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Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?

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Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?

#21

Post by asicsp »

Having a blog was one of the recommended marketing strategy for ebook promotion, so I started one. Most of deep dives on topics I'm familiar already made it to my books, so initially I wrote stories around my writing experience.

Then I started a mini section for random stuff like what bug gave me trouble. To become more regular, I reused stuff for tips and tricks (along with video demos).

I don't use analytics, so don't have numbers to indicate how useful it turned out for ebook sales. My friend found one of my posts as the top result while searching for a topic, which was very satisfying to hear.

Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?

#22

Post by hjr265 »

When I first created my website (https://hjr265.me) several years ago it was mostly a placeholder for the domain that matched my preferred handle/username.

Ever since I started the 100DaysToOffload challenge, I have been writing a bit more frequently on my personal blog: https://hjr265.me/blog/.

Apart from it being a writing excersie, I have been forced to look at my own work more critically before presenting them on the Internet.

I now find it more important to understand new concepts in-depth, as I learn them, so that I can explain them better.

I think about learning things that are beyond what I need for my regular work.

And, yes, I admit that I have used my blog at least once to vent about something.

Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?

#24

Post by becquerel »

xena wrote: post #12

I've been running a blog at https://xeiaso.net for almost a decade now. It has been the single best decision I have ever made in my career. It allows me to skip technical screening interviews. It has made interviewing at companies _easy_ because I have _already proven_ that I understand what I'm talking about. Learning how to write well also makes it so much easier to explain things succinctly, especially when workin…

I hope one day to have a site as cool as yours.

Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?

#25

Post by devtailz »

My favourite win of my development blog is stopping myself from doing the same project multiple times. I used to tinker a lot, but wouldn’t document anything and so I often had to start all over when I picked that project back up.

Writing forces me to break things down into manageable chunks. I’ve seen much more consistent progress this way.

https://devtails.xyz

Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?

#26

Post by bookofjoe »

I started my blog on August 24, 2004, posting multiple times daily, and I continue to do so because I enjoy it.

It's a way of seeing what I think.

I get about 500 page views/day (down from around 10,000 visitors/25,000 page views/day around 2010-2012).

My Comments section since the beginning has always been completely open: no login required; no delay; no editing; no moderation.

I'm one of VERY few bloggers today with completely open, unmoderated comments: I get about 10/week, which lets me respond/interact to each one if I want.

Bonus: EVERY comment goes on my homepage at the top of my Comments section the moment it appears along with the commenter's handle — it's one way to get a tiny measure of internet fame cheap.

I haven't changed my blog's appearance apart from tweaking image size since I started.

Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?

#27

Post by ironSkillet »

I used my blog to display a portfolio of projects I had worked on to prepare myself for leaving academia and go into industry. It paid off massively, as a random linkedin recruiter saw the flashy looking web viz I built (an utter pile of garbage html and D3) and I got a job at a hedge fund, leading me to a very lucrative career trajectory.

Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?

#28

Post by travisjungroth »

bookofjoe wrote: post #26

I started my blog on August 24, 2004, posting multiple times daily, and I continue to do so because I enjoy it. It's a way of seeing what I think. I get about 500 page views/day (down from around 10,000 visitors/25,000 page views/day around 2010-2012). My Comments section since the beginning has always been completely open: no login required; no delay; no editing; no moderation. I'm one of VERY few bloggers today wit…

How are you not blown up with spam comments?

Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?

#29

Post by BrentOzar »

Mine started as a personal blog, and now generates $2M USD/year revenue of training, consulting, and online services.

I regularly preach the gospel of, "Find the most expensive thing in your business, stand next to that, offer to help fix it when it breaks, and blog about what you've learned."

For me, that was Microsoft SQL Server, but the specific tech doesn't matter. Follow the money.

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