Posted By We’ve heard from several individuals about writing for the Hub and yes, we welcome contributions. Some guest blogs will be going up in the next week or so. Since this site does not charge at this point, we aren’t yet in a position to pay contributors but we are happy to provide what exposure we can. Contributors are welcome to include links where appropriate and of course can end each piece with a short italic description of who they are and how they can be reached.
Because the Hub aims to be a North American portal on financial independence, we welcome contributions from knowledgeable good writers from both the United States and Canada. Remember that the book Findependence Day (which began this whole adventure in 2008) is available in both American and Canadian editions. So are the two new e-books.
The standard length for blogs is often said to be between 400 and 600 words but there’s also evidence that lengthier meatier pieces can get good play and pick-up. Really, it’s a balance between having enough space to be substantial, while recognizing that in this time-starved hectic world we live in, most people have the attention spans of the proverbial gnat. If you run out of steam at 350 words, so be it. And if you need 750 or 900 words to say what you want to say, then go for it.
The longer the piece, the more you need to include subheads and at least a photo or image of some sort. I will act as editor to the extent necessary.
Try to target our six major categories
What topics? Scan the second (gray) bar on the home page to see what we’re focusing on. If you want to reach younger Gen X and Gen Y readers, then Debt & Frugality is the place to target. The category of Wealth Accumulation is very broad and can include anything from asset allocation to pensions to ETFs to robo-advisers (we just put up an item on the latter).
Further along the continuum of Financial Independence, there is the Decumulation section, which is all about drawing down on wealth instead of building it up. And the Longevity & Aging section is a key focus of the Hub because of our belief that the baby boomers and their children are going to be on this planet a very long time on average, assuming they take care of themselves. See the links in this section to the blogs of Change Rangers’ Mark Venning and Agenomics’ Lee Anne Davies.
The Business Ownership category is another important niche. We considered calling this one Boomerpreneurs because so many baby boomers are leaving corporate employment (voluntarily or otherwise) and going out on their own as consultants, freelancers, franchise owners or building entire new businesses from scratch. But of course Entrepreneurship is hardly restricted to the boomers. Most of us stayed in the corporate womb for far too long and might better have embarked on the entrepreneurial path much earlier. Those wishing to pursue “Multiple Streams of Income” (from the Internet or otherwise) may well be building businesses at younger ages, either on top of a full time job or taking the leap direct from college or some starter job that they chuck.
The category of Politics and Economics is very broad. See the initial post there to get a flavour for that. We believe the further you have travelled along the road to Findependence, the more you need to pay attention to geopolitics and macroeconomics. Those interested in this area will find plenty of scope here.
Reviews
The Reviews tab refers chiefly to book reviews, most of which should touch on financial independence in some fashion. As above though, this can include many genres of books: everything from history to biography to entrepreneurship and the Internet. Any book that addresses our main categories will be fair game. And if you’re the author of a book yourself, perhaps a self-published e-book? (we know all about that!). Drop us a line anyway and we can discuss it.
This doesn’t have to be restricted to books. If you love the latest album on iTunes or think a movie is wonderful and want to share it with the world, then give us a try. Of course, we’d be more inclined to run it if it touches in some way on Findependence: a film like The Wolf of Wall Street.
A word on the forums
Another place we’re looking for content is the discussion forums. We have five forums planned to start with and they take a demographic/ages-and-stages approach to the key steps in reaching Financial Independence. Once we have a bit of two-way to and fro between contributors, this may be the place to develop story ideas, ask questions, post links and even subtly promote your business or product, if done in a way that readers are presented with valuable content. They will be moderated but having gone through a long experience with the Wealthy Boomer forums in the past, I think we’ll be able to spot the difference between blatant sales pitches and valuable sharing!
It will be awhile before the forums reach “critical mass.” That’s beyond our control and up to the community. In the meantime, we’re happy to provide the infrastructure.
How to reach Jonathan
First, try jonathan@findependenceday. If I don’t respond quickly it might be that our email system is experiencing a hiccough during this transition between sites. If so, send a DM (Direct Message) to @jonchevreau at Twitter but be sure to @me as well to tell me to check the DM. Like many Twitter users, I can’t be relied upon to monitor DMs unless I’m flagged via the @function. Those who have my actual email are welcome to use it as well: I just don’t want to put it up on the web just yet because of all the spam it may create.
