For those of you not familiar with NetWorthIQ, it’s some what of a cross between net worth tracking software and a blog site. It allows you to track your net worth, and should you feel so inclined, make your profile public for all to see! So whether you want to share with the world what you’re worth or privately track your finances to keep yourself motivated, I strongly recommend checking out what NetworthIQ has to offer. Best of all, it’s free!

I recently had the opportunity to interview Ryan Williams, one of the creators of NetworthIQ, and thought you might be interested to hear that he credits the personal finance blogging community with his inspiration for starting the social sharing site. Read the full interview below…

Cody: What was your inspiration for creating NetworthIQ?

Ryan: Our inspiration for NetworthIQ was really a direct result of reading personal finance blogs and our desire to build a web business. Back in ‘05, our team had been wanting to build something, feeling entrepreneurial and all as the Web 2.0 movement was ramping up, but were having trouble getting started. I was getting into blogs at the time and as a personal finance enthusiast, I enjoyed reading pf blogs more and more. First was PF Blog, and I was pretty struck by how he was tracking his finances publicly. Soon I found more and more bloggers doing this and after reading another blogger comment on My Money Blog, it hit me (one of those ideas while in the shower), “We should create a site where anyone can track their net worth as an alternative too (or complement of) traditional personal finance software, and then let them share it with the world and talk about it, sort of like how you can share pictures on Flickr.” And that was how it came to be.

Cody: How long has NetworthIQ been running?

Ryan: NetworthIQ launched in July of 2005. We reached out to the pf blog community immediately for feedback and discussion and were fortunate to get a good response early on.

Cody: How many users does NetworthIQ currently have?

Ryan: We have over 14,000 registered users at the moment.

Cody: Do you have your own profile?

Ryan: Yes, I do, and it’s even public. However, as to remain anonymous on the site, I don’t disclose which user I am. For me personally, I’ve found it extremely helpful to keep an eye on the bottom line. Even as progress through my career and income rises, not seeing significant gains in net worth helps me realize there is much work to be done to meet my financial goals. It serves as a reminder, that it’s not what you make, it’s what you keep that counts.

Cody: Are all profiles public, or can they be made private?

Ryan: Making a profile public is optional and the default is set to private. About 1/3 of users make their profiles public.

Cody: Is tracking net worth only for the wealthy, or can someone in debt benefit from your product?

Ryan: It’s absolutely for everybody. The NetworthIQ community includes people from all phases of financial life, from those entering the workforce and just getting started, to seasoned investors already retired. I’ve found that the “debt bloggers” are some of the most dedicated members. As Tricia at Blogging Away Debt has shown with her blog, figuring out exactly where you are financially and then starting to track and document your journey can be an excellent tool in the debt payoff battle.

Cody: What does the future hold for NetworthIQ?

Ryan: I’m excited about the future. While there’s power in simplicity, we definitely want to continue to build features that will make it even easier to keep track of you money and utilize the community better to find the best ways to save, spend, and invest. If anyone should have any questions, feel free to connect on Twitter or email me at ryan@networthiq.com.

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