One of these days, when we decide to leave academia or decide it’s time to sell our souls for more income…
We’re going to create a new blog. We’re going to call the guy who owns the blog, Steve. That way we won’t have to put up with patriarchal BS. (Shhh “Steve” doesn’t really exist. He’s just a front man.)
Steve will run a personal finance blog. He will recycle our old and extremely awesome money posts. We’ll disappear them from this blog so if anybody notices that there might be plagiarism, only google cache will be able to help. We may even say that we sold the posts to Steve, so he’s not actually stealing our work. In theory the controversy would drive up hits, and we could even write a guest post for Steve explaining that we love his blog and sold him a few posts. Something like that.
We’re thinking of some version of quitmydayjob.com for the blog host. We’ve got some back-up plans in case that turns out to be too expensive.
He’s going to start with the plan of making moneys. He’s going to have advertising. He’ll do the Yakezie challenge. He’ll accept sponsored guest posts. He’ll do all the things that Nicole and Maggie don’t have time to or don’t want to sell their souls to do. Heck, depending on how much time we have, he might even write paid posts for other blogs! We’ll see.
Readers will be able to cheer him on as he works to make money so he can quit his soul-sucking dayjob. We haven’t decided what his current job is, but we know he doesn’t like it.
We’re not sure if he’s single or married or if he has kids yet. Probably if he has kids, there’s only one. Hm… maybe he could be a divorced single dad with custody, but the kid has insurance through the ex-wife. I dunno. Or maybe he’ll just be a single guy. So many decisions!
It’ll be awesome. One of these days when one of us quits her dayjob.
Until then…
Grumpy Rumblings (of the formerly untenured) 
May 14, 2013 at 4:07 am
Go Steve!
May 14, 2013 at 7:03 am
Hey, I would read it! Just make sure that he’s self-deprecating. People seem to really love that.
May 14, 2013 at 7:28 am
Great advice! Though I dunno, would you say MMM is self-deprecating? Steve might go either way.
May 14, 2013 at 7:32 am
No, I don’t think that MMM is self deprecating. He has his own niche!
But, I have noticed that people seem to enjoy posts more if you insult yourself. It’s definitely true at GRS. Maybe Steve could be overweight? His wife left him? Down on his luck? His parents were mean to him?
May 14, 2013 at 7:37 am
Do you notice a gender difference at all? Or is self-deprecating in for boys too?
May 14, 2013 at 9:03 am
I honestly don’t know. I just know that when I am trying to come across as knowledgeable and confident in my choices, people always yell at me. If I make fun of myself, even a little, all of the sudden people are okay with anything else I say. I don’t know if it’s a male/female issue, or the fact that I tend to rub people the wrong way sometimes.
I do notice that female writers are more frequently torn to shreds, in my opinion at least. Male writers get less flack for their choices….at least it seems that way.
May 14, 2013 at 9:15 am
There’s lots of research evidence about the gender difference in how people treat women writers (both on paper and online)… and we linked to a really interesting post from a woman writer who goes under a male name the other week. I’ll dig it up next time leechblock gives me access to the blog.
You can test it yourself by having Greg post a Holly post or Holly post a Greg post and see how reactions are different!
But yeah, that’s why we’re thinking Steve rather than Eve for our next blog.
May 14, 2013 at 11:27 am
Here it is: http://www.copyblogger.com/james-chartrand-underpants/
Very thought-provoking.
May 14, 2013 at 6:21 pm
That’s pretty crazy, but not all that surprising. I recently wrote an article for a freelance job about the gender wage gap- the statistics that I studied in order to write it were hard to believe. I can’t remember exactly…but women make something like 77 cents on the dollar of what men make. African American and Hispanic women make even less. =/
May 14, 2013 at 6:34 pm
Ayup.
May 14, 2013 at 7:03 am
If he’s married with a kid or two, then he can blog about college savings and such. It may be worthwhile for him to have a kid approaching college age soon, and then another so he gets to blog the “now college” part and the “investing for the future of the baby” part. And yes, his partner needs to be named Adam.
May 14, 2013 at 7:27 am
LOVE IT. Adam and Steve!
Ooh, maybe the oldest can be Adam’s kid from a former marriage, and they can adopt the youngest together and want to spend more time with her.
Though I think we might feel a little too guilty pretending to be gay guys– Steve should be on the top of the patriarchy power structure.
May 14, 2013 at 7:55 am
Perhaps Steve’s older child is gay, or maybe the younger child — clearly has to be a son for this to work — wears clothes and engages in behaviors more commonly associated with the other gender.
I’m pretty sure one of Steve’s children has a long-term, chronic health condition that is non-trivial, but not debilitating. Definitely something with a clear and decisive diagnosis — not ADHD or “on the spectrum.” Hmmm …
May 14, 2013 at 9:14 am
What if you found a real person who is struggling in their current job and wants to get out. You could help them create income through a blog and actually help a real life person succeed. That would really be a story. You could rent them your content for a certain amount of time so you do not have to risk them stealing your stuff.
May 14, 2013 at 9:16 am
Well, #2 is struggling in her current job and wants to get out and she would like to create income through a blog and actually succeed. Does that count?
May 14, 2013 at 9:23 am
Yes, for me personally it would be more interesting if it was a real person and not a persona. I don’t want to tell you how to do your thing, just stating how I look at it. I personally think the more real it is the more interesting. Anyone can make up a person with a hypothetical life, but very few people will actually take the jump and make a change.
My best friend is going to leave corporate world and come work with me in Real Estate. He is a top level manager at a huge company but hates his work. He will be taking a huge pay decrease but wants freedom. He wants to start a blog about it, but he hasn’t done it yet. I told him the earlier he starts writing the more people can identify with his situation and how hard it is to make a change like that.
May 14, 2013 at 9:27 am
Oh, you’ll never know that Steve isn’t real. No worries about that.
And we’re real. But we think Steve will be more lucrative.
May 14, 2013 at 10:15 am
I think if you want to be a spokesperson/guru, then you should be super confident like many of the male pf bloggers who seem very sure of themselves and their “philosophies” (like MMM, I will teach you to be rich). Sadly, Steve would probably get a large follower while Eve would get tons of flak, unless she was self-deprecating.and less confident.
May 14, 2013 at 11:28 am
Seriously.
May 14, 2013 at 10:31 am
Don’t forget to have “Steve” leave scads of pointless comments on every blog in town! (um… not directed at any of the above comments, but I just can’t believe the blathering I see from certain bloggers in EVERY POST in their little circle)
May 14, 2013 at 10:38 am
Like, “Great post!” and “You’re absolutely right!” That sort of thing? Or more like the, “This reminds me of my recent post on…” (We at grumpy rumblings are guilty of the latter, but we always link to a relevant and excellent post.)
I will note that our commenters only leave brilliant and worthwhile comments, and we kind of wish that the ones who don’t have blogs would start blogs so we could read more. (But not if it would cut into their conversations on our blog.)
May 14, 2013 at 10:46 am
Yeah, mostly the former. I don’t at all mind mentioning relevant posts – the key being relevant (and excellent), of course! And yes, I totally agree that some regular commenters leave very thoughtful posts and leave me wishing for more access to their brains via blog.
On a related note, it blows my mind that some people make money by providing commenting services. I hope that at least they are more substantive than the “great post” nonsense I see out there, but it just shows how the blogosphere awards merit based on volume, not necessarily quality. Or maybe they’re being clever and working the system… but I don’t have to like it!
May 14, 2013 at 11:57 am
I’ve been tempted to leave pointless “great post” comments on your blog because I wanted to be top commenter of 2013, but I know I’m out of the running considering you have so many devoted daily commenters!
May 14, 2013 at 12:21 pm
hahaha! You’re always welcome! You leave great comments too. :)
May 14, 2013 at 11:04 am
For the most part, I would think Steve should write about what you would write as closely as possible. Don’t invent a totally novel male character to play, simply imagine how YOU would be if you’d been socialized differently. So Steve can be cockier, of course, At least when it comes to things like stock advice. Though I do think there would be additional hilarity if Steve had a female partner that he is kind of well-meaning but clueless about… that seems to be a downright marketable personality trait for internet men.
May 14, 2013 at 11:29 am
We fully intend to recycle posts directly.
May 14, 2013 at 2:11 pm
Hmm… now I want to start an alternate blog identity as a man. I bet no one would write reviews of my books talking about how little time I must spend with my children.
May 14, 2013 at 4:01 pm
Highly unlikely. We can plug for Larry Vanderkam when the time comes.
May 14, 2013 at 5:16 pm
Oh dear. Laura, I bought your book 168 Hours years ago when you wrote it and thought “my god, that woman spends a lot of time with her children. They need to learn how to amuse themselves!” LOL Fortunately I’m secure in my slacker-mom-ness and the kids are old enough and well-adjusted enough that I can call my 2 child experiment a success…
May 14, 2013 at 2:13 pm
Hooray! Operation Steve will be awesome.
May 14, 2013 at 4:01 pm
Not as awesome as Operation Grumpy, but more, you know, ironic. And, of course, more lucrative.
May 14, 2013 at 2:26 pm
Epiphanies! Don’t forget epiphanies! Lots of ’em, especially as regards:
a) Children (“I realized that our current debt load would mean we couldn’t save for little Stevie’s college fund/give little Stevie all the things we want to give/would have to work so many hours that we couldn’t be there for him”)
b) Hobbies (“When I think of all the money I spent on softball/ziplining/online gaming/macrame, I want to puke — if I’d invested that money I’d be a millionaire right now, and you can give only so many macrame hanging basket holders as gifts”).
c) Spouse (“If it weren’t for my wife/life partner, I’d be nothing — s/he keeps me grounded, calls me on my BS and supports my spending all non-working hours writing this blog because s/he believes in my dream. I love you, honey/man.”)
Oh, and cursing. Don’t forget cursing. Potty-mouthedness is the sign of a truly bro-thentic blogger.
May 14, 2013 at 2:48 pm
Oh man, Donna, you sound like a pro already! When are you going to start Don’s blog?
May 14, 2013 at 2:49 pm
Donald Friedman…
May 14, 2013 at 7:56 pm
Snort. About the same time I start accepting sponsored posts, I suppose.
May 14, 2013 at 7:57 pm
We plan on accepting them ironically. Er, Steve does, anyway.
May 14, 2013 at 2:39 pm
I think Steve needs to be super-arrogant/macho (as noted) OR “help me, guys” (with my debt, diet, weight, procrastination, etc). Maybe a bunch of us could contribute–that would really be meta.
May 14, 2013 at 2:50 pm
I wonder which one is more lucrative…
We’ll have to ask you to guest post, er, Frank Schaller…
May 14, 2013 at 11:36 pm
I think you should go the divorcee w/custody route. It opens Steve up to being a vulnerable person. I can’t wait to hear Steve’s perspective on all things personal finance. I’m sure he’ll have a refreshing take on all those old posts.
Quit your job already. You’ve got blogging gold here. Don’t keep your audience waiting :)
May 20, 2013 at 6:32 am
Late to the game here, but Steve definitely should get cockier the more successful his blog gets. I get super annoyed that men who quit their jobs for blogs are “self employed” but women who do it are “stay at home mom’s/spouses..with a hobby that generates some income.”
May 20, 2013 at 7:32 am
self-employed? no no no, the new word is “retired”! *sigh*
April 30, 2015 at 1:50 pm
[…] Nicole and Maggie wrote my favorite post of the week about their next blog. Their idea is to create a faux blog based on a typical male blogger wanna-be entrepreneur, Steve. Shit, I would read it! […]