Finances & Money

Happy 4th Anniversary for CleverDude.com!

I almost let it slip by, but this month is the 4th year of CleverDude.com. My first article, titled “Is running really a bonding activity for couples?” was posted on June 6, 2006, shortly before we ran our first (and maybe last) marathon.

What have I accomplished in the last 4 years?

The site:

• 1,200 unique articles written (and none of those dinky “net worth” posts either. These are REAL articles!)
• 3,100 daily subscribers (even though Feedburner’s numbers have been up and down lately)
• Over 1.5 million page views
• Just shy of 1 million unique visitors
• Placement on MSN Money, The Consumerist, Lifehacker, and many other large news sites and blogs
• A small group of good blogging buddies, many of whom I’ve met in person

Personally:

• We’ve been debt-free (except for mortgage) for over 1 year now!
• We have MUCH more in savings than when we started
• We (I) take much more time and attention to spending decisions than I ever used to. Although I will say I still lust for some things like new cars and some gadgets, I can reason AWAY from the decision rather than FOR it like I used to do.

The Future of Clever Dude

If you’re a long-time CD reader, you would have noticed much less writing from me for the last year. Some are personal reasons while others are the simple lack of unique content or points of view. Basically, I hit a big brick wall in writing and it’s been hard to come out of. But I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. I just need to get my mojo back.

During that time, though, I’m going to ensure that I don’t put out junk just to have something written. I entertain guest posts, but I have turned a number down that I felt weren’t up to par. BUT, if you’d like to guest post here, feel free to contact me.

Thank You!

So, a big, hearty thank you from me to you for making this site a success, and let’s work together on keeping it going with fresh, new content and perspectives for another 4 years!