Felix Salmon, model blogger

All self-effacement aside, my favorite finance blogger Felix Salmon richly deserves this lengthy profile in Big Money. Here was my favorite part:
But every writer scribbles with an ideal reader in mind. Salmon is no exception. He may not covet the biggest audience but he does yearn for the best and most influential reader: "It’s a known fact," he says, "that Larry Summers reads a lot of blogs."

If that sort of audience is what he’s after, I ask, why not become a regular on CNBC? "Because Larry Summers doesn’t watch CNBC and say, 'Oh my God, that’s interesting, I should actually think about that when conducting economic policy.’ CNBC is people shouting at each other. If we were to get into a screaming match about health care reform, it doesn’t matter how smart we are, we’re not going to be shedding any light. Whereas the blogosphere is really good at drilling down very quickly to the nub of the question. People talk about it like it’s the best graduate seminar ever invented."
The "seminar-like" quality of the blogosphere is certainly what drew me to it, first as an avid reader and now as an extremely peripheral contributor (I optimistically estimate my current regular readership at approximately four people). And by articulating the qualities that make Felix a good blogger, this article helped me realize that in a way he is my blogging role model (perhaps along with Tyler Cowen) for the elegance and punchiness with which he uses the format. I think I have probably learned more about how to blog from reading him than anyone else, and while I still have a long way to go, it certainly helps to have someone great to model oneself after.

4 comments:

  1. Felix Salmon reads your blog? That's a pretty dynamic four, I guess. You going to try to promote your blog more at some point?

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  2. I am totally starstuck :) I don't think he's a regular - I suspect this proud moment for People and Resources is brought to you by the magical power of trackback.

    Promoting more may make sense eventually, but I feel that I still have a lot to learn, so my top priority for now is to continue posting good material and improving my style, and also constructively participating in comment discussions elsewhere. If you want to become, like Felix, someone who is read by "those who matter", bringing something valuable to the online dialogue is almost the only kind of promotion that matters (I think). So the focus for now is on that, and being patient. I'm certainly not quitting my day job any time soon.

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  3. That would be starSTRUCK, mind you. Better late than never.

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