4 Things I Learned In 4 Years Of Running A Finance Blog

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4 Things I Learned In 4 Years Of Running A Finance Blog

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Picture of Raph Antoine
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SHOULD YOU START A FINANCIAL BLOG IN 2024?

When I launched Bankeronwheels.com four years ago, my ambition was to spread knowledge to a diverse audience beyond investing niche enthusiasts.

But over the years, I’ve noticed that we inevitably also attract like-minded people – not only from a nomadic lifestyle perspective. Part of our audience are wealth management firms, aspiring financial planners, investment bloggers, and entrepreneurial spirits alike.

If that’s you, this article is dedicated to you. Are you considering diving into the world of investing and blogging or content creation? Whether you’re an entrepreneur, or just interested in what’s going on behind the scenes of our website, this should be an exciting read!

Here are the four takeaways from four years of blogging.

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1. Be Driven by Making an Impact on People's Lives.

STAY TRUE TO YOUR PURPOSE.

Otherwise You Will Probably Run Out Of Steam.

I was always a believer in open, freely available education. BoW objective is all about impact, and making a business out of it was not part of it. Over three years I ran it as a side hobby without earning a single cent. 

When I thought about any commercial aspects I was even losing motivation.  Values and a mission keep a project alive. For us it’s the vision of making ‘a small bike the symbol of resources investors can trust in an industry where intellectual honesty is rare’. 

Like in investing, There are not shortcuts.

Yes, it does take some madness to dedicate so much time to a project against all odds. But blogging is also a marathon not a sprint. It will take at least a few years, not months to get traction. If you have the wrong values and are mainly motivated by money, you probably won’t make it. 

That’s because of the heavy time commitment, but also because blogging is not lucrative and there are lots of easier ways to make money. 

2. YOU WILL NEED TO TURN IT INTO A BUSINESS.

YOU WILL NEED TO FUEL YOUR PASSION.

Even if you have An Alternative Lifestyle.

But, despite our pure aspirations, life and blogging realities eventually catch up. After three years of hobby blogging, starting premium services is no longer an option – it’s a way to increase the odds that we will be around tomorrow, ‘subsidise’ the 90% of the website that is our core mission & free, and make sure we focus on impact, instead of going back to our prior careers. 

As you know, we lead a fairly alternative lifestyle. So, for us, the cost is our time and lack of retirement savings. As we are now in Portugal, our expenses are lower than in London, but we need to budget for the future and the (financial) opportunity cost of not working in asset management is massive. But also gone are the days, where you could run a free blog. 

Because Quality Blogs Are Getting Expensive.

Investors get wiser and smarter. High-quality blogs incur substantial costs because today’s readers expect well-researched, expertly crafted, and frequently updated content. 

These standards necessitate investments in quality financial data for accurate analysis, robust and scalable website hosting, and a skilled team for development and maintenance. Additionally, quality blogs require:

  • Contractors to debug major issues.
  • Apps & Plugins as free versions are typically not sufficient for quality websites.
  • SaaS Providers for transactional emails, app/forum hosting or payment processing.
  • Coworking Space especially for calls and when you need a proper working environment.
  • Accounting unless you have time to do it yourself.
  • Office suite including email, MS Office and a few other MS365 Tools.
  • Admin costs including virtual address, phone or ICO (in the UK).

Because We now know how to create a win-win Service.

For premium products, we now know how to save readers’ time & money to create a win-win service. We better understand our readers’ problems, and are certain to provide considerably more value/savings than the price we will set. 

That's been one of my mantras—focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

Steve Jobs

3. IF IT LOOKS SIMPLE, IT PROBABLY ISN'T.

SIMPLE WEBSITES ARE MORE COMPLEX THAN THEY APPEAR.

Has it ever been easier to start a blog than in 2024?

I first discovered WordPress four years ago. Drag-and-drop apps help to get started. It’s never been easier to start a blog. But make no mistake – it’s also never been more difficult for bloggers to thrive.

As Google will likely need to change its business model and SERP game changes, blogging is about to become even more difficult. How many bloggers you follow have been around for a few years?  And that was in a pre-AI era. 

We scan the finance space in North America, Europe and Asia for our Weekend Reading series, and I have never seen such a tsunami as the recent HCU from Google.  In 2024 even the established blogs, are being completely disrupted by AI. 

You Will Likely need a partner in crime.

Every entrepreneur understands that support is crucial for success. For me, Francesca has been my rock ❤️. More recently, she has also taken an active role in developing parts of our website.

You Will Need A much Broader Skillset Than In The Corporate World.

I’ve seen a few investment professionals trying blogging. But creating investment content involves much more than financial analysis and the art of crafting compelling narratives, which on its own takes years to learn. It also requires analytical skills (I refreshed my Python skills), creating well-designed charts and visuals. Over the years you also become an editor and improve formatting.

Managing a website necessitates web design skills (I have a bit of a penchant for esthetic layouts, but HTML/CSS can be real pain!) or server administration, especially as you tailor your site to various devices. Promoting your content means engaging on social media, with nuances of each platform and an email strategy. 

No social media is friendly to bloggers, and they will decrease the visibility of external links as they want users to stay on their platform, and not your blog. Managing a website means also admin, legal and business tasks, reader support and community engagement. And if you manage a small team you will likely rely on your PMO skills too! 

So, I asked someone I met who had a very successful business based on Facebook what it was like. He said, it’s like owning the most profitable McDonalds in the world on top of an active volcano. You just don’t know when (The algorithm) is gonna change. when it’s gonna erupt, your business is gonna vaporize.

The Tim Ferriss Show

4. BUILD FOR THE COMMUNITY.

Your values will help You Stay The Course.

Whether it's a blog or social media.

Whether you choose to grow through social media or a website will depend on your strategy, but focus on building a real-impact community. If this is your way, grab this book. Build for people, not algorithms. Algo-hacking is a double-edged sword. We saw a lot of websites playing this game, but it’s usually short-lived and probably neither fun nor meaningful (back to square one – #1).

Both blogs and social accounts are vulnerable. We like building slowly with a more robust platform, we control. It’s much harder. Socials are faster, but don’t forget the warning above from Tim Ferriss to content creators: stop thinking you own your social media accounts. You don’t.

Every single interaction where you helped a real person will bring you satisfaction. In the long run, impact is all that matters. During my career in Paris and London, I’ve seen a lot of frustrated people in Banking. Money wasn’t the problem, the lack of purpose was.

Would I do it again?

Absolutely. The work is challenging, immensely creative, and dynamic. I remain connected to the markets and my previous life, yet I stay nimble, delving into new markets that pique my interest. It also allows me to be geographically mobile, meet my readers, make new friends, and most importantly – it fills me with joy to see the value we create in our readers’ lives.

Thank you so much for all your support! ❤️

(If you’re are in this space, don’t hesitate to drop us a message – let’s build together!)

Thank you for reading.
Good Luck and Keep’em* Rolling!

(* Wheels & Dividends)

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