Rhody Trader

I had the distinct pleasure of finally meeting Brett Steenbarger face-to-face while I was at the Traders Expo a couple weeks back. I’ve known the good doctor for something like four years now. He was a big help in both the development and publishing of my book, The Essentials of Trading, and even wrote the foreward. We’ve had the opportunity to communicate several times over the intervening years, but the Expo was the first time we actually got to meet.

Brett recently posted on the subject of blog growth. He’s been nothing short of prolific in his writing over the years, including bloggging and books and everything else. At times I’m in awe of how much he churns out. Of course I do my fair share of writing too. My forex analyst job, after all, is all about writing. It’s just not so much in the public domain.  Even still, the amount of verbiage Brett puts out is impressive by any measure when you consider how much travelling and other stuff he does as well.

In his blogging post Brett makes five key points.

1. Don’t be afraid to start small
2. Success is a team sport
3. Promote ideas, not people
4. Stick to your niche
5. Maintain integrity

I’ve been blogging since 2006, though I probably didn’t really get serious about it until 2007. It’s been a massive learning experience and the points above are all part of that learning. Brett’s basic theme is that if you provide value and are honest in your dealing with readers and others people will gravitate toward you. This is what’s called organic growth and I can tell you from personal experience that it’s the most rewarding.

Now Brett and I do differ in that he only markets books while I sell a few different type of trading education products, and as a result promotion is part of the equation for me where it isn’t for Brett. The same principles apply, though. It’s about value, quality, and integrity. If you’re thinking to start a blog or a business, keep those things in mind and you’ll be much more likely to achieve long-term success.

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