Pinyo, I am glad to say “Moolanomy” is a fantastic personal finance blog with ton of extremely good personal finance articles for people from any age to benefit well. You have built your own network around “Moolanomy”, as the epic center, for personal finance bloggers as well as readers. As a thorough follower of your blog and network, I am very glad to utilize this opportunity to interview you for TMM to giving better idea on “Moolanomy” and you to TMM readers. As a beginning to this interview, I express my sincere thanks for the time you are spending for TMM.
Sherin (TMM): In the above context, yes you have mentioned a lot about you and “Moolanomy” in the blog itself, but, we really like to know little more personally about you than what have mentioned there. Also, could you share any major factors that influenced you to get into the personal finance blogging space?
Pinyo (Moolanomy): First, thank you for this opportunity. I don’t think there’s anything special. I am just a guy in his mid 30s, married, and has a one and half year old son. I do work full-time for a Fortune 500 company, so blogging is strictly a part-time affair for me, but sometimes it does feel like a second job.
The reason I got into personal finance blogging was mainly to help my family maintain a positive cash flow. About two years ago, my wife was pregnant and we knew that my income alone wasn’t enough if she needs to take a few months off from work. That got me thinking about how we can supplement our income. I’ve had several web sites before so I know I can make some money if I start a new site. I thought for a while about what I want to do and decided on a personal finance blog, because it was what I am most passionate about.
Sherin (TMM): Anyone who visits “Moolanomy” certainly praise the quality of your articles and knowledge. I seem to struggle sometimes to come with different articles in my blog. How do you updating yourself to provide most relevant and updated information for readers through unique articles, time to time?
Pinyo (Moolanomy): Don’t worry, you are not alone because I struggle from time to time too, and that’s one reason I don’t write daily. If I don’t have anything good to write, I just don’t. It’s better to write good articles once in a while than mediocre articles on a daily basis.
As far as ideas, just keep your eyes open and observe what happen in your life and in other people lives around you. You can also read magazine, blogs, web sites, tweets, etc. Even watching TV or listening to the radio can result in article ideas.The important thing is to not just regurgitate existing information. Make sure you add your personal touch and convey your thoughts and feelings.
Sherin (TMM): Can you share your most interested subject inside the personal finance and how your blog influenced to your own personal finance?
Pinyo (Moolanomy): The subject that interests me the most is how to increase my income through alternative income sources. Specifically, how can I make more money from sources that are not tied to my main job. The essence of financial freedom is to be able to pay for your expenses without depending on your main job, so the sooner I can replace my job income, the sooner I can reach the state for being financially free.
Sherin (TMM): Are you a full time blogger? Per day, how much time do you spend for blogging or its related activities?
Pinyo (Moolanomy): As mentioned above, I am not a full-time blogger. However, I do spend a lot of time on my blog and other web sites. I probably spend 4-5 hours a day on my web business activities. I could probably do everything I need to do in 1-2 hours a day; however, I tend to get side tracked a lot and usually go on tangents.
I am not sure if blogging full time is in my future. If it is, it’s probably a few years away.
Sherin (TMM): Can you share with us any awards or special recognitions you have received?
Pinyo (Moolanomy): No, I haven’t received any award or special recognition for my web business. However, I have been mentioned on high profile blogs and web sites a few times. In any case, I am always thankful when someone finds my blog valuable enough to mention.
Sherin (TMM): We have found that you are managing various personal blog networks along with “Moolanomy”. Could you tell as the core idea behind such move?
Pinyo (Moolanomy): I do have a couple of sites in addition to Moolanomy. Even Moolanomy itself is not a typical blog because it has many features, including, a finance directory, a questions and answers section, financial dictionary, and more. Most of these networks, sites and ideas are nothing more than experiments to satisfy my curiosity. Sometimes they work out well, but sometimes they end up being nothing more than a failed attempt.
Sherin (TMM):
Can you share the links of some best articles in your blog for our readers? Pinyo (Moolanomy): I always find it tough to judge my own work. Picking something out as the best is definitely not my strong suit. However, these are probably some of the better known articles on my blog:
* 40+ Alternative Income Ideas and Resources
* How To Save Money – The 1,001 List Of Money Saving Tips And Ideas
* Ultimate Guide To Asset Allocation
Sherin (TMM): Did you publish any books? Also, could you please share some of your most interested and influenced website and books as a reference for TMM readers?
Pinyo (Moolanomy): No, I haven’t, but that’s one of my long term goals. Right now, I am working on a financial planning series which I am planning to turn into an eBook before the end of the year. I have a lot of content on my site, but it would be a monumental task to organize them into a book. I don’t know if I have the time and mental stamina to pull that off right now.
As far as books that I like, I particularly enjoy books written by Larry Swedroe and Suze Orman. For example, I like Larry’s Wise Investing Made Simple and The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You’ll Ever Need a lot. I also like Suze’s The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke. More recently, I have been very impressed by Jim Randel, The Skinny On series – they are easy to read and entertaining.
Sherin (TMM): Do you have any advice for new bloggers from personal finance space? At present personal finance blogging space filled with tons of new bloggers. In my experience, most of them stop blogging after a short span of time due to two major reasons. First, they generally stop blogging by not getting enough readers as expected. Second, most of them want to generate revenue from the very first day and if the result is negative, they are losing their interest and stop blogging. In this context, could you share your major experiences as a startup personal finance blogger to know us how did you manage yourself to succeed by overcoming all the obstacles like establishing blog, creating your network, income generation etc…?
Pinyo (Moolanomy): As far as advice, just network, network, and network. Personal Finance space is filled with a lot of nice people that are willing to help. All you have to do is show that you can produce good content and you’re serious. If you can accomplish that, you just have to get to know other people in the space and get to know them.
As far as your observation about why blogs fail, you hit the nail right on the head. Although some blogs do get readers and make money right away, that is not the norm. For example, I put in at least 6 months of hard work before I see any kind of consistent readership. As far as making money, I was losing money during my first 6 months to pay for domain names and web hosting. So the advice here is aim high, but also be realistic. If you’re not sure what you can expect, ask!As mentioned earlier, I own a few sites before Moolanomy so I have some experience. But if you’re brand new, the easier way is to sign up a Twitter account and start following a few personal finance bloggers. Get to know them and observe what they do both on Twitter and on their blogs. You can learn a lot by observing them, and don’t be afraid to ask.
Sherin (TMM): How can you rate yourself in the context of meeting your goals with “Moolanomy” and what are your future plans or goals?
Pinyo (Moolanomy): As far as goals, I think I exceeded my original expectation when I first started. However, I have been aiming higher as time goes by, so it seems like I am never there yet. I guess I can take a lesson from my own book and actually write down specific and realistic goals, instead of aiming higher over and over again.
Again, thank you for inviting me to this interview. I appreciate the opportunity to share my story with your readers.
Excellant work Pinyo. TMM thanking you specially for the time you have spent for us to participate in this interview. Our readers really honored by the time you spent for them. TMM take this opportunity to not only thanking you but also, informing our readers to visit and subscribe Pinyo’s classic personal finance blog ‘Moolanomy” at the earliest. I am sure, Moolanomy waiting for our readers to provide most beautiful advises on personal finance and investing.
Finally our best wished to meet all of your goals at the earliest and all the success to your future endeavors.