Knowing that I was robbing Peter to pay Paul, I tentatively entered into an agreement with US News and World Report to provide content for their “Outside Voices” career blog on a gratis basis.

So far, I do not regret this decision. I still think it’s a “resume” booster and increases blogosphere street cred. However, many of you were skeptical…perhaps rightfully so. Two weeks, and two articles later, the entries have referred - drum roll please - 17 clicks from six sources to my main blog. Ouch. That pales in comparison to the click-throughs I get from BH: where I get paid to write!

The blog entries so far are hardly the best thing since sliced bread, but with the amount of traffic the US News site generates, this click-through rate is pretty lame.

I’ve already set an end date in my head, where if the results do not improve, or at least show they will be worthwhile beyond what I’ve already done, I will terminate the arrangement.

If I were to charge $15 for a 300 word blog post, I’d be averaging about $1 per click - and that math doesn’t work for anyone involved.

Hopefully we both will continue to learn from this experience. I’ll keep you posted.

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