Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

It seems like content that can be bought for 2.2 cents/word is exactly the kind of content that isn't "competitively defensible".

Any ideas for scaling the creation of higher-quality content? Ghostwriting and editing, perhaps? Interviews with domain experts instead of pieces written by domain experts?




It seems like content that can be bought for 2.2 cents/word is exactly the kind of content that isn't "competitively defensible".

One thing that I've had some success with for a client is "Here's graph N out of the 1,200 that Patrick extracted from government data. Write the story told by the graph. Focus on X, Y, and Z."

In that case the words aren't really the attraction -- the attraction is the data (pulled out of a government CSV file that interested people can't possibly make sense out of) and the presentation of data on the website. The words are just a crutch for Google so that it knows that a bar for X being three times taller than the bar for Y actually has meaning.


It's not completely defensible, but it's not a lyrics site either because they'd have to write the bingo card generator too.

The point seems to be to relate the content back to something else you own that nobody else has built yet.


Yeah, you're right. By combining generic content with domain expertise (in the form of software), Patrick has created content that is defensible.

What I was wondering, though, is if he had any ideas for creating defensible content at scale w/o a software tie-in--like having articles ghostwritten based on outlines by domain experts.


Pick a niche, any niche (though one that I'd grok well would be better). I'll give you an example or two.




Consider applying for YC's Spring batch! Applications are open till Feb 11.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: