Ask Nina from Queercents a question (Women of Personal Finance Spotlight)

Lynn · 09-02-2008, 02:05 AM

For this entire week (9/2 - 9/7) Nina Smith from Queercents will be answering questions in our forums about personal finance, real estate, and group blogging!

Nina is one of the most media savvy bloggers around. I'm personally looking forward to asking her about how she's able to get such great press on the New York Times, Bankrate.com, and Entrepreneur magazine.

Nina is the founder and fearless leader of Queercents, a syndicate of personal finance writers serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. But you don't have to be part of the LGBT community to benefit from Queercents. As Trent from The Simple Dollar once pointed out:

Quote:

Although it’s awesome that they’re targeting such a specific audience, the truth of the matter is that Queercents is just a great personal finance blog, period. The writing is amazingly strong on a daily basis and I find the advice highly applicable to my own life as a heterosexual white Protestant living in rural Iowa.

Welcome Nina!

Water Cooler Blues · 09-02-2008, 04:49 AM

Good morning Nina. I have been following Queercents for quite a while now. It is not only a great source of information but it is also a very supportive community. Congrats on putting such a great Website together.

You have interviewed some pretty famous people for your blog. Which person was your favorite? If you can interview anyone, gay... straight... dead... alive... or even fictional... about money, who would it be?

Will · 09-02-2008, 06:12 AM

Welcome Nina. Thank you for joining our discussion.

Queercents is one of the best group blogs around. What kind of advice would you give to someone who is thinking of starting their own group blog? What pros and cons should they consider?

Myscha Theriault · 09-02-2008, 06:27 AM

Hi Nina. Thanks so much for joining us this week. While I'm sure you have tons of other information to offer as well, I'd love to get the dish on your top tips for marketing and PR exposure.

Paul Michael · 09-02-2008, 08:21 AM

Hi Nina, great to have you here for some Q&A. I think my question is as generic as they come, but nevertheless I'll ask it. What are the ingredients for a successful blog like Queercents? As Trent pointed out, it's a great blog for everyone, not just the LGBT community. Is it important even in a niche blog to have wide-ranging appeal?

Nina Smith · 09-02-2008, 05:43 PM

Thank you for the warm welcome and for taking the time to ask me some questions.

Water Cooler Blues: I'm approaching my 100th interview and it's the Queercents feature I'm most proud of. I love interviewing writers because they tend to give extra thoughtful responses to the questions. Rebecca Walker (daughter of Alice) is probably my all-time favorite interview. Three others I really enjoyed: Susie Bright (the sexpert!), Erin Hamilton (Carol Burnett's daughter) and Deb Price (the first nationally syndicated columnist on gay issues). It sounds like I've only interviewed women and of course, that's not the case... Bryant Batt of Mad Men was entertaining and Sam Page, (the reformed gay porn star) had a few choice words about money!

"If you can interview anyone about money... who would it be?" Hmmm... tough question. An easier one to answer (and someone once asked this): If I could have sex with anyone from all of history with whom would it be? My answer: Jesus. Since the hush money alone would last an eternity.

Will: As you know, managing multiple writers is like herding cats. All the writers at Queercents volunteer their time which makes it even more challenging. We have 20 contributors on our roster, but only 7 or 8 might post in any given week. I find that by assigning "series" on one topic typically keeps a writer in the groove for a good ten weeks. Plus it's easy to promote a series to the press... and usually the added attention spurs the writer on.

Myscha Theriault: There isn't a quick and easy formula for marketing and PR. It takes a lot of time and you have to be creative with how you approach journalists and other top personal finance bloggers. I've developed a good rapport with the money writers at The New York Times, The Washington Post, the leading money magazines and portals. They all will email me back, many have used our readers as sources... but that's taken a few years of effort. The best thing I did was ask to guest post on some top blogs -- this gave Queercents some wonderful exposure and credibility.

Paul Michael: That's a really good point about creating a niche but having wide range appeal. I would do it this way again. A lot of our content is similar to what you'd find on a straight personal finance blog and for this reason it makes sense that about 25% of our readership is not gay (according to a survey we did last year). It helps too having top straight bloggers like Trent that like our content and mention us on a regular basis. With the mainstream and gay media though, the niche part is what gets us noticed... which goes back to the marketing and PR questions.

Thanks for the questions today. I'll check back tomorrow!

davoscat · 09-04-2008, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nina Smith

All the writers at Queercents volunteer their time which makes it even more challenging

Due to the high quality of writing all this time I had assumed Queercents is created by a group of paid writers. I had no idea they were volunteers

Quote:

I've developed a good rapport with the money writers at The New York Times, The Washington Post, the leading money magazines and portals

How do you usually make the initial contact? Is there a magic opener that usually works?

I leave comments for and send emails to famous writers all the time but they never write back!

Nina Smith · 09-04-2008, 05:12 AM

Davoscat: I've expanded my network by focusing on the authors of personal finance and career books. There's nothing like the power of writing a good book review... at a minimum they typically write back and say thank you. I also spent a year writing for BlogHer and did a version of Ten Money Questions there... this helped. And I was somewhat strategic about the women I selected to interview... knowing that the six degrees of separation would kick in if you're talking to prominent people in the personal finance world.

The journalists of the "biggie" newspapers are a bit more tricky. Usually, I write and say something nice about an article they wrote, mention Queercents (and point to a relevant post we've written on the topic they just covered) and offer up that we're a good source if they ever need an LGBT view on money. I've found being nice and helpful goes a long way.

I've also compiled a list of 300+ contacts (journalists, authors, publicists, gay media, mainstream press, and top PF bloggers) and have emailed our press releases to them about the series running at Queercents. It's time consuming (I've done it nearly every other month for two years), but it's another way to keep our name and brand in front of the right audience.

The networking and promotional part of blogging is one of the things I'm good at. Now, if I could just master the advertising, revenue part... then I could pay our most excellent writers!

Lynn · 09-09-2008, 09:26 PM

Thank you for joining us Nina. It was a pleasure hosting this conversation between you, your fans, and our Wise Bread readers.

This thread is officially closed. If anyone wants to leave Nina a comment here they are welcome to do so, but keep in mind that there's no guarantee she will be checking back here. Of course, many of our interviewees have stuck around to become valuable members of our community. We hope Nina will drop by when she can and enrich our community with her insights!

Nina is one of the many women we are featuring in our Women of Personal Finance series. Please check back every week to see a new interview with another personal finance celebrity.

09-02-2008, 05:43 PM	#6
Nina Smith Founder of Queercents Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Reputation: (10)	Thank you for the warm welcome and for taking the time to ask me some questions. Water Cooler Blues: I'm approaching my 100th interview and it's the Queercents feature I'm most proud of. I love interviewing writers because they tend to give extra thoughtful responses to the questions. Rebecca Walker (daughter of Alice) is probably my all-time favorite interview. Three others I really enjoyed: Susie Bright (the sexpert!), Erin Hamilton (Carol Burnett's daughter) and Deb Price (the first nationally syndicated columnist on gay issues). It sounds like I've only interviewed women and of course, that's not the case... Bryant Batt of Mad Men was entertaining and Sam Page, (the reformed gay porn star) had a few choice words about money! "If you can interview anyone about money... who would it be?" Hmmm... tough question. An easier one to answer (and someone once asked this): If I could have sex with anyone from all of history with whom would it be? My answer: Jesus. Since the hush money alone would last an eternity. Will: As you know, managing multiple writers is like herding cats. All the writers at Queercents volunteer their time which makes it even more challenging. We have 20 contributors on our roster, but only 7 or 8 might post in any given week. I find that by assigning "series" on one topic typically keeps a writer in the groove for a good ten weeks. Plus it's easy to promote a series to the press... and usually the added attention spurs the writer on. Myscha Theriault: There isn't a quick and easy formula for marketing and PR. It takes a lot of time and you have to be creative with how you approach journalists and other top personal finance bloggers. I've developed a good rapport with the money writers at The New York Times, The Washington Post, the leading money magazines and portals. They all will email me back, many have used our readers as sources... but that's taken a few years of effort. The best thing I did was ask to guest post on some top blogs -- this gave Queercents some wonderful exposure and credibility. Paul Michael: That's a really good point about creating a niche but having wide range appeal. I would do it this way again. A lot of our content is similar to what you'd find on a straight personal finance blog and for this reason it makes sense that about 25% of our readership is not gay (according to a survey we did last year). It helps too having top straight bloggers like Trent that like our content and mention us on a regular basis. With the mainstream and gay media though, the niche part is what gets us noticed... which goes back to the marketing and PR questions. Thanks for the questions today. I'll check back tomorrow! __________________ Founder of Queercents--a syndicate of personal finance writers serving the LGBT community.

09-04-2008, 05:12 AM	#8
Nina Smith Founder of Queercents Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Reputation: (10)	Davoscat: I've expanded my network by focusing on the authors of personal finance and career books. There's nothing like the power of writing a good book review... at a minimum they typically write back and say thank you. I also spent a year writing for BlogHer and did a version of Ten Money Questions there... this helped. And I was somewhat strategic about the women I selected to interview... knowing that the six degrees of separation would kick in if you're talking to prominent people in the personal finance world. The journalists of the "biggie" newspapers are a bit more tricky. Usually, I write and say something nice about an article they wrote, mention Queercents (and point to a relevant post we've written on the topic they just covered) and offer up that we're a good source if they ever need an LGBT view on money. I've found being nice and helpful goes a long way. I've also compiled a list of 300+ contacts (journalists, authors, publicists, gay media, mainstream press, and top PF bloggers) and have emailed our press releases to them about the series running at Queercents. It's time consuming (I've done it nearly every other month for two years), but it's another way to keep our name and brand in front of the right audience. The networking and promotional part of blogging is one of the things I'm good at. Now, if I could just master the advertising, revenue part... then I could pay our most excellent writers! __________________ Founder of Queercents--a syndicate of personal finance writers serving the LGBT community.

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09-02-2008, 04:49 AM	#2
Water Cooler Blues Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Reputation: (10)	Good morning Nina. I have been following Queercents for quite a while now. It is not only a great source of information but it is also a very supportive community. Congrats on putting such a great Website together. You have interviewed some pretty famous people for your blog. Which person was your favorite? If you can interview anyone, gay... straight... dead... alive... or even fictional... about money, who would it be?

09-02-2008, 06:12 AM	#3
Will Administrator Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 381 Thanks: 2 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts Reputation: (23)	Welcome Nina. Thank you for joining our discussion. Queercents is one of the best group blogs around. What kind of advice would you give to someone who is thinking of starting their own group blog? What pros and cons should they consider?

09-02-2008, 06:27 AM	#4
Myscha Theriault Wise Bread Blogger Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 65 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Reputation: (15)	Hi Nina. Thanks so much for joining us this week. While I'm sure you have tons of other information to offer as well, I'd love to get the dish on your top tips for marketing and PR exposure.

09-02-2008, 08:21 AM	#5
Paul Michael Wise Bread Blogger Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Reputation: (10)	Hi Nina, great to have you here for some Q&A. I think my question is as generic as they come, but nevertheless I'll ask it. What are the ingredients for a successful blog like Queercents? As Trent pointed out, it's a great blog for everyone, not just the LGBT community. Is it important even in a niche blog to have wide-ranging appeal?

09-09-2008, 09:26 PM	#9
Lynn Administrator Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 47 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Reputation: (15)	Thank you for joining us Nina. It was a pleasure hosting this conversation between you, your fans, and our Wise Bread readers. This thread is officially closed. If anyone wants to leave Nina a comment here they are welcome to do so, but keep in mind that there's no guarantee she will be checking back here. Of course, many of our interviewees have stuck around to become valuable members of our community. We hope Nina will drop by when she can and enrich our community with her insights! Nina is one of the many women we are featuring in our Women of Personal Finance series. Please check back every week to see a new interview with another personal finance celebrity.