Oct 06
The site Wonder, Wealth & Wisdom pulls no punches, it’s obvious the reader has an immediate passion for sharing the wonderment of life and finding purpose; he’s fascinated by wealth and a person’s ability to come to financial understanding in their lives, and finally the wisdom to work towards becoming a better person, ultimately finding enlightenment. Quite honestly the introduction to the site inspires me and drives to want to discover more but two things hinder the process.
First there is no clear understanding of the amazing human being behind this obviously insightful site. The about page talks about the blog…but who is the person sharing this information. I assure you the information is very good, but for a newcomer it might be somewhat comforting to know the background and little about the person who is sharing their thoughts. The disclaimer frees the writer from the readers assumption that what is shared is gospel, but to connect with a writer in a blog is paramount in understanding, or at the very least gaining perspective. There is an avatar you can click alongside the far right hand column, but it only takes you a Blogger profile that does not give you an idea of just how the writer of the site is. As a social media professional, transparency has always been key to community connection, so perhaps that is something that could be developed.The second hindrance to easy reading is most certainly the loosely defined categories. For me personally, due to the lack of defined categories, I jumped write in and found what I wanted with enough exploration, but for someone who is not too familiar with web research and discovery, they may not have the same patience I have. I enjoy jumping around a site and being curious when I come across new material, but not everyone can be expected to be the same. If I wanted “Wealth” articles, where do I click? What if I wanted only “Wisdom” articles where do I click for those too?
Perhaps the writer is writing for a very niche group of individuals that is unclear to me. I have gone to college, have been overseas on numerous occasions, and consider myself well read on a variety of topics, but words titles like San Guo and Zhuge Liang just don’t register. Again, another point where a reader just might bypass the material all together.
As for the material, let me just start off by saying that Seven Deadly Sins of Investing is an amazing piece of work, but so is the series on Financial Intelligence. Must reads, especially for people in the region from which he rights, but application seems almost global. To be honest some of the articles went right over my head. The writer is an accountant, that much I know so talking money comes easy, not being too familiar with that world I was amazed at how detailed some of the posts are.
The most enjoyable to me were the Philosophical Musings. I was able to connect with the brief words he shared about daily life and personal conflict, but the words he shared from the Roots of Wisdom are calming and very thought provoking. For those looking for wisdom in a philosophical sense, this series of posts will be most enjoyable.
Wonder, Wealth & Wisdom is definitely a site to visit to challenge yourself. Though the criticism fell mostly on the organization of the site, make no doubts, everyone could use a little help in the three areas of life, money, and personal development.
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Dear Stephen & Team,
Wow, thanks for the kind write up. It’s something out of the blue to receive this review since I was waiting to be contacted first. Not that I’m complaining
As the kind author of my humble blog, I’d like to shed some light on the valid points made here.
Firstly, about the anonymity and disclaimer, heck you’re right. It’s hard to trust someone if all you see is an Avatar. Having said that, I’m not 1/2 as good looking as Zhuge Liang, so consider yourself er…lucky :)Besides, my somewhat contrarian views might not sit well with my fellow accountants, so I’d prefer to remain in the shades, so to speak. Maybe, some day…
Secondly, thanks for insight as to what a visitors goes through. When I first started, I didn’t quite realize how much preparation was required upfront. Wish I’d found Bloggin-Ads first and read the post on preparation and organization of a blog before I started mine. I just thought up a title that would broadly reflect my personal knowledge and write posts as I went along.
All the topics can be grouped according to Wonder, Wealth or Wisdom. I wished there was a three tier topics for me to group them together. I know it’s available in Wordpress but Blogger doesn’t have one yet. So, I’m stuck. Organization seems sloppy since I’m limited by blogger.
As to SanGuo and ZhugeLiang, yeah…it’s a side hobby of mine and I do realize it’s somewhat obscure. Someone did comment, I should split my blog into three, but I’m like…are you NUTS? This blog is taking way too much of my time.
Thirdly, I’m glad you liked the Se7en Deadly Sins and Philosophical Musings. The poems are in a book by Hong Yingming titled ‘The Roots of Wisdom’.
Phew, that’s a long comment. Trust me, if I ever migrate to Wordpress or my own domain, I’m going to take a long hard look at the *sloppy* (aarrgghh!) organization of my topics and classify them accordingly.
BTW - If anyone wants the answer to my quiz on the Seven Deadly Sins of Investing in excel form, just shoot me an email, comment here or subscribe to my feedburner subscription so I can send it to you! I think I sent the file to Stephen already…
My last blog post is..Seven Deadly Sins of Investing – Part II
I’m glad that you find the review useful. Yea, moving to Wordpress platform is certainly worth the effort - there’s just so much momentum you gain in the form of great plugins that are usually free.
Although I agree with the reviewer that the blog needs a little organization, I did thoroughly enjoyed “Seven Deadly Sins of Investing”.
I just love ancient Chinese philosophy - so much wisdom and yet so simply put. Great site @Avatar.
Dear Gracie and Katie,
Thanks for the kind compliments and visiting my blog. I’m looking changing to another blogger template to make the posts more easily accessible.
Rgds
My last blog post is..Speed Reading – Part IX
Dear Stephen,
Just wanted to thank you again for the valuable input.
I revamped the about page to classify the topics according to the three main themes. I also changed the menu bar descriptions a bit. They were too esoteric. I think it’s harder to get lost in my blog now
Tried fiddling with newer blogger templates. Phew, they’re more work than they are worth. Not worth switching to a so-so template right now. One of these days, I’ll have to get a custom made one and move to my own domain.
Cheers
My last blog post is..Seven Deadly Sins of Investing – Part II
Very nicely done. Now your readers will be able to navigate easily to their topic of interest with a little guidance from the about page. Also, streamlining your categories along the main themes would help immensely in navigating your blog.
Dear Stephen,
Thanks! I’ve done as you suggested.
I really should have done this earlier instead of parking them around haphazardly with obscure references.
Rgds
My last blog post is..Speed Reading – Part IX