Posted by Mike Smith :: August 10, 2007 @ 6:04 am

People often ask me about my motivation for contributing to the Lending Club blog. There are quite a few reasons, which I’ll get into below, but the main reason is that it allows me to further my own knowledge of personal finance. I’m passionate about the topic. I try to read at least two finance or business related books each month. Researching topics for this blog is a great way to stay informed about current topics.

I grew up in a household of teachers, so teaching others seems natural to me. I’ve learned that one of the best ways to learn a topic is to prepare to teach it. Confidence to teach material comes from a thorough understanding of the topic. Since I’m not necessarily an expert on any of the topics that I cover, I believe that I am able to relay the information to readers in a way that’s easy to understand.

Timing of the opportunity to contribute to this blog also suited me well. I had been reading many personal finance blogs at the time of Lending Club’s Facebook launch. I was excited to see that another player had joined the realm of social lending. I found Lending Club’s integration with Facebook very interesting. That positioning allows Lending Club to unite lenders and borrowers who may have already established a trusting relationship through a Facebook network.

P2P Lending is the way of the future. Superior ideas, even if they take a little while to catch on, almost always prevail. Social lending is a superior alternative to traditional loans and credit cards. Being a part of this growing phenomenon is an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.

A final reason why I wanted to write for the Lending Club blog is that it angers me when consumers get taken advantage of. There are far too many legitimate ways for companies to make money out there. Taking advantage of people for profit cannot be tolerated. I hope that my contributions are easy to understand, entertaining, and leave you better informed whenever you take the time to read them.