Understanding The Value Of A Blog A Little Bit Better

The blog as a medium is under threat, that is if you are trying to get attention or monetise it. Compared to a decade or two ago, many more alternatives exist. Whether it is Twitter, YouTube, Instagram or Tiktok. The captive audience is simply not increasing for long-form writing.

It is not just less demand, the supply is also reducing. The number of young people starting a financial blog is dwindling. Like it or not, the golden age of blogging is almost definitely over.

However, as a diary or a chronicle of your own experience, the value proposition is still as strong as ever.  CW8888 (or Uncle Jacob)’s blog is proof of that. I attended his wake yesterday and had a heartwarming chat with his children.

The children were actually surprised that there were so many readers of their father’s humble blog who came forward. Those who came to the wake unanimously mentioned how Uncle Jacob was always generous in sharing his personal finance journey and was always feisty, never shy to dispense advice to younger folks.

I had first-hand experience of this almost exactly 6 years ago, when I was organising a talk “Optimising Your CPF For Retirement”. At that point in time, he had only met me once but he was kind to readily accept the invitation, even though we only offered a very small speaker fee as a token of appreciation.

“At this stage in my life, I am keen on face-to-face meetups to help provide a different perspective to the public about personal finances and investments” – CW8888 in Y2017

Unexpectedly, especially since it was his first public talk, his segment actually became the highlight of the event and there was even clamour to repeat the event. I guess the audience, including myself, connected with his honest and candid sharing.

Yesterday evening, Uncle Jacob’s children also shared how they often pestered their father to “teach” them about investing. Interestingly, he would just ask them to read his blog and learn. When I mentioned about some of Uncle Jacob’s favourite concepts like “trading around core positions”, “multiple income taps”, “freehold income” and his “many rounds of dividend stocks”, his youngest son actually asked me to explain further as he did not quite understand many of his father’s posts.

This revelation struck me.

It made me realise that first and foremost, rather than a writer, I am just a prolific reader of blogs. Admittedly, Uncle Jacob’s posts can sometimes be cryptic, but if you have interest and are a long-term reader, it is not that hard to decipher, at least for me. But then people like us who are passionate about this niche area are actually quite a rarity.

So I also came to the conclusion that the odds are high that my own son will not really enjoy what I have written on this blog.

In our daily life, it is not that easy to meet someone who shares a very strong interest in something as niche as personal finance or investing. Whether it is family, friends or colleagues, money can be quite a taboo or sensitive topic still. Mostly touch-and-go and hard to have a deeper conversation or discussion about it.

So when we write, besides being a personal journal for our enjoyment, I do think the hope is to reach like-minded folks who bother to drop a comment and challenge your views or highlight whatever blind spot you might have missed. Whether that is 1,000, 100 or just 10 people reading, this value persists.

Uncle Jacob’s writing and participation in the local financial blogosphere over the past 16 years meant that he was part of a community, a community that is indeed truly saddened by his sudden passing.

A point that I would do well to remember.