What I’ve learned by working for DomainShane.com

I’ve never been a blogger, not before this. I’m still not much of one. I’m not sure how long it’s been since I started writing here but I think it’s been over a month now. Shane brought me on to contribute to his site and I’ve learned a lot since day one. I figured I’d take a few minutes to share some of my experiences.

Blogging, even a little, takes a lot more time than expected I don’t write that much for the blog here. I try to average about a post per day and you might be surprised at just how much time that actually requires. The ideas for the articles don’t usually just fall into my lap, and I know they don’t for Shane either. I usually spend about a half hour to an hour just cruising domain related material online looking for some inspiration as to what to write about that day. Sometimes the ideas come quickly, sometimes they take an awfully long time. Once I have an idea, writing usually takes another 45-60 minutes depending on the length of the article. So for a good quality article I’d estimate it takes an average of an hour and a half to produce what will take someone 2-3 minutes to read.

You don’t see some articles that gets written There are articles we write that often end up on the cutting room floor. Usually it’s an article based on an idea we thought was good, we wrote about it, and it sucked. One time I wrote a piece about how Microsoft had acquired a particular domain and how they did so for no apparent reason. Doesn’t that sound shitty? I didn’t even want to read it when it was done, so it ended up in the trash.

Dedication is a must I usually try to write my articles the day before they’re posted. I find it pretty difficult to produce anything in the morning and have it ready for the east coast time we try to schedule the articles for. That being said, and this goes along with the whole time thing, I now make time every single day to devote to the blog. If I don’t make this a conscious effort it will almost always get away from me, take Thursday for example. Thursday was the day I was to write an article for Friday. Thursday was also the night my beloved Detroit Tigers were playing an elimination game in the MLB playoffs. The game started at 8EST and I made the mistake of thinking that I could knock out the article after the game. The Tigers won, drinks were flowing, celebrations happened, and the article never got done. Making time means making sacrifices in my personal life.  I think I’ve done a pretty good job thus far, but hey I’m only human and how often do I have the chance to spray champagne?

People take you more seriously when you say you write for a blog I’m not sure that it even matters what blog to be honest with you, but people sure perk up when I tell them that I write for one. You all should see me, you wouldn’t guess I’m a domainer. One of the Castello brothers once gave me money outside a domain conference because he thought I was a homeless. I wear a lot of Carhartt, have a beard that scares old ladies and children, and drink beer out of a mason jar. But as soon as I tell them I write for a domaining blog, their whole view changes. Start your own blog and try it, it’s fun. Or, I think Shane’s still hiring, ask him.

Gotta have thick skin I’ve been pretty fortunate so far but there’s been a few instances where a reader has called me out. It’s not easy hearing criticism, or that I’m wrong, or that I stole an article idea when I know I didn’t. What is easy is mouthing off back at the person, but that’s not always the best solution. I often remind myself that this is just one person and it’s not worth it.

How I write it and how you read it aren’t always the same The way and intent in which I write something and the way it’s read and perceived aren’t always the same. Usually it’s in the tone of how I’m hearing it in my head which unfortunately cannot translate to paper. The best example I can give isn’t even my article, but Shane’s from yesterday. I know that when Shane wrote it he had no intention of offending anyone and it probably never even entered his mind that it would…the way it sounded in his head was much different than it was taken in some cases. When some read it they saw it as an attack of sorts. Hm, maybe we should do a podcast instead.

People rarely read who the article is written by Someone will undoubtedly comment ‘Great post Shane’ at the end of this

I enjoy it more than I thought I would, and it ain’t ’cause of the money Believe it or not, Shane pays me actual money to do this. The first time he did it was quite honestly more than I ever expected, but trust me I ain’t gettin’ rich here. I’m not doing it for the money though, I’m doing it because I enjoy it. There’s something satisfying about putting some work into something and receiving a positive response or hearing that it helped someone out. I guess it’s kind of like this old man who lives down the street. The guy spends 30 hours building absolutely amazing hand-crafted rocking chairs and then sells them for $250. Certainly his time is worth more than the $8/hr, but he loves doing it and figures why not make a little money doin’ a hobby he enjoys so much. Same thing for me, except my articles are not absolutely amazing.