Ask HN: Blogging to get contracting/job leads?

[ironix]

How many of you have received contracting or job leads purely from blogs/articles you've written? What sort of posts were they, and for what sort of client? Are they heavily domain-specific, or more broad in nature? How valuable is this as a source of leads vs. other means (e.g. in-person networking, referrals by past clients, etc.). Do you have other advice here?

My own short story stolen from a co-worker: they had written an article on basic vagrant setup of popular open-source online school software (think edX, Canvas, etc.). This had eventually resulted in a contact by an agency doing work on that platform, who needed contract hours. I was always struck by how relatively "cheap" an ad this article was, and liked that it did provide value in the dev community.

[ggambetta]

Two lifetimes ago, I was running a game dev company [0]. As part of that, I did some research about client-side prediction for twitch games. Ended up not making such a game, but I wrote a few articles with the results of my research [1]. Over time, and to my surprise, they became one of the three often cited articles about the topic, the other two being the Valve wiki and Gaffer on Games.

One lifetime ago, I was working at Google Zürich. I was at my fourth year there and I was not really looking for a new opportunity. But a recruiter from Improbable [2] found me thanks to these articles, because client-side prediction knowledge is very relevant to a company making a massively multiplayer, massive-scale simulation platform. He somehow convinced me to leave the comfort of Google Zürich for the crazy adventure of Improbable in London, at a time that we were ~30 people, had no investors, and no product, only some really cool tech.

I made the jump and never looked back. And my bet has paid off [3] immensely [4] :) All thanks to these four blog posts.

[0] http://www.mysterystudio.com

[1] http://www.gabrielgambetta.com/client-server-game-architectu...

[2] https://improbable.io

[3] https://www.uktech.news/need-to-know-2/everything-you-need-t...

[4] https://www.mcvuk.com/business/netease-signs-partnership-wit...

[k1ns]

I just want you to know that your write-up of client/server architecture and programming was the single best resource that I used when exploring that area of software development. I read Valve's, Gaffer's, and yours, dozens of times each. Yours was the silver bullet. I also appreciated your examples at the end simulating a client/server model as those were very helpful. I made a really simple game with my knowledge [0], purely for exploration and fun, but I couldn't have done it without your articles.

[0] https://joustme.io

[ggambetta]

Thanks for your kind words :)

Tried to try Joustme, but I couldn't get past "searching for opponent" :( Let's hope HN gives it a boost!

[k1ns]

Thanks for trying it out! The reason you couldn't find an opponent is actually due to the fact that no one plays it (I skipped the part of actually showing this to people). The project was strictly exploratory and, for me at least, it served its purpose. Every now and then some of my friends will want to play a round of oddball or duel it out which has been an awesome experience! If you remember the arcade game JOUST, just imagine it as a multiplayer PvP and you probably have it pegged. Thanks again!

[shortformblog]

I've gotten freelance gigs based on my work for my side project, a newsletter called Tedium (https://tedium.co/), though my situation may be different because I'm in this to be a writer rather than a more technical employee.

I will say, however, that writing is one of those things that works better if you do it a whole lot rather than once in a while. Stay in practice. And be willing to syndicate your thoughts beyond your own website. Your goal is to spread ideas—spread them wide.

[bernardino]

I think blogging shows you know how to think — one, if not the main, of the hiring qualities I assume employers look for.

All in all, blogging is a win-win. You write, first and foremost, for you and for your growth. If it helps others or gets you leads, all the better.

[chrisa]

I actually just wrote a blog post about this :)

https://www.breakintoconsulting.com/blog/2018/4/4/tips-for-w...

Basically - I think the point of a blog (at the beginning) is not really to be lead gen for consulting gigs. Instead, it's a place to plant your flag on the internet and say "This is what I'm an expert in".

Eventually, that may lead to consulting leads - but at least at the start, it's really just a way to establish that you know what you're talking about. Either way - if you're thinking about doing consulting, I would highly recommend it.

[ioddly]

> Basically - I think the point of a blog (at the beginning) is not really to be lead gen for consulting gigs. Instead, it's a place to plant your flag on the internet and say "This is what I'm an expert in".

I actually just finished my first gig where a client mentioned reading something on my blog in our first call.

I don't write much or get really any recurring traffic, so I think it's more like having a blog is one way for people to check me out a little further and get a sense that I know what I'm talking about.

It's something I personally plan to invest a lot more time in this year, although I have another reason for doing that (I'd like to start a newsletter and eventually make some courses/ebooks or something along those lines).

I also think that it's a skill in and of itself; if you look at most developer blogs (mine included), it's just kind of a smattering of notes. I'm guessing that writing more longform, specialized stuff more appealing to both potential readers and clients.

[romanovcode]

Looks like a medium ad to me.

Also, the title says "Tips for Writing Your First Three Blog Posts" but you discuss only about first blog post. Or am I not getting something?

[chrisa]

I'm not affiliated with medium at all - it's just the easiest way to get started blogging (in my opinion), and it's what I use (I cross post this blog to medium).

I guess you're right about the three vs one though - I should make that more clear. I used three because it's the number I give in the "First Client Checklist": https://www.breakintoconsulting.com/first-client-checklist

Basically - I say that if you want to be an independent consultant, you should start a blog and write at least three posts as a way of demonstrating that you're an expert in that area.

[qxf2]

My company maintains a very popular blog on testing. It has helped us land mutliple clients. We get a few inbound enquiries every month - usually from really small startups and/or QA directors that are looking to quickly implement test automation. After my own personal network and past clients, my blog is the most reliable source of clients. The simplest post that resulted in a client was one we wrote on how to run a Selenium test on BrowserStack using Python. The most advanced post that generated a lead/inquiry (but I couldn't close) was one on testing a Natural Language Generator.

What we write: We mainly write to make a tester's life easier and interesting - so testing, automation, tech we use at our clients and the different tools we use to test. The one other rule of thumb is that if the engineer spent more than 2 hours Googling about a problem, they should write a post about it.

Background: I established the habit as soon as I had an employee on the bench. It took over a year and about 30 posts before we saw even a little (~1k pageviews a month) traffic. It was about 18-months of regular writing (~50 posts) before we got our first client through our blog.

Pros: The habit has been a good for both my employees as well as for my business. The posts are good references for new hires and easy to pass on to our clients too. My employees also credit writing blog posts with helping them think clearer and articulate their thoughts better. We also look smart when our clients Google for something and stumble into a solution one of our engineers wrote.

Cons: The start was a slog and demotivating. Writing is still hard and time-consuming. As we grow, it is harder to sell new employees on the habit. The articles we enjoy writing barely get any hits [1].

[1] I loved this piece of work that used color paper, an Arduino and a servo-motor to test the Fitbit heartrate monitor: https://qxf2.com/blog/testing-the-fitbit-heart-rate-monitori...

[ajeet_dhaliwal]

I haven't heard of your company or blog which is a shame since I specifically seek out material and partners in this space (see my profile, would be good to work with you).

The blog efforts at my company are admittedly poor. Without a dedicated writer the focus on resources invariably ends up directed towards new product features, fixes, customer care and on other types of marketing. Our blog has become the stereotypical 'new features' blobs that I have seen many others become. The truth is writing great content takes a huge amount of time. I do think it's worth making time to do it right if you can devote the attention and resource based on not only the significant traffic bump it can bring but also the higher quality of leads.

[jackschultz]

I've written a bunch of tech blog posts over the years over a bunch of different topics, with the main intent of being able to actually show employers that I'm able to produce rather than only talk about it. It's worked out for me, and through cycles, I get a few hundred views per day through search engines on all the different posts.

The one thing I will say is that there are stories out there like your co-worker's or some others here are those that write articles and strike it off super rich with new job opportunities or contract work. Plenty, the vast majority, don't make it that far. So before you start writing articles, make sure you want to do that because you like the topics and projects rather than only trying to put yourself out there.

[lkrubner]

I’ve received some consulting gigs, more on the management or tech lead side, thanks to articles such as “One on one meetings are underrated whereas group meetings waste time.”

http://www.smashcompany.com/business/one-on-one-meetings-are...

I think this kind of writing is important. It helps to communicate to the world who are, and what you focus on. Even when such writing doesn’t directly lead to a gig, I think it helps build your reputation in the long run.

[rwieruch]

I started to do consulting last year and since then I got all my clients via blogging. [0] On my website, I mainly write about JavaScript, React and Web Development and teach students in my courses about those topics. Clients mainly approach me to help them migrating over to web technologies, solving more complex problems with React or auditing their code bases. So yes, it works once you got readers on your blog :)

- [0] https://www.robinwieruch.de

[flaviocopes]

Yes, it works.

11 years ago I started a personal blog where I put all I was learning, and that led to several contacts that made me start contracting as I finished my studies. The blog is now dead, but it was a continuous source of inquiries emails, and this was not about rocket science, but about some basic Web Development topics.

Without it maybe I would have never started going "solo".

[TezzellEnt]

I just started to write on my own personal blog (http://cjhudson.com/blog/) mainly to share articles and ideas to solutions in Sales Ops/Salesforce that I've faced. For me, it's probably too early to know if I would get contacted regarding a job or contracting offers, however - it can act as an online resume of things that I have done.

If you enjoy writing and sharing ideas, it couldn't hurt to put yourself out there not only on a personal site but as u/shortformblog pointed out, spread them to other online communities as well.

[pryelluw]

My main source of leads and important industry contacts has been content marketing (in written form).

I write about the subjects I want to work in and tend to go fairly deep into it.

It is highly a great way to generate leads over the short and long term. I've been doing it for more than 5 years and directly attribute my success to it. To the point that I also do it for certain others (as a side gig).

There is no how to book about it. Just a desire to write and time to do it well.

[vfulco2]

I received a few decent leads from LinkedIn articles I wrote related to English resume editing for a Chinese young professional audience although my clients are global. I run a professional services business in Shanghai editing resumes, creating LI Profiles, interview coaching and some academic applications support. The caliber of readership is higher there and it is one of fastest ways to be recognized.

[codegeek]

As a potential client, it is very valuable to me. I have reached out to a few people based on their blog posts. It doesn't always convert in an opportunity but it does give you a good advantage and edge. Plus it is not a lot of work if you really think about it. It just comes down to your ability to put your thoughts and knowledge into words. It does help.

[vxxzy]

I know of someone who regularly receives work simply from providing solutions on different specialized board (for instance voip-info). I think boards, and other places would be a better alternative to starting your own blog. You can at least leverage their online reputations with search engines.

[jiveturkey]

Well that is one of the major use cases for blogging.

Consider the company tech blog. Some are very forthright that the blog is a recruiting tool, like cloudflare. Some are more subtle about it, like gocardless.

Just be careful that you don't become one of the folks that blogs because you like the sound of your own voice.

[forbin_meet_hal]

From my blog, no.

From the work that my blog has linked to (like whitepapers and stuff I've written elsewhere), then absolutely.