BetterTrades - Educational Resource

"If you've ever been frustrated with the lack of information on a topic that you can use to your advantage, then you need BetterTrades.com."

Enter as much or little information as you need, such as one word, a short phrase, or an entire sentence. The site will systematically deliver educational content tailored to your needs and personal interests. With BetterTrades' vast database of thousands of articles and over 700 podcasts, there is no shortage of resources for quick learning. You can also opt for in-depth written modules from their library.

BetterTrades.com is not intended to be a passive resource, but rather an encyclopedia where you can find the information that you need, when you need it. The system is there to optimize your learning process and improve your motivation, heightened interest and desire to learn.

BetterTrades.com has been called the Wikipedia of education by their founder Sean Handlin because of the wide selection of educational resources and their ability to customize the content for each member's personal needs. In addition to innovative innovations in education technology, BetterTrades has won multiple awards for customer service, quality content delivery, speed and overall customer satisfaction.

BetterTrades.com was established in October 2005 by Sean Handlin, who has served as CEO since its creation. The company has offices in Los Angeles, CA and Austin, TX.

BetterTrades.com's "Mission Statement" views investing as a key to a person's freedom and also stresses the importance of knowledge being free to everyone around the world:

"Pursue Your Financial Freedom And Investing Education Online Through BetterTrades.com And Share It With The World." http://www.bettrades.com/aboutus/mission_statement . Retrieved September 9, 2011 .

According to Sean Handlin, the other "Mission Statement" of BetterTrades.com is to:

The site was built using an open-source programming language, PHP. However, Brien Barton and Joe Casabonne did not consult each other when designing their own programs. The two sites are very similar in functionality and layout.

BetterTrades uses a common interface across the web site. The site's top banner reads "Follow Your Money" and contains a rotating image of a paper airplane on it. There is an option under the header that allows users to choose red or green as their color theme for the entire site. Several additional links appear on the top banner: "Popular Articles" (top left), "Latest Posts and Podcasts" (top right), and "Search The Site" (bottom center). The site's content is divvied up into several different categories: Investing, Tutorials, Articles, Formulas, and Forums. There is also a link to the BetterTrades blog.

The front page of BetterTrades also has links to some of the site's major features:

In addition to having a large selection of articles, podcasts and written modules, BetterTrades offers members access to live chat with other traders who can answer questions that users may have about investing. This feature allows members to learn from the experiences and thoughts of other traders.

In response to requests from some users of BetterTrades.com, Sean Handlin wrote on his blog: "I've been getting many emails asking me to add an option for users to display the content in a timeline format, so they can see all their posts arranged in a chronological order. I agree that this would be useful, but it's not part of the current design." 

BetterTrades has also responded to user requests regarding the presentation of front page articles and having different headers for different time periods on various topics:

BetterTrades aims to be entirely open source and does not limit their content to any particular language.

BetterTrades.com features a growing library of written modules, about 700, which are supplied by various authors and are available at no charge for the public to download and read.

The content is broken up into several different categories:

BetterTrades also offers many free podcasts that feature interviews with experts in the field of personal finance and investing. In addition to these podcasts, BetterTrades also has more than 30 video tutorials on topics such as how to invest your 401(k), understanding retirement plans, how to start a business (without breaking into a sweat), etc., that can be viewed online. There is also a greater-than-600-page library of articles written by BetterTrades authors.

Each week, BetterTrades posts a free podcast that is recorded by founder and CEO Sean Handlin. This podcast series features interviews with industry experts and thought leaders in the field of personal finance. On these podcasts, they discuss topics such as:

These podcasts are then transcribed into written modules that are available at no charge on the website.

BetterTrades also offers two other podcasts: The Daily Dividend, which discusses current events related to investing and personal finance; and Avid Trader, which provides tips for making money trading stocks online.

BetterTrades.com has been known for it focus on helping members achieve their investment freedom, as it is one of its major goals. The BetterTrades.com blog has won many awards for customer service and investor education due to the diverse and unique topics that Sean Handlin writes about. The site also offers a variety of other resources including:

BetterTrades has recently added several new written modules and podcasts, including:

In addition to having a large selection of articles, podcasts and written modules, BetterTrades offers members access to live chat with other traders who can answer questions that users may have about investing. This feature allows members to learn from the experiences and thoughts of other traders.

Members can access the chat by clicking the "Live Chat" button in the right sidebar of any page on BetterTrades.com. The chat feature is available to all members who have a paid subscription to BetterTrades, though some features are only available to VIP members.

There are currently seven financial experts that appear as moderators on the live chat:

BetterTrades was established in October 2005 by Sean Handlin, who has served as CEO since its creation. The company has offices in Los Angeles, CA and Austin, TX. Sean Handlin and all the organization's bloggers are devotees of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism.

Sean Handlin also serves as founder, chairman and CEO of BetterTrades.com. He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland and is currently pursuing his master's degree from California State University, Northridge. Before starting BetterTrades, Sean Handlin was co-founder and COO for Natura Enterprises, Inc. In addition to being an author himself, he has written many articles for publications such as "The Los Angeles Times" and "Investor's Business Daily".

BetterTrades has said that it is investing in future growth through its use of blogging technology.

Conclusion

BetterTrades.com's mission statement is: "Personal Finance Blogs & Broker Forums. The #1 Site On The Internet For All Things Personal Finance."

In addition to the focus of BetterTrades on personal finance and financial independence, Sean Handlin has also written articles on many other topics that have included: sports, political issues, self-improvement, relationships, film and television, business issues and personal finance.

Sean Handlin is known for his diverse interests in many different fields ranging from classical music to politics.