Q2-2008 Magic Quadrant of Personal Finance Blogs

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It’s Q2 finally, and the long awaited MyInvestingBlog Magic Quadrant is back in business. The Q1-2008 MQ saw some good traffic and excitement and the idea has had a lot of publicity and interest generated with a healthy dose of new entries from folks wanting to get in. I figured out a more in depth way to go about evaluating each blog in the realm with BETTER efficiency and deeper analysis of each…

This post has actually taken me a lot longer than I originally anticipated it would because with every new metric I would find, I’d have to find a way to add it to the overall computation, but I think I pinned it down nicely in the end. It’s all manual at the moment, but if you’ve got a handy programming background, I’m more than willing to listen to your ideas for automation. :)

The Recap

The whole point of the Magic Quadrant is to give an overall picture based solely on measurable statistics. Gartners Magic Quadrant is a term acquired by Gartner, but Wiki says it is:

…a proprietary research tool developed by Gartner Inc., a US based research and advisory firm. It is designed to provide an unbiased qualitative analysis of a “markets’ direction, maturity, and participants.

The Rules

Each Personal Finance Blog (minus MyInvestingBlog - details below) in the mix needs to have at least THREE months of posts and needs to have had at least ONE post in the last week; based on that initial information, they are then rated based on the following metrics:

Hard Metrics:

* - new metric added to the list since last run.

Soft Metrics

  • Blogging frequency - how often do they post?
  • Commenter involvement - I randomly choose 10 posts on their blog to see how responsive they are to readers and the comments left on their blogs
  • Site Design
  • Readability/Grammar
  • Post Originality - How unique are the posts?

The List

(IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER):
* - new site added to the list since last run.

AllFinancialMatters.com
ALongLongRoad*
Bargaineer.com
BeingFrugal.net
BripBlap.com
CashMoneyLife.com
ChanceFavors.com
ChristianPF.com
ConsumerismCommentary.com
CreativeInvestor101.com
CubeFarmer.net
Debt-FreeRevolution.com*
DoughRoller.net
FireFinance.com
FiveCentNickel.com
FreeFromBroke.com
FreeMoneyFinance.com
FrugalDad.com*
FrugalForLife.com
GatherLittleByLittle.com
GirlsJustWannaHaveFunds*
GenXFinance.com*
GetRichSlowly.org
GrowingWallet.com
i-endeavors.com*
LazyManAndMoney.com
LegalAndrew*
MDMProofing.com
Moneyning.com
Moolanomy.com
MrsMicah.com
MyDollarPlan.com*
MyMoneyBlog.com
MyTwoDollars.com
OnFinancialSuccess.com
PaidTwice.com
Plonkee.com
 SevenMillion7Year*
Shauna26*
SingleGuyMoney.com
TheDigeratiLife.com
TheSimpleDollar.com
YoungAndBroke.com

MyInvestingBlog.com is missing, why?

Well, I figured this would be thought of as a “democratic process” if I included myself. If you really want to know where I fell, I’m happy to tell you, contact me.

The Graph

Click the image for a larger view (or right click and “Save As” to save for later):

2008q2mib-gartnermq.jpg

The Movers

It was brought up that I should chart who moved up and who moved down on the list. In response to that, there really is no bad place to be. It’s a matrix just showing where sites have fit in the niche. That being said, the top right corner of most Magic Quadrants are generally considered the “the place to be”, but by no means puts any less value on the other squares. If you want to know how to get in the top right, read those blogs I’d say. :)

The Forgotten

Know somebody I left off? Leave a comment on the post here, or contact me and I’m happy to throw them in the matrix for the next run of the “Magic Quadrant of Personal Finance Blogs”!

Photo by: dickuhne

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13 Comments

  • User Gravatar no imageCiaranFromChance (Who am I?)
    April 1st, 2008 at 4:55 am

    Hey Hank,

    Another great post on the magic quandrant, I love that name. It looks like things are evolving very nicely with your algorithm. I’m happy with my place right between the visionaries and leaders.

    Stumble coming!

    CiaranFromChance’s last blog post..Flavors of the Week - Final Four Edition

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  • User Gravatar no imageFFB (Who am I?)
    April 1st, 2008 at 8:10 am

    Hmm…I’m almost right smack in the middle. Does that mean I’m the best of everything? Haha. Thanks for this together!

    FFB’s last blog post..Carnivals and Weekly Finds

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  • User Gravatar no imagePinyo (Who am I?)
    April 1st, 2008 at 1:00 pm

    I am not sure what it means, but it looks like a good place to be. If you can tell me how I could improve my blog, I’d love to hear you comment.

    Pinyo’s last blog post..Kick Off Second Quarter With A $100 Giveaway

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  • User Gravatar no imagePete (Who am I?)
    April 1st, 2008 at 1:09 pm

    Hopefully my personal finance blog can be included in this Magical Quandrant next time - by then i’ll have those required 3 months under my belt..

    Pete’s last blog post..Home Maintenance Tips: Spring projects

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  • User Gravatar no imagePT (Who am I?)
    April 1st, 2008 at 2:34 pm

    I’d love to be included next time as well. Thanks!

    PT’s last blog post..Current Checking and Savings Account Rates and More ING DIRECT Sign-Up Bonuses

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  • User Gravatar no imageDebt Free Revolution (Who am I?)
    April 1st, 2008 at 4:13 pm

    You forgot me, Hank!

    Debt Free Revolution’s last blog post..Week Two: Teenager on a Food Budget Experiment

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  • User Gravatar no imagehank (Who am I?)
    April 1st, 2008 at 4:51 pm

    @Ciaran - thanks for the stumble!

    @FFB - very possible. :)

    @Pinyo - Your blog is just fine. Like I said, there is absolutely NO problem with ANY of the quadrants in the square. They’re all just computations based on site statistics. Within the quadrants themselves, there is no hierarchy either.

    Like I said for the most part companies are always trying to get in the “top right” corner, but that’s just because most CEOs are visionaries/leaders themselves, and they want to be perceived as such. Additionally as a whole most business leaders are very type “D” dominant (see what a DISC profile is) in their role as business leaders.

    I for example personally fall in the “i” category of the DISC profile meaning I’m verbal/enthusiastic/optimistic type person, so I persoanlly would “like” to fall into the visionary realm as opposed to a leader. Others may feel like they’re more suited to fall in the challenging or niche-player realm because they don’t want the spotlight or care to be forward thinkers; they may be just peachy sitting where they’re at.

    So all in all, there is no bad place to be, ALL have their benefits…

    @Pete/PT/DFRevolution - See my next entry after this. ;)

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  • User Gravatar no imagehank (Who am I?)
    April 1st, 2008 at 4:54 pm

    So I’ve gotten a few emails and clearly a couple posts here from folks that don’t want to wait till next quarter to see where they fall on the scale -

    Soooo for the introductory offer of $0.00, I will gladly add anyone to this list that leaves a comment here or contacts me in the next 24 hours and repost the image and link @ 7pm(Pacific Standard Time) on April 2, 2008.

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  • User Gravatar no imageJeremy (Who am I?)
    April 1st, 2008 at 8:20 pm

    I’d like to be added! This is a very interesting post, and I’m curious to see where I fall. Thanks!

    Jeremy’s last blog post..The Tax Filing Deadline is April 15th, but When Should You Mail Your Return or Have it Postmarked?

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  • User Gravatar no imageAaron Stroud (Who am I?)
    April 2nd, 2008 at 7:47 am

    Very cool Hank. Thanks for putting this together again. I know how time consuming it must be. Can you elaborate on how pankrank affects a site’s position on the quadrant?

    Since the release of the first quadrant, I’ve seen my site shoot up from a PR of N/A to 4 which was pretty exciting, although not all that meaningful in the big picture….

    Aaron Stroud’s last blog post..Can we afford college

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  • User Gravatar no imageFrugal Dad (Who am I?)
    April 2nd, 2008 at 8:50 am

    I’d love to be included…thanks for putting this together! Fascinating!

    Frugal Dad’s last blog post..The Ultimate Frugal Weekend: A 48-Hour Spending Fast

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  • User Gravatar no imageDebt Free Revolution (Who am I?)
    April 2nd, 2008 at 2:37 pm

    Bah! I was in class all day yesterday (about 8 hours total) and missed your post. Does this mean I have to wait til q3?

    Debt Free Revolution’s last blog post..Saving Money on Pet Food

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  • User Gravatar no imagehank (Who am I?)
    April 3rd, 2008 at 3:22 pm

    All updates and add-ons have been calculated and completed for this quarter! Thanks for everyones participation!

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