Overview

This past weekend, PyGotham invited me to speak at their annual conference in Manhattan. In an effort to maximize the benefit I get from the event, I’ve prepared notes that capture what I learned by attending. I’m sharing them in hopes that it might be interesting or useful to others.

Ratings and reviews

Quality of talks

I was a bit disappointed with the overall quality of the talks this year. There were a few I enjoyed (see below), but lots of the talks underwhelmed me.

Highlights

• After six months of consistent gains of ~30% in revenue and traffic, Is It Keto’s growth finally flattened out.
• I’m preparing to sell premium meal plans on Is It Keto.
• I’m ready to make bigger bets on my businesses.

Goal grades

At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those goals:

Hire a writer for Is It Keto

• Result: I hired a writer who’s able to write well in the style I want.
• Grade: A

In September, I received 25 new applications from freelance writers. I did paid trials with two of them and made one permanent hire.

• Overview: Hiring Content Writers
• Part One: Finding Writers
• Part Two - Creating a Detailed Job Description
• Part Three: Screening Candidates (this section)
• Part Four - Working with Writers
• Part Five - Terminating Writers

Screening writing candidates requires you to make decisions with limited, imperfect information. This section explains what qualities to look for, which red flags to avoid, and how to contain the damage when you accidentally make a poor hire.

• Overview: Hiring Content Writers
• Part One: Finding Writers
• Part Two - Creating a Detailed Job Description (this section)
• Part Three: Screening Candidates
• Part Four - Working with Writers
• Part Five - Terminating Writers

A clear, concise job description shows candidates that you’re an organized professional who puts thought into what they want. It also allows the writers to skip applying if they recognize they’re a poor match for the work you need. Lastly, it aids you in screening out poor candidates. If an applicant asks you questions that you answered clearly in your job description, you know they’re desperately blasting out generic applications to every job they see.

• Overview: Hiring Content Writers
• Part One: Finding Writers (this section)
• Part Two - Creating a Detailed Job Description
• Part Three: Screening Candidates
• Part Four - Working with Writers
• Part Five - Terminating Writers

There are thousands of working freelance writers in the world, but if you’ve never hired one before, you don’t know where to find them. In this section, I describe the places where I sought writers and which sources were fruitful.