Top 10 Financial Advice Industry Blogs

The folks at my industry’s trade publication, RIA Biz, made a list of the ten most important blogs for the industry. I want to thank Lisa Shidler for including me alongside my friends Michael Kitces (a very deserving number one at Nerd’s Eye View) and Tadas Viskanta (whose Abnormal Returns is not exactly an industry blog but many of us in the industry consider it to be indispensable). 

And there’s me, and this whole circus I’m running over here at TRB 🙂 ….

I don’t know if I agree with the way the site is being characterized here, but what Shidler gets right is that there’s no attempt on my part to put forth a certain image or to pretend to be something I’m not. Maybe that’s why people read me, who knows? 

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2. The Reformed Broker by Josh Brown

Josh Brown: [My numbers] spike when
the market goes down because more
civilians comb the web looking for
information.

Josh Brown is perhaps one of the best-known celebrity financial advisors. Last fall, Brown made big news when he and advisor Barry Ritholtz exited Fusion Analytics Investment Partners LLC to form their own RIA, New York-based Ritholtz Wealth Management. See: Mystery solved: Josh Brown and Barry Ritholtz start RIA — or is that actually where the intrigue begins.

Four months later, the firm has about $140 million in assets and growing and it doesn’t hurt that Brown and Ritholtz are both celebrity bloggers. Brown’s blogs strike a chord with his readers. He doesn’t pretend to be the most successful or smartest advisor in the universe but he is candid and will often post random thoughts or topics — one of Brown’s most popular posts is about Cross Fit! He tells us that half of his audience is advisors. We think RIAs should put this blog on their “must read list” if for no other reason than pure entertainment. Brown also makes no apologies for his liberal use of blue language and even some humor you’d expect to find in a sixth grade locker room.

Blog started: November 2008

How do people find your blog: It’s weird. I used to write things that were ticker symbol-centric and would hope the mainstream media would pick up on it. Now, links from mainstream media don’t pick up as much traffic. So, headlines are more important. I get a lot of traffic from Twitter and blog curators who read other blogs.

Main purpose: Honestly, my main purpose has always been venting and not about the content marketing. I curse. I talk about politics. I post rap videos. Anyone who reads it would not conclude it is about PR.

Target audience: It would sound more clever if I said I had a target market, but I don’t. The last survey I did showed I’m getting about half of my audience is wealth management. I consider myself someone who is trying to figure it out every day. I mostly publish other links. I don’t have all of the answers. I think it’s popular because it’s an educational journey and not one guy saying what he knows to be true.

How many hours a week do you spend on it? I’ve never quantified it. It’s part of my routine. Sometimes, I’ll just post a chart or a video. On Sunday, I wrote 2,500 words. It’s a function of what I’m trying to say.

Traffic: 750,000 to a million page views on a monthly basis. That number spikes when the market goes down because more civilians comb the web looking for information.

What are you favorite blogs? If I only could read one every day it would be Abnormal Returns. That’s my pal Tad. He reads everything and gives you 20 most important reads. Of course, I follow my partner Barry Ritholtz’s “The Big Picture.” He’s the inspiration for why I started my blog.

Do you allow guest bloggers? All of the time.

Is there advertising on your blog? Yes. All of the big financial firms advertise on my site.

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Head over for the whole list, a lot of talent there.  

Source:

The RIABiz top 10 industry blogs — and which bloggers they recommend (RIA Biz)