An Inside Look At The Yakezie: Stage One Recap!

Well, here we are!  It's been six month since the original challenge was announced and I want to congratulate all of you for making it this far!  The network has grown to be a powerful one and now it's up to us to harness it for the greater good  This is where the 2nd challenge comes in, which officially starts on August 16th when Yakezie.com is launched.

The 2nd challenge is simply to use the power of the Yakezie network to help others through monetary means or donations of our expertise, while at the same time grow our online revenue by various rates (i.e. 25%, 50%, 100%).  The good thing about percentage increase targets is that we can all challenge ourselves whether we have a $100/month site or a $10,000/month site.  More will be explained once Yakezie.com is launched.  The first challenge of getting our Alexa rankings below 200,000, and now below 100,000 still stands.  As long as we are part of the network, we should strive for progress or at least a steady state of satisfaction.

Some of the most interesting types of posts around the web are voyeuristic posts about what goes on inside the mind of the blogger.  Part of the reason why DVDs are such a hit is because of the “special features” section where you can watch outtakes and behind the scenes featurettes.  Many have asked whether I had a grand plan all along for this group, and the simple answer is no.  It was because all of you that the group flourished.  I'd like to share with you some of my thoughts as The Yakezie grew.  Perhaps you'll do the same and post your own write-up as well!

DECEMBER, 2009 – BEFORE THE YAKEZIE.  Alexa Ranking 94,000.

Gosh, blogging is hard.  How do some people stay consistent for so long?  It would be great to be able to blog full time, but only a few are so lucky.  But then again, as someone told me, as soon as you start depending on your hobby for income, it stops being fun.  I won't know until I get there, but hanging on the beach blogging somewhere sounds like a good life to me!  I'm making progress but getting another guest post rejected is demoralizing.  Forget about being a “staff-writer”.  Nobody seems to want to read what I have to say.  Blog networks tell me to “check back later” after I've had more experience.

At least the advertisers are listening.  I'm surprised how many people come out of the wood work to offer advertisement dollars.  Where do they all come from?  OK, thanks for contacting.  It's chump change still, but hey, that's a selfish way of thinking.  Maybe someone else could use the several hundred dollars a month.  Let's give it to those who need it more.  Blogging only for money is uninspiring.  But, blogging and knowing money is being diverted to help someone else is inspiring.  Stay consistent.  That's the only way you're going to get anywhere.

JANUARY, 2010. THE LAUNCH.  Alexa Ranking 78,000.

New year, time to reflect.  Six months went by fast since launching Financial Samurai in the summer of 2009.  Despite the road bumps, this is some of the best fun I've ever had!  The Alexa ranking keeps going lower, which helps me stay the course.  Meanwhile, I've seen a couple blogging buddies disappear over the same time period (Five Pence Piece and Gen Y investing where art thou?), and I wonder if they'd have stuck around if they started tracking their rankings as well?

I've got a feeling there are lots of us out there who've been rejected and just need a chance to be heard.  But, how am I supposed to be a scientist if I can't get an “A” in biology?  In other words, this blog needs to at least have some good fundamental traffic and get up there in the rankings before I can do something greater.

Let's start our own darn group.  I'm sick of rejection. I went to college, I know how to type and so do many other people.  But, what should I name it?  One word, thematically Japanese perhaps?  Yakuza?  Nah, that's taken, and it has bad connotations.  Yakezie, pro-nounced Ya-Kay-Zee?  Yes, I like the sound of it.  Good, it's a word that's never been created before either.  Write the post.  Maybe someone will read it and join.

FEBRUARY, 2010.  GROWTH.  Alexa Ranking 70,000.

Maybe there are people reading?  30+ members already, nice.  TAKE THAT you exclusive blogging networks!  Us little guys can create our own too!

How do I help galvanize action?  Some are so gung ho, some aren't as much.  We each have our own busy schedules to lead so it's impossible to have some kind of set standard.  Can't force anybody to do anything, and people have got to put in the time themselves.  The more they put in, the more they'll get out of the experience.  Need to lead by example.

Oh drat, Wise Bread changed the rules on us and included blogs from major mass media publications in their list.  Our progress is temporarily stalled as we all dropped two spots, respectively as a result.  Time to write an update post (“Progress Through Adversity”).  Neat, a week later, the rules are back to normal and the piggy back blogs are gone.  We do have a voice.  Stay humble, but stand strong.

MARCH, 2010. CREATIVITY.  Alexa Ranking  65,000.

I love everybody here!  There are some amazingly talented members with a lot of unique skills and insights!  Thanks Forest and Beating Broke for creating the Yakezie random post widget!  Thanks Greg for creating the badge!  Thanks Joel for creating the Yakezie ranking list and to Daniel-san at Sweating The Big Stuff for coming up with the original Google Docs list!  Thanks Greg again for starting the Yakezie Google Groups with tons of discussion every single day!  Thanks Elle from Couple Money for giving the Yakezie a shout out in her guest post on ProBlogger!  Thanks Monevator for also highlighting the Yakezie on Remarkablogger.

The Yakezie is like an open source platform where members are free to do whatever they want with it.  Good for them for being so creative.  I wonder what members will come up with next?  Oh nice, we're talking about potentially an eBook, a Carnival, and a giveaway.  Neat.  The possibilities are endless!

Hmmm, I guess one of my new year's resolutions of getting to know 3 new people a month is going to be pretty easy.  We're already at 50 members!

APRIL, 2010.  CONFLICT.  Alexa 58,000.

Uh oh, growing pains.  A couple bloggers don't want to put the badge Greg created up on their sites.  They've voiced their frustration in Google groups.  I, along with several other earlier members are wondering why they bothered joining in the first place since their sites are already pretty popular.

I never created any official requirements for joining, but I guess some guidelines should be in place since the group is getting quite large and the Google spreadsheet system we use to track our members only holds 50 spots.  The discussion gets heated within Google groups, and I know people are wondering where I stand.

I jump in, head first with a proposal for a vote.  Vote passes that members should follow a set of rules which are later added to the original Yakezie Alexa Ranking Challenge post.  This ain't no hit and run.  We're in it for the long run.  Hmmm, maybe I'm being too vocal.

The two bloggers decide to leave.  Unfortunate, but fine by us, as there are many others who want to join.  Looking at one who left, he's almost dropped to page 3 from page 1 on WB's list.  The other, I donno, he seems to be an angry person.  He doesn't like me, oh well.  I'm bound to collide with some.  He's far more advanced than us in the blogging world in terms of SEO etc.  We don't care at this point.  We're just having fun and building relationships.  Good luck to them.

MAY, 2010.  STAY TRUE.  Alexa Ranking 51,000.

Hmmm, I have a lot of controversial posts which might agitate some readers and Yakezie members (Pro Flat Tax, The Dark Side of Early Retirement, West Coast Is The Best Coast , The Emergency Fund Fallacy etc).  Am I supposed to write in a more agreeable way, or should I just continue being myself?  The group has grown to 80 members from all sorts of backgrounds: women, men, rich, not so rich, foreign, local, religious, non religious etc.  I'm bound to piss someone off.  What to do?  I want to write about stuff I want to read.  I've gotten this far just being myself, it doesn't seem right to change too much.  I won't.  This is what running your own site is all about.

Hopefully people can still respect my thoughts even if they don't agree with my thoughts.  Looks like people are getting along quite well, and relationships are being formed between various members on their own.  Good, that's what I was hoping for.

It's really hard to keep track of everyone now, and a lot of members have said the same thing.  Dr. Dean comes up with a neat survey for us to fill out.  The number one concern is how big we've grown  Let's see, if I make sure to read five new sites a week and interact, it's only going to be a matter of time before I get to know everybody.  I wish everybody would just come visit me here and comment so I can get to know them.  Oh, stop being so lazy.

JUNE, 2010. THE FINAL STRETCH.  Alexa Ranking 41,500.

We've got something here.  Best to register Yakezie.com and create a true home base for the entire team.  Yakezie.com is where the list will be, as well as a place all members can showcase their writing talents.  Furthermore, members should use Yakezie.com as a launching pad for whatever projects they are personally working on at their respective sites.  Examples include a giveaway, invention like Little House's Frog Cap, ebook, and so forth.  I can see how the Yakezie.com platform can launch ideas in a hurry!

Maintaining one blog is hard enough, how will I maintain two?  I really won't, because Yakezie.com will be for everyone.  I want to be a participant in Yakezie.com, where I can comment and help promote other people's stuff.  I'll be your biggest fan!  I'm happy to pay for all the start up costs (hosting, design, content) and see where this goes.

I wondering if a system based on honor could work where we have enough administrators on Yakezie.com who will write, edit, and post at will based on a loosely defined regular schedule.

JULY, 2010.  LOOKING FOR YAKEZIE LEADERS!  Alexa Ranking 40,500.

We've got roughly a month until the site is launched and I'm looking for leaders who want to gain administrative access to help get this puppy off the ground.  Each leader will get their own bio, with a special color coding that identifies them as an administrator.  A leader's responsibility is simply to find talent in their respective categories, help edit their stories to the Yakezie standard, and allow people to flourish.  A leader will also have priority in publishing their own stories on Yakezie.com which will in turn help promote their own sites and projects.

There's little doubt in my mind that Yakezie.com is going to be a win-win-win scenario for everybody.  Can you imagine if it becomes big one day, how neat it would be to have “Yakezie Leader” under your resume?  To be a part of something great from the ground up is a wonderful thing.  I just get excited thinking about being a Yakezie Leader myself!

If you are not one of the Yakezie Leaders, that's quite alright too.  You are a Yakezie Ambassador and a great representative of our group!

THREE MAIN VERTICALS

There will be three main verticals on Yakezie.com, the most intricate of which will be Yakezie Personal Finance due to the various sub categories such as: career, education, frugality, and retirement.  The other two verticals will be Yakezie Lifestyle where the focus is on living the life you've always wanted, and Yakezie Writing Contest, which is about giving back our services and money to people in need.  I will elaborate further on the new site.

From previous discussions, the following members have stepped up to take the challenge as a Yakezie Leader:

Public Relations: Neal at Wealth Pilgrim – West Coast Representative

* Looking for an International Representative, which can be divided into Europe, Asia, Latin America if necessary.  Canadian rep is open if anybody would like to do that.

Yakezie Personal Finance (Family Finance): Jesse at Personal Finance Firewall

Yakezie Personal Finance (Debt Destroyer): Jeff at Deliver Away Debt

Yakezie Lifestyle: There's a whole world out there of new lifestyle bloggers to get to know.  This is where financial freedom and life converge!  Looking for that Lifestyler out there.

Yakezie Scholarship: Looking for folks who are especially passionate about education and charity.   Teachers are especially a great fit.  I'd like to help work on this angle.

Some Key Positions Open: Social Media Leader i.e. Twitter & Facebook, Podcaster, Interviewer, SEO.  Bucksome Boomer mentioned working on a Yakezie Blog Frog page which could be neat.

To make things manageable, I'd like to get a total of around 10 Yakezie Leaders to help run Yakezie.com.  Each Yakezie Leader is responsible for their own slice and is given autonomy to create and develop as they see fit.  Ideally, the leader can be one for at least a six month time period, if not longer.  Once you see the giving back aspect of Yakezie.com in the Yakezie Scholarship vertical, I think you'll want to be a leader for quite a long time.

JUST REMEMBER TO ALWAYS HAVE FUN

What I do want to highlight is that if as soon as you stop having fun and don't feel like we're going in the right direction, speak up and share your thoughts.  You should never feel that being a Yakezie Leader is a burden, and too stressful.  If you do, you can simply ask one of your fellow Yakezie members to sub in, or completely take your place just like how we did with the Yakezie Carnivals.  I do believe that if you're like me, you believe in purpose and the joy of helping others.

All Yakezie members should think about things of their own they would like to promote on Yakezie.com.  Hopefully many of you can show case your talents through a “Yakezie Member Post” (as opposed to guest post) where you'll get a fantastic concentration of eyeballs.  Many of us have built wonderful relationships with others on their own and this is what I'm most proud of.  Friendships are what give life meaning.  The Yakezie, first and foremost is about selflessly helping others!

Members, feel free to throw your hat in the ring if you want to be a Yakezie Leader and identify which vertical or sub category you are most interested in.

All suggestions, questions, comments welcome.  I know I'm probably missing something inadvertently, so please feel free to remind me below, and I'll add it to the post!

* UPDATE: Yakezie.com is now live!

Related: The Samurai Alexa Ranking Challenge

Regards,

Sam @ Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”

Follow on Twitter @FinancialSamura and subscribe to our RSS feed.

63 thoughts on “An Inside Look At The Yakezie: Stage One Recap!”

  1. Very neat! I love reading through the entire process… I’d been wondering what this whole Yakezie thing (that all the cool bloggers have badges for) was all about. You’ve really brought something good together.

  2. Sam, sounds cool – I feel bad because I hit a busy season and neglected to really be involved quite a bit (and also neglected my own blog for a bit too) – but I’m hoping to make a strong come back to help others succeed and see my own ranking come back down again. Thanks for all your hard work in this!

  3. Hi Everyone,

    Just dropping by to say hello. School will be starting up again shortly for me, but I will absolutely do what I can between semesters and on weekends. I have a strong belief that we can be a driving force in the Finance arena.

    Thanks,
    Timothy

  4. Wow. I’ve seen “Yakezie” floating around Twitter for a while now. I had NO CLUE what it was. I finally decided to do a little digging. This sounds/looks like a wonderful opportunity. I’m assuming anyone can join once it opens? Thanks!

    -Jerret

  5. Jolyn@Budgets are the New Black

    I would like to contribute what I can to this group in the area of family finances: kids and money (both allowances and cost of their activities, etc.); family travel; food budget; etc. My blog is, really, all about my personal finances experiences as a military spouse and mother of three. In other words, it’s all about ME! ME! ME!

    (That’s supposed to be funny.)

    That being said, I don’t tend to write in a authoritative or preachy tone, but rather in a more conversational way as I relate our day-to-day joys and jumbles with money and what we are learning as we go, and lumping that in with what we have learned after our (16!) years of marriage and many, many moves with the military.

    Currently, we are trying to sell our house in preparation for moving cross-country in a few months. We recently paid off almost $20 in debt using the snowball method a’la Dave Ramsey. We also are reluctant landlords of a house in Vegas. (blah.) My three kids are in public school now but I plan to homeschool after we move, without breaking the budget.

    Etc., etc.

    All of this begs so many ideas for posts, but does my style of blogging strictly from a personal and family perspective fit anywhere in the Yakezie platform? Because if it does, I do feel like it is not represented as fully as other, more “professional” areas. That may be my fault, as I have not given the Yakezie network as much time and attention as it deserves. (See reasons in paragraph above.)

    I may be interested in a “Leader” position as well, if you are, indeed, looking for a member like me who perhaps doesn’t fit the mold of most of the other members. I would like to know more exactly about the responsibilities you envision for members who fill those positions… I do not want to volunteer for something I’m not sure I could do well. I will let you notify me if you are interested. In the meantime, I am looking forward to the future with the new site!

    1. Hi Jolyn – There is absolutely room for your style of posting! The whole point of Yakezie.com is to make it a central place for all members to showcase their own personalities, ideas, writing styles.

      Insights of you going through the trials and tribulations of selling your house and telling readers why you are moving cross country would be fascinating, for example. All Yakezie members are allowed and encouraged to put up a “Member Post” highlighting their work and linking back to their sites.

      Personal stories are the most insightful, and we’ve got the Lifestyle and Personal Finance verticals for you to choose from. Overtime, the two verticals will gain their own direction, followed by the Scholarship vertical.

      We look forward to your involvement!

      Best, Sam

  6. Congratulations to Sam et al.

    It’s been a very successful venture, and looking forward to seeing continued growth for the site. This could be used as a case study to prove “growth by groups”.

    Also looking forward to ignoring my soon-to-be new wife & job responsibilities so I can get back to focusing on blogging! ;)

    Best to everyone!

  7. cool! How exciting. I love how you showed how much progress you’ve made blogging, that’s awesome. I’ve learned so much from your site and I finally feel in control of my finances. Love what you’re going to do with the Yakezie network!

  8. Welcome back Forest! Hope you didn’t spend too much in Sweden, cause that was a long time away! Perhaps you can be the “Yakezie Technician”, “Yakezie Technical Advisor” or something like that. Clearly you have excellent programming and technical skills to be able to create the widget!

  9. Sam, At the risk of sounding too obsequious; You are a visionary with a heart. As one of the more senior (OK, older members) I can’t begin to tell you how incredible your efforts and results for this group are. I love being a Yakezie and the inclusiveness and charity of the organization. I DEFINITELY WOULD LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE TO YAKEZIE.COM through the PERSONAL FIANANCE VERTICAL, specifically with investing related articles. I have lots of expertise (MBA, finance; BS, economics; work as portfolio mgr & MBA prof) in the area. Keep it up- I applaud your creativity and product. Best regards, Barb

    1. Barb, it would be an honor to have you as a contributor to the personal finance vertical! For someone who can use the word obsequious correctly in a comment, that speaks volumes frankly!

      Really glad you are on board. We need to learn more from senior members. It’s the secret to counteracting “if I knew then what I know now”! I really love the Yakezie because of the diversity. No other group has the mix, as well as the level of seniority and experience. You, Neal at Wealth Pilgrim, Flexo at Consumerism Commentary etc. Great resumes!

      Best,

      Sam

  10. Thanks for the write-up and remembering that article of mine, Sam. If only I’d gone for a one-parter from the start, who knows, maybe we could have got ProBlogger…

    As you know I never made it into Google Groups, so I had no idea about the politics or any of that.

    I’m really a bit of a lone wolf I suppose, and as the Yakezie has grown it’s become a bit big for me, but I always appreciate still squeaking into the odd roundup, and I tend to feature a few Y blogs every week in my roundup. But I have clearly drifted from the core, even though the experience was very positive for me.

    The new stuff sounds quite ambitious! Good luck with it everyone, hope you get the rewards you deserve!

  11. Khaleef @ KNS Financial

    This seems like a great network with great writers and content! Too bad I started my site too late to join the first challenge. I hope it isn’t too late to become a part of this network.

  12. Money and Risk

    Sam,

    Great job in building the community and support for personal finance bloggers. It’s fantastic to see how fast it’s growing.

    I can’t wait until the day that I’m out of beta, finish with the constant reprogramming and finally launch so that I can participate in groups like the Yakezie Challenge. You guys seem to be having so much fun.

    I just reread the original Yakezie post. Which personal finance site aggregator passed you up? I don’t quite understand that. Aggregation is about getting a large database so that you can be competitive in reaching publishers.

    1. Hi Kim, I forget who passed me up…. I think it was 3 or 4 networks. It was great motivation and I’m very thankful for it actually. Also thankful to the two sites who declined my guest posts too. It’s just awesome fuel to try to do something on my own. Love it!

      Your site looks great already, what else are you working on?

      1. Money and Risk

        We just did an update last week and still working on cleaning up the database transfer. and some glitches. There are several things from this phase that are not being automated so we’re busy fixing that.

        I have 4 more phases to go. Multi-language translations, podcast/videos, custom tools, and customized access for my clients.

        Oh somewhere in there I have to finish up 800 partially done evergreen posts.

        I didn’t forget about Roth IRA as we discussed. I did start writing the series and it’s sitting in editing. My editor wants to make it into a whitepaper series because even my discussion of an IRA basic issues is 4 pages long. That would bore anyone to pieces.

        Then launch.

        1. Sounds good. We’ll try to do some podcasts and videos as well on Yakezie.com if anybody out there wants to lead that.

          Seems to me like your site is very ready to go already! Please remind us/me what it is you do for a living again if it is public? Read your about page, but I couldn’t figure it out. Cheers.

      2. Jolyn@Budgets are the New Black

        This is just awesome: making lemons out of lemonade! That’s what life is all
        about. No one’s going to hand you success on a silver platter. :) What a great
        group of people you have brought together, and what talent and ingenuity
        that shows on your part. I feel privileged to be even a small part of this.

  13. Great summary….I wish I had joined the group sooner!! I would be interested in helping in the scholarship arena (as a teacher….I get it!)

  14. Roshawn @ Watson Inc

    Great summary Sam. I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes, so this is quite informative. I can’t wait for the Yakezie.com launch. I know it will be a success and will be happy to help!

    1. Looking forward to your support Roshawn! I hope everyone can do a “Member Post” at least and share their stories and insights.

      There’s really only 5 spots a week to post, so with me contributing one a week, and 50-100 of us contributing, it should be a good mix!

      1. Roshawn @ Watson Inc

        I agree. I think it will be a great mix. There are so many different areas of interest.
        That should keep the site fresh and compelling. I also think it will be a lot of fun as well, which has always been the spirit of this operation.

        Cheers,
        Shawn

  15. This is such an awesome idea. I am definitely in for supporting this. I can help out in the Yakezie Lifestyle area as well as in the social media area.

  16. Sam, great summary. I would like to offer to help in the “education” personal finance category. I am working on a product to teach basic personal finance to nurses-which can be easily adapted to the general public. And I know from my survey, others are doing the same.

    We can put our heads together and come up with a Yakezie product.

    Great Job!

  17. Hey Sam!

    I’ve been meaning to find the time today to check out your post! It’s awesome- your thoughts reflect my thoughts though-out this journey…. We’ve come a looong way baby! I’m excited for Yakezie.com… so excited that I would like to be the Canadian PR rep if you don’t have one already! =)

    Way to “stick it to the big guys”! =) I am so happy to be part of this fantasmic group of personal finance bloggers.

  18. Wow Sam this is awesome. You are a great leader. This was such a great idea and I’m so proud to be a part of it. I started blogging in March and now I’m 119 on WiseBread’s list.

    I couldn’t have done it without this team!

    Thanks for all that you do, and let me know if I can help.
    Warmest,
    -Jaime

  19. Budgeting in the Fun Stuff

    This sounds awesome! I am 100% in!!! I still feel new to the blogging world, but I’ve been working with F&I Managers at car dealerships for more than 5 years and have been in customer service for more than 9…if that kind of info can ever help, give me a heads up!

  20. What a great read! You’ve really come a long way.

    Do you have to be part of the Yakezie challenge to be involved with the website? I might be keen to take an international role.

  21. Mike - Saving Money Today

    Hey Sam! I can’t wait to see the new site when its ready to go. I’m willing to help out however I can by creating content or whatever else is needed. I think its gonna be big.

  22. Kevin@InvestItWisely

    Sam,

    Hats off to you for starting the Yakezie challenge. I only recently started blogging, and I’ve learned a lot, thanks to the great community, and I’ve enjoyed every step of the way!

    “Am I supposed to write in a more agreeable way, or should I just continue being myself? ”
    Definitely continue being yourself! The personal perspective always makes a post more interesting to read. If I just wanted news, well, I have Google News for that.

    I’m looking forward to the launch of the site!

  23. myfinancialobjectives

    Wow this is awesome. I mean just 100% pure awesome. Sam, you have truly outdone yourself this time! I do not feel at this time that I could handle a leadership position within Yakezie, though I would love to contribute some Yakezie Member Posts!

    The Yakezie challenge has done wonder for PF bloggers, I am very excited to see you take it to the next level. I KNOW it will be a success!!!

  24. Thanks for making this post, Sam. When I first read about “yakezie” i wasnt totally clear on what you were aspiring to but here you’ve laid out your “where we’ve been” and “where we’re going” very clearly. i’ll be checking in periodically.

  25. Great to see how you have grown and how the Yakezie has grown. I’ve been able to met some great people and discover awesome new sites as well thanks to Yakezie. I can’t wait to see how we grow further!

  26. I’d like to take a stab at the Yakezie Scholarship leader position. You already know I teach and am passionate about education. I also would like to support the Yakezie in any way I can. Let me know how I can help, this group has brought what I consider success to my blog. Thanks again, Sam!

    1. Hi Little House – Splendid! As a teacher yourself, you are exactly the type of person who would be well suited for the Yakezie Scholarship vertical.

      What I’d love to understand from your perspective is what is that young folks need now more than ever? Is it a patient ear? Perhaps a big brother or big sister? Career guidance? Or perhaps some money to help them buy books and things that will help them to learn. If you can help brainstorm some things we can do as a group to help, that would be great!

      1. I’ll begin delving into these topics and come up with some outlines that answer some of these questions. Can’t wait for the Yakezie to launch next month!

  27. What an interesting post, it’s enlightening to get inside the head of someone you admire. Thanks for keeping track of these thoughts and sharing them with us. This group is bound to succeed. We have the (wo)man power, such a wide variety of talent, probably more so than is found in many companies of the same size, and we all have the drive to accomplish what we set out to do. I’m especially interested in seeing the scholarship program take off as that will really help spread the reach of Yakezie and help touch lives!

    1. No prob Jesse. And if you want to do that music idea, you’re more than welcome to give it a go! I’m stuck on my 3rd song, as I can’t finger pick quick enough on the guitar. I’ll give it one more week and will try a new one!

      I’m excited about the scholarship program as well. Donno if it will take off, but worth a shot. I believe in long term efficiency, and those who seek monetary help or advice will come find us eventually!

  28. TORA TORA TORA!!!! LET’s GO BABY.

    Sammy, you inspire me and kick my arse all the tiime. Where you lead, I shall follow.

    Glad to be part of this amazing group.

    1. Good to have a CFP on board! The readers will appreciate your professional wisdom for sure. You’ve got a lot of good ideas, and I’m sure you will be able to leverage the Yakezie platform well!

  29. Hey Sam, this sounds like exciting stuff you have in the works! Can’t wait to see what evolves!

  30. Nice post, the last 6 months have been fantastic, not because many of us have acheived our goals, but because we’ve started this wonderful community that is turning into something much better than I think anyone initially imagined. Thanks!

    1. I agree. Awesome community and something we can all be proud of. I added your site to the post as a shout out to the original Google Docs list idea you came up with. Thanks for that!

  31. Aaron @ Clarifinancial

    You’re right, Sam. It is interesting to see the behind the scenes footage. Even better still, to be part of such a great community.

  32. Jon DeGroff

    How about a category for “Yakezie Personal Finance: (Risk Management)?”
    I’d be happy to be a leader in that category.

    1. Howdy Jon, sounds like a good genre to me. If we all had a little bit more risk management education, maybe a lot of us wouldn’t have lost our shirts in the downturn of 2008-2009!

      Risk management is key, and definitely not talked enough about in the PF arena. Excellent idea!

  33. Wow, wonderful summary. Being new to the area (~ personal finance blogging), this is both helpful and encouraging. It seems like the support and organization has made a world of difference to authors, but also dynamically increased the quality of content available to readers!

  34. I think we all need to keep writing like ourselves. The minute you write to make someone else happy is the minute you will lose your passion.

    You have done a fantastic thing Sam!!

    1. Thanks! I think so too. I tried to write something that wasn’t me, and it just felt wrong. What I really hope for in Yakezie.com is for Members to showcase their own writing, and we can all pitch in and discuss in the comment section. As a home base, it’s easy to aggregate a lot of our work.

      And of course, the Member Poster will have great links back to their site for those readers who want more!

      Best, Sam

    1. Great progress Saved Quarter! That’s a monster jump in your Alexa ranking!

      Of course you have something to contribute, everybody does! Hopefully you can write a Yakezie Member post about a topic you are passionate about.

      Best, Sam

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