I have a personal rule which has worked really well for me: if I do a project, the price of doing that project is that I have to write about it.
Back when Twitter threads didn't suck (they could be viewed by people without Twitter accounts) I'd use those - tweet a description of my project with a link, then follow it with a few photos and screenshots.
A random example on Youtube "I will tidy up your garden for free". They do that based on the income they get from writing/videoing about it, mainly from big tech algos. If everyone did it, that monetary value is lost from the explaining of it.
It's taking advantage of a curve for self-advantage which you're aware of which is fine, but doesn't really provide value in productivity in the broadest sense. What if everyone blogged about their work? As in literally everyone.
> if I do a project, the price of doing that project is that I have to write about it.
Definitely something I need to do. I've been meaning to do a "what I did in 2024" blog post but since I didn't keep track, trying to figure it out has postponed the post for 3 months already...
I like your diligency, thats pretty impressive track record. Although I need to point out a little readability issue: For me (likely ADHD) your blog is very hard to visually parse. It looks like single wall of unstructured text. It's hard to see where one post ends and where another one begins. The strongly emphasized links inside the content itself does not help. You have a lot of whitespace on left and right, but almost none in vertical direction and there is little use of font sizes. In the end every element seems the same importance. I see that you don't want to overdo with styling, which is fine, but a little more styling here and there could go a long way to help people get around.
I would love to do this as well, but I'm put off by the time it would take away from pushing the project itself forward. How much time does it generally take for you to make a blogpost for a project?
Hi Simon, how do you decide when to blog on your personal website vs something like substack? Do you post identical articles on both? Do you prefer one or the other?
Do you have any advice for someone like me, who has about 5 long form article ideas but would like to just get stuff out there? For example, I want to blog about matrix profiles because I just learned about them and they’re super cool. But it feels like much scaffolding needs to occur for an audience to see the light.
> For the world to benefit from your work, and therefore for you to benefit fully from your work, you have to make it known.
"Fully" seems to be doing a helluva lot of heavy lifting in this piece. Does anyone think that they mean anything other than "making money", as they quickly segue into talking about entrepreneurship and founding businesses?
I'm happy to concede that if you don't tell anyone about the stuff you do, no one will know. But I am not willing to concede that you only "fully" benefit from your work if you sell it. Nor am I willing to concede that work only has value if sold. I'm also not entirely certain the author is pushing those views. Still, something about this piece doesn't sit well with me.
I have a web extension I made as a pet project that does something useful to me (in the spirit of selling my work, it's called Favioli ).
It's free/open-source and will always be free. But the idea was inspired by my friend's code. When I made a blog post about how I made the extension, he reposted it on his relatively popular blog + Twitter.
Because of that, the extension has had around 1000 users since the very beginning, and I've gotten some prs and improvements here and there. And it feels good to have solved an issue for some people other than myself.
I think this is what the author means by "selling". I'm generally the type of person who doesn't self-advertise, because my mindset is that I don't want to bother people. So if my friend hadn't publicized it for me, the extension would probably have 5 users. So maybe 995 other people wouldn't have benefitted from my work. I think this article is not saying that you "have" to sell your work, but that if you're proud of it, don't feel ashamed to tell people that it exists.
The author isn't saying that selling is necessary only to make money. At the end of the article he says "But the word "sell" doesn't necessarily mean what you think it means", which then leads to the aside:
"you can either do it in such a fashion that people can indeed build on what you've done, or you can do it in such a fashion that the next person has to essentially duplicate again what you've done"
Indeed, and for me the real value of “selling” my work has been the opportunity to do more of it, and more on my terms, than putting my head down and striving in silence.
I work in a large FAANG company. For more than 10 years, I made the error of not publishing my personal work and ideas. I didn't like the rules about personal works, publishing opensource or social media communication... you are subject to gate-keeping by your employer if you are an employee. That's quite different from my previous experience in smaller companies in Europe. I found it very off putting: you had to give up ownership. I thought it was demeaning that even what I create in my own private time would be owned and attributed to someone else.
My choice of not publishing anything however was a very bad one. I didn't understand what power is: the continuity of the Self into the Other, where you find your-Self at ease. If you don't assert yourself, you give up not just your power but your very identity.
The truth is that power is dialectic. If you don't speak up, you have no power. Both in what you create, and in the relationship of and with power that you live, you are constantly redefining the boundaries of what you are and what you are not. If you remain silent, you loose.
> I thought it was demeaning that even what I create in my own private time would be owned and attributed to someone else.
I still feel this way. Well, I don't think I'd use the word demeaning, but I think it's a despicable abuse of the employee/employer power dynamic for my employer to claim ownership on my whole creative output outside of the work I'm actually paid to do.
Strongly disagree. You are allowed to create/do things that no one else know about. Share it if you want, keep it to yourself if you don't. Don't let other people dictate to you what you must do in order to be satisfied with yourself.
> Doing technically brilliant work may be enough for your personal gratification, but you should never think it's enough.
First, "should" is a form of judgement. What the author believes is "enough" is defined by their belief system, not anyone else's.
> If you lock yourself in a room and do the most marvellous[sic] work but don't tell anyone, then no one will know, no one will benefit, and the work will be lost.
A reasonable discussion could be had for all but the last two assertions:
... no one will benefit, and the work will be lost.
Again, this is a presumption made without merit.
First, work related to a person's profession contributes to experience and possibly ability. Second, work is only lost if it and lessons learned doing it no longer exist.
* Explain, don’t “sell”. If something is significant and you explain it well, the significance will be obvious without artificial emphasis.
* Explain, don’t “persuade”. Don’t assume agreement before or after. Make your reasoning clear. Don’t assert credibility or pressure for acceptance.
* Clarity and brevity compound each other. If you are clear, you don’t have to spell out every detail, or review important points.
If you find yourself trying to explain what you have explained, you have not been clear or concise and are now spiraling. Rethink. Rewrite.
* Finally, state your main point/purpose up front. For everything, every section, every paragraph. Gets attention. Filters readers by relevance. Assists clarity & brevity.
——
Avoid mixing multiple or deeper points, that are better communicated separately.
Find an unmissable visual way to indicate where the first point/purpose was accomplished, and additional material has a related but new purpose.
> Finally, state your main point/purpose up front. For everything, every section, every paragraph. Gets attention. Filters readers by relevance. Assists clarity & brevity.
My grad school advisor said to me that "the first N sentences should be the most import N sentences" when writing papers
Thank you. Theso are excellent. I'll be coming back to this comment often until I internalise it all. And I don't even write in public, but I want to improve, for work, and for myself.
Ps: the irony on the second paragraph of the third point wasn't lost ;)
For any young programmers: live within your means, invest the difference, become independent, and work on what you enjoy. It’s the best (work related) gift you can give yourself. Skip the self promotion politics unless you enjoy it.
> For the world to benefit from your work, and therefore for you to benefit fully from your work, you have to make it known.
I don't agree with this assumption. One does not necessarily follow the other. Outside of work, I write programs that I need and that further my own personal curiosity and education. I don't have to release any of it to the world, in order for me to fully benefit from it. I plan to take all of the source code on my computer to my grave and that's totally OK.
There are many definitions of "sell" that aren't a dichotomy between building toy projects that never leave your private repo, and running a SaaS startup you're trying to grow via LinkedIn and HN.
I've found a lot of fulfillment in building tech products/services for friends and family, and making meeting their needs the complete scope of the project, with no intention to release it publicly. I present it as though it's a widely released product, including marketing materials, retail box, printed instruction manual, etc. I enjoy it thoroughly as a creative exercise, and it gives me the opportunity to integrate and combine lots of skills I'm not able to use at work.
I don't make any money doing this, but it scratches the itch I have to build things people will use, and I do enjoy showcasing and promoting my latest projects - and an audience of my (less technical) friends and family is a polite and encouraging one. Definitely less stressful than releasing things to the wider internet. This has brought improvements to my real job, where I'm finding myself more comfortable presenting and promoting my achievements.
Publicizing your work, will certainly let it be known to the masses, but aiming for the masses means that the half life of your work is in years. Work that stands the test of time, does not need publicizing. People of a high caliber will find it and proceed to further honor you for your work, your focus should be only on excellence which truly matters in standing the test of time.
> People of a high caliber will find it and proceed to further honor you for your work
This is a romantic notion, made even more appealing by the fact that it has actually happened a handful of times throughout history, and they loom large in our collective memory.
But the cold, hard, distasteful reality is that most useful work does not rise to the level of brilliance, and even that which does might never find appreciation among people of any calibre, even after death. Disdaining self-promotion is a conceit available to a select talented few.
The article wasn't saying to aim for the masses. It was saying, do at least some documentation, and make it pleasant to read for your peers. That way, they can find your work, understand it, and build uppon it.
That's like saying all human's lives are wasted because no other species will know of them.
The ultimate experience is doing as many interesting things for yourself and not stressing about them "living on". It's 99% a closed system inside your head anyway
I've generally been best served by NAVY: never again volunteer yourself.
Others will advertise for you... or simply pay attention when you do well. Being reliable is outstanding, a true rarity.
Plenty of folks will want to take advantage. Assuming you weren't actually hired to work alone in a closet, there will be opportunities to shine/get put on speed dial... if you really want that.
I like writing, but I always have a hard time getting started. In that regards ChatGPT has been a real game changer. I can just lay down some ideas, ask it to write an article, hate it, then write it myself.
I have started doing this more,, the problem is however that I suck at marketing, I hate being too direct, so posting the odd interesting project or nugget of information on my website to maybe get a few more of my books sold or get some nice gig work in areas I like is the way I go.
As my paid work runs out and I get more towards retirement I guess I will start moving on to documenting some hobby projects, I don't see any down-side to it except running out of interesting things to talk about.
Of course nobody will visit your site unless you post it around, kind of a catch 22.
I started blogging weekly recently. I’ve been surprised at the efficacy of simply asking readers to subscribe. At the end of each post I make the request and provide an email box.
After only three articles, 28 people have signed up. It’s not a lot compared to some folks, but it validates two important things. First, being direct can work. Second, people care and want to hear more.
Everyone sucks at something they don't do so much of. Try it, learn from others and pick what you personally like.
The thing about marketing is that it's not a x->y kind of thing, so people can literally try something which they think is fun/interesting and trial it out.
I am already selling enough of my time, energy, skills, knowledge etc. I also have enough to not sell, things that provide me personal satisfaction and value, that is more important than what I sell to others. I got to look after my health first and finances second.
It also depends on what you’re selling and who you’re selling it to. Do it too much, and you’ll incur the wrath of the mob—or worse, be ignored into oblivion.
In the software world, salespeople are almost universally hated because of how obnoxious they can be. I recently attended a Couchbase talk, and now the salespeople are all over my inbox and LinkedIn DMs. You don’t want to sell your work like that.
While not all work needs to be published, monetized, and advertised, this piece only focuses on the kind that needs to be done but isn’t.
I absolutely agree on writing about software. I don’t write to advertise my thoughts. Writing is the process that helps me think deeply about a topic I’m interested in.
While I write for myself, and my blog[1] usually focuses on the things I’m currently tinkering with, it has garnered a solid number of readers. I even got hired at two places because someone higher up read my writing at some point. So I believe the author is encouraging everyone to publish and advertise these kinds of work.
Maybe each developer / creator / maker needs someone around them to "sell" them (and their creations). To push it on the vine/rumour/vibe. Yes, an advertiser/ salesperson - herald - on a fractional basis :) , one per village.
To create and to sell are very different skills and things , even somewhat contradictory - and they rarely appear in same person.
The Organisational patterns book [0] have a role of Matron - a person who knows everyone and what they're up to (without need of deep understanding) - but that's not the same, and it's organisational.
i think that such people are needed in everyday, personally, too. To knit and entangle the threads of society.
Always wished more scientists read and understand Richard Hamming. I read and listened to some lectures right out of college and it always struck me as not just catchy advice for young scientists and engineers, but as self-evident principles and values to live by.
[+] [-] simonw|1 year ago|reply
Back when Twitter threads didn't suck (they could be viewed by people without Twitter accounts) I'd use those - tweet a description of my project with a link, then follow it with a few photos and screenshots.
These days I use my blog, with my "projects" tag: https://simonwillison.net/tags/projects/
I blog all sorts of other stuff, but if I was ever to trim back the one thing I'd keep doing is projects. If you make a thing, write about that thing. I wrote more about that here: https://simonwillison.net/2022/Nov/6/what-to-blog-about/#pro...
Projects with a GitHub repository make this even easier: describe the project in the README and drop in a few screenshots - that's all you need.
(Screenshots are important though, they're the ultimate defense against bitrot.)
I have many projects from earlier in my career that I never documented or captured in screenshot form and I deeply regret it.
[+] [-] ricardo81|1 year ago|reply
A random example on Youtube "I will tidy up your garden for free". They do that based on the income they get from writing/videoing about it, mainly from big tech algos. If everyone did it, that monetary value is lost from the explaining of it.
It's taking advantage of a curve for self-advantage which you're aware of which is fine, but doesn't really provide value in productivity in the broadest sense. What if everyone blogged about their work? As in literally everyone.
[+] [-] letters90|1 year ago|reply
What I do though is documenting for myself, everything.
It has helped me greatly in the last few years
[+] [-] zimpenfish|1 year ago|reply
Definitely something I need to do. I've been meaning to do a "what I did in 2024" blog post but since I didn't keep track, trying to figure it out has postponed the post for 3 months already...
[+] [-] brulard|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] brulard|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] wcfrobert|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] davidanekstein|1 year ago|reply
As an example of the type of length my blogposts have: https://aneksteind.github.io/posts2022-03-04/index.html
[+] [-] RataNova|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] akulbe|1 year ago|reply
Just a random question for you. Of all of the projects you've created, which is your favorite?
[+] [-] Henchman21|1 year ago|reply
"Fully" seems to be doing a helluva lot of heavy lifting in this piece. Does anyone think that they mean anything other than "making money", as they quickly segue into talking about entrepreneurship and founding businesses?
I'm happy to concede that if you don't tell anyone about the stuff you do, no one will know. But I am not willing to concede that you only "fully" benefit from your work if you sell it. Nor am I willing to concede that work only has value if sold. I'm also not entirely certain the author is pushing those views. Still, something about this piece doesn't sit well with me.
Human endeavors have value beyond the monetary.
[+] [-] bpev|1 year ago|reply
It's free/open-source and will always be free. But the idea was inspired by my friend's code. When I made a blog post about how I made the extension, he reposted it on his relatively popular blog + Twitter.
Because of that, the extension has had around 1000 users since the very beginning, and I've gotten some prs and improvements here and there. And it feels good to have solved an issue for some people other than myself.
I think this is what the author means by "selling". I'm generally the type of person who doesn't self-advertise, because my mindset is that I don't want to bother people. So if my friend hadn't publicized it for me, the extension would probably have 5 users. So maybe 995 other people wouldn't have benefitted from my work. I think this article is not saying that you "have" to sell your work, but that if you're proud of it, don't feel ashamed to tell people that it exists.
[+] [-] milne-dev|1 year ago|reply
"you can either do it in such a fashion that people can indeed build on what you've done, or you can do it in such a fashion that the next person has to essentially duplicate again what you've done"
[+] [-] sevensor|1 year ago|reply
Indeed, and for me the real value of “selling” my work has been the opportunity to do more of it, and more on my terms, than putting my head down and striving in silence.
[+] [-] rlupi|1 year ago|reply
I work in a large FAANG company. For more than 10 years, I made the error of not publishing my personal work and ideas. I didn't like the rules about personal works, publishing opensource or social media communication... you are subject to gate-keeping by your employer if you are an employee. That's quite different from my previous experience in smaller companies in Europe. I found it very off putting: you had to give up ownership. I thought it was demeaning that even what I create in my own private time would be owned and attributed to someone else.
My choice of not publishing anything however was a very bad one. I didn't understand what power is: the continuity of the Self into the Other, where you find your-Self at ease. If you don't assert yourself, you give up not just your power but your very identity.
The truth is that power is dialectic. If you don't speak up, you have no power. Both in what you create, and in the relationship of and with power that you live, you are constantly redefining the boundaries of what you are and what you are not. If you remain silent, you loose.
[+] [-] pietmichal|1 year ago|reply
Make yourself visible in professional and social life.
[+] [-] RataNova|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] azornathogron|1 year ago|reply
I still feel this way. Well, I don't think I'd use the word demeaning, but I think it's a despicable abuse of the employee/employer power dynamic for my employer to claim ownership on my whole creative output outside of the work I'm actually paid to do.
[+] [-] cheq|1 year ago|reply
read a random post
find fucking poetry
leave, enlighted
[+] [-] iaaan|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] AdieuToLogic|1 year ago|reply
First, "should" is a form of judgement. What the author believes is "enough" is defined by their belief system, not anyone else's.
> If you lock yourself in a room and do the most marvellous[sic] work but don't tell anyone, then no one will know, no one will benefit, and the work will be lost.
A reasonable discussion could be had for all but the last two assertions:
Again, this is a presumption made without merit.First, work related to a person's profession contributes to experience and possibly ability. Second, work is only lost if it and lessons learned doing it no longer exist.
[+] [-] RataNova|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] Nevermark|1 year ago|reply
* Explain, don’t “sell”. If something is significant and you explain it well, the significance will be obvious without artificial emphasis.
* Explain, don’t “persuade”. Don’t assume agreement before or after. Make your reasoning clear. Don’t assert credibility or pressure for acceptance.
* Clarity and brevity compound each other. If you are clear, you don’t have to spell out every detail, or review important points.
If you find yourself trying to explain what you have explained, you have not been clear or concise and are now spiraling. Rethink. Rewrite.
* Finally, state your main point/purpose up front. For everything, every section, every paragraph. Gets attention. Filters readers by relevance. Assists clarity & brevity.
——
Avoid mixing multiple or deeper points, that are better communicated separately.
Find an unmissable visual way to indicate where the first point/purpose was accomplished, and additional material has a related but new purpose.
[+] [-] xdavidliu|1 year ago|reply
My grad school advisor said to me that "the first N sentences should be the most import N sentences" when writing papers
[+] [-] ativzzz|1 year ago|reply
> Explain, don’t “persuade”
Know your audience. A library on github targeted towards developers does both selling and persuading via a good explanataion.
[+] [-] dalmo3|1 year ago|reply
Ps: the irony on the second paragraph of the third point wasn't lost ;)
[+] [-] stocknoob|1 year ago|reply
For any young programmers: live within your means, invest the difference, become independent, and work on what you enjoy. It’s the best (work related) gift you can give yourself. Skip the self promotion politics unless you enjoy it.
[+] [-] ryandrake|1 year ago|reply
I don't agree with this assumption. One does not necessarily follow the other. Outside of work, I write programs that I need and that further my own personal curiosity and education. I don't have to release any of it to the world, in order for me to fully benefit from it. I plan to take all of the source code on my computer to my grave and that's totally OK.
[+] [-] RataNova|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] gyello|1 year ago|reply
I've found a lot of fulfillment in building tech products/services for friends and family, and making meeting their needs the complete scope of the project, with no intention to release it publicly. I present it as though it's a widely released product, including marketing materials, retail box, printed instruction manual, etc. I enjoy it thoroughly as a creative exercise, and it gives me the opportunity to integrate and combine lots of skills I'm not able to use at work.
I don't make any money doing this, but it scratches the itch I have to build things people will use, and I do enjoy showcasing and promoting my latest projects - and an audience of my (less technical) friends and family is a polite and encouraging one. Definitely less stressful than releasing things to the wider internet. This has brought improvements to my real job, where I'm finding myself more comfortable presenting and promoting my achievements.
[+] [-] sashank_1509|1 year ago|reply
Publicizing your work, will certainly let it be known to the masses, but aiming for the masses means that the half life of your work is in years. Work that stands the test of time, does not need publicizing. People of a high caliber will find it and proceed to further honor you for your work, your focus should be only on excellence which truly matters in standing the test of time.
[+] [-] rrr_oh_man|1 year ago|reply
That's a fantasy which is just not true.
[+] [-] akoboldfrying|1 year ago|reply
This is a romantic notion, made even more appealing by the fact that it has actually happened a handful of times throughout history, and they loom large in our collective memory.
But the cold, hard, distasteful reality is that most useful work does not rise to the level of brilliance, and even that which does might never find appreciation among people of any calibre, even after death. Disdaining self-promotion is a conceit available to a select talented few.
[+] [-] unknown|1 year ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] rocqua|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] imtringued|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] yomismoaqui|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] maxlin|1 year ago|reply
The ultimate experience is doing as many interesting things for yourself and not stressing about them "living on". It's 99% a closed system inside your head anyway
[+] [-] bravetraveler|1 year ago|reply
Others will advertise for you... or simply pay attention when you do well. Being reliable is outstanding, a true rarity.
Plenty of folks will want to take advantage. Assuming you weren't actually hired to work alone in a closet, there will be opportunities to shine/get put on speed dial... if you really want that.
[+] [-] nkg|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] boznz|1 year ago|reply
As my paid work runs out and I get more towards retirement I guess I will start moving on to documenting some hobby projects, I don't see any down-side to it except running out of interesting things to talk about.
Of course nobody will visit your site unless you post it around, kind of a catch 22.
[+] [-] Kerrick|1 year ago|reply
After only three articles, 28 people have signed up. It’s not a lot compared to some folks, but it validates two important things. First, being direct can work. Second, people care and want to hear more.
[+] [-] xandrius|1 year ago|reply
The thing about marketing is that it's not a x->y kind of thing, so people can literally try something which they think is fun/interesting and trial it out.
[+] [-] tap-snap-or-nap|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] Animats|1 year ago|reply
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2012/05/07/tech/web/brogrammers/index.ht...
[+] [-] rednafi|1 year ago|reply
In the software world, salespeople are almost universally hated because of how obnoxious they can be. I recently attended a Couchbase talk, and now the salespeople are all over my inbox and LinkedIn DMs. You don’t want to sell your work like that.
While not all work needs to be published, monetized, and advertised, this piece only focuses on the kind that needs to be done but isn’t.
I absolutely agree on writing about software. I don’t write to advertise my thoughts. Writing is the process that helps me think deeply about a topic I’m interested in.
While I write for myself, and my blog[1] usually focuses on the things I’m currently tinkering with, it has garnered a solid number of readers. I even got hired at two places because someone higher up read my writing at some point. So I believe the author is encouraging everyone to publish and advertise these kinds of work.
[1]: https://rednafi.com
[+] [-] svilen_dobrev|1 year ago|reply
To create and to sell are very different skills and things , even somewhat contradictory - and they rarely appear in same person.
The Organisational patterns book [0] have a role of Matron - a person who knows everyone and what they're up to (without need of deep understanding) - but that's not the same, and it's organisational.
i think that such people are needed in everyday, personally, too. To knit and entangle the threads of society.
[0] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0131467409/
[1] https://www.svilendobrev.com/rabota/orgpat/OrgPatterns-patle...
[+] [-] unknown|1 year ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] dluan|1 year ago|reply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1zDuOPkMSw
[+] [-] bee_rider|1 year ago|reply