A year ago I quit my stressful job at a big law firm. I wanted to do something I'm passionate about for a change. After some soul searching I realized the best times of my life were spent on Hatrack. I loved surfing the web and hanging out with smart and quirky people online. But how do I turn that into a career?
Like zillions of other folks I started a blog. I co-founded a community blog about frugality and personal finance. I work with lots of talented writers and loved my new job. But something was missing. Blogs are fun but they are no substitute for forums.
I was scared of installing a forum because I knew they are hard to cultivate. Hatrack is very unique. How do I duplicate Hatrack's sense of community? I feel like Spike trying to rebuild the Buffy Bot. I know the specs but I don't have the magic.
I finally got up the courage to start the forum two weeks ago. If I am the forum's founder then I guess you guys are the grandparents.
I invite all of you to drop by and say hi to the kid. On a more selfish note, I also wouldn't mind some input on how I can improve my community.
I know Hatrack will always be our first love. (In fact, when someone started a thread on our forum about adopting a child from Russia I immediately thought of Dan Raven.) But if you have room in your schedule for one more online destination, I would really appreciate it if you stopped by.
Edited to add: I co-own this website and we do run advertising there, though most of the ad revenue goes directly to our wrtiers.
[ January 04, 2008, 10:22 AM: Message edited by: vwiggin ]
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
Just a hint, if you want more people to open this, change the title quick.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
*not reported*
Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
quote:change the title quick.
Any suggestions?
Edited to add: The original title used to be "How I turned Hatrack-ing into a career." I've now changed it to "Critics needed: help me improve my website."
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Wow - some interesting stuff there. I especially like the post about different ways to use canning jars (which caught my eye first)
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
That does sound less like you're trying to recruit the rest of us into a scheme.
It's actually a very interesting site to me, and because you did not provide your username over there, I didn't have to fill in the referrer field. There's no ads as far as I can tell. But for transparency's sake, if you're making a gain off this, it's probably better to be upfront with us.
I think a site where people can talk freely about money issues is a great idea. I was very interested in Dave Ramsey, but his site has nothing but ways to buy his books.
Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
quote:I especially like the post about different ways to use canning jars
Our mission is to make sure nothing is wasted! I'm glad you liked it. Myscha is one of our best writers.
quote:That does sound less like you're trying to recruit the rest of us into a scheme.
Well, I was going to tell you all about Amway in the very next post...
quote:if you're making a gain off this, it's probably better to be upfront with us.
Good point. I do co-own the website and there is advertising on the blog and the forum (you probably didn't see one because we haven't sold out all of our ad space). This is definitely a job and not a hobby. I will add a disclaimer to the original post as not to confuse people.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
Do you have a tax preparer columnist yet?
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
That beer hiding blog was funny.
Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
Thanks! We do try to mix some funny along with the frugality.
We have two certified financial planners, but I don't think either of them are tax specialists. I'm not in charge of recruiting, but I do believe we are always looking for good professional writers. Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
Cool, I'll put my writing samples together.
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
My word, you are a busy one, Wilson! That looks like great fun, and very rewarding. I'm with pooka on the beer blog (chuckles).
I think you need to get to the frugal living via poverty experience, though, too. It's simply amazing what people living on the edge do to be able to survive day-to-day.
Of course, it'd be better if we all got a bit more frugal, and applied the leftover to ending poverty all together . . . y'know -- that Quaker saying of "Live simply so others can simply live," idea.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
It's true. As I was driving to Utah for Christmas I thought about all the things I do now that I didn't used to do before we had two incomes. We just take toll booths wherever the GPS says to now. I bought socks for my kids the week before Christmas and just let them wear them rather than wrapping them as a Christmas present.
Posted by Shawshank (Member # 8453) on :
Well you have the TOS- make sure it's enforced. That's the most important thing I think.
That and allow the forums to grow by their own accord. Let them grow slowly- Hatrack has been on the internet in some form or another for 10 years now or so. Don't be too impatient (I realize it's your job) and I think you'll see over time a feeling of community.
Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
quote:Cool, I'll put my writing samples together.
Awesome Pooka. I'll check with the hiring editor to make sure your application doesn't get lost in the pile.
quote:that Quaker saying of "Live simply so others can simply live," idea.
What a wonderful idea Shan. I'm glad you enjoyed the beer post, though I must admit I am probably the weakest writer on the team. Is Nathan old enough to enjoy Hatrack yet? When is he going to make his debut?
quote:Don't be too impatient (I realize it's your job)
That's a great point. I am impatient! While none of our writers are using our website as their primary source of income, many of them have told me that they appreciate (and even count on) the little extra cash they get every month from us. I spend a lot of sleepless nights thinking of ways to improve the website so they can achieve their dreams of becoming full time bloggers.
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