the time I just want to write and not think about placing links and headers and key words into my opening paragraphs just to get hits. It’s also frustrating to see that writing generic content with no details or actionable items seem to get more search results. I wonder if that may also contribute to many bloggers dropping off the circuit after a while
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- Finance For Geek says
So that’s why you changed your name recently! That’s a really interesting point of view and I definitely understand why you had (wanted) to do that. I’ve also started quite recently blogging, and am still fully anonymous (at least I think!)
I’ve always liked to be quite *open* in my writing, but remaining anonymous while being open at the same time .. that’s sometimes quite a dilemma!
Thanks for the inspiration with your post!
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- J says
You’re welcome! Good luck with the blog!
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- Jorma J Tontti says
New blog is like a new person in some group. It takes time to build a correct brand and many bloggers do not have the patience to stand that time. That`s why they start to change the blog content towards the way, they think work better, i.e. to sell. Result: the new blog will loose it`s idea and when that is lost, everything is lost.
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- david smith says
Hi,Millennial Boss
Yup this is why I use a pseudonym. That way, I have a real name to feel more personable to readers without using my actual name. I do try though to not blog about things that I wouldn’t want people to read, such as never talking bad about family or employers/coworkers. I also decided sometime last year that I’m not sure I want to publish my net worth anymore since it’s gotten larger. I don’t post any pictures of my life, though I have started posting the occasional vacation photo outside of the US, and I don’t state where I live. It’s certainly a tricky balance for how to de-anonymize and I wish you luck with going back to being a bit more anonymous!Reply
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