Introducing: Fritzi Webber

Hi, Everyone. I have something new and exciting to announce: a guest blogger!

I like running this web site, but I never seem to write that much. The place collects dust and gets that musty “old web site” smell. Seeking to liven things up, I recently advertised for guest bloggers with Google, using this pitch:

Wanted: Guest Bloggers!
Freedom-related topics.
Published under free license.
www.movingtofreedom.org

The Search

A coupon for $100 of free AdWords led me to try this on a whim. I found out that $100 doesn’t get you very far. After getting no responses, I decided to go in for $100 out of my own pocket.

Still: nothing.

But I was hooked on the advertising idea. I figured I just needed to be more aggressive in order to get better ad placements. I kept increasing my budget and the max payout per click, and the next thing I knew, I had spent $5,000 in a little over seven days.

For that, I ended up with three applicants:

1. Cindy, 27 years old, who wanted to write about freedom in the context of her extensive My Little Pony collection.
2. Olaf “Vlad” Torkelson, a “Goth-Norwegian” who wanted to write about the “nascent” Free Farming Movement in the “Empire of Norway and its subject lands.”
3. And… a spider.

Somehow none of them seemed quite right for the site, and I started feeling some regret about the big ad spend. It occurred to me I might have just asked here on the blog if anyone wanted to do some guest writing.

Yet, I found myself considering another AdWords campaign. I don’t know why. I had been watching a lot of Mad Men… Maybe I got Draper Fever or something.

But then my wife happened to find out what I was doing. There was unpleasantness. She wasn’t mollified when I explained my intention to pay the guests only in Whuffies. Irrationally, she kept going on about the sunk costs and didn’t care at all about the “free” ongoing costs. She said she would kill me if (a) I spent any more money on advertising, or (b) I didn’t use one of the Google leads after investing the $5,000. (She didn’t use the word “investing.”)

The Selection

After much consideration, I’ve offered the spot to the spider, Fritzi Webber.

Welcome to Freedom, Fritzi. I’m looking forward to reading your posts!

I rejected her at first because I thought her proposed topic was a bit macabre. But after my wife persuaded me to conduct another round of interviews, Fritzi impressed me with her passion and I decided to give her a chance. She’ll start posting this Friday.

I’m tempted to say more, but I should let Fritzi speak for herself. With the emphasis and disclaimer that she is writing for herself and does not represent my views. I don’t want to edit or filter my guest bloggers. I think for the guest program to be a success, I have to let go of my desire for control. I need to get good writers in here and then trust them.

Again, to be clear: I might agree or disagree, but I’m not endorsing Fritzi’s opinions and positions.

I can’t help mentioning that I think her intended topic is… disturbing. But in the spirit of trying new things, shouldn’t I welcome the challenge of different perspectives to help me escape my comfort zone?

And I’m already being tested: I’ll be away from the computer this weekend. I won’t be able to check in here but I’m trusting that everything will be just fine with Ms. Webber’s debut.