Attracting Traffic to FWF

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Bylo Selhi
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by Bylo Selhi »

northbeach wrote:Seems Webring is getting more competition soon.
I'm quaking in my boots :rofl:
The new Community will be located on its own tab and will be found between the Trade and Markets tabs.
So apparently you'll have to be an RBCDI customer to participate. That excludes ~90% of the people who can access FWF.

And if it's "moderated" by RBCDI good luck making criticisms or expressing displeasure with RBCDI or any other parts of RY's empire.
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by AltaRed »

Bylo Selhi wrote:And if it's "moderated" by RBCDI good luck making criticisms or expressing displeasure with RBCDI or any other parts of RY's empire.
We will have to wait and see just how that goes. I do not expect this to be overly effective BUT it does give RBCDI another 'item' to score points in the Carrick ratings.
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by kcowan »

When Kim Parlee, Vice President, TD Wealth Management, took over MoneyTalk on BNN after Patricia Lovett-Reid retired, Lovett_Reid went on to take on Ask Pattie at CTV where she offers advice on many of the same topics found here.

Maybe we need to spin that we offer unbiased advice, unlike RBC or any other FI? And experts without bias?
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by Springbok »

kcowan wrote:When Kim Parlee, Vice President, TD Wealth Management, took over MoneyTalk on BNN after Patricia Lovett-Reid retired, Lovett_Reid went on to take on Ask Pattie at CTV where she offers advice on many of the same topics found here.

Maybe we need to spin that we offer unbiased advice, unlike RBC or any other FI? And experts without bias?
Kim is still finding her way, but she is an excellent replacement for Lovett-Reid.
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by parvus »

All very interesting, SEO and all that. So I have a request. There are many here on FWF who clearly enjoy the experience. What would you say are the best features of FWF?
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by ghariton »

parvus wrote:So I have a request. There are many here on FWF who clearly enjoy the experience. What would you say are the best features of FWF?
I enjoy the depth and sophistication of the discussions on FWF. I think that we do a very good job at understanding, and helping others understand, various aspects of investing. By contrast, other forums tend to be much more superficial and, as a result, the posts can be badly misleading. Often they encourage speculation rather than investing.

Of course, that can be a drawback too. Sometimes we may be too advanced for newbies. At one time, we had a subforum called "starting out". Perhaps we should revive it. In that subforum, we would know to keep things simple, and perhaps be more charitable towards new posters.

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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by northbeach »

parvus wrote:All very interesting, SEO and all that. So I have a request. There are many here on FWF who clearly enjoy the experience. What would you say are the best features of FWF?
I feel lucky to have a resource which has helped me invest my money safely and profitably. The level of knowledge is extraordinary and this acumen is shared generously.

There is a social atmosphere that I also feel part of. I do not underestimate this characteristic. The humour and wit tossed around is enjoyed.
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by newguy »

I was saying in reply to a suggestion about apps that we could have a bunch of community developed HTML5 apps that run everywhere, even offline. I wrote one and it's pretty easy. I bet many people here know how to layout a page in HTML and more importantly know what looks good.

Here's where I put a link.

Most of you probably know you can just right click it and view the source code. The javascript may look intimidating but that's the easiest part for me. If someone laid out the page and someone else gave me the math and someone else tested it, I would have written the javascript in under an hour.

You could add links back to a discussion forum. You could put a FWF logo. You could become the goto site for Canadian financial calculators.

If anybody has an idea for another app, just give me the layout and math.

newguy

ps link http://newguys.freeoda.com/rollcalc.html
Last edited by newguy on 23 Dec 2012 21:29, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by LadyGeek »

ghariton wrote:At one time, we had a subforum called "starting out". Perhaps we should revive it. In that subforum, we would know to keep things simple, and perhaps be more charitable towards new posters.
I disagree, as you can't differentiate between "beginner" and higher levels of knowledge. You'll spend more time defining the threshold, with the result that the newbies won't understand it and it will create a discontinuity when someone wants to ask a more "advanced" question. I sent you a PM with a proposed solution.
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by Pickles »

LadyGeek wrote:
ghariton wrote:At one time, we had a subforum called "starting out". Perhaps we should revive it. In that subforum, we would know to keep things simple, and perhaps be more charitable towards new posters.
I disagree, as you can't differentiate between "beginner" and higher levels of knowledge. You'll spend more time defining the threshold, with the result that the newbies won't understand it and it will create a discontinuity when someone wants to ask a more "advanced" question. I sent you a PM with a proposed solution.
When we reorganized the forum in 2009/10, we got rid of "Starting Out" because few new members used it to post their questions and few long-term members read the sub-forum and responded to questions. "Newbies" like to post in active threads that are on the subject matter of their questions. Lately, people requesting a "financial makeover" have opened their own thread in Financial Planning and this works well, too. It's my belief that attracting new members to become active, rather than lurkers, is easier if we integrate them into the forum quickly rather than establish a separate area for them to post.
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by kcowan »

Pickles wrote:It's my belief that attracting new members to become active, rather than lurkers, is easier if we integrate them into the forum quickly rather than establish a separate area for them to post.
I agree. As long as we treat newbies with a light touch (it seems to be working), then having just one thread per topic would be a decent objective. It also provides new fodder for finiki.
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by LadyGeek »

Remember that portfolios must be customised for each member - different situations require different approaches and strategies.

Having one thread per member allows for easy comparisons. "X" did this, but "Y" did that. Why? Let me ask...
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by kcowan »

Maybe that is a useful additon to finiki. A Geeting Started topic that illustrates why we cannot give general advice without being irresponsible. New posters need to explain their situation before appropriate advice can be given. Sort of what KYC was trying to do but with limited success.
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by Knowsitall »

I will be active once again after Jan1,2013.I was hiding out waiting for the world to end in 2012.When it did not I went back on the juice to celebrate I am alive,I am alive.Brothers and sisters I am on the 12 stepper program again and will set some great threads of knowledge in 2013 so do not be suprised if I may well become known as BLAZING SADDLE or "BS" for short.As an "ASIDE" why did "Blondie"or "MIKE-1" not wish me a MERRY CHRISTMAS??????.That hurt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

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Moved posts about the CAPTCHA used in registration to existing topic, We need YOUR help to counter spam.
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

Following up on this exchange, Koogie asked this question of me:
Koogie wrote:Did it ever occur that perhaps newbies such as ourselves are not sufficiently confident yet to contribute much to the financial conversation ? (due to lack of experience on the topic or the fact we prefer to learn by reading what other, older "wiser" people are posting
Absolutely. After all we were all newcomers to FWF at some point in time. I know I was mostly a reader when I first joined FWF and gradually got involved in the financial discussions by asking questions and contributing to topics that either interested me or where I had some experience. I would expect that many other members have had the same experience. I suspect that secretly we all hope that someday we'll be one of your older "wiser" people of FWF.

But it is a two-way street, without newcomers arriving with new financial questions or seeking clarifications on what they've read, what will the older (in terms of forum membership years) people have to post in the Your Money ... forums? Not many benefit when the same old information is continually re-hashed.

Newcomers are the lifeblood to the ongoing success of FWF (and finiki). Sure there is a wealth (pun-intended) of information among the over 4000 topics in the Your Money ... forums. It has been built up through discussions between all the members of FWF, new and old. As part of the management team of FWF, I clearly want FWF to the best Canadian site where investors meet for financial education and empowerment. I'd strongly encourage newcomers to read what FWF has to offer, but also hope that we, the membership of FWF, have created an environment where everyone feels comfortable to post questions and comments and contribute to the discussions.

If we need to do more to help newcomers gain the confidence to contribute to the financial conversation, then I'm all ears for suggestions on how we can help.

Personally my lifelong financial education continues from interactions with the FWF members, new and old, who post in the Your Money ... forums.
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

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Peculiar_Investor wrote:Following up on this exchange, Koogie asked this question of me:
Koogie wrote:Did it ever occur that perhaps newbies such as ourselves are not sufficiently confident yet to contribute much to the financial conversation ? (due to lack of experience on the topic or the fact we prefer to learn by reading what other, older "wiser" people are posting
Absolutely. After all we were all newcomers to FWF at some point in time. I know I was mostly a reader when I first joined FWF and gradually got involved in the financial discussions by asking questions and contributing to topics that either interested me or where I had some experience. I would expect that many other members have had the same experience. I suspect that secretly we all hope that someday we'll be one of your older "wiser" people of FWF.

But it is a two-way street, without newcomers arriving with new financial questions or seeking clarifications on what they've read, what will the older (in terms of forum membership years) people have to post in the Your Money ... forums? Not many benefit when the same old information is continually re-hashed.

Newcomers are the lifeblood to the ongoing success of FWF (and finiki). Sure there is a wealth (pun-intended) of information among the over 4000 topics in the Your Money ... forums. It has been built up through discussions between all the members of FWF, new and old. As part of the management team of FWF, I clearly want FWF to the best Canadian site where investors meet for financial education and empowerment. I'd strongly encourage newcomers to read what FWF has to offer, but also hope that we, the membership of FWF, have created an environment where everyone feels comfortable to post questions and comments and contribute to the discussions.

If we need to do more to help newcomers gain the confidence to contribute to the financial conversation, then I'm all ears for suggestions on how we can help.

Personally my lifelong financial education continues from interactions with the FWF members, new and old, who post in the Your Money ... forums.
Thank you for a nice, reasoned response. I think in retrospect your response to that OP was maybe a little bit snarky and I definitely know my response to you was way to snarky. As this forum can veer into the Highly Technical sometimes I know a lot of us newbies tend to be quiet and only chip in when a subject touches on something we know (or think we know !) something about and other times we watch and try to learn. Sometimes those contributions are only of a more social nature versus contributing to the financial discussion but hey, we all play to our strengths.
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by kcowan »

I think we can all learn from the Canadian Money Forum which seems to have a steady flow of traffic.

I think encouraging first time posters is pretty basic (even non-financial). What is needed is a facility to reach out to those on Twitter.
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by BC_Doc »

Maybe rebrand/rename the website? "Financial Webring Forum" doesn't really roll off the tongue if I'm recommending the site to a friend or colleague. I think of this site as the Canadian cousin to bogleheads.org-- I would love to see the name of this site reflect the close kinship. If this site had 1/10 of the activity of bogleheads.org, look out!
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by like_to_retire »

BC_Doc wrote:Maybe rebrand/rename the website? "Financial Webring Forum" doesn't really roll off the tongue if I'm recommending the site to a friend or colleague. I think of this site as the Canadian cousin to bogleheads.org-- I would love to see the name of this site reflect the close kinship. If this site had 1/10 of the activity of bogleheads.org, look out!
Totally agree. I always felt the name unappealing. It's the first thing people would see in a search. Webring? - what is that? I'm afraid no one gets it.

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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by Springbok »

like_to_retire wrote: Totally agree. I always felt the name unappealing. It's the first thing people would see in a search. Webring? - what is that? I'm afraid no one gets it.

ltr
Agree that name is not at all appealing. But I suspect it will take a lot more than a name change to attract new member and then keep them.
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by LadyGeek »

You need good content. On the Bogleheads site, there are several respected authors and financial advisors who discuss articles they've written, e.g. Larry Swedroe and Rick Ferri. They provide valuable insight while getting good feedback.

Take a look in the Bogleheads wiki: Category:Bogleheads authors

Most of them actively post in the Bogleheads forum.

Are there any Canadian authors who can post here? OTOH, how many members here blog?
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by BC_Doc »

The mission/philosophy of the Bogleheads website jumps out on the wiki-- http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main_Page
Perhaps something similar could be added to FWF? I agree with LadyGeek-- traffic wise, it would be helpful to get some Canadian financial bloggers posting here. Thx,
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

Thanks for the suggestions. We're always looking for ways to improve the forum and finiki.

One of the challenges with Canadian bloggers is they generally are motivated to monetize their sites and we're strictly non-commercial.
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Re: Attracting Traffic to FWF

Post by poedin »

Always look forward to the discussions on FWF and referencing finiki, but I do agree with others rebranding the FWF title (especially "Webring").
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