I was recently approached by the Techdirt Insight community, a marketplace where qualifying bloggers compete in providing insight and analysis to the community’s clients.
As long as I remember, forums where questions can be asked – and answers received – have been an essential part of the online scene. My first such experience were BBS discussion areas. After some time, I obtained access to Usenet and other newsgroups. Now we are seeing interest in netnews decline (at least for discussion groups), and web-based services such as LinkedIn prosper. The Techdirt community resembles LinkedIn Answers, except for the fact that Techdirt respondents are paid.
The Techdirt web site looks nice, and includes FAQ departments (one for bloggers, another for clients) that provide a good summary of how the community works. Techdirt also seems to be of good repute on the net. They require no kind of blogging for money, although you apparently may be able to recycle a non-confidential analysis by using it on your blog as well.
If you are interested in participating, you do not need to wait for an invitation to come your way; anyone with a blog can apply, although you are expected to provide samples of writings relevant to the expertise you will be offering.
Personally, and for the time being, I have decided against actively participating in the Techdirt community. One reason is that I’m currently short of time, and another that we share no common payment methods, as Techdirt only supports cheques and PayPal. However, should these circumstances change at some time in the future, you may well see me writing analyses for Techdirt clients.
What is your opinion regarding services such as the Techdirt community? Please leave your comment!
External links:
- Techdirt Insight Community
- LinkedIn (Thor Kottelin)
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