Writing as a Developer Marketing Channel
I get more inbound leads from one good blog post than from a month of LinkedIn activity.
Most developer marketing advice is bad. Writing isn't bad. Here's why technical writing converts better than 'thought leadership.'
Independent engineers ask me about marketing all the time. Here's the answer.
What works for me
- Long-form technical posts on real problems with real numbers
- Each post answers a specific search query someone actually has
- Each post links to my services where relevant
- Each post stays online forever, accumulating SEO
A single good post that ranks for the right search term will deliver inbound leads for years.
What doesn't work
- LinkedIn "thought leadership" platitudes. They drive engagement, not conversion.
- Twitter threads about productivity. Same.
- Posting daily on six platforms. The variance dominates the signal.
The cycle
- Solve a real problem on a real project
- Write a post that explains how I solved it
- Publish
- Wait 3-6 months for SEO to mature
- Get inbound from people searching that exact problem
That cycle has produced ~80% of my inbound work for the last 18 months.
Why this works
When someone is searching for "spring boot 3.2 graalvm production" or "how to migrate monolith to microservices," they're a qualified lead. They have the problem. If my post answers their question well, they trust me. If they need help, they reach out.
Compared to a LinkedIn post that gets 200 likes from people who'll never hire me, the search-driven post wins.
How I write
- Pick a real problem I solved
- Write the version I'd want to read
- No fluff, no padding, no "subscribe to my newsletter"
- Real numbers when I can
- Real failure modes I encountered
- One CTA at the bottom (book a call / get in touch)
How long this takes
Each post: 4-8 hours, mostly the thinking and outlining. Drafting is the small part.
I aim for one substantive post every 2-4 weeks. Less is fine. More is fine if quality holds. Quality matters more than cadence.
Where to publish
- My own site (this one) - primary
- Hacker News occasionally - for discoverability
- Reddit r/programming or r/{specific topic} - when relevant
- Don't bother with Medium / Substack / dev.to unless you specifically want their audience
The boring answer wins. Own your site, write things that matter, link to your services. That's the playbook.