HN Explorer

Ask YC: I am a blogger and got asked to do articles... Haven't decided.

4 points by spoiledtechie ↗ HN
I just started blogging a couple of months ago and I guess my content is good. My current blog is spoiledtechie.com. I was just recently asked to submit articles at www.dreamincode.net. I don't think I want to do this. I am not sure if I should take up the offer.

I started blogging for the sheer joy of getting better at my grammar and getting my name out there in the world. I have been shooting for something great, but don't know where it could lead. I am questioning whether I should do this or not. It might get me some publicity, but other than that I don't know of anything else it could do for me. Another thought is that spoiledtechie.com content will be there for ever as long as I pay for it.

The people at dnc will then be able to make money off my content forever... Do I want that? They pay me what, like $100.00 or something per article, but over time, I would probably make that same amount of money over time for each article. I declined to blog at www.asp.net for the same reason. I want to own my articles.

I have also heard that its the companies in the world that hold out and don't sell them selves cheap, that end up making a great product. I think my blog is just like that. I have a great product, but wonder if I wrote articles for dnc, would I actually get real publicity from it? I want to be recognized some day down the road as a great programmer and thats why I mainly write to my blog. So the question remains,

Should I hold out? Should I go in for the publicity?

I am not a selfish person and wish to share with my community that has given me a lot in return. I am just wondering how good of an idea is this?

Should I or shouldn't I?

Has anyone ever done this and regretted it?

5 comments

[ 1.6 ms ] story [ 38.3 ms ] thread
vorador
I wouldn't do it : whenever an activity becomes paid it becomes less enjoyable.
ErrantX
I'd say go for it.

It's an instant cash injection and you aren't guaranteed to make the same amount if the content is posted on your own blog. You could give up blogging (or all sorts of things) for example and your blog might die off.

On the other hand you get your name on a well respected, big, site. It will look excellent on your resume - and increase your communtiy exposure.

In terms of making your blog the next great resource: consider if writing for dnc could help with that. DO they let you link back to your blog? In which case that could be an excellent way to drive traffic that is interested in your material back to your blog.

You dont have to submit to dnc forever - perhaps a few articles to establish your credentials and drive some traffic back. Or perhaps you will enjoy mixing the 2 content streams: one fairly guaranteed to bring you cash and the other more of a "risk". The 2 could balance out quite nicely (a lot of the big bloggers write content for all sorts of places).

However, if you aren't comfortable doing it - then dont. :)

spoiledtechie
thanks for the positive feedback. They will be launching a new section of their site. Its an article section. They said no commitment and I would be allowed to link back along with a pic and be called a "Staff Writer". What ever that means.. It would be a bit of cash injection.. Maybe I will see what they have in mind. It seems to be a really slow moving/loading site... Doesn't look like it is very well maintained. I guess the exposure would be a really good thing...

But do these things actually work well. Do the visitors that go to the site for an article like mine actually go visit my blog?

lmao
If I read an interesting article on a site like DreamInCode I will usually check out the authors personal blog.
ErrantX
Even if only 100 people click through (a small number I would say...) and you only convert 50% into regular readers then that doesn't sound great.

But.

They are readers interested in what you have to say - and interested in your subject matter. 100 DNC click throughs probably has the same effect as 500 google click throughs :)

I would click on from DNC :)