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I think the author could have made significantly more revenue if he invested in copywriting that demonstrated some empathy. He is clearly intelligent, articula

I think the author could have made significantly more revenue if he invested in copywriting that demonstrated some empathy. He is clearly intelligent, articulate and well versed in the subject-matter. Unfortunately his observations about traffic sources (ie. the intention of HN's existence) showed a rather pronounced lack of EQ. Copy that connects always considers the reader. Additionally, the placement of payment options with just dollar amounts hidden in a passage of text is far too obscure. I suspect from what he has written and the choices he has made to encourage purchases, that he believes there isn't a way to be more overt without being nagging, annoying, over-dramatic or using dark patterns. If this is the case, then that's a shame. Well placed, well-intentioned buying options executed with the kind care and skills that he has are actually a good thing for the reader, respect the audience and would increase conversion.

tedunangst 11y ago
> Unfortunately his observations about traffic sources (ie. the intention of HN's existence) showed a rather pronounced lack of EQ. His analysis of HN doesn't seem that far off the mark. It's amazing how many people seem to be taking it as a personal put down.
- nthnclrk 11y ago
  Oh, I don't disagree actually. And I'm not active enough on here to really identify as being one of the crowd anyway. It was an example, and one that would be easily identifiable here.
Numberwang 11y ago
Re. the traffic source observations, they were clearly written this way to be controversial and thus generate more comments and more views from mentioned sources. Very clever I'd say.
- rtpg 11y ago
  Sure but page views don't equal dollars. It's very frustrating, because this is being called an experiment in web publishing, but this post shows that he's either not trying to do the footwork in the "publishing" part of web publishing, or maybe he just lacks the knowledge to do so. Go to the "how to pay"[1] page and count how long it takes for you to figure out how to give the guy $5. _Then_ try to go through the checkout process (which asks me for a shipping address!). The ultimate irony is that that post says my time is expensive, yet does not make it take 10 seconds (Stripe Checkout form) to give him money. These 1:1000 numbers are being presented as if it's indicative of the state of the web publishing universe, but my guess is these numbers would be much better by spending some time on the "publishing" part of the job. And, unlike what the writer seems to imply with his whole mailing list digression, those changes can make the user experience better as well! I hope this doesn't become a reference point for people. [1]http://practicaltypography.com/how-to-pay-for-this-book.html http://practicaltypography.com/how-to-pay-for-this-book.html
davidgerard 11y ago
The guy is no good at selling himself and appears to feel that doing so would be tawdry.
vijayr 11y ago
"Copy that connects always considers the reader." This is true, but personally I've become jaded with over the top, long, emotionally manipulative copy. I've fallen for these in the past and wasted lots of money (I am embarrassed about it). They annoy me these days and I quickly close such pages and make a mental note not to click on them again.

tedunangst 11y ago

> Unfortunately his observations about traffic sources (ie. the intention of HN's existence) showed a rather pronounced lack of EQ. His analysis of HN doesn't seem that far off the mark. It's amazing how many people seem to be taking it as a personal put down.

nthnclrk 11y ago
Oh, I don't disagree actually. And I'm not active enough on here to really identify as being one of the crowd anyway. It was an example, and one that would be easily identifiable here.

Numberwang 11y ago

Re. the traffic source observations, they were clearly written this way to be controversial and thus generate more comments and more views from mentioned sources. Very clever I'd say.

rtpg 11y ago
Sure but page views don't equal dollars. It's very frustrating, because this is being called an experiment in web publishing, but this post shows that he's either not trying to do the footwork in the "publishing" part of web publishing, or maybe he just lacks the knowledge to do so. Go to the "how to pay"[1] page and count how long it takes for you to figure out how to give the guy $5. _Then_ try to go through the checkout process (which asks me for a shipping address!). The ultimate irony is that that post says my time is expensive, yet does not make it take 10 seconds (Stripe Checkout form) to give him money. These 1:1000 numbers are being presented as if it's indicative of the state of the web publishing universe, but my guess is these numbers would be much better by spending some time on the "publishing" part of the job. And, unlike what the writer seems to imply with his whole mailing list digression, those changes can make the user experience better as well! I hope this doesn't become a reference point for people. [1]http://practicaltypography.com/how-to-pay-for-this-book.html http://practicaltypography.com/how-to-pay-for-this-book.html

davidgerard 11y ago

The guy is no good at selling himself and appears to feel that doing so would be tawdry.

vijayr 11y ago

"Copy that connects always considers the reader." This is true, but personally I've become jaded with over the top, long, emotionally manipulative copy. I've fallen for these in the past and wasted lots of money (I am embarrassed about it). They annoy me these days and I quickly close such pages and make a mental note not to click on them again.