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> sell my soul for money A few alternative phrases: having a job, paying the bills, making ends meet, etc. Few choose to be "really sick of being poor" while

> sell my soul for money A few alternative phrases: having a job, paying the bills, making ends meet, etc. Few choose to be "really sick of being poor" while progressing towards their goals; success to you!

DoreenMichele 9y ago
I am medically handicapped. Writing online is something I can consistently do without ending up in the ER. My condition is currently well controlled cheaply with diet and lifestyle. It is supposed to cost upwards of $100k annually for medical care and that would also have me facing higher living expenses. Getting healthier has dropped my food bill alone by more than a thousand dollars a month. And this is not really a discussion about me. I happen to be impacted by it and willing to speak to firsthand experience as a content producer. This discussion is about advertising and how that supports the free internet everyone expects while everyone then complains loudly about how advertising is the work of the devil. Blaming me for failing to find a solution here when monetization of content is in widespread crisis is a convenient means to sidestep the actual issue.
- book_mentioned 9y ago
  As a content producer, are you willing to join others creating something people demonstrate paying for directly [without advertising middlemen] or not? You have tunnel vision on the other end, looking for people to pay for what you are motivated to create [and begrudgingly accepting advertising middlemen finding someone]. As I said: success to you! Edit: In case it's not clear, my recommendation is to gain experience on something smaller/easier. Take the skill that you can use (or learn another one), find others using that skill to make money directly, and copy them step-by-step until it works for you. "Fail fast" doesn't mean give up on your dreams; use the experience gained for the harder sell. Insisting the only choice is between meaningful content and soul selling is a false dichotomy. Lifestyle-funding, paying audiences must be carefully built/grown. (Ideally, this means completely disintermediating all third parties; in practice this means keeping a diverse group of them at a healthy distance as a necessary evil -- especially for initial exposure, aka advertising.) The whole point of this discussion is that allowing anyone in-between the content creator and their audience inevitably breaks down the relationship as the middlemen prioritize what makes them the most money. [Edited a bunch to make it clear this is entirely on-topic; take care. At the absolute least: collect email addresses for a newsletter.]
  - DoreenMichele 9y ago
    Pointedly blaming me is just another dodge of the larger issue addressed by the article. I'm done replying to you. This is not good faith engagement. Your edits elaborating on how it is my fault in your opinion don't make your comment any better.
    - book_mentioned 9y ago
      I apologize for focusing on your statement regarding your financial situation, particularly for misinterpreting what I would otherwise classify as a bit of an overshare as an indication you may be willing to re-prioritize to improve it. >no one has any sympathy whatsoever for Didn't mean to fall into this category by ham-fistedly communicating what I personally consider a baby step in a positive direction.
      - DoreenMichele 9y ago
        It is an overshare if a poor person qualifies their statements with telling you they are on the receiving end of this bullshit double standard. But when rich people let you know they are well heeled, that's not oversharing. That's just a reason to respect their opinion as it is evidence of accomplishment and competence. What a fabulously convenient means to silence and further disempower the most crapped on members of society: we don't want to know you are amongst us. Don't you dare support your points by admitting that you are poor in spite of 6 years of college and a long list of other attributes that suggest you are highly competent. If makes us uncomfortable to confront the possibility that maybe poor people aren't all stupid, uneducated, lazy losers. We prefer to imagine that if you do all the right things, life will be grand.
        book_mentioned 9y ago
        >trying to figure out how to provide quality content that I think is meaningful and also monetize it You continue to pour your heart and soul into your projects, that is clear. Few are willing to be as transparent here; I appreciate learning from your perspective, the responses your approach elicits (even in myself), and the results of your approach. Solidifying a concrete application for my own future reference: if in the future an opportunity arises for me to share something I've worked on with HN, I will don my flame-resistant suit, thank people for taking the time to interact publicly, and try to apply as much of the advice I prioritize as possible and helpful (with the understanding that I will have a hard time evaluating things objectively) while not disparaging what remains. I also hope to apply these tactics to unsolicited advice/critiques, as has already been clearly demonstrated as difficult for me! Changing gears to actively pursue monetization is tough and I continue to wish you the best as you do so. My analogy is you've found your dream job and now want to get paid to do it! Thanks much for your time.

DoreenMichele 9y ago

I am medically handicapped. Writing online is something I can consistently do without ending up in the ER. My condition is currently well controlled cheaply with diet and lifestyle. It is supposed to cost upwards of $100k annually for medical care and that would also have me facing higher living expenses. Getting healthier has dropped my food bill alone by more than a thousand dollars a month. And this is not really a discussion about me. I happen to be impacted by it and willing to speak to firsthand experience as a content producer. This discussion is about advertising and how that supports the free internet everyone expects while everyone then complains loudly about how advertising is the work of the devil. Blaming me for failing to find a solution here when monetization of content is in widespread crisis is a convenient means to sidestep the actual issue.

book_mentioned 9y ago
As a content producer, are you willing to join others creating something people demonstrate paying for directly [without advertising middlemen] or not? You have tunnel vision on the other end, looking for people to pay for what you are motivated to create [and begrudgingly accepting advertising middlemen finding someone]. As I said: success to you! Edit: In case it's not clear, my recommendation is to gain experience on something smaller/easier. Take the skill that you can use (or learn another one), find others using that skill to make money directly, and copy them step-by-step until it works for you. "Fail fast" doesn't mean give up on your dreams; use the experience gained for the harder sell. Insisting the only choice is between meaningful content and soul selling is a false dichotomy. Lifestyle-funding, paying audiences must be carefully built/grown. (Ideally, this means completely disintermediating all third parties; in practice this means keeping a diverse group of them at a healthy distance as a necessary evil -- especially for initial exposure, aka advertising.) The whole point of this discussion is that allowing anyone in-between the content creator and their audience inevitably breaks down the relationship as the middlemen prioritize what makes them the most money. [Edited a bunch to make it clear this is entirely on-topic; take care. At the absolute least: collect email addresses for a newsletter.]
- DoreenMichele 9y ago
  Pointedly blaming me is just another dodge of the larger issue addressed by the article. I'm done replying to you. This is not good faith engagement. Your edits elaborating on how it is my fault in your opinion don't make your comment any better.
  - book_mentioned 9y ago
    I apologize for focusing on your statement regarding your financial situation, particularly for misinterpreting what I would otherwise classify as a bit of an overshare as an indication you may be willing to re-prioritize to improve it. >no one has any sympathy whatsoever for Didn't mean to fall into this category by ham-fistedly communicating what I personally consider a baby step in a positive direction.
    - DoreenMichele 9y ago
      It is an overshare if a poor person qualifies their statements with telling you they are on the receiving end of this bullshit double standard. But when rich people let you know they are well heeled, that's not oversharing. That's just a reason to respect their opinion as it is evidence of accomplishment and competence. What a fabulously convenient means to silence and further disempower the most crapped on members of society: we don't want to know you are amongst us. Don't you dare support your points by admitting that you are poor in spite of 6 years of college and a long list of other attributes that suggest you are highly competent. If makes us uncomfortable to confront the possibility that maybe poor people aren't all stupid, uneducated, lazy losers. We prefer to imagine that if you do all the right things, life will be grand.
      - book_mentioned 9y ago
        >trying to figure out how to provide quality content that I think is meaningful and also monetize it You continue to pour your heart and soul into your projects, that is clear. Few are willing to be as transparent here; I appreciate learning from your perspective, the responses your approach elicits (even in myself), and the results of your approach. Solidifying a concrete application for my own future reference: if in the future an opportunity arises for me to share something I've worked on with HN, I will don my flame-resistant suit, thank people for taking the time to interact publicly, and try to apply as much of the advice I prioritize as possible and helpful (with the understanding that I will have a hard time evaluating things objectively) while not disparaging what remains. I also hope to apply these tactics to unsolicited advice/critiques, as has already been clearly demonstrated as difficult for me! Changing gears to actively pursue monetization is tough and I continue to wish you the best as you do so. My analogy is you've found your dream job and now want to get paid to do it! Thanks much for your time.