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Comment by rodriguezcommaj | Hacker News Reader

There's a pretty interesting discussion of this going on over at Designer News:

https://news.layervault.com/stories/4266-deleted-my-portfoli...

I just read all the comments on Designer News. All I can say is "wow". Did all those commenters even read the article? For those who didn't read it, the overall point was simply focus (don't get distracted with efforts that aren't directly contributing to your bottom line and measure your results so you can make informed decisions, honing in on what factually works for you).

Sure, Robert may have put a particular website in a bad light, isn't earning $1M, and maybe tried to find some value in some lessons from online courses (omg), but the point was clear: the competition was homogenous and he wanted to stand out (good). The best marketing strategy is to speak to your audience's needs, not necessarily your industry's ideals. I'm making a broad assumption here, but I feel like most business clients (those likely to hire an agency or a freelance designer) are more concerned with making themselves more money (through effective design) than "looking pretty". I think Robert was accurate in that observation.

Robert had some experience, found some stuff that worked for him, and is trying to share it with the community to help others learn where he maybe didn't have access to learn. I think that's admirable. I don't know why people on Designer News are shitting all over on him. Geez.

That discussion is actually pretty stupid. It's funny to see how DN can be as biased as HN, except in the opposite direction…

Creator of Designer News here. We hellbanned the author and submitter of the story since this post is a thin veil for a get-rich-quick scheme.

WTF... why? for sharing my story? how is this blog post in anyway a "thin veil for a get-rich-quick scheme"? I'm not selling anything, I'm simply talking about what my experience was, and that I decided to focus on other things instead of a portfolio...

I will never again post on your site, no worries.

Stick to HN, where the entrepreneurial spirit is welcomed :)

Yea i really enjoyed the story, I wouldn't worry about it; they seem really reactionary.

I agree, but what I find odd is how a submitter of a story can also be implicated (ignoring the point the submitter is actually the author in this case, I think?)

Why would anyone want to submit stuff to a site if there's a risk they could get banned if people on the site don't like the item? That's what voting and/or flagging are for. Banning should be for abusive behavior, not poor submissions.

I'm just here to say that Ramit, the author of the course he mentioned is legitimate.

His New York Times best selling book "I Will Teach You To Be Rich" is one of the best personal finance books I've read. It is especially useful for young people with a high income potential like many of us on Hacker News.

http://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Be-Rich/dp/0761147489

Hmm it has to be a really thin veil because I read it like any other post to get the author's point of view then checked out the comments. I'm sure marketers are trying to innovate like everyone else but in this case I would have to say it didn't work because I still haven't gotten to the get rich quick e/book that it is supposed to promote (it wasn't in my face).

The comments sure are interesting but the only thing I checked out from reading it was the designer's site that got dissed.

Note: The post could have been edited by the time I read it.

How did you reach that conclusion? Did you start from the idea that the course is nothing but a get-rich-quick scheme and therefor no one could benefit from it and the blog post must be a sham?

Do you think that he didn't do what he said or that he is maybe getting some consideration from Ramith Sethi or something?

To my naive eye they guy seems to have written a post about a course of action that he is happy with and has given him some success. Is that so hard to believe? It doesn't that deleting your portfolio is the best course of action, it's just what he did.

Or is it the emphasis on revenue that rubs you the wrong way?

I'm asking all these questions because I just can't wrap my head around the negative reaction.

It confuses me too. If there was an affiliate link to Earn1k and he spent the whole post talking about it then I can see it being considered spammy.

I wonder if the DN mods would be so quick to ban the post if he had mentioned the name of a book he found useful, rather than the name of an online course.

Perhaps it is because he has the audacity to be motivated by money, rather than a pure love for design, and this upsets the DN team?

Hellbanned? Why? I'm a freaking designer and as one I can tell you I found the article rather interesting. Deleting your portfolio and making money? That's something you don't hear everyday. The fear of freelancing is not finding any clients. He found a way and shared his story, good for him. I found it irritating he didn't link to this Earn1K course. Had to google it and of course there are multiple hits. How do I know I've got the right one? I'd apologise if I was Designer News. Making money is not 'evil'.

Wow. If that's what you took away from the author's post, I seriously question DN's capacity to moderate. This, on top of the FlatUI fiasco, leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. My interest in DN is less and less each day.

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