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Many VPS providers are offering similar terms. DigitalOcean has its Write for DOnations program (https://www.digitalocean.com/community/pages/write-for-digital

by from 6y ago

Many VPS providers are offering similar terms. DigitalOcean has its Write for DOnations program (https://www.digitalocean.com/community/pages/write-for-digitalocean https://www.digitalocean.com/community/pages/write-for-digit...) which pays $300 for a new tutorial, for instance. I'd imagine the cost must pay itself off, I've seen many people sign up for DigitalOcean because they wanted to follow one of the tutorials (even though you don't really need DO to follow them).

karterk 6y ago
DigitalOcean started this trend but this has now become a very crowded space with other hosting providers like Linode etc. using the same strategy.
- hboon 6y ago
  If you are referring to writing useful articles (and not referring to paying for articles), Slicehost and Linode definitely started this way earlier than DigitalOcean.
nindalf 6y ago
I don’t know if it pays for itself but I can say that my decision to be a customer for the last 4 years was probably influenced by the goodwill generated by those tutorials.
cosmodisk 6y ago
I've seen some very successful consultancies going with this tactic as well. You go on their website and it's not just contact us page but a plethora of articles on how to do things.
marincounty 6y ago
It’s no wonder authors can’t make a living these days. 1. $300 for an article. Sometimes they get generous, and give an extra $100. 2. They then give $300 to a nonprofit of their choice, and they get the write off. 3. I noticed Billy’s famous tax dodge 501c3 is front and center. 4. The sweethearts throw in an extra $25 to revise an article. Dam—that’s nice of them. And I imagine they don’t compensate with time spend spent with editors? 5. Why not be generous and give a percentage of clicks? Give the authors something to work towards? 6. On the positive, I’m assuming the author owns their work, and can pull it at anytime, but I’m probably mistaken? They probably have a 30 years ownership for the huge sum of $300? 7. The greed of these monopolies is astounding. I am eagerly waiting for the day, they are Regulated/Unionized. Don’t like being fair——fine; you have the rest of the world to exploit. I imagine, I’ll get a lot of flack from HN boys, but one day the party will be over, and you might see the Internet from a different perspective? The internet has ruined so many small businesses. 8. In all fairness, DO is not a monopoly. My rage is over the true monopolies, that get people to do things for free, or essentially free. I’m just projecting? I used to make a good part time living teaching people how to repair watches, but I can’t compete with free. My tutorials were more comprehensive than the free stuff, but the big boys pretty much ruined my gig.

by from 6y ago

karterk 6y ago

DigitalOcean started this trend but this has now become a very crowded space with other hosting providers like Linode etc. using the same strategy.

hboon 6y ago
If you are referring to writing useful articles (and not referring to paying for articles), Slicehost and Linode definitely started this way earlier than DigitalOcean.

nindalf 6y ago

I don’t know if it pays for itself but I can say that my decision to be a customer for the last 4 years was probably influenced by the goodwill generated by those tutorials.

cosmodisk 6y ago

I've seen some very successful consultancies going with this tactic as well. You go on their website and it's not just contact us page but a plethora of articles on how to do things.

marincounty 6y ago

It’s no wonder authors can’t make a living these days. 1. $300 for an article. Sometimes they get generous, and give an extra $100. 2. They then give $300 to a nonprofit of their choice, and they get the write off. 3. I noticed Billy’s famous tax dodge 501c3 is front and center. 4. The sweethearts throw in an extra $25 to revise an article. Dam—that’s nice of them. And I imagine they don’t compensate with time spend spent with editors? 5. Why not be generous and give a percentage of clicks? Give the authors something to work towards? 6. On the positive, I’m assuming the author owns their work, and can pull it at anytime, but I’m probably mistaken? They probably have a 30 years ownership for the huge sum of $300? 7. The greed of these monopolies is astounding. I am eagerly waiting for the day, they are Regulated/Unionized. Don’t like being fair——fine; you have the rest of the world to exploit. I imagine, I’ll get a lot of flack from HN boys, but one day the party will be over, and you might see the Internet from a different perspective? The internet has ruined so many small businesses. 8. In all fairness, DO is not a monopoly. My rage is over the true monopolies, that get people to do things for free, or essentially free. I’m just projecting? I used to make a good part time living teaching people how to repair watches, but I can’t compete with free. My tutorials were more comprehensive than the free stuff, but the big boys pretty much ruined my gig.