151–160 of 314 posts
I don't "write" for an audience, it's just about non-controversial technical topics that I write for myself. If it's already in an org-mode format, why wouldn't I publish it then?
Some people find it useful, I also find it useful when I need to refer to my notes in the future, to know where to look at.
That being said, I never had an intention to have a big audience, or expect any business related gain.
1. I have met a lot of people who reached out to me by email; sometimes it's fun to find other people with similar interests, it's resulted in many good discussions (even with people with differing viewpoints).
2. I have not landed any jobs from it (but I have been offered a lot of contract work--I have turned every opportunity down because I don't want to take time from my family).
3. Writing helps clarify thought. I often correct my own thinking through the process of writing. I'm not a great writer, but I'm a better writer because of blogging.
4. I also enjoy it, I wouldn't do it otherwise. I don't do it for others, I don't try to optimize for SEO or pick popular topics or grow a large audience. If I see another blog has written a similar post I usually don't see the need to write my own. I write what (a) what I enjoy writing or (b) what must be written even if it isn't popular or (c) what I think will be useful to others.
5. I'm often terrified at how bad my early posts were. At least I can see the growth!
6. Even though it's not the most efficient way to host, there is something special about hosting a blog from a server in your own garage.
7. I have more control on a blog (both in terms of freedom and expression) than I would writing on social media.
8. It's a way to leverage your knowledge. If I figure something out, I'll post it. It might cost me a few hours to write, but then for the next few years thousands of other people may benefit saving hours of time, research or money.
I write on my personal site to share about projects that I’ve made, or accomplishments, or in one recent case how often I get things wrong. I don’t have much of an audience, and that’s okay. I post a few times a year, don’t advertise, and only have cookies so I can see what people are reading.
FWIW, I write in a personal journal as well, much more often.
> Personal Not in this day and age when you might lose a job if they find out you support Trump or aren't on-board with progressive egregores. Too much risk.
From the hiring side, I always spend time reading people's blogs, Github, or social media if they make an effort to include it on their resume. 9 out of 10 times, blogs are extremely stale content from 5+ years back. A lot of people start blogging at the beginning of their careers and then just stop. This creates a weird frozen-in-time effect where what's shown on their blog doesn't match their current skillset at al…
So in my opinion the return of investment in terms of hiring is close to zero. However it can be a great tool to document your journey or learning and how much one has evolved.
I have also given 2 presentations in my company about an Agile practice I am passionate about. Just 2 presentations - nothing more. In my follow up to the presentations I sent an email mentioning a particular post I wrote that people could read.
A couple of weeks after giving these presentations, I was talking to a couple of new-joiners and introduced myself by my first name. "Hi my name is John, when did you join?"
To my surprise, the new joiner replied "Wait - you're not John Doe are you? I've heard some people talk about you". Apparently, I had started to become known for this niche area of knowledge. My presentations, together with my blog, showed people I was serious about what I said and - most importantly - I cared.
Your brand shows that you take yourself seriously and, as a result, other people take you seriously. Writing is difficult because it requires you to think deeply. It takes time and mental effort. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't write. It means you should write more.
I've found it worth doing. My blog (xeiaso.net, formerly christine.website) is the main way that I get employed at this point. It also helps that people link it here a lot. After 100 articles or so writing got a lot easier and now people rely on my blog for a lot of things. I think it's worth it, but I've also been exclusively self-hosting it. I currently have the code (and writing) open source on GitHub ( https://gi…
I write about the life lessons in movies: https://moviewise.substack.com/p/are-you-socially-mad-or-cap...