Think of it as a tech diary that you don't mind other people reading. A little problem that you solve might turn out to be a little problem several other people have, and Google will help them find your solution to their problem, making their lives a bit better, too.
Ask HN: Starting blogging when you're not an expert?
111–120 of 121 posts
Re: Ask HN: Starting blogging when you're not an expert?
#112I think it is definitely worth it. I blogged daily when teaching myself JavaScript, being open with the fact that I knew nothing and including things I'd learned that day and code snippets. It helped recall to get my thoughts and approaches down in writing, but also resulted in people chiming in with helpful comments on how I could improve. Eventually as my knowledge grew my posts actually ended up being helpful for others, too.
Re: Ask HN: Starting blogging when you're not an expert?
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, this is it. It's very early-stages/preview-mode as I haven't quite nailed down the exact architecture I want for the client but it has helped a lot as far as job searching goes!
In your tags page, I really dig that the posts listed by tag are on the same page and being able to jump to them. Very minimal. Hope you don't mind me stealing the idea.
Steal away, but the credit goes to https://github.com/AWEEKJ/Kiko-plus as I am just using his Jekyll theme.
Re: Ask HN: Starting blogging when you're not an expert?
#114Even if you aren't using it to become attractive for recruiters, this will probably happen. I went from rarely (like, extremely) getting callbacks for remote gigs to getting around 30%-40% callbacks. The difference was that I started a blog about writing a web application with modern technologies and included it in my applications. It's a pretty bland blog, but just the fact that I wrote about stuff I'm interested in…
How do recruiters know about your blog that your conversion rate went up to 30-40%?
I simply highlight/mention it in a cover letter when I apply to a job.
To your point though, the 30-40% number is pure gut-feeling, I've certainly done no proper study to arrive at that. But there is definitely a marked increase in response rate.
Re: Ask HN: Starting blogging when you're not an expert?
#115Even if you aren't using it to become attractive for recruiters, this will probably happen. I went from rarely (like, extremely) getting callbacks for remote gigs to getting around 30%-40% callbacks. The difference was that I started a blog about writing a web application with modern technologies and included it in my applications. It's a pretty bland blog, but just the fact that I wrote about stuff I'm interested in…
Do let us know how much more viewership you get after posting this on HN Or better yet, write a blog post about it
Ha, this post provided around 620 unique visitors yesterday. I had 1 visitor (who was probably me) the day before, so that's a nice bump from HN :)
It will be interesting to see how traffic dies/tails off in the coming days.
Re: Ask HN: Starting blogging when you're not an expert?
#116The way to become an expert in anything is to research the thing, do the thing, and reflect on the thing. Blogging is a good way to conduct the first and last part of that process. If you'll allow me a personal anecdote on the matter: 10 years ago I knew absolutely nothing about "creativity." I worked in an environment where the word was tossed around a lot, but any time I asked what it meant I got conflicting, confu…
I was greatly inspired by your post, and I'll be spending the rest of the evening reading your CreativeSomething blog and a little more about your story.
I have a strong desire to follow your path, but instead of Creativity as a focus, it is on finding ways to achieve a simple, less stressful life through automation of repetitive tasks, good habits, organization, etc. Think "Wellness" but with possibly a more tech-focused spin. I get much satisfaction from books like Spark Joy (Marie Kondo), Four Hour Work Week (Timothy Ferriss), and I Will Teach You To Be Rich (Ramit Sethi).
Your post about researching, doing, and reflecting really speaks to me. And I feel like I should jump in... but I'm hesitant because I'm not sure I can easily come up with 20-25 starting topics to research and write about. In your case, Creativity seems like a core keyword that is (easier) to start with. Do you have any recommendations for me?
Again, thanks so much. Your comment may be what changes my life!
Re: Ask HN: Starting blogging when you're not an expert?
#117The best teachers are often not the top experts and vice versa. I am making money teaching go lessons as an average amateur. Why does this work? Because there are very few teachers whose specialty is to get novices and beginners to average amateur level fast. Sign up here: patreon.com/jonbarker . What do I get out of this? Reusable downloadable/paid content and more exposure. I also get to think about how to teach an…
Could you expand on how do you get your students that pay for your lessons? I'm asking this as someone who is a CS teacher in a local university but would like to earn something on the side..
I get paying students by providing free lessons. If they like the result then I direct them to my patreon page where they can sign up if they like. I am looking to learn CS from a personal CS coach so please email jonathan.t.barker@gmail.com. Let's schedule some time to go over mutual strategies at the very least.
Re: Ask HN: Starting blogging when you're not an expert?
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
Quick question: I really enjoy blogging, but this... > and connected with people also interested in the subject ...is something I never learned to do. How did this come about for you? Personally, whenever I'm learning something new, I always think "why would anybody want to discuss my completely amateur take on this topic?" and just end up doing things on my own.
Perhaps consider a different perspective? Instead of approaching conversations with the mentality of "I want to share my take" approach them with the mindset of "What can this person teach me?" Always, in all interactions. For me, it was helpful to use Seth Godin's advice[1]. I used email to reach out to people I admire, to pull ideas from their mind, and eventually I found others reaching out to me to do the same. L…
This is perhaps the most valuable thread I've come across on HN. I've been thinking about blogging for a while - thank you for the motivation!
One other thing I struggle with is topic. Everyone says niche but I'm not niche - I learn and am interested in a huge range of topics. How could I make progress in this way? I can't stick with a single topic in my own life, it'd be difficult to reflect that into my writing.
Re: Ask HN: Starting blogging when you're not an expert?
#119The way to become an expert in anything is to research the thing, do the thing, and reflect on the thing. Blogging is a good way to conduct the first and last part of that process. If you'll allow me a personal anecdote on the matter: 10 years ago I knew absolutely nothing about "creativity." I worked in an environment where the word was tossed around a lot, but any time I asked what it meant I got conflicting, confu…
I was greatly inspired by your post, and I'll be spending the rest of the evening reading your CreativeSomething blog and a little more about your story. I have a strong desire to follow your path, but instead of Creativity as a focus, it is on finding ways to achieve a simple, less stressful life through automation of repetitive tasks, good habits, organization, etc. Think "Wellness" but with possibly a more tech-fo…
Many years ago I did a webcast for Moz (formerly SEOmoz) on the topic of how to find things to write about. The webcast is behind a member wall (free to sign up I think) but might be helpful to you[1].
Other tricks I use to come up with things to write about: search Twitter/Quora/Reddit for people specifically asking questions related to what it is you want to write about (e.g. "automatic habit"). Then break each question down into its fundamental components to create a more complete set of topics, asking who, what, where, when, why, and how of each specific question you encounter. This way one question ("What types of habits should be automated") can very easily become several ("Who benefits most from automating habits?", "Where does automation take place?", "When should someone consider automating habits vs. not?", etc.).
1 https://moz.com/webinars/from-nothing-to-expert-how-to-blog-...
Re: Ask HN: Starting blogging when you're not an expert?
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
Perhaps consider a different perspective? Instead of approaching conversations with the mentality of "I want to share my take" approach them with the mindset of "What can this person teach me?" Always, in all interactions. For me, it was helpful to use Seth Godin's advice[1]. I used email to reach out to people I admire, to pull ideas from their mind, and eventually I found others reaching out to me to do the same. L…
This is perhaps the most valuable thread I've come across on HN. I've been thinking about blogging for a while - thank you for the motivation! One other thing I struggle with is topic. Everyone says niche but I'm not niche - I learn and am interested in a huge range of topics. How could I make progress in this way? I can't stick with a single topic in my own life, it'd be difficult to reflect that into my writing.
Perhaps that is your topic then: how to discover and explore diverse interests.
I know I'd subscribe to someone dedicating time to research and write about identifying interesting subjects, diving into them, and the results.