Not, why I blog occasionally. We all do that. Why I. Blog. Every. Day. (Actually, every working day, only M-F, not weekends).
Simple answer: inspired by Fred Wilson. He has been blogging every day since “forever” (not actually forever, but I cannot remember when he was not blogging every day). I have been blogging every day since August 2014 (just over 6 months as I write).
I call the blog Daily Fintech, because I have now done it daily for 6 months and think it is sustainable.
Longer answer:
- Passion. I happen to love my subject. The Fintech revolution in Financial Services is, to me, endlessly fascinating. OK, I know that not that many people think it is as interesting as I do and that’s fine. I want to connect with those who also find it fascinating, wherever they are.
- Discipline. Like any discipline – exercise, meditation, diet – there are days when it is easy and days when it is hard.
- I love writing. I actually enjoy it. I get into Flow and that is fun.
- There is a business logic. I do not monetize through advertising. I use blogging to connect to people who are “fishing in the same waters” and to learn (from people who correct me if I am wrong and fill in details that I have missed). It works for me at a practical level. I saw how tech blogs struggled to monetize quality writing from my year as COO of ReadWriteWeb (and the recent epitaph of GigaOm is probably a sad reflection of that same reality).
As I tell all who I speak to “I am an entrepreneur who blogs, not a professional blogger, publisher or journalist”. That means that all conversations are off the record unless I can see the same content online or you tell me its OK to make it public. Daily Fintech is about insight based on publicly available information. I leave scoops to the news business.
How do I write every day? Simple answer: good days and bad days.
Long answer. I have a process;
- Queued posts. I am not news driven, I am insight driven. So I can have posts ready to go out in a few days time. For example when I am travelling and in back to back meetings, I write less but have ones lined up to go.
- I write when inspiration strikes. First draft is usually Notes on my iPhone (that nice 6+ screen is good).
- I have a weekly calendar. For example, I always do Fintech Global Tour on Friday. That helps me plan and schedule.
Today is the day that this changes because today there are two posts not just one and only one is written by me.
The first post is this one. The second post is the first from a regular writer on Daily Fintech other than me. I am delighted to welcome Efi Pylarinou to Daily Fintech. Last Monday I asked for her help on the Darwinex post. That worked so well that I asked her to write regularly and I am delighted to say that she agreed. Efi is a professional writer (see her book on Fixed Income) but her motive for writing is the same as mine – to do her research in public, learn from others and connect with people fishing in similar waters.
The Darwinex post was me interviewing Efi as subject matter expert. Today’s post (just a few pixels down the great blogging river) is written by Efi.
Efi also lives in Bern, Switzerland which is working hard for it’s reputation as the Fintech Capital of the World 🙂
Actually Bern is a gorgeous City with some of the most beautiful mountains but if you want exciting new business hop on a train to Zurich or Geneva and maybe hop on a flight from there.
I asked Efi to help me out because she knows more about Fixed Income, Commodities, FX and Derivatives Trading & Asset Management than I will ever know. As Fintech grows, the need for specialists becomes more apparent every day. When Efi blogs I am only the Editor. My keyboard will be relieved.