I’ve contributed, researched and helped manage several big investing blogs in traditional finance and crypto. Here is over 10 years of first hand experience,boiled down into 6 basic principles on how to give yourself the best odds of building a genuine following.
Before we get started, there are a few things to note. The investing and trading niche is sometimes one of the most lucrative for blog hosting, influencing and affiliate marketing, but only the elite few are able to capitalize on this. Most of them don’t cash in on their audience very often, if at all. Take a look at some of the top influencers in this space on twitter, such as @trader1sz or @cryptocapo_. The first thing you’ll notice is that they repeatedly underscore the fact that their content is absolutely free and not to message them about “shilling” which is the practice of publicly endorsing a product, service or a particular investment in exchange for payment. That’s not to say that there aren’t other methods of monetizing your audience in ways that don’t break the trust you’ve built up, but it’s important to know that earning as a content creator in this space has a higher barrier to entry.
Certainly the largest among these barriers is the need to be more right than the next guy, consistently. Prescience is the domain of the gods, and you kind reader, are no god. Your audience will laud you as the Prophet of Profit if you are right and condemn you as the Piper of Poverty the very next day if you’re wrong. A writer in this space must be careful and clear in their outlooks, explaining their reasoning and hoping for the best. At the same time, you have to show that you are knowledgeable and trustworthy in all things finance from new FinTech to oil CFD by way of Binance USD.
Transparency and honesty go a long way in making up for the fact that you’re not the Oracle of Delphi.
That aside, here are some crucial concepts to incorporate in your daily content writing:
Find a Good Angle and Stick With It
It might seem as though everything that can be said on a topic is already floating around online, but this is not the case. If you have a strong analytical and writing skill set, you are likely to be able to provide new information or an insightful take on an established topic.
A good rule of thumb is to find a new angle on an old topic. Alex Becker, whose twitter handle is @zssbecker delivers his takes on the market in a satirical and deeply cynical voice, winning him nearly a million followers. However, his actual analysis is rather mainstream, but how he does it, and what he chooses to focus on adds a unique texture. His brand is rooted in finding ways to enrich yourself, ignoring social mores and not trusting any government. For example:
“The world financial system is broken. Everyone is posturing for war. We have extreme supply issues on the most important commodities for day to day life.
ONE of these things is gonna snap here and cause a panic dump to new generational buy lows”
Finding your tone and unique voice and consistently applying it to the same angle in your niche is foundational for success.
Be Clear and Avoid the Jargon
The world of finance is famous for its acronyms, jargons and euphemisms. Some of these might be extremely familiar to you, but you should try and assume that your reader may not. A simple way to convey your message is always better:
@zssbecker
“For the glue eaters: I’m saying the time to buy was when they were down.”
You might have a niche to stick with, but unless using tons of jargon is part of your voice as a writer, staying as far away from it is always a good way to pick up a few more readers that may otherwise deem your content as unapproachable.
Double Check Your Information
When it comes to finances, the bar is set markedly higher than a recipe for muffins. Every piece of information must be vetted by more than one source. Giving your followers wrong info may be catastrophic. If you get the wrong date on an IPO and you followers miss the big drop, the next drop will be among your followers. The same is true of recommendations to various services, be sure things work the way you say they do.
Give Examples to Stay Specific
Finance blogs that are “timeless” are about as useful as a tally of grain on an ancient egyptian tablet. Your readers want actionable, insightful information, more than that, they want to see how what you’re saying has already unfolded in the real world before. Trading and investing is a high anxiety endeavor, and providing tangible examples not only strengthens your case but lets your reader know that what you’re saying is indeed possible. Twitter influencer @Trader_XO sometimes remarks on the potential for insider trading with the US government, and gives the example of Speaker of House Nancy Pelosi’s trading performance:
“Approaching my 6th year of trading and without doubt the best trader/investor I’ve seen is Nancy Pelosi.”
Examples give your statements weight and merit, they also make things very clear. Examples are your friends.
Have Someone Proofread Your Work
Hitting an autocorrect button might save you from some obvious grammatical errors, but a second pair of eyes, or “sub-editor” may help in a way that a bot cannot. Offering a fresh perspective from a colleague, a second point of view on a topic, or noticing that there is extra information that could be removed is something top creators all enjoy, and are all parts of basic proofreading. Hiring an editor may be expensive, but many writers collaborate with their biggest readers to help them produce the best content.