2009 Presidential Address and 2009 State of the Blog Address – All in the Same Day!

Today, President Obama will address our nation’s children and I’ll deliver the State of the Blog. He’ll be talking about “the importance of education; about the importance of staying in school; how we want to improve our education system and why it’s so important for the country.”

Since he’s handling K though 12, I figured I’d take this opportunity to talk to everyone else. Nobody gets left behind on my watch!

But unlike our President, I’m not going to focus on the importance of education. It’s been seven months since I launched Wealth Pilgrim in earnest and it’s about time you received a “State of the Blog” address – so here goes.

First, I’d like to welcome all the new subscribers here at Wealth Pilgrim.

With your help, I’m almost halfway to meeting my goal of 1,000 subscribers by February 2010 (I started February 2009 with 0 subscribers). I am very grateful for your e-mails and comments and that you check my feed and visit here each day. Thank you.

What’s the core message?

I write both about my own personal experiences (going from homeless and broke to owning both a home and a business) and the experiences I’ve been exposed to as a result of the work I do as a CFP (R) and what I’ve learned since I’ve become a financial planner.

My life and professional experiences have helped form the core message of Wealth Pilgrim. They are:

1. No matter what, you can do a lot on your own to improve your financial situation, starting today.

2. You don’t need to be wealthy to be happy.

3. It’s more important to do the right things than to have the right things.

I think most every post I’ve written is a variation on one (or more) of the above themes.

Who am I writing for?

I’m writing for you if you feel that money is just a stepping stone to things that are much more important, like family, health, community and spirituality.

You might need to solve debt problems or overspending. Maybe you don’t know how to invest or you live in a general state of fear as a result of your finances. You might be overlooking opportunities. You might be making the wrong financial decisions, and as a result you might be paying a high “quality of life” cost. You might want to change careers, open a business or buy a home and have real financial concerns about it.

To sum it all up, you might be the kind of person who just wants to make smart money decisions that help you have a better life.

If so, I’m writing for you. I’ll continue to offer suggestions that (I hope) make your life just a little bit easier and more peaceful. However, if your primary concern is creating wealth,this blog will help you but only as means to an end — not as an end for its own sake.

What have I learned over the last seven months?

I’m not proud of saying this, but at first I didn’t really expect to learn a lot by writing this blog. I couldn’t have been more wrong. In preparing the posts, I did research and of course I learned that way. But by far, I’ve learned the most from you – from your comments and emails.

I sit down to write a post – often at 5 AM – when I focus best. I usually spend a good few hours writing. I go over the posts a number of times and usually feel confident that I’ve covered all the important points.

But without exception, you make comments and point out different angles on what I’ve written about that always surprise me. Thanks for continuing my education.

I’ve also learned about community.

The personal finance blogging community is simply amazing. Almost every PF blogger that I’ve come in contact with has a unique voice with something intelligent and important to say. They care about the people they write for and they have been exceptionally helpful to me as a newbie blogger. Everyone pulls together and that’s really refreshing. (I wish I could say the same for the financial advisor world – but I can’t.)

What really surprised me was the attitude I found with the bigger bloggers like FreeMoneyFinance.com, GetRichSlowly.org, FiveCentNickel.com andFrugalDad.com. These are run by people who have taken a personal interest in helping me when they didn’t have to. I never expected this community to be so professional, open and helpful. Thanks everyone.

I’ve made some good friends.

What are my goals?

My ultimate definition of success is to change the conversation people have with themselves and others about money. I’d like to see fewer people talking about having more money and more people talking about how to use money to have more life.

One way I hope to do that is by writing.

I love writing because it allows me to express myself, learn and (hopefully) be helpful to you.

What I’m asking from Wealth Pilgrim readers.

I’d like to ask you to do two things:

1. Continue visiting Wealth Pilgrim. Leave comments. Send e-mails. Let me know how I can improve.

2. Share the love. While my goal is 1,000 subscribers by February 2010, wouldn’t it be fun if we could get there by 12/31/09? You can help by inviting five of your closest friends to check us out and sign up for free updates.

Thanks again for being part of the community. I look forward to a wonderful journey with you for years to come.