Oversharing

Oversharing

People (including my relatives) wonder why I write so much about topics like my personal life and my health. It’s very simple. I have a blogger’s creed. It looks like this: If you learn something that would be valuable to others, share it. Privacy There’s an exception. I won’t violate the privacy of my family…

Reflections from five years of “Without Bullshit”
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Reflections from five years of “Without Bullshit”

On March 26, 2015, I launched this blog and my freelance business. In this moment when we’re all looking forward in terror, I’m looking backward and reflecting. Maybe there is something to be learned from my last five years — and if you’ve been suddenly thrust into freelancing, perhaps it can help you. Before I…

Content marketing for freelancers: notes on tone and content

Content marketing for freelancers: notes on tone and content

When you’re a freelancer, leads are your lifeline. Where do they come from? Five years experience at this has taught me that while content marketing works, tone is just as important as content. Back up a bit. I have had six full-time jobs in my pre-freelance career. The first five of them I got through…

Correlation, causation, and confusion: The Backlinko study of 912 million blog posts
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Correlation, causation, and confusion: The Backlinko study of 912 million blog posts

Brian Dean of Backlinko, an SEO maven whose site includes a technique that “almost guarantees that you get high quality links from every piece of content that you publish,” published a study of 912 million blog posts. He says his results include worthwhile insights. I say they support an alternate explanation: nearly all content marketing…