Paid Posts, Guest Posts, Etc, Etc
I get five to ten emails a week from people, companies, agencies, brokers, etc asking to post content here at AVC.
If you are one of the folks who send me those emails from time to time, you can stop doing that because there has not been a guest post here at AVC for over five years and I don’t have any current plans to do them.
Beyond that, the only guest posts that I ever ran here were from friends, colleagues, and AVC community regulars. I may do that again, but have not felt the urge to in a long time.
I do post a crowdfunding project most Fridays and a video or audio embed on Saturdays. But those are chosen by me based on what I am interested in or what I think you all would be interested in.
I have never been compensated for a guest post and would never accept compensation for a guest post. All the content that is published here, since the start in 2003, has been created by me or by people I know that I thought you should hear from.
I am not opposed to paying for promotion and I understand that influencer marketing is a big marketing channel now. Some of USV’s portfolio companies spend real money doing that.
But this space is not for sale, to anyone or any message. And it never will be.
Comments (Archived):
I like the concept of guest posts to add another voice/different perspective from time to time. I’ve even used them on my blog infrequently. But it can also be more trouble than it’s worth. You’ve made the right choice.
Ha, I get 3-5 such requests per week for my blog. Most of them look copy/pasted from a standard message, because someone thinks that polluting the web with any content is a good idea. Once in a while, I respond with a short email saying that I’m the only one that writes on my blog.It’s like you own a restaurant and are the chef, and other cooks you never heard of, knock on your door and say- hey it seems you have a successful place, can I cook some crap at your restaurant for a day?
A related idea – write to please just one person (yourself).”Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia”. – Kurt Vonnegut.
exactly.
Kurt’s the problem, not the solution.The self involved self centred artist mentality has become the de facto Boomer mentality.Their children are, as a generation, not ambtious and uninspired.To use yesterday’s term, Boomers have abdicated their parental leadership role and their children have practised strong follower-ship and now western democracy’s main cultural attribute is narcissism.No pride, no confidence & no principles outside of self interest.It gets pretty bleak pretty fast when the artists lead society.
Don’t understand, why boomer? The self centred artist long predates boomers.That’s perfectly ok, I think. Artists don’t typically lead society, self-centred or otherwise. But society would be poorer without the artist.
Re-read. Boomers threw off the mantle of The Company Man generation: the generation that connected their identity to institutions ( work, family, church, community ) not self.Boomers adopted The Self as their identity. Consequently, Western democracy has had The Me Generation, followed by the Busters, followed by the Me Generation’s poorly raised children, Millennials.Artists I have no problem with. An entire society dominated by the Artist’s self involved narcissistic approach to life will obliterate western democratic institutions ( look at Texas megachurches or politics today, they are both driven by superficial, borderline sociopathic narcissism ).We’re in for a world of hurt.
@jameshrh:disqus just so I’m clear as to your line of thinking. Kurt Vonnegut is a a problem because he was self-centered and so are Baby Boomers? If you are going to slam Kurt Vonnegut (and all artists) as self-centered, you may want to pick a better example. Kurt Vonnegut fought in WWII at the Battle of the Bulge and was captured by the Germans. I’d say that fighting in a war on behalf of your country is the least self-centered thing one can do. You ever fight in a war? Kurt Vonnegut’s writing only ever gave me pure joy, so not only gave to country, but to me as an individual. We need more like him.
Kurt became an artist after his service.My point is not so much that Kurt is a bad person, but that the artist mentality is one of narcissism and narcissism is the accepted, de facto way to live your life. In western democracies ( maybe everywhere ).
Without art, life would be incredibly boring and tedious. I’d rather not be alive. You obviously feel differently. I’m off to my jazz rehearsal. See you later!
That is not what I am saying at all.
What’s interesting is the difference between spam emails, and an email well written as a followup to real work to move something forward.Enterprise BD guy by nature, takes everything worth doing as part of a strategic process.
@wmoug:disqus – that’s the best analogy I’ve ever hear for guest posts 🙂 And super accurate.
Authenticity matters.
This is so true not just with blogs, but brands.
The problem with the web is that it has become an instant gratification (Instagrat) machine, and that is ephemeral. Authenticity is the opposite.
At least those with this addiction are easy to spot and therefore avoid or quickly end the exchange. I’m loving the “mute” option on Twitter.
There are some blogs that I read and I know we are going to disagree on some things, especially when they veer into politics. The bloggers’ authenticity is certainly one of the key appeals, granted that they are also principled and reasoned.Even for those with whom I agree politically, I have stronger trust if occasionally they say something that I disagree with, or that stretches me.How they treat disagreement has a strong influence.What is rare but really resonates is when I find a blogger with empathy — even when they disagree.
Pollution.
The comments are very open!
I recently looked up my guest post “Recruiting is Fun” from 7 years ago. A trip down memory lane. I quoted or highlighted four AVC community members and am happy to say that I am still acquainted with all. It is exciting to see how far they have come! One is now a favorite client.I wrote the post expecting the discussion in the comments to be where the real action was and my expectations were exceeded. Disappointed that comments are no longer visible for old posts.Fred, while you have been selective in guest posts which has resulted in good quality, I have not noticed nor missed the absence over the past years.Besides, as long as you allow comments, guest posts aren’t really all that necessary. Haha.
Hey!Comments on old posts are available btw. Closed but there to view.
Hey!This must expire past a certain point.
Fred?Is that right?Seems to crazy that comments go away over time.Not on my blog I know.
Here you go:https://avc.com/2012/07/mba…
Thank you, SS.Do comments appear on the version you see?
No, it looks like archived posts don’t retain corresponding comments.
Thanks for trying. 🙂
I see comments on archived posts.You need to locate then open them then they are there.
Maybe you have the special version. 🙂
Doubt it!To odd but Fred not I may be motivated to find out why?
Whoa… Super disappointed that old comments are gone.If this blog lives a little bit in the future, and I think it is in certain ways a canary in the coal mine, it does not bode well for our future free speech.
How do you see this situation as representing a threat to free speech?
There are a lot of comments being deleted here on AVC now, and it’s very odd that old comments are not viewable.I recall an old blog post of Fred’s essentially stating that the comments were the most valuable part of the blog and that he reads each one.I am not sure what’s motivating this. I think part of it may be a desire to regulate ‘hate speech’ (which is highly subjective and often amounts to a ban on conservative views).If liberal blogs start deleting conservative comments and conservative blogs delete liberal comments — and old comments are deleted too, seems like we’ve lost our ability to speak freely.
I wasn’t aware that comments were being deleted. If that was happening at AVC, it would certainly be a divergence from stated practice and concerning — except those cases that violate commenting policy.Either way, I doubt that this is related to the old comments not being viewable.
Don’t miss them.This blog to me at its best has always been about you spurring the community in a direction.
i don’t write daily, but weekly … on average 🙂
It is your blog, after all! 🙂
get the same junk mail. feel the same as you do. The great thing about an individual blog is that over time it should reveal what the person sort of like.This isn’t a pop-up.it’s not something to be outsourced.
What if you’re a robot dinosaur? CAN ME DO GUEST POST THEN?
Its easy to brag about property and etceteras now that the Night King is dead. 🙂
Never?There is a famous story about sex and money. A man asks a woman if she would be willing to sleep with him if he pays her a million bucks. She replies affirmatively. He then offers her $5 and asks if she would still be willing to sleep with him. The woman is offended and replies:She: What kind of woman do you think I am?He: We’ve already established that. Now we’re just haggling over the price.
You mean like these cut and paste jobs:Hello Dear Editor,My name is Sophia Clark. I am a freelance writer, blogger and writing coach. I love the content you share with your readers. Every time I read a post, I feel like I’m able to take a single, clear lesson away from it. I’ve been brainstorming some topics that I think your readers would get a ton of value from:1) 5 Interior Design Tips to Make Your Home Feel More Relaxing2) Concealed Doorways Are The Latest Trend In Home Design3) Revamping A Home’s Interior With Angelo Adamo Design4) Five Playful Furniture And Homeware Designs From London Design Fair5) 7 Ways To Save Money On A Home Renovation6) 14 Best Houseplants for a Restful Sleep7) Best Balcony Garden Designs for Inspiration: Small Garden Design Ideas8) Small Kitchen Storage Ideas For A More Efficient Space9) The 5 Best Lunch Coolers On The Market & Why You Need OneIf it sounds good for you I am looking forward to hearing from you
I know little about Vonnegut…
Nothing is more emblematic of modern society than a person being lionized for the polar opposite of their actions.Obama or Trump, for example?
Have read him and he is a hard read.